The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 02/27/2019

Episode Date: February 27, 2019

Colin doesn't think Kyrie Irving will be a Celtic beyond this year because in their list of most important assets moving forward he is 3rd.  He thinks Russell Westbrook has become the weird sensitive guy that can unravel at any moment.  Plus, Arizona Cardinals GM Steve Keim joins Colin from the combine and talks about their plans for the #1 pick and whether other teams have tried to trade for it yet.  Presented by Perky Jerky. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to her. He's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

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This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a packed Wednesday in Los Angeles. This is the herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening.

We're on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and right here, FS1. We'll drop by the NFL Combine a couple of times today. The always interesting Chris Haynes on the NBA, Chris Sims in the NFL. Joy Taylor is joining me. Joy, how are you? I'm doing great. Good morning. Good morning to everybody.

Boston, we have a problem. This rebuild for the Celtics has gone really, really well. Got the owner of the Celtics and Danny Ames. Gone really well. Got the right coach, got the players, drafted well. Didn't have to pay much for, you know, Gordon Hayward just fell into their lap. It's all worked really well. And now they have a blip, and it's a major blip. And they'll get off the blip really quickly, and it's Kyrie Irving.

Now, I tend to think regular season basketball doesn't mean a lot. It's a lot of flexing. It's a lot of ego. It's a lot of vanity. It's a lot of stat padding. Once you get to the playoffs, the reality becomes guys put their egos aside. They know everybody's watching. You know, you are really defined in the NBA by your playoff stuff.

The egos go away, and the Celtics will be fine. But they're not fine today. They got blown out last night. And after the game, Marcus Smart said, we're not together at all. All last couple of years. We were together becoming stronger. We're not there. It's just taking time.

The potential's there. It's a matter of time. They're now, by the way, after a blowout loss last night, 0 for 5 in their last five games with Kyrie Irving. 6 and 0 in their last 6 without them. Boston, we got a problem. Do not confuse most talented with most valuable. It doesn't work that way in a lot of businesses.

Kyrie Irving is the most talented Celtic, and he's got a ring and a movie, and he's the most exciting, and he's the best finisher. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, checks all the boxes. He is not one of their top two assets. The owner of the Boston Celtics and the general manager in this exact order, consider their top three assets. Brad Stevens head coach, Jason Tatum, Rising Star, and number three, Kyrie Irving. that order. That's what the owner and the GMC. And last night, the number three asset,

Kyrie Irving, glibly kind of called out the number one asset. After playing miserably, and this is a guy Kyrie Irving that did not back up his commitment to the Celtics. He's talking about trade stuff all the time. A reporter said, Brad talked about you guys

defensively have been taking shortcuts. And Kyrie response was, I don't know, that's up to Brad. Oh, no, it's not. Danny Ains read that too, and the owner read that too. Okay, the owner and the GM of this team, Kyrie Irving, flaky Kyrie, won't commit, won't play defense, glib after losses, whining about hallway discussions with KD that a microphone picks up, he is their third asset.

And more than ever, I don't think they're backing up the Brinkstruck for Kyrie. and this has a domino effect. I think this means that Danny Ainsh is not going to go with Anthony Davis either, who is also sort of waffling on his interest in Boston. Does it guarantee that Anthony Davis gets the Lakers? I think it helps

that cause. Does it mean Kyrie goes to the next? I think it helps this cause. But right now Kyrie is an impediment to winning. Last five with him, lost. Last six without him, won. And last night, he called out the number one asset.

it's not a player, it's Brad Stevens. That's their owner and their GM's belief. The culture starts with their version of Belichick. And after that, it's Jason Tatum. 20 years old, never been hurt, long shoots, coachable, gets along. Last year, at 19, took the team and put them on their shoulders. But I still contend Boston will figure it out. But Kyrie needs to realize he's the most talented.

He's not the most valuable. He is number three on the asset board upstairs. Let me shift to this. You know, last night was one of those moments that a Steph Curry or a LeBron or James Hardin would have embraced. They would have made fun. A little 10-year-old boy sidelines.

