The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 1 - USC, 49ers, Brian Kelly

Episode Date: September 5, 2022

In this hour of The Herd, Colin likens USC head football coach Lincoln Riley's debut game to that of another prominent football coach in Los Angeles. Colin sees a wholesale change in how the Trojans performed last Saturday. Also, how patient will San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan be with quarterback Trey Lance now that veteran quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has been retained for another year? Plus, demanding fans at blue chip programs like LSU have collective amnesia, according to Colin. Even the best coaches, like Brian Kelly, usually struggle in their first year at a program.  Finally, Jeff Howe of The Athletic stops in to discuss pertinent NFL storylines. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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.

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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. 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. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes,

follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the Heard at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Heard. For listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go. Labor Day Monday. Yeah, I'm working today. Why not? Fox Sports Radio, live in Los Angeles. It's the herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1 in our three. We're not on FS1 for the first couple of hours. Jay Mack is joining us. So the whole show was down last week. And I don't know where you went. I hung out in the East Coast and Rhode Island, had fun, and out with friends, came back to L.A., watched the Trojans in the conference.

What did you do? Popped over to Vegas, made some NFL futures bets. Oh, you did. Football bets and went to Lake Arrowhead with the family. Oh, that's great. I got to say, Cowherd is a big deal in Lake Arrowhead. Yes. I had guys coming up to me at a bar.

I'm in a tank top and flip-flops. And they're like, hey, when's Cowherd back on the air? You know what? Lake Arrowhead, we are very popular. Huge. In the boating community. Yes. Let's start with this.

Okay. So when Sean McVeigh took over the L.A. Rams, let's remember what happened. The Rams were a mess. with Jeff Fisher. And they were not only a mess, the game had shifted to offense, and he was a defensive guy. It was hard to watch Jared Goff. Jared Goff looked like an abject disaster, a complete bust. The very first game back, the very first game, Sean McVeigh is a Rams coach. They beat the Colts 46 to 9. Gough had his best day as a pro. But it wasn't just the win, because the Colts

were not a good team. It was not just about the W. It was about the W. It was about the fact the speed and the personnel packages and the substitutions and the lack of stupid penalties. You can see certain things in football. You watch Georgia. You can see that speed. You watch Alabama. You can see that power. You watch Lincoln Riley's debut with USC. You can see the intelligence. Very, very few mistakes. Don't burn timeouts. End of the first half. And I hadn't seen. this in eight years at USC. They had all three of their timeouts left. Now, I know it's rice, but the energy, the efficiency, the intelligence, the speed, the clever, they scored 66 points and they barely had the ball. They barely had the ball for 27 minutes. They took advantage

of opportunities presented. And that's what it was with McVeigh, an offensive coach in an offensive leaning sport. And outside of Bama and Georgia, let's be honest. honest about college football, everybody's scoring a lot of points. Even Alabama now, Alabama is as good offensively or better than they are defensively, and that's not what they were in Nick Saban's first 10 years. So if you watch college football long enough and football in general, I remember sitting through the Belichick Brady dynasty when I lived in Connecticut. And I watched every snap for the 11 years I lived out there. I never thought they were the most talented team. I thought Pittsburgh had more talent. I thought Baltimore had more talent. I thought there was a cult team or two that had more talent.

never felt anybody was smarter than the Patriots. And when I watched Lincoln Riley, it wasn't about the score. They were going to beat Rice. The previous coach would have beaten Rice. But to take a four and eight mistake-plagged team. And in seven months, eight months, almost no penalties that mattered. Saving your timeouts. Manipulation of personnel.

In and out of plays. Substitution patterns. It was fast. It was quick. It was smart. and if you're a USC fan or a college football fan, you can see dumb teams. You can see slow teams.

You can see weak teams. But you can also see the opposite of that. You can see Georgia's speed, Alabama's physicality. You can see intelligence. And that's what was on display. USC got their program back. Really fun to watch. You're going to have to prime me out of that stadium.

I made to go to all of them. It was fun. All right. So a lot of different college football takes today, but I want to say this. So one hour from now where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong, we do that every Monday on the show all year round. So Richard Sherman was on a podcast, his podcast, and he had George Kittle on. And they were talking about the move that surprised some that we thought Jimmy Garapolo would be traded. I initially thought, you know, get him out of here, give it the Trey Lance. And then stories started dripping from the faucet that Trey Lance was struggling

with consistency and Tray Lance was struggling with accuracy. Okay, then that's a different, that's a different argument. So now it's like, well, this division's too good to have a quarterback that completes 57% of his throws or worse. So they re-signed Jimmy Garoppolo. And George Kittle, the all-pro tied end, says, that's okay, it's all good here. While Tray's in the driver's seat, and Tray gets to play quarterback, he is Jimmy G who knows that of win games and he can learn a lot from him.

