The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 & Out - NFL Free Agency Reaction: King Henry to Baltimore, Russell Wilson-Steelers, Saquon-Eagles

Episode Date: March 14, 2024

John breaks down the biggest moves including Kirk Cousins leaving the Vikings for the Falcons, Saquon Barkley to the Eagles, and Russell Wilson to the Steelers. Who got better...and who got worse? 7:04 - The Bears 9:32 - King Henry to Baltimore 18:57 - Cousin to Atlanta 27:06 - Should the Giants trade for Fields 30:54 - Houston has it right now 36:30 - Chargers don't have a choice but to cut players 44:30 - The running back position 55:00 - Mailbag Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. 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. #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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. 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. On the Look Back at it podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The volume. The thrill and excitement of Marchmania is here. In Drafking Sportsbook, one of America's top-rated sportsbook apps is giving new customers a shot to turn five bucks into $150 instantly in bonus bets with any college basketball. ball bet. Download the Drafking Sportsbook app and use code John, J-O-H-N. New customers can bet five bucks to get $150 instantly in bonus bets only at Draft King Sportsbook with code J-O-H-N. The crowd is yours.

Gambling problem, call 1-800 Gambler or in West Virginia visit 1-800 gambler.net. In New York, call 8778 Hope N.Y or text Hope N.Y 4667-369. Connecticut help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-78-98-9-7777 or visit ccpg.org. Please play responsibly. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino and Resort in Kansas, 21 and over, age varies by jurisdiction. Void in Ontario. One no-sweat per new customer.

Issued as one bonus bet based on amount of initial losing bet. Bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance. See dkng.com slash promos for deposit wagering in eligibility restrictions, terms, and responsible gaming resources. What is going on, my people. John Middlecough, three and out podcast, Wednesday afternoon. What we did today was scheduled a while ago. And it turns out, I think we're going to have to change for 2025, is we went live on YouTube.

And it's the podcast as well in regards to free agency. Well, it turns out probably next year, we'll probably still do Wednesday, but definitely going to do Monday the tampering period as well. Clearly a lot is going on, and so we will probably have to adapt, change. But luckily, we're in the internet digital business. This is pretty easy to. But this podcast is essentially just what happened

when free agency opened for the next hour. And a lot of it's having a couple days to think about cousins, the Panthers, the running backs, some recent news. right when I got off, Calvin Ridley signed with the Titans. So he got a lot of money. But other than that, as of recording, that's nothing crazy. I mean, it was just going to be trades

because everyone had essentially signed or been tagged and extended. But it was definitely a fun couple days. I think there's no way around acknowledging the NFL really flexed its muscles. And now they just have this calendar of August through the draft, which is pretty powerful. And even the spring, while the practices, it's not like they matter for us as fans or even if you go. And I've been as like a media member. But the coaches and players are talking.

So really, it's become an 11-month-a-year sport. And that kind of stretch when OTAs in until when training camp starts, you know, in early mid-June till July 20th, give or take. That's the NFL's really only break when everything. Everything's kind of silent, everyone, myself included, just playing some golf, enjoying the sun and swimming and drinking some cocktails. But it's been a fun couple days, and it definitely lived up to the hype. So this podcast will be, you know, our live show, and then I'm going to do a mailbag as well at John Middlecoff, at John Middlecoff mailbag. Fire into those DMs on Instagram. DEMs are wide open.

And we will have another podcast on Friday. as well. Fugazi Friday. So it's hard to top that tip, Fugazi. But someone actually hit me up in the DMs with another one that I actually, it hit me a couple years ago. That's a pretty good one as well. But that might be my favorite, favorite moment of the podcast a week, Fugazi Friday. Let's rock and roll. If you listen on Collins feed, subscribe to three and out the podcast. All this is on YouTube as well. We might have to start going live, definitely during the season much more often. And other than that, yeah, let's rock and roll. Thevolume.com.

We got merch. I got my go-low hat on. The players. I have a lot of money gambled. So it's going to be a long week for your boy. It would be, if it goes wrong, I will not be a happy camper come Sunday. But if it goes right, it could be. Worst case scenario, we just, or neutral case scenario, we just break even.

And I can live to fight another day. So let's rock and roll. But first, I've got to tell you about my friends. Game time, the official ticketing app of this podcast. Go to your cell phone right now. Go to your iPad. Download the GameTime app. The Game Time app, official ticketing app of this podcast.

promo code John, J-O-H-N, J-O-H-N, get $20 off. promo code John, $20 off. Go to any game. I was locked in last night to the St. Mary's Gales, beat Gonzaga, which doesn't happen that often. Now it's the worst Gonzaga team in a long time. They're going dancing. I love March Madness.

Conference Tourney Week. If March Madness is coming near you, download that Game Time app, promo code John J-O-H-N promo code John $20 off your first pair of tickets Let's see The Bears just made a move One-year deal, Brett Rippin

A lot of moves in the NFL I follow this literally for a living I mean extremely closely I have to text people in the NFL like Who's this guy? What's he do? I mean there are a lot of moves I wouldn't say they're irrelevant Because a lot of these guys are going to be

Solid Impact guys but just don't feel that relevant today. Now, ironically, that historically in free agency, a lot of the big names, besides retaining your own players, buying high-priced players for other teams, depending on who you listen to or what stat you read, it's definitely not 50-50 landing free agency.

So historically, this is not usually where you win a Super Bowl. You add a piece or two. Belichick and Brady did it forever, a guy here, a guy there. Extend your own guys, the chiefs, Chris Jones, right? It's pretty rare that a highly drafted guy who plays well leaves Christian Wilkins to the Raiders.

I would say there are some plug-in-play positions. Defensive tackle, I'd feel pretty comfortable if he's a high character, hard worker. Really, if the guy's been a really good player in the league, the only reason that guy might fail is because of work ethic with money. but a lot of other positions are very dependent on your scheme, right? Corner, linebacker, offensive line, running back.

Some guys are more comfortable in zone than in gap power schemes. A wide receiver, you're very dependent on your quarterback. So we got a lot of stuff going on. A lot of big names have been signed. I mean, King Henry to the Ravens. That just seems fun to me. Now, is it going to work or not? Like, I don't have some huge take.

Like, that's crazy or that's not crazy? I'm just glad that he went there. I'm glad that one of the best running backs over the last 20 years went to a team that matters. And I want to dive into that really quick. I think running back, and I've been a proponent of you can't pay running backs. Well, this goes back to when the running backs, Zeke, Todd Gurley, their numbers were like $45, $50 million guaranteed.

So at the time, you're like, well, in the next couple years, I'm not going to pay a running back 75 years. million dollars guaranteed. They're on par with the wide receivers. And then everything changed. The wide receivers kept going up and up and up. People are talking about guys like Justin Jefferson and Jamar Chase being 30 plus million dollar wide receivers. T. Higgins, Brandon Ayuk, being 25 million dollar receivers. Even with the cap up, that's a lot, especially the second two guys, given that, you know, are they true number ones? And I like both players a lot. Well, the running back contracts, the cap has gone up. They've gone down.

So in the world of just position inflation, offensive guards, I've always thought you can get a starting guard somewhere in the late second, definitely on the third day. They're going for $17, $18, $19 million. So you're telling me, I can get Sequin Barclay or Josh Jacobs for $12 million. Three or four years ago, that number was even higher. They're going the other way. You go into the store right now. you can't get out of there with five items for under 100 bucks. I mean, look to buy a new car right now.

