The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 & Out - Chiefs Trade for Justin Fields, RB Draft Strategy & NFL Mailbag

Episode Date: March 17, 2026

On this episode of 3 & Out, we break down a major quarterback move as the Kansas City Chiefs trade for Justin Fields. What does this mean for the Chiefs’ offense, how could Fields fit alongside Patrick Mahomes, and what led Kansas City to make the move? We also take a deeper look at the evolution of drafting running backs in today’s NFL. With the position continuing to change in value, how are teams approaching RBs differently in the draft compared to years past? Plus, we discuss how quarterback timelines across the league are getting shorter, with teams making quicker decisions than ever before on whether their young QBs are the long-term answer.  And we look at the market around the league and whether any team will ultimately trade for Brandon Aiyuk. Finally, we open up the mailbag and answer your questions from around the NFL. All that and more on this episode of 3 & Out. Follow John on Twitter, and Instagram for the latest.  All lines provided by Hard Rock Bet #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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What is going on, my people? How are we doing? John Middlecoff, Ther Now Podcast. Back at it again. Talking a little football. We did the players championship reaction yesterday to Cam Young, who I gave out last week to gamble on, no big deal. Nailed that one.

But today we're going to talk some football. The Kansas City Chiefs traded for Justin Fields. We'll dive into that. The Titans and Jeremiah loves now the betting favorite to be the Titans pick at number four. J.J. McCarthy conversation just won't die. Some moves, A.J. Brown, still on the Eagles. Looks like it might say that way. for a while. Christian Kirk signs with the Niners.

Rick Petino's just kicking everyone's ass. It's 73 years old. We'll do a little mailbag. At John Middlecoff. At John Middlecoff is the Instagram fire in those DMs. Get your questions answered on the show. And yeah, we'll just keep cranking along. So you guys know the drill.

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The Chiefs have traded, I think, a six-rounder in 2020 2007 for Justin Fields. And, uh, I think this is correlated with even the Tua, the

Kyler Murray. One thing that happens in free agency, right? A week go today. I'm recording this on Monday, Monday afternoon, is all the guys that signed, the big contracts, you're paying premiums for, right? Jalen Phillips to Carolina, Linderbom to the Raiders, whoever. These guys are getting paid a tax. You know, the team is paying a tax to acquire those guys because you have multiple people bidding for their services. And I think teams, you know, Belichick made a living off this, is he always waited for the second and third way. because he thought you could find deals.

And there's an old adage that fortunes are made and downturns and collected when times are good. Right? I've always lived by you make, when you sell something, the profit you make was not on the price you sold it for, but what you bought it for. If you sell a stock for $100, big difference if you bought the thing for 90 or if you bought it for 7. right so your purchase price on an asset on a home on a player howie roseman felt a lot better about Zach Bond when he paid four million dollars for him then the guy became an all pro or when he paid for sayquan barkley and gave him way less than half as much as brandon iuk and the guy ran for 2,000 yards

so part of acquiring quarterbacks and this goes back to bill walsh Ron Wolf, Hall of Fame-level guys that believe that every year you should be in the business of acquiring these guys. Look at the Packers with Malik Willis. They got him for nothing a couple years ago. I thought it was crazy. But that organizational philosophy looks at distressed asset with the quarterback position and guys with traits who are high character and go,

there's something there to work with. And they got it right. And because of acquiring Malik Willis, they won countless games over the last two years. And obviously he parlayed it into a payday. And there are current rumors that who's interested in Anthony Richardson, the Green Bay Packers. Well, where did Andy Reed get his NFL start? The Green Bay Packers.

Who was running the Packers then? Mike Holmgren, who had learned from Bill Walsh, and Ron Wolf, who would learn from Al Davis. Quarterbacks, quarterbacks, and more quarterbacks. I also think that last year, they had gone into the season with Gardner Minchu, who, awesome story, fun guy, not sure he's a good player. and he's not a guy that has the traits. He's kind of the opposite of the Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen crew.

And by the time they were forced to play him, he had no chance. Obviously he got injured, but it just turns out he's not that good. And I think they look at Justin Fields and go, he's never played for an offensive coach. Think about that. Never played for an offensive coach. Now, I'm not acting like Justin Fields is that good. I think they'd be the first to tell you.

Listen, he hasn't been that good. But is there something there to work with? Yes, there is. And do we plan on trying to work with that? Yes, we do. And here's the other thing, because Patrick Mahomes is injured. He's going to get all the reps in OTAs. He's going to potentially get a ton of reps in training camp.

Now, we'll see by then, according to reports and talking to people, he was well ahead of schedule. But there's a big difference being well ahead of schedule and being able to practice. And who knows? Maybe they have an opportunity to play them week one because Patrick Mahomes isn't ready. But the Andy Reid, I know, is a guy that likes trade. When I was there, we had Michael Vick. And not saying that he hasn't, I mean, he thought we had gone into that season with Kevin Cobb. And a couple years later, he traded for Alex Smith.

He's a pretty open-minded when it comes to quarterbacks. But at his core, Michael Vick, Donovan McNabb, Patrick Mahomes, Brett Favre. It's kind of what he's looking for. Some big-time talent. Now, Justin Fields has mainly not been good. He's been a running back playing quarterback. And last year was an abomination. But I think it's easy to chalk it up to.

Everyone with the Jets is a disaster. And a couple years ago, I don't know where you stood, but I thought that they should have kept going with Justin Fields instead of going to Russell Wilson. And a lot of reports went that came out since or after that year ended was like Mike Tomlin pushed for Russell Wilson. Arthur Smith was cool with going with Justin Fields. And the thing with Andy Reid is, why can't he scheme around his deficiencies? And some of his deficiencies, maybe he could just incrementally improve them over the course of six months. And if you're Justin Fields, you should thank your lucky stars that a guy like this is the one believing in you and taking a chance on you.

Because you've been around a lot of Aaron Glens and Matt Eberfluses. And now you get to go from, it's like Andy Dufrain. I was, you know, I don't watch regular TV anymore because I have, you know, I stream basically everything. And you don't, you don't get a remote and just kind of toggle. through like, oh, Shawshank is on. So when I was at the hotel in Los Angeles, it's kind of a throwback. You pull the guide and you start going through channels.