So, you know, I hope that that's how Trey takes. Texas and he just continues to play his game because Tray's a really good quarterback. There's aspects of football that aren't just X's and O's and they're not just throwing the football that Tray's going to learn from Jimmy, like just how to carry yourself, how to do certain things. And Tray does a good job with that. Just Jimmy's been doing it longer, so he's just going to learn a lot of things from it. So it's going to work to some degree for one reason. Jimmy Garoppolo is a good guy. He's a good guy. Everybody likes Jimmy Garapolo. Brady had a problem with him, but Jimmy didn't have a problem with Brady.

Brady is willful, aspirational. Get out of my way. I'm going to prove you wrong. Jimmy Garoppolo's not that. He's a good dude. He can play. I think he's always been better than people think. But this will work because he's a good guy.

He'll make the room work. If the room was a mess, it wouldn't work. The real question in this Tray Lance Jimmy Garoppolo story is an easy one. How patient will Kyle Shanahan be? He's already publicly acknowledged. He's been incredibly transparent. He's inconsistent. He's inaccurate.

He's raw. And he needs more practice. time. Those are on the record quotes from Kyle Shanahan. You never get that. They tell us how great Zach Wilson's been at practice. How amazing Drew Locke was in Denver. You never get a coach that goes, yeah, he's raw, he's inaccurate. It's day to day. Some days he's good, some days he's bad. All those quotes are on the record. So there's no, there's no, all the reporting, all the times I said, my scouts are telling me, my sources are telling me, it's ugly every other day. It's all true. The question becomes how patient will Kyle Shanahan be?

Now he's not going to get fired, but the NFC West is very strong. So you can't allow Trey to just automatically work himself through the problems, or you're going to be on a four-game losing streak. You got the Rams twice. You got Kuyler Murray twice. The other thing is the Rams, I looked this morning, face nine pro-bowl level quarterbacks, and this is what you're going to see. So if you're average and you face average,

so Trey Lance against Justin Fields, when average is on the other side of the field, you can talk yourself into things. You know, hey, he was better than Justin Fields. The next week, he faces Gino Smith. Even if Trey struggles, you can argue, well, I mean, he's a lot more athletic than Gino Smith. But when you start looking at this schedule,

they got four and five game stretches where they face Mahomes, Stafford, Herbert, Kyler Murray. So when you have great on the field for 59 plays and you're on the field average at 57 plays, average looks bad. Right? Hey, if you're a lounge singer or a stand-up comedian and there's no great headliner, your average jokes feel big. But if you're opening up for, you know, Dave Chappelle or David Spade and you're the comic right before him, you look like a hack. So the issue with Trey Lance is not going to be in the first two weeks. But if he's completing 57% of your throws and you're watching them against Justin Herbert,

who goes 29 to 34 for 330 yards, that's when it's going to be obvious. You gave away too many picks. So my question isn't whether the Niners have a great roster. They do. Isn't whether Shanahan's brilliant. He is. It's not whether Jimmy Garoppolo can win. He has.

The question is all about patience. Shanahan, this is very, very rare. Shanahan has gone on record saying multiple times, raw, inaccurate, inconsistent. So he's not hiding anything. He's concerned. That's why we're keeping Jimmy Garoppolo. It's obviously a hedge. You know it.

I know what the world knows it. But I do think the reason it probably works, to some degree. Now, the degree I don't know. Garoppolo is a good guy. That's why it works. If Garapolo was very, you know, territorial, it wouldn't work. If he had a short fuse, it wouldn't work. If he was insecure, it wouldn't work.

It works because Jimmy's secure. He's not that driven. He's a dude. You know, there are certain guys, if you're going on a camping trip or you're going to Vegas, you just want them to go. They just, they're, it's like the hangover. There's just certain guys, you know, Bradley Cooper, you want on the trip. Bradley Cooper is going to make the trip better.

