The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 1 - BREAKING NEWS: Steelers-Dolphins trade

Episode Date: June 30, 2025

Colin reacts to breaking NFL news with the Steelers trading for 3-time All Pro Jalen Ramsey continuing to add to their defense despite the NFL clearly trending towards offense-first over the past 10 years Thoughts on LeBron James choosing to opt-in with the LakersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Thanks for making us part of your day. J. Mack, I was thinking about this this morning when a story broke, is that, you know, all of us have budgets. Most of us have budgets. Not everybody now. But you can kind of tell what people spend. their money on by the time they're 50 or 60 based on the kind of financial situation they're in. You know, I tell my kids all the time,

dad doesn't have a problem with you spending money. Spending on the right stuff, spending on smart stuff. And there's an NFL team that has driven me crazy for about five years. The Pittsburgh Steelers. And breaking news this morning, J-Mack, they did it again this morning. So the Steelers can't stop spending money on defense. So this morning, what do you know? Bounce around the league guy.

Jalen Ramsey, $26.5 million. The Steelers went and got him. Now, they did move off of Minka Fitzpatrick, but Minka is low maintenance. $7 million a year cheaper. A leader in the room. Not a bounce around the league guy, so the Steelers can't help themselves.

Now they're spending $7.5 million more than they were. yesterday in the secondary. And for the record, Pittsburgh has led the NFL in defensive spending three years in a row. This will guarantee it's four. The New York Giants and the Steelers spend all their money on defense. You know who spends it on offense? The Rams and the Eagles have the two cheapest defenses today, and the chiefs spent the most money in the league on offense. Chief Steelers Rams, what do they have in common? Momentum. Winning. Winning? And the chiefs spend the most money in the league on offense. perpetually interesting

in the NFL. Everybody's got a budget. It's called the cap. Where do you spend their money? I've told my kids my entire life, the two E's, education and experiences. That's where I'm going to spend my money on great memorable things when dad is gone,

great memories, and to educate. All right, if you're spending on cars, a third, if you're spending it on clothes, I'm going to be able to tell over time. You didn't spend it wisely. Stop spending money on defense. I thought, oh, they're moving off Minka Fitzpatrick. Who didn't have a great year?

I mean, he was like 50-second ranked safety, a good player, but a team leader. And by the way, they're number one in defensive spending, and they don't have the T.J. Watt contract finalized. That's going to be $45 million annually. So you have that T.J. Watt issue to deal with, and he's your best defensive player. And Jalen Ramsey, two things. He's a very, very loose player.

That's why the Rams moved off him. They wouldn't badmouth him publicly, but he's kind of an independent guy doing his own thing. He's an independent contractor. He's going to do what he wants on his terms, and the Rams, after he got burned two or three times in that playoff, Super Bowl run, you know, they got tired of it. So he's also a player.

He's very dependent on his environment. And so when he was with the loose Dolphins and the loose Jacksonville Jaguar organizations, he wasn't as good. He was loose. He made mistakes. When the Rams got him, I thought at his, he was probably the best Jalen Ramsey. I've said this before about Randy Moss.

When Randy had the Patriots, he broke NFL records. When he was with the stable Vikings, Randy Moss was great. Put him on the Raiders? Uh-oh. So there's just a lot of people in life and a lot of professional athletes in life. They're very much a reflection of the environment they're in. And so Minka Fitzpatrick,

he's going to be good anywhere. It didn't matter if the Steelers are loose. Minka Fitzpatrick is a pro, a leader, dependable. Jalen Ramsey, much more a reflection of the environment. So he goes to an organization that, remember, last week, remember James Harrison, last week saying, the best part about Mike Tomlin, he's a players coach. The worst part about Mike Tomlin, he's really a players coach. And some players are not great with players coaches.

Now, James Harrison was undrafted, totally driven, a complete grinder, absolutely laser, focused, but not every stealer, as we found out, is James Harrison. So this is a great example of how do you spend your money. Chiefs, Rams, Eagles, they spend it on offense. They win every year. The Steelers and the Giants keep doubling down on defense. It's weird. It's almost as if the Steelers trying to solve their offensive issues looked at last year's Jets and said, let's do what they're doing. Remember what the Jets did? They added Husser's. Don Reddick didn't really need him and then signed Aaron Rogers. The Steelers went, give us some of that.

