The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 2 - Playoffs, Rams, Nets

Episode Date: March 16, 2022

Colin gives his NFL playoff predictionsThe Rams are the luckiest team in the NFLWe learned nothing from Kyrie Irving scoring 60 points last nightGuest: Dan Shaughnessy Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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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. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games.

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Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRadio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we are hour two on a Wednesday. Free agency, about to get underway, although we all know it's underway right now. Live in L.A., it's the hurt. Wherever you may be, however you may be listening,

IHart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. It's one of my favorite weeks of the year. I'm taking Friday off and watching college basketball. I'm just taking Friday off. I'm going to sit home and watch college basketball. None of you're going to watch me anyway, so I just want to go watch the games. One of the best week.

Some people are going to watch. I'm going to be hosting. Good point, Joy, David. You don't want to watch college basketball? It is a really fun week. I think it's the only sport in America where the beginning of the playoffs is better than the end. The NFL playoffs get better the longer they go. Same with hockey.

Same with the NBA. Same with college football. The bigger bowls. The first weekend of college basketball is better. At the end, it's just a bunch of Dukes and, you know, Kentucky's and Arizona's Gonzagas. The beginning, you're going to get big dogs, get knocked off by some little guys. It is so much fun. And it's great to have you enjoy.

We know this to be true. Half of the teams that made the playoffs last year will not make it. Now, I'm going to suggest a few new teams, and people will just go nuts. It would be almost like if you were a weather person and you said, listen, it's going to be colder in December, January, February. and the fans were, people called the TV station. A meteorologist says we don't get sun all year. Fire this guy. No, every year you get winter.

Every year, half the playoff teams don't make it because the league changes. So after all this free agency and all these moves, there are teams that are clearly worse and teams that are clearly better. So just for fun this morning, I thought, I'm going to predict six new teams. I got 45% new teams. I don't have seven. I have six. So here's who made the playoffs last year.

AFC, Titans, Chiefs, Bills, Bengals, Raiders, Patriots, Steelers, NFC, Packers, Bucks, Cowboys, Rams, Cardinals, Niners, Eagles. Here are my moves. Show them my moves. And I'll explain each one. So I have three new teams making the playoffs in the AFC, the Broncos, Chargers, and Ravens. The Bill's Chief Steelers, Titans still make it. Yes, the Steelers did make the playoffs. The Broncos added Russell Wilson, Randy Gregory, DJ Jones up front.

That is a better defensive front, and they are significantly better at quarterback. I don't want to hear about how tough the division is. Matt Stafford went from Detroit to a tougher division and won the Super Bowl. It doesn't matter. If you're good, you're good. The Chargers have been very smart. They already had a good roster. Justin Herbert, not getting any money.

so they go out and get Khalil Mack so you can't double and triple and chip Bosa on every snap and they go get J.C. Jackson, a very good corner, a playmaker. And the Ravens last year, I have the Ravens making it in. Folks, they were the number one seed before they fell apart physically. They were an eight and three football team. And they've added, you know, they draft well. That's coming up. And they added some pieces in free agency.

I think the Ravens will be a playoff team. In the NFC, I have the commanders, Falcons, and Vikings, the new teams, Bucks, Packers, Rams, Niners still make it. I do think Trey Lance will work. Commanders. How do I pick commanders? They were 7 and 10 last year with four one-possession losses, and they were a joke at quarterback.

I think they're going to win those games with Wentz, mostly. Falcons, how do I have the Falcons in? I think they win the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes. I'm projecting that, and I think he gets them in. And the other one's the Vikings. Listen, I've liked the Vikings roster for years, but Zimmer and Kirk Cousins didn't like each other. Now you bring in the tall Sean McVeigh, the

new coach, put it up again for the Rams. He was their coordinator. He moves over. They have good offensive pieces. Dalvin Cook's a star. Justin Jefferson's a star. Adam Thielen. They've upgraded their own line. Their tight ends are solid. They just didn't use them because Zimmer's so conservative. And I like Mike

Zimmer. But he and Kirk Cousins didn't work. The league is changing. These defensive coaches, Vic Fangio, Mike Zimmer, Ron Rivera. They can be stubborn. I think, Miner I thought they would be better. I was surprised what happened last year. I think Minnesota gets in as a wild card.

