The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 1 - LaFleur, NBA, Lakers, Niners

Episode Date: February 18, 2022

Packers HC Matt LaFleur might not be as great as you thinkGiannis Antetokounmpo could play in any eraThe Lakers have nobody to blame but themselves49ers should know by now if Trey Lance is readyGuest: Albert Breer Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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unique and wonderful Friday with more stories that I can remember an offseason Friday and a long time live in Los Angeles. It is the herd wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1, Joy Taylor, back Tuesday, Alex Curry filling in today. It is wonderful to be here. And, you know, I was thinking about this. you get what you pay for. You guys know that. I know that.

Everybody knows that. I mean, if you're going to pay for an economy class ticket on Spirit Airlines, I'm here to tell you it's not going to be as nice as first class in Delta. And first class in Delta is probably not going to be as nice as a private jet, a Gulfstream. You kind of get what you pay for. You get it in travel, hotels. Now, I'm not a hotel snob. Give me an econological, and a good bet.

Not next to an airport. I'm good. But you mostly get what you pay for. You know it, and I know it. Houses, if you're getting a break in a house, bad location, busy street, foundations got cracks, we all know you get what you pay for. So I'm going to start with that and I'll circle back to that in a second. So Rob Demoski has been covering the Green Bay Packers for a long time.

He is the most tied-in source, works at ESPN for the Packers. He's the best. He's not one of the Packer bloggers, you know, not a fanboy. They've got about a million of those. This guy knows his stuff. He's totally tied in. what he said recently in the last 24 hours is not outside speculation. It's inside the room.

He says talking about Aaron Rogers. For some reason, he hasn't been great all that off in the playoffs since 2010. He's 7 and 9 in his past 16 playoff games. Yes, he's still spectacular September through December. But even some within the Packers organization wonder if he can still do it January and February. So again, this is not outside the building speculation. This is somebody who is totally tied in. Let me, if I may, to at least some degree, defend Aaron Rogers here.

And let's circle back to you get what you pay for. That's certainly the way it is with coaches. You know who is cheap? Freddie Kitchens and Jim Tom Sulla. You know who's not? Sean McVeigh. Andy Reid, Sean Payton, Bill Belichick, Mike Tomlin. They're really expensive.

We all know the Packers have never. spent money on free agency. You know what else they never spend money on? Coaches. Matt LaFleur makes $5 million a year. That's it. That is 50% less than the top of the league. That is less than some guys with losing records. Five million bucks. College coaches, multiple big 10 coaches make more than that. You didn't like Mike McCarthy. You've annoyeded Matt LaFleur to an area, I'm not sure he deserves. I'm not even sure he was a great coordinator. He left Tennessee.

They've never regressed. He didn't leave awake. They made the playoffs every year. There's an argument to be made that Arthur Smith was a more successful coordinator in Tennessee than Matt LaFleure. When Dan Quinn left Seattle as a defensive coordinator, his two years being D.C. There, number one defense in the league. The minute Dan Quinn left, and I'm not saying Dan Quinn's a great head coach,

He was an unbelievable coordinator. The minute he left, last six, seven years, they've gotten worse every year. When Kyle Shanahan left Atlanta next year, offense wasn't as good. Regardless of what you think of Dan Quinn or Kyle Shanahan, there is absolutely in arguable proof. They were unbelievable coordinators. I'm not even sure Matt LaFleur was. You've annoyed Matt LaFleur who inherited Aaron Rogers, a good roster, stability, and a crappy division. and you've annoyeded him to a level that's ridiculous.

People always put him in the group of great young coaches with Shanahan and McVey and Sean McDermott. Those guys built stuff. Those guys inherited messes. McVeigh built a culture, built an offense, built a staff, built a roster. So did McDermott and Buffalo. So did Shanahan.

Shanahan took over for what? Chip Kelly? The locker room was a mess. The roster was bad. The culture was a mess. Matliflor inherited Aaron Rogers. The only thing Matt Lafleur is done because McCarthy's got a Super Bowl, Matt doesn't. McCarthy has a winning playoff record.

Matt doesn't. But what Matt has done is dominate the NFC North. He's 15 and 3. And Mike McCarthy's last three years, he was 8, 7, and 1. But that's because McCarthy, I would argue, the division was much better. When McCarthy was coached for the Packers, the Bears won a Super Bowl. I think it was his first year. They also had Jay Cutler for years and years and years.