Let's sign a guy that really isn't as productive as it used to be on defense and is not inexpensive and a 40-year-old quarterback. I'm just going to say this. Probably don't want to watch the New York Jets ever and say, I'll take two heaping tablespoons of what the New York Jets are doing. and that's what the Steelers did this morning. I could have been okay getting and moving off Minka Fitzpatrick, though I liked him, but then adding a guy that's looser is a bounce around the league guy now,

and there's $7.5 million more you're guaranteed to pay. Pre-T.J. Watt contract. Not good. Let's talk about something that is good. So we are one year away, I think it's 11 months, one year away from the World Cup, on U.S. soil. and it's a biggie because this is the best group of talent we've ever had in terms of attacking and scoring. Now, many of them are not playing. This is sort of our B team, but we were on a four-game skid before the Gold Cup.

But our biggest issue before the Gold Cup is we don't have a goalie. Before yesterday, we didn't have a goalie. And last night we finally found one, Matt Freeze, who may have struggled for a moment against Haiti, but against Costa Rica in the shootout, he was absolutely brilliant. First of all, Matt Freeze in the shootout three different times made a save. That is remarkable. Another two times, he got his hand on it. So say what you want about shootouts.

I hear people, they're not real soccer. Yes, they are. Yes, they are. They're better than are over-times in college and pro football. And they're tension-filled, and they're all about execution. And that's the one thing we were worried about with Team USA without Christian Polisic. Can we execute when we get penalty kicks? When we get corner kicks, when we have set pieces, can we execute?

Because when you have Pulisic, it always seems to work. So tip of the cap to Tyler Adams and Malik Tillman and Alex Freeman and Damien Downs. But we did not have a goalie. In fact, on the pregame show, our guys were saying on Fox, is Matt Turner going to start? Matt Freeze had, and we've had incredible goalies in my lifetime. We're a hands country. We're good when you need to use hands. Not always great with just feet.

But Matt Freeze, after that Haiti moment where he froze, you're thinking, we're not good enough to be bad in the nets. We're just not good enough. Matt Freeze yesterday, the greatest moment in the entire Gold Cup, not just for us. It was tension filled. And by the way, it wasn't the world last World Cup decided by PKK? Yes, I'm not going to spend some time debating whether or not shootouts matter. They're all about execution.

And that's what wins in the World Cup. Details, goaltending, and execution. And also, Maricio Pucatino, it should be noted, made three changes to the lineup. And two of the guys that were inserted in, scored. So that momentum, as we're on to the semis, regardless of what happens next, you have a sense of execution. We found our goalie, which is absolutely essential in the World Cup. You know, we always talk about offensive lines in the NFL. You're just not going to win a Super Bowl with a bad old line.

Patrick Mahomes has been blown out twice in his career, like humiliated twice. In Super Bowls, when the O line was a mess. you can't win a Super Bowl with a bad old line and you're not winning a World Cup or you're going to struggle to get out of a group stage and maybe unless you're like a Brazil or Argentina you're going to struggle to get out of the group stage unless you're really good in goal and Matt Freeze yesterday talked about his remarkable performance penalties are my thing you know I've been the plane ride over here to Minnesota I was studying the penalties and so, you know, I've been stunting them all week and was ready for it if we needed it.

And the one that I didn't move on, suggestion from my goalkeeper coach, Tony Jimenez. And, you know, he was the reason that save was made. So I got to tell you, J. Mack, there's very few things in sports, in America, globally, that are more riveting than when you go to PKs. I'm sitting there for 10 minutes. And I mean, the world stops. And it was like a real moment. And all of a sudden when Burrhalter's son misses, I'm like, oh, no, this is going to go sideways. No, this can't happen.

But our guys delivered. And it was about as good as 10 to 12 minutes of live sports can be. So tip of the cap to our guys. Yeah. And let's be real. They are heavy favorites in the semifinals against Guatemala. Yes. And we're looking at a USA-Mexico final, which would be incredible.

obviously for the country, for soccer fans. I will say soccer purists, Colin, they hate PKs as an ending. They're like, oh, this running around for two hours and we end up penalty kick, so silly, but you're right. Thrilling television, just gripping. Well, remember, if you run around for two hours, the last thing that's going to decide it

is running around for another 15 minutes. This is soccer, perhaps not at its purist form, but at its most crucial form of execution. I mean, when you watch the great teams that win the World Cup, goal scores and goalkeeping decide World Cups. That's what decides it. The great attacker, the great score, and somebody makes a great save. And you put them up front, up close and personal. This is what's going to decide this match.

