The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 03/12/2019

Episode Date: March 12, 2019

Colin thinks Adam Silver needs to step in and fix the Russell Westbrook situation before it gets worse between the fans and him.  He thinks an Odell Beckham Jr. trade is very much in play if the right team goes to get him.  He talks about the Jets and their pursuit of Le'Veon Bell.  Plus, former Ram, Eagle and Giant, Connor Barwin comes in studio to talk about playing for Sean McVay and why the Giants won't get rid of OBJ.  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 Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a Tuesday. Busy, busy day in Los Angeles. We're here live. This is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening.

I-Heart Radio. Fox Sports Radio. FS1. I'm rolling up my sleeves for a work day. Joy Taylor is joining me. Joy, how are you? Good. Good morning. Both just rush to the set. The Troller coast I love that idea. I'm going to have to rip that one off.

That was good. Russell Westbrook had an incident last night. I want to talk about this. A couple days ago, my son was complaining about school and about some behavior, some students. And I said to my son, well, I can't control them, and I'm not sure I can control you, but I want to give you the tools to be able to handle it. If a kid's a jerk at school, if you get into a situation, because I can't control the other kids. and I said to my son Jackson, I can't even really control you.

But my job as a parent is to give you some protection or some tools to handle situations like that. So last night, Russell Westbrook, incident with a fan, fan says he said something. Westbrook said he said something else. But what would worry me if I was the NBA is the frequency and the intensity of these situations. Now, the fan could be a big jerk. I've said before, I hate hecklers. I would have almost no tolerance. If I was a general manager or any commissioner of a sport,

I have zero tolerance for very, very, very little tolerance for heckling players. The NBA is a very unique sport. The NBA has sold seats right next to the players. Football players, got a gap. Baseball players, got a gap. Hockey players, got a wall. Basketball players, sit next to fans. And the NBA, a little bit of greed here, even though they're making a fortune with all this television revenue,

has literally kicked broadcasters upstairs to add seven more seats. Equipment guys got to sit behind the team so they can add seven more seats. So players are right next to fans. But here's the thing. I can't control those fans. Maybe the guys are racist. Maybe the guy's a jerk. And I'm not sure I can control Westbrook, but I should at least give him the tools to deal with.

this, more security, more space, maybe a watchdog around him to hear what fans are saying. Because what I'm concerned about is the frequency and the intensity of these situations. Three years ago, and I'm not a psychologist, but three years ago, this was not Russell Westbrook. He was an 85% free throw shooter, and he was kind of a well-like guy in the NBA. Three years later, his game is deteriorating, and his personality, he's detonating. And that worries me. Last year, Utah, this year, Denver, then the kid, then the fan.

I'm not, I'm not saying fans can't be jerks. And I'm not saying in all these incidents, the fans aren't wrong. This fan, people say he was on internet, there was racist stuff on his account. I'm not denying that. But Russell Westbrook in the next week is going to go to another arena. It's not going to be empty. There's going to be fans there. And so who knows what happened to Westbrook to increase the intensity and the frequency of these?

You know, I'm not a psychologist. Kevin Durant's gone on to star. Hardin's gone on to star. Maybe that bothers him. Maybe the surgeries have made him, you know, less of a player. He's struggling with that. Maybe Paul George's emerges. I don't know.

But this is just basic psychology stuff. It's the intensity and the frequency because it's not like he wants. wasn't heckled three years ago. I sat at Laker games listening to Kobe Bryant get heckled. You don't think LeBron's been heckled? Michael Jordan heckling? And by the way, some of those could have been racial. I'm not, listen, there's inappropriate stuff in European soccer, international hockey, NBA. I'm not denying any of that. But like I told my son, I can't control fans. I can't control their kids. And I'm not sure I can control you or Westbrook, but I have to give you tools to better equip yourself.

Adam Silver's got to step in. By the way, Roger Goodell's changing rules. Why? To protect players. Doesn't want his players hurt. These players are commodities. These players are assets. Russell Westbrook is the face of a franchise,

the face of a division, and one of the seven faces of the league. And this is not going to get better. Fans are now sensing stuff bothers him. So they're poking and they're poking and they're poking. And they're poking. and they're dangling and they're poking and it's getting worse. This is where a commissioner has to step in and protect his player.