Falcons get in as a wild card. Commanders get in winning their division. No. Now you're going to say to yourself, two teams jump out to you. How do you not have the Bengals in? We've got to be honest about this. They got a little lucky. Last year, they had a fourth play schedule.

Now they're going to have a first play schedule. Last year, the Ravens in division led them and fell apart. Baker Mayfield got hurt late. Baker Mayfield, I think, is 3 and 0 against Burrow. Okay, so they got breaks last year, and Big Ben, the wheels came off. Now they have a tougher schedule. Dallas Cowboys I don't have in. Why?

Because I think it's a weapons league. They lost Cedric Wilson and Amari Cooper. And Dak Prescott's record without Amari Cooper, not great. He's not the same quarterback. That's the best route runner in the NFC, arguably. Also, Lyle Collins, the right tackle's gone. Tyrone Smith, the left tackle is aging and has been for about five. years, there'll be games.

They don't have the tackles from last year or two of their top three receivers. And they lost Randy Gregory. Now, I think they compensate, overcompensate and give Vaughn Miller a long contract. I wouldn't. They will. But there's my two explanations on the Bengals and the Cowboys. Much like a weatherman who predicts cold weather coming. I'll get nothing but heat.

But we know that half the playoff teams don't make it. So I went six new playoff teams. It's pretty obvious. Raiders now in that division are the fourth best roster by a long shot. So like that's an easy one for me. Also, I don't have New England in. I'll say this again. Who's their second best player after Matthew Judon?

Shaq Mason, gone. J.C. Jackson, gone. You know, I hear a lot about, and this is one of my knocks. You know, Belichick's obviously a smart guy. But you have to be very careful in life about falling in love with yourself and falling in love with culture over players. If you looked at the Buccaneers today, where Tom Brady's at, and the Patriots and said, who are the 10 best players, I would argue Tampa has got nine of them.

Judon makes it, although he vanished at the end of the year. Tristan Wirthes, Chris Godwin, Mike Evans, Shaq Mason, Ryan Jensen, the center's a top three center, Levante David, Shaq Barrett. You've got to have players. Bill Walsh before Joe Montana started. You'd never heard of him. He was a 500 college coach, wasn't doing anything in San Francisco. You got to have players.

Greg Popovich lost Kauai and Duncan. He can't make the playoffs. You've got to have players, regardless how smart you are. Dan Shaughnessy has authored 13 books over 30 years at the Boston Globe, Hall of Fame Baseball writer. He wrote a column this week on Tom Brady in his sort of annoying attention-grabbing personality. So let me push back on this because I lived for 11 years in New England, and I loved it. it's got great history.

It's a remarkable place. But there's a saying, fences make good neighbors. It's a little cynical. It's a little crusty at times. And that Tom, I would argue, Tom played the game. He played the game. But in the end, he's a California kid with a supermodel wife. And we're seeing the fun Tom and the true Tom.

But he was respectful and played the game. And that this isn't a new act. It's the real act. He just suppressed it forever in new. England. Is that fair? I think that's totally fair. It's understandable. And again, we're all going to watch. We can't wait to see Tom Brady back on the field. Everybody wants to see Tom Brady in the NFL. It's just the thing 40 days ago is the one that's hard to explain. What was that? And, you know, did Tampa call his bluff? And Colin, the timing of his announcements have just been abysmal.

They're very tone deaf. I know he can't be thinking about everything, but he's a pretty savvy guy. And this one came in the middle of the NCAA announcements for, you know, men and women's tournament, all these kids celebrating at their prospective schools. And in Boston, Kevin Garnett's number five was being raised to the rafters, literally as this came. It was a long-anticipated ceremony. And they were all gathered there after the game they had on national TV. And I just think, and this is not the first time when he left the Patriots,

that was announced in the height, the teeth of the early days of the pandemic, as if nothing else was going on. And I know the schedule, you know, doesn't change for anyone, so you've got to deal with that. But I just, some of these things have just not been, they look needy and attention grabbing when they don't need to be at that particular time. It is interesting. I've used multiple times over the last year, Greg Popovich, as a precedent for Belichick, where you fall in love with what, you know, what's worked. And you go culture over talent. Popovich can't even make the playoffs anymore.