And again, if you go 90 minutes and you're tied, often in the blazing sun, I don't need you to play longer. I want execution. and their team USA delivered it. Let me quickly add. We talked about, like, hey, this is the B team with some C guys. They're not going to be in the World Cup. Freeze just made a case to Pochatea. Hey, man, I know Matt Turner's a guy.

I won in. I want a legitimate shot. Yeah. And Diego Luna's been playing incredible. Incredible. I think he certified a spot for himself on next year's team. Tyler Adams. I should make the team as well.

So I did think, Puchatino came out and said, I'm going to make some lineup changes. and they all worked. And he's always been a fan of change and youth and development. So that's why they brought him in and moved off Greg Burrhalter. But Chitino's strength is, I'm going to use young guys, I'm going to develop them, I'm going to give them opportunities, and they delivered. Yeah, we're going to get Guatemala.

That's for sure. Lock that up. And then we're in the finals. And then it's, hey, we play Mexico, hopefully, in what should be another classic game between the two countries. Yep, I can't wait. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd, weekdays, and noon east. 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app.

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Listen to the fifth hour with Ben Mather on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special.

So how did we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call, about what we should call it. And, well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this.

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

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Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamist sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levin this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive?

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40 minutes away, plus Matt Hasselbeck. It is a Monday and a lot to talk about. So, listen, I have been overwhelmingly a LeBron defender

my entire career. But there are a couple of things recently that he's done that give his critics, and there's a lot of them, MJ's always been more popular. That's not even disputable.

And I would say about 75 to 80% of the people think MJ's the goat, not LeBron. But he's done something recently. I saw yesterday where he picked up his $52.6 million Laker option. And then the press release, well, LeBron wants to win titles. Well, then you can't pick up the option. You can't play for $52 million. It's a hard cap now. No owner's going to blow through it. So first of all, he got into that silly ring debate about two weeks ago where he talked about something that he didn't truly believe, which is the ring culture. It's

overemphasized. And then a piece of video emerged of LeBron saying everyone in Cleveland, hey, that ring, I think, make me the greatest of all time. Well, I thought the ring culture is overemphasized. Rings matter to everybody, including LeBron, and he knows it. But he's not as popular as MJ. The numbers we remember about Michael are six for six. And Michael is considered the goat by a lot of people, including some notable people like a Phil Jackson. And that's just the reality of it. Okay, it is. And Michael's much more popular. His shoes still leading sellers. They're like collector's items and they still sell. And so the reality is that debate was silly. It was projection. And then the second thing is, you know, LeBronzo has been, hey, I'm about winning, which I've always argued.

He plays winning basketball. He elevates teammates. He's like a more athletic Magic Johnson. But then when you do this, knowing the Lakers need at least two centers, two, that's what Oklahoma City has. has. You know, that's what the Knicks have. That's what, you know, the better teams in the league. They've got a couple of bigs. By the way, Denver drafted a big. He got hurt, but they'll have two next year. Like, you've got to have bigs. And the Lakers have one, and the coach JJ Redick doesn't want to play him. So they need two centers. Dorian Finney Smith is opting out. They need two wing defenders then. And you can't do it if you're taking Maxes. Because they got to pay Luca this summer. And Austin Reeves just declined money. And they tell everybody they love Austin

Reeves and so you're going to have to pay LeBron and he's opting in for 52.6 million. So again, what is it? Are you about winning? Because I've seen Otani take pay cuts and Josh Allen and Tom Brady and Tim Duncan and Jalen Brunson. That's about winning. Tom did it for winning. He was the best quarterback in the world and he kept taking pay cuts. So you're going to have to pay Luca and I'm told you're going to pay eventually Austin Reeves. So if LeBron is often in, it's not a championship team. Okay. And I've seen the great one. I mean, LeBron now, and I don't envy it. There's no animosity.

