The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 1 - Justin Jefferson gets paid

Episode Date: June 3, 2024

Colin explains how the Vikings paying Justin Jefferson $140 million dollars is a smart move, Caitlin Clark not only dominates the weekend news cycleSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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All right, it is a Monday, live in Los Angeles, it's the hurt. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, thanks for Megan S, part of your day, one hour from now where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong, plenty of both. Joel Klatte in one hour. We got a lot of things to talk about as college football, the scheduling coming out, the TV games, the scheduling, Fantastic.

Jay Mack, I know it's that May-June area, and we have to sit around and wait a few days for the NBA finals. But something happened this morning that's a big deal. It's happening all the time. A little people are worried about bubbles, tech bubble, real estate bubble, wide receiver bubble. Well, did it burst? I don't think so. So it's the most money ever paid to a non-quarterback in this league, the highest non-quarterback. guarantee it signing.

Justin Jefferson, Minnesota has signed with the Vikings, a great player, four years, 144, 140 million. It feels a little bit like an NBA contract. The difference, he's great, not just a middling player. But there are four reasons

why you had to make this move, and I defended him multiple times in the last couple of months, Justin Jefferson. And I don't always defend receivers. Number one, they have a rookie quarterback, J.J. McCarthy, in an offensive division. J.J. McCarthy's going to need help. And Justin Jefferson attracts double coverage, makes you roll the coverage over, we'll open up the field. Number two is the Vikings have an

offensive coach. And offensive coaches get the ball to their playmakers very well. McVeigh and Cooper Cup, Kyle Shanahan and Christian McCaffrey, Mike McCarthy, C.D. Lamb. They have a way of doing it, Tyreek Hill and Miami. Defensive coaches can struggle getting the ball to the right people. Meanwhile, number three is the NFC North is probably the best offensive division in football. You're going to be in some track meets. You're going to be in some fireworks shows. You need easy touchdowns. They can't be 12 play drives.

I like Jordan Addison. I like Aaron Jones. But J.J. McCarthy needs some over-the-top 72-yard touchdowns. He's not Mahomes. He's not a veteran. He's not Stafford. He's a young kid. And when he does play, he's going to need some easy touchdowns.

touchdowns. And number four is, I wouldn't have believed this seven years ago, but the game's changed. Look at the rules. Wide receivers to me were always icing on the cake, but never the key ingredients. It's over. Nine of the ten top receiving yard leaders, nine of ten made the playoffs, much more than leading rushers. So are we in a wide receiver bubble? Well, we've been in tech bubbles and tech companies still rule the world. We've been in housing bubbles, right? We've been on all sorts of bubbles, stock market bubbles. I still retain some stocks.

I still have a house, a lot of tech. Bubble doesn't mean what you have as bad. Sometimes you overpay for things. I'm going to be okay overpaying a little for a quarterback, an edge rusher, and a perimeter weapon. And my take is, look at what the NFL is doing with its rules. It's telling you, protect wide receivers and elevate wide receivers. They're good for fantasy football.

They're good for ratings. The most explosive touchdowns for television are from wide receivers, not running backs or quarterbacks. And so I look around this, and something else that's important. There are certain things you have to overpay for. But when you overpay for certain things, do they at least deliver? Receivers do. Take away the Mike Williams deal with the chargers. He just got hurt.

Debo. DJ Moore, Tyreek Hill, Amari Cooper, Cooper Cup, Devante Adams, Terry McLaurin. They got huge deals. And they remain highly productive because the sport is telling you they want receivers to excel. All the rules are can't touch them. I grew up in an era where there was a term used on every broadcast more than once, alligator arms. receivers, especially fast, thin ones, did not want to go over the middle. About a decade ago, the NFL change rules, everybody wants to go over the middle.

That's where the Eaton's good. And Justin Jefferson could be a drag route, a seam route over the top. It's more than icing. In our last eight Super Bowls, six quarterbacks and two receivers have been MVP. So this was not always a position that I thought deserved to be highly compensated. It is now for the aforementioned. in reasons. I think you pay them they did. The Vikings have historically been a pretty shrewd franchise. They just haven't been as good as the Packers at quarterback. But this

division with Caleb Williams and the Chicago upgrades, you're going to be in your shootouts. You're going to be in them. And I don't think J.J. McCarthy is Caleb Williams as a talent? I don't think he's Jared Gough as a talent. I don't think he's Jordan Love as a talent. He's going to need more talent on the perimeter. So I talked about this a few weeks ago when Caitlin Clark came in. is that every business needs a catalyst. And I had a little podcast business called The Volume. We were doing fine for about eight months.