But I've been saying this now for several months. The most interesting team in the league this year, not the best maybe, but the most interesting is the 49ers. You're going to see this in real time with a great coach, a great roster, a tough division, and their schedule, they got the AFC West out there. So that's what makes it hard. It would be one thing if he was facing on a weekly basis, Justin Fields, and Mayn Kirk Cousins. then you can talk yourself into it's working. You can't do that when Kyler Murray's on the other side or Herbert or Derek Carr or

Mahalms. You're watching A plus plus guys and that makes that B minus guy look like a D guy. So there we are. So Brian Kelly's debut with LSU is not great. Georgia, good God. I still think Ohio State doesn't feel right to me last couple of years. Something's off. We'll talk about that.

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. 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 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. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told,

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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 Jay 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 At this point Mark this is the second episode

Where we've discussed Crack so I'm starting to see There's a through line We also have AIDS On the table right now So 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. 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. Tripp 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. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross.

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Open your free, our heart radio app, search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Wow. Some of it's his fault, but Brian Kelly's a really good coach who isn't always well-liked.

You know, the cheesy stuff, the death of a student at Notre Dame was obviously, is stuck to him. There's been some stuff in terms of, you know, kind of that sudden southern accent that's cringy. He's a great coach. Whether you like him or not, he's a very good coach. He's one everywhere.

But it usually takes them a couple years. And the truth is, you know, if you're doing it the right way, the transfer portal helps, but it should take a couple of years. So LSU lost last night. I mean, they were playing a freshman at left tackle. Florida State's got real athletes. The special teams were a mess. You know, they had the kick blocked or it would have been tied. It was a wild crazy finish.

College football is amazing. It's totally flawed. You know, that's what makes college football great is bad officiating, goofy reviews. These are kids playing. And it's hard to take kids and turn around a program. And they looked really ugly last night for large chunks. Jaden Daniels is a good quarterback transfer Arizona State. He was running for his life.

Again, their offensive line's not set. Brian Kelly always gets the offensive line right. It's a lot to ask to do it in six months. So the downside to coaching at LSU, Bama and Georgia, is the expectation is you've got to win immediately. And I remember when I was a kid hearing about amnesia. Like when you're a kid and you hear about certain illnesses. And I remember hearing about amnesia and thinking, no, I've never known anybody that had amnesia. Amnesia is what they would use in like a sitcom or something.

Like it was almost a pretend thing, right? I've still never known anybody with amnesia, but it's clearly a, a medical issue. And it's real. But for some reason, we have amnesia, all of us, with the greatest coaches ever.

Pete Carroll first year at USC, 6 and 6. And the PAC 10 was terrible back then. Kirby Smart's first year at Georgia, 8 and 5. Nick Saban. By the way, Brian Kelly, 8 and 5, 8 and 5 at Notre Dame.

By the time he left, it was a top 7 program. Dabo Sweeney. 9 and 5 and 6 and 7 first two full years at Clemson. Kirby Smart 8 and 5. Saban went 7 and 6 first year at Alabama. Lost to Louisiana Monroe at home. Folks, it's harder to me. Your first year in the SEC is really hard.

There are no Oregon states. There are no Colorado's. Like the top six teams are all bowl winning teams in the top 7 to 8 are often in the top 25. Now, I know Florida State's not an SEC team, but they look and feel like an FCC team. They got NFL dudes up front, size, speed, right? And I don't think Florida State's going to be great this year. They've got a tough schedule.

But the point being is, we all have amnesia on this stuff. Well, the transfer portal. Well, you've always been able to transfer. Now, it's been sped up in the last year, and it'll certainly help Lincoln Riley. Yes, it obviously helped Lincoln Riley a lot. But you can only do so much with it. USC's defense is still not close to being Georgia or Bam it. I mean, not close.

So, Davo, Sabin, Pete Carroll, you start going to these coaches. The legends. Forget the average ones. The legends. Midily struggle in year one. Yeah, they got a new quarterback. They got a true freshman, I think, left tackle. The special teams.

By the way, go ask Nick Sabin about special teams. He's got a bookout where he almost retired. He admits he almost retired. after Auburn beat him. Why? Because of his lousy special teams. Special teams in college are all bad. It's rare when a team like has an all-American kicker and you expect them to hit big kicks. Bobby Bowden's career is defined by missed kicks and a lot of wins. So Brian Kelly afterwards, take a deep breath. He's going to win. But in the South, where I think in year one, it's much harder to win because there's just very few layups in the SEC. And frankly, you know, Florida

State is always, in my opinion, they kind of feel like 50% SEC. Big, fast, strong NFL guys. Here's Brian Kelly. These guys haven't played a ton of football, and they're going to get better. Look, I'm not here to say we take any solace in a loss. That's not why I'm here at LSU to learn about great lessons and losses. but the reality of it is we've got some learning to do. We've got to coach better and we've got to play better.