He gave away Kauai Leonard. And, you know, it's all dried up since Duncan left. I look at J.C. Jackson and Shaq Mason. Well, Dan, you're not paying Mac Jones anything. Every good GM in the league, when you have a starting quarterback who's on the rookie deal, you go up and load up on some free agents. Seattle did it with Russell Wilson. Rams did it with Jared Gough.

Is Belichick kind of falling in love with his culture over the reality of the NFL in 2022? It's a very fair question. To your pop analogy, I do think in that sport, the players, the talent is everything. Football, the coach makes such a difference. You can make up for a lot. He's trying to do that. He's going to turn 70. He's in the quest of passing Don Shula.

It probably happened in three or four years if he keeps going. They went nine and seven last year, got smoked by the bills. But I worry about it. Like, they're sitting on their hands. I think the notion is they spent their money last year, last summer, last off season. And now they're kind of waiting for deals, which is kind of what they do. I don't like it. If I were a fan, I'd be, you know, your point about the second best player and the rosters of the bucks of them, that's fair.

They don't have those kind of names. And they've got holes in their offensive line, the linebackers got old, the defensive backfield. And they need a corner. I mean, Gilmore's gone. J.C. Jackson's gone. What are they going to do? You can't do this on town alone. It feels a little bit like the AMC is passing them by at a time when they've got to get some weapons for Mack Jones.

I want to shift NBA. So Kyrie Irving's a spectacular talent. But, you know, as Joy pointed out, in the next 13 games, he can play three of them. And you can say what you want. When he was in Boston, I mean, he bailed on LeBron. He was never healthy at Duke. He was, if you recall, Dan, he was a bit of a Boston Cleveland pre-Lebron. He couldn't stay healthy.

It was not liked by teammates. He was very brittle. And then LeBron shows up, but he bails on him. So in Boston, he didn't work with Brad Stevens. And it started hurting Brad's brand. It was like Brad can't coach stars. He just can't coach stars. What do you make up, when you were covering Kyrie?

Yeah. I mean, you're, you are a sports writer that goes to games. You are there. What did you make of him for the couple years you covered him or the year you covered him? Well, the talent was off the charts. I mean, the handle alone, you know, talking to Cedric Maxwell and guys like, this guy's got a better handle than Tiny Archibald, one of his old teammates. So it was, I mean, you know, just the talent level.

And they, Jalen Brown and Tatum were much younger then. I don't think Kyrie got along with Brown. I felt a little tension with those two. It's hard to know too much like we used to. And I just think that, you know, Tatum was so young. He couldn't really, you know, exert, you know, present himself the way he does now. But Kyrie had that talent. They had Haywood on the team and he got hurt right away.

But the team got to the conference finals. And Kyrie let him down, though. And people were mad at him. He promised the fans he was going to come back if they'd have him. And then he just blew out of town and try to assemble his team in Brooklyn, which I guess he has done. I love his talent. He's a goofy guy. I mean, they played here a couple weeks ago, and he didn't do well in Boston in that game. He scored 19, but it was only a 16th game of the year. And you're talking about, I don't know, it was March. So what is that? So, you know, they're a team no one wants to play, clearly. And he's got so much to do with that. By the way, Dan has a recent book, Wish It Lasted Forever Life with Larry Bird and the Celtics came out in November. I got to get to that because I have a big flight coming up in two months. And that's one of the ones.

That's one of the ones I'm going to read. Absolutely. I want to circle back to Tom because I have you here and I don't get you much. This morning, I think Mack Jones is fine. You can't do anything off script. He's less athletic to me, Brady. How is viewed? We're cynical.

We're media. How is Tom viewed? And I'll speak for myself. I'm cynical probably. How is Tom viewed in New England today by fans? Is there some animosity? There is now. I mean, the last couple days weren't good for him here.

When he left, it was pretty split. And you had the Bill Camp and the Tom Camp and it was all that emotion. But then he went and won a Super Bowl. He kind of won that argument, the Legacy Bowl, whatever you want to call it. But Bill got him back in the playoffs last year. And then Tom retired. So we thought we were kind of going to put that to rest. But the timing of this of this retirement is, first of all, don't forget, Colin.