They're fucking outrageous. The one thing I've always said, and I got a lot of them in my house, that has been pretty inflation-proof, flat-screen TVs. Go to Costco. You can get like an 80-incher for like $600. It's incredible. Running backs, it's kind of inflation-proof. Their numbers are going the wrong way.

And it's one thing, like, I wouldn't be that big in signing a mid-tier guy for $7, $8 million. like the Swift contract, I like them, but $8 million feels a little no man's land. I like the Echler types for more like three or four. That feels really good business. But if I get a guy who I view as a top five guy at his position, who can rush for over 1,200 yards and catch 40 or 50 balls like Sequin Barclay and Josh Jacobs, and their number is lower than all these guys that signed contract, four or five,

like that's a market inefficiency. And that's what I think you saw from the Packers and the Eagles. is this notion you can't pay running backs. Yeah, you can't pay running backs that parallel wide receiver contracts. That's insanity. And you could argue the wide receiver contracts, you better make sure the fucking guy's an elite player.

Because if you sign a $25, $26 million guy and he's not a dominant, dominant player, you're going to have problems. No different than these guards. I'm all for improving the offensive line. If you sign a $16, $17, $18 million a year guard, that guy better be a borderline pro ball guy. if he's just average, you're screwed.

It's why last year when McGlinchy signed with Denver, I hated the deal. I'm like, you can't give a guy $55 million who's a turnstile out there. You can't do it. I mean, that's one of the worst contracts I've ever seen. Not because he's not a function, like you can play with him. He's a starting player. But when you start paying him top of the market, you have problems. And these running backs no longer get top of the market contracts.

So as someone who's always been on the one side, of the argument, I'm a businessman. I'm open. The numbers now make sense on the other side. And that's why I think you saw Josh Jacobs,

who I actually think is better than Seyquan Barclay, that's one of the best deals of free agency. Because even if, listen, there is a massive amount of risk anytime you sign any player in the sport of football

because of the injury risk. That's more than all these other sports besides like hockey and I'd be honest, I don't really watch. But you can get, hurt training, you can get hurt in practice, you can get hurt in games, you can hurt any moment. But if I just, I'm on the hook for one year, like you couldn't assign half the guards for like less than two and a half years fully guaranteed. So I'm getting a guy that can easily be a pro

bowler for a one year. All I got to guarantee him is that? Even the Eagles go, this guy carried a shit offense with a god awful offensive line and we basically pay him what he's made the last couple years? That seems like a pretty easy deal to make. Now, if you wanted to push back, could they have drafted a guy in the mid-round? Texan a round, this is not viewed as a really, really good running back draft. Like, there aren't going to be many guys going in the top 50 at that position. So you've had a front row seat playing against this guy. That's the other thing. You feel very confident when you've played against a certain player a lot. And the one thing I've defended the Saquan Barkley, even if, you know, $26 million guarantee.

isn't nothing, but like I said, relative to a lot of these other contracts, it really is, is there's a character component. High-level guy on a team that's going to be missing some of that. They have a missing piece in Kelsey, who was obviously the heartbeat and the team leader, and Fletcher Cox, who was definitely one of, you know, team captain on the defensive side, a stalwart for that unit, both gone. Like, not on other teams, retired. Like, I'm out of See you guys. That's not nothing. Anytime you lose a stalwart who's a pro-bowl guy,

who's a legendary player for your team, and he just leaves, there's a void. I think when he retires, that sometimes is a bigger blow. Now, it makes you feel good because I don't think they would have re-sign Fletcher Cox. Obviously, you know, Jason Kelsey, if he would keep playing, he's going to keep being on the Eagles.

But the two running back moves, even Echler to Washington. I like a lot of that. I like the Andre Swift. Eight million might be a little rich for me, but Gus Edwards, the Harbaugh, it's this year and last year, it's now the market inefficiency.

It truly is. So you can be anti-runningback and also think it's pretty good business right now. It's wild. I guess I had anticipated that when I was texting around with people behind the scenes, I'm like, we got to go live for this, that this would be the big splashy day.

It actually turns out next year for sure, I'm going to do this day, but I'm also going to do the day that the tampering period opens, because that time is bananas. It really is. And it shows you, and I said this when I went to the combine. And luckily, no one's acting like anyone's tampering in the sense that no one gives a shit. Everyone's open for business. Come the combine.

Now, the GMs will tell you, well, we could talk to the agents of our own players. Well, those agents also represent all the other players. So all these deals are getting done right there as they should. It's the NFL convention, and it's when all this movement is put into motion. Historically, it's been a time, just in recent memory, when a lot of these big trades are commiserated. That's when Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos and that whole thing went down. That's when Aaron Rogers kind of pushed back against going to Denver a couple years ago and ended up signing the contract. I know it was broken a week later or whatever, but like that's when they kind of found out we have to pivot in a new direction.

You know, the future vice president. That was another move I saw today. Like the Chargers cut Mike Williams, which obviously it was a financial reason and he's been injured a lot. Mike Williams is a really good player with healthy. He's just one of those classic guys that struggles to stay on the field. But if you go to his stat page, I mean, he's easily averaging like 15 yards of catch. He's a big play guy, big body wide receiver. good red zone target, but this is where the chargers were. They were in a position where they were in financial cap hell. And they didn't have a choice. Kind of like what Buffalo was involved in. They had to make some tough decisions. You think they want to cut Mike Williams?

Eric Hendricks was second on the team in tackles. But they had to clear the money. Khalil Mack, who I knew Jim Harbaugh would like, they found a way to restructure and he's going to be on the team. And now I think all eyes point to the Joey Bosa situation. what will happen, you know, in the next 24, I think they have till Friday to basically give him a big roster bonus. And that's the thing, like a lot of roster bonuses that are coming either Friday or next week give teams a little time, right? It's why a lot of, you know, a good agent will attempt to make that roster bonus before free agency.

Because you basically got to give me the opportunity to keep me or cut me. Because I want to be cut. If I'm Joey Bosa, I would have much rather been available on Monday than on Friday. There's a lot more opportunity when everyone's cap space is not filled up. And technically nothing is quote unquote official Monday and Tuesday, but we don't see very often a deal, especially for a high-named, high-priced guy, get announced and then get rescinded. It happened years ago, remember with Emmanuel Sanders.

supposed to go to the Chiefs, I think it ended up going to the Denver Broncos, but you would much rather be a player. If you're in limbo of keeping your roster spot, be cut last week, or Saturday or Sunday or Monday, and be available to the open market. But listen, there's a give and take with these deals when you're talking astronomical amounts of money like Joey Bosa got. So he became really rich, didn't quite have the leverage for that. And that's kind of on the charger side. the other thing I've been thinking a lot about this because obviously one of the biggest conversations has been over the last I don't know two days

and me and Colin have been talking about this since I got back to the Combine and everyone that was at the Combine it was Kirk Cousins to Atlanta and I think the Cousins, Atlanta and the Carolina disaster is basically a reflection of the same guy at both places now they're different people

and one's successful has been successful as an owner, the other is not, but these are owner-led moves. And I've been going back and forth in my head, right? Is Atlanta? Is this going to work? And I've seen so many different takes. Like, how do you give this guy this much money? Can't win you a Super Bowl? This is not Atlanta about winning the Super Bowl.

