The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 1 - TJ Watt gets paid

Episode Date: July 18, 2025

Colin reacts to the Steelers making TJ Watt the highest paid non-QB in the entire NFL and while he likes Watt as a player he has major questions about the direction of the franchise as whole. He believes LeBron James is seriously considering retirement and this being his final season in the NBA for 2 major reasonsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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It is a Friday news breaking. It is great to be here. We are live, and it is the heard. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, always appreciate you stopping by. Jamak, you know what? After some time off, you and I got back in the saddle, and there is actually been a lot going on this week,

and we've got a little story that broke yesterday, which is good for us. and it's something we've been banging on. I've been banging on in the show for about six months. They hate me in Pittsburgh, and once again, they're not going to like what I'm going to say here. But good Friday to you. You ready to go? Yeah, let's rock and roll.

Okay, so T.J. Watt, after our show yesterday, who's a great player. He's an absolutely great player. There's no disputing that. Deserves the money happy for him. Three-year deal, $123 million extension. So this goes back to great players. deserves the money. I don't question the player. I question the direction of the Pittsburgh Steelers. It's like I don't question the power and the brilliance and the influence of meta.

I question the direction of metaverse. Are we all so miserable with our lives? We're going to be wearing headsets around all day? It's not the technology. It's the application of the technology with meta. And that's how I feel about Pittsburgh. It's not the talent of JJ Watt. It's how they prioritize defense. And frankly, their defense isn't that good. It's four straight years. It's been out of the top ten in total defense. If you go to the top playoffs, because that's all that matters in this sport, January.

If you go look at the last five playoff games for the Pittsburgh Steelers, they've given up 28, 31, 42, 48, and 45. They give up 40 points a game. So, like, they're spending all this money on the wrong side of the ball, and they're not dominant. Well, they've gotten better on defense, and they've gotten worse on offensive. offense because the league's changed. They are completely dysfunctional on offense.

Last year, this is hard to do. With the talent they had, it was hard to do. They were 29th in the red zone. How? A good play. Adjee Harris. Pickens. Russell Wilson.

One of the best young centers in the league. There were 29th in the red zone. They were 27th best offensive line. It's almost impossible. So when I look at Pittsburgh, my take is don't hate the player, hate the direction, hate what they prioritized. Why can't they watch the Rams and the Niners and the Lions and the Chiefs and the Eagles and the bills? Keep your defense cheap and young. Pay one great defensive player.

I'd be all for paying JJ want this. If the rest of your cap was on offense and you had an elite quarter. an elite left tackle and an elite running back. The Steelers need a more balanced football diet. The league went into protein and they're all carbs. And what is their answer? I keep hearing, well, they're all in. And their answer to their offensive woes,

40-year-old Aaron Rogers, who was like sort of committed in the offseason, he's their Ozempic. He's going to solve everything. He's going to solve their unbalanced diet. So again, it's not T.J. Watt. Look around at the winning as teams here. Detroit's on fire, Buffalo, Kansas City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Rams. They're giving up defensive players.

And again, I've talked to multiple GMs on this. Pay for a T.J. Watt. Pay for a Chris Jones. Pay eventually for a Jaredverse. Pay for the Max Crosby. But then you've got to just stay young and stay cheap at safety and corner and lineback. So you can pay a left tackle top of the market, quarterback, top of the market, center, top of the market, two weapons, top of the market. But it's not the player.

Eric Mangini talked about it this week. It's not that the player's not worth the money. I'm not sure if I would take the T.J. W.W. calls or not, especially if I'm Pittsburgh and on Pittsburgh this season. It's not like they're loaded up offensively and that's going to be able to carry the day. when you look at T.J. Watt, he's had a little over 30 sacks between the last two seasons. Every single game, you have to account for him. Every single game, he's the guy that offensively, you go into the room and say, look, this player can ruin the game for us. It's not the player. It's the prioritization of the defensive side of the ball as the league has moved to offense.