And all of a sudden it's like 745 on Thursday night. I was going to go to bed early. And I'm laying in bed. And I go, oh, Shawshank's on. So I watched the last like 45 minutes of it. And that scene when he comes out of the, you know, the sewer tunnel is just an all-timer, right? And I think a lot of quarterbacks ask Sam,

Arnold, asked Baker Mayfield, and now Justin Fields, and I'm not saying he's going to even come close to the success that those guys had, but I just think they looked at this thing as value. We can get this guy for nothing. He's got some big time traits. We get to work with him all offseason, and maybe there's something there. And that's a huge part of the offseason. Not everyone has the ability to give because of financial constraints $120 million to Jalen Phillips, which I think is one of the crazier contracts. Again, league history based on his previous production. Now, maybe he becomes a much more impactful player, but I thought that was pretty bold, right?

So sometimes you got a bargain shop. Like, here's my thing with Kyler Murray and count me as someone that's not buying it working. Now, I don't think they're going to win two or three games, but like I'll be shocked if like Sam Darnold, they're just winning 12 to 14 games. My guess is 8 to 9. But would they have signed Kyler Murray if his contract in Arizona didn't dictate his future? Because he could sign for the league minimum and still make $35 million. If he was just making zero in his market whatever was whatever team was willing to pay,

like would they have given him $10 or $15 million? I don't know. But call me dubious that they just would have thrown a lot of money. Part of the reason that they were really interested, he cost them nothing. Same thing with Tua. Like, would the Falcons have signed him if he cost $15 million? Of course not. They got the guy for free.

So part of the conversation with these quarterbacks is it costs nothing to acquire you. Right. One of the stories I just read before I hit record is the 49ers. I mean, he was kind of like they were one at times. Last year, Juan Jennings, there's a reason he's still on the market. because he's a good player. He's a winning player. But he wants $20 million a year. And in fairness to him, he had a front row seat like, I've been around Brandon Iuke. I saw that guy get $30 million and just quit on the team. So he's probably got a jaded view of what he's actually

worth. But as you can tell, no one's paying him $20 million a year. It's like, Juan, you're probably worth about 10, right? Which is still, you know, a great deal for most of society. But in his world, he's going, look at some of these guys making $30, $35 million. I can't make close to $20. And the answer is, the market. market is telling him, he can't. If Joanne Jennings cost you two or three million dollars, he would have 10 teams trying to sign them immediately. So part of your market value is, what are you asking for? What are you willing to sign for? That was the thing, it's like, why is Trey Hendrickson still out there for a couple days? Well, he thought he was worth

$30, $35 million. And it's part of the reason that Baltimore, which I don't know where you stand, but I'm a believer, they got cold feet, because they saw they had a different direction they can go in. We can get Trey for what we view is relatively cheap of what we thought he was going to cost and get our picks back. So we'd rather have Hendrickson for that amount of money and the 14th

pick than pay Max Crosby and tell everyone that we think his knee's going to blow up in a year. Now they might have thought that, but if Trey had not been around, do they pull out? Who knows? Probably not. So I think a huge part of acquiring quarterback, especially backup

quarterbacks, or guys that are going to compete for the job is how much you have to pay to get them. And we've seen guys, you know, Sam Darnold a couple years ago with Minnesota got $10 million. Daniel Jones last year with the Indianapolis Colts, I think got $14 million. The Falcons were not going to give $10 million to $2 million if that's what it would have cost. I'm not sure Minnesota was going to give $10 to $15 million to Kyler Murray if that was what it would have cost. The Chiefs got this guy for free. The bonus money and everything's already been paid by the Jets.

We got to give up a six-round pick next year, which is essentially viewed this year, time value money, as like a seventh-round pick. We're giving up nothing, and our quarterback is injured. And we saw last year guys that don't have that much ability, like, we're guaranteed to lose. So I totally, I understand all these moves. And the difference is the chiefs, ideally, Justin Fields won't even have to start. We just rehab his value. And for him, maybe in a year, like the positive momentum behind him is,

different than what it is right now where we all just go, this guy can't play dead no Western. And potentially that changes because it has with other guys. People thought Sam Darnold was like the worst quarterback they'd ever seen. A couple years later, he wins Super Bowl. It has a $100 million contract. Viewed as just a solid, very good player in the NFL. That's how fast it changes. And that's the thing with pro sports. It's a very fluid business, right? It's, you know, Collins really good with this. Like, my opinion changes, as it should. Like, I never understood like, okay, skip.

LeBron can't win in the clutch. You had some validity behind that 20 years ago. And then things changed. So it's like, if you're not going to change, we're all watching. You can't tell me the sky is yellow when it's blue, right? So a big part of free agency and acquiring these guys is they come for nothing, right? They come very, very cheap. And to me, that's been a big theme of this year.

And I think you've seen teams. I mean, the 49ers won a bunch of games. I thought, like, you guys are trying to Mac Jones. They gave him two years, like, $7 million total. And then they started winning football games. And they were a playoff team in huge, like a huge part of that was because they had him and his ability to run the offense and play quarterback that if they had some scrub at backup, they probably would have lost a bunch of those games.

And all of a sudden, instead of being a 12-win team, they win, they win eight or nine wins, and they're not in the playoffs. because their starting quarterback was hurt for like a month and a half, two months. That's how fast it changes. So I'm as guilty as anyone when I see some of these like, that guy can't play, that guy can't play, then all of a sudden you can't. I think some guys with a pedigree, some guys with physical attributes, the good offensive coaches feel they can change, as they should.