Because you're not going to win the Super Bowl with Kirk Cousins. This is about making the playoffs. It's about a guy over 80 years old with unlimited amounts of money. Arthur Blank is one of the real. richest men in America. Yet his football team since 2017, seven wins, seven wins,

four wins, seven wins, seven wins, seven wins. That's his late 70s and early 80s. Can you imagine being that old and that rich and having to watch that shit? Now, if there would have been 10 sweet quarterbacks on the market,

they would have been aggressive for a lot of them. But Cousins was their best option. Do they think they're getting Peyton Manning Tom Brady or Aaron Rogers in his prime? Of course not. They're literally getting a guy who you could argue was having the best season of his career. Coming off in Achilles is 36 years old. But they were completely desperate because this is not about playing in New Orleans next year in the Super Bowl. This is about just trying to win the division and hosting a playoff game.

Something they haven't even sniffed since 2017. The other thing is over the last 15 years with Matt Ryan, he experienced a lot of 10 to 12 win seasons. A lot of years hosting playoff games in the playoffs, obviously the one year in the Super Bowl, that's fun. This is no longer about just money to a guy like Arthur Blaine. This is, the time is ticking. I don't know how many years I got left.

We're never guaranteed a rookie quarterback. We've seen it before. They can bust at any moment. They can be very average. This guy at least gives us a fighting shot to get to 10 wins. and I'm worth billions of dollars. So giving him a $50 million bonus, I could wipe my ass with that much money.

Yeah, it's a lot to me, to you, to 99.99999% of human beings. But to that guy, it's meaningless. And it's meaningful if Kirk Cousins can just throw 30 touchdowns and have us in the mix, either to win the division or in a wild card. If we're in the playoffs next year, that is a raging success.

We are literally averaging under seven wins for the last six season. And any Falcons fans or any fan of a bad team knows, that sucks. That is no fun to watch. The other thing is the division historically hasn't been that great. So it's like we're not going up against Mahomes and Marino in Elway. It's like Derek Carr, Bryce Young,

who weighs like 140 pounds, and Baker Mayfield. Who had a pretty solid season last year? That's some ups and downs. has a new offensive coordinator. They kind of got the band back together. But that's who we're going up against. The other thing is,

and I like the Bucks roster, and I like Todd. But he's still Todd Bowles as the head coach, elite defensive coordinator. He hasn't just proven he's some lock playoff coach every single year. Dennis Allen? He ain't keeping you up at night.

Now, they could be better with Kubiak coming over, running the Shanahan offense. But, we know the Panthers stink. And I was thinking about it today on a walk in the dog. This is what I think about when I walk the dog is, why are the Panthers in such shambles?

And it's pretty clear, right? Most football people, they'll do some radical, crazy things. Right? But for the most part, if you get offered something and you know it's a lot, usually you think long and hard about doing the deal. So when the Rams offered multiple ones and a two for the pass rusher or even last year when teams were willing to pay a first round pick for Brian Burns, I would imagine, I'm going to give these guys the benefit of the doubt.

They at least were pretty aggressive, like, we should do this. Since that owner has got there, they have made the worst trades you've ever seen. Year after year, just wasting value. They have had no direction. And Arthur Blank clearly enmelled in a good way. good way like, hey guys, we're buying Kirk Cousins. Whatever the number we have to pay him, I'll write the check.

To me, David Teper is meddling in the sense of like Dan Snyder used to do. No, I want to do this. No, I want this player. No, I don't think that's good enough value. Like Dave, you need to just take a step back and let the football people

run football. Because the way you have maximized players over the last 24 months is a fucking embarrassment to the national footballie. Is an embarrassment to the scouting community and general managers at large.

Because to get a second round pick for a guy that you easily could have got to first for, to give away Christian McCaffrey. Now, granted, there were some question marks, but I would say that has aged pretty poorly. Should you just have kept him with your young quarterback? You didn't maximize value with those draft picks.

And I also think this gets back to them having DJ more under contract, and not including him in the deal. But I can't help. Like, there have been enough articles. I talk to people at the Combine that work there. This guy is a nutcase.

And listen, I can separate as a businessman in Wall Street, he's elite. He's one of the all-time greats. Since he has owned the team, he clearly has got involved in all this stuff and made it dramatically worse. It's hard to overcome.

In any business, let alone the NFL, when your owner is not just giving you ideas, all these owners give some ideas, telling you what to do. One of Roberts Craft's greatest strengths, if you watch that documentary for decades, was like, I got, this Bill's call. I believe in Bill. I think this is nuts, but Bill Belichick, let a rip. I wouldn't have done it. I told Bill, if Drew Bledso, if this Tom Brady kid doesn't work out, you're going to get fired.

This is crazy. Jimmy Garapolo, I don't know. Over and over, though, it worked. Now, I'm not acting like the Panthers have hired people of Bill Belichick's football intelligence, but there are just some basic like, hey, we're probably not going to resign this guy. We probably should pull the trigger on this. And listen, you have an owner who is over. overly aggressive in that part.

Why is Deshaun Watson on the Cleveland Browns? Do you think Andrew Barry and Stefanski wanted to give him $230 million, fully guaranteed? He literally told them, no, I'm not interested. He didn't want to come. And then the owner got involved. Do you think they regret that trade? I got news for you.

They do. And if he's awful this year, it's going to go down right there with Russell Wilson as one of the worst trades in the history of the league. So when the owner gets involved, and if they're right, They own the team. They sign the checks. It's literally their money. But what is the point of paying a general manager three, four, five million dollars a year? Paying a head coach 10 to 15 million dollars. That's what they have expertise in. No different than David Tepper. Where's his expertise? It is, it's in finance. So I just don't understand why these guys can't just take it back. seat sometimes, especially after they failed.

We got a question here. A lot of Giants fans think we should trade for fields. I'm just concerned it would be Daniel Jones 2.0. I talked about this on the podcast the other day, and I saw Rapsheet came out on NFL Live that the reason they haven't traded fields because they're still working on the quarterbacks. I like Rapsheet. That's fucking bullshit.

the reason they haven't traded fields is because the offers are what Mac Jones just got traded for trades are based on comps and his comp now is the Mac Jones range and where else is he going like you could argue like there aren't even that many fits anymore

so you could argue the Giants are desperate enough I think if you're the Giants before you trade for fields you're going to see what you can manage in the draft right you would the problem for fields like Mac Jones is their contract is up after this year. So you're trading a pick and getting a one-year guy.

Think about last year with Baker Mayfield. Tampa Bay, they didn't have to give up anything. They just signed the guy. One year, four and a half million dollars. So you get in a position where you have to give up an asset, and you could argue, and I do,

like four, fifth, six-round pick, the likelihood of those hitting. That is not how these front offices view them. Because there's enough examples of like, well, remember the one time we got this guy in the fourth or this guy in the sixth or this star player in the sixth or the seventh, it happens all the time. The dude, the Eagles just signed,

Huff is an undrafted free agent. Highest paid undrafted free agent in the history of the league. Now, he's somewhat of an outlier. It was the 2020 season, so he didn't know pro day. but still, it's not like he would have been drafted in the third round. He still would have been a late round pick. And I just think these teams really, really value those spots.

And rightfully so, because that's their job. And those picks are valuable. And this is the other thing about free agency. I'm just seeing that we do this was going to happen, that the Raiders released Jimmy Garoppolo. Remember last year, the Raiders gave Jimmy Garoppolo a lot of money. money. And he was a guy that say what you want about him.

He was god-awful on the Raiders last year, but he had played solid football at times over the course of the last four or five years. Then he went to the Raiders and within three or four weeks he was benched. It was that ugly. You could argue objectively he was like the worst player at his position in the league. He was hideous. And part of it maybe he's just broken down, whatever.

