The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 & Out - Matt LaFleur’s Future, Jerry Jones at the Deadline, Kyler to IR & Drew Brees’ New Gig

Episode Date: November 6, 2025

On this episode of 3 & Out with John Middlekauff, John takes a look at Matt LaFleur’s future in Green Bay and what’s next for the Packers after another disappointing game. He breaks down how Jerry Jones approached the trade deadline and whether the moves he made are what's best for the Cowboys. Plus, John reacts to Kyler Murray heading to IR and shares his thoughts on Drew Brees’ new role calling games for FOX. Finally, John answers your questions in this episode's mailbag segment. 03:59 - The future of LaFleur in GB 10:35 - Jerry Jones and the trade deadline 20:29 - Kyle murray to the IR 23:30 - Kirk Cousins and his future 27:20 - Dress Brees goes to FOX 31:28 - Tom Brady clones his dog 44:48 - Mailbag Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest.  All lines provided by Hard Rock Bet Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow -  for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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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 SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo, and 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 Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

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She's an outsider to win the French friend. 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 podcasts on the IHeart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged.

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What is going on, everybody, John Middlekopf, three and out podcast, presented by my friends at Zone Pouches. Big show coming up. I saw an interesting stat today on Jordan Love that I think is going to put even more pressure on Matt LaFleur and this big picture question, is he going to be the long-term coach of the Green Bay Packers? He's essentially in a contract year. Him and Gutakins did not get their contract extended.

After this year, he will only have one left. And most people, unlike Mike McCarthy, do not operate as lame duck guys. Some thoughts on Jerry Jones and the trade deadline. Kirk Cousins, it's official now. He's earned two years, $90 million. So we'll dive in, we'll just do some rapid fire stuff. Kyler Murray. Drew Brees is going to TV now, replacing Sanchez. Tom Brady cloned his dog.

So we got a lot going on that we will dive into, as well as we'll have a mail bag out today. So at John Middilkoff is the Instagram firing those DMs. Get your questions answered here on this little old podcast. And this podcast exists because of our friends, because of our partners, zone pouches. This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical underage sale prohibited. If you're as competitive as I am, you're always looking for something to help you stay dialed in. That'll be what I will be doing this weekend on the golf course.

And my thing is zone nicotine pouches. You won't catch me without. Typically I go dragon fruit, but my local chevron was out of him. So I went with some mitts. And not to mention, they have 20 pouches per can versus the other guys than only have 15. So choose zone and dominate the day. use the promo code number three and out 20 at Nico kick for 20% off at checkout. I didn't realize there was so much pressure on Matt LaFleur from this fan base.

I just would have guessed coming into this year. It was pretty highly respected. I would say universally liked. And then you drop a game as a big favor to the Browns. You tie the Cowboys and then you drop that Carolina game at home. And people start asking some serious questions. And most people are not Mike McCarthy. they're not going to coach a lame duck season,

even though college and the NFL is a lot different, there's no recruiting. So technically they could run them back next year on a one-year deal. Typically, that does not happen. And I think when you look at the Green Bay Packers, one, if the job became available, it's one of the best jobs in the world when it comes to sports. I'm talking international soccer,

obviously baseball, basketball, football, or hockey here. It doesn't get much better than being the head coach of the Green Bay Packers. It's a very stable organization, which is a lot of good players. And clearly a well-run front office that has lasted the test of time from the 90s since Ron Wolf got there. It has basically streamlined through Ted Thompson, now to Goudicans. They all are interconnected because they've all worked for each other. And I saw a stat today that made me go, God, this is, I kind of understand what they're saying. And he gets credit for this, but this also puts you in a position where the heat is on.

and I didn't do a very good job of singing that song. But the stat was, this is the list of quarterbacks that have 10,000 yards, 70 touchdowns, and less than 30 interceptions in their first 50 games. So through about 2 and a half years of their early career, this is the list of guys who have played pretty well. Patrick Mahomes, obviously one of the greatest players of all time, Russell Wilson, Hall of Fame, start to his career in Seattle.

Dak Prescott, who drives a lot of us nuts, but obviously he's had some really, really good years and really started fast, and Jordan Love. And started thinking, like, I'd remove Mahomes from that list. He's clearly an outlier. But when you look at the other two guys, like Russell Wilson in the peak of his powers, was getting Pete Carroll contract extensions, and they were competing for Super Bowls. Dak Prescott, on the flip side, kind of underwhelmed in some big games. And essentially, he was an older version, but let's face it, Mike McCarthy got fired because Dak Prescott did not play well in the playoffs at all. Played bad against the 49ers four years ago. Played bad again against the 49ers the following year.

And obviously was horrendous with the rest of the team against the Green Bay Packers two years ago. But when you are in a situation with a quarterback who is producing, and your team is going to go to the playoffs, you're held to a pretty high standard. And that quarterback actually makes it more like people questioning your ability because you go, oh, this guy's pretty solid. And clearly the talent around him is good and their defense is good, which has kind of always been a downfall of the Green Bay Packers.

So when I go, well, is Matt Fullflaw are going to get extended? I'd say, he better win some playoff games. Because I do think there's a chance that you, could question, it's kind of like the James Franklin thing. James Franklin did not get fired because he lost Oregon. He did not get fired because he lost Ohio State. He got fired the moment he started losing the UCLA at Northwestern. It's like, listen, if you lose in the second round, like last year, Sean McVeigh going toe to toe with the Philadelphia Eagles, he lost. That actually was like a notch on his belt. It was really impressive. It'll be something these last couple years,

Sean McVeigh may never win the Super Bowl again. I don't know. Maybe he'll win two more. But those two years where he's rattled off back-to-back 10-win seasons and had playoff teams has been pretty impressive. You know, Kyle Shanahan is not going to make the Super Bowl this year. And if he does make the playoffs, he'll probably get curb stomped in the first round. But just making the playoffs with a bunch of randos is a big deal. Now, part of it for Matt LaFloric goes, what is your ceiling? And your ceiling because, and it could be the quarterback.