I thought that was perfect. It was a little ugly, it was a little choppy. They couldn't protect the quarterback who's brand new. But I would argue if you're really doing it right, Sean McVeigh was obviously good right out of the shoot. You went in Super Bowl's first year. If you're doing things right and you're creating a culture, it's all magic tricks if you do it in a month.

Like it takes time to do anything right. And so like Lincoln Riley, they're not going to go undefeated. He fixed the offense. In eight months, he fixed the offense. He could not totally fix the defense in special teams. You can't. I got 54 new players. But everybody was bidden on the best defensive players in the country.

So Lincoln Riley has fixed the offense. but the defense and special teams are not playoff caliber in my opinion. So if Brian Kelly's going to do this right, he's always made offensive lines very good. But there's no way you can make an offensive line great in a year. Some of it you inherit a mess. You're just trying to solve it. J. Mack with the news. No, no, no, no, turn on the news.

This is the herd line news. All right, Colin, we have breaking-ish news here to start herd line. Jason Peters, the veteran offensive tackle, signing with the Dallas Cowboys today, who begin the season on the practice squad, expected to be worked into the lineup when he's ready. Peters, obviously, the longtime Philadelphia Eagle, had a cup of coffee with the Bears that did not go well, but then again. Yeah, but I mean, he looked really old with Chicago. He struggled, but the Cowboys are desperate. This is what happens. Remember, they tried to trade with the Jets for the former USC tackle that did not materialize.

Yeah. So the loss of Tyron Smith is massive. Colin, your thoughts on the trade or the signing, sorry. You know, Jason Peters is not what, again, Jason Peters was awesome in his prime. But, you know, the guy I'm surprised that didn't get a call is Andrew Whitworth. If I was a coach and needed a left tackle, Whitworth's great in the room, super smart, learns it quickly. Now, he may be doing some broadcasting stuff, I think, with Amazon and maybe he didn't want to do it. But that to me is the call, is I would call Andrew Whitworth.

I mean, he was really good last year in the Super Bowl. Yeah. So he retired because he wanted to spend more time with his family and he wanted his long-term health. But, I mean, Andrew Whitworth is not Tyron Smith, but he's not that big of a gap right now when you consider Tyron Smith's age and injury history. So this is a band-aid on a much bigger wound.

Jason Peters 40 years old, by the way. Yeah, I mean, come on. And that's a position where you've got to be. dealing with young edge rushers, hyper athletic young edge rushers. That's a rough spot. Massive. All right. Next up, I didn't even know this was still a thing.

Kenny Pickett has still not been named the quarterback. Mike Tomlin, maybe some gamesmanship, has not named the week one starter against the Bengals. Wow. Pickett. Kenny Pickett. He's not worried about that, Colin. He's just focusing on his job there. I'm just focused on getting better. Still learning a lot of things,

getting my true first game plan going into Cincinnati. So a lot of the things I'm learning, taking it all in stride, enjoying it, all the positives that I built up from minicamp, OTAs, into camp, preseason, I just thought I continued to get better. I just want to build off that going into the season now. Colin, it feels like a full segment on Mike Tomlin not naming a starter, but does Pickett have a shot here? Well, I still feel like they told Tribusky and his agent he would start. I would go with Pickett. I think Pickett is a four-year college starter who played in the same stadium. I'd just go with it.

I'd rip the Band-Aid off. Nobody in Pittsburgh, after you drafted Kenny Pickett, think Pickett the future. Or Trubisky's the future. Like, nobody thinks that. So the question is, when are you going to rip the Band-Aid off and just, let's go with the kid? I'll make this argument is because next year's college quarterback draft is so dynamic. There's some really good players. I would want to know.

I would want to see Pickett start 15, 16 games. Because I want to know, hey, he's just not ready. And you're not going to get that playing six games or eight. You're going to get that playing a schedule. So maybe you give Trubisky the opener. And then when Joe Burrow knocks, you down a peg. But I don't see, again, this is not a one-year college starter. This is a kid that played in the same stadium the Steelers do,

four years pro-style offense. If he's not ready to go now, you got the wrong guy. You're going to know, but I want to just get him starts and reps. And if I think, listen, he's just, he's a B-minus guy. I'll move off him. My guess is picket's good enough for Pittsburgh to retain him. I don't know how great he is. But I think he looks like, you know, confident enough to chop it up and win some games.