But the plug and play starter thing, even at quarterback. I like Gardner Minchu. And I understand the signing to get a bridge starter. But if the Raiders are unable to draft a guy or feel comfortable drafting a guy high or a guy that they don't like, or a guy they like is not there, whatever, and Gardner Minchu has to start all 17 games, he will not be as good as he was last year. Why? Because Shane Steichen is dramatically better than Luke Getsey and the Raiders' offensive operation. So, like, I'm all four, signing these guys, and listen, this is the hard part about the NFL.

It's hard to project what their room's going to look like at any position because the draft hasn't happened. But unless you're drafting really high, a lot of stuff's out of your control. And you never know. I mean, sometimes maybe you hit on a second or third round player in the draft, but at quarterback. But I would say that's, the percentages of that is pretty, pretty small. What else is going on today?

I think the Houston Texans are a good example. They took a lot of shit when it came to what they did the first couple years with Casaria once Bill O'Brien left and they hired David Cully and then Lovie Smith. And I was saying at the time, I don't think the average person on Twitter and media member under that job was so toxic. I mean, they had the situation with Deshaun Watson who had every massage therapist in the state of Texas coming after him. He said he refused to play there. The roster sucked. It was a disaster. And ever since Casario made the trade for Deshaun Watson,

got D'Amico Ryans. Now you look at their operation, they go, they got a GM who really knows what he's doing. They have a head coach who is an ascending star. They, I mean, have one of the better rookie quarterbacks we've ever seen. Will Anderson, I don't know if he's ever going to be like a top five pass rusher, but he's going to be a damn good player. And what did they do yesterday?

They add DeNeil Hunter, who was clearly one of the better free agent pass rushers. They gave him, I think it was like $49 million and 48 of it were guaranteed. So they kept it as a shorter term deal, but they added a big time player. And this is the one thing I've always said about the Cowboys.

One thing, the state of Texas, like the state of Florida and the Raiders now have going for it, And the Titans have this as well. The no state income thing is very, very powerful. When you're making a ton of money, being in a state that does not tax your income, and I know it's based on where you play, but you still play eight or nine home games in your state

means a lot. And I don't think it's random that Christian Wilkins, like that $85 million that he's getting in the state of Vegas, that means it's a lot more money than a lot of other states, A lot more money than playing in fucking California, I'll promise you that. And I do think the Cowboys, one, just with their brand, but two, playing for the Cowboys, No State Income Tax would be a very, very valuable thing. They never have any cap space because they're always breaking off their own guys to huge amounts of money.

And in fairness, a lot of the guys that they are signing, you know, the Zach Martins, the Tyron Smiths, the Seedy Lamb types, Des Bryant back in the day, you know, worth paying. The Zeke one backfired. But the DAC situation is fascinating right now Because his cap hit this year is like I think almost $60 million Maybe it is $60 million. It's borderline unheard of

That a guy ever plays on a contract at that number But are you really comfortable with giving them $200 million more guaranteed? It's kind of that position Minnesota was in with Kirk Cousins It's like do we want to keep going down this road? And that's what I think you saw with Minnesota. Article yesterday about, you know, Florio likes mixing it up. This is what I pre. I don't agree with half the things he writes, but I do agree with him, you know, flaming the

fires a little bit. And one thing was Kevin O'Connell was a big Kurt Cousins guy. Rightfully so. He's a coach. He's trying to win. No coach wants to lose. It's not the NBA. This isn't Tankapalooza here. Every coach, every single year is trying to make the playoffs. And Cousins clearly gives him the best chance to make the playoffs. Well, their general manager, this former Wall Street dude from the Niners. He's a numbers guy. And I'm sure he's like, it ain't worth giving a 36 year old that we could never

win a Super Bowl with. Because Kevin O'Connell ain't thinking about a Super Bowl. He's thinking about trying to win 10 games and get to the fucking dance. Just be in the playoffs. Like two years ago, when they lost, they lost in the first round. They still had a very, very successful season.

Won the division, first round playoff game. I know they lost, but how many teams in the league would sign up for that? A lot. When's the last time Pittsburgh Steelers hosted a playoff game. Last time I checked, been a while. I guess it happened with the Cleveland Browns in the COVID season, but they got smoked. You know what I mean? And you just never know, because coaches, it's harder for coaches to think

long term. Well, think about the next five years. Like, bro, I got a four-year contract. I'm already going into year three. Think about the next five years. What's going to happen week six when we're, uh, we got two wins. And I'm playing the Packers. who are five and one. Good luck to us. When not everyone's on the same page and general managers are thinking big picture,

it can create dysfunction internally in a football office. Just based on the simple fact of these coaches are trying to win. And this is also the hard part about when the draft comes up, about taking guys that are like upside guys or taking a big swing.

Your coach better be, on the same page with you because he's got to be willing to let that guy play through some of his mistakes because if he's not, that he's never going to play. And in football,

you only play 17 times a week, or I mean a year, and most of the time you spend during the week is at practice. And then that would mean the guys like running with a scout team. It's not actually improving his ability to help you come game day.

So this fraction, it happens a lot all over the league. Now, a lot of times it's healthy. It's normal. like the charges for example cutting all these guys like everyone's on the same page Jim Harbaugh knew

when he took that job that they had some financial situation right and whoever was going to be as GM they were going to cut good players like Jim Harbaugh would like Mike Williams right but financially they don't have a choice

I think Jim Harbaugh would like Eric Kendricks but financially you don't have a choice Sean McDermott liked a lot of those guys he cut didn't have a choice because come today at 1 o'clock Pacific standard time you had to be in cap compliance Sean Payton he might have hated everybody so I

that's probably a bad example Eric Armstead's a good example and this is the other balance sometimes a guy who means a lot to your team super high character guy someone that you nominate on a yearly basis to be man of the year

team captain, kind of not just leader your defense, but one of the leaders on the team. Stallwart on a team that's been to four NFC championships in five years. You get to the point where it's like, you're making $17, $18 million. You now have missed, I think it was five and eight, it was like 13 or 14 games the last couple of years. We can't afford to pay this.

We don't want you to go. But $17 million, that number for us to be coming has got to be more like eight, eight or nine. And that's negotiation. That's welcome to business. I never understood when everyone freaked out about Russell Wilson was like, how could you try to ask him to take less? Why not?

You don't think he's worth it. So hey, you wouldn't take less? Say no. You're allowed to say no. Say no, okay. We'll go our separate ways. That's perfectly acceptable. No one's, it's not like,

This isn't the mob. No one's putting your head in a grinder and say sign this fucking new contract or we're going to smash your brain. It's like, hey, we want to keep you, but financially we can't pay you this number. The 49ers did the Kyle Use Check. They love Kyle Use Check.

Been a full-time starter on the team for seven, eight years now. But it was like, if you want to come back, you got to take a haircut. No one wants to hear that, but then you get to make a decision. Because you can always say, no, I'm not taking a haircut. Eric Armstead, I'm going to hit the open market. It's his prerogative.

And now we can see how much you can get. I'll bet he doesn't get $17,18 million, but maybe he will. I don't know. Weird times. Use check went, you know, maybe it's more valuable for me to be on this team. With this, the unit I'm on, I'm very comfortable with it. Take a couple million dollars left. I've already been the highest paid fullback in the league since 2017.

It's 2024. I can do that, right? he looks at the landscape, like how many teams in the league are using a fullback? Yeah, I'll go from $6 or $7 million to $4 or $5. But if you're Eric Armstead, his haircut probably wasn't a million or two. It was probably pretty dramatic. And money's all relative. I don't care if you make $100,000 or you make $10 million.