And I don't have the answers. But I would hire security. I think I've seen it, you know, last night, James Hardin's walking off the court and he's high-fiving fans. I think fans are too close to players. I'm showing an incident on FS1 where there's a player, Westwell, Westbrook's on the floor and a fan runs up to him. That's not appropriate. That's not appropriate. And in football, there is a gap between fans and player.

In hockey, there's a wall. In baseball, God, in Oakland, it's like a parking lot between the first basement and the fans. NBA, they're right on top of the players. And these are young players and their stars. And Adam Silver's recently said, many are unhappy. They're on their Instagram. They're on their Twitter. the intensity and frequency of this stuff, you got to step in.

Listen, I could, yeah, I was saying this morning, he feels like West broken, not Westbrook. His shots broken, his personality here's a little more unhinged than usual. And this stuff's escalating. So get him help. Get him security. Get him space. Get him a therapist. But this could end up being really bad.

And I'm not going to just blame Westbrook if he throws a punch in the next two weeks. It's not going to be all on him. Listen, you got to be culpable. I tell my son all the time. Hey, it's how you handle this chaos. So you'll be eventually to blame. But players, most millionaires in America, you know, you get to be 50. You've worked hard.

You've put money away. Pro sports is cruel. Hey, you're 24. Here's a pile of money. Well, I don't know exactly stress. Here's a bunch of fame. Well, I'm from a small town. I'm 25 years old.

Pro sports is rough. And I know nobody wants to hear it because they're all rich. But these players are increasingly targets, fans on top. They've sold the tickets next to the players. Fans can be jerks. Somebody's got to help Westbrook. That is the role of a commissioner. Protect your players.

Goodell's changing rules to protect players so they don't get hurt. Somebody's going to get hurt. Here's something interesting. Studies show that security systems deter burglars. It's a fact. But there's still a burglary every eight seconds in America. How? Well, think about it. Do burglars give up because an individual house has a security system? Of course not. They just find another house that isn't protected. And that's why securing your home is truly a necessity. So let me recommend a brilliant security system built by our friends at Simpleysave. They believe fear has no place in a place like home. They made their system really smart. Centers protect every point of access, doors, windows, garage, you name it. If a burglar did break in, an ear-shattering siren lets them know police are already on the way. Best of all, 24-7 monitoring at Simplysafe is just $14.99 a month, and they'll never, ever lock you into a long-term contract. More than 3 million people already know how it feels good to fear less with SimplySafe. Go with the only security system we trust, Simplysafe. Get free shipping, too, and a 60-day

money-back guarantee. Just go to simplysafe.com slash herd. Simplysafe.com slash heard. I believe that the New York Giants, I've been told this, are willing to move Odell Beckham. But there's a lot of optics here, what they want to get in return. I have been told two different sources. There's two teams that Odell Beckham would prefer to play with. Rams, 49ers. So there's a lot of things going on here.

The New York Giants, general manager, I'm told, would like to move him. but he is so popular, so popular among fans. He's their best player, most exciting player, and he's a transformational talent, that you just can't give him away. You've got to get something big. The Niners have the number two pick. The Niners wouldn't mind giving away a first rounder for Odell, but they don't want to give away the number two pick.

That is really valuable. 17th pick, 24th pick. by next year, San Francisco is not going to have the number two pick. San Francisco is going to be a much better team, probably much closer to eight and eight, nine, and seven, or better. So the pick would be the 23rd. Optically, transactionally, you'd be much more comfortable trading a 23rd pick. But a second pick, that's worth more. That is incredibly valuable.

So San Francisco wants him, I'm told, really, really bad. But they don't want to give up the number two pick. Maybe next year's first round. The Giants, by the way, are willing to part with them. But they want the number two pick because they want to feel like they win this situation. You got Philadelphia is kicking butt in your division. Dallas is kicking butt in your division. You have become a rebuilding team.