And then we got Draymond Green. And he was our catalyst. People paid attention to us. Every business needs a catalyst to kind of spring, to pop. It could be a tech company that needs a product. It needs an app. Every business needs it. So the WNBA hasn't made a lot of money, but the talent, the quality of play,

has been elevated over the last seven, eight, nine years. They just needed a catalyst. I mean, MLS went and got messy. A catalyst. LA Galaxy went and got Beckham. So Caitlin Clark is making people watch the sport. And now everybody's kind of freaking out because she's getting nudged here and hard-fowled there and hitting the floor there.

And a Kennedy Carter yesterday banged into her, everybody's freaking out. Where is the protection? Oh boy. Once again, the media fans protecting somebody that doesn't need protecting. When Tony Kookech came from Europe to play with the Bulls, MJ and Scotty Pippen, this is what they did to their own teammate in practice. Sports is tribal. It's intimidating. It's physical. And it's prove it. Those who aren't tough don't make it. She is. Kennedy Carter is the Patrick Beverly of the WNBA.

She's on her third team. Feisty as hell. Tough, intimidating, and physical. She is there to provoke. Like Patrick Beverly, who I ran into the gym recently, got a chip, little anger, tough, wouldn't want to mess with them. And that's what Kennedy Carter is, the NHL, the NBA. They've always had enforcers.

They don't always have to be the biggest player on the floor. They've got to be scrappy and defiant, sometimes bordering on unfair, physical, inappropriate. That's all that happened. My only issue in that entire weekend, all these hard fouls, I've got two issues. Number one, why didn't one of Caitlin Clark's teammates defender? Were your teammates? And number two, the WNBA has done such a bad job.

They knew the Indiana fever had the number one pick, and the new Caitlin Clark was going to be the number one pick a year ago, or close to a year ago. why have they played 11 games in 20 days? Caitlin Clark's worn out. One team, the Las Vegas Aces, has played six games. Multiple teams have played seven. They've played 11 games in 20 days. The last team that did that in the WNBA started 1 in 10. Can't the WNBA do a little, a little to give Caitlin Clark a couple of days rest before big games?

You knew she was going to be the number one pick almost a year? year ago. So I've had a problem with the way they've grooved Caitlin Clark into the league. I've had a problem with well, that's about it. I don't have a problem pushing around Caitlin Clark.

It's okay. She talked about the physical play, the daunting physical play, and how she's handling it. Definitely reminds me of my college career a little bit, but also, you know, I grew up playing the basketball with the boys. So, like,

it's always been physical and feisty and like that's what it is you got to find a way to hold your own so it kind of reminds me of that and then i grew up with two brothers and you know things were about you know very very physical a lot of blood a lot of tears whatever it was so i'm i'm definitely prepared for it yeah everybody's freaking out about this yeah i wish a teammate would have stepped up for i wish the wnba could figure out you've got a star a year out. But this is actually kind of like the NBA. There's a Draymond Green, a Dennis Rodman, a Bill

Lambere. There's an enforcer. Well, who do they pick on? The bench guy? No, they go pick on the star. Go ask Magic Johnson about Dennis Rodman. You know, go ask great offensive players about Draymond Green. Draymond Green doesn't spend a ton of time picking on the number nine player. He goes after the star. This is sports. Caitlin, Clemell. is more than built for this.

Be nice if she had a teammate who stood up. Here, by the way, was Kennedy Carter on the shove to Caitlin. Kennedy on the play before bumping in with Kaylin, that seemed like she turned to you a little bit after the fever scores. I don't know Kaylin Clark questions. Did she say anything to you? I don't know what she's at. What did you say to her?

I didn't say any. That's enough. It's okay. Take a deep breath. I've watched this in college. I've watched it in pro. this is the growth of the WNBA. It started out.