Where is Jordan Love going to fall? is he Dak Prescott? Like, how's he going to play in the playoffs? But ultimately, he's going to determine Matt LaFleur's fate. Obviously, Matt LaFleur has some control over that because he's calling the plays. But, like, he's not telling Jordan Love to throw across his body in the red zone right to a Carolina defender. I'm sure he's not giving him a thumbs up on that. And I think it's going to come down to, is this young guy the version of Russell Wilson,

who was making all these crazy plays and obviously doing well in the playoffs? Or is it going to be a Dak Prescott? situation where it just underwhelms. Now, if I remember correctly, Dak Prescott, his rookie season when he played the Green Bay Packers in the second round when I think they were the one seat, actually played pretty well.

They lost the game, but it was because their defense got shredded. But ultimately, Jason Garrett got fired. And I just think that when it comes to this Packer situation, I think in a perfect world they would love to just, even if they don't make the Super Bowl, be the NFC championship game, extend everybody and just, keep this thing rolling.

Sometimes that doesn't happen. And when you lose games like you do against Carolina and Cleveland, it's hard to trust you as a team. And they're playing the Philadelphia Eagles this week on Monday night football. There are going to be a lot of eyeballs on that game. And here's the thing about the Green Packers. They get up for the big games, right? At least they have this season.

It's going to be like, well, what happens when they play the Bears? What happens when they play J.J. McCarthy and the Minnesota Vikings who might be out of it by then? Right? Because they have some tough. games on their schedule. They still got to go to Detroit, to Denver. You know, what does Baltimore look like when they play them later? So I just think that this situation for Matt LaFleur is something that I would have told you you were crazy, you know, six months ago that his job was in jeopardy.

Better win. You don't have to win the Super Bowl. You don't have to win the NFC. But I do think you've got to show out in the playoffs. You can't have a situation like last year where it was just that first round game was an embarrassment. If it wasn't for Josh Jacobs who played his ass off, there would have been a bigger negative stink coming into the season. And if he has another one of those, I think his job would be in major jeopardy. Okay, Jerry Jones, I was thinking about this.

Because I didn't mind the trade. I do understand the argument of like, teams going nowhere. Like acquiring Quinn and Williams, who is a good player and immediately their best player on defense. like it's not bad business and over the next the course of this season and then next year all you're giving up during that period of time

is your second rounder. Now in 2007 you are giving up a first rounder which is the best version of yours or Green Bay so even if you're decent, what if Green Bay I mean what Jordan Love breaks his ankle and their backup quarterback's in shambles

maybe they have a new coach and they won six games and that's pick seven so you just never know But I was thinking about Jerry Jones, who is 83, who just turned 83. When that 2007 first rounder has played a month, Jerry's birthday is in October, a month in the NFL, Jerry will be 85 years old. And if you think about it like this, if I gave you $10 million, if you just handed me $10 million right now at 40 years old, I'd have a lot of options. I probably would try to make some long-term place, right? invest in the stock market, invest in property, maybe buy a second home for my family, I don't know,

but I would think big picture, right? If you just handed me $10 million and I was 80 years old, I probably would operate a little bit differently, right? I'd be like, well, who knows how much longer I have, whoever is still alive, hey, I'm going to charter a plane and let's go to Hawaii. You know, let's go do something fun, right? Who knows how much longer, this $10 million doesn't come with me to the grave. It's not really how it works. You've never seen Wells Fargo or Bank of America following a Hearst. Not the way it works.

So I do think when you're Jerry, and this is because most GMs and most younger owners, I think, in that situation, just would not, because you could argue this Quinn and Williams trade would have still been there in six months, right? In February, at the combine, leading up to free agency.

But here's the problem. Jerry's not thinking about five years from now. He's 83 years old. and while I do think if they hit on some picks next year, they still have two first rounders. And free agency, if they sign a couple good players, their team could be better, right, on defense. Because we know offensively they're going to have pieces

and they're going to be fine. But I think a lot of people questioning is like, why would the Cowboys do that? Because Jerry looks at that 2007 first rounder like, there might be a 50-50 chance I'm six feet under. I'm not even around. Now, that's not the healthiest way to run a franchise, but I do kind of get it. And I do think their logic and mindset on it changed when their GM is 83 years old.

No other team would employ a GM probably even close to 70, let alone in his 80s. So the Cowboys are just a different operation. And, you know, Quinn and Williams, I saw it some quotes today saying, listen, the Jets knew I was frustrated with losing. It's like, well, I don't know how many games you're going to win this year with Dallas, but probably won't be that many more than the Jets. But hey, you know, based on New York State income taxes and Jersey and Mondami, raising that shit, you're going to save some cash. But I will say this.

Jerry's living in the moment, you know. Jerry's living in the moment. And that's why we talked about this yesterday with Aaron Glenn. They are probably in no rush. Like they're going to want to use all those picks, right? And rebuild this thing. And they'll say this over and over. We want to rebuild this thing the right way, right?

And totally agree with them. I'd want to rebuild the thing the right way. And the GM is going to sell this to Woody. I'm going to take these picks and I'm going to build a team full of guys like sauce gardener, Quinny Williams, guys like that, right? I'm going to nail picks with a bunch of sweet players. But he gets to take a more macro look at everything. That's how GMs talk.

They think big picture. They don't live dated. practice to practice week to week. They're part of that operation, but they're during the week, especially, you know, in November and December, GMs are watching a lot of college film. They're watching guys that are going to be free agents in 2006. They're not focused on the upcoming opponent. It's not the way it works. I do think that Aaron Glenn, in any coach in his situation, because it's easy for him. I saw you had some quotes today of saying, like, we're going to try to build a team and coach a team that makes the fans proud. It's hard to do that when you

suck. And as a CEO head coach when you suck, it can look really bad, really fast. Because people start asking, what are you doing? And I mentioned this early in the week. The thing with Aaron Glenn is you're going to have to prove to everybody, including your owner, and he can say all the nice things right now and he likes you and gave you a contract. He's proven he will fire people. He will not hesitate. He's proven he's a little crazy. So the only way you can prove that is like show some tangible impact. And I said this yesterday and I will keep repeating this. I do think he needs to take the reins back to be the defensive coach.