That's why Andy Reid makes $20 million. That's why Kaos Shanahan makes $18 million. That's why Sean McVeigh makes a bunch of money. Because Kevin O'Connell, they get their hands on a guy. I'm better at working with this. than you are. That is my, like, superpower. That's what I bring to the table that other guys do not. And it's going to be fascinating to watch it play out, but Justin Fields is going to get some opportunities because Patrick is injured. You know, speaking of changing your opinion,

I would have said 10 years ago, two things I was very adamant about. I would never draft a running back or interior offensive linemen high in a draft. Because, historically, you could find really good running backs, guards and centers in the third, fourth, fifth round, right? I do think things change. And part of a draft is, well, where it's a marketplace being given to you by college. So you don't determine what's in that draft on a yearly basis, right? It's why some drafts are better than others. But one thing that has become pretty clear in the NFL is the resurgence of running backs. Remember a couple years ago, they all got a Zoom call and we're all pissed off.

They weren't making very much money relative to some other positions. I thought they were crazy at the time. A couple years later, they got some, you know, like their argument has a little bit more substance behind it, let's say. Would you either have Bejan Robinson or like a ton of these wide receivers making $20, $25 million? I think we all know the answer. We'd rather have Bejohn Robinson.

But here's the thing with the running back. When you get a blue chip guy, two years ago, why did the Eagles win the Super Bowl? Well, they had a fantastic defense and their running back and running game was unstoppable. As how he said, Seacuan had one of the greatest seasons in the history of the league.

Where was he drafted? Number two. Now, with the Giants, it didn't work out because their team and organization was a disaster. But anyone with the brain went, this is a big time talent. Now, I didn't believe in the pick at number two because the organization wasn't close. they had a bunch of other needs. But the one thing David Gettleman said back then is like,

I couldn't pass on a Hall of Fame talent. And he wasn't wrong. It was a Hall of Fame talent. He just had a low level operation, no coaching, and it was a disaster. And Sequin got banged up a little bit, but there were a lot of variables that were out of Sequan's control. Listen, if I ever talked to Christian McCaffrey,

the first thing or have him on this podcast, I would apologize to him. Because when he came out of college, I was like, you know, I'm not sure he's going to be a bell cow in the league. I think eventually he's going to morph in more to like an elite slot receiver hybrid running back. And I was wrong. Christian McCaffrey is a fantastic elite between the tackles runner,

especially in the prime of his career. And the guy banging the drum back to his draft class was his head coach David Shaw, who had worked in the NFL, who had obviously been around a bunch of NFL players with Jim Harbaugh and the head coach of Stanford. And he was like, this guy's total package. And remember, he was drafted 8th. And I was like, God, that seems pretty bold. And looking back, like, probably could have got higher.

Because Christian McCaffrey three years ago, like Saquan, was the best offensive player on a Super Bowl team. Now, the Niners didn't win it, but a big reason they were there was because of Christian McCaffrey. He was an elite player and arguably non-quarterback, the best player in the league the year the 49ers made the Super Bowl with Purdy playing quarterback. So I think I've changed my tune a little bit

because the way the league has gone is... Now, obviously, if you needed a quarterback or there was like a can't miss defensive lineman prospect, totally take that guy over the running back. But I think we all agree, and especially people in the league, that Jeremiah Love is arguably the best player in this draft. He is the total package. A lot of parallels to Bejohn Robinson. I think parallels to Christian McCaffrey.

I know people will say good prospects in Sequan-Barkley. Sequin's not a great pass catcher. Not terrible, but I would say his hands are pretty hit or miss. To me, Jeremiah Love, you watch him in the Combine, he is, he's got a chance to be an elite pass catcher. And there was a story out today, it's not even a story, the betting odds are that the Titans are favored to draft Jeremiah Love. And to, you know, Fernando Mendoza, pass rushers two and three,

and Jeremiah Love going four. It's like, I see it. And if they do it, I support it. They have a defensive head coach. They have Brian Dayball who's been around Sequin, who wasn't around Nick Sabin, who had a really good run game, obviously, when he was the offensive coordinator there.

I think that would be the right move. Because I think in a draft, any draft class that has question marks or is not viewed as like the top 10 players are seven to nine of them feel like pro bowl level guys. Like some years, it's Penae Seul, Jamar Chase, like Michael Pars is just loaded with talent.

That's not the way this draft is viewed. So when you are in positions like that, I got no issue taking Jeremiah Love. And if you think about it, when I think the Tennessee Titans, two of their best players in my lifetime, have been Eddie George and have been Derek Henry. So they have been an organization

that has been defined historically by running the ball and playing defense. And that's what I think Robert Sala wants to do. He's at a front row seat with Kyle Shanahan, two different iterations of it, and it's a physical style, run the ball, play defense. That always translates. And I think that would be fun to watch. And if you're Jeremiah Love, you can become Cam Ward's best friend immediately.

And that's the other thing. You have a young quarterback who, if you watched him play last year, I mean, the team was a disaster, does have a little bit of a hero syndrome. It does kind of think, like, I can be Caleb Williams, 2025. It's like, bro, we've got to calm down a little bit. It's not what you're going to do, especially in a division with, you know, the Jags and the Texans have fantastic defenses. Like, let's just learn to manage the game before we play like Patrick Mahomes.

And the easiest way to do that, feed the running back. So I think that would be a fantastic fit and kind of hope it happens. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor Hard Rock Bet, Florida Sportsbook. It is Turney Time, Baby, and my favorite thing to do is fill out of bracket. So join me in the volume bracket contest presented for Hard Rock Bet. grand prize winner scores a two-night stay at the guitar hotel at Seminole, Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, plus 1,000 bonus bets to use on the app. All you have to do is head to bracket.thevolume.com to fill out the bracket. That's bracket.com to make your picks.

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Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia. Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. Huge news. We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it.

We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before

Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast.

But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel,

help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed the game. Morning, the internet lost its mind.

Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real.

From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, We break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. A couple other stories. Colin had said this a while back, that the new timeline with a young quarterback is the second year Thanksgiving. And I think part of, listen, society, we've never gone faster.

We've never had shorter attention spans. Because of social media and all the noise, that there's never been more pressure on, you know, specific industries, on whether it's, you know, the S&P 500 in the stock market, whether it's professional sports. There's just a lot more noise, right? Crypto, you name it. And I think J.J. McCarthy, like, I'm not just going to act like he's. going to be out of the league in a year. But I think he fits into this mold of, in modern day football that we're in the 2020s, if you don't show it immediately in your high pick, you're in major trouble.