He didn't mention the Patriots or the New England fans when he issued that statement 40 days ago. It was a thousand word statement. There was a lot in there. And that was taken as a shot at them. And in retrospect, maybe it's because he wasn't actually retiring. It wasn't time to go back over the whole arc of his career. So he could use that now. But people were put out by that.

And then to have him 40 days later, say it's coming back. It just comes out as a little bit needy. There's more people, I think, mad at him now than there were two years ago when he left. But again, everyone's going to watch him. Who wouldn't watch this? Yeah. Dan Shaughnessy, the book one more time, Wish It Lasted Forever. Life with the Larry Bird Celtics, came out in November, go buy it, great read.

Many of you think the NBA was better in that era anyway, the Magic Michael Bird era. Dan is always an absolute pleasure. Hall of Fame baseball writer. Good seeing you again. Thank you, Colin. Anytime. Love it. You bet.

Dan Shaughnessy, not afraid to criticize local teams, and I always love sports writers who'll go into the teeth. And Boston's got a lot of teeth. They do. Boy, we have good stuff today. The luckiest team in the NFL. There's one team that's lucky. You're not going to like this, but they're the luckiest team in the NFL

with all these moves. That's coming up. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeard radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like.

Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotes. Tessk, others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. 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, personal health, personal 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.

Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas

on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs?

Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick 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 So Thank you finishing that sentence And 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 podcast Sunday on Fox, the NASCAR Cup series heads to Atlanta for a battle on a new track.

See what driver will rise up and take home the checkered flag. The engines fire for the folds of honor quick trip 500. Sunday at 2.30 Eastern on Fox. Sometimes the best move is not making a move at all. Just stay where you're at. Let the world shake out and you're better off. The luckiest team in the NFL and luck matters. you're not going to win Super Bowls repeatedly because of luck,

but we all get breaks in life, like timing and all that stuff. The luckiest team is the Super Bowl winning Rams. Look at their division. Seattle trades away Russell Wilson, who has given the Rams some problems through the years. And the Seahawks appear to have no planet quarterback. Okay. Drew Locke.

Aaron Donald. I'm going to go with the Rams there. Arizona is the loudest team in the league imploding. By the way, loudest team last year was Green Bay. Couldn't win a playoff game. Noise matters. In San Francisco, although I think it'll work, is going to start a quarterback who just hasn't played much professional football.

Say what you want about Jimmy Garoppolo. A lot of starts, a lot of wins in the NFL, a lot of playoff games, a lot of playoffs wins. Say what you want. Jimmy Garoflo's got a lot of experience. Trade's got none. Also, the NFL yesterday granted the Rams five additional draft picks, compensatory draft picks. They got three-sixth, a third and a fourth from other teams signing their players.

They also got a huge break in that Randy Gregory went from the Cowboys in the last second to the Broncos, which will probably mean Jerry Jones, who was humiliated and angry, will overpay for Vaughn Miller, allowing the Rams to get out of Vaughn's business. They like him, but he's 33, had injuries, was not great in the regular season, and they don't want to get into a bidding war for Vaughn Miller. They can't. They're going to give Matt Stafford a new contract, and Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey,

and some of their young players are going to get paid. And there's so much movement in the NFL, head coach movement, free agent movement. The Rams today now have eight draft picks with an excellent scouting department, and they also get another break. It's the worst first round I ever remember, and they don't have a first round pick.

This is a draft, where you want like third, fourth, fifth, six-round picks, especially third, fourth, fifth round picks, some second, third, fourth, fifth. It's not a good first round. You're going to be paying first-round prices for kind of second-round, late first-round players. So their division's weaker.

Russell's gone. Jimmy Garapolo's gone. Arizona's imploding. They got five compensatory draft picks, and now they can gracefully, potentially, because they like Vaughn Miller. They don't want to pay him a fortune. He was a magic elixir.

What they needed was a playmaker late in games when they were leading Brady, when they were leading Joe Burrell. That's what he was there for. Sometimes you get lucky. They haven't done a lot. And a lot of things are falling the Rams way. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news.

Saw someone had an extra glass of Vino last night in preparation for today's show. I had to contemplate and compose my thoughts. No, snake dreams? No, I had half a glass of red wine. I had to drive home. Oh, okay. I had an unbelievable dinner. Half a glass of Vino and contemplating and composing this rant today, which I had on Baker.