all the rules. It's not anti-TJ. Watt. He is worth the money. I think he leaves the NFL and Sacks last five years. So, and how does this play to the next story? The Dallas Cowboys. Next up is Micah Parsons. So the Cowboys tend to wait and wait and wait. So now Dallas is trapped. And so T.J. Watt, if you go look at the last two years of T.J. Watts' production, he is better than Micah Parsons last two years of production. But it's kind of close. if I was Micah Parsons and I was Michael Parsons agent, I'd want 85% of TJ Watts. T.J. Watts got 36. I got 26. He got 63 quarterback kids. I got 56. Mike has got more pressures. So again, he and his agent have an argument. If T.J. Watts getting 41 million,

Mike has got to get 37, 37 and a half, 38. He's also four years younger. So to me, And I've said this before. There's only one or two players per roster that you know very early their stars. And it's usually like quarterback, left tackle, edge rusher, maybe a great weapon. And then there's players like Josh Allen of Buffalo, Patrick Sertan of Denver, Jalen Carter of Philadelphia. I would call them all pro plus players. Those are generational players. You pay them early.

You pay Jalen Carter early. Rams are going to have this with Jared Verse. pay them a year early. You may have won a roster on that. Well, the Cowboys are going to pay that top of the market, C.D. Lamb top of the market, they already are. Now they're going to have Micah Top of the market. And so do I think Micah Parsons is worth that?

No, I don't. But Dallas is trapped because Jerry has too much influence on the draft. They haven't drafted particularly well. And the Cowboys roster is so top-heavy and so ordinary that whereas Philadelphia can move off stars and the Rams can move off stars Dallas can't. Rams could move off Jalen Ramsey and his prime. Aaron Donald can retire two years later, the defensive lines better.

So when you draft like Kansas City or like a Baltimore or like a Philadelphia, you can move off players. You don't get trapped. I mean, Dallas almost can't afford not to can't afford Michael Parsons. I mean, that's where they're at. And this is every business, including the one I work for, is that the better job you do at paying the right people, the right money, you have more flexibility. And so like the Eagles, the Chiefs, the Rams, the Ravens have incredible flexibility. They move off great players regularly.

The Chiefs move off Tyreeke Hill, Snead the corner. Rams move off Jalen Ramsey. They can move off probably a year later than they wanted to. Cooper Cup. Ernest Jones, the inside linebacker was a great plug. They can move off guys because they draft well. Dallas doesn't draft exceptionally well, and they get trapped. So the deeper the roster, the more flexibility the company has.

And let me just throw this out there. Go look at the last five general managers to win Super Bowls. Do you think it's a coincidence? Howie Roseman considered the best. Brett Veach, argument. second best. Less need Rams, Jason Light, who I've talked about for years bucks. You're looking right there at four of the top, probably six general managers in the sport. John Snyder of the Seahawks is way up there. So the better GM, the better the scouting department, the better you

draft, the more flexibility you have to move off players. I do think there's about 30 guys in the league tops that you just pay for him. Miles Garrett, Max Crosby, seven quarterbacks, six left tackle, you just pay for him. I don't think Micah is one of those. But you get to a point now, because they've drafted so, with such mediocrity, did you have to overpay for DAC? C.D. Lamb and Micah. You're kind of trapped. Here's Micah this week on his contract talks. I was going to get mine no matter what. You know what? Like, the markets change every year. Their salary cap went up like another 18% this year. They numbers got nothing to do with mine and my numbers ain't nothing to do with them.

Like I'm younger. Henderson, I mean, Hutch is coming off an injury. Like everyone's circumstances is completely different. Hutch is coming off his third year. Usually guys wait four years. So it just all depends why. I mean, he's up there with miles. So, you know, it's different. Everyone's circumstances different. If T.J. Watt gets 41. I'm the agent for Michael. Parsons, I want 37 and a half. I want 38. And that gives the Cowboys three players at the top of the market. Not great, but I kind of think they're trapped. All right, Jay Mack. Football talk.

Ready to roll. Wait, it sounded like you think Micah Parsons will be okay with 38 when T.J. Watt got 41. There's no world where Michael Parsons isn't demanding to be the highest paid. He's going to want all the money. And I think Dallas is going to have to give it to them, Colin. They don't have a choice. They mess this up. Yeah, I mean, you look at the highest paid non-quarterbacks in the league. I don't have a lot of trouble. I mean, again, take out the teams.