And I have a 12-year-old son. This is what 9, 10, 11, 12-year-old boys do. he touched Russell Westbrook right next to him. Russell Westbrook said, icon in America. A little boy, he touched him. By the way, you can imagine that Steph Curry would have turned around and done something funny. And LeBron would have turned around and done something funny. I mean, we've had LeBron embrace guys who had half court shots and rolling the floor with him.

You know, James Harden, the beard would have done something funny. Most of the stars in the NBA would have... Remember what LeBron James guy had a half court shot? You remember this piece of video? It's one of my favorite LeBron videos ever got a half court shot. And LeBron came over and jumped on him and rolled on the floor. And they're how funny that was, how great that is? So last night, a little 10-year-old boy, little boy, little boy's a goofy.

Little boys, you know, you got to just keep him from running into cars. They're goofy. He touched Westbrook. And here was Westbrook after the game. He hit me. So I told his dad, you know, just be careful, man. You can't have your son just hitting random people. I don't know him.

me. So just let him know, like, you know what I'm saying? Like, just got to control your kids. It's that simple. For all the fans, though, you know, it's too much leeway, man, for the fans to be able to touch the players and get away with it and then you can't react, you know, and do the things that we need to do to protect ourselves. They can say what they want, no long as it's, you know, respectful. But the touching is, to me, is awful. Lord. Yeah, yeah, it's borderline assault. I can't believe Russell's playing tonight. Doesn't have reconstructive surgery. Russell, this is who you become. You can't answer a question at a press conference. You walk off the floor at Utah and you're, you can't take an iPhone picture. A little 10-year-old

boy came up. He's probably too close to the court, but you're like an American superstar. And a little 10-year-old boy touched you. Russell, you've moved into the weird. category. Like I've always known you were wired differently. But I read another story yesterday about Westbrook where Stephen Adams, his teammate, talks about the Westbrook rule, the Westbrook rule, that you can't talk to any opposing players. Stephen Adams talked about that too. You did not even, not even the nicest look or whatever. So I was like, oh, so I did learn that. But then spending a lot of time with him, and he's getting to know me, I did, like, say, tarbo. There's an exception there.

Maybe surge. Yeah, there's certain ones that you could kind of go over and like, maybe hug. I'm still feeling this out. So I might be told off here and there. So I'm still feeling the way out. Look them off and then I see where Russ is looking. Look, we go and put a quick hug.

Quick, quick, quick. Yeah. I mean, it's doing anything, Russ. Yeah. I mean, Westbrook's gone into the weird category. Like, Michael Jordan was intense. Like, Michael Jordan punched the teammate. But Michael Jordan could shut it off. This is why Westbrook, you can't build around him. He's never going to win a title. You can get in his head this easily. The media gets in his head. His shots broken. You know that psychological.

A 10-year-old boy touches him. Stephen Adams, you can't look at players, but there's these weird exceptions. I mean, come on. I mean, and this really is indicative of what his game is. Utah fans got in his head last year. For all the fans in the NBA, watch this tape. No. No. No, this is how easy to get into Russell Westbrook's head. Westbrook, Westbrook, that's why he's shooting 64% of the free throw line. It's not because he forgot how to shoot. It's not because his hands became like, you know, like, like Kareem's hands where they were almost so big. You couldn't get the right grip on the ball or shack.

This isn't a former elite free throw shooter who can now not shoot a free throw. And this is, this is worthy of the get hit me. No, he's a little boy. I mean, I understand security stars. They're drunks. A little boy probably had Kool-Aid, not beers, not bourbon, not wine spritzers. Probably had Kool-Aid. You're a star.

He touched you, kind of fascinated. That's it. Go give him a hug. Give him a high-five. Don't lecture his dad on how to parent. This is just exhibit number 390. why Westbrook doesn't get it, and I would never in a million years build around him.