They're not going to wait around for you. Now, they could be proven wrong years down the line when that guy becomes a good player for someone else. But there becomes a negative, like tsunami of the narrative, which is true. that this guy can't play and he's holding you back. And if the coaches can see it, if the owner can see it, and the fans can see it, your lease just, it's hard for you to make it to year three. And now we have some recent examples of good, talented teams.

I mean, Trey Lance got traded before week one, year three. Anthony Richardson was benched before week one year three. J.J. McCarthy is not going to be the starting quarterback week one year three. Michael Penix. Now, he's injured, but like, would Michael Penix just 100% beat out Tua in a training camp in Atlanta? They're both healthy. I don't think that would be guaranteed by any means, right? I mean, listen, we can be negative on Tua all we want.

Like, he's shown a lot more in the National Football League than Michael Pinnock. So my point is the turnover with coaches, look at that. Now, Tomlin technically said I'm out, but there were 10 openings, 10 openings, 10, They're 32 teams in the league. I mean, you're talking almost third of the league, fired their coaches and paid a lot of these guys to go home, get out of here, pay their staffs, see ya, we don't want to talk to you anymore. We will pay you all millions of dollars to not come into the office.

I've said forever, that's the American dream. If someone ever wants to pay me $10, $20, $30, $50 million to do nothing, I would eventually get bored, feel I'm pretty ambitious individual, but I would soak it up. up for a minute. I would enjoy myself. I really would. So the league's showing you the amount of money that has come in, the social media influence, the timing that these coaches are on, like, you're not getting, the amount of coaches that will ever sniff like 10 years in a place, like it used to happen a lot more in the 80s and the 90s is over. Even some of these guys now they get fired after year three or year four, they probably used to would have got six is done

because it's really easy for me to pay you to go away. Look how many guys get extensions and still get fired. Mike McDaniel just happened to. And I'm not saying that any of these owners are wrong for their decision, but a big reason that none of these guys hesitate to do this anymore is because paying someone $10, $20 million with the finances of the NFL is a rounding year. It's change you would find in, not in my couch, but in their couch. So that has directly influenced the quarterback.

And unlike some of these guys, if you draft a guy 8th at defensive line, and by year 3 it's clear like this is not an impact player, you can still rotate him in and out. You can still take a wide receiver in the top 15 and have him not become a star, but still utilize him. He can still play, he can still return, he can still play on special teams.

It's not ideal. Like you would obviously rather have the pick back and pick someone else. But all these other positions, you can play. At quarterback, like, you're either in the game or you're not. And you get exposed when you're in the game if you're not ready, like JJ McCarthy. Now, like I said, I do not think his career is just over, but his career in Minnesota isn't just in major jeopardy. When Kyler Murray is eventually named the starter, that's the beginning of the end.

This is not 1987 where Bill Walsh went back and forth with Steve Young and Joe Montana. Anyone that watched the documentary on AMC, one year he was just pissed off. He's like, yeah, we got a quarterback controversy. The media didn't say that. Bill Walsh said that. Yeah, we got a quarterback controversy. He was just trying to start some fires. Those days are done.

These coaches now do the polar opposite of like really, really, tread lightly around that topic, but we all know. And I said it two years ago when Sam Darnel was signed to the 49ers. Trey Lance is done. He's never beating out Sam Donald. And he was on the Cowboys before the start of the year. Last year, Daniel Jones signed for $14 million. Anthony Richardson's done as a starter there. He was done. Kyler Murray, a little different because he didn't cost him any money,

but I think at the end of next last year, they were done with Jason McCarthy because he's just not good enough, too big of a project, and they simply don't have time, because that's not the way it works. The AJ Brown situation, pretty interesting that Florio reported the Rams were interested, and they had explored trading Devante Adams, which Devante is going to make $24 million this year, which obviously is a lot of money, not like premium premium, but still not nothing.

Battled some hamstring issues last year. Only had 60 catches, but he did have 14 touchdowns. So if your catch number is not going to be as high as it once was, but you're bringing me 14 touchdowns, like I can kind of live with it. Now, would I rather have Devante Adams than A.J. Brown, I do think in a short-lived, like Matt Stafford all in on next year, like his rapport with Devante is pretty special. So why would you throw that off, especially AJ makes more than him?

I do think Devante would have had a market. But by all accounts, the Rams are out, and it's basically only the Patriots. and because of some of the financial situation with his contract, that AJ potentially might not get traded till the summer or training camp because of the implications that it has on the Eagles books. Like I said, in a perfect world, I think they would gladly keep AJ Brown. But this is a situation where financially there are some ramifications of keeping them, kind of move on now, and like, let's face it, you can't trade the quarterback.

So you're going to trade the wide receiver. But I also think if you don't have a big market for him, Howie does not just want to give this guy away. But there aren't a bunch of teams bidding. So I think it puts them in kind of a precarious situation. And typically, I don't want to say how he always has the leverage in trades because that's not true. But this one, it has to really bother him because he clearly is on the disadvantaged side when it comes to having a really good player that a lot of teams are just kind of, I don't know,

not being super aggressive on. Even the Patriots, like, yeah, we want them, but we're not going to, we're not giving you your first round pick. And I think it's a tough spot for Howie and the Eagles, who are, let's face it, used to winning a lot of these transactions. The Eagles did bring back Dallas Goddard. I think like one year, $7 million. I didn't see all the guaranteed deals.

But again, they're trying to mix and match all this money stuff. And whenever you have a high price team, it becomes a little complicated. And that's why, back to the Jalen Carter situation, it's like, are they comfortable with giving them like a record setting deal? Like, Michael Parsons got four year $188 million. Like, Jalen Carter is going to want like four years, $200 million. Right? Four years, $180 million.

Like, the number is going to be huge with a ton, maybe not $200 million. That'd be $50 million a year. But let's say four years, $175 million. And $150 million or $140 million guaranteed. Like, you have to be extremely comfortable when you invest in a player with everything you're getting. and it starts with the person. And that's where I think that, like, it's much easier for them at a much lower number to give Jordan Davis $60 million guaranteed.