Jay Cutler is a lot better than Trubesky and Justin V. Fields. When Mike McCarthy was coached, Detroit had Jim Caldwell and Stafford, four years, three of them winning. They once won 11 games. Matt LaFleur got Matt Patricia Lions, a mess. Even the Minnesota Vikings, McCarthy got their peak years where Stafansky was the quarterback coach, and then he was the offensive coordinator, I think, for a year, and then he left. They were never the same. They peaked two years ago. They peaked before LaFleur got there. Yeah, LaFleur's just knocking it out of the park in the NFC. North, he's 15 and 3, but that's where the wins come from. They're not coming in the playoffs.

Isn't that anything in the playoffs? He can't beat Brady and Ariens. He got beat twice. Can't beat Kyle Shanahan and Jimmy Garoppolo. People have annoyeded Matt LaFleur to an area, and I don't, you get what you pay for. You want Sean Payton. It's going to cost you $15 million. He'll go to Green Bay. I guarantee it. You got to pay $15 million. Bucks. Matt LaFleur makes five. McCarthy was never a highly paid coach. You get, and I'm not saying, Matt LaFleur is bad, but we have annoyed him to this level that, well, he gets along better with Aaron. He should, he's younger. Generationally, he and Aaron should get along better.

Of course they get along better. I mean, they kind of look like each other. They're good-looking young guys. They probably have the same interest in music and cultural stuff. They should get along better. Of course they do. I connect more with an older producer than a 17-year-old producer, just generationally. If somebody's got kids, I probably relate better.

Right? And this is not a shot at Matt LaFleur, but when I see Rob Domoski's saying, basically, you know, there's questions about Aaron Rogers in the postseason. Has he ever had a great coach? Y'all hate Mike McCarthy. He's got a Super Bowl and a winning playoff record. And the division was much better. Mantle Flores had a layup in that crappy division.

It's just getting worse and worse and worse and worse. I still get to figure out how Jim Caldwell does an interview for every job. By the way, they're hiring a new coordinator because Green Bay's lost, their offensive coordinator to Denver and their quarterback coach is someplace else. So you know what they're doing? They're going to pay top dollar for a coordinator? No. They're bringing a guy to retirement, 68-year-old Tom Clements.

Supposed to be a great guy and Aaron loves him. He ain't costing you much. He was in retirement. So you get what you pay for. This is inside the organization stuff about they have doubts about Aaron Rogers. We know they don't spend on free agents. You know what else they don't spend on? Coaches.

And there is absolutely no proof that Matt LaFleur deserves to be in the class with McVeigh, not close, McDermott, not close, culture builders or Shanahan. who schematically is better than McDermott and McVey. All right, so you know what I pushed back on. And I know, I know. I don't want to be one of these old heads. Back in my day, boy in my day, players were way better. So last night, I watched Ambide and Yannis play for about an hour and a half.

I watched the entire second half of the Bucks and Sixers. I can't take a lot from it because Hardin didn't play. But I mean, these guys, Janice and NB are just insane. So Tracy McGrady, who never, never won in the playoffs as much as a lot of people thought Tracy McGrady should have won. I know Tracy, great guy. You know, got to be an excuse, right? Well, you know, the guys in the old days, oh, they were much better.

So he's talking about Janus, who's obviously an unbelievable talent. And Tracy McGrady falls into old guy yelling at clouds. Here we go. I think he would have struggled because of how. closed up the paint was. It was tough offensively because the defense was so great. Now, if you can't shoot, it's going to be hard.

And Yon's game is predicated of coming downhill. But I think it would have been tough for him to be who he is today back then. Oh, boy. Yeah, because Yao Ming, a multiple-time All-Star, was such a devastating perimeter player, as was Tim Duncan

and Shaq. Yeah, Shaq pulled up for threes. It couldn't stop him. Yeah, and that clogged lane era in that defense was so great era, the Phoenix Suns averaged 113 a game. That's the leading scoring team in the NBA today. And they didn't have the benefit of all the three point shots, which obviously over the last 10 years analytically, coaches are pushing three point shots. You put that team, that Phoenix team today in the NBA, they'd score just like they did against

all the great defensive players then. And that clogged lane era. They couldn't stop Phoenix. Phoenix, you go Google, Barclay's Phoenix Suns. They dropped 130 all the time, and not in the three-ball era. Tor defenses apart in that clogged lane era.