Just think of how Steph Curry would have handled that. Or LeBron James would have handled that. Or James Harden would have handled that. Yeah. Borderline assault. So you can't look at teams, you can't look at opponents. Kids can't touch you. Keep waving the pom-poms for him.

but so far I've been right, he has become exactly what we said he is and would be. You can't. You can't shut it off. Can't even have a local media question blows up. First round, yelling, screaming, swiping at fans. It's embarrassing. I mean, at some point, this is, Russell Westbrook, this has become your brand. You're kind of weird.

You're kind of too, you're too intense guy at work. You can't just go out and have a beer after work. Play a game of pool. Can't. Sorry if it's personal, but you make it personal. You made it personal with a 10-year-old boy last night. You're a little off. A little off. Hi, it's the herd. It's a situation nobody wants to experience during tax season. But with the breaches in the last couple of years, your information may have already been exposed. And that could lead to an unfortunate discovery, finding out that a cyber criminal stole your identity and filed for your tax return. Good thing there's life lock with Norton to help you. protect your identity and devices. If you become a victim of identity theft, tax-related or not, life lock will work to fix it with a dedicated identity restoration specialist who's assigned to your case from beginning to end. Plus, with the addition of Norton security, you'll also have protection that block cyber criminals from stealing information from your devices. Of course, nobody prevents all of it, or nobody can monitor all transactions at all businesses. But you can

join right now and get 10% off your first year. Just head to LifeLock.com or call 1-800 LifeLock and under the promo code Hurd. That's heard for 10% off your first year. So last night I went to dinner in Los Angeles and did a little sourcing on the Lakers. Here's what is unavoidable and absolutely true. There is a major power struggle within that organization with a lot of big stars. Jeannie Bus is the owner. She's pro-Luc Walton and pro-stability.

LeBron James is the star. He's not a lute guy, would rather get his own coach. We'll talk about that somewhere down the road. Magic Johnson's caught in the middle, loves Jeannie and the opportunity she afforded him, and also knows LeBron's happy or this thing doesn't work. You also have Rob Polinka, who was Kobe Bryant's agent. Kobe still has impact and a voice as a legend that just retired in the building. And then there's Clutch Sports who has the player, A.D. Anthony Davis, the Lakers want.

it is a big power struggle. But for a long time in LeBron's career, he just barreled through it because he was that talented. But on the basketball court, there are three stages of LeBron. The first stage was his first five years in the league. It was the freight train stage. That's what I kept calling him when I was at the other place, is that LeBron would just barrel through things. He was not a refined basketball player.

his freight train stage was defined by one thing the chase down block he would do it about once twice a week where he would run down the floor block a shot off the backboard it'd never been seen before if i say to you the chase down block that was the young freight train stage one of lebron he did it regularly chasing good players down blocking the ball swatting it off the backboard the freight train stage. The second stage was the refined offensively LeBron. That was a lot of Miami in the early days in Cleveland. Okay, that was the figured out a three-point shot, a significantly more efficient player. This was a player who didn't waste a lot of motions, had a little freight train in him, but didn't waste energy on that. That was stage two. Stage three of LeBron.

is the one we're living in now, and I believe the last two years in Cleveland. It is the picks his spots, LeBron. He doesn't have the freight train in him at all. He is still refined offensively, but it's pick your spots, LeBron. And there was a story yesterday from a San Francisco columnist that said, why would any warriors want to join LeBron James' collapsing kingdom in Los Angeles? And to that I would say it is not collapsing. yet. If Anthony Davis doesn't get delivered, it will be over. Injury, no playoffs, no AD.