T.J. Watt leads the NFL in Sacks last five years. Jamar Chase, arguably first, second best receiver. Miles Garrett is a generational all-time talent. Max Crosby, I think, is unbelievable. Justin Jefferson's probably the best weapon in the league. I don't have a problem with these. I don't think, in my opinion, Micah is not in T.J. Watt, J. Mar Chase, Miles Garrett, Max Crosby, Justin Jefferson's class. I think he's more of a splash player.

I think he probably is. But, Colin, I'm just curious. Let's look at those six names. Let's tally up the playoff wins. Last year, T.J. Watt, zero. Jamar Chase did not make it. Garrett did not make it. Hunter, they got the win over the Chargers.

Max Crosby and the Raiders did not make the playoffs. and Justin Jefferson, you know, yeah, did not work out great for them in the postseason. So I don't know if it translates, and I know it sounds too cold world to just say, I'm not doing that, but I keep going back to that Devin Booker deal in the NBA. Like, I thought it was a horrible deal. I think this T.J. Watt deal is horrible. It just doesn't make sense. Well, I do think you can't have a league where you just pay a quarterback, right?

We all know you pay the top quarterback. I do think there are positions that are important. For instance, I would never pay a corner. I mean, if you look at the positions, it's linebacker, edge, receiver, edge, edge, receiver. Those are the right positions to pay. I think there are six positions in the NFL. I'm going to pay.

We all know this. First of all, coach doesn't work against my cap. I'll pay Jim Harbaugh, whatever he wants. But I think quarterback left tackle, one weapon, one to two players defensively in the box. So if I had Jalen Carter and an edge rusher, I'd probably pay both. In the secondary, I am a huge believer. Linebackers and secondary, you should draft a corner every year.

I want them cheap. I want my safeties, my corners, young. Because remember, defensive players, you know this, get hurt statistically more than offensive players. When players get hurt, you want them back on the field fast as possible. Well, who recuperates and recovers faster? Players under 27, not players 28 and older. I want my defense, which gets hurt a lot, young, rotational, twitchy, and recovering quickly from injury.

To my point on the wide receiver bubble, Colin, tell me the best wide receiver in the AFC championship game last year, between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs. It just wasn't one. It's not a great one. Eagles have two good ones. I'll give them that. Washington, Terry McLaurin, like, you can pay your receivers. That's fine.

But just know that they're not the guy that's going to get you over the top. You need a balanced deep roster, which is, as you said earlier, what the great GMs are doing. I think that's the smart way to build a team as opposed to just, hey, let's make them the highest-paid non-quarterback. All right, huge UFC weekend. Dana White's going to be joining us at the top of next hour. Hey, it's me, Rob Parker. Check out my weekly MLB podcast inside the Parker for 22 minutes of pipe and hot baseball talk, featuring the biggest names and newsmakers in the sport, whether you believe in analytics or the eye test,

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I can't wait. So all week long, off vacay, I've been saying, don't listen to this LeBron James stuff. He's got a no trade clause. You're not going anywhere. At least not now. Breadcrumbs becomes headlines. It's all nonsense.

Here's something, though, I do believe, and I believe it strongly. Clutch sports or clutch points. There's an article today that says people around the NBA believe LeBron is going to announce he's retiring after the 2025 season. And that may not be a year away, that he may announce this is his last season. And I do buy that for two reasons primarily. Number one, clearly the Lakers feel Luca is the future.

LeBron knows it. Luca knows it. Everybody in the organization knows it. Even when AD was dominant and in his prime, it was still. LeBron's team in L.A. It was still, LeBron was the playmaker. He was sort of the shoulders up, leader of the team,

guiding them in timeouts, player coach. It was LeBron's team. Even when AD was dominant in the COVID year. And LeBron for 23 years has been the number one priority of every organization. And almost always the best player. I would say the best player. And now he's not. This year he's not going to be the best player.

Luca in shape will be the best player. LeBron also knows the new owners are not going to get backed into a corner and bully. These new owners moved off Cody Bellinger, Corey Seeger, Max Scherz, Mani Machado. They could have had Mani Machado to a long deal. He goes to their rival to Padres and is an All-Star. He's an incredible player. Let him walk. Zach Grinky, let him walk.