Why? Because they had a bunch of skilled basketball players. KG, Marley, Barclay, guys that could shoot, guys that could drive, guys that could dribble, just like the great players today. I always laugh at this. Oh, defenses years ago, you think defenses years ago would have stopped M. B'd and LeBron

and KD. Stephan Clay's Warriors? Well, that's funny because they couldn't stop Michael and they couldn't stop Barclay. And they couldn't stop Yao Ming and they couldn't stop Duncan and they couldn't stop Kobe. They couldn't stop Larry Bird. They couldn't stop Dr. Jay. The great offensive players have scored my entire life. And athletes, including the NBA, are so much better today. First of all, the European players, it's a big world out there, are so much better now than they used to be.

Janus and Luca. I mean, the international players now are just outraged. I mean, Embed, Yokic. They're unbelievably skilled. They weren't that skilled way back then. Sabonis was good, but you didn't get the best of Sabonis. He came as an old man to the state. He was good.

I covered him, but you didn't even get his best athletic years. He was like a refrigerator rolling down the floor. A highly skilled refrigerator, but a refrigerator. He could no longer move. But this idea that the tackling people in 1984 made him great defenses, players are much more skilled. Yonis would have dominated. because Janus would have dominated like Wilk would have in any era.

This is all jealousy. TeamAC didn't win as much as he should have in the postseason. Good guy didn't, didn't develop his offensive game. Vertical. Very vertical. So there's got to be an excuse. It's just nonsense. It's absolute utter nonsense.

Janus, look at baseball. Baseball is a great example. When I grew up as a kid, in the 70s when I started watching baseball, the big red machine was the best baseball team. They had one guy that threw in the mid-90s, Don Gullet from Kentucky. One guy. It was Fred Norman, Clay Carroll, Raleigh Eastwick,

a bunch of guys throwing high 80s, a bunch of breaking ball, Jack Billingham guys. That was the best baseball team. Every team now, even in the 80s, it was a lot of guys throwing junk and off speed and you'd see more knuckler. Today, everybody throws mid to high 90s. And by the way, they yank them after five and two-thirds

to bring on a guy from the bullpen who's fresh, who throws 101. That ball is moving. There's cutters. There's stuff you'd never seen. The athletes are better trained, better shape, and everybody in the bigs is throwing 98. And the minute it dips to 96, they yank him out. They bring another guy in to throw 98.

Look at the NFL. Aaron Donald is 290 and has an 8-pack. That's not what 295-pound guys looked like 25 years ago. Look at the quarterbacks. Look at the size of the receivers. Look how well tight ends run. And the NBA is the same. This is utter nonsense.

Holy great defenses back. You know those great defenses? You know what they didn't do back then? And they don't do today. Stop great offensive players and great offensive teams. All right. I told you I was on one today. I was bringing my egg game.

I'm not giving you weak sauce on a Friday. I was going to take today off skiing. I'm like, no, I'm going to bring some heat today. I'm bringing 98 today. Not one of those 70 pitching staffs. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

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

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, 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,

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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. They're finishing that sentence. 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. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Trip Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing.

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Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Welcome back. Anthony Davis, AD, going to be re-evaluated in four weeks by the Lakers. That means he'll probably be back in eight. he's not somebody that heals quickly, at least this point in his career. So there was much speculation at the trade deadline. What were the Lakers going to do?

And they didn't do anything. There was a lot of criticism about that. But if you look around at their roster and the salaries wasn't much they could do. I said it earlier this year. I said it last year on this show. I'd trade AD. I think he got the best of him. We're not going to have a pandemic bubble.

He's not going to get a three and a half, four month break in the middle of a season. season, he is hurt again. But Ramona Shelburne's a legitimate reporter at the other place, and she was on the Brian Winhorst podcast, and she talked about why the Lakers didn't make a strong move during the deadline, and this is very interesting and rare. The Lakers organization from ownership on down decided you guys got yourself into this. This is the bed you have made. LeBron, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, all the future Hall of Famers, this is your choice of roster and team.

Go make it work. Jeannie Bus isn't wrong. First time in LeBron's career. An owner said, you fix the mess. This is LeBron's roster. They didn't want Westbrook. Clutch sports. LeBron wanted A-D.