It couldn't make any money. And the NBA had that problem in the 70s. And then all of a sudden, the quality of play gets better. And as some teams start breaking even, they play in some nice arenas and they get a TV contract. And all of a sudden, the quality and the length and the occasional European player and all of a sudden, now we're seeing the next level of growth. They got a catalyst and the league's feisty and they've got enforcers. The ultimate compliment to the WNBA is, I see this all the time, on the guy's side.

It's okay. The ultimate respect isn't pandering and placating to women's basketball. It's accepting that sometimes it's physical, tribal, intimidating, and uncomfortable. The best kind of basketball, men or women. All right, J. Mack, crazy this weekend. You know, there's a thing going around. I myself have been very fortunate genetically. My family's kind of thin, right?

So I'm not an Ozempic person, but, you know, some people, there's the Ozempic thing going on in America. People are getting, like, thinner or sometimes too thin. Now, I am in no way saying that pro athletes are taking Ozempic, although they found, like, remedies that can help with addictions. It can help with kidney, lung, whatever. So, but I saw, I've been noticing weight. more on people because of this Ozempic thing. They called OZempic face. And so I've noticed

among friends, among people, I'm kind of watching. You know, I'm seeing this OZempic thing. So I saw something this week with an NFL player that looked radically thin. I am not saying it's OZempic. Oh, I know. And maybe I'm overreacting

to body shape and type, but I've got thoughts on it, and I absolutely believe what I'm going to say. That always helps. And we'll talk about Tua's appearance coming up. 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all. Embed it in the games and with the athletes for a full year. year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to

college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast.

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follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith Rule of Two.

Listen to Stuff to Boar Your Mind on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to? Do a little kill. Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast.

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We also have AIDS. on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So I saw something this weekend where Tua Dua's quarterback Tua, Tung Lavoa, showed up to a promotional event. and looked noticeably thin. He's listed at about 225. He looked to be about 200 pounds. And this is a pocket quarterback. It is a little alarming. He looked really, really thin.

So Tom Brady lost weight when he retired. That I get. But I think Tom kept some weight on because he was a quarterback. And I've said this before. Like, aesthetics matter. You saw last week an organization pull a beer out of Luca's hand in a hallway that fans couldn't see because there was one camera off to the side. Not only do aesthetics matter, it worries me.

There's never been a great skinny quarterback in league history. Mannings weren't, Farrv wasn't, Brady was 2.30. Big Ben, Elway. You think Aaron Rogers is thin. I'm 6'1.5, a buck 94, buck 95-ish. Aaron Rogers is 6. 1.5. 2.25. Aaron is 30 pounds heavier than me.

And I don't think I'm that thin. I like my quarterbacks, like my furniture. Big and hard to move. You need two or three people. If you can get it into a hatchback by yourself, I'm not interested. Draft somebody else. So Tua is not a hyper-athletic quarterback who wants to get faster.

He's not really that mobile. He's not big. He doesn't have a power arm. I love Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence, but they're a bit on the thin side. Burroughs hurt often. Trevor Lawrence last year must have had six lower torso injuries. Philip Rivers, to me, that's the perfect quarterback body, 6-5-2-30. He once played, I think it was 14 straight seasons.

of at least 16 games. He once played with a torn ACL. It matters. Jared Goff is the only what I would call thin quarterback in the league that I've probably ever really, really liked and thought to top 10 quarterback. But in architecture, it's called a form follows function. And I don't understand. I understand a little with Lamar Jackson losing weight.

He's hyper-mobile, perhaps wants to get faster, although I don't see a lot of linebackers and safety's catching him. But, you know, it's one of those things where I like big, I like sturdy, I like can play hurt. I don't get it. It's something, I know, you're absolutely sure this stuff doesn't matter. But last week, the vice president, a former player of the Mavericks, walked in and took a beer out of Lucas' hand, and fans couldn't see it. I cannot believe that there wasn't at least one Miami Dolphin that said, upstairs.

Wow, he looks then. He's already small. He's already got an average arm. I don't know. It's something. There's stories about it. It's something.

Nothing is everything. Everything's something. I thought it was a little interesting. J-Mac with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Everything's something.