They do this. They'll pay for Otani in his prime. They'll pay for Mookie Betts in his prime or Freddie Freeman in his prime. Okay, they're not. They're not going to hang around and pay you a fortune. Here's the other thing. The new CBA, LeBron's too expensive and too old for a guy that won't and you can't build around. The smart teams now, the smart GMs are getting four and five years ahead on this thing.

Nobody's paying the luxury tax anymore. And everything with LeBron operates in the near term. Nobody operates like that now that knows what they're doing. So LeBron's just the latest casualty of the new Cs. CBA. People aren't going to blow through the luxury tax like Joe Lacob did for years in the Warriors dynasty. That is over. And it's not his play. He's a top 10, 12 guy on any night. His play is remarkable. But he is now hard to sign. He's an old expensive guy who doesn't want to give you, I mean, he's, I mean, sure he'd take a four or five year deal now. You shouldn't pay him that.

So the best GMs are not going to want a part of what LeBron's become. You know, it's like LeBron's a little bit like those tight-fitting skinny jeans. They can still look good on people, but it's not the current fashion, right? A little out of style, little out of fashion. So it's not his play. But I can see LeBron looking at it thinking, if you've been the number one priority and had control for 23 years, Michael Jordan didn't have control for 23 years, they told him, it's the last dance. LeBron's arguably the only player in NBA history.

control, beginning to end. The minute he was drafted, that point forward, he had a lot of control. And the minute he didn't get it in Miami or didn't feel like he was going to get it with Pat Riley, he took it back and went to Cleveland. And so now two things are happening. He's not going to be the best player this year because Luke is in shape and will probably average 30 a game. Still won't play defense, but he'll average 30 a game. And Luke is the priority.

So LeBron's always been the best player on any given night. And LeBron's always been the priority. He's not. Dan Wojke yesterday talked about LeBron, the Lakers in the future. The order of operations here would have to be a request from LeBron James. I don't believe the Lakers are going to come to LeBron James with a trade and say, this is what we want. Will you accept it, right?

I think it would have to be the other way around. I mean, I think the Lakers are very comfortable, you know, being in this stage of of the LeBron James business despite sort of the inherent uncomfortabilities of it, particularly the win-now pressure that his presence has put on the organization since really the day he signed for this last chapter of his career? I honestly believe they went and got DeAndre Aiton because deep down they know it's the last year LeBron's going to be a leicher and they wanted to give him a shot. DeAndre Aten's not a perfect fit.

Pouty, Moody won't defend. But Luca Reeves, DeAndre Aiton, LeBron James at least to the trading deadline. It feels big. It sounds interesting. It sounds offensively elite. And it will be. It's not going to be as good as Houston or Denver or Oklahoma City or I think Dallas potentially.

But it'll be good. And I think the owners are saying, listen, let's keep it to ourselves. Let's give him one last great run, his last year in L.A. Because he's still a great player. Let's get everything out of it. and at the trade deadline, if it's not working, and Aiton's moody, and, you know, and LeBron, you can see his age, I doubt it,

but you can see his age, then we'll make a move. But for the time being, I do think it's on the table for LeBron before the end of next season to announce, yeah, this is it. This is going to be it. J-Mack with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news.

As you said, we've had a big week in news, and Damian Lillard kind of shocked everybody yesterday, Colin, by announcing that he's signing with the Portland Trailblazers? What? Three years, $42 million. Now, he popped his Achilles during the playoffs, so he will not play next season, okay? But the deal, bizarrely, includes a player option for 27, 28,

and a no-trade clause. So the two guys with the no-trade clause in the league are LeBron, who's 40, and now Damien Liller coming off in Achilles. Listen, I get it. Damian Lillard is cleaning up in this deal. He's going to make about $70 million between the Blazers and Bucks next season. I mean, that's absurd for a guy of his age with the injury,

but happy for Dame. Here's what I don't get, Colin. What is Portland doing? What is the game plan? Why would you do this deal? You've got a heavily young roster. You got Drew Holliday, you just added. They're probably 13.

in the West, maybe 12th, if we're being generous, I don't see an end game here. This makes no sense to him. Well, he's a beloved player in the Rose City. He's absolutely beloved. And they probably want to coronate him. Let's end his career. It'll be his last contract. Certainly last big contract. He's not going to bounce around the league. He's been smart with his money. He's got musical interest, boxing interest. He's been smart with it. He's a West Coast guy from Oakland to Weber State to Portland.