That was the chosen one. For 15 years, Cleveland twice in Miami, bowed down to LeBron. Lakers did initially, too, got rid of those draft picks in young kids. But Jeannie said, no, this is your mess. You clean it up. And it's exactly the right thing to do. The league no longer runs through LeBron. He's just a talented player on a old guy in a bad roster who can't give you 82 nights a year. He's a great player. But the league doesn't run through LeBron anymore. Since the bubble, he's two and seven against Phoenix. The

West runs through Phoenix and Golden State. I think more Phoenix than Golden State, but it runs through those two. The East runs through Yonnas. The Lakers can't beat Phoenix. They don't even match up well. LeBron's two and seven against them. Many have been blowouts. Also, young players have no interest.

John Morant's not going to tie his brand to LeBron. These young guys, Trey Young's, John Morant, these young great players, I want to tie their brand to LeBron and play on LeBron's shadow. They got their own shoe deals and their own brand. They're not playing second fiddle, nor should they do anybody. This is the first time in LeBron's career, an owner said, nah, we're a big brand, we'll rebuild, we're not winning with you. We may have to move you.

But there is no point in 2022 fearing LeBron. The league doesn't run through him. The West absolutely doesn't run through him. They are currently ninth. And by the way, Anthony Davis will be reevaluated in four weeks. What does that mean? More of Westbrook and LeBron. LeBron probably not going to play every game the next four weeks.

Once again, asking LeBron in his 18th or 19th year, I've lost track to play more minutes, be more dominant. He can't keep just piling it on him. So I think this is rare. This is the first time I remember an owner just saying, we're not making a move. And if LeBron wants to leave, all right. But what are they getting with him?

Since the bubble, they are not close to the top of the. the east or more importantly the top of the west. Here's Alex for the news. No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, despite talk before the Super Bowl that Aaron Donald could retire, he is indicating that he will play in 2022. Donald said during the Rams victory celebration that he plans to run it back,

and he was asked by TMZ Sports if he will be with the team next season. Take a listen. Are you really coming back? You got people stuck with that. moment. We bring everybody back, I'm back. If you bring it, so everyone comes back? Von Miller, we bring them guys back. Let's make it happen. Then you're back. That's what's up. Let's make it happen.

Well, Vaughn Miller probably will be back. I'm not sure if OBJ will be. But I don't take much from a TMZ interview. Is a guy's got his shirt off rolling up the window? Like, it's not going to be the most thoughtful. That was his whole day, though. He had his shirt off all day throughout the parade. But that's not 60 minutes. You're not getting, this is a guy just saying, bring them all back. Please get out of my face. Nothing against Harvey Levin and TMZ.

stuck their cameras in my face at the airport 10 times. I'm just trying to get rid of them. I'm looking for bug spray. I'm just trying to get rid of them. Well, if the Rams can make the salary space for Von Miller and OBJ, why not? I mean, OBJ is going to be out for the 2020 season with his injury. But we've seen that the Rams aren't afraid to take risk. They aren't afraid to spend the money. And Foxback gives them the third best odds to win the Super Bowl next season.

If Andrew Whitworth retires, it frees up some money. But you can't pay everybody. I'd pay Von Miller. They got a center they have to pay. So OBJ, I think I would probably move off OBJ. They've got receivers. They got a young rookie. They got beat up.

Needs to put on some weight. But they're also going to draft another receiver, I would guess. So you're not going to bring everybody back. Players love that. But in the end, it's a salary cap league. You're getting really expensive at a lot of different units. Yeah, the Rams got some work to do. But let's move to the Dolphins.

Because with the Dolphins owner, Stephen Ross, facing an investigation, that could lead to a force of sale of the team. and he already has a buyer. Real estate mogul, Bruce Beale, will be in line to take over the team whenever Ross sells his controlling interest. And Beale has worked with Ross for years in his real estate company and has held the rights to purchase the team since 2016. And there's lingering belief that Beal's acquisition of the Dolphins could be followed by Beal selling part of the team to Tom Brady. And I kind of love this for Tom Brady. Magic's had some ownership in the Dodgers, albeit a small part. Michael Jordan owns a team. Yeah, I think this is in my generation over the last 10 to 12 years, this is the next,

this is the evolution of the athlete ownership in teams. LeBron's got some stock in Liverpool in the English Premier League. So Aaron Rogers has some ownership in the Milwaukee Bucks, Mahomes, the Royals. So, yeah, I think Tom Brady gives him a couple hundred million bucks, his net worth. He and Giselle's net worth has got to be $800 million to a billion. His credit's good. Yeah. Yeah, and I also think Tom Brady,

discipline and smarts would be good. I'd love to see Peyton Manning in an ownership position. Why not? John Elway, these guys are, they know the sport, they know the league. Exactly. I'm for it. They love the game. They respect the game.