You just don't want to admit it to your fans. You have an Eli situation. Now you've lost Landon Collins, Olivier Vernon, overpaid maybe, but still talented players. They have to win this deal. and so I think Odell O'Dell has teams he's interested in one of them San Francisco wants him

New York I'm told is willing to take calls Jay Glazer was on our show yesterday he said divorce has happened it's okay there's no animosity there's no hate sometimes it's just time for changes it's gonna remember now last year they were talking about moving on last year from him right when he wanted to do deal and there was a lot that John Marrower

was saying Pat Schumer was the one who went in there and said, no, no, let's, I want him. Let's salvage this. Let's save him. I want him here. And there were a lot of teams. The Rams were interested. The Patriots were interested. There were teams they were talking to and they were looking at. But Pat Schumer was like, just let me have them. I know I could do this. And it's just... By the way. It didn't arise.

What happened at the end of last year, Jay? He didn't play. Didn't play. And what happened? Giants played well. Giants played very well. Yeah. This is a situation where the general manager in New York now is absolutely willing to move him. but that general manager not going to keep that job long because the Giants don't look like in that division, they have a roster that can compete for the title.

Philadelphia, Dallas just have more good players and probably better coaches. So this is a lot of optics. But San Francisco never forget this. Kyle Shanahan's the coach. Julio Jones, his best years, were with Kyle Shanahan. So Shanahan has a tight end in George Kittled from Iowa, who's a great player. They drafted a receiver last year. They have the number two pick.

They've got an offensive-minded head coach. Odell would be a massive home run for San Francisco. A massive home run. A great fit. I'd love to see it, frankly, because I think Eli Manning is a shot fighter. And I think Jimmy Garoppolo with Odell Beckham would be one of the most fascinating combos in the NFL. So I'm rooting for it. And Shanahan would make it, it would be Moss and Brady.

It would be over the top numbers for Odell Beckham. Beckham. And I think deep down, though he wouldn't admit it to me, deep down Odell Beckham is wildly frustrated in New York and he's really frustrated with Eli and he's really frustrated with a roster. And he feels he's an all-time talent. He feels he's wasting his years. And then when he goes out and gets hurt, when players get hurt, it messes with them. They see the end of their career. They see Hall of Fame out of their grasp. So keep your eye on this. Beckham, San Francisco, New York. I still think there's a shot it would happen.

And I think it would be the best for everybody. Because I don't think he's a good fit in New York. And I think he'd be a great fit in San Francisco. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd. Weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. New England Patriots have a saying, we're not collecting talent. We're building a team. And the way it generally works is I understand that, you know, a player's a great player.

And they usually go into two or three things. They become a broadcaster, and some of the great players are great broadcasters. Most aren't. Tony Romo is the exception. And some great players go into business. You know, Roger Stauback went into real estate and made a fortune. And then some go back into being an executive. Generally, the way it works is the greater the player, the lousier, the executive.

Michael Jordan's a bad executive. Michael Jordan was a great player. Magic Johnson was not a good coach, not a great talk show host. I'm not sure he's a great president. because I was talking to somebody in the last 24 hours in the NBA. And they said, it's not a surprise the Lakers are a mess. They don't have a grinder in the building. He said, you got a bunch of famous people.

You have the famous daughter of a former owner. You have a former famous player magic. You had a great famous, looks like Rob Lowe agent. And then you have LeBron James who has some, you know, influence over decisions. He goes, who's the answer? analytic cruncher. Who's the grinder in the building? San Antonio's got a building full of grinders. So the more famous your front office, the more dysfunctional your front office. Because the way it generally works, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson are so gifted, they get impatient. And if you look at the

Lakers, they've gotten impatient with players. DeAngelo Russell, they got impatient. He's now an all-star. Julius Randall, they got impatient. He's averaging 21 a game for the Pelicans. Brooke Lopez, they got impatient. He's now having his best shooting year. Stars, Larry Bird got impatient with Paul George. Stars get impatient. Magic gets impatient. Michael Jordan bails on players because great players have the ability to just get stuff done. It's not a long journey.