Everything is something. So when that image, flashed on the screen. Briefly, I was like, which guy is two? Just for like half a second, because one guy had the jersey on. And I was like, is that, that's not two? And then the other guy's smaller. The fan was bigger. Yeah. Something. You still let Miami playoff team next? I, I'm not lying to you. It made me think. I don't understand it. And I know, listen, the first reaction that doesn't matter. Folks, this is what I talk to executives about. The Will Levis Gun Show. That's what they call and ask about.

That's absolutely all the traits and measurables are there. It's the dad's kind of crazy gun show kind of squirly drank a lot in college. That's the stuff people talk about. That's what executives talk about. Weight body type. Well, that's the stuff you can't quantify. That's right. And that's you can't put a finger on it. And if you're going to pay somebody $58 million, I'm going to monitor. I've said this before. I have a small company. I monitor a lot of the social media. of people at my company. I want them to be careful. I don't want them to need a therapist.

I want them, if they do, I'll get them one. I don't want to use the audience as your therapist. Like, I'm constantly watching the aesthetics for, how are you interacting, how are you dealing with people? All this stuff matters. Yeah, how's your social media going, by the way? I don't, it's fine. It's always fine.

Get people riled out. Just checking after the weekend. Yes, yes, yes. All right, let's get started with NBA finals start. She's Thursday night. Luca and Kyrie totally dominating in the postseason. Luca unstoppable, Mavs in the finals for the first time since 2011. However, it's going to be difficult for Boston to stop them.

Celtics head coach Joe Missoula spoke about preparing for the tough matchup. This series is going to be about stopping those two guys. There is no stopping them. There's defending them at a high level and there's playing a complete game because every part of a game is connected. And so they've played nine close games. We've played four. There's going to be close games.

We're not here to stop those guys. We're here to play a complete game of basketball. ball and have an understanding how each possession has an effect on everything else. They're going to score. It's what they do best. If we don't take care of the things that are within our control, then that doesn't put us in the best possible position to win. Yeah.

There's an argument to me made that you late, Luca scores 46 points. You let him cook, let him exhaust himself, trap others, get the ball to Luca. He's going to score. Wear him out. You just know early in this series. I mean, they've played longer series. Minnesota's a longer series. OKC.

L.A. Clippers. Dallas is putting a lot of miles and minutes on Luca, and if you don't think you can stop him, just keep the ball in his hands, high usage rate, make him work defensively. You know he's going to have a 45-point game, but make him work on both ends, and over the course of a seven-game series,

you have a fresher, deeper roster, and your stars are fresher. Yeah, that's a good point. And I can see Dallas saying, sure, we'll take Luca getting 46. We'll pick and roll all day. The problem is, who do you attack on Boston? They're built differently than Minnesota.

Minnesota had Gobert. You could put him in action all night, light them up. Carl Anthony Towns had no chance. Like, Boston basically has four wings. All can shoot. And then Porzingis. You could go to the bench, and Al Horford hits a corner three. Boston just spreads you out.

OKC scoring mostly came from one or two guys. Minnesota's got a score and a half. You know, clippers are, depending on Hardin. If Kauai can play, have two scores. Boston's a four to five score or team. So it's a lot of work. They spread you out. I almost wonder if the Boston angles tougher.

Like, how does Dallas defend Boston? I mean, Derek lively was a huge factor because he could stay near the paint all the time. Can't do it. Because of Gobert. Nobody on Boston stays in the paint. Nobody. Like everybody's going to be on bigger. Even their biggest, poor Zingas and Horford move outside.

I started to get worried about Dallas. Yeah, it does render lively a little. less crucial in the series. Again, a long young player against Minnesota, very crucial. Or against Chet Holmgren, really important. That's not what Boston does. They spread out the floor. Yeah, and remember, with Chet Holmgren, who's similar to Porzingis, OKC took him six, could have won game six. The free throws at the end, like, started to get a little nervous about my Mavericks here. Next up, the Bears are officially going to be featured on hard knocks this season. I know you're fired up about that. Caleb Williams will obviously be the star

of the show. Head coach Matt Iberfluse is not worried. He said Caleb is well suited for the spotlight. We'll be comfortable thanks to all the attention he's already gotten from the media. Boy, more spotlight for the number one pick. He played college football in Los Angeles. He didn't win a lot there either. He actually did. You know what's funny about this? I was talking to my buddy John Middlakov about this. They won 11 games as for, now USC had it was a four-week team, they had about 25 Division I players when Lincoln Ryan had got there. They won 11 games. They did.