These are the players and people that you want in these owner meetings. It's only going to be better for the league. And for Tom, if he doesn't come back next season, this is a great little transition from playing to ownership from Tom. So only time we'll tell for that. But let's move to the Bengals. Their top priority this offseason is adding protection for Joe Burrow and owner Mike Brown indicated aiding Burrow is critical moving forward.

He said Joe is a smart player and that shines through. He's accurate. He's tough as nails. We want to do some things to help them. They need to. He was sacked 70 times. Well, they've got cap space. They've got draft picks. So they will. It's a pretty good year for offensive tackles. Listen, the Bengals are a good enough team. Again, I don't think they need all their draft picks. I think if they got if they upgraded on the interior of the O line and at one of the tackle positions I mean their defense defensive fronts excellent their safeties are are excellent they're receiving their skill people are excellent this is I I think they're linebacking corps is average I think the Rams linebacking core is average you can win a Super Bowl with average units I think they have to put all their energy and as much money as possible into one unit and then I think they're a playoff team because I just there are limited to limitations on how much a 215-20-pound body can take. And Burrell's getting clobbered.

Yeah, and just think about it. Joe Burrow came in to a losing franchise in his second year, brought them to a Super Bowl, changed the culture of the team after having a major injury in his first season. Their number one priority, do everything you can to protect Joe Burrow. Yep. Good stuff, Alex,

with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd lie news. You know, I like the salary cap. I mean, I'm a capitalist, so I think, you know, baseball has, you know, no salary cap. But I do think it eliminates about 10 teams every year, Seattle, Oakland. You know, there's just limitations on what you can do.

And it keeps the NFL's bottom is very small. Their tops very small. It's about, you know, team four through 26 on any given Sunday, Jacksonville beat the Buffalo bills. So the Chargers got waxed by the Texans. the salary cap is interesting, especially for championship teams. Everybody gets attention. Your staff gets poached.

That doesn't count against your salary cap. But the Rams are in a unique spot. And Albert Breer joining us live, Monday morning quarterback. You know, listen, Alan, the center's good. I do think if Whitworth retires, it gives them a little bit of a, you know, like a $17 million break. But they got some questions to ask. The center grades very high. they have a corner that's up

who's talented Williams but didn't have a great year. You can't bring everybody back, Albert. If they had to make moves and cuts, where do they come from? I mean, I think you have to look at what happens with Von Miller and what happens with Odell Beckham. And I think they're thin in certain spots. And this is where the approach can kind of make things difficult is that you have to continue to hit on your lower round draft picks.

And they do have nine draft picks this year, at least they project to after the conference. picks come in, but they're all third rounders, fourth rounders, fifth rounders, and so on. And so they've done a really, really nice job over the last few years of hitting on some of those picks, guys like Jordan Fuller, John Johnson, who's gone now. They've filled in, you know, they filled in role players with those lower round picks. The pressure is going to be on them to continue to hit on those picks because not only again, do you have guys like Miller and Beckham, you've got to make decisions on.

There are also some injuries that you're going to have to manage. If you bring back Beckham, he's one of them. Robert Woods is going to be coming off of an ACL. And then, of course, Matthew Stafford is going to be going into a contract year. Yeah. So there's definitely some pieces of business that they've got to take care of. But I think the pressure is going to continue to be on them to hit on the lower round picks. And that's an area, to be fair to them, that they've been very good in the last few years.

Very good. 14 of their 22 starters are draft picks. They've done a great job on that. Bengals have 60 million cap space. A couple years ago, they spent some money on defense. The Brown family's not known as first. freewheeler's and big spenders, but they did spend Vaughn Bill. They spent some money on defense. They got some draft picks as well. You know, I was saying to Alex here, I think their front seven.