I kind of wonder, what does Vegas think of this? Oh, by the way, the line's still six and a half. Whether it's picket or Trubisky, no movement. You know, sometimes Vegas will pull the line off the board waiting for the starter. But do you think the Bengals are kind of, you know, on shaky ground here? Who do we prepare for the rookie? There's not much tape to some preseason or Mitch Trubisky. I think Trubisky is a better runner than a thrower.

Certainly. So to me, I'll tell you who I would rather face. I would rather face Trubisky. Oh. I have three years of tape on him. I got no idea. Kenney picking I'm watching ACC football tape. And so, and then I'm watching exhibition tape against third teamers.

I would much rather face Tribes. completely know the limitations of what he can do and what he can't do. There's just throws Mitch can't make. Trubisky is what he is. We've seen multiple times. The other thing on this game, still no word on T.J. Watt, who was hurt in preseason week three. We don't know what his status is. Steelers planted close to the vest here for week one.

All right. Final story, Colin. Donovan Mitchell, you missed this last week. Traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, not the Knicks, in exchange for three-time All-Star, Utah. acquired Colin Sexton, Lori Markinen, rookie Ochi Agbaji from Kansas, three first round picks to pick swaps. Colin, who won this trade? Well, calves are jazz.

The calves are the better team than Utah, and they got the best player. So whether they want it or not, that's the team I'm going to watch. Cleveland now will battle for the east. I don't think they'll win the east. They're not as good as Boston or Milwaukee, but they can hang around with teams between Garland, Mobley, Jared Allen. It's a real basketball team. I think sometimes we all get paralyzed by who won the trade. Here's what I know.

A really promising young team added a star, and they added kind of an end of the shot clock, end of the game closer. Big win for Cleveland. Now, if Utah gets these picks and drafts the next Janus in six years, then we'll say they won the trade. But all I know is if you're asking me for the next two to three years, who won the deal. Cleveland for the next two to three years is going to be a not only a playoff team,

but a viable Eastern Conference contender with the guys they have now. I have them fifth in the east. I still think Brooklyn's ahead of them, right? You've got to put Boston. Boston and Milwaukee for sure. Milwaukee for sure. Like, yeah, they're good. The Sixers are probably still better than the Cavs, right?

And be. Should be. Yeah, they should. They should be. J. Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Lie News.

Five years, 245 million. That's what Russell Wilson signed with the Denver Broncos when I was gone. So the current list of highest paid quarterbacks in the NFL, Aaron Rogers at 50 million. What's Green Bay's issue? They can't afford an elite receiver. Josh Allen at 43 million. Their offensive line still has issues. Patrick Mahomes at 45 million.

The defense is just okay. Deshawn Watson, 40 million. $46 million Cleveland, very thin, wide receiving core. Russell Wilson, it's still not a great O line. Here's my question. I'm never going to tell a pro athlete to take less money. But the minute a quarterback in the NFL signs this deal, and this is going to cost Denver $55 million in a couple of years,

$55 million per year in a couple of years, you're going to be incredibly top-heavy. there's going to be a unit or two on your team that's weak, and you're going to put enormous pressure on your organization because you gave up so many first and second round picks to hit on your third, fourth, fifth picks. I got no problem with people taking the money. But the minute, you know, to Aaron Rogers, status and money and ego fulfillment,

it's part of it. Now, that's also part of why he's great, right? That's part of why he's great. But he's in Green Bay. It's inexpensive. kids, no big family. Could he have taken a little less to get a little better players on the perimeter? I think so.

But he's sort of telling you what matters. And what matters is, he's got a couple years left. He's going to tap the bank and get what he can't. I'm not here to crush him for it. I'm just telling you the reality of it. I wish Russell Wilson would have taken less money. Because in a couple of years, he's making $55 million. And even with all the gambling influx money that's coming in and the TV money,

that's going to be a lot of money. And you're seeing it with Dak Prescott's contract. Look at their receiving corps. They couldn't keep Amari Cooper and Cedric Wilson. All right, cross your fingers that C.D. Lambs healthy. They couldn't afford Vaughn't afford Vaughn't Miller. No, Buffalo could, but Buffalo can't afford as good an O line as they probably need. So when you make these decisions, what matters?