Michael was good really early. Magic was good really early. And so, you know, when I heard Charles Barkley a couple years ago, I want to be in the front office, I'm like, yeah, it'd be terrible. Is that you've got to be incredibly patient with basketball players. They come into this league at 18 years old. Most of them don't grow up emotion. to like they're 26 years old.

And so apparently this story came out that Magic Johnson ignored the Lakers coaches during last year's free agency. Luke Walton and the coaches wanted to keep Julius Randall and wanted to keep Brooke Lopez and Magic got impatient with both. And so Nick Wright was talking about this this morning on first things first. The Lakers are missing a key ingredient. They need a nerd with the Lakers. They have two guys in the front office that fill the same role.

relationship role, Polinka and Magic. One was an agent, the other's a legend. You need a number cruncher. You need a guy in there that can say, here's a contract, here's a guy that's undervalued, as opposed to a guy that's overvalued. That's what I don't see in the Lakers front office. And this is what

I'm told by people in the league. People think you can work the Lakers. Because Magic, L.A. is already an impatient city. It's an entertainment capital. Like, if a show comes out and it doesn't hit in the first three episodes, they stopped the show.

LA is an incredibly impatient town. And then the Lakers are an increasingly impatient brand. And oh, by the way, Magic Johnson is a personnel guy because he's a star is impatient. For the record, there is value to having a star in your building. John Elway, for instance, landed Peyton Manning. Because Peyton Manning's a star. John Elway's a star. And stars kind of, it's almost like I was never a pro athlete and I interview pro athletes.

but when I see pro athletes talking to each other, there's a code that I don't fit into, right? Because I didn't play pro athletes. There's like a language that they talk that I can't talk. Like I can never get past the velvet rope with most pro athletes. Stars take it to a different level. Magic, John Elway, Peyton Manning, Brady are in a different stratosphere. So there's value having John Elway in the building because he can land Peyton Manning.

They talk the same language, the superstar language. They get each other. It's why actors and actresses often marry. other. They get each other. They get the burden of it, the greatness of it, the travel of it. So Elway lands Peyton Manning, but he hasn't been great in the draft. That's the grinding part. And Magic Johnson was great landing LeBron. That's what stars do. He connected with LeBron. He goes and sits in LeBron's Brentwood House. And they talk about being global legends and icon. Very connective. But the grinding part with the Lakers and the grinding part with the Denver

Broncos, eh, not so much. And, yeah, that's. And, yeah, that's. That's why the more famous the building, generally the worst of the building. Like the Patriots say, we're not just collecting talent. We're building a team. The Lakers this year felt like a TV show. Rondo and LeBron and Lonzo Ball and Lance Stevenson and Javette. Had a bunch of characters. Didn't have a team.

They just had talent. What's up, everybody? John Middlough from the Three and Out podcast, brought to you by the Colin Coward Podcast Network. You like Colin's show. You'll like mine. I'm talking football, football. and more free agency and football. Today was crazy.

Deals galore. I dive into John Gruden, Howie Roseman being aggressive, Bill Belichick, doing what Bill Belichick does. A lot of deals, like some, don't like others, talk about it all. On my podcast, three and out with me, John Middlecoff. Cole Beasley, slot receiver for the Cowboys,

just signed with the Buffalo Bills, for a lot more money than I would have paid Cole Beasley. Holy moly, like $29 million. Well, they have a rookie quarterback, So this is the new NFL. If you have Trubisky, Jared Goff, if you have a quarterback on a rookie deal, a Carson Wentz, I mean, I have to pay somebody.

Deshawn Watson in Houston, this is what you do. You go out and spend money in free agency. And so Philadelphia has still got Wentz on the rookie deal. They got Foles out of town, so they're spending money. And the bears are spending money. By the way, Baltimore, now that Flacco's out of town, they're paying Lamar Jackson nothing. So keep your eye on the Baltimore Ravens now to make a big splash. He was the last player taken in the first round.