Linebacking corps is okay, but they got the pass rush. They have great safeties. Skill people are great. I mean, who's the tackle on the market they're going to get? Who's on the market that you could say that looks like a potential that's suitor for him? Well, I think they have to attack this from multiple angles. To me, like this is very similar to the chief situation coming out of the Super Bowl last year. And you saw what the Chiefs did. I mean, the Chiefs completely turned their offensive line over. They traded for Orlando Brown. They signed Joe Tuny. They drafted Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith. And so it's going to have to be something like that where you're attacking it in free agency and then you're doubling down with multiple

draft picks on those positions. They've got a young player who really struggled this year. Their second round pick Jackson Carman. They'd hope that he developed some. Yeah. And then I think you look in free agency, Colin, Toron Armstead from the Saints. He's about the same age. And he's about the same age as Andrew Whitworth was when he went from Cincinnati to the Rams. Maybe you bring in him as a veteran presence at left tackle, kick your young left tackle, Jonah Williams insider over to right tackle. You know, another big name, Brandon Sheriff's available, who I don't think Washington is going to be able to franchise him. So you look at bringing him back. Yeah. Brian Jensen, the Bucks Center. You've got some good veteran names out there. It's going to be on the

Brown family to take care of this. And by the way, it's really important to because, I mean, I don't think it's an automatic that these young quarterbacks are just going to sign extensions with their teammates teams anymore we see what's happening with arizona and kailer murray now joe burrow is going to be watching this isn't an important offseason to prove to joe burrow that you're willing to invest in his future and the best way to do that is making sure things like what happened in the tennessee game and what happened in the super bowl don't happen again the best way to do that of course is to address the align on multiple fronts boy that's a guy i'd had no idea Ryan Jensen would be available.

What a get that would be. He's become a house for the Buccaneers at center. So let's talk about this. Harbaugh's contract. My takeaway was he didn't get a big raise and the buyouts nothing. It looked like to me he just wanted to protect recruiting and staff building. It was more about getting a headline. But I looked at it and I thought he's making a run at the NFL again, right?

I call him. I think I've said to you for six years he has unfinished business in the NFL. And I'm not moving off of that. Like I think he has unfinished business in the NFL. I think he wants to coach in the NFL again. I think losing the Super Bowl to his brother left a mark for him. Like I think, you know, like that's a piece for him that's still out there that he wants to go and pursue it at some point. Doesn't mean he's going to pursue it next year. But I think he wants to have the flexibility to pursue that if it's out there for. forum. And look, it's been two years now that he's been aggressive in doing this sort of thing. Last year, when Michigan made him take the pay cut, he was sniffing around just about every job.

He'd been in contact with the Jets. He'd been in contact with the Chargers. He winds up going back to Michigan. He does a great job, has a great year. And then he's seeking out the Raiders, right? Like, and the Raiders were more interested in Josh McDaniels. And then to some degree, he's seeking out the Vikings. And so I think you read the tea leaves here. You add the way he's handle the last couple of off seasons to the structure of that contract, that buyout, Colin, that's inviting NFL team. If I'm an NFL team and I've gotten interested in Jim Harbaugh, to me, like, that's an invitation for me to call after the 2022 season. So I think this is very interesting. So Kevin O'Connell, they call the tall Sean McVeigh, and my guys think he's really

smart, really clever, has a presence. He's going to take the Vikings job. So when McVeigh first got the job with Goff, you say all the right things. things, then you grow frustrated with them. But Goff didn't have a lot of, he didn't have a lot of years in this league. So, you know, McVeigh's watching it, monitoring it, and then he just got tired of it. Late season game against the Niners, turnovers. He's like, privately, I'm out. So we have a track record with Kirk Cousins, and we know the ceiling.

And so I think he's got one year left. I think Minnesota, I think it's really interesting. I think you're going to say the right things. And I do think Kevin O'Connell could elevate Kirk to a degree. But your gut feeling on what they're going to do, draft another quarterback. I mean, would they be aggressive in the market if something was available? I think they'll explore everything. Now, it's important to remember, like, Kevin O'Connell does have a relationship with Kurt Cousins.

You know, he coached him in Washington for a year, so he knows what he is. I believe Kevin when he says I like him. Like he said that to me before. like he likes Kirk Cousins as a quarterback. Here's the way I think you want to look at it. And this goes for all these situations. I think the Vikings are certainly approaching it this way. There's that, okay, if we move off of our quarterback, then what question, right?