With a horrible defense. Had they beaten Tulane, which they led with 30 seconds to go, they'd have won 12. Last year, injuries, PAC 12 was better. They didn't have as good a year. But they led

the nation in offense back-to-back years. In two years, the PAC-12 may have been as best in 20 years. So this whole thing about winning, they went from four wins to a play from 12. They did win, considering they had almost no NFL players. On the surface, yes, let's go counting numbers. They won 11 games.

Whoopty damn do? Who did they be? How did they perform in the largest high leverage games? And I just remember all the big spots, they kind of came up empty. I'm not saying Caleb did, but that Notre Dame game was an abomination. You want to write that off fine. You can just toss that out the world. Well, Notre Dame's got several more.

NFL players, and so does Oregon. They were losing, you know, by the way, Utah is a fully formed program for 25 years. They have more NFL players. Caleb Williams, Jordan Addison, that's about it for USC. If you want to complain about USC, it's not a Caleb or a Lincoln issue. It has been a defensive front issue. They've been in a 10-year post-Pete Carroll drought where they can't get elite defensive linemen. And it's been happening with Kippin.

LATU-Drafted? No, that was UCLA. Oh, UCLA. Yeah, so it's like USC has been in a 10-year post-Pek Carroll Drought. They can't get elite defensive linemen. You got a Michigan coming out here and getting them, Ohio State, Texas, Alabama. There's not many out west, and the ones that aren't going to USC. That's Ed Orgeron used to be the assistant coach of note.

Lane couldn't get them. Sark couldn't get them. Clay Hilton couldn't get them. Lincoln can't get them. And there's about two a year in California high school, and a lot of them go to Ohio state or Michigan. Those are bigger, more fully formed, more momentum programs. So as the president of the Caleb Williams fan club,

any concern given the history of teams that go on hard knocks, how they perform, rookie quarterback, coached-homhose. He's going to have a very productive rookie year. I don't think necessarily they won seven last year. I think they could win eight, but when you watch them, you'll notice, oh, that's a much better. you can own a $300,000 house in various neighborhoods, right? It's not always the same house.

They could win seven to eight games, and you would watch it and think they lost a bunch of shootouts to Jordan Love and Jared Goff and think, it's a really good football team. Last year, they were completely dysfunctional offensively, late in games. They could only win if they led. They couldn't come from behind and win.

So they'll be a much more functional offense. And they still won, what, seven games last year? Yeah, and I think this year they'll probably win eight because the division is so good now. Eight to nine. NFC, last couple of years, has been weak. Justin Fields got the weak NFC. It's not weak. Philly's better. Rams are no longer rebuilding.

Who's better? Bears are Packers right now? Packers. Significant or it's close? Well, they've got an offensive coach. They right now have a better quarterback. Coaching quarterback better. They have a better overall offensive roster, deeper. And they have momentum, which matters. They have cultural momentum.

When things get tight, the Packers think they're going to win. When things get tight for the Jets or Carolina or Chicago, first thing you think about is how are we going to blow this? Green Bay's got a lot of institutional momentum. You love your Packers. Final story, Dak Prescott heading into the final year of his deal. Progress towards an extension has been slow. The team reportedly has no intention of letting Dak get away.

The Cowboys are said to be all in on resigning Dak, and have made it clear they do not want him to hit free agency in 2025. A lot of mount service, a lot of lip service. You ever notice why stories leak? There's a lot of cowboy stories leaking. Micah wants a deal, CD Lamb, DAC, why is it all leaking? Somebody wants it out. Big profile, high-profile agents.

All this Dallas stuff is leaking out all off-season. I don't hear anything from the Rams leaking, anything from the Niners leaking. We don't have superstars up against it. You know, like, they got three big names who need deals this summer. No? I wouldn't call DAC a superstar. I didn't say it was super. Let me ask you this.

Of the three players, who's the best at their position? Micah, C.D. or Dack? Probably, Micah? That's what I think. But what's the most important position of those three? Quarterback. Okay. I'm getting Dax done first.