I don't think anybody holds it against LeBron that he's a billionaire. We don't care. There's billionaires everywhere. Everything we buy at Amazon run by a billionaire who just got married in Venice, and Venice is mad, but most Americans were capitalists, we're good with it. That's not it. But when you're telling me ring culture, doesn't matter, and you're telling me winning, it's all about winning.

No, it's not. You just watched OKC in Indiana that had like eight deep rotations that played eight or nine guys. The Lakers don't even trust their starting center. J.J. Reddick doesn't. LeBron's getting older. Luka is hopefully in shape. They're going to have to pay Austin Reeves. I'm told they love him. So you're giving your critics cannon fodder to criticize you. And for years, I've always been, LeBron's about winning. Nah, Brady was about winning. Duncan was about winning. Josh Allen's about winning. O'Tonnie's about winning. That's what I'm, Jalen Brunson's about winning. That's what truly matters to them. I don't feel like they're projecting. They're actionable

on not taking the maximum available. So I'm just saying, just be of your word. The rings matter? Of course they do. And does money matter more than winning at this point? Absolutely, yes, it does. By the way, Kobe Bryant wanted every penny to the end. But he was honest about it. He was authentic about it he was totally up front about it there's multiple quotes about it just be honest with us that's all we're asking jac with the news this is the herd line news all right my friend let's get started with the pittsburgh stealers colin they're hoping the old aaron rogers shows up this season uh i know they had the big trade today well ben rossusberger who played his entire career in Pittsburgh was talking about Rogers and for some reason he compared him to Patrick

Bahomes. I would take Aaron in his prime over over Patrick now. I think, yeah, I think Aaron Rogers at his prime was one of the top few to ever do it. And so is Patrick Mahomes at his prime. Patrick Mahomes is just just like entering out of his prime, I think. You think? Aaron, yes, I think Patrick Mahomes is a phenomenal. He's going to go down as a, as a,

another arguable goat. Okay, Patrick Mahomes, like John Elway, is not only defined by getting to Super Bowls, but Elway and Patrick Mahomes are defined by playing from behind to win huge games. That has always been, and you can look it up, the weakness. When Aaron gets behind,

he has a bizarrely low number of come from behind fourth quarter wins. Mahomes is defined by it. That was John Elway straight. in his prime. It was like Elway was never out of a game. I've said it before. If Aaron throws two picks in a game, he shuts it down.

Andrew Luck didn't, Brady didn't, Elway didn't. Mahomes doesn't. And I think that's the definition. It's not, we always talk about this J-Mack. Quarterback is not how you play with a lead with great protection in a run game. How do you play when you're from behind? By the way, that went over the Niners in the Super Bowl. they are trailing going into the fourth quarter.

Mahomes has always been good when the chips are down and you need a play. I've always felt, especially in later years, Aaron is good with a lead, but he plays it safe, especially if he throws a pick, which, by the way, Brady had a pick six in a Super Bowl. You have to be the same quarterback lead or trailing to be an all-time top four or five great to me. Peyton Manning did not keep track of his interceptions. Braden, Mahomes doesn't, Josh Allen doesn't, Aaron does keep track.

He's a different quarterback if he's thrown one or two, and he's trailing late. Yeah. No, those are valid points. It's a tough one because at his height, Aaron Rogers was, I think, multiple-time MVP. Right. But remember, he's comparing him to current Patrick Mahomes. Colin Mahomes is coming off his worst season pretty much as a pro. Yeah.

Right? No weapons. Yeah, it's one of splitting hairs. I would probably lean Rogers and his prime over current Mahomes, but Mahomes will end up with a better career. That's undeniable. All right, let's stay in the NFL, go to My Jets. Sauce Gardner, Angling, become one of the highest paid players in the league, certainly at his position.

So he's eligible for an extension heading into year four. And for some reason, over the weekend, he decided to jump on social media and repop a Dion Sanders take from March. Now, Colin, what does that mean that Sauce Gardner perhaps thinks, hey, man, negotiations are not going well. Let me let everybody know what Coach Prime

said back in March. Well, Sauce Gardner did not have a great year, and he's a remarkably talented player. But I think you and I have talked about this. You talked about two years ago, being a wide receiver bubble. You were about a year ahead of that.