Whenever someone wants you to take less in your prideful, even if they have a point, the most humans' first reaction is, F you, no way. I'm not doing that. And people know when they ask that it's not an easy thing to ask for. But it's a business world.

Sometimes you've got to ask tough questions. And it's why you see guys, you know, get released or get cut. So other than that, that I mentioned, the Jets traded for Morgan Moses, the offensive tackle to protect the vice president. They were pretty desperate.

I mean, they don't have any offensive tackles. I always kind of like Morgan Moses, but you kind of bounce around now. I don't know quite what his deal is, but the just didn't have a choice. I mean, they just, their offensive line, I know a lot of people are making a big deal about this vice president thing.

Like, I got news for you. Young rich people don't go into politics. Older rich people go into politics when they get bored. the young people that go into politics are usually broke and they use it as a scam to then get rich. Aaron Rogers is not going to be the vice president. I know it's a fun story for social media. It's an extra easy thing for the media to take a big shit on them.

And who knows? Maybe he's a part of this. I know a lot of people from the Packers that act like this is classic Aaron Rogers, kind of forcing their hand. If he did, one, he'd be linking up with the guy who can't win. And two, he's just going to retire and run, like, it would be one of the craziest stories in the history of my life.

I truly believe that. If Aaron Rogers just quit football and became a vice president with RFK Jr. You could argue that's a top five story in the history of sports. Definitely of my life since the 80s. Michael Jordan retiring would be up there. Tiger Woods getting in the car crash and his wife hitting him with a golf club in the face. feels like it would be up there something Tom Brady

I'm sure we could pick the biggest story from his career so I'm not acting like if it actually happened it wouldn't be insane the percentage I believe that it's actually going to happen is closer to zero

than it is 1%. But he's a lightning rod and any time you put him in a headline people run with it I can't imagine if you're the Jets you're like what? Are we serious right now?

Are we really? really doing this. And if you're the Packers, you've got to be feet up. You don't even have to deal with it. You don't even need to deal with it. It's always something. Now, in fairness, and he might say, like, Aaron Rogers ain't leaking anything in New York Times. But, like, if you have nothing

to do with a story being leaked, I always thought, like, the stories being leaked when he was with the Packers about he wanted more, he was on them to do stuff. Like, that's, come on, Aaron. that he's not happy with everybody. That's definitely on him. There are some stuff that are truly out of your control.

And I don't know, but I'm just saying it happens a lot where stories get reported and the actual player had nothing to do with it. 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. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment,

and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right what you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong

Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know what's crazy, and this is where I also talk about the running backs, is that Hunter Renfro got cut. I liked Hunter Renfro a couple years ago. I thought he was one of the better, like, slot receivers in the league.

He was scheduled to make like $14, $15 million. So you're telling me that a guy like Hunter Renfro can make, now he's not going to make that now. Someone's given like $4 or $5 million, I bet. I bet he ends up with the Titans. But you can't, these wide receivers, the amount of wide receivers in the league that just make like $13, $14 million and who are averages the day as long.

and then Sequin Barclay or Josh Jacobs, who I think Sequin's a tad overrated relative to like, he's not the number one running back in the league, but I'm not paying him like that. And I'm putting him in a situation where I got a really good offensive line, and I have a ton of weapons around him.

AJ Brown, when he's right, is a top four or five wide receiver in the league. Devante's a very unique player. Goddard's one of the better tight ends. Offensive lines, fantastic. Our quarterback, even when he's struggling, still puts up really good numbers.

Never forget, two years ago when Daniel Jones, I don't even want to say, Sequin led them to the playoffs. When Daniel Jones was the starting quarterback for the Giants who went to the playoffs, Daniel Jones threw 15 touchdowns. Through 15 touchdowns. It's not even a touchdown of game.

In a league where it's never been easier to throw touchdowns. People are like, oh, look at our wide receivers. It's like, if you're any, if you're decent, you should be a league. get to 20 touchdowns.

Right. Can't have a game where you throw like three. But yeah, I get back to the running back thing. And I do think that right now that's the market inefficiency. And I give them and their people credit. Because eventually you have to acknowledge this is the price. This is how much we're going for. Right?

Like my girlfriend went, because we got to kind of decorate the house. And there was this art fair kind of. down the street from our house. We didn't know that much about it. I was playing golf. She went to the art fair and she was taking me pictures of the art. And it was just outrageous.

Like I mean, that thing is nine grand. That thing is 12 grand. Obviously, I didn't buy any of it. But, and then I start to think, can I just complain? Like, that's the price. If someone's willing to pay for it, like, what am I going to say? That's the market for that piece of art.

You know? So it's like, you can bitch and moan all you want about it. You're not getting that piece of art. And for a long time, these running backs were always so mad. It's like, guys, this is not going to help and create a solution. Because the market is established. This is the price. So if you want to play, like, are you better off bitching and moaning because you don't get 40 or just signed for $27 million? This gets back two years ago to Levion Bell, who I think recently says it's one of the biggest regrets in his life. I think he might have said it's the biggest regret of my life. I shouldn't have sat out that year. It was dumb. It was

bad business. I was one of the only guys at the time saying that. Everyone in the media was like, yeah, take a stand. Show them, Levion. Show the big bad people and management. No, they're just they haven't budged then and they haven't budged since. It's the price of doing business. It's the cost of your position right now. Maybe they could change some of that if some of these guys start rattling off MVP's or whatever. But like I was never going to cry because they're making 13 million and not 15 million. Like I mean, what are we even talking about? I've always argued this.

Like I'd be very hesitant to pay certain positions this time of year because a lot of times it's when you sign contracts that you regret. Because in free agency, you have to pay a markup. This is not like you go to Nordstrom's and they're having a big sale. It's like, God, everything, I used to go with, I remember a school shop with my mom. She'd be like, oh, it's 50% off. We try to hit that rack. Like, there's no 50% off in NFL free agency. It's all marked up.

It's like, if this guy's $7 million, you got to pay $10 for. Why? Because a lot of teams have cat space. A lot of teams are willing. They don't even view it like wasting money. They're like, we've got to spend it on somebody. And we're not giving it. you know, this isn't

Peyton Manning type money or Patrick Mahomes or whatever. So it's like, yeah, if we got to give this guard that we want instead of giving them eight, we give them 11. A couple years, no one will even notice. But that is what you have to pay. It's why so many of the good teams that have a lot of players under contract at a lot of money don't really, you know,

fish in this pond. Because they just, they don't have the room. Right? The Chiefs, Chris Jones, but it's not like they're in the mix for a lot of these guys. The Ravens never fuck with this time of year. And a lot of it's because they usually extend their own guys, and they don't want to get into bad contracts. Now, sometimes you can't help yourself. And a lot of times it's because you've missed on people in the draft, and you have a neat.

Right? The 49ers who Javon Kinlaw signed with the Jets, I think yesterday or two days ago, might have been yesterday. Monday and Tuesday kind of run together. Javon Kinlaw was on the Niners because they traded to Forrest Buckner to the Colts. That was a whiff. Not that, listen, I would have traded to Forrest Buckner for the 13th pick as well,

but instead of taking Christian Wurfs, they ended up trading back a pick. The Bucks took Worf's, and they took Javon Kinlaw. And it was an utter disaster. It was an awful pick. I mean, a terrible pick. and the reason last year they gave Hargrave

4 years 80 million 40 guaranteed and this year they've signed about 4 defensive tackles because of that situation so a lot of times free agency is making up for bad draft picks defensive end Drake Jackson they drafted him from USC he's been irrelevant so this time of year is usually making up for mistakes

like why are the Jets trading from Morgan Moses. Because when they drafted the big guy years ago to play left tackle, like, that was a swing and a miss. That was a whiff. Obviously, if they could do it again, they would not have taken Bechtin.