So you're like, oh, he's, look at him scheming on a weekly basis. Look what he brings to the table. So even while we suck, we go, we got something in this guy. But in three years, when you've averaged four wins a season, it's like, well, we got all these picks. All people will say, was our coach any good? Do I want Aaron Glenn coaching those guys? Because people will forget what Aaron

Glenn did with the lions. Because in 2008, that'll be five years ago. We have, we have memories like Goldfish now. We do not like, oh, remember back in 2004? People do not think like that. That's not, our society's too fast pace. We're losing too many brain cells with the cell phone, social media, and just everything coming into our brains. So in three years, if it continues to look ugly and I'm just like, I'm the CEO, I'm the head head coach, it is not going to go well. I do think he's going to have to do something dramatic. They can tell him whatever he wants to hear right now. We're in it for the long haul with this guy. We really like this guy. Easy to say. Tell me that after another season of four wins. So back-to-back years of sucking. That's just, that's a long football season of just

losing on a weekly basis, which let's face it, that's probably going to continue. Today's show is brought to you by our new presenting sponsor Hard Rock Bet. We talk a lot of football in three and out, but there's always something to bet on. The NBA's in full swing. college hoops literally started Monday, and even the NHL is heating up. So if you haven't tried your first bet yet, just download the Hard Rock Bet app, and there's still time for you to get 150 in bonus bets. Just place a $5 bet, and if it hits, you not only get your winnings, but 150 in extra bonus bets. The Hard Rock Bet Sportsbook app is the only legal sportsbook whenever you're in Florida.

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What's the news, name? 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 throughout there.

But this one's extra special. So how did 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 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 Slicelife-Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis.

And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs' tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening. at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jen she won. I mean, she went down at three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface because if she's serving, well, good luck.

Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Let's hit on some other things. Kyler Murray was officially put on IR today.

And Jonathan, they've really tiptoed around this situation, which I understand, right? If you are, if you're trying to sell a car, you're not going to tell the guy like, yeah, this thing kind of sucks. Breaks down all the time. It's not very reliable, right? You try to uplift. Like, my car's great.

I've had it for three years. Never had an issue. Air conditioning's freezing cold. Speakers are great. Brand new tires. I mean, this thing's ready to roll. Right? So you want to promote this guy.

You never want it to come out, even if everyone knows, that we bench Kyler Murray. Again, even if literally everyone understands that, that's never coming out of your mouth. And I don't ever expect for them to say, we've benched Kyler Murray. But they bench Kyler Murray.

And there's nothing. wrong with that. I got no problem with that. They didn't draft him in the first place. He hasn't played that well. He's been banged up. But Jacoby Perciet and the offenses is better with him. And most importantly, their guy, the guy they drafted number four overall, Marvin Harrison, looks good with Jacobi Perce. So now the question is, like, what happens now? And there's no disputing. Like, Tyler Murray's better than a lot of guys in the league. At least can be on an individual game basis. Over the course of games, I'm not quite sure he's a winning quarterback. But I don't think he has much trade value.

So if I had the guess right now, I would expect Kyler Murray to be released in February. That would be my guess. That Kyler Murray will be a free agent going into the free agent market in middle of March. But I do not think he will have a trade market, even if it is for nothing, based on how much money he was making. If you told me his contract was $20 million a year, I'd be like, yeah, some team for sure could bring. him as a bridge quarterback, trade like a fifth round pick. No one is taken at a salary of $45, $50 million. That is just not taking place with a massive cap hit. That's not the way it works. Because I believe if he was on the open market, you know, in February, to me his market

would be like, I think someone would give him one year $15 million. I think the Jets proved that like they gave a guy two years $40 million and immediately regretted it. Now, could you give Kyler that contract, you surely could, but why would you? And that's the thing with the Jets. It's like, you trust these guys making all these moves? Because I don't know if I do. But, and that's, listen, all these guys are competing for a job, their job, right? And that's ultimately what these guys are doing in Arizona. I'm sure they want contract extensions. But it's hard to give someone a contract extension at 7 and 10. It's a little bit easier if you go, look, when we didn't have to play with Kyler Murray and we got a capable backup, our team wasn't that bad. So, hey, this offseason,

if we can just get a solid starter, our team should be pretty solid. And that is probably going to be their pitch. Speaking of bad quarterbacks, Kurt Cousins, who, him and his agent, who, I know a little bit, Mike, has done an incredible job. They fleece the Atlanta Falcons. I mean, fleeced Atlanta. Kirk Cousins will officially have made for two years of work, started 15 games, he made $90 million. He threw 18 touchdown passes. He threw 16 interceptions and was objectively a below average player. And listen, he was good before he hurt his Achilles, but when you're in your late 30s and you hurt your Achilles and you're able to get a four-year $180 million contract with almost $100 million guarantee, you deserve a round of applause.

That is great business Because the Atlanta Falcons a month later drafted a guy number 8th overall Which we're not sure can play either And this speaks to the downfall of this franchise right now They not only can't figure out the quarterback position They keep making the wrong moves Right

A couple years ago they started Desmond Ritter to come into a season What did you guys think was going to happen? Then they overcorrect in the offseason and they give a guy who can't play anymore because like everyone in the history of football or pro sports, once you get older, you fall off a cliff. That could be 32, it could be 35,

it could be Tom Brady and be 44. You never know. But it happens to quarterbacks. It happens to Breeze. It happened to Ropt this burger. It happened to Peyton Manning. Having to Rivers, having to Matt Ryan. Happens to every guy.

And that was Kirk Cousins. Achilles, career over. But before his career was over, I'm getting $90 million from Home Depot. And that's what he did. So congrats to Kirk Cousins, which I do think if the Atlanta Falcons continue to underachieve and obviously don't make the playoffs, I think this will be one of the pivotal moments that will lead to everyone in that building getting fired. Because the football operation, it's one thing when you're losing games, it's another thing when you start allocating funds to people that can.

I mean, they paid $27.5 million for Cousins to be their backup this year. I think we're probably five plus years away before backup money even sniffs. $20 million, right? It's pretty rare when you see that one, like Sam Darnel last year, one year $10 million. Daniel Jones, one year $14 million. But I think in both cases, they kind of knew the guy was going to be the starter. I just, how many guy, I'm going to be a backup,

it's usually the going, Mac Jones got two years, $7 million. What gardener mint you get? One year, $4 million. I mean, usually the going rate is $3 to $5 million, and you had Kirk Cousins getting $27.5. And then he was forced to play and obviously did not do well. And they got boat race by the Miami Dolphins. Okay, really quick, before we dive into a couple more things. You know, I've got to tell you about my friends, game time.