And the 49ers, like, they got Mike Evans, who is a Hall of Fame level player. They gave him $16 million guaranteed. Like, that was a pretty easy decision, and he wanted to be there. Christian Kirk, again, hasn't been that good lately. The last two years, he has 55 catches. Peaked in 22.

I think he had 84 catches, 1100 yards, and 8 touchdowns. When he was young, he was a pretty interesting, talented player, especially like a role player at wide receiver. Now he's been banged up, not as productive. But this is back to what I said about the quarterbacks. Like, they're going, we're paying nothing for this guy. Like, could we catch lightning in a bottle and give us 45-50 catches for $4 or $5 million? Like, that's the math on this.

Now, most of the time, that's not what comes to fruition. But when it does, you become very profitable because you pay. pay nothing and you get production back in return. I mean, the Patriots made a living off doing this for 20 years. They brought back Drake Greenlaw, who again comes very cheap because he gets cut. He's another guy that after the Achilles injury hasn't quite been the same physically. Is there something you get him back with Fred? You get him back in the building.

Is there something that can kind of reinvigorate his career? But the question with him is his health. And he's a guy who really excels on explosion, you know, spills. be just a violent athlete. And when you're dealing with quads and lower body injuries, you're just not the same type player. And that's why I think Denver, obviously there were, him and Hufung, I think, had a hard time learning the defense.

In the sense, it was way more complicated than what they were used to. Though Hufunga translated much better, and he's, I mean, he's been a really good player for him. Greenlaw, when it came to learning the defense and obviously injuries, they just punted. They had, I would say, buyer's remorse pretty immediately. There is some stories about people interested in trading for Brandon Ayyuk. I don't see how another GM could trade for Brandon Ayuk.

I mean, everything that has gone on off the field. I'm not even talking about refusing to rehab or showing up to the 49ers. Like, that happens. Players get signed or traded for all the time in situations like that. To me, there's been so much stuff on social media of him just not feeling like he's got a shit together as a human being. I could not give up a pick, even if he came. Like, you can cut him, then we'll bring him in and talk to him. But trading a pick for him, to me, feels like bad business.

A couple other things before we get to the mailbag, I'm always fascinated. Like, listen, think about football. Pete Carroll, feels like a shot coach. Watching him last year was like, Pete, what is going on? Like, he went from a pitcher throwing like 98 miles an hour to last year. It felt like he's throwing 78. he's got his son screwing up the offensive line.

It's a complete embarrassment. Now, as time goes on, no one will remember his tenure with the Raiders, but it's not going to be one of his crowning achievements. It's going to be something he would like to erase from the record books. Look at Belichick. I mean, Belichick's time post the Patriots, and even those last couple years of the Patriots is like, this guy still have it.

This guy, are we sure that Bill and Pete shouldn't have just enjoyed, their immense amount of wealth and go enjoy themselves somewhere, put their feet up, live by the beach, enjoy life. I'm always been uncomfortable with retirement. I hate that term. It kind of gives me the hebe-jeebies. I can't imagine just have nothing to do, no purpose. So I understand where they're coming from, but in their field, as competitive as it is, and the majority now of the talented coaches, let's face it, or in their late 30s and their 40s or early 50s, and just kicking your teeth in?

Why do you still want to do this? You are clearly, you guys have made a living on telling players you don't have it anymore. Yet they can't look in the mirror and see it themselves. They don't have it anymore. Yet I'm watching Rick Patina, who's 73 years old,

who looks like he's in the prime of his career. I had to Google it today. since 2002, up until Rick got there. So for almost 25 years, they made the NCAA tournament three times. They've won the Big East back-to-back years. He just took Dan Hurley, a guy that won back-to-back Natties, and kicked his teeth in the other day. At St. John's, it's not like, you know, he took over Louisville, he took over Kentucky, he took over Duke, he took over North Carolina.

Like, this has not been some powerhouse since I was a little little kid. and whatever Rick Petino still has, he still got it. And some of these guys, and especially in a day and age of NIL, you talk about adapting. Like, that is really, really impressive. And I'm not in deep enough with college basketball. Like, I don't quite understand. They just beat the shit out of Yukon. Clearly, they're non-conference, but not be as good.

They've had some bad losses. But you go 18 and 2 in the conference, which I guess was down this year. Hurley was saying we're not going to get as many. teams in the field. But to dominate like that at that age against some of these guys, I mean, look at some of the best coaches right now. Dan Hurley, like in the prime of his career, John Shire, this young guy, just kicking ass and taking names. Like a lot of that old guard, Coach Kay's retired. Jim Beheim, forced out retired. Like, they're kind of Izzo's still going pretty strong, but how many years does he have left? Like the guys of the, you know, the 80s, the 90s, the

the Bobby Knight crew, I mean, these were guys that Rick Petito came in with or was competing against in the prime of his career. And to be 73 years old and have a team that just was down and out. And to kick ass and take names, it's a remarkable accomplishment. The other thing, watching the WBC, which I think has been awesome, Otani hit a leadoff home run that they lost. But we were playing the DR Dominican Republic on Sunday night. and their manager, Albert Poulos, made $350 million. You went through their lineup.

It's like $500 million player, $300 million player. Julio Rodriguez signed a $200 million contract when he was 21 years old. I bet a lot of people around him, like, bro, you could make like $700 million. The amount of talent on that team, and they lost, now, granted, their pitching is not quite as good as ours. Our bullpen was shoving. but it was awesome to watch. It's not real baseball because the elite starting pitchers, if they're humming, are only going to pitch 60, 70 pitches.

I mean, Skeens, the phenom from the Pirates, LSU Kid, actually originally, right, Air Force. Really fascinating story, I think went 70 pitches. So these guys are not going to, this ain't going to be Bruce Bochy, Tim Linscom, pitching 150, you know, pitches. You ain't going eight or nine innings. So it's kind of true baseball, but kind of not really. It is just really good TV.

And watching us beat the Dominican who, they just got better players than us. It feels like they have the best players and with Otani and Yamamoto. Like, they're not us. Now, we got Judge. Harper, I know, I mean, his own GMs said he's not elite anymore. So I've been glued. I hope we win it, but that game was legit.