And I think where you want to be is you want to be in a position where you're good at the position, but you get the flexibility to move off of that player if you need to. And in essence, I think some of these teams, the way they're going to look at it is where is our Alex Smith, right? And that's where Andy Reed was. Like Andy Reed, when he got that job in 2013 to trade for Alex Smith, like neither he nor John Dorsey thought that they were going to turn Alex Smith into Tom Brady or Peyton Manning. Alex Smith gave him the opportunity to be patient year to year and to be competitive year to

year while they waited for the right opportunity to fall into the lap. So they didn't panic and do something dumb in the draft or overreach for some veteran they didn't really know. So they bring in Alex Smith. They make the playoffs four years in a row. and then all of a sudden there's this kid from Texas Tech that a young scout named Brett Beech is in love with and Andy Reed falls in love with them too

and what Alex Smith did for them, he bought them the flexibility, be competitive year to year, and then strike when the time was right. And so I think that's how Questia Adopo Mensa and Kevin O'Connell are going to look at Kirk Cousins right now. He's good enough for right now. We can compete with him year to year.

And then when the right opportunity comes along, we'll be in position to go and take advantage of it because we'll have a competitive team that'll be attractive to the right quarterback. By the way, just an Aaron Rogers thought, Green Bay has never done any of their business publicly. Like New England, pretty covert. They do business behind the doors. They're not real showy. They're not into headlines.

They don't have an owner that wants headlines. That's not how they roll. It's very interesting. They were pretty public about their love for Aaron Rogers. They threw it out there. And I was like, all right, that's, and my takeaway was, do they have a bad vibe? And so they're protected. If he leaves, they're like, hey, we said we loved him.

Yeah. What did you, am I being too cynical here? What did you kind of make of a public, multiple public comments by a front office that doesn't really do that? I think they know that that's what's needed in the situation, basically, Colin. Like, I think they need to show Aaron, you're our guy. Because what started all of this was the idea that maybe he wasn't their guy long term when they drafted Jordan Love two years ago. So I think they know that they need to do those things and they need to show him affection. And that's what going and getting Randall Cobb was.

And that's what taking risks on guys like Whitney Mercilus and Jalen Smith in season was. Show him that you're working on his timeline, right? And then what do they do? One of their big first, their first big offseason move, they hire Tom Clements to come back onto Matt LaFleure's staff. Tom Clements is Aaron Rogers guy. That guy was the buffer between Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rogers. So they're doing these things to show Aaron Rogers, hey, we're all in with you.

And I think it was notable that when he accepted his MVP award, right, that Aaron Rogers actually thanked the two guys he had the biggest problem with. That's Brian Gutakunst, the GM, and Mark Murphy, the team president. So, you know, I think this has moved past being a professional, a personal decision for Aaron Rogers where he's upset with people in the building. I think the Packers, for the most part, have fixed all of that. I think now it becomes a professional decision. And it's going to be up to the Packers.

again, Brian Gutakuse, Mark Murphy, Matt LaFleur, to put something in front of Aaron Rogers that says, we're going to be able to handle that $40 million cap surplus, and we're going to be able to put a competitive team around you for the next two or three years. I think what the Packers have done effectively over the last six or seven months, they've turned this from a personal issue into a professional issue for Aaron Rogers. We'll see if they can convince him that this is the best place for him professionally. But I think personally everything's okay now. That couch, by the way, looks really comfortable behind you with the New York.

It really does. Towers out of my house, so you can thank my buddy, Tim Owens, for having me over and let me use his dinner. All right, buddy. Great seeing you. Albert, have a good weekend. All right, thanks, Colin. Interesting stuff. I think something's really interesting as happening with the 49ers.

Really, really interesting. Who's talking? Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's Ben. Host of the fifth hour with Ben Mallor, along with my trusty sidekick, David. guest gone would mean a lot to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey. You're asking what in God's name is the fifth hour? I'll tell you, it's a spinoff of the Ben Mather show, a cult hit overnight's on FSR.

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I mean, at this point, 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. Thank you for finishing that sentence. 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.

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on my new podcast. Learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. Positioning is very, very important for professional teams. Stuff gets out to the press if teams want it out. I do think it's rather interesting that in the last couple of weeks, 49er legends, Joe Montana and Steve Young both have come out and said,

Tray Lance is not ready. That's interesting. Where are they hearing that from? Why are they saying that? Certainly coincidental. Montana is not a fire starter. Either is Steve Young, although he's often on KNBR Radio in San Francisco.

In the last couple of weeks, both have said, Tray's not ready to go. Here's Steve Young. I know Steve. Steve's very smart. He knows this will have an impact when he says it. Here's Steve Young on Tray Lance. Tray Lance, we don't know.