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Swipe, tap, ticket, go download the GameTime app today. Okay, a couple more things. You know, Drew Brees has been pretty adamant that he would be one of the best broadcasters in America if he was given the chance. Now, granted, we saw him a couple years ago on NBC. Did not go well. Some of that, if I remember correctly, was in studio.

So sometimes being in studio and doing a game can be a little different. Like the studio situation, especially when there's seven guys on the desk, can be difficult to get your opinions and your thoughts out. JJ Watts, a good example. Like, you put him on the desk with five other guys. Like, I'm not really much to take away. I watch him doing the broadcast. I'm like, hey, he's pretty solid.

He's not bad. He's kind of fun. He can make some jokes. He's pretty comfortable in that seat. So I think the problem is, is there's an arrogance with Drew Breeze because he was such a great player and his belief in himself,

it should be really high. He just thinks I'm going to dominate this. And part of being great as a broadcaster is like this is entertainment man. Like your job as a football player was very production-based about learning, understanding the defense, that executing it,

your personality, obviously you had to be a leader as a quarterback, but it's a completely different profession. Like, can you make me smile? Can you crack a joke? Can you be serious? We'd be critical of a guy. Like, it's really, really, are you comfortable in your own skin? Can you be self-deprecating?

Can you literally, can you make fun of yourself? Because you just being a famous former, you know, future Hall of Famer doesn't just make you a good broadcaster. Honestly, it's kind of irrelevant. How often if you just go around baseball or basketball for the local broadcasts, can you find guys calling games that we're were by no means the team's biggest stars, they're really good because they're really, really entertaining. I grew up on Dwayne Kuiper and Mike Kruko. Dwayne Kiper is an outlier.

He is a former professional baseball player who is the play-by-play guy for the Giants and has been for decades. Again, he's not a broadcaster, you know, went to Syracuse or Northwestern and learned and then worked his way around. He literally was a Major League Baseball player. one career home run, and calls the games. And his partner also, they're not Barry Bonds or Willie Mace, but they're elite at their job. They're older now, but in their prime, it did not get any better than those two.

Why? Because they were really, really entertaining. And I just think part of football, you've got to find a lane. And Troy Aikman, he's kind of a hard ass. He will let it rip. Collinsworth, he's fun. Romo, it's kind of all over the place. I just wonder what Bree's,

because everyone loved him as a teammate. He was universally respected and liked in that locker room. But that was because he was a great player and a great worker and everything he did for that franchise was about winning. As a broadcaster, none of that really matters.

I mean, it obviously matters that you have the credentials as a player, that if you say something, we think you know what you're talking about. but it's going to be very interesting to just next time he calls a game I'm going to put it on because he stalked a big game and last time he got a shot it did not go well at NBC because I think a lot of these guys kind of get in that mold

of as a player when the camera was on I kind of had to turn on my politician hat I couldn't maybe be as personable right it's why the guys that can be personable with a TV camera on them are some of our biggest personalities. Why do you think Kelsey has flown up the ranks, both of them?

Because they can be loose in front of a camera. George Kittles is the same thing. You watch some of these guys, like, God, he won't say anything. So Drew Breed is one of those guys who didn't say that much. So now he's just going to go television and just dominate. We'll see. I hope he does. The more good broadcaster is the better.

Tom Brady cloned his dog. I guess he's part of this company this, you know, bioscience company that's, you know, investing in the cloning world. I don't know if it's just animals. I would imagine humans as well.

My first reaction as someone that has a little dog that's a little older, that obviously the dog's not going to live forever, I don't think I would do that. Because I think what would be really weird is that if you cloned the dog and so you gave me the same looking type dog of my pug zoo 32 pounds kind of fat underbite likes to eat but there's no way the personality would be the same so i would have lully 2.0 but i'm i'm sure she

would probably act a little bit differently that would throw me off and that feels a little too like dystopian zombie land for me it's not something that at first blush when i read the headline i'd be that interested in. But the least shocking thing I've ever seen is that Tom Brady is in the cloning business. Because in what world could you find a guy in his, you know, what's Tom, 46, 47 years old, who has his money just grows and gross. He's in great shape. He's single. Guess what I would never want to do if I was him. Die. I'd want to live forever. I would never want this world to stop. I got a house in Miami, got a house in some Italian villa, I've got a house in Vegas, I got a house in Newport Beach, I got seven girlfriends all around.

Everywhere I go, I fly private, I don't have to deal with any human beings. My life doesn't get much better. So, hey, we got this business that's cloning in. Dogs, well, could it be humans one day? I'm in. I want to clone myself and I want to keep going. So the least shocking thing I've ever seen is that Tom Brady does not want this thing to stop. If I was him, I wouldn't either.

I'd want to keep this train rolling down the tracks. So, listen, I would not be into cloning a dog. I just think that would be a little too weird. I think there's part of it, like just let the dog be and hold on to those memories. But I do understand why Tom would one day not want his life to end. It just, it's too good. I didn't work 20 years to build this decade to then become work. hundreds of millions of dollars and one day probably going to own the Raiders for this not to

last as long as I can. What's the point of having all this money if I can't one day maybe just keep living a little bit longer? Totally understand where he's coming from there. And last but not least, one story I saw on the interweb that kind of made me laugh is people are always arguing like we all acknowledge football is the most popular sport. No second place. Like the gap between the sport of football and that includes college football and the other sports is gigantic. right the world series just did huge numbers 25 million people watch game seven for example the chiefs and the bills on sunday afternoon a regular season game did over 30 million people but i saw a lot of people arguing about what's more popular basketball versus baseball

and obviously depending on the market some some places the NBA team does really well obviously in some markets like the cubs the dodgers the yankees Baseball teams do really well. But here's what I know, because people made a really big deal over the World Series, getting 10 million more viewers in Game 7 versus the NBA. Guys, the Los Angeles Dodgers are infinitely bigger than the Oklahoma City Thunder. Are infinitely bigger than the Indiana Pacers. It is not a fair fight.