And if winning matters, that's where I've always said, I take a little bit less. Now, it's easy for me to say that. Colin, you wouldn't take less. But Matt Stafford took less. They could afford Bobby Wagner. they re-signed Aaron Donald, they re-signed Cooper Cup, they went and got Alan Robinson, and they may, they got 7.5 million left-in-cap.

So they could keep OBJ. Depends on the development of their young wide receivers. If they're good, they'll probably let him go. But again, we all make decisions. And you can always go back to, well, Brady's wife's a supermodel. Before Tom Brady married Giselle. He took pay cuts. So everybody makes decisions.

If you are on a salary cap business, I wish Russell would have taken less because now I do think the GM of the Broncos is really sharp. But now you gave up a couple of first, you gave up a couple of seconds. Now you've got to hit on those thirds. You've got to hit some home runs with thirds. You've got to hit a couple of home runs with a fourth and a fifth round pick. It puts enormous pressure on the front office to find gems. And they're not that many.

How many fifth round picks a year in the NFL do you go, wow. I mean, this year we're all getting crazy because the receiver from Georgia Pickens, George Pickens, we're all like, whoa, I got what a steal the second round. And not a lot of fourth round gems, right? So that's what worries me is that now Denver's got a hit on picks. But for some quarterbacks, and maybe this is the ego that allows them to handle all the criticism and deal with all the pressure of being a quarterback. For some quarterback's status and money are a thing.

but I look at pro sports right now and I'm like, these guys now in the NFL, some of these guys are starting to make shoe money like NBA guys, and they make social media money, which never happened 10 years ago. There's a lot of avenues for star quarterback. I saw Patrick Mahalm's endorsement list about a month ago. Holy hell.

Like 20 companies. So my takeaway is what makes Tom Brady a legend. The reason Tom Brady signed some $30 million a year contract with Fox when he ends was not because he was handsome. It's because he won Super Bowls. That's why Tom Brady's coming to Fox. It's not because he's good-looking and won a bunch of games.

He won Super Bowls because he took cuts. Short-term or long-term, star quarterback. You can't hit quarterbacks anymore, right? So the careers last longer. Maybe 25 years ago when you could grab a quarterback

and drive him into the ground, take your money. but to me quarterbacks, you can't hit him. They make ancillary money. They make social media millions a year. I want to win games. If you want to end up with three Super Bowls, you got to take a little less.

Got to take a little less. There's a reason Brady's the goat. He's never had the best arm. He's never been the best athlete. He's never had the best body. He's never been the most mobile. He just won a lot. And he's the quarterback that has always shown you.

I'll take a little less. I want to win. So that part with Russell Wilson, I like winning. I'm a big fan of winning. All right, we got NFL stuff starting Thursday night, Rams and the Bills. That's my Super Bowl preview. So, you know, I don't think I've ever gotten one right. So I wouldn't bet any money on it, but that's my Super Bowl preview.

Bills over the Rams. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning on my podcast. straight fire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives down your throat every day.

Straight fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest sports headlines, accurate stats to help you win big at the sports book and all the best guests. Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win. A win is a win. Yep, that's me, Clifford 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 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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. 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 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 a 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. Thank you 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 Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway 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, Tript 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. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough.

Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust.

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Jeff How's a national insider for the athletic of the NFL. He went to the Rams, the Bengals, the Giants, the Jets, the 49ers camp. So let's just address the Garoppolo Trey Lance situation. I said 15 minutes ago, I think it works because Garapolo's a good guy. If he was an egomaniac, if he was a status guy, by most accounts, you know, Garapolo's a dude. And guys like him. I think the quarterback room is fine. Are you bothered by it?

Do you think it's strange? I mean, it's obviously a hedge. I mean, that's obviously what it is. What do you make of it? I thought it was smart. I thought it was smart for both sides. And I talked to somebody earlier in the summer, or a couple teams earlier in the summer,

who looked at Coropolo's $7.5 million injury guarantee and said, hey, if they caught him, is he realistically going to make more than $7.5 million anywhere else? So he kind of maximized what he probably would have gotten elsewhere. and then you stay in a system that you're familiar with. And for the 49ers, I thought it was a really smart decision because it's not, in my opinion, so much about Trey Lance. It's just like, all right, if Trey Lance struggles,

if Trey Lance gets injured, you have a Super Bowl caliber roster, you need to make sure that you don't put, you know, you have a backup quarterback who can continue to help them contend if something happens with their top guy. You know, the other thing, Jeff, and you made me think about it, sometimes an employee is simply more. more valuable to a certain place. Garapolo may not have huge market value.