By the way, C.D. Lambs deal not done? He just saw Justin Jefferson get, what, 35-milly or something? You know, it's funny about that. I always think it's smarter for companies to sign talented people early than late. Oh, you mean don't wait until the end of your time. I just always think if the longer you wait in any entertainment field, sports, any field, you know, I haven't been in that many fields, but you always want to secure stuff sooner because there's a finite number of elite quarterbacks or musicians.

or comics or whatever it is, writers, producers. There's a finite number of elite ones. The closer you get to their available to the market, it drives the price up. So it's like to me, I would want to sign the Micah deal early. I would not give him, I think T.J. Watts better. Miles Garrett's better. Nick Bosa's better.

I think he's in the Aiden Hutchison class, fourth to fifth best guy. Micah disappeared against the Packers in the playoff game. Aidan Hutchison and Bosa were great in the playoffs. So interesting, the word you use finite number. Okay, that applies to KORNX. Yeah, there's not a lot of Mike's. It does not apply to wide receivers. And that's my only pushback on the Jefferson deal.

It's like, I mean, listen, the Houston Texans made the playoffs last year. And I know everybody thought CJ Stroud was amazing. Well, Nico Collins was awesome for them. They just pulled Nico Collins. Let's go. Let's see what he's got. He was excellent. Tank Dell, what, fifth round, third round pick, whatever he was.

He was very good. I'm just saying I know everybody's excited. Justin Jefferson getting paid. No, I think most people believe that you should pay. If you have a receiver, a quarterback, and an edge rusher, most people I talk to with few exceptions would take care of the quarterback and the edge rusher. Yeah. The depth at wide receiver.

But it would help if the Cowboys had another ascending, emerging wide receiver. You know, Amari's gone now. Michael Gallup's gone. Never bought into that. Brandon Cook's is older. They don't have a number two. That's on them. Now, Minnesota has Jordan Addison, and they stand.

still went and paid. I mean, San Francisco's got Debo and Iyuk, and they still drafted two wide receivers. And McCaffrey's a great receiver out of the back field. My guess is San Fray don't want to pay those guys. I don't think they want to pay Iyuk. I know the 49ers media is all over that. Colin, why are you paying wide receiver $30 to $35 million? If they're... Well, I, well, that's, you can't find Justin Jefferson on the market. You don't have to find Justin Jefferson. You can find three-fourths of Justin Jefferson, and then another guy who's really good, like a, I don't know, Puka Nakuwa.

I think Minnesota is in a unique position. First of all, J.J. McCarthy is not C.J. Stroud. C.J. Stroud may not have to have Justin Jefferson. He can have Tank Dell and Nico Collins. J.J. McCarthy is a developmental project. Minnesota, rumor is last week. Minnesota wanted to move up number five to get a receiver. Yeah.

Not a quarterback. They weren't going to move up for J.J. McCart. The league did not move up for J.J. McCarthy. Are they doing the 49ers model of let's get a Brock Purdy type? Obviously, 12th overall is not like Brock Purdy. I think that model, I'm just, somebody's going to eventually roll the dice column and do it. Well, that model does work. It doesn't necessarily get you a trophy, but it wins a lot of games, and that's fine.

You don't have to be MJ 6 for 6 to be successful. Yeah, they got the conference championship for the last five years for Sanfran. Yeah, it's working. Yeah. I lie. You don't have to be Serena Williams to have a great career. You can win the Wimbledon once, and that's a great tennis career. You can win one U.S. Open. That's a great tennis.

You don't have to be Serena or Roger Federer. And so to me, it does work, loading up your roster, and keep drafting, finding really good, not elite special quarterback. It does win a lot of games. How close are we just saying, hey, Colin, you want to give up a... CD Lamb for two firsts and a third? You're not getting two first in a third form. We talked about maybe getting that for Justin Jefferson.

Justin Jefferson's better than CD Lamb. Why a lot? Yeah, two first for CD Lamb. You're doing it? Nope. You don't think anybody in the league? Nope. I would, depending on where I draft, give you a first for CD.

I'm not giving you two. I give you a first and a fifth. I have to pay him. I've got to pay him the minute I get him. Yeah, you would do it if you're a team with a rookie quarterback. Well, no, I would do it if I was a team that I really like my team, and we were just missing juice. Like, we just, you know, like New England can't draft a receiver.