LeBron's era is over. Officially stamped. But you just have to realize that if you do join LeBron, this is now the LeBron you get. Pick your spot, Stage 3, LeBron. Okay, that's what you get now. Want more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. We want to go live to the NFL Combine via the Coward Global Satellite Network. He's entering his seventh season as the Cardinals GM. Steve Kyn started as a scout, was an all-ACC guard, and Steve is joining us. I said Steve about five minutes ago that I can feel, first of all,

think your division now is the toughest in football. I think you have excellent coaches everywhere. You've got Russell Wilson, Jimmy Garoppolo, Jared Gough, established quarterback talents. Do you feel, Steve, some of the pressure outside that is being pushed on your organization and you specifically? Oh, I mean, I think that no more, Colin, than the pressure that I put on myself every day as a perfectionist. But, I mean, I think it comes with the territory. I think it's something that, you know, your fans don't want to hear that you're going through rebuilding phase. Each and every day you've got to continue to put a better product on the field and you're held accountable for it.

And that's what this job's all about. So I'm excited about this opportunity. I'm excited about our new coaching staff. Really excited about some of the pieces we have in place, some of the acquisitions we've made this offseason. And I think that we'll continue that through free agency in the draft. I've always had a theory on the draft that outside of maybe an Andrew Locker or John Elway, I would always trade my number one pick to get multiple picks, generally a team's at number one,

because they got a little rebuilding to do, more good players than one maybe star player. Do you share any of that philosophy that if somebody walked up to you today, Steve, and gave you four picks for your one, would you consider it? Yeah, I mean, I don't think there's any question, and the more picks you can acquire, obviously, the more chances you have to hit. We all know this is an inexact science,

and it really comes down to once you build your board and you feel comfortable with the vertical part of your board being ranked one through 120, it gives you a better visual and an understanding column of where you feel comfortable of trading back to, where do you still get the right amount of impact with the addition of picks that you've gotten as well. So to me, it's a part of the process. We have 57 days to figure it out. And it's extremely exciting because, again, there's a number of different ways we can go And having the first pick in the draft is something that last year, obviously, I didn't want to be a part of.

But as we head into the draft this spring, it's extremely exciting. About an hour ago or two hours ago, I was here in Los Angeles. I saw a quote from you, and people ask you about, you know, Kyler Murray and Cliff Kingsbury and number one pick and Josh Rosen. And you said Josh Rosen's our guy for now. Now, of course, the media is going to jump on that and go, oh, oh, for now. How do you respond to the people who are going to write headlines and say, hey, Steve, for now? doesn't sound long term with Josh. Well, I mean, this is the season for misinformation.

So it's a fun part of the process to go through this spring and to hear all the conversation about the first pick. It certainly shows the level of excitement for the National Football League and for our organization. So to me, you know, there's going to be a number of things written. Josh Rosen did a fantastic job for the circumstances he was put in last year. And he was really putting a tough spot column when you look at the first seven offensive linemen that we had were all

when I are by the end of the season. We didn't have a lot of perimeter talent to throw the football, too, and he was going through growing pains. But to me, I thought he did a fantastic job, showing me the mental toughness and the physical toughness that it takes to excel at that position. Could I not, though, Steve, make an argument that the number one issue with your team is probably offensive line.

Rosen is not an over, you know, he's not a mover and shaker athletically. He's a pocket guy. and the way to solve both of those quickly is with a more agile, mobile quarterback, and Kyler-Marie fits that. I could make that argument, no? Well, I mean, I think that that's certainly something you can argue. But again, the one thing that some of these quarterbacks possess that maybe Josh doesn't would be the ability to extend plays, my argument would be, let's try to eliminate having to extend those plays. To me, it's improvising. If we can put a system in place that puts Josh,

in the right situation to feel comfortable, get the ball out of his hands quickly. Guys like Brady and Breeze and the guys who are having success around the NFL, Peyton Manning in the past, those guys get the ball out extremely quick. They know how to process and see the field. And to me, that's where Josh Rosen can really hurt us, spinning the football and putting him in an accurate place. Cliff Kingsbury did not have NFL experience. When you made the hire, I said,

are we going crazy anybody that's ever had a cup of coffee with Sean McVeigh now is a candidate is take me through the thought process of Cliff Kingsbury of you know the difference between college and the NFL it maybe isn't the gap of college basketball in the NBA but it's still a gap in coaching what was the epiphany or the moment