I mean, that was on the edge of your seat Sunday night, WBC was fantastic television. Can I tell you about my friends at Ethos? As someone that just had a child a couple months ago, you start thinking big picture. You start thinking, I hate to say it, worst case scenarios. And when you become a parent, life insurance is something that you never really wanted to think about, but you really have no choice. And it's really, really important in something I'm glad I did. because Ethos makes getting life insurance fast and easy.

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Get your instant free quote at ethos.com slash three and out. That is ethos ethos.com slash the number three and out. Application times and rates may vary. Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, new? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. writing a trend. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys?

I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast,

where people could call in and say, hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little Notepad Hey Jonas and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends.

Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel. help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions,

the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice. on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Okay, let's just bang out a couple mailback questions. I got a lot of them. So a couple, I was going to make them topics, but I saw they were mailback questions. So I'm like, you know what? Let's just do them as a mailback. We'll go with JAS. The state of Washington just enacted an almost 10% income tax. on residents making over a million dollars a year.

John Snyder has already said it will impact recruiting free agents. NFL only counted after tax income toward the salary cap. NFL, could you imagine a time where the NFL only counted after tax income toward the salary cap? Essentially, taking away the advantage of having your team in a state without income tax. Well, a couple things. I saw Florio reporting on this and I would agree. we act like every owner would want this. So some of these owners in these states,

now Washington historically, they don't have state income tax. So they're clearly losing their ass. Obviously, I mean, some of these taxes are such a fucking scam. That it sounds like, I mean, I read the article that it's going to the governor's desk, all signs are he's going to approve it. Howard Shultz already bounced to Florida. He's like, I'm out of here. Agents were already hitting up John Schneider, like, what is going on?

Now, granted, like, some of the no state income tax teams, it's not like they've had some huge advantage. I mean, the Cowboys haven't won anything, Texas haven't won anything, Titans haven't won anything, the Dolphins stink, and the Jags stunk forever. I mean, the Rams won a Super Bowl. The 49ers have been to a Super Bowl, right?

I mean, the Bears were in the second round of the playoffs this year. The Patriots were good for decades under Belichick, and he calls it Taxachucet. So I think some of these players just see the gross number they don't think about the net number. But the NFC West, if this goes through, would be a pretty tax-heavy division to play it, right? If you were making $20, $30, $40 million living in Seattle

and you get dinged with the 10% so you're essentially paying 10% income tax. You also play games in California, which is within a couple of years probably be like 15, 16%. You play the 49ers, you play the Rams, and you get a little reprieve coming here to Arizona, which is 2% flat tax. but which is fantastic. Yeah, I mean, I don't think the league is worried, like, that's a you problem, right?

What your state income taxes are, what your taxes are. Like, you get benefits if you play in Green Bay, your housing is way cheaper, right? If you play in Jacksonville, your housing is way cheaper than if you play in New York City. Or if you play in, you know, San Francisco, they are in the heart of Silicon Valley. So you have very, very inflated home price. Same thing with Southern California. And if you play in Houston, you could live in a fucking mansion for three or four million dollars. That same house in Los Angeles might be $17 million.

On top of that, your property taxes and everything are dramatically more because you're paying 1.5% or 1.4% property tax on $15 million instead of whatever, even if Texas is higher, on $3 million. So it all factors in, but I think one thing's pretty clear. That doesn't really factor to most of these free agents when they're offered, like the biggest number, gross they typically take. Mike Evans just left Florida to come to the 49ers. So I'm sure it will have an impact, but I don't necessarily view the impact taking place. LeBron James actively went to Los Angeles.

Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Clay in the perfect world would have stayed there forever. Kevin Durant chose the Bay Area. I think at the end of the day, a lot of the players, like if you give me the best chance to win

and you're paying me a lot of money, I get dinged on the taxes. Now, I'm not saying I would think like that, but I would say consistent theme, the agents always talk a big game, but here's the thing with the agents. They don't get taxed on net revenue. They get taxed on the,

or they don't get charged, like they don't get paid on, if you make $10 million, but you only take home five, they ding the 10. To my knowledge. I've always thought that, and I've always been told that. So, yeah, I mean, I just think John Snyder doesn't want it to go through. Shit, it will impact him. If I was him, fuck, I wouldn't want it either. So now it doesn't come through until 2028.

But they've also, like, had a pretty big advantage over the Rams and the Niners. They've had zero percent income tax forever, right? So it's probably been pretty lucrative to keep in some of their guys. Because like, shit, I'm so different being in Texas or Florida. The chiefs are in a rebuild. With their difficult division and listen to your podcast, it's clear you would take an edge rusher or an O-Lyman. However, four of the starters are solid and the best center in the league leading it.

In one of your podcasts, you said how four good O-Lyman can make a good line showing that isn't a priority for the Chiefs. They also have Jalen Moore, who played games last year. So do many people believe the Chiefs should take a right tackle with nine instead of a linebacker such as Sunny Stiles to replace Chanel and Athletic Freak or Caleb Downs to improve the secondary. I guess my main take on the Chiefs is, if all things are equal, Jalen Moore's a backup.

He's a good swing tackle, right, who can start in a pinch, who's got some talent. but if you have the opportunity to what you believe is a 10-year starter at right tackle that is there, you got to do it. Jalen Moore isn't a long-term answer at left or right tackle. Obviously, Simmons at left tackle. But the Chiefs don't ever plan on drafting this high again. So if you can get one of the Blue Chip linemen or pass rushers, I think it's really hard to pass that up.

Now, if you have Caleb Downs ranked way higher than whoever is on the board at the time, you know, conventional wisdom by the good GMs is take the best player available. That's why Jeremiah Love's not going to fall very far, right? Who do we think is the best player on the board? And if that's Caleb Downs, I think you have to think long and hard about it. If that's Sunny Stiles, I think you have to think long and hard about it. But if all things are equal, right, sunny styles is right there with the best right tackle. I think you've got to take the right tackle because no one's ever complained about having enough good offensive linemen. They just haven't. So Andy reads a former offensive lineman at his core.