Milwaukee never felt like the right fit, right? Like it didn't. So I think they're going to just kind of coronated. Just say, listen, we love you. I mean, if you look at the history of the Blazers, Bill Walton, Clyde Drexler, Dame Lillard. I mean, there's a short list of players that have been. He's got to be one. He's got no disrespect to Bill Walton.

Yeah, no, I mean, so I think, I mean, there's been a lot of players like Brandon Roy briefly was really, really, really, our Vetus Sub bonus was unbelievable, but they didn't get him in his prime. So I think for arguably the most popular player, he's going to get, I mean, people love, I mean, I worked there. Dame is beloved in the city.

He's been good with his money. I think it works. And they're a really, really young team, and they got some money because DeAndre ate and didn't fit. So, and let me tell you something. After watching Yang Hanson, oh, come on. I'm just telling you, after watching that guy, I'm like, maybe, I mean, I think some of it's star attraction.

I don't think Portland's a dynamic economy, and I think he gets people into the seats. Does this strike you at all, like a kid who lived in this area growing up, goes away to college far away, and is like, not for me. And then he comes home, and then he just goes to community college and finish his school there. Because I don't, Colin, this doesn't make sense. Dane Willard can still be a big boost to somebody in two years. Why wouldn't you go to a contender? Hey, Denver, I want to go win a ring.

Hey, Lakers, hey, whoever, OKC, I'll sit on your front. that's not his personality. I mean, Dame is one of those guys that he goes back to Weber State every year and, like, gives to the university. Dame's really into, I mean, he's into boxing, he's into music, he's into his family, he's into Portland. The family thing, yeah, that's a big. Yeah, like, he's just, Dame's just one of those guys.

He's very old school. He's a very old school soul, and I think this works for him. And I think the organization knows he puts butts in seats. Also, they've got a lot of young wing and guard. players, he's a good mentor. He's a good practice guy. He's a smart guy. The players respect him. He's a first ballot hall of famer. So I think from an organizational standpoint, it just makes sense. So you and I are similar in that you've lived all around the country, right? I mean, you've looked in like pretty much every corner. I've been around, you know, different parts.

I like that. I don't want to stay in one place forever, but it's tough for me to understand that, like some people do want that. Like Dame Lillard seems to just want to go back to Portland. Well, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, 40% of Americans never leave. the zip code they were born in. There's nothing wrong. I mean, again, it depends on the zip code you're born in. But I think he's an old soul, an old school guy, very, very legendary loyal, and Portland wants to show it back. Loyalty. Nice. Next up to the NFL, where Justin Herbert is still seeking his first

career playoff win. Remember, they got shelled last year by Houston and Herbert's worst game of the season. But Jim Harbaugh doesn't think that loss was on. on Herbert, instead he wants the team to be better around him. I said, that's top of mind, Mr. President, is, is, is, is, uh, is, uh, is Justin Herbert, you know, getting him the weapons and, uh, and protecting him. Um, I told him, I, same thing I told you all, uh, you know, I think Justin's biggest weakness is those around, those around him that he's counting on on offense, us coaches and, uh, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and,

And players on offense, we got to get to Justin Herbert's level. Yeah, well, the Interior O-line wasn't great last year. They need more production at Tide-in. They did sign their second round-wide receiver from Ole Miss, I think, signed yesterday. Trey Harris, yeah, but they did. One step forward, Trey Harris and the other back, Mike Williams, the veteran receiver, he announced, I'm retiring. Screw this NFL stuff.

You know, that's what happens when you play with Aaron Rogers. You just get sick of football. Anyways, the running back debt chart, Omarion Hampton, Nagei Harris, assuming his eye is okay. The wide receivers, Ladd-McConkie, Quentin Johnson, and the young kid, Trey Harris. Tight-end, Will Disley. There's a good team. They got Mackay Beckton now at Guard.

He was at a good run with the Eagles. I don't see how this is not a 10-11 win team calling it. And by the way, their losses are not on Justin Herbert. No, I mean, listen, the bottom line is, if you look at Jim Harbaugh's career, the first year he changes the culture, it takes him two years to change the roster to be a Jim Harbaugh team. He now has two elite tackles and two big time running backs and a very physical quarterback.