you decided to go with this young coach well you know I think we went through a long process and Michael Bidwell and I spent a lot of time on it. We did our research and to me we could have gone for another offensive coach that was already in the National Football League that didn't have a lot of experience calling plays. The one thing you can say about Cliff Kingsbury is he's called plays for eight years and he's done at a high level. I think there were only two years of his eight where he was in college football where he had less than 500 yards per game average, which is unbelievable. Not only that is he's done

a fantastic job developing quarterbacks of all kinds. People from Case Keenham to Patrick Holmes to Johnny football. He has done a lot of good things with different style quarterbacks. To me, he puts guys in a position to succeed and to cater to their strengths. So there were a number of things that really excited us about Cliff, aside from just the swag and the confidence that he has. And we knew that regardless of which coach we put in place, we would have to surround them with a quality coaching staff. And to me, you start and you look up front with Sean Cuegler, one of the better offensive line coaches in the National Football League, and Van Joseph, who, you know, had a tough

stretch at the Denver Broncos is the head coach, but has a great past career as a defensive coach under Wade Phillips and did a nice job in Miami as their defensive coordinator. So we have a lot of guys with experience that he can certainly lean on, but there's no doubt in my mind that Cliff can be very innovative and creative as our offensive play caller. If you made your mind up yet on what you're going to do with the number one pick, do you know what you're going to do with it? No. No. I mean, you know, there are 57 days for us to put a play in place. You know, this part of the process is extremely critical because we have a chance for the first time to get to know these players as people, which I've said many times over and over,

it's the most important part of the process. We come away from Indy with the medical information and we get to know the person, which again, to me is all about what makes these guys great pros. We can see the athleticism and the skill set on tape. What you can't judge is the heart and the mind, and this is an opportunity for us to dig. Have you been called yet about the number one picked by another team or teams? I have not yet, but I'm sure that will pick up here shortly. Would you call out? Would you initiate the contact eventually?

Yes, 100%. Okay. And I have to ask you point blank. Is there a possibility that you could see yourself picking a quarterback at one? I can't foresee that right now. Again, we know that this is a process we have to go through. And again, I think that what Josh showed us last year on and off the field, makes me extremely comfortable that he's our quarterback moving forward.

Steve Kime, Cardinal, GM, executive of the year four years ago. This is a tough league. His division now has become rough. Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll, Jared, Jared, G., and Kyle Shanahan, and Arizona is trying a little bit of a rebuild, not completely, because there are some parts there we like. And, Steve, we appreciate you stopping by. Thanks, Colin.

Always great to be on. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. There is an NBA executive, and let's be honest, the average person watching or listening knows about eight of them, six of them. I mean, there's about six NBA executives in this league. You know, Pat Riley is the most noteworthy. But, you know, you've got your, you know, you've got your, you know, Jeannie Bus and Jerry West in Los Angeles. And Mark Cuban in Dallas is very well.

well-known, Paxson in Chicago. There's a handful of them, R.C. Buford, San Antonio, Sam Presti, Oklahoma City. There's some, there's some, you know, Danny Aange in Boston. There's some, there are about six, seven guys you know. And one of the guys I just mentioned, I'm not going to give you away, but one of them strongly believes that Anthony Davis does not solve LeBron's problems. As that executive told my source is in the current NBA ecosystem, centers don't solve, they're not the solution to the problem entirely. You'd have to bring Anthony Davis and somebody else. LeBron has gone to eight straight finals without a dominant center.

The last two dynasties in the NBA, Golden State and the Miami Heat, did not have dominating centers. In fact, the heat had Joel Anthony at six, eight and a half, and Eudanus Haslam, who's one of the greatest guys in NBA history as a dude, but it's not a dominating center. Either's Javel McGee. and watch Boogie Cousins not play a ton down the stretch for Golden State. They'll get them off the floor. If you look at the dominating centers in the NBA, Boogie Cousins, Sacramento, didn't do squat.