Like New England says, we got Drake May. We can't draft this position. Go get CD Lamb. That I totally understand. That's where he's at. You got a young quarterback. You're not great. Like Pittsburgh and Green Bay, they draft receivers well.

They don't have to pay him. Like certain organizations, Houston, obviously, somebody in that building knows what they're doing with wide receiver. But you get these organizations that don't draft it terribly well. And like New England, and that's where you just go, let's go buy a receiver. Just let's just go get one on the market. Then, you know, the bottom line is, takes one GM to like you. J. Mack with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lie News. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, gang, this is Jay Glaze. host of Unbreakable, a mental wealth podcast. And every week we will have on leaders from sports, entertainment, like Sean McVeigh, Lindsey Vaughn, Michael Phelps, David Spade, Guy Fiery,

and also those who can help us in between the ears, anyone from a therapist to someone like Ed Milet or John Gordon. We've all been through some sort of adversity. To get to the top, we've all used different tools. Listen to Unbreakable with Jay Glazer and Mental Wealth podcast on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.

And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered. conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be.

Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of Tontons and Wampas on the Ice Planet Hot. or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to Stuff to Bole Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs?

Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s.

To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack, so I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now, so. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It doesn't get any better than a Super Saturday on Fox. First, it's Phillies Mets from London, followed by the Belmont Stakes, live from Saratoga. And in prime time, it's Dodgers versus the Yankees. Oh, baby.

Best series of the year right there. All on Fox in the Fox Sports app. Maybe the two best teams in baseball, Yankees Dodgers. Yankees doing everything right. That's my World Series, I told you. It's a good World Series. You know who has the World Series? Oh, nice.

This network. They're going to send us to the games? If it's Dodger Stadium, I'd be fun. I'm in. We need prep. We need to go to the games for free and get very close to the action. Assuming I make it to football season, I don't know. We'll see.

So it's time to have that uncomfortable. conversation about Jason Tatum of the Celtics. And by the way, everybody's saying, man, I can't believe there's a week off to the finals. This is going to be terrible. The ratings are going to be terrible. Well, the NBA ratings are this playoffs as it pivots to a more non-big brand, non-Stef, non-Lebron, non-KD NBA, more European NBA.

They're down 15% this year. So the ratings for the finals will probably be down like 10 to 15%. I don't think the time that we'll, elapse will hurt it. This is not baseball where you're in the middle of October and November and you're battling college football and the NFL and you take like five days off in between the end of a series and the start of a series. You just lose people. You lose audience. You lose eyes. The NBA is losing me to Netflix. I watched three Netflix shows yesterday. The minute the final start, I'm back. I'm not sitting around watching regular season baseball that often. So the NBA will be

I don't think this will be one of the great rated NBA finals. I don't think this gap. It's not a baseball October gap. It's a June. Nobody's, nothing good's on TV. It's reruns. The best stuff on TV besides the NBA finals is streaming stuff. And people will move back off that for the NBA finals.

But Big Brand Celtics, four stars, it'll be fine. But Zach Lowe is a podcaster, other place, very good, big audience, and respected in the industry. talking about Jason Tatum, like me, he thinks he's a great player. Excellent NBA player, but... Jason Tatum's a great player. Like, I don't get all the... I mean, I get some of the angst. Like, he settles for some bad shots now and then some of them go in, some of them don't.

He's not one of the five best players in the NBA, but he's something around 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 6th. I mean, that's pretty damn good. People want him to be better than that. And he's not quite on the level of the top four or five guys. this will now finally be the series again, where Tatum is indisputably not the best player in the series. That's the other team as the best player in the series. And so that'll be an interesting test for both him and the Celtics.

And that's not a small thing. Luca is better, and Luke is considered the first or second best player. Here's the last six, seven, eight, nine. Here's the last nine NBA champions. Last year it was Yokic, best player in the league. year before it was Steph, top four, five. Then Janus, he was considered at the time the best player.