But as you point out, he knows their system. Kyle's really intense. Garapolo's sort of chill. So that relationship works. Your argument is one that I hadn't thought about. His value may be to the Niners. It may be significantly more than anybody else in this league. Because I think Shanahan can be tough on quarterbacks.

Oh, notoriously. I mean, it takes, you know, when Matt Ryan had his MVP season, he still needed a full year with Shanahan to kind of get that system. So it's an incredible learning curve. So if you bring in a backup, you know, if you replace Garoppolo with somebody else, you're not going to get anywhere near the quality of play that you would if Garoppolo does have to see the field again if Trey Lance goes down or, you know, struggles or what have you. So you're right. His value to the Niners probably does exceed what it could have been anywhere else, especially at this stage of the game, because if Garoppolo, goes into another camp, what, three, four weeks into August, you know, how much can he realistically develop and get that team ready to start winning games in week one? All right, Zach Wilson got

dinged up for the Jets. Again, young quarterback needs reps. They don't have the left tackle situation isn't great. I do think Joe Douglas has done a really good job in the last two years. I think the drafts, I thought last year's first four picks were all A's. I thought they crushed it. But the catalyst for this league is quarterback. You've been to their camp. How far did it set them back, Jeff? I don't know if it set them back too much. And I'm not saying Joe Flacco is going to come in for a week or three weeks, whatever it is, and be like a top 15 quarterback in the NFL. Those days are long gone. But he looked pretty decent. And I saw them for a couple days. And, you know, their offense is just so talented around him. And I agree completely with what they, with you,

with what they've done in the last two drafts. They're receivers, you know, Elijah Moore, Corey Davis, Wilson there. Those guys made play after play after play. It was really fun watching those guys work. And granted, you know, it was against the Falcons team that is going to struggle badly this year. But those guys can make plays. And if you get competent quarterback play, you know, again, I'm not saying the Jets

were even going to win seven or eight or nine games this season. But they're finally on an upward trajectory if they can, you know, and what you want to get out of this season, want to see development from Zach Wilson. Obviously, that's not going to happen until he comes back from the knee injury. But, you know, I don't think it ultimately is going to set them back because Flacco was helping those guys make some place. Listen, Daniel Jones, you got to say this about Brian Dable.

That was the most accurate I've seen Daniel Jones. And that's my real issue with him. I go back to college at Duke. My big knock on him wasn't that he wasn't big enough or mobile enough. He's athletic enough. He got into Duke. He's got to be bright enough. my issue was he's inaccurate.

You know, you complete in 60% in college with David Cutcliffe, the coach. So I watched Daniel Jones in the preseason. I'm like, well, it's better. Well, you were there. What are your expectations? Not that. Hi. This is, you know, I've talked to people around the league.

Some think that, hey, the Giants might be on the verge of trying to break out. And again, similar to the Jets. Like, I'm not saying they're going to break out and all of a sudden win eight or nine games. But they think that they might be on a better path. other people not so high on them and they of course you know joe Shane and brian davall inherited a very difficult cap situation they're right up against it it's going to be hard for them to do a whole lot this year but i think very highly of that duo and davol's offensive system with mike kathka is going to help daniel jones now we'll see what he is i mean is he going to be a fringe starter is he a guy

that can take off under dayball or is he going to be you know a career long backup type spot started. We still don't know. But, you know, I saw Daniel Jones last year, last training camp in Foxborough, and it struck me how much he was willing to take off and run with the ball at practice. You don't want to see that from a quarterback. If he's kind of, you know, willing to stand in the pocket and try to make some plays with his arm, then, of course, you're going to see some improvement. But I think the jury's still out on what he's going to be. All right. You know, listen, the history of the NFL, Jeff, you know, there are certain things we know. Eight coaches get replaced a year. Half the teams that made the playoffs won't. I mean, that's just, you can write it

down every year. And whoever loses the Super Bowl has a hangover. And I've been talking about this with Jason here. Cincinnati feels different. A, Burroughs special. Most of their stars are on the right side of the ball in 2022 offense. The division now, Pittsburgh's got a kid quarterbacking. Cleveland doesn't have their quarterback. It kind of feels like they could buck a trend here, that they could actually come back. I think Baltimore and Cincinnati are the clear-cut teams in this division. What did you see at camp with them?