Flacco's out the door. So the Ravens are not playing the quarterback position anything right now. I mean, someone out there is going to pay Levy on Bell. My guess is it will be like a Baltimore or a Jets that has a rookie quarterback. The New York Jets, by the way, Anthony Barr is staying in Minnesota, but they went and spent a fortune on a middle linebacker, C.J. Mosley, who's a playmaker. I love him. Jameson Crowder, a slot receiver, Josh Bellamy, a special teams guy.

and then they traded with the Raiders for a very, very top six, seven offensive guard in the NFL. I love what the Jets have done. And what the Jets are doing is basically by hiring Adam Gase an offensive guy, they're ensuring that Sam Darnold now has a better defense, has a better line, has a better receiving core. This is what Cleveland's doing with Baker Mayfield. So we've got a new trend in the NFL where six of the eight division winners last year had quarterbacks on rookie contracts. and the other two division winners, Brady and Breeze, are taking pay cuts, you know, relative to what they could make. So we have a real trend in the NFL, and that trend is you get your quarterback, Josh Allen, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, Lamar Jackson, Jared Gough. Rams have done this because Jared Goss not making any money right now.

So they go out and get Brandon Cooks and Marcus Peters and Sam Shield and Indamagansu and keep to leave. When you're paying your quarterback $9 million, instead of paying your quarterback $29 million, that has a lot of money. then you give them a lot of guaranteed money and that can free up salary space. And this is the new NFL and it's very exciting. The NBA free agency is usually a lot of rumors and two or three guys move. In the NFL, you get no rumors. It comes out of nowhere and the whole league's moving. I think it's fascinating.

It's the new league. I like it. And I think what it does ensure, we've got something going on in the NFL right now that is a really good trend for the league. is that young quarterbacks, first round quarterbacks, used to come into this league and they were a coin flip. 50% bust. That bust rate is dropping fast because now, if you're on that rookie contract, because the first round, the CBA now, you're not paying what you used to for a Jamarcus Russell or a Sam Bradford. It doesn't paralyze an organization.

So even if you get a kid like Baker Mayfield with a number one pick, you're not paying him enough. So it frees up all this money because you're paying a quarterback 9, 10, 10, 12 million bucks. And so it ensures that Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson are going to have better teammates so the team becomes less reliant on the star quarterback. I think it's a great trend for the NFL because I thought the NFL was getting into a real rough situation years ago where you were paying first round players of fortune. They'd walk into a locker room. They were 22 years old. They were eating up salary cap. The pressure was ridiculous. And you couldn't afford other players around him.

Now it's the opposite. The actually, what it really did in a weird way, the NFL gave their money more to other players, just not rookies. And so now all these young quarterbacks, they're not busting because Lamar Jackson's going to end up with all. Lamar Jackson and the Ravens have all sorts of players. Now they lost Mosley, but I think they're going to go out and get Levian Bell. Levian Bell to me is going to end up with the Bears or the Ravens. And in both instances, there's one reason because they're not paying a quarterback anything.

Great trend. absolutely love it. And if you're Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, Josh Allen, you feel pretty good today. Feel pretty good where you're at. By the way, Anthony Barr is not going to the Jets. He's kind of a versatile outside guy. Weird fit with the Jets. He's an interesting player where New York was going to use him as an edge rusher.

I don't think he was the world's best fit. And so he goes back to Minnesota where he fits their scheme very well. And remember what Jay Glazer said a couple years ago. It's a copycat league, and you can see the momentum of the league has completely changed from accumulating draft picks and building solely through the draft until what we have now a free agent frenzy. Here's Glazer. Last couple of years, free agency's been a bad game of fantasy football. Guys whose names are big who are getting overpaid, and you just don't win that way. You don't build.

And a lot of teams realize that. We're not doing this. We're not going and throwing a boatload of money than Domaghan's shoes and all those guys. It's not a huge type of market because it just doesn't work that way. You've got to build through the draft and you've got to smartly go get an Andrew Whitworth. But then all of a sudden, the Philadelphia Eagles happened last year. And the Eagles went out and they got guys like Alshan Jeffrey and the Chris Longs. And then they traded for J.I.