Then LeBron, he was considered a top two to three player. Kauai, yes, at that time, he was considered maybe five, but a top five player. Back to back years before that, it was KD and Steph, both top five. Before that, Cavs and LeBron, he was number one. Before that, Golden State, Steph, top five. So the last nine finals, you've often had the one, the one, the two, two at the worst top five. Tatum's not top five. I agree. The Spurs in 2014 had an old Duncan, a legendary coach, and Kauai was not top five. He was emerging fast. He was ascending quickly,

but he was not top five. That's the last one to do it. But if you go then before that one, before 2014, I'll read you the best player on the team. LeBron, Kobe, Duncan, Shack, Dirk. You could argue the Celtics had a year, but KG was like second or third in MVP voting, and Paul Pierce was the finals MVP. They were both great players. I like Jason Tatum, but we've got a history. There's two outliers to not having a top five player and winning a title.

The 2014 Spurs and that Pistons team, and that was as much, they were huge underdogs to the Lakers. That was about the Lakers locker room. imploding. Malone, Kobe, Shaq, Phil, the locker room imploded. They were huge favorites over Detroit. So it's pretty clear having the best or second best player in the league, having an iconic first ballot, unbelievable, no doubt about it, all-time great player, it absolutely matters. And that's what Luca is. So again, what's fascinating about Tatum, if you gave me the league, I'm a general manager. You're a general manager.

And you say, give me five or six guys to start my franchise. I think Tatum's probably five or six for me. But if you're talking just best player at any one time on the floor, take the big shot, I'm like Zach Lowe. I've got him like seven, eight, and that's where I kind of find him. Now, I think he'll be the second best player in the finals, but there will be games in this finals that Kyrie plays better than Tatum. There'll be at least one or two of those.

Very rarely did you get to the finals and somebody will play better than Luca, Michael Jordan, or Yokic. That's very rare. There will be a game in this series, maybe all of them, Luca's clearly better, Kyrie is two, and there'll be at least one game Jalen Brown plays better than Tatum. That historically does not win you the finals. Now, I like Boston. I'm picking Boston, crossing my fingers on Porzinger's health. I picked them to get to the finals.

I think they're very good. Maybe a tad too collaborative, but I think they're so deep offensively. I think Dallas is just going to be chasing threes all over the court, spread their defense out, allow them to drive and score at the rim, get lively out of there. I think Boston wins. I think it's a great series. I think Luca's going to have 40 multiple times. times, but there is a history.

The last nine finals champions, it is a lot of Yokic, Steph, Janus, LeBron, KD, that's a lot of what it is. No doubt about it. 45 seconds left. Everybody knows the best player on the floor. I'm sorry, J-Mack, but the best player on the floor in the series is Luca. Yeah, I'm not disputing that. I don't think anybody would argue that. Nobody with a brain would argue Lucas.

not the best plan on the floor. The problem, and I know Zach Lowe a little bit, I see him around at games, whatever. He's saying Tatum's not a top five guy in the league, and I think you're agreeing with it. Colin, something's not adding up here. First team all NBA this year, Jason Tatum was one of the top five. First team all NBA last year, Jason

Tatum was one of the top five. Hold on. The year before that, that's three straight seasons. He's been first team all NBA, meaning one of the top five guys in league. Like all pro and football, there are positions. He's a forward. No, no, they don't do position. They didn't do them this year.

They just picked the best. The two years prior they did, and he was forward, fine. But I'll give you Janus, I'll give you Luca, I'll give you Yokic. But after that, you can't tell me because the two playoffs here is Anthony Edwards is better than Jason Tate. You can't do that. You just cannot. I'm not going to let you. So find me the two other guys better than Jason Tate.

And I don't want to hear Joe L. Embed. And I know Zach Lowe is a big Joe L. Embed fan. Sorry, Zach. You're wrong. I've been pushing back on Joe L&B for years. We understand the reality. he's hurt all the frigging time. So give me the other guys better than Tatum in the league.

I think SGA's a more natural score. I'll disagree. I mean, he's really good, but I'll give him that fine. Anthony Davis gives me more dominant defensive performances, plus 24 a game. I think there's a players that can be, I think Anthony Davis, the best defensive player in the year, and on any night can give me the 26 Tatum can. Guy who doesn't talk about somebody who doesn't show up in fourth quarters.

My gosh, Denver, milk carton. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the eye heart. radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tontans and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On The Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me.

84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year.

I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.