This is a Jim Harbaugh team. First year at Michigan, he changed the culture. By the second, third year at Michigan, wasn't NIL back then. He started changing the roster and they started playing like a Jim Harbaugh team. And so I think this is just, I think this just, it takes, a while. I thought last year they were a tough physical team but they were so

they were a BB gun offensively. They were just so limited. I think if the kid from Ole Miss pops, McConkey looks like to me he's a slot but he looks like a one and I think they're going to lean on their run game. They'll probably run the ball 8 to 12% more than last year because it was J.K. Dobbins who's in and out of the lineup because

of injuries. So I think this feels and looks like a hardball team. Yeah, they only had one way to win last year. We got to control the ball. Limit mistakes because we don't have any weapons. try to play to. And we need our defense. Yeah. I mean, they're playing a lot of games where they're scoring like 17 points. That's not going to cut it in the NFL. Final story, Colin, is, oh, everybody's beloved Kansas City Chiefs. Well, guess what? Dad bod enthusiast Patrick Mahomes, he's about to turn 30. Oh, no, wait, but he's, yeah, just about to turn 30 after week two this season. So he's approaching

his 30th birthday. And here's the old man reflecting on his 20s. It's been a fun run. And we've, we've had a lot of great players in this building, a lot of great people. And so it makes it enjoyable to come to work every single day. And I still got some guys with me that's been there the whole time. And then adding new guys gives you a new juice and a new spirit to go out there and be even better. And so a lot of young guys now, so just trying to relate to them as much as I can. But at the same time, I'm still not 30 yet. So I feel like I can for at least right now. Yeah, let's face it, if you're Buffalo or Baltimore or your Niners, it's no fun competing in competing. This is Tiger in his prime, bro.

He had a good run. Now, listen, this is unequivocal. Patrick Mahomes was the greatest quarterback in his 20s in NFL history. I mean, look at the numbers. Before turning 30, first in wins, passing yards, touchdown, division. For our radio audience that can't see this,

Patrick Mahomes on his 20s threw for over 38,000 yards, seven division titles, five Super Bowls winning three. In his 20s, He is right now, I would say, in the middle of his peak. His peak is going to be probably 26-ish to 33-ish. He's in the middle of it.

Yeah. We'll see. I have them no playoffs. I will say the potential at wide receiver for that group, if they're healthy, is impressive. But the Rashid Rice News from this week, you know, obviously not great. And then we got to see what's up with Kelsey, the tackles. A lot of questions for the Chiefs, Colin.

I think Buffalo and Baltimore are clearly better this season. I know people don't want to hear that. But going into the season, order those three for me. Buffalo, Baltimore, Kansas City. Buffalo, Baltimore, Kansas City. Oh, you're with me. Okay. Yeah, yeah.

I think, I think everybody's sleeping on Denver. Does everybody get that Denver got Greenlawn Hufunga on defense alone? I don't think people are sleeping on them. Best defense in the league coming into the season. They're going to be good. Their offensive line, I just checked this out the other day. O line, I think PFF had him like third. Like Sean Payton has turned that franchise around.

It's amazing what he's done. He came to that organization. They had the worst dead cap money situation in league history. I mean, it's so, yeah, that division is insane. Jay McElniz. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lye News.

Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast?

Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it.

And, well, we were thinking I'm originally. calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas,

and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends.

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

The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Jenchian win. I mean, she went down at three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me.

And she likes Clay. Listen, Lennar Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports.

Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast, 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. Baseball night in America on Fox. The Red Sox take on Rising Star, Pete Crow, Armstrong and the Cubs, or the Cardinals battles at Diamondbacks. Check local listings for the game in your area tomorrow at 70s turn on Fox. I don't know why I'm in such a good mood today, Jamie.

I'm fired up for Dana White top of the hour because there's a huge fight this weekend. It's one of the better fights in the UFC in a long time. It's a classic trilogy where two guys fighting for the third time. One's a power guy. One's a volume guy. It's going to be great. We'll talk about that. So I had, and I said this, I've said, you've got to be careful about July and August.

And I think the audience, as you watch or listen to me, you know it's our dead time. You're out of your habits. You're golf and more. You're taking more time off. You're taking Fridays off. And in this time of the year, I always try to be cautious because like these LeBron stories come out of nowhere and people are just trying to fill space. This is like the slowest week of the year.