So we can argue baseball's relevance, how culturally impactful it all is, Here's what I know. The Los Angeles Dodgers by themselves, just like the New York Yankees. They did huge ratings last year when they played each other in the World Series. Are two of the rare teams in baseball or basketball that would be the equivalent of NFL teams. The NFL is the only sport that can take small markets,

Kansas City Buffalo, and do enormous numbers. The other two sports cannot. If the twins had played the Diamondbacks in the World Series, guess what? No one would have watched. If the Oklahoma City Thunder play the Indiana Pacers in the NBA finals, guess what? Not as many people are going to watch as if the Lakers played the Knicks. This is a pretty easy math equation. But one constant these last couple years with big ratings in baseball have to do with one team and one team only.

And that's the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are a fucking cash cow. They have an enormous, I mean a long list of generations of. of fans. They have one, I mean, just, they're in one of the biggest cities in the world, and they have been relevant as a franchise for several generations because they've won in multiple different decades. But the way they're doing it too with this international superstar and basically buying the, you know, all the best Japanese players have, has even added a wrinkle of like, oh, they have the Japanese Babe Ruth. But not like the fat Babe Ruth that couldn't

really run and probably threw 88 miles an hour. Yeah, he throws 100, and he's 6-5, and he runs like he's Derek Stingley Jr. You know, yeah, and he pitches like he's Roger Clemens. It's like, what? Like, people are good, even if you're not that into baseball, you're going to pay attention. I'm a good example. I didn't watch any, I didn't watch a total of nine innings the entire baseball season. I probably watched 80% of the Dodger games. I just found them must watch. They're pretty interesting. No different than like, I didn't watch the Blue J. Seattle. You know why? Didn't do anything for me.

I didn't care. Guess what I did watch? Blue Jays versus the Yankees. The big brands in baseball matter. And as long as the Dodgers are winning every year, guess what? A lot of people are going to watch. People like dynasties. They just do.

They interest people. The Bulls, the Patriots, now the Chiefs, the Warriors, like they move the needle. Like the random one-hit wonder like the Indiana Pacers do not. And I'm not trying to take shots at the Indiana Pacers. I grew up, have a lot of respect for that franchise. Reggie Miller, the Davis brothers, Mark Jackson, Larry Bird. Like, I got no issue with them.

But this isn't that complicated. If the Lakers were in the NBA finals against the Boston Celtics, those numbers would have been up as well. But if the Oklahoma City Thunder keep making the NBA finals, even if they do become a dynasty, I just don't think people are going to get behind it. It's just, it's not going to work. You know, that's why I think the NBA wanted Luca with the Lakers. It's why the Major League Baseball has no issues with Shohei Otani going to the Dodgers.

They wouldn't mind some better players going to the Yankees. It's a basic math equation. And they got more eyeballs when they're on television than all these other franchises. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the 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. First people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. 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. We 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, Nell'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 I-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 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 beaders 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 podcast or wherever you get your podcast and for more follow timbo slice of life 12 in the tick tock podcast network on tick tock the french open is one of the toughest tests in tennis and i know firsthand because i competed there myself i'm rene stubs and on the rene stubbs tennis podcast i'm breaking down everything happening at roland garris every match every upset and what it really takes to win on clay jen she win i mean she went down to three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me.

And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. 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. in an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged.

It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's what we're going to do right now. Little Middle Coff mailbag. DMs wide open. It's my Instagram. DM's wide open. Slide in those DMs. Get your questions answered on this show.

At John Middlecoff. At John Middlecoff. Is my Instagram. DM's wide open. Fire in. Let's pull up some DMs. Start with, we'll start with Derek. Is Brandon Ayyuk done for the season?

Kyle originally said they were targeting week six for his return, but it's now week 10. and he says they aren't opening up his practice window until he can hit specific, quote, GPS speed metrics. With an injury like his, what happens if he's never able to hit those metrics again? I don't expect to see him this year. I would say that this season is a wash.

And I think that situation is just a sad situation, right? Obviously, they paid him. He came back. He just looked out of sorts of, and then he had a devastating injury. You know, it wasn't just your typical torn ACL. There were ligaments. It was really bad.

I mean, there is a chance that he is never the same. And that is the defense of why you hold out to try to get as much money as possible, right? From his side, he did exactly what you should do to protect yourself if in a situation like this happens. He was a dominant route running wide receiver. dominant might be strong, but a high-end route running player right, cuts, explosion in and out of breaks

just was awesome at getting open and then his knee-snapped. And now they gave him a lot of money and, you know, I think there's a decent chance that he is never effective again, which is one of the big risk of this sport is that you can have a catastrophic

injury and regardless, like modern medicine's never been better than it is now. Right? Like I'm, when I was a kid, Achilles injuries would end careers. Now it's like, especially with a young player, they can bounce back. ACL injuries, you might as well like have a nosebleed. They're nothing. But when you have ligaments and it was really bad. So I do, I have no expectation to see Brennan Ayuk this season. We're Purdy, really. I mean, so really they gave a lot of money to Purdy and Iuke and both of them had just awful injuries. Now Purdy's injury, not going to derail his career, but it cost them to

2025, it looks like. How do you think other head coaches view Signetti? Do you think they respect him, or is there a bit of an envy hostility toward him since he's shown the program can be flipped overnight? If I'm a new or current head coach at program X, Y, or Z,

is there less of a run way before my seat starts to heat up? I definitely think he's changed the game a little bit, and I think he's added pressure of like he's flipped it immediately. I mean, he's going to make the playoffs back-to-back years. He's going to have two straight years making the playoffs at Indiana. So when you're Auburn, you're like, we're not even remotely close.

When you're Florida, you're like, what is going on? When you're Penn State and you're losing to UCLA, you're like, how is this happening? So I think he is a direct reflection of people being pissed off around the country at their coach. I, you don't want a guy who I think is going to heat up on is Mario Cristobal because they're paying him a lot of money. He, I mean, should have had his pick of the litter at quarterback, and he picked Carson Back, and Carson Beck's cost them two games. Cost them two games.

Just horrendous interceptions. So, and anyone could have told, you know, a couple years ago when, when they had Cam Ward, their defense wasn't any good, I guess that was last year. but this year when they signed Carson back everyone's like hey man we just watched Carson seems a little risky especially like how much you give it them like $5 million?