They almost played this game that has become taboo in free agency. And all of a sudden, Philly had success with it. And that's why I think you see all these teams this year. They have changed their ways. They're like, oh, because it's a whatever you've done for me lately league. want to shift gear yeah Philadelphia which you didn't think had a lot of money they've gone out been very aggressive and it's worked for them it worked for the Rams I think it worked for the Bears last year with Khalil Mack it worked with a Cowboys giving up a pick to get Amari Cooper so you know it's and also the new collective bargaining in the NFL less practice time you know a lot of teams don't have the patience they got a rookie quarterback they want to get in players now they don't want to have to develop draft picks they want players so hyper aggressive Philadelphia at Los Angeles, Chicago. Keep your eye on Lavian Bell going to the Bears or the Ravens

who have quarterbacks on rookie deals. I think that could happen today. Lavian Bell intimated yesterday that he had a lot of options. And I think he's going to end up the Jets on the outside, but they have a rookie quarterback too. Rookie quarterback deal. One more HARD? The HARD streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week,

within the IHard Radio app. Search HARD to listen live or on demand. whenever you like. Connor Barwin has played in the NFL for 10 years and he's not done. Under Chip Kelly, under Sean McVeigh, Brian Kelly at Cincinnati, Doug Peterson, Pat Schumer, and he is one of the more charitable guys, a pro bowler in 2014, and Connor's joining us now. You were with the Giants last year, so the first obvious question is, how was Odell Beckham as a teammate? Great. He was an awesome teammate. I loved playing with him for a year.

he probably the most talented athlete I've ever been around. In 10 years. In 10 years, playing college basketball, playing 10 years in the NFL, the most freak athlete I've ever been around. Challenging? What do you mean challenging? To coach. Probably because he's so special and what teams do to him defensively is unlike any other

player. I was in the division with Philly and we literally bracketed him every single play every time we played him, which that doesn't happen. to anybody else in the league. So you need to get him involved somehow. You have to because he's such a special player. And I think that's hard for coaches to figure out how to do. I think next year, after having a year with him and Saquan,

I think Shermer will probably be better at finding ways to get him involved in the game earlier. But yeah, because he's so special and so much different than anybody else, I think it can be challenging and how to fit him into the game plan. Yeah, I talked to him about two weeks ago for 20 minutes. I liked him. And I think sometimes when you're as gifted, as these Steph Curry's and these O'Dell Beckham's and these Antonio Browns, O'Dell had an injury.

And I think there's kind of a sense of this isn't going to last forever. I want to be, because I think O'Dell could be an all-timer. Do you sense with O'Dell, and this is totally understandable, there is a sense of urgency now to start winning games and getting Hall of Fame opportunities? Well, I think there's always been that sense. and I think he's always known how special of a player he is. I think when you look at last year, you have to be very careful when you evaluate it

because the Giants, we just weren't a very good team. And so it's hard for any player to be incredibly successful. I mean, we went through 10 different offensive linemen. And so Eli, he's just back there with two seconds, got to get rid of the ball. So if the Giants can just improve some of the O line, improve some of the D-line, win a couple more games, control the ball a little bit more,

I think you'll see Odell, you know, those numbers come back and be even better in the future. Surprised Antonio Brown won the situation? Yeah. Unbelievable. So as a player, I mean, you never see that happen in the NFL. I thought the Steelers would just keep them on the team and find them every single day once camp started. And there would be some kind of resolution, you know, at the end of camp or something. But I couldn't believe what he did last year as a player to not show up. for the last game, but to have this kind of public feud with management and win. And really win, you know, it's great from a player's standpoint. Now, at the same time, you know,

the grass isn't always green on the other side. He's going to make more money. He's out of, you know, the Steelers organization, but his whole career, he's had Rathusberger, and he's had an incredible nine years. Now he's got Derek Carr and the Raiders. We'll see what kind of success they have together. Connor Barwin joining us. When you talk about free agency, you're going to sign, you're an unsigned free agent, you're going to sign again. What does matter? Because these players have choices. Labian Bell has choices. Is it location? Like I would think I'd want to join a winning culture. But I also can be a broadcaster until I'm 60. Money is a real thing. Yeah. Well, I think it matters, you know, what point you're at in your career. I think for me,

there's always been kind of two or three things that have been most important. All players won't say this, but it is undoubtedly one of the most important things is money. Of course. How much you're going to get paid. I think me at the end of my career now, money is much less important, and winning is by far the most important thing. But winning is always part of the decision. And with winning comes the kind of system you're going into.