And in our business, but there's actually been, there's been some. stories. And so all the stuff I'm seeing created and generated, I'm like, don't, no, don't, don't. But there is one I'm willing to create and generate. And that is Nick Saban to the NFL. So Greg McElroy, somebody I respect a lot, played at Bamma, knows Bam, he's a big talk show host in the South, totally connected to Bamma. When he goes out and Greg says, I am hearing Saban getting back into coaching, believe it. Doesn't mean he will, but if he's hearing it, then it's Nick and Jimmy Sexton talking to either Bama or somebody else. And Nick is not an old guy. He may be old in age. He's not old in spirit, intellect, drive,

energy. He's not. I don't know Nick that well, been around him a couple times, but he's a very impressive guy. He's got a Pete Carroll feel. He's not his age. Some guys are old and look it and feel it and talk it. That's not Nick. So I had Urban Meyer on yesterday, who is a friend that knows a lot of how Nick thinks. And I posed the question. I said, I think he's going back into coaching. If Greg McElroy said it, Lane Kiffin knows him well said it. I said he may not, but he's going to listen at least to pro offers.

Here's Urban. I have not talked to him about this. I could guess, because I know him fairly well and competed against him, that it's not a little scratch. It's probably a pretty big scratch. That's the one area that he has not, you know, you know he was like you said he's getting things going on Miami I actually visited him when he was down there but I I don't think he'd go back to college I don't see that fit I would say very little to no chance

he would get involved in college but I think he would take phone calls from the NFL okay so let's let's just think about this there's six to seven openings a year you know that I know that that's not a revelation so let's look at the last five years of coaching hires who has turned around program overnight. Who's who's an a plus? Jim Harbaugh took the took a broken culture, a bad team, the 30 second defense. They were number one in the league last year. Okay, so Jim Harbaugh has been an A plus hire. Sean Payton. Disaster Russell Wilson's contract. They led the league in Sachs last year, made the playoffs with a rookie quarterback in a division with Harbaugh, Herbert, Annie Reed, and Mahomes. Okay, so what do those guys have? Pedigree. They're champion.

championship level coaches, college or pro, these are great pedigree coaches. Well, Saban's that. Let's look at two other guys who are really successful. We don't consider Dan Campbell to be as good as hardball. We don't consider Nick Sariani to be Sean Payton, but they've been really successful. Why? Because they have great general managers and great front offices. So they're good enough coaches with great personnel.

Oh, wait, Sabin's good at that too. Sabin gives you the pedigree of a championship winning coach, best college college coach ever. And he gives you the player personnel expertise. There's two college coaches that I would always trust, maybe three or four all time, with being in the draft room and making calls. Jim Harbaugh is one of them, Nick Sabin's another, Jimmy Johnson's one. And when Pete Carroll got out of USC for the first four years, let Pete run the draft, Sabin knows personnel. So pedigree and personnel excellence, he gives you both. So, and the other thing, remember college baseball and major league baseball are two different sports college basketball which is

possession basketball and the NBA which is a bullet train are two different sports the NFL and college football are kind of similar coaches go and bounce back and forth a lot of the same schemes and now that you're paying players at the college level they're very similar and nick sabin dealt with that for two years having a cap a general manager so they're very very similar The facilities at Bama, the NIL, the cap, Nick knows what he's doing, and he's been to the NFL before. So, and the other thing is, Nixon SEC guy knows the Manning family well. If Arch Manning plays well, if he plays it like a B plus A minus level, he's going number one in the draft. Cleveland, very likely, is going to be the worst team in the league.

Nobody's going to lose sleep with that. Arch Manning in Cleveland, the owner is Jimmy Haslam, a huge Suss. SEC Tennessee booster, who loves headlines, Baker, Johnny Mansell, Deshaun Watson at his own peril. Arch Manning and Nick Saban make the Cleveland Browns for an owner who loves chasing headlines, the most interesting team in the NFL. Not saying the best, they would be the most interesting team in the NFL. So, I mean, we're going to have six, seven new openings. I'm guaranteeing you right now.