You sure there's not another guy out there and now they're going to miss the playoffs and to me it's crazy the crazy part about college football and I was thinking this when the top 12 came out is my cousin who played at Fresno State in like

2003, four or five, six rings. range and then I went to work when he finished a couple years after he finished playing. When I was at Fresno State, we were in the whack. And the whack had Boise State, it had New Mexico, it had New Mexico, or it didn't have New Mexico State, had Hawaii. Who else did we play?

Utah State. But before, like a couple years before, it had schools like Utah and BYU and San Diego State. They were in the whack. And then they all merged and created the Mountain West, which for a long time had New Mexico, San Diego State, Utah, BYU, schools like that.

And I'm looking now, Utah and BYU are better programs and ranked higher than Miami, especially Utah. You know, BYU in the early 80s, like won a national championship. But Utah, like, Utah is just better than Florida State. And it's better than, like, who, would you take on a neutral site, winner gets into the playoffs, Miami or Utah? Who would you trust

more? Because I know my answer. Kyle Winningham in Utah. So it shows you the power in the NFL. The Jets are a disaster because they have no quarterback. They've hit on all these picks, you know, a ton of picks. No quarterback, none of it matters.

Even if you have a decent coach, right? And who knows? I mean, Saul or Aaron Glenn good head coach is, I don't know. But even if I gave them Andy Reid. He could only do so much with Justin Fields. They would clearly be better than they are now. But at the end of the day, if your quarterback's bad, your quarterback's bad. So I think when you look, the quarterback in college football is kind of the coach.

And then obviously that coach needs to, then his second most important guy is the quarterback. But you could win in college football with average quarterbacks. Will Howard, Riley Leonard, they were drafting like the sixth, seventh round. You do not need Joe Burrow to win the national championship. helps. But like, you can win the national championship if your coach knows what he's doing and building up the program or compete for one with a third rounder. The coach is the most important guy. So when you get the coach wrong, it is just, you got no shot. One thing I'm going to hit on, I think, on Fugazi Friday is one story that kind of went viral was Hugh Freeze and Brian Kelly

playing a lot of golf. Have some thoughts there when it comes to a college coach. It's just crazy. The landscape of college is just a lot different. Like, if I can just win it at, you know, Utah go to the playoffs or I can win it Indiana to go to the playoffs. Like is Penn State like I think we talk about that job like it's 1987 or 1998. It's obviously

it's a good job but what the hell is the difference nowadays? Do I have an infrastructure? Can I pay the coach? Can I pay coordinators? Because if I do I have NIL? I can win anywhere. It's like the world is flat. You know before, think about this. I'm living in Scottsdale, Arizona. 30 years

ago I would not have been here. right i wouldn't have had the optionality because of my profession just like so many human beings who can operate from wherever technology changed the game i would probably still be in northern california well now scotsdale is much more desirable austin texas is much more desirable florida is much more desirable nashville's much more desirable because human beings are much more more it's easier to transport your life and still operate and work regardless where you live because the world truly is flat now with technology. That wasn't the case 20, 30 years ago.

So where you were based, you know, if you wanted to work in finance, you kind of had to be in New York or San Francisco. If you wanted to work in Hollywood, you know, or you wanted to be in the movies, you kind of had to go to Southern California. And times have dramatically changed, and they will only continue to change, right? So I think it's no different than college football as it is in society. As times change, things change and things that used to be norm.

no longer are. You know, it wasn't just cool to live in Nashville or Austin, Texas, or Scottsdale, Arizona in 1996. People weren't just lined up to move there. 30 years later, things have changed. No different college football. Some things are still the same. But, like, you know, I mean, Penn State would have been a no-brainer.

Everyone would have been lined up for that job. Now the guy at Indiana is like, I'll say it in Indiana. I got a question. Would you trade Kyler? straight up for Tua. Seems like they both need a fresh start. I don't know exactly. I haven't dove deep enough.

I'm sure once we get toward a free agency, you know, the combine, depending on who's coaching those teams. If I could just do a straight up trade for both guys instead of cutting them and, you know, impacting my cap, I might think about doing that for a year, especially because you could cut both guys after 2006. I would entertain that,

depending on what my options were. Debate between friends. What makes for a better sports viewing experience? Drinking or gummies? Personally, I've been a big supporter of watching sports off edibles since there is no hangover involved and I can actually remember key moments of games. But my friends prefer the old school way of getting shit-faced

in watching the game. What is better? Well, I think it depends. if you're by yourself, no-brainer, gummies, right? Because it can feel like, especially if you've got a phone your hand, game on, it's a good experience. I would say if you have other people around, I'm not a big gummy with other people guy. One, I'm not a huge gummy guy. I have to be careful.

You know, sometimes you eat a little too much and I'm in cloud nine. And I'm not, I'm more of a CBD guy than a THC, but, you know, you get the right TACC, like, pretty good. I would rather have some cocktails or have a couple beers watching the game with a group of people. If I'm going to be by myself at my house watching Alabama LSU, yeah, I'd rather have a gummy. So I think it's very dependent on the situation. Would I want to go to a buddy's house or meet someone at a bar or something on a gummy, I would not? Now, I don't do them consistently enough to know, like, sometimes, you know, your boy can be like, okay, stop these negative thoughts, you know, you got to control that brain.

When you can control the brain, everything's good. But if you can't, you just, you go down a rabbit hole all of a sudden you find yourself on your buddy's couch thinking about some of the darkest moments of your life. You're like, I cannot stop this. So I would rather have, you know, a vodka soda in that situation. Good question, though. Two questions. Lions fan.

Is it because the Lions are just starting to be a good team after years of being so bad that every single loss fans make it seem like the season is over? Also, would you consider drafting a quarterback in the next year or two to sit behind Jared Gough? I think that's the nature of football. When you're a good team, right, let's just say the line is 12 wins or more. So if you're winning 12 or more games, you are more than dead. doubling the amount of wins than you have losses. Well, you only have 17 games, so when you lose 4 or 5,

those moments feel really big. And it's either twofold. It's one, you're losing a game that you should win, like when the Packers lose to the Browns or the Panthers, there probably aren't many of their fans that anticipate anything else than a win going into that game. So it is jarring when you lose. Like, you couldn't, I know the Bulls are 5 in 1.