I've come to terms with there are so many smart, offensive coaches and using so many sets and so much motion that cornerbacks now having a shutdown corner. Now, I'm not saying you don't need two capable corners, but the idea of needing a shutdown corner outside of Patrick Sartan, I'm not sure I'd pay big money for any corner in the league. Sartan, I would. He is so reliable, so low maintenance, so dependable, defends the run and pass.

But I think Soss Gardner is kind of the classic now guy in an island, very, very, very very good can sometimes be a little flash driven, making the big splash play over the dependable tackle. So I'm just, again, I think he's super talented. But the world of having to have a lockdown corner, I mean, look at the teams that have locked down corners. Cleveland, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Carolina. I mean, I just, I think quarterbacks, pass rushers, left tackles, and good coaches connect to the play.

I don't think having a great corner is. Quarterbacks on a rookie deal, which probably helps him. He could spend a little extra on a corner. I'm looking at Sauce Gardner. So what really hurts him, Colin, is his first year in the league. He graded out as the best cornerback in the NFL. Then he fell to third. And in year three, he stepped back to 31st.

So he's not trending the right way, heading into a contract year, and I'm assuming the Jets are playing hardball, as they should. But Sauce Gardner retweeting this from Dion Sanders is a sign that he's not thrilled with the direction. Things are going. Listen, I don't, the problem is that Jets don't have a quarterback. So you can probably pay sauce in that category of J.C. Horn.

Before last season, before last season when they hit on two rookies, the Eagles had below average corners. They really had a bad secondary. They kept ending up an NFC championship. The Rams right now, probably the biggest weakness, I would say, is corner. and their defense is unbelievable. I think the league's gotten really smart. I think you can't press guys like you used to.

You can't touch them after two or three yards. I think having a great corner, you can marginalize that position and how many great corners want to tackle unrun plays? Not that many. That's a good point. I will add the first great year he had, Robert Sala's defense. Robert Sala, great defensive mastermind.

Last year he's bounced in a month and saw us. did not end up playing as great. Final story, Colin, let's go to the NBA, where the Celtics continue to flirt with trading Jalen Brown or Derek White. In regards to White, how about this one? Reports indicate Boston is looking for a Mikhail Bridges-like return. Remember, Bridges cost four unprotected ones and a pick swap and another first. So if you want Derek White, you're not getting him on the cheat.

They think he's worth Mikhail Bridges. I don't necessarily agree with that, but White's resume is pretty good. And let's be honest, well, Bridges, he's not like an all-N-B guy. I really like Derek White. I think he's a very 3-&D guy. He's an excellent three-point shooter. He's also, the other thing about Derek White, J-Mack, he's played now in a lot of big games, pressurized games.

The Celtics, those games, Boston's a hard place to play in the NBA. So he's played in big games, excellent three-point shooter. He has these knights where he explodes. You can get 30 points out of Derek White, and it doesn't shop you. Excellent defender. Good locker room guy. Doesn't need the ball. He's a team guy.

You never hear anything about Derek White. He's been a grinder. He didn't come in, you know, five-star athlete. I think he's just a really underrated NBA player. You know where he fits perfect? It won't happen. But Detroit, they're losing Malik Beasley, the great shooter that they had last year. They need a shooting guy who plays defense.

next to Kate Cunningham. Derek White would make all the sense of the world there. I just can't, I don't see Detroit giving up like four ones for Derek White. Well, they've, well, yeah, I mean, it's a really good point. So they've got their one in Kay Cunningham. They've got their centerpiece. Derek White would be their second best player. I'd rather him be my third.

Yeah. Okay. So, but again, you're developing young players. If Derek's your third, you're a very good playoff team. If he's your second, you may not be. but he made all NBA defense now, I think the last two years. So he is an elite, long, hardworking, focused defensive player who on any night can give you 27.

Yeah, and this, I remember we talked about the Lakers maybe going after him, or Austin Reeves would then be their fourth best, but the Lakers are not giving up four first-round picks for Derek White. They're just not doing it. Well, if you gave up old Austin Reeves, you could have yourself. We're not parting with Austin Reeves in a Derek White deal. What do they need? I would take Janice for Austin Reeves.