And they've had a lot of success drafting good offensive linemen for this team over the years. And I don't think that'll change if there is a guy worthy of that pick. We'll have to see how it shakes out. A lot of stuff's out of their control, right? I mean, they'll have a decent idea, but there's no guarantee Caleb Downs will be there. There's no guarantee one of the top right tackles will be there. So maybe Sunny Styles is just the best player on the board, and that's who they take. Love the show. Love your takes.

But it feels like you and Colin are piling on JJ. Vikings won nine games with a near 35.6 QBR, basically bottom tier. Meanwhile, Kyler Murray's career QBR is 56. That's a 20-point jump. We'll be better, not to mention, were $40 million over the cap. Also, JJ's runway has been wild.

Won a national title, Torres Maniscus, got married, had a baby, all before his first NFL regular season start. JJ's path is infinitely harder, but riding him off completely feels premature. Kyler's 2026 option, not necessarily the long-term plan. I got back-to-back JJ question,

so I'll just ask this one too. With JJ McCarthy's situation looking disaster, is a little bit different opinion. Do you think GMs and coaches will stop reaching on quarterbacks for being a, quote, winner in having a strong handshake when they look you in the eyes? Obviously, being a little dramatic, but there's nothing to me in JJ's production or traits that scream first round.

Even Bo Nix had tangible athleticism that we saw fairly consistently. When I was with Coward on last Friday, he did a topic he led the show with, about being a winner and how overrated being a winner is, right, in college. A.J. McCarron, who's had a really impressive backup quarterback career, was a big-time winner in college for Alabama. Stetson Bennett was a winner at Georgia. Tim Tebow is one of the great winners we've ever seen. J.J. McCarthy played on a team in college where basically every starter, all 22, are players in the NFL.

and a large handful of those guys are starters in the NFL. His head coach wasn't just a college high-end college head coach. He's one of the best head coaches in the NFL. The guy leading the defense on Michigan isn't just a head coach in college. He's viewed as the next Mike McDonald's, Jesse Minter. So he played on a team with a top five, six NFL head coach, with his defensive coordinator who immediately became one of the best defensive

coordinators in the NFL when he came with Jim and then immediately got a job in the NFL to replace Jim's brother John. That's pretty abnormal. When you look at some of these Sabin teams, those guys left to become coaches, they all just became college coaches. These fucking guys said,

peace out to college, went to the NFL, made the playoffs back-to-back years, and then Jesse got a job. So JJ's situation in college is kind of unlike any we've ever seen. at least in the internet age. Like we've seen a lot of Urban and Sabin and Kirby. Their guys get jobs in college.

These guys are NFL guys who kick ass and take names. JJ basically got to drive a Ferrari. And you could argue he didn't have to drive. He had a driver. So he didn't have to do that much. Obviously the game against Penn State where they ran the ball like 30 straight times in the game. He had like a Jimmy Garoppolo level. situation in college.

But when you could do, like any mates and plays, Jimmy was doing that in the pros. So this notion that he could just become Jimmy Garoppolo seemed like a pretty big stretch. And the answer is, so far, not even close. So I don't think it was about winner. I think they thought, like, this guy could be Jimmy Garoppel. This guy could be Derek Carr.

And it turns out, like, those guys had to do way more in college. Derek Carr was throwing like 50, 60 touchdowns in college. Jimmy Garoppola played Division 1 AA but was a dominant player. JJ didn't do shit. And once that Colin had was all the guys in his draft, the other five quarterbacks, they averaged 300 yards a game passing. JJ didn't even average 200. So yeah, he was a winner.

Well, no shit. But you know who, like, he played for the winner, Jim Harbaugh. He just happened to be his quarterback. Everyone that plays for Jim Harbaugh is a winner. going back to the University of San Diego, Josh Johnson, to Kaepernick, to Alex, to all the quarterbacks at Michigan, and now Justin Herbert.

Now, some of those guys are better than others, but Jim Harbaugh's the winner. J.J. McCarthy just happened to be the quarterback on a team that was loaded with NFL guys. So I hear you on the winner thing. It does matter. Like, I'd like you to be winning in college, but like Josh Allen didn't sniff the national championship.

Patrick Mahomes didn't say, sniff the national championship. Lamar Jackson wasn't going to win the national... What was his best season? Like 8 and 4, 9 and 3? It doesn't matter. That's not what translates.

What translates is like, on 3rd and 7, can you hit the out route? Well, Michigan wasn't in 3rd and 7 that often. Because they were getting first downs on like second down, running the ball down your throat, and scoring on defense, dominating, and not allowing any points. And then J.J. goes to Minnesota.

It's like, okay, it's... 20 to 20 fourth quarter could you drive us 50 yards against in field goal range? The answer is no. And the other thing is Kevin O'Connell is the opposite of Jim Harbow.

In a perfect world, Jim Harbaugh would play like the 85 Bears. Would play like the 2011 49ers. Run the ball, play defense, and win every game like 15 to 10. And run every game run for like 140 yards and just dominate the clock.

Multiple sacks just play physical as to. That's like he dreams. Kevin O'Connell dreams of like scoring 40 or 50 points. They're both quarterbacks. Jim Harbaugh was a quarterback. Kevin O'Connell was a quarterback. They philosophically look at football differently when it comes to offense. And Kevin O'Connell wants his quarterback like Sam Donald, throw 35 touchdowns.