But like the Warriors right now are 5 and 3. It doesn't matter. If they were 8 and 0 or if they were 3 and 5. It's like if they're going to be healthy, they're going to be okay. Right. So to me in basketball, I think one, I think in basketball it's like every eight games is essentially one NFL game. So the Warriors, for example, at 5 and 3 have played one NFL game. I think how crazy that is.

So, and I could be wrong on that math. I have to double check. Maybe that's baseball. Because now it's like eight games, eight times ten would be 80. Maybe it's more like four. Maybe it's baseball if it's eight or nine. Don't quote me on that in the bar argument. But yeah, I don't think that makes any sense.

Four, it'd probably be like six. Probably be like six. But I just think that's the nature of the sport. But it makes, it's why the sport's so big. Every game matters. It's football's greatest attribute. is you know watching that game matters. It's why I struggle like trying to get into some series on television.

I've said this forever. I'm not a like science fiction, things that are unrealistic television guy. But when something like Game of Thrones is such a big show, I'm just going to watch it. And I can find enough stuff in that show, sex, violence that kind of keeps my interest. Like ultimately the dragons and stuff, like that's not doing that much for me. but I know culturally a lot of people are watching it and I like to watch. I get a little fomo on television stuff, right?

Where it's easy to watch, I don't know, White Lotus or a show that is more enjoyable for myself, especially back in the day. Sopranos, you name it, some of the big shows over the last 25 years. But it's kind of rare that that happens anymore, right? It's a really, really short list of a show that you know, like, most people are watching this thing. And I think that's what football has.

Everyone's watching. Do you know what basketball? and sometimes I'll be at the gym and they have three TVs and it's usually one's on Fox Sports one's on ESPN and one's on ESPN too so if I'm on the elliptical I'm actually not an elliptical

I'm either treadmill or or a Stairmaster guy and you just it kind of especially if on the Stairmaster your eye line is just with the television so even if you're watching the television on the Stairmaster which it has you're going to look up take some deep breath sometimes you're just going to look at it

sometimes when I see Stephen A you know in before Christmas arguing on over a basketball topic of like, do we need to have concern? It's like four games into the season or 10 games. It was like, what are we talking about? But you got to manipulate that for television. In football, you do not.

Right? That Packer lost was bad. Like, that was a problem. Right? That Colts game, all of a sudden you lose, like, is this the Daniel Jones we know? They're real conversations, right? They're real conversations, which really benefits the popularity of sport. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news.

What's the news, name? 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. And 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. 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 I-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 Slicalif 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris, every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay.

Jenchian win. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface, because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court-side seat to the French Open. 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you think there's been a little bit of a pendulum swing between the NFC and AFC? Lamar hurt, Burrowhurt, Bills and Chiefs don't seem as invincible. Meanwhile, the Rams, bucks, eagles seems like powerhouses, lions, packers are even thrown. Seattle, in there with Donald. I definitely think the NFC is on the come

Also would like to get your thoughts on Brabel Drake May and the Pats They're right in the running for the top spot in the AFC and seems like nobody is talking about I just don't think people think they're quite as good You know as the Bills or the Chiefs Or I mean specifically the Bills Like because I kind of I actually look today

The Patriots are like plus 140 to win the division The Bills I think to start the season were like Minus 400 Which is an enormous favorite to win a division. And the Patriots, if I, you probably have to plus 350 or something. They're definitely still having an uphill battle, but

it's not as unrealistic if the bills screw up and lose one of these games. So I think the Patriots, their team is going to be much more talented in a couple years. It just will be. But their schedule is pretty conducive this year. And that game in New England,

1214, that's a good game. And leading up to that game, They have the Buccaneers this week. It's not a bad game. Then they get the Jets who traded away their entire team on Thursday night football. At home. That's a win.

At the Bengals versus the Giants. So even if they lose this Buccaneers game, it would be stunning if they went two and two. I would say at 7 and 2, there's a pretty good chance they're 10 and 3 going into that Bills game. and the bills leading into that game get the dolphins this week I like the dolphins

then they get the bucks at home then they get at the Steelers versus the Bengals and then at the Patriots they actually have five games because I think the Patriots have a buy so they go at Dolphins

Buccaneers at the Texans at the Steelers that's a tough little stretch Buccaneers at Texans at Steelers probably lose one of those games. That Bill's game's going to be big. That Bill's Patriot game going to be really, really big.

We always comment on this organization if terrible from the top down, but a bunch of these crappy teams have underwent full regime changes, like all new coaching staffs and new front office people. So when an organization like Vegas or Jets, they clear house, how do we keep saying they don't know what they're doing? When from an outsider viewer, or at least for me, it's all people have nothing to do with the previous people, running the team.

The hell of a question. It is, it's hard to shake dysfunction, man. You can feel it when you come into the building. The other thing in a lot of those places, the carryover players don't know how to win. Right, if Andy Reid disappeared tomorrow and Spags or Nagy had to keep it running the rest of the season and next season,

they wouldn't be as good, more than likely, right? But they wouldn't be bad. Why? Because the culture of their guys, starting with their star players, but then all the other starters, think how much winning Trey Smith and Creed Humphrey have done. Think about the standard in which they understand what it takes to win. Or Trent McDuffey or George Kalloftus,

right? Nick Bolton, like, those guys, the understanding they have of even now some of their wide receivers who have played with them for a couple years. And I think that's hard, like, the end of the day, Soss Gardner, Garrett Wilson, Quinn and Williams,

Colton Miller, Max Crosby. I think those guys are winning players, but like they don't, they've never won. And definitely the people around them,

that there's not a winning culture. I think that's very, very difficult to change overnight. And that's where the pressure on the head coach and the GM is enormous, but specifically the head coach. And like Pete Carroll,

he's had an impressive resume. He's 74 years old. I mean, there is a chance. I like the higher, but there's a chance he just lost fastball. Right? Mike Vrable is not lost fastball. Like, you put Mike Vrable as the Jets head coach or the Raiders head coach. I don't think they're a playoff team, but they're both way better.

They're both dramatically better. The other thing is both those two teams, for example, made a bad personnel move. I mean, the Jets signed Justin Fields for two years, $40 million. The Raiders traded for Gino Smith. Why? Because Pete Carroll likes him. Not a good move. Jets call the Bengals in the offseason off for five first rounders and two seconds for Burrow.