They would have taken one of the other officer tackles. But we can play that game all day long with woulda, coulda, shoulda. There's never, and I love doing it. Well, if we did a redraft, in the history of life, there has never been an actual redraft. We have done them, you know,

on the athletic, or on some blog or on a podcast, but the teams have never like, hey, all the players from 2019 that were drafted are going back into a draft and we're just going to redraft them all. That's not the way it actually works. And it usually, sometimes,

you find diamonds. You get guys that you never thought were going to be good and they become good and they become stalwarts of your operation for a decade, multi-contract, you know, 10 plus year starter. And then there are other guys,

you know about two years in and you're like, we're screwed. This guy's not going to be good enough and we're going to have to patchwork this. And a lot of time patchwork happens, ideally some draft pick out of nowhere takes a spot or free agency. And that's where you kind of fill the hole. So as James Palmer just wrote, any contracts that a player team agreed upon the last couple of days can become official. Teams may start making trades or make official trades that are in place.

all 2023 contracts will expire. So, fun day. You could argue the tampering period has taken a little bit of the luster of like free agency starting, but I think it's pretty fun. You could argue it doesn't really matter because the same thing would happen

if free agency just started a day. People would have been talking the last couple weeks, so I don't know much would change. but I thoroughly enjoyed the last 48 hours. 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. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement

to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger.

So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Cliverts Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or we're you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of Tontons and Wampas on the Ice Planet Hot, or the practicality and

corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, mailbag at John Middlecoff, Instagram, fire into those DMs. You guys know the drill, Instagram, wide open. What's up, my guy? Wondering what you think about the Packers off season, love your content. I said it when I thought they had the two running backs.

I'm like, this offense is going to be unstoppable. Even going with Jacobs over Aaron Jones. I mean, I think they're both big time players. I don't know if that's a huge upgrade, but he's definitely a really good player. So your running game is still going to be awesome. Listen, before free agency or the draft, it was hard not to buy stock in the operation.

It's all going to come down to halfway in the defense. Your offense, assuming Jordan Love, just sustains some level of what we saw at the end, is going to be really good. So it's all going to come down to Can your defense, and I said this the other day, can it just be solid? Right?

You sign the safety from the Giants, pay them a lot of money, you've invested a lot of picks over the years on the defensive side of the ball, high in the draft. But your coordinators, let's face it, have taken a lot of shit. You guys were ready to run out Joe Barry

like two games into a stint. Petting, you guys couldn't stand. Before that, some of the guys McCarthy had it's just been can you get a guy that goes this guy's going to be a head coach and that that's a big difference for example the 49ers who have had more playoff success recently and the rams who won the super bowl they both had good defensive coordinators Rahim Morris brandis daly for the year wade phillips the 49ers demico robert sala if you guys get a if you guys get a defensive coordinator I mean, you have one, but if Jeff Haffley is in the conversation to be a head coach in two years,

I don't see how you guys aren't legit NFC contenders. I have a question about scouting and what GMs and coaches are looking for in the draft. Where do you fall in measurables versus the tape? I really like the corner Mike saying a real still. I just butchered his name from Michigan. He's said to likely go in the third day of the draft. And he's likely to be a special team's nickel corner. However, all I see on tape is aggressive, great tackling physical player.

He reminds me of a slider, Trent McDuffie. Pretty good comp. You said that in a draft meeting. People are looking at you. They're like, wait, this guy's a fourth, fifth rounder. You're comparing to him McDuffie? But all here on TV is length, 40, upside. Say it all the time.

There's two elements to the draft. Picking good players and knowing the value of what you have to use to pick the guy. You could love this corner. But you wouldn't use a second round pick on him if you know he's going to be there in the fourth round. That's terrible value. You would never spend $100,000 on something if you could get it for 60. So the key to the draft is not whether this guy, like in your mind, you might think he's going to be really good as a team, right? But you have to value, and I say this all the time, the, the combine is a lot like an inspection report.

It does not determine the guy's success or failure rate in the pros, but it does determine or impact where he's going to go in the draft. So if you're a corner and you run a slow 40, I don't have all these guys measurables. Like, it's going to impact you. If you're a wide receiver and you run a slow 40, like it's going to impact you. Now it doesn't mean Keenan Allen's not fast.

You get him in third round. He's an elite player. So I think in the first round, now, you're going to lean traits. the good teams do with the character and the upside, right? It's Anthony Richardson. Let's just look at quarterbacks. It doesn't mean it's always going to work.

But Anthony Richardson went fourth, Josh Allen went seventh, Trey Lance went third because of traits. Zach Wilson, same thing. Big arm, big athlete, a lot of other position players as well. You can't go safe high because there's no such thing as safe in the draft. So certain organizations value different things. you know, the Packers historically have always been a traits team. They really value that.

And when it works, you're like, holy shit. Like the wide receiver Watson from North Dakota State. Now, he's got to fix the hamstring issue. But clearly, like, they took a swing on a guy, smaller school guy with a big time trait. And that's a lead speed. Now, he's also got to catch the ball. But you know what I mean? I philosophically, I mean, being around Andy, he's more of a swing guy.

But the one thing you've seen them do in Kansas City, they swing on traits with football character. McDuffie has a lot of traits. What's his name? Marcus Peters, when they drafted him high, has a lot of traits. Why do the Cowboys never do anything? And was talking to a buddy of mine, and I was talking about the Kirkgo deal,

and he reminded me that Kirkgo went to the Vikings, Keenham, had those Kirk Cousins, I think. boys in the conference chipper and he couldn't make a playoff win with the same team top five defense and a loaded offense I say it all the time if the Dallas Cowboys had $50 million in cap space free agents would be lined up to go there

one no state income tax two your brand builds as a player and three I mean they're legitimately a solid football team right now but they never have any money because they always extend their own players at a lot of money I mean it's not like oh they just signed their own guy a team-friendly deal. I mean, they break

the bank for their players. And they're going to do that with Micah Parsons. They're going to do that with C.D. Lamb. They've done that before with Dak. They did it with Zeke. They've done it with their offensive lineman. There's nothing wrong with doing that if you get good players, but that's the reason they never have any money. They just pay their own guys. Which is a positive. It's not like a negative. You just better pay your right guys. I mean, that's the contract cost them.

They regretted that very, very quickly. Why is it that some quarterbacks don't cut team deals on contracts to help bring in more talent? For example, Cousins has already made enough money for his great, great, great grandkids to live comfortably. Why would he not take a contract around $30 million instead of $45 million so that the Falcons have more ability to sign talent? First, I always find it funny. Like, societally, we always make fun of people that inherit their money. that never had to do shit for their money. Like, what a fucking loser who's just handed this life?

Must be easy. Yet with athletes, and I'm not, you're not doing this, but the media always celebrates, you got to take care of your great, great grandkids. Well, I'm never going to meet my great, great grandkids. If I make $100 million, like, do I just want him to just have $20 million in a slush fund? I don't want the guy to go hungry, but he just gets to start his life at a sweet country club. Right?