Or Kirk Cousins a couple years ago. Be explosive down the field. It's not really JJ's thing, clearly. It's why they pivoted to Kyler Murray. So yeah, are we piling? gone? I didn't create this. They did. I'm just reacting to like, it's a disaster. And they're telling you a disaster by bringing in Kyler Murray who's going to win the job. The job is over. J.J. McCarthy is not going to be the starting quarterback. Now, Kyler could get hurt. J.J.

could play. But if I'm a betting man right now, J.J. McCarthy will not be on the team next year. This was the question about Super Bowl. So I just don't agree that a Super Bowl or being a winner makes you infinitely more marketable. Sure, extreme outliers like Jordan, Brady, or Mahomes that have goat arguments being put on your sports mount Rushmore can lead to more opportunities. The vast majority of players, though, aren't suddenly going to experience a massive surge in opportunities

just because they have a ring or more team success. It's more about charisma, brand-friendliness, and how well you do on camera. Marino's a guy that fans, famously never won a ring, and I see him on my TV all the time due to those factors. If I was going to push back against that example, Marino is widely and universally viewed as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. Right? So if you're Dan Marino or we just go around Dr. Jay, like, he's viewed like he's not the best player of all time, but he is one of the most important players in the history of the sport, you're going to have brand recognition forever. But if you win a Super Bowl or a World Series or an NBA championship,

in that given town, you are going to have marketability, whether you have a huge personality or you're not that personable. That is my point. Now, obviously, you could have a big personality and not win and go on to be a marketable individual, right? Tony Romo, how many playoff games Tony Romo win? Big personality, outspoken, makes $20 million, $30 million a year calling football games, right? Tom Brady got paid $37 million to call football games because he's Tom Brady, obviously.

But Greg Olson, bigger personality, never won a Super Bowl, is going to have a very lucrative and long career calling games. Personality matters, and it's never mattered more than now, and being authentic and being relatable for sure. but if you win in a place, you're kind of taken care of in the sense of like you matter to that organization

in that city and you're marketable in that area. I've seen it in the Bay Area with the San Francisco Giants. It's going to be like that with the Golden State Warriors forever, like everyone that was part of their core group. You know, Clay Thompson isn't the biggest personality. Right? But he's a made man in the Bay Area

until the day he dies. And like you said, They're extreme outliers, Jordan, Tiger Woods, Tom Brady, Serena, right, Federer. But I think there are a lot of guys in that next tier that once you become a champion, it changes the course of your career. And it changes the way you're viewed. Especially if you're in a bigger market, right? If the New York Knicks win the NBA championship this year, their best player, Jalen Brunson, who's going to be so rich it won't even matter whether they win it or not.

But there are other role players that would just be, like when I think about the New York Knicks when I was a kid, They never even won it. And John Starks and some of the core guys that still feel synonymous with that team, and sometimes you see it the games. So I think it's no different if you win a championship in some of these markets. You're just, you matter there for a long time. And there are different amounts of money. But using Dan Marino's example, like,

Dan Marino is one of the greatest players of all time. Whether he wins a championship or not, If you're one of the greatest players of all time, like you're going to be famous for a long time. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, news? Huge news.

We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a podcast. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys?

I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call. it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say, Hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for

remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the

Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines.

We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs. the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context,

and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Okay, we'll end on this.

Question for the pod. I've heard you and Colin give your opinion on the Bears. And I just don't see the same thing. Granted, I'm a Packer fan. But hear me out. No DJ Moore. No Pro Bowl Center retired for an inferior player. True, true. Their entire secondary, who turned over the ball at a historic rate last season are now on other teams. Mainly true. Jaylon Johnson's back, but, you know, he was banged up last year and missed time. But I hear you. they lost Edmondson linebacker and replaced them with Devin Bush

like for like in my opinion done next to nothing to improve a non-existent pass rush I will say Kobe Bryant was a good addition but he's not making a mid-defense who relied on turnovers that much better help me understand he created 14 turnovers

the last two years so I would say he's a turnover guy you I think hope Jalen Johnson gets back to 100% from his injury you have to draft defense. I hear you on the pass rush. Part of the reason I'm a believer is there's natural turnover year to year, right? The Chiefs just lost their entire secondary.

When you have a starhead coach, I just believe in you. I think Ben Johnson is top-notch. I put him with Sean McVeigh. I put him with Kyle Shanahan. I put him with Andy Reid, Sean Payton. I think he's got a chance to be just an all-timer. I think he's pretty special.

I would take Ben Johnson over Kevin O'Connell. I feel pretty confident about that, actually. Partly because philosophically I see the game, I'm not acting like I know scheme like either guy, but Ben Johnson's core, I think he wants to run the ball more. Kevin O'Connell is a little more pass-happy for me. But when you have that, I just buy into you.

So they do bring a lot of guys back. Obviously, like you said, the center thing, nothing they could do to control that. But that it is what it is. They didn't plan on that happening. In a perfect rule, he doesn't retire, and they don't have to trade for the Patriot guy, right, who's not as good of a player. They let some guys go in the secondary, right?

Obviously, they picked the ball off a lot, which their defense wasn't good, but they had a historic turnover rate. I just think their offense is going to be better. and defensively, like we'll see. I mean, we'll see what they do in the draft. I think they're going to be pretty good. I think they're going to be pretty good.

I think Dennis Allen's a really good defensive coordinator. I think their head coach who's also the play caller is a stud. And if I just bet on Caleb Williams getting 5, 8% better, it's becoming a little more. Now, if that doesn't happen, then yeah. I think they could be the same exact team, but not as good, right? Because their defense might not have as many turnovers. so they win 10 games.

But if you tell me Caleb gets better, even if their defense has some deficiencies, I think they could be really good. So I'm betting on Ben Johnson, improving Caleb Williams, and keeping the momentum as a great head coach to improve the team. I'm much higher on the Packers than most people.

Their history speaks for itself. They had a bunch of weird shit happen, and they, like at one point in time last year, I thought they were going to win the NFC. So I think they have a chance to get right back and the Lions offense was very bizarre last year. They have a little bunch of injuries. I think the Lions could be a factor.

So listen, it's not easy. In Minnesota, it's like not some, if they're the fourth best team in your division, which some would argue, Middokov, what are you talking about? They're a problem as well. Kyler, I mean, they couldn't be as bad as they were last year on offense from a passing game standpoint.

So I hear you. I think it's fair. But I'm betting on Ben Johnson. I'm betting on improving the quarterback. And I just bet on good head coaches to be good. It's really that simple. I mean, I don't know what else to tell you. The volume.

Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired. It's a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman

help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel. Help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your deal? group perform. We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where sports slice comes in. I'm Timbo. In every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slical Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless. And at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know. I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast for no nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments set to find Roland Garris. She's an outsider to win the French name.

And she likes Clay. Listen, Lernerabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.