I would give up Derek White. I would give up Austin Reeves for Derek White tomorrow because you know what Derek White solves? Your wing defensive hole. I mean, the Lakers need at least two bigs because they have one and the coach doesn't like it. They need two bigs. You're not getting those for free

and you absolutely have to upgrade at wing defender. Well, you may get one for free. A player was just released here. We'll talk about it next hour. A big band. Yeah, I was sure it's a chemo Lange one level. Okay, sure. J-Mack with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. You know, it's funny, because Austin Reeves plays for the Lakers, he's viewed up here. Derek White's a better defender by far and a better three-point shooter. And the Lakers need both. So if you told me Austin, Derek White, straight trade, I would do it in one second. And that's not a knock on Austin Reed.

Derek White may be the most underrated player in the league. He may be the most underrated player in league. I think Boston knows it. and Boston saying, the league may underrate him. We don't. We want four unprotected. So I saw this story. Listen, here's what we do for a living.

There's football season and waiting for football season. So I would be the first to admit that when I see one of these channelizing NFL topics, I can't get my teeth off it. So Saquan Barkley had said this, who right now, when McCaffrey's healthy, I think he's the best running back in the league. but I think Seyquan has been healthy more often, so he's probably viewed as the best running back in the league. He said,

I never heard a word from the commanders or the Dallas Cowboys when I was available. So I'll give the commanders a little bit of a pass, new ownership, a lot of moving parts. I'll give them a little pass. But the Cowboys had the worst running back room in the league, and they didn't make a phone call on Derek Henry or Seyuan Barclay. And we were talking about this this morning.

I've never owned a Maserati. But the Cowboys and Maseratis are that luxury brand that feel like they spend way too much time in the shop. And right now, I think it's hard for people to wrap their brains around. I think Dallas is a bottom quarter, bottom fifth NFL franchise. But because they've been such a luxury brand, it's hard to wrap your brain around that. Like you think the Cowboys and you think winning. But right now, I would argue, weakest head coach in the sport and not a very good overall staff, because the weaker the coach, the weaker the staff he can assemble.

They have not had back-to-back hits in a draft for five years. And that was the CD-LAM first round, Trayvon Digg's second round. Those were great. Those were good hits. That's the last time they did that. So in terms of drafting and development and execution, strategic execution in the front office and coaching staff, you know, this has been my three-year narrative.

They're not well-run. and they were not in the Derek Henry market. And I wasn't gravy training on this. I said the Derek Henry move six months before it happened. I said, you got to, they need Derek Henry to help Dak. Henry goes to Baltimore crushes. And now we've since learned they couldn't afford him, right? Well, now with this Michael Parsons thing coming, this huge contract,

I just think there's strategy and execution, is really poor. And this is what I was on with the Lakers for seven or eight years, is that it was mom and pop, there were too many friends of the bus family in the building. You need outside eyes.

When the lions lose, both their coordinators, Aaron Glenn goes to the Jets and then Ben Johnson Bears, my take was, you can't hire it from within the building. These were arguably the two best coordinators in the league.

The answer can't be in the building. At least one of those moves, one of those coordinators, got to go outside the building. The Cowboys and the Lakers never go outside the building. It's always friends of. Jason Garrett, Brian Schottenheimer. It's always friends of.

So it's, I mean, for years, Dan Snyder was such an awful owner in division that it kind of didn't matter if Dallas made a mistake because everybody sort of acknowledged he's not Dan Snyder. Dan's now been dismissed, basically forced out, rightfully so, by the NFL. well. And now you're seeing, now it's a different kind of dysfunction, but since 2000, not that long ago, teams that have more postseason wins than the Cowboys, when you think I'm hyperbolic here, since 2000, the Jets, Bengals, Titans, Cardinals, Panthers have more playoff wins. I'm not just saying it to say it. Like, Sequin Barclays, like, yeah, I didn't hear from them.

wouldn't you just call him to keep them away from Philadelphia or drive the price up or something? I mean, wouldn't you just, sometimes I've seen this in network television. You may not want a sporting event. I can remember when I was at the other place. The other place didn't really want the Olympics, but they wanted to drive the price up so NBC would pay more for the Olympics. I can remember that very well. Sometimes you get involved in negotiations just to be annoying to your rivals, just to make them do extra paperwork. I've heard coaches say this before.