And Tray doesn't know. If Trey was ready, Trey would have played. Trey needs to get ready in this offseason. This needs to be the biggest boot camp effort in history to get him ready to be expansive. But we cannot wait for that. We've got to get, if that's what we're going to do,

we've got to get them ready, and then we've got six months to do it. San Francisco knows today. They know right now if Trey Lance is going to be great. physically, emotionally, intellectually, can he handle it? They know it right now. Folks, Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray. You knew instantly. Joe Burrow, Justin Herber, you know instantly. Now, in Mahomes' case, it's a complicated Andy Reid offense. They knew. Peter Schroger told me before he ever played a game, the first year that he sat until week 16,

Shreger told me in the preseason, they knew. They had a star. But it's an offense that's complicated. They wanted to learn and mentor with Alex Smith. It wasn't a rebuild roster. They were in no rush to play him. It wasn't like it was, you know, they had Alex under contract. Let's make it work.

Let's mentor them. Let's keep them in the building. But find me in the last 10 years, the slow growth, great quarterback story. Don't go with Josh Allen. There wasn't a shred of doubt in that building. from day one. He was 6.6.250, cartoonish arm,

gigantic size, leaping over defenders. Now, he had to be sandpapered. He was not refined, nor was he in high school or college. He was raw, but there was zero doubt in the building. Everybody knew,

we got like part Big Ben, part Cam Newton. We got a star here. You had to watch them at practice. San Francisco knows of Trey Lance is ready. Folks, he's been there. for 150 practices plus, played in six games,

two starts, been in the film room now for a year. You know. You watched American Idol, eight seconds. Hack, lounge singer, star. Didn't take you long to watch Carrie Underwood and go, yeah, that's better than the Vegas lounge. You know, show me all the slow growth stories. Remember, it's different now.

There's all these camps. So word gets out very quickly on Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert. But when Steve Young and Joe Montana in the last month are saying things like it's got to get more expansive, where are you hearing that? Where's that word coming from? That's kind of a different word that's used. So I don't believe, you know, I was watching last night I sat and wife was gone and dogs are gone. So I'm just sitting there. So I watched the Bucks Sixers for like an hour and a half.

Made myself a dinner. It was not bad. And then I watched the Kanye West documentary. It's fascinating. It's called genius. It's fascinating. And what's really obvious is that at 15, 16 years old, all the young hip hoppers in Chicago are like, that's the star.

You know, it doesn't take that long. If you're around somebody in music and art, in football, and show me all the slow growth stories. Mahomes is not a slow growth story. They were saying it before the season started. Russell Wilson got to Seattle. They just signed Matt Flynn. He was named Captain.

before the season started. There's not a lot of them out there. I mean, Dak Prescott, to me, is not great. They knew early in the preseason. First game he ever played at the Coliseum Rams were playing there before SoFi. They knew. That's our guy. That's the future.

So I, you know, I'm not saying Tray's ready or not. But when stuff leaks out, I'm not a coincidence guy. There's some doubts in the building. And should you be worried about that? A little bit, yeah. I think you've got to be worried about it. You got to be worried about it. because it doesn't take long to figure it out.

This is a really good system with really good players. And if Montana and Young in the last month have both talked about this, because they're both now mentioning Tom Brady, it may be bat signals. This also happens. Here's the other Steve Young bite. They talked about Brady and Rogers. Throw this one out there.

So if I'm going to be in the NFC and I'm going to pick one of the 16 teams that's ready, Fort Anderson is that team. So if you ask me the question, what do I think about Tom Brady for one more year or Aaron Rogers for a couple, three years? this team could go win three Super Bowls. Is that a bat signal to Tom Brady? Teams often do that too. They float something out there to make sure the star can hear it.

Is it a situation? I'm speculating here, but like, you know, the owner, he's like, hey, we gave away picks to get Trey Lance. But then if Montana and Young are out there saying, you know, I'd go get Brady for a year, where are they getting that? Why are they coming out? I'm just throwing it out there. It feels like a bat signal to me where maybe somebody inside the Niners organization trying to make sure the owner hears this.

Boy, I'd use Brady for a year. You know, you got to look at Aaron Rogers for a couple. Stuff gets out when people want it out. I am a journalist. This is what we do. We dig for dirt. Just something to think about. Manscape just launched their ultra-premium collection.

All-in-one skin and hair care kit covers you head to toe. 20% off free shipping. Go to manscape.com code H-E-R-D. We're playing a game on a Friday, hour two next. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel 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. 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 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 is 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.

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