Well, Baker's future in Cleveland is uncertain. And last night he went on Twitter and posted a very cryptic message, which it kind of felt, seemed like a goodbye to the city. He said, with many uncertainties, here is where my head and heart is. The past four years have been nothing short of life-changing since I heard my name called in the draft to go to Cleveland. This is not a message with the hidden meeting.

I have no clue what happens next. I can only control what I can. I have given this franchise everything I have. Whatever happens, I just want to say thank you. That was very nice, very thoughtful, very vulnerable. That was very strategic. It was also that, yes. I think it was mostly strategic.

Now, to the point in which you mentioned in your rant, it might have been a predictable Baker response to respond with some sass or ask for a trade, to feel offended that they met with Deshawn Watson yesterday. But someone probably wisely got to him and said, let's take a different approach. Let's try something new and be the vulnerable guy. Yeah.

Be the sweet one. Which sounds great. saying that everything in this statement isn't inauthentic. Yeah. But it is strategic. And sometimes when things are strategic, it does kind of take a little bit of the shine of the vulnerability and the mushy-gushy part off. This has been one of the things I, when I was young, I tried to make things if I told them, not wisdom, but if I was saying something to the kids that I wanted to have an impact, I'd make it simple so they could remember it. And I always said the three Cs to life.

Be curious. Right. Curious people age well. Be compassionate. You've got it better than most. Good advice. And be clever because you're mostly competing against yourself. I'm not competing against brain surgeons.

I'm competing against media people. Right. And strategy and being clever, don't be afraid. It's not illegal and it's often, be smart and be clever. Sometimes people are smart and not clever. Be clever. See around corners. Baker.

This was a clever thing to do. Very clever. However transparent, the cleverness may be. For some people, we'll fall for this. Browns fans, and look, overall, I've been a big defender of Baker Mayfield. I am no longer that, nor do I have any stock in the Baker Mayfield's camp. I think that he is an average quarterback. I think he's a starting quarterback, but I think he is no different than a lot of guys

that we do not have conversations about as high-level quarterbacks in this league. I think where he was drafted, the noise that he makes, the persona that he has, is all bigger than his play. He's not that good. And last year, I understand he was injured. but to Nick's right right point he bet on himself and he lost and sometimes that happens

and we need to acknowledge that. Had he had the surgery he would not be in this conversation right now. I do not believe that this would be happening. And we all knew to Sean Watson was going to be on the market and we all knew once some things were settled in his legal situation

that the conversation about his trade was going to begin. So I think if he had done that he wouldn't be in this situation. Brown's fans certainly can be grateful to him. He's certainly made them relevant. He's also translated to some winning and I'm also aware of his situation.

He's had four head coaches. He's not had the easiest run. Most people wouldn't be able to overcome that. I still think he's an average quarterback. Well, he's had way better than, he's, first of all, the last two years, he's had a great O line. Coach of the year. Excellent tight end, more than quality running back play and receiver. So he has not elevated.

He didn't get him to a playoff, but he hasn't elevated. I mean, Josh Allen had a bad O line. I would argue for most of his career, it got better at the end of last year, but Josh Allen has had no running game and a bad old line and has made it work. So, Baker's had better than average gifts offensively. Now, I think he will end up somewhere if he does end up leaving the Browns, which there is no telling whether this is going to happen or not. But it does seem apparent that the Browns are out of the Baker-Mayfield business regardless,

otherwise they wouldn't be taking a very public meeting with Deshawn Watson. Now, if I'm the Sean Watson, I am not going to the Browns. It doesn't make sense business-wise for me. Maybe they have a better roster. The Browns have showed no ability to have any kind of stability even with Baker Mayfield. But they have, it's interesting. They've kind of, they moved off J.C. treter.

They're very talented center. They may be freeing up space for Garapolo or Deshaun Watson. If you sort of look at, if you look at their moves in the last three or four days, I'm like, are they freeing up a little, they're freeing up some money? Well, I mean, they probably should be. They need to make some moves. But especially if they want to be able to bring in Deshawn Watson, I'm just saying Deshawn Watson has a no trade clause.

and if you're giving me lists of places that I want to go for the next 10 years, Atlanta, Carolina, Cleveland, and then New Orleans. And I love New Orleans, and they do have some talent, but I don't know what's the coaching situation there. At least I know Kevin Safansky can coach. You're one coach of the year. So that's the order for me if I'm Deshawn Watson, but it's still not higher than Carolina or Atlanta, personnel, stability, ownership, all of that.