And you want to play into a system that will benefit your kind of skill set. So I think those are the two things that matter most throughout your career is how much money you're going to make. And is it a system offensively or defensively that fits what you're good at? And then other things are add-ons. Like if you know guys that play there that you like, that's good. If it's, you know, if you like California, you can go back home to California, that's good. But those are just kind of things at the end.

There's been a lot of different cultures you've been in locker rooms. The Philadelphia Chip Kelly situation started well, went sideways. He brought that college environment in. It just, the NFL wasn't quite ready for it. What's the best locker room you've ever been in and why? Well, the best and probably the most fun for me was the first locker room I was in. And that was Gary Kubiak. Yeah, in Houston with Wade Phillips and Gary.

And that was a different time in the league. But Kubiak very much was very serious. You had to be accountable. But he treated everybody like men. And if you took care of your business, you were good with Coobes. And then we just had a great group of guys. Wade Phillips was a coordinator, wasn't he? Yeah, Wade was there.

Wade's the best. I mean, everybody loves playing for Wade. And Wade likes to have fun. And so there was a nice balance between Coobes and how serious he was and weighed and having fun. And both of them have been around the league and been around, you know, great players for so long. So they knew how to handle us as guys. And they just kind of let you be individuals. And then, you know, I've been a lot.

I mean, Chip was, Chip changed the NFL in a lot of ways. Yeah, he kind of behind. Exactly. But he just kind of kept, every year it was about doing something innovative, something new, something different. And after three years, it was like, we need to figure out what it is we do and just do that. Sure. And then McVeigh is special, too. I got to play with him two years ago.

What did you make of Sean? Well, he's young and just the energy he has. You know what I mean? I think the energy that he brought every single day was special. And the way he made practices kind of competitive and got kind of guys excited about practicing, I think was special. And that's hard to do in the NFL with how much you practice, how much people get injured in practice. And McVeigh was great at kind of getting people excited to practice. practice and compete. You know, you've played a long time in the NFL. You still look great. You feel

healthy. Ten years in the NFL. There's been a lot of injury concerns. I contend the league's actually a little safer now than it's ever been. They're modifying rules. You've been in this league now 10 years. You're still capable of playing. You still have a love for the game. What have been, is there been one big change? Is it the pace of play? Used to everybody huddled. I mean, like, what's the biggest change for you in a decade in this league? Related to, like, health and same thing. Anything, like the schemes, the health, the nutrition. Well, the biggest change is kind of what Chip did.

And it's the focus on what you do off the field, you know? Like, when I got in the league 10 years ago and you flew home from a game, there was like, there was booze on all the planes. And we were, you know, we were having a good time after every single game flying home. You know, the last couple of years, there's nothing. There's in when we have all these dietitians, everybody's talking about. about proteins and all this kind of stuff, which when I first got in league 10 years ago, there wasn't this focus on sleep and diet and all that kind of stuff.

And that has totally changed. Kids that are these big college programs, they're even starting in high school where they have all these special trainers and people that take care of the diet. So I think the health and the way people take care of their bodies outside of the game. That's good to hear, actually. I love that. Yeah, yeah. And it's guys are being healthier and they're playing longer.

It's also making the game faster and improving the game. You think O'Dell Beckham, a minute left, do you think the Giants trade him? No. You don't. I don't. Too special of a player. And I think it would be a little reactionary of them because last year things didn't go well. Right. It was a bad setup. But, you know, I had my worst career ever because we were a bad team. A lot of guys had their, you know, OV didn't have a great year.