They'll run a trick play in a blowout win, like if they feel comfortable and lead, just to put it on film, so the other team has to worry about it and practice against it. They're going to waste practice time on that. I think you get into the Derek, I think you get into the Sequin-Barkley market, just to make it difficult in case Philadelphia would want to sign in which they did. Colin right, calling wrong. Top of next hour, it's The Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.

Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it.

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

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

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

This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect.

We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies

I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levin this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my.

my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in.

I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered.

Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife Life 12 in the TikTok podcast. network on TikTok. Jay Mack just told me during the break. He wants to play a little trivia here. So I just said, I have defended LeBron, you know, and this could be our last LeBron topic for a while.

I've defended LeBron for years that he's a winning player. He's more magic than Michael. He elevates teammates. He doesn't get in trouble. I'm a LeBron fan. Who's the best ever? I don't really care. They're different players totally.

Kobe was more Michael. LeBron's more magic. I don't care. But there have been moments where I feel like LeBron's not being totally honest with us. Like the whole ring culture arguments, like LeBron, it's a straw man argument. We all know Barclay's great, but the reason he isn't as good as you or Michael or magic is you guys do have a lot of rings. Rings do matter and everybody knows it. Also, you can't tell me it's about winning when you take the max.

By the way, Kobe Bryant took the max, but always said, I'm not given. I may love the bus family. I'm not giving them discounts. Players shouldn't give discounts. Just be honest with me. Kobe was always up front about that. LeBron tends to be a little, yeah, it's a little passive aggressive. I want to win. Well, not really because this team needs two centers and probably now two wing defenders. That's why I would make an Austin for Derek White trade. But, okay, so you were going to ask me a trivia question about salary. Well, okay, so I brought up the salary because this idea, and I'm not saying you're saying this, but this idea,

LeBron should just take less if he wants to win. That's really nonsense, okay? Kobe demanded to be the number one paid player. LeBron last year, can you guess where he ranked in salary last season alone? And I'll give you, Steph Curry was the leader at a $55 million cap hit. Well, remember, because a lot of people had contracts negotiated last year with the new CBA. I'd say it's probably 15th last year. Oh, wow, that's pretty good.

LeBron was the 14th highest paid player last year after just legends such as Bradley Beal, Carl Anthony Towns, Damian Lillard. Like, LeBron's already making less than them. I just don't want to hear this. Hey, just take less, LeBron. It doesn't apply to Otani. It doesn't apply to Tom Brady. But the difference is,

LaBron's already a billionaire, number one. And you're giving me awful contracts and saying, well, LeBron's isn't that bad. well yeah it shouldn't be LeBron is thoughtful he's smart he's a billionaire he's got a production company he's got a shoe deal so LeBron can't be held to cats standard so if the Knicks are also

a bad franchise that had to make deals LeBron now is in the cat bird seat I would say for 15 years in this league like Brady at the end Brady was making money endorsements his wife was worth $300,000 $400 million at the time or more

so you couldn't compare Brady to like anybody else. And my take is, listen, if LeBron wants to, and by the way, if LeBron came out and just said, hey, listen, I'm not taking pay cuts, all players should get the most they can because these guys are all billionaires. I am totally okay with that. But I don't want in the press release to say, hey, it's about winning. OKC's roster, Lakers aren't close.

Well, they're not, they're not, they have nine. They got young guys. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. they have two functional centers nine guys they trust on the floor in the finals Lakers do not have a trustable big guy from the coaching staff

Hartinstein is their highest paid player like come on they looked in with it but again because they're not paying anybody else the Lakers are different you're looking to win the argument Luca is guaranteed 240 this summer

right okay and Luca's a guy that we're hoping he's healthy and in shape so the bottom line is the OKC has two functional centers. The Lakers have none. None. You cannot win the West against Yokic against OKC's size.

This is what Golden States running into. Okay, you can pay Draymond and Steph. You have no size. You have to go pay for Biggs. Well, you can't have it all. That's just not realistic unless you look into it like the Thunder did, building a team and struggling. But, Colin, let me just bring this up.