Well, it's interesting. And I'm looking at this from two different sides. Now, for starters, I talked to Zach Taylor about the Super Bowl hangover effect, and he said, when they showed up for training camp, it was just like every other training camp that he's led. So he likes the intensity, he likes the focus, the

energy, all that stuff. The only real change that they had this offseason was they basically wiped out the first couple weeks. of the off-season workout program back in the spring, just to give their coaches a little more peace of mind to focus just on the draft and not have to get the roster ready, and to give the players a little extra rest mentally and physically before they got back to work. And he liked the way that that's all started to unfold for them. The other part of that is, though, they don't know what they don't know in terms of the Super Bowl hangover. And there's a reason

why really going back to, you know, the bills run in the 90s when they made it back four times, the Patriots are the only team since then to make it back after losing the Super Bowl. They did that in 2018. And the reason for that is because the Patriots for at that point, the better part of two decades, they knew what it took to show up every week. They always had the bull's eye on their back. The Bengals don't really know that yet because they haven't gone through it. You know, another part of that, too, is, you know, I spoke to Sean McVeigh,

and McVeigh said that he gave Taylor some advice. He said that the entire league knows what you're trying to do now. They're gunning for you. They study your tape, they have that extra film to look at. So now you have to make sure that you stay one step ahead of these teams. So, you know, again, I like what I heard from Taylor, but there's a huge element of the unknown that they haven't seen yet. Yeah. Of all the teams you were at, and I know it's hard in a day or two, but was there a team that kind of blew you away at practice?

Yeah, it was really fun watching the Rams. And, you know, the most fun, so I got to cover Tom Brady at practice for 11 years. him practice day after day was really cool. The most fun I've ever had at training camp was in 2014 when Brady and Revis went back and forth day after day after day. And it was so cool. And it was similar to seeing the Rams for a day earlier in camp. And watching Aaron Donald practice and the intensity that he had.

But then, you know, it would be, there's just so much high-end talent on the offense and defense. So it would be like, you know, the offense would kind of make three or four plays in a row and they'd start getting after. And then the defense would make three or four plays in a row. they'd start getting after it. You know, there was a play when Bobby Wagner had a sack, you know, as much as one can in practice. And you have Sean McVeigh chasing him across the field because he was so excited about it. It's just the energy, the high-end talent.

Of course, they're coming back off a winning in the Super Bowl. I think that team is in a really good spot. Yeah. No, it's, and they still have a little cap space to play around if they had to. Jeff, Howe, National Insider for the NFL for the Athletic, does absolutely great work. Subscribe. I do. There's great stuff.

on a lot of different teams. Good seeing you again, my man. Thanks a lot, man. Appreciate it. You bet. Yeah, he covered the Patriots for years and years and years, and now he's covering the entire NFL. It's, boy, that cowboy thing, that Jason Peter's story at Left Tackle, that was a mess with the Bears. It was a mess. So, you know, we sat here for a year, J. Mack. We sat here for a year talking about, you know, Joy and I talking about Dack Prescott's contract. And, you know, everybody falls into that you got to pay him. And I'm like, I get a I get it, I get it. You know, he is a franchise quarterback.

I think DAC is no question. But you start, you have to make. And the problem is, because of timing, you had to pay DAC like an A, where I've always viewed him as more of a B to a B plus. And like Mahomes, Alan, if you have to overpay him, you overpay him. That's never a huge issue because those teams will be very good. You know, you'll have some weaknesses if you pay any quarterback 45, 50 million dollars. But when you pay a Kirk Cousins top of the market for a few years or a DAC, this is what you get. Like you can't keep Cedric Wilson or Amari Cooper.

So Dak got paid, Colin? The other factor is Ezekiel Elliott has the largest cap hit of any running back in the league. Because Jerry Jones is obsessed with Zeke. He like wants to be friends with him. You know, you fall in love with the house is like the worst thing you can do in your house hunting. He fell in love with Zeke. And now he paid him a lot and they're kind of screwed. Well, I thought last year, Zeke was their second method.

running back to Tony Paul. And of course, you know, Jerry Jones out here, well, he was injured. You know, he wasn't 100%. He'll be back this year. We'll see. We'll see. All right, where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong, plenty of both on a Monday. It is great to be back on Labor Day. I know 90% of you're off. We're here for the next couple of hours. The herd. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search heard to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. 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 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 Jay. 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. 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, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, it's celebrated. So let's get to it. 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. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.