Tons of guys didn't have a good year. We were one in six, seven games in. Like, no one was playing well. So if you have a special player like that, You don't go and get rid of him and think that's going to be the difference. Great meeting, you Connor Barwin. Good luck to you. Thank you. Thanks for having me 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 I Hard Radio app. There is a story here is developing Ian Rappaport at Rapsheet. The Jets have made a best and final offer to Lavian Bell, who lost 14 and a half million last year by sitting out the season. So Levy and Bell is looking for a big payment, right? The Ravens are still in it as well, said Ian Rappaport. Levian Bell has indicated to friends around the league how much he likes Baltimore. Ravens and Jets for Bell.

There's a lot of interesting things here, first of all. I'm not sure why this has taken long because everybody's already gotten paid. I mean, this thing happened fast. Everybody's getting money fast. The guys that were good players got paid fast. The average players got over. paid. I don't know what the weight is on Labian Bell. He lost 14 and a half million last year not playing, and running backs generally don't make a fortune are the offers not as rich as

Labian Bell wants. He's been suspended twice. He had a torn knee and he's got heavy usage. So I don't think the offers are going to be quite as gigantic as Labian Bell wants. Maybe that's why it's slow to come around. I don't think there's a ton of offers. Todd Gurley-Syman-the-Rams. They spotted arthritis. I think that's scared teams off. We have a history in the NFL where you can go find running backs. Karim Hunt's all over this draft. There's a history in the NFL being great running backs that weren't even drafted. So I'm kind of interested in the pace of this. Everybody's gotten paid very quickly. Average guys have gotten paid. Almost everybody's getting overpaid. What's the weight on Levian Bell? Now, the general. The

Jets appeared to be out of the sweepstakes until Anthony Barr, who they thought they had, went back to the Vikings. That cleared up money. Now, I do think this helps Sam Darnel. All the teams in free agent moves, I like what the Jets have done. They went and got a Pro Bowl guard from the Raiders. That was one of their weaknesses. They went and got a slot receiver from Washington, Crowder. Very clever, crafty, interior receiver.

Adam Gase, that's a perfect player for him. Lavian Bell would be a pass-catching running back. They have a young tight end I like, and they have Robbie Anderson a deep threat. So what the Jets would be doing is basically something that I think is really smart. We've got this franchise quarterback. He did not work with a defensive head coach. We're bringing in an offensive coach, a slot receiver, drafting the line, acquiring line, star running back. It makes a lot of sense for the New York Jets.

Now, it similarly does for the Ravens. I think both these fits are very good for him. The Ravens have a young quarterback. All young quarterbacks benefit from star running backs. But Lamar Jackson seemed to very quickly work well with tight ends. Baltimore going forward is going to run the football a lot. It's their culture and it's how Lamar plays. I think he fits Baltimore perfectly.

In fact, when the season ended, my first gut feeling on Lavian Bell was Baltimore. I thought it was the perfect fit for him. He's really, Lamar Jackson is going to need a great running back. That's going to, I think Mitch Trubisky similarly, Mitch Trubisky and Lamar Jackson, I never think you're going to be elite world class throwers of the football. They could both really use a pound it running back. The Jets, Darnold's a better thrower than Trubisky, Lamar Jackson, in my opinion. They could go draft a running back and be fine.

This would expedite Donald's weapons and perhaps expedite his imprisonment. improvement and production certainly. So that's the story right now. Labian Bell, Baltimore and the Jets are the leaders. There were a couple of teams out there that I heard about. There was a rumor about the Colts. I never really bought that. I don't think he fits their culture.

Listen, it's going to be interesting. Everybody's signed. Like everybody's done. I do wonder why Lavian Bell is still out there. With his talent and with the urgency of the other signings, it makes me suspect maybe the offers are not as great as he wanted. Remember, he lost 14 and a half million not playing last year. So he wants to hit a home run. He doesn't want to sign cheap. By the way, the Packers also a bunch of free agent signings. So far, three defensive

players, Adrian Amos, a very good safety from the Bears. Then it's a bunch of mid-level free agent guys, Preston Smith, Billy Turner, not expensive guys, mid-level free agent guys, three on defense where they need help. Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories,

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What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff, like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, Hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Time out. Quarterback on office, Blue, 42. A rep. My mama wants you to wave at her. What? Where's he at? Hey, Miss Parker.

Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed.

You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game, So 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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