What happens? I'm a lifetime bagel fan and Burrell being my favorite player, I say no. If you're Duke Tobin, what would you say? It's a great question. I think if you're the Jets, obviously you would do that, but it would be pretty risky. I mean, this is a guy now who's had some major injuries. He hasn't been able to finish three seasons. One with a wrist, one with a knee, and now one with turf toe.

So it's like durability is a major concern. But I also think you're a little less likely to do that now that you just traded Sauce Gardner and Quinn and Williams. But obviously those guys bring the picks. I think if you're the Bengals, you would think about it. I think you would think long and hard about it. Obviously you would never contemplate it if he had been healthy and you'd been winning.

But like, he's missed a lot of games for you. So I wouldn't fault him if they did that. wouldn't fault him at all. Don't think that's going to happen, though. Question for the pod. Will we ever see a quarterback shorter than six feet drafted first overall again, or in the first round for that matter?

I thought we got a little overzealous with that one. But you look around the country, it also takes the guys in college to be really good. So when you go first overall, Kyle Murray was drafted top 10 in baseball. He's an all-time freak. Baker Mayfield's right, Baker Mayfield's right around six feet, like when the Heisman was an elite player.

Bryce, pretty unique situation, 510, a buck 75. I think if you do that over again, obviously you take C.J. Stroud. But I think when you look around college football, like, who is that guy now? I think the Ole Miss guy is shorter, but I don't think you would draft him number one overall. I would never draft a guy 510 number one overall. Couldn't do it. I'm a big believer in just big people. We were actually talking about this

after we recorded one of the shows the other night. Like Jalen Waddle is a really good player. But in what world if we were all running a football team? It's like, hey, you want to take Jalen Waddle, who's 5'9, a buck 80, good player, or Penae Sewell? Like, you wonder why the dolphins are bad? They took Jalen Waddle at 6

while they already had Tyree Kill, who they had just traded for, over Penae Soule. Like, bad franchises stay bad for a reason. In what world, organizationally, would someone in the room go, I don't think this is a good idea. Like, how about we take that big ass dude from Oregon, who is probably at worst going to be a 10-year starter? And at best is going to be a Hall of Famer. I think we should do that.

But we can get a 5-9 wide receiver. Yeah, there's like 17 of those guys in a draft. Let's take that guy in the third round. But he's not as good as Waddle. Well, he'll be 60, 70% of them for a quarter of the price. And we'll have one of the best tackles in the game. Why don't we do that? Oh yeah, he's a right tackle or quarterback's a left-handed player.

So he's actually protecting his blindside. You want to do that? Is that a good idea? I've been hearing my entire life NFL coaches and players get together at halftime to make adjustments, but both Peyton and Eli have laughed at this idea. They claim they have never made a single halftime adjustment in their careers. What do you make of this? Do teams make adjustments at halftime?

It's a good question. I think teams, I think their argument is we make adjustments every time we come to the sideline. So going in at half, we have made adjustments and we're constantly tweaking things every time we come off the field. What we see, what's working, what's not working, what we could do, what we should add. So I think their point is it gets talked about often. Like you play the first half and then you go to halftime and then you completely rework everything and come back out for the second half. Where I think part of it for a quarterback

is every single time you come on and off the field, you're tweaking stuff. So you're going out at halftime, you've already talked about a bunch stuff that's happened. Maybe happens more for defensive guys, but I think offensive guys could be wrong on that. Never been with Peyton or Eli at halftime, but I would imagine that's part of it.

This is a non-football related question, but I've been watching you for a long time and respect your opinions, information you give. You've been working in sports for a long time. I'm at a university. I'm majoring in sports management and minoring in nutrition. I've always loved sports, health and fitness, so it's a perfect path for me. I'm just unsure what job market with these degrees since I'm only getting a minor in nutrition. I won't be a registered nutritionist or dietitian.

Have you worked with people who have taken a similar path and were able to work on health and fitness side of sports, and what degrees did they have? I think your sports management one, it sounds like you want to focus more on the nutrition side. Sports management is broad. You could do anything. You could one day be a president of a team. You could ticket sales.

You could marketing. It's pretty open-ended. When I was a GA at Fresno State, my master's was, I think it was in the business department, but it was like they had just created a sports management. Maybe it wasn't the nutrition department. I don't even remember. but it was a pretty general degree,

not that it's had any impact on me going to football or radio or anything, but it does, it's, it gives you a lot of options. I can't speak to the nutrition aspect of whether it be a team dietitian or, uh, I, I don't know.

I'm, I'm actually the wrong guy to ask on this. I could help you with any, you know, trying to get, you know, the path or some sort of path on getting an internship and ticket sales. I always think,

sales is the easiest way to kind of work your way in any organization. But definitely a sports team is the easiest way to get your foot in the door and then you can take it from there. But when it comes to nutrition, I don't know. I hate to not have an answer for you, but I don't really have an answer on that one. Why don't other GMs just try doing what Howie does? Easier said than done, but always drafts players from schools like Georgia, trades aging players, and acquires areas of need before the deadline. make it sound pretty easy.

They have clearly made a conscious effort. I mean, I know this for a fact. I've just drafting the big school guys. And they've drafted a ton of guys from Bama and Georgia. I think the trade thing is twofold. One, his owner is a big proponent of being aggressive and making these moves. So it's like, it's why they call Dallas on Micah Parsons.

They would have given Michael Parsons $170 million. So part of trading the picks, it wasn't just, It's like, are you willing to give him a huge sum of money? And Jeffrey Lurie was. A lot of owners, just find our own guy. Use our first round picks. Let's find our own Michael Parsons.

So the owner is willing to spend, which empowers Howie to be aggressive. But yeah, I mean, I think one trade he has that's really good. Beside like Kelsey and Brandon Graham and probably Lane Johnson, he's not going to be beholden emotionally to a player. And I think sometimes GMs, especially once you've become an established, star player, big name, kind of get too emotionally attached.

But coaches definitely do. And in most organizations, coaches have a lot of juice, right? A lot of them, the coaches pick the personnel guys. And in Philadelphia, they just do not. Howie does. So, yeah, if you can get the rain and the power as a GM and don't have to answer the coaches, you can do exactly what Howie's doing. The volume.

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 is 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, unhumored 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

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