I mean, he gets a Ferrari when he's 16. I never understand the dichotomy of the conversation. We crush 99% of society, but then it's like, yeah, you got to take care of your great, great grandkids. Do you? Isn't that my kids, sons, sons job to parent throughout? Like, isn't it better if I give good leadership and good life lessons? It always crosses my mind. I think at this point in time, if they're offering you that,

much money, why do you say no? Clearly he's had a strategy which it's hard for me to talk shit about. It's just been the most money humanly possible every single time. And he knows this vehicle of playing football last 15 years, right? He's going to end up being a starter for about 15 years because remember the first couple years he didn't play. And he maximized his value more than any player, probably in league history. But you could make the argument. Like, you've already made 300, plus million dollars. If you go to Atlanta and you win, like so instead of taking 40 million, what if you took 27 and Arthur Blank helps you out with some business deals? That just doesn't happen that way. So I'm kind of done even talking like that. Brady's an outlier. But I say it all the time.

You make a lot of money the rest of your life when you're a winner. And at this point in time, he's made so much money that he'll never, ever, everything in his life moving forward. Ford is free. Like he's so rich, he could buy a plane, buy an unlimited amount of houses. He's got a lot of money. And if people in his life, which he has, I know his agent, like, he's got pretty high-level guys. I would imagine he's in some good financial investments and life's going to be pretty good. I don't think it's crazy. Because if you're Kirk Cousins, like, hey, remember when Kirk Cousins at 37 won a Super Bowl in Atlanta? It would become pretty legendary stuff, but he doesn't really operate like that.

I also understand like, hey, they're offering you. I guess your point is, like, you go to them. Like, hey, let's structure this. Let's do a three-year, $90 million deal and guarantee me, whatever you were going to guarantee me. Still, the same could be guaranteed. I hate the NFL change the numbering system. I know they originally did it to make more uniform for fans,

but now we have defensive ends wearing single digits. Last year, Clowny wearing 24. I'm sorry. I hate to be like an old. man, crumagin, I can't get behind that. At some point a quarterback won't have a number available between one and 19. What do you think of it? I don't like it.

I don't like it. I'm not totally opposed to a defensive lineman wearing a single digit, because I'm a college football fan, a lot of them do that. But Clowny, 24. I was fine just with wide receivers in the 80s, running backs in the 20s and 30s, right? Linebackers in the 50s, O'Limon in the 60s and 70s. Like, call me a purist. But I was, I didn't think we needed to change.

I was on Tom Brady's side that was like, why are we doing this? Big Colts fan. Sad to see Minchew Leave. I am not an AR fan. That'd be Anthony Richardson. I said AR, he wrote Anthony Richardson. I think he'll be a bust and will be the end of Chris Ballard. Who I love as a GM.

Do you think he is more likely to sign a free agent quarterback, ideally draft a guy like Michael Pratt as a backup? Yep. When you get and you do what they did, draft them, they're all in. Now, Colin and I have talked about this, the time ticks fast. Here's where Bowers are going to get credit. I'm sure Stuyken was on board, and he did hire what looks like a star coach. Shane Stuyken is already a top three or four offensive coordinator in the league. And when you're the offensive coordinator and you're the head coach,

whoo-hoo, that's a very, very valuable people. that that's the guy that let's face it. It's the most valued position in the NFL beside quarterback. It's Andy Reid. Sean McVeigh. It's Kyle Shanahan. Look at Matt LaFleur last year. Matt LaFleur had a ton of success. But we're like,

oh, he had Aaron Rogers. And then it's like, damn, he just beat the shit out of Mike McCarthy. So now you've got to talk about LaFleur in their level. And he easily could have beaten Kyle in the second round. So to me, the second most valuable thing in the NFL is a head coach who's my OC that impacts the quarterback. Another cowboy

fan mad about no moves. It's just money, guys. You can't sign all your... Dac Prescott as of recording this, there's no he hasn't changed his contract. There's no contract extension. Dak Prescott's cap hit is $60 million.

The salary cap is $250 million. I'm no mathematician. That's a pretty big percentage for one player. $60 million? $60 million? I saw Debo today on Instagram complaining that they're cutting Eric Armstead. It's like Debo, your cap hit this year, like you deserve to get paid.

It's $28 million, which is a lot of coin, man. Like part of the reason Eric Armstead's getting cut, like you take up a lot of space. 60. And that's double what that is. I'm reaching out because seeing Save and Talk on Capitol Hill and bitch about how money has changed these kids has gotten me boiling. I'll preface this by saying He is without question

One of the greatest coaches in football history But spare me when you demanded To be the highest paid head coach in the sport And renegotiated your deal Every time another coach got an annual higher annual salary The highest paid coach in the sport And also by far the highest paid Alabama state employee The school you have

Made handover fist millions Of these kids' bodies And clown And this clown has a problem with them being compensated Yeah, I mean I I think he's talking about the way this has operated, right? Alabama has been paying players forever. I got news for you.

Lots of money relative to before NIL. Bags of cash. These kids have lived well. Sabin, one thing John Calipari loves saying, right, is how much money he's made his players. Nick Sabin has made, I mean, how many millionaires has he made in 15 years, right? And turn them into great players. got them drafted high, they've become stalwarts of the NFL.

Like, I understand the way he said it, but I think it's an overview of like, I think the bigger problem is less how much you're going to pay me and more that if I don't pay you, I can leave. Right? And listen, I've always said, if a coach leaves, the kids should be able to leave. But this notion you can transfer whenever you want, like, that's not how the NFL works.

Travis Kelsey can't just walk in Andy Reed, like, pay me or I leave. Andy would be like, you're under contract. So they have to find a way to meet in the middle. Now, I also think Nick saying that we did everything we could to impact people's lives. Like, anyone been around Alabama knows Dabo Sweeney was very family oriented. Nick Sabin was just 100% all football. It was, if you couldn't produce, get the fuck out of here. So he was pretty cutthroat.

He was like Belichick of college football. So I hear you. I think he's more just complaining that this setup is messed up. I think it's also weird Anytime you're not used to something Right before It's like Nick didn't have to deal with it

It's not like Nick was passing out the brown bags They were just there There was a third party Now it goes right to the coach I know technically you're not supposed to be able to recruit off that But we all know it's BS The parents look at them and go Well how much you're going to pay me

And I just think that it's jarring for a guy That's 72 years old right or wrong. Like, I understood both sides of it. I also think not as many people are getting paid as it feels, right? It's more everyone. I also think this. To play in, let's just say the SEC, obviously you've got to be really good, right?

You've got to be like the 1% of the 1% in high school. But if you're Nick Sabin, like, you've been used to elite players. Like at every position, you've had a top 10 pick. So can you imagine his vibe when a guy on his own team, who's a backup, goes like, I want 400 grand? He's like, you're not even a fucking starter on my team. I think he's talking more about that than like Bryce Young or Will Anderson wanting money. If they do, they'll get him money. It's more like Mike Loxley said it, who Mike Loxley came, who had been at Alabama.

That his third string running back walked in his room and said he wanted $100 grand. that's where I think everything's a little out of whack we have to get you to have an outro for your YouTube videos your content not having an outro doesn't take anything away but I think it would add another level also next mailbag listen we're always looking to improve next mailbag can you cover the teams that aren't doing a bunch

in free agency out the gate uh I think it's less about that right now To me, the story right now is about who's doing stuff. And if you're not doing something and you matter. Like, I'm sorry, I'm not going to spend the much time talking about the Titans moves. Ridley, Alshire, like, until the Titans prove they're good, like, they're not going to get talked about much here. Let's face it, we're going to talk a lot about the good teams. I mean, that's who matters in the NFL.