Joe L.M. B'd Philadelphia, great player. One playoff series win. Anthony Davis Pelicans, never done squat. Carl Anthony Towns, never done squat. So Anthony Davis alone isn't solving the 2019 NBA problems. He is not the solution. But, as the executive was saying, there is now, because of the Boston mess with Kyrie, a solution. LeBron, Kyrie, and Anthony Davis.

And the story last night again, Boston now has lost five straight games with Kyrie. They've won six straight without him. And can LeBron go to Kyrie and say, dude, you don't want to be the face of the franchise. Okay? You don't want to have to go to the arena answering all the questions. LeBron says, come out to Los Angeles. We got a title. We work well together.

Anthony Davis, Kyrie and LeBron. And this was not a shot on Anthony Davis. This executive likes him. Thinks he's a little soft but likes him. Thinks he's a really good player. But if you were able to get Kyrie who can walk out at any time with LeBron, then you can give up the house to get Anthony Davis and it simply doesn't matter.

Now, I don't think the Pelicans are ever going to get the deal they were offered this summer. I think they blew it. I think Del Dems got fired because he blew it. it. In fact, the executive said that he would have taken the offers. Five draft picks, five players, you kidding me for Anthony Davis? Would have taken it. It'll never get better than that. But you've got a combination of things. Big executives in this league do not think Anthony Davis solves all of your problems. Look around the league. Centers don't. They really, look at Janus. Never want a playoff series. Many believe he's the best player in the league.

of the herd weekdays in noon eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. I tend to be a theory guy. Parenting, I got theories. Sports I got theories. Marriage, I got theories, which is mostly just agree. All the time on everything. Just works. Just yes.

And let me take out the trash. So sometimes I'm the trash. You know, I just take myself out of the house. So, but in the NFL, I love the NFL draft. And I've always loved the NFL draft. In fact, there are people that have said they first listened to my show 15 years ago and they're like, you like the draft oddly more than sports, like more than other leagues. And I'm like, I love the draft.

But I can love something and have limitations with it. I love ice cream. But, you know, I get a little sick when I eat it. Don't eat it much. I've always had two theories about the NFL draft. Number one, outside of John Elway and Andrew Luck, you always trade the number one pick. Always. Secondly is, if you can get a really productive current NFL player,

trade it for a pick, even if it's a first round pick, like what the Dallas Cowboys did last year with Amari Cooper. I could not believe the blowback and the pushback the Cowboys got for that. I set it on the air. Joy was here. Everybody was here. It's archived. It's a great move.

Folks, I love the draft, but 25% of the first round, historically, is a whiff. Can't play. Another 25% of the first round isn't as good as you thought. can play. That's half the first round. Amari Cooper can play. So the Cowboys, Stephen Jones, son of Jerry was asked the other day about, hey, draft's coming up. You guys don't have, you don't have a number one pick. He gave it up for Amari Cooper. And here was his response. When the Raiders pick our pick, we'll be watching Amari highlight takes. It's funny, but he did the right thing. It's as much as I love the draft,

I would always trade the first pick, always. There's a reason you have the first pick. You need about six guys, not one. And the second thing is, I would trade any pick, even a first round pick, for a highly productive, proven NFL commodity. Folks, it's different. The NBA draft only has two rounds. And historically, after about the 13th pick, you run out of talent, mostly.

They don't even have a third round. They used to have seven, then five, then. two. The NFL has seven rounds and still half the league is undrafted. Julian Edelman just dominated the Super Bowl was not invited to the Combine. Malcolm Butler won a Super Bowl was not invited to the Combine. Doug Baldwin, Pro Bowl wide receiver, was not invited to the Combine. Half the League is undrafted. Antoneo Gates. Second, third, best tight end ever. Undrafted. Stephen Gostkowski. Undrafted. Chris Harris, Philip Lindsay,