If Nick is interested, half those teams call him. And unlike Harbaugh, Harbaugh had such a intense personality. A lot of NFL teams were not interested. Minnesota reportedly said, no, thanks. So we had a smaller market. That's not Sabin ingratiates himself. Sabin gets along with everybody. Media likes him, coaches like him, Belichick likes him.

Everybody likes Nick. Nick's, maybe the team playing him doesn't like Nick, but Nick gets along with a lot of people. He can be self-deprecating. You know, Jim Harbaugh's personality, he's lightened up a lot in the NFL. I mean, Jim Harbaugh is like a different guy than he was two years ago. But there was a smaller market for Harbaugh, because he was such an end. Remember that pat on the back of Jim Schwartz?

Like he was so intense. Now, he's not as intense. Jim's, you know, Jim now is, it's like it's the twilight years. He's in a great mood. Maybe it's Herbert. But I think Sabin's easy to talk to. There's going to be six to seven openings. And remember this.

Here's another reason why I'm on this. two other reasons. First of all, on three is a great website, great business. They do recruiting. This week they released, like the top 12 teams in college football NIL collective, Bama's nowhere to be seen. Even Auburn made the list. Meaning Bama's not going to bring saving back.

They can't afford him. They can't buy out Kaelin and DeBore for 70 million and spend 15 million on players and give Nick a new $70 million dollar contract. They don't have the money. They're doing car washes and bake sales. They don't have the money. money in the NIL. Auburn's got more money because they have a couple of richer boosters.

And the other thing is because of the NIL and because of what colleges make now is these college coaches, if they think they're going to get fired, they'll get a next, you know, a Brian Kelly, a Lincoln Riley, a Kalin DeBoer. Their universities aren't going to get rid of them. So they're going to stay in the college level, not roll the dice. Lincoln Riley's not going to, you know, in the old days, if Lincoln was in trouble, he'd have his agent right now talking NFL teams. He doesn't.

He wants to see this thing through. USC's recruiting classes great for 2026, and they can't get rid of it. USC just paid $300 million for facilities. They're paying $18 million, I'm told, for NIL. They're not spending $80 million to buy Lincoln out, and Lincoln knows it. So you don't have these college coaches and these contracts. They're not looking at the NFL. Years ago, Brian Kelly had like three years left on his deal,

and he had his agents call me NFL. was snooping around. They're not doing that anymore because the universities can't get rid of them. So I'm, and this is nothing against the show he's on an ESPN. It's not about that. Even though when I watch that show, I always feel like I want more Nick because I think he's so smart and so electric on television. But this is, this is the one story in the slowest time of the year that I will generate, because I believe it to be true, is that we're going to have six openings. The college guys aren't getting fired like they used to. Archmanning going to Clems. Cleveland, Jimmy Haslam loves headlines. By the way, the other guy that loves headlines, Jerry Jones.

The criticism of Jerry for years, even in Jerry's prime was he's more interested in the headlines than he is the Super Bowls because after he won him with Jimmy, it's like, okay, I got my, I got my trophy, I got my legacy, I got my money, I want the headlines. And so, I mean, if you're telling me, and I think Dallas is going to be bad, Cleveland and Dallas have, are in this space for the top five or six picks. You're not going to call Nick Saban? You'd be crazy not to call him. Coordinators in the NFL hit about 30% of the time.

And I think Nick Seriani was in trouble two years ago. He's got the best GM in the league in the best roster. If he didn't, I think he'd be gone. So, Jay Mack, that is my, I don't even think it's a hot take. That's my story in the slowest time of the year that I think has legs. When Urban Meyer says, oh, yeah, yeah, he would talk. NFL teams. Yeah.

There's something out there. I like it. To piggyback off that, you mentioned yesterday you thought in the NFL, you know, the coaching has stepped up. AFC West is the most loaded division you've ever seen. Remember you challenged me, find one better? Do you remember this?

Yesterday? Okay. 1990 NFC East. Bill Parcells with the Giants, Jimmy Johnson with the Cowboys, Joe Gibbs in Washington, Buddy Ryan in Philadelphia. Puddy Ryan?

He was a legendary. Very defensive coach. He was a speed bag. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick.

And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. Nice. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions.

Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the Iheart radio app. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with. Robert Smygel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on.

A Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves. their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicalife-Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This is an IHart podcast.

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