You've said eloquently that LeBron, really ushered in the player empowerment era. People love that. Do you know what it would look like if LeBron said, hey, I'll take 30 mil? It would be doing the opposite. That would be assigned to every veteran in the league. Hey, don't get your money, take less.

Well, LeBron took less. He's put up 24, 8, and 7. You ain't doing that. Take less. And it would be like the opposite and it would look pretty bad for players. Would you not agree? Well, then don't release

time and time again the press release saying it's all about winning championships. Sports fans have always had, in my opinion, a better beat on stuff like this than actual media, which tends to protect players. Like, the fans know, the fans can see it, the ring culture stuff, silly argument, and it's all about winning. No, it's not. I mean, Austin Reeves is a better player than a lot of guys, maybe in the league. He's not better than Derek White. Make the deal, give up picks if it's all about winning in LeBron's last great year. LeBron is now saying, I got one year left.

He's saying that. One or two years, we've got one or two years, Austin Reeves, no center. LeBron at 41, 42, and Luca is not a championship team in the West. Hey, let me ask you this. Since the report came out that LeBron is going to opt in, notice the Lakers have not said anything. It's been 24 hours. Are you surprised by that? because everybody just assume, okay, it's a done deal.

To me, the Lakers not really confirming it yet means maybe this isn't a done deal. I don't know. Does it leave the door open for something to happen? Well, if you go look at the Mark Walter Group, first thing they did with the Dodgers get better upstairs in the front office. They got Andrew Friedman from Tampa.

They're going to make a move in scouting in the executive suite. The second thing the Dodgers have done since the Mark Walter Group arrived, they'll move off. Mani Machado, Zach Grinky, Corey Seeger, Cody Bellinger. They will move off people if the money and the production and the age isn't right. They've done it time and time again. So I'm telling you what the Lakers are going to do. Expand the analytics and scouting and start moving off some pieces.

Mark my words. They're always, it's amazing. The Dodgers have all this money, yet they're always seeking the very best of the best. They will pay for the very best. They moved off MVP's. That LeBron is not with the Lakers next year, and he's somewhere in the east trying to win a title. It sounds like he can't go to Cleveland.

The money can't be made right, but I don't know. There's some excellent guys out there. Do you think he's not in the Lakers? Like 5%, 10? Oh, I'm just telling you that the bus family needed Kobe and LeBron for merchandise sales and tickets. They were the poorest or one of the poorest,

ownership groups. Believe it or not, the Lakers were. Steve Ballmer's the richest, right? Steve Ballmer makes a million dollars a year on dividends from Microsoft. He makes a billion dollars a year on dividends for Microsoft. The Clippers owners, the richest in the NBA, the Lakers were bottom two or three. The Mark Walters group is going to be much more like Balmer, where like if they wanted to build their own stadium, they would. The Lakers don't need that, obviously. They are going to operate differently. But right now or do they wait a year? Right now.

Okay. If I bought a business for $10 billion, you think I'm going to say, you know, I'm going to act differently in about a year from now, everything is going to change. They're going to attack the scouting, the analytics. They're going to make the executive suite the best in the league. I mean, when is the last time the Dodgers called up a minor leaguer and they weren't exceptional? Like they just don't miss on anything. It feels unlikely that the Lakers would move off an international globe. global icon right now.

I know Luca is a superstar in the future of the Lakers, but moving off LeBron would be a massive surprise to me. I'm not predicting it. I'm just saying, unlike the previous owners, they could

and not lose a second of sleep. Now, the NBA culture is different than baseball. Baseball's got like 10-year deals. Baseball tends to romanticize and lean into the past, but the Dodgers don't. The Dodgers run their operation

like an NFL team. What'd you do last week? Not good enough. We're upgrading. That's not what baseball teams do. Baseball teams tend to lean into the past, understand the romance, the lore of history, all that stuff. Dodgers don't. You can be an MVP. Trading

deadline off to a bad start. We're getting draft picks and a better player. They'll move off. They just, and by the way, that's how you should run a franchise. That are now valued at $10 billion. I'm going to make sure we're hyper efficient and only pay for the very best. Colin Wright-Rong next. Hey guys, it's us.

The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.

We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late night comedy guy, not quite.

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

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

And she likes Clay. Listen, Lennar Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcasts on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on, a Mormon polygamist, and an Armenian businessman.

Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human.