Adam Thielen. These guys don't even get invited to the Combine. And we're not even talking about some of the all-time greats that were found in the late late rounds. Antonio Brown was a six-round pick. Tom Brady was a six-round pick. It's amazing. Shannon was, what, seventh-th-round pick? I mean, people I respected pushback so. hard on the Cowboys. He saved the season. Amari saved the season. I mean, their offense was a mess. He saved the season. Malcolm Gladwell came on our show a couple years ago, and this is another guy that's in the theories and analytics, and I thought he said better than I could what it's all

about in terms of first-round picks. In a salary cap environment, the issue is not whether a first-round player is better than a second-round player. The issue is, is he better for the money than a second-round round player. And the evidence is really overwhelming that second and third round players are massively undervalued. So you should always trade down. Yeah. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Now let's go to the Combine in Indianapolis via the Cowher Global Satellite Network. Albert Brewer. Money Morning quarterback lead content guy. All right, Nick Foles, free agent. That tells me Philadelphia is kind of doing him a solid here, right?

They're just letting him go and pick his spot, right? I don't think that there was that much of a trade market form. They know they get a comp three if they just let them go in free agency, and I'm not sure that based on the logistics of it, it's tough to tag and trade a player that they were going to be able to make it happen. The other factor here, Colin, the Jaguars were the team that the Eagles were looking at as a potential partner here. I think the Jaguars knew that they were really the only horse in that race,

And so they weren't overly eager to work out of trade when they know they're going to be able to get him in a couple weeks in the free agent market. And so I think the Jaguar's knowledge of the market, the fact that the Giants and Redskins were maybe loosely involved. I know that the Foles's camp was waiting to see what happened with those two teams, but the Eagles weren't going to trade them in division. You add all of that up. And I think it just made sense for the Eagles to do a solid to Nick Foles, let them go to the free agent market and collect their comp pick in 2020. By the way, the combine gets bigger every year. Steve Kime was on earlier. They have 63 employees there.

Their sponsorships everywhere. Shows like mine send people to the combine that do live reports. It's a big deal now. And momentum is a real thing. I can remember Mike Mamoula years ago, like a linebacker, nobody watched, played. Vernon Davis took a shirt off from Maryland. And the world went, uh-oh, we got to get this guy. I feel Kyler Murray as a little momentum here at the Combine that, I mean, you're talking to NFL.

X, number one pick, you think it's a shot? I'm not ruling it out, Colin, and I'm not ruling out the fit in Arizona. I'm not ruling anything out with the Cardinals right now. I don't have any reason not to take Cliff Kingsbury and Steve Kymett, their word, that Josh Rosen is their guy. But I'll just tell you this. I talked to Lincoln Riley last week. Lincoln Riley played with Cliff Kingsbury at Texas Tech.

He's coached against Cliff Kingsbury the last four years. And, of course, he had Kyler Murray on his roster over the last three years. and Lincoln told me that Kyler is a perfect fit for what Cliff Kingsbury wants to do. He wasn't saying they're going to trade Josh Rosen and take Kyler number one overall, but he said the fit there is absolutely perfect. There have been enough rumblings that Arizona would consider it, would look at it hard, and if Cliff really wants it, I think that the Cardinals would listen to Cliff on that. So I'm not saying that that's going to happen.

I'm just telling you right now that there are a lot of people in the league who think that that possibility isn't exactly dead right now. You know, it's funny, I had a couple days ago, I had a 20-minute conversation with Odell Beckham Jr. And I was really impressed. I came away from a kid who wants to prove everybody wrong that is totally committed, that is a good teammate. But he has struggled somewhat. I think I can say this and not break our confidentiality. He has struggled with a little bit of chaos of the Giants last couple of years, three coaches, four years.

He struggled with that. He likes stability. I am surprised there's not more takers for him. Antonio Brown, I get. I mean, if you can't fit with Big Ben and Pittsburgh, and they're pretty pro player, I don't get it. But are you surprised Odell Beckham? The market's not hotter.