And then the teams that are complete disasters and someone's going to get fired. So, like, you've got to be interesting. And sometimes you've got to prove, like, if it's a minute, Minnesota now just goes to become uninteresting, they won't get talked about as much. If the Bears with Caleb Williams are all of a sudden a playoff team, we're going to be talking about them a lot. Now, the Cowboys are obviously one of the biggest, I mean, they're one of the better teams in the NFL. Them not doing anything is a story, but like I said, it really has to do with their financial situation. Why does the NFL free agency happen before the draft?

I'm curious because the current player should have more of a right from the players' union's perspective of where they sign if it were to happen after the draft. Is it a money reason? Curious as to if this was always the way, yeah, I wonder if it has to do with the distribution of funds, but ultimately if I'm a player and I sign somewhere, like this is the NFL. They're drafting people at your position no matter what.

Right? And an undrafted free agent can show up and be just as good as you. So it's about getting your money right now. you're going to have to compete, I mean, certain players like Christian Wilkins is not competing for a spot. Calvin Ridley is going to start. But most of these guys signing, you know, these solid deals, if they just suck or get beat out, it won't be long until they're on the bench. Like, that's the sport of football.

This is not the NBA where once I give you $50 million, you're playing kind of. guys get booted to the side all the time. So I'd argue it doesn't matter as much. I get a lot of cowboy fans. I don't know what you guys were expecting to happen. I love this time of year. Baseball starting, free agency, GM playing chess for the draft,

every signing we are winning the Super Bowl. Do you recall the last year of the Falcons could have given Lamar four years 200 million deal and two first rounders to the Ravens? I do think we need to pump the brakes on this. This year they gave four years 180 to Kirk. The Ravens were never letting Lamar go. I know everyone wanted their team to make an offer to the Ravens.

They had the right of first refusal. They were not going to let him walk. They were not. And when you do that, you know, this happens in the NFL or NBA 2. It does tie up your cap for like three days or whatever the waiting period is. The Ravens were not letting him walk I'm John Harbaugh didn't tell me this But I think we can all agree

He was not a free agent It felt like he was Because there was a lot of stuff going on But he was not They had the right to match And there's no way they weren't matching Okay we'll end on this I have a life question for you

I just turned 22 Live in New England Just hit 100k net worth Damn Not bad my friend and work in IT, take it home, decent amount of money. My family and girlfriend always tell me I work too much and should enjoy life more while I'm young. But I'm ambitious, but I'm more ambitious than them and want the nicer things in life.

What's your opinion when people say, enjoy your life while you're young? I also want to move to Georgia within the next couple years and I wanted your advice on moving out of state. I'm not acting like I'm Leonardo DiCaprio, but I've always done well relative to the way I look, dating women that probably I shouldn't have been. But in my 20s, like I always pushed away when anything got serious. Why? Because I was so obsessed with what I was doing. And it's very hard. And listen, I'm jealous sometimes of people, my friends that had serious relationships. It could never cross my mind because I always was so driven what I wanted to do and what I wanted to accomplish and I was purely selfish in my 20s and even in my early 30s. And in fairness to whoever I was dating at the time, a lot of them, it's not like they weren't supportive, but I didn't even want to cross like I don't have time to go to a wedding in October during football season. Listen, it's kind of sad. I mean, I did sometimes from my really close friends, but I sacrificed a lot, and a lot of people sacrificed a lot.

Now, the one thing I've learned as I've gotten older, it's very, very powerful to have someone in your life who supports you being a significant other, girlfriend, wife, fiance, whatever. That is a huge addition to your life. But if they are not supportive of what you're doing and you're all in, I never even gave people really the chance. I'm like, oh, they're going to slow me down. and it's obviously everything worked out well I'm glad it did but if someone wasn't supportive or like I want to do this

like I can't do this I couldn't date them I'm not giving you dating advice but if they're not being supportive and I always thought about this enjoy stuff while you're young people are living much longer now and if you have

when you're young you're doing well but it's not like you have that much money to do that much fun shit. So what are you really missing out on? To me, no one can tell you what to do with your life and know your life better than yourself. And I would say the worst thing you can ever do is not listen to your gut, whether that's in a relationship, whether that's in a job, whether that's people in your life trying to influence you doing something you don't want to do. Now there's a fine balance of like, you know, never going out with your buddies is like you're not doing anything you go out on a Friday or Saturday night go have some fun

right but when people are trying to slow you down from doing what you want to do I would not I just refuse to let that happen again it's not healthy and it can make some people uncomfortable and you know close friendships can kind of drift which sucks but it takes a lot to get to where you want to go and then once you even start getting where you want to go you feel like you keep doubling and tripling down. I'd also say this. There is no right or wrong way to do something. So other people and a lot of people think there are specific ways to live your life, right? Get married at this age, have this amount of kids, do this, stop doing this at this age. I've always been fuck that. I'm going to do what I'm going to do. Now there are times where you have to adapt and change because

a family or whatever. But professionally, it's much harder to change and adapt the older you get because things do change. Maybe you have a child. Maybe you have financial obligations. You have a mortgage, maybe. So when you're young, you have way less responsibilities. I know you have a girlfriend, but if she's not behind your ambitions, I would say there are probably some red flags for the relationship's health long term, right? And your parents, listen, I mean, unless your parents are paying for your life, they can say whatever you want. My mom's always like, stop swearing, John. Like, I just talk like I can't help that. You know, if I would have listened to my parents on the way I should podcast, I probably wouldn't have the success of podcast. So that there's a balance

of listening to your family of what they tell you you should do. I didn't have as much fun as most people I knew in college in my 20s, because I was doing everything humanly possible in the world of football. And it took a lot of time. And now looking back, my life is better and actually freer than a lot of those people because of everything I gave up. And hopefully it keeps building on as we move forward. But I think the number one relationship advice as someone that's 39 and dated, you know, was not really in serious relationships after high school college till my mid-30s. It was very loose dating was no one was getting in my way of what I wanted to do. And that was probably, you know, I'm not saying that's the right way to do it. I obviously didn't

meet the right person, but you have to stay true to your own beliefs or you're going to be miserable. And that was the one thing I refused to be is miserable in life. That was not going to happen. It's why I always give advice of like, do something you like doing, because you're going to spend most of your time doing what you do for living. Even if you work 9 to 5, that's 40 plus hours. And you factor in commuting. Even if you work from home a couple days a week, it's a lot of time interacting with people

and working in an industry. If you hate it, it's going to suck. So I would say follow your gut. And if you're an ambitious person, try to associate yourself with ambitious people. A lot of ladies out there that are supportive of that stuff. And when they are, you end up having more success and making more money.

I would also say on the move I would have moved way earlier looking back I just didn't have the funds to move it's the best thing I've ever done without hesitation I mean I I fucking love Scottsdale I love the vibe here

I love everything about it and I feel re-energized after the move and I guess I've been here now several years but I bought this house been in it now six months it's awesome I would say if you're thinking about it.

The one thing, a doctor gave me advice. A couple years ago, I went in just for a random physical. And this is when I told him, like, I'm just going to go and buy something. He's like, you know what I would do? I would recommend. Awesome family practitioner at UC Davis, South Davis Sutter. He said, just go for a while and rent and feel it out and then get a vibe. Because he's like, I had some friends that moved places and then they hated it.

Or they didn't like where they bought. So if you are going to move, one recommendation, like a big out of state move, especially if you don't know a lot of people there, it's just rent, feel out the area, see where you like and where you don't like. And then it'll help you feel, have more confidence if you ultimately want to buy a place and call that place home. Because if you're just renting at any moment, you can be, you know, flexible and leave. Good question, though.

The volume. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odin Kirk 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. 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 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. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. Eighty-four was big to me. Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it with our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.