I think a lot of it has to do with the Giants. And the Giants approach here is going to be, we're not going to shop him. And we're not going to go out there and we're not going to put them on the block. But if you want to call us, you can feel free to call us. And I think part of this, Colin, is the effect of what the Rams and the Eagles have done the last couple of years. they've done it successfully. They've been aggressive in bringing in guys via trade. And if you want to look at the way the offseason sets up, the free agent market, the draft class, not very strong at receiver. And so I think that there's more than just the Giants that are going to be getting

calls on big-time receivers because teams that need guys like that are going to say to themselves, we need to think creatively here. So it doesn't mean these guys are available. But I expect the Giants to get calls on Odell Beckham. I expect the Falcons to get calls on Julio Jones. I expect the Bengals to get calls on AJ Green. Again, I think it would cost a lot to get any of those guys out of their current places, but I certainly think the teams, the younger GMs, are going to be a lot more aggressive about those sorts of things over the course of the next two months.

Should make for a very, very interesting offseason. By the way, Levy and Bell, story that Jets were concerned about his weight, C.J. Anderson came on my show and said, listen, I put on 25 pounds in the offseason. You take a beating as a running back, and he goes, I got no problem with running backs doing it. Maybe, you know, I'd be concerned about a corner, a receiver, but he goes running back sometimes.

We have a real offseason. Like, we don't touch the weights. You know, we eat our baked potatoes and our cookies for a month to kind of heal up. What do you make about the Lavian Bell Market? Because I think we're all forgetting here. Maybe not you. But this was an 85 catch, 250 carry guy. This is a superstar at running back in this league.

What's the market for him? I don't think it's great. I mean, I don't think it's what everybody expected it to be. I'm not sure that he's going to be. able to match the offer the Steelers gave him in July. That's just my personal feeling. It only takes one to go to $15, $16, $17 million a year. But right now as it stands, I don't think he's getting there because there aren't a lot of natural suitors out there who are going to say we want to pick up a running back who's got that kind of mileage on his body, who's been suspended, who has, you know,

rumors swirling around about him about what happened in the year that he spent off, like the weight stuff and everything else. There's just a lot there that you've got to wrap your arms around. And I just think teams look at this guy and say to themselves, we can find an answer at running back. Maybe it won't be Levion Bell, but a Tevin Coleman can be a guy who can be an answer for us at a fraction of the price with less mileage on his legs. So I think teams are being very, very careful about Levi-on-Bel,

and part of it's not Bell's fault. Part of it's just the way that position works. It's not that these guys aren't great players, Colin. You know, Sequin Barclay going second overall, a Zeke Elliott going forth overall. Those guys are great players, right? The thing is, most teams look at it and they say, what we can find if we don't go that route isn't so bad.

It's not like with a pass rush or a quarterback, where if you don't have a good one, you're falling off a cliff. At running back, there are usually an abundance of answers out there. We saw it with the Rams in the playoffs. They did just fine for the most part, at least in the NFC playoffs with C.J. Anderson as the lead dog. I think that that sort of thing happening tells you where a lot of teams are at that position. About a minute and a half left, Albert, Patriots, you know that organization well, 12 draft picks.

What do you think they go? What do you think is their first couple of picks? They have to get younger. There's no question about that. They do have some flexibility on their roster. I don't know that there's a pressing need right now. They could lose Trent Brown. That would create a need to tackle.

They could lose Trey Flowers. That will create a need for a pass rusher. The biggest issue the Patriots have right now, there aren't a lot of guys who are under 25 and are cornerstones on that roster. Most of the key players in the roster, your Grankowski's, your McCordy's, your Gilmores are either at 30 or approaching 30. So they just need to get younger talent on the roster. And that's why I think this probably isn't the year. They move aggressively up to go and get Tom Brady's successor. I think for them it's about filling out the meat and potatoes of the roster.

And I could certainly see them taking a tight end in the first round, given what they've done. given what they've gone through with Gronkowski's last couple of years. D-line tight-in. Iowa's got a couple of good ones. It's a great, great D-line class. Maybe the best I ever remember. There's about 12 guys who will go in the first round that I have. Albert Breer, money-money quarterback.

Good talking to Albert. All right, thanks, Colin. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. And every episode, we're cutting through the noise.

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