But as far as Baker goes, he'll probably end up somewhere else and win a couple games. but he's not, his brand is bigger than his play. That's it. So the Panthers and Saints are viewed as the two teams that have the best chance of landing to Sean Watson, but another team was reported to have entered the mix yesterday. Watson has interested in playing for the Falcons and reached out to the team personally, according to Diana Rusini. He grew up in Georgia.

He was also a ball boy for the Falcons, which I did not know that. And it's reported that Arthur Blank and his family have a relationship, and he will get to make the final decision on where he plays, obviously, because of the no trade clause. How valuable has that been for him, by the way, if you are out there negotiating as a top free agent quarterback, want to push hard for that no trade clause. It changes everything.

Russell Wilson and now to Sean Watson. Think about this. If you and I could be traded and how valuable would it be to say, no, I don't like that owner or that structure or that co-host? It is pretty remarkable, and I defend athletes all the time. The idea of us being, well, they make a lot of money, you can have your career essentially suffocated by a bad owner and a bad GM. Bad coaching.

Bad coaching. Like Deshawn Watson and Russell Wilson, Russell Wilson reportedly had 14 teams. Seattle didn't get the best deal for him because he said Denver's where I want to go. Now, Seattle didn't tell Denver that. But in the end, a lot of people think Seattle should have gotten three firsts for Russell, not two. But they may have had three first for somebody else. And Russell said, I'm not going there. Right.

So we always talk about money in years. This no trade clause is a career extender. If Russell Wilson got traded tomorrow to, you know, the giants, he's not a Hall of Famer. It's over. It changes everything. It's the ultimate leverage play. I always say this. Don't worry about money if you're a broadcaster.

Go to management. There's a sea of money. If you're a quarterback, take less money and get a no trade clause. Control where you can go. Yeah. So according to Fox Bet, the Saints have the best odds to get Watson at minus 25, fell by the Panthers and Browns plus 200 and the Seahawks at plus 1,000. So the details for Aaron Rogers' new contract that he said,

wildly underported, uh, have been released. Anyway, uh, 2022 roster bonus of 40.8 million base salary 1.15. This is basically how it's structured. And I'm going to read through all the details, but, uh, sorry for the radio audience. It also includes a 101.1.4 million dollar fully guaranteed at signing. He's the first player to receive more than 100 million dollars fully guaranteed at the beginning of a contract. If he's still with the Packers after 2024, a new deal will be renegotiated. So here is what I have been waiting to find out with all these details. All this is fun and, you know, Rogers was upset that it wasn't completely reported as

accurately as we just listed and that's fine. I was interested in what percentage of the cap space was his contract going to take up. Right. It's $28.5 million as a cap hit this season. That represents 13.2% of the Packers. space. Now let's take a look at this graphic that we use very often when talking about cap space and Super Bowl winning quarterbacks dating back to 2011.

Essentially, if your cap hits is more than 12.4%, you are not winning a Super Bowl. So Aaron's, despite all this guaranteed money, his cap is over the cap that can win you a Super Bowl. And by the way, it gets worse. Even if the salary cap goes up, which it goes up 10 million a year, it's going to stay in this area. Yeah. Yeah. So that...

The highest is 12.3. That was Brady in 2020. Yeah. He is at 13.2. So you can tell me all the guaranteed money. He still takes up too much of the cap. And the second highest is Tom Brady in 2018 at 12.2. Tom Brady has won a lot of Super Bowl. Tom Brady is better than Aaron Rogers.

Yes. Significantly. Yeah. No matter what you feel about talents. He is better. Yeah. So it's not a dramatic increase from this list, but this is a pretty, large sample size of cap space. Now, how does it translate with the cap space moving up? That's why

the percentage to me mattered, because this represents what you can bring in talent-wise when your contract is that big. So there you go. It was important to him and we'll see how it plays out. That was really good work. Thank you. I hadn't seen that anywhere today. That was really good work. I've been waiting for it. And we just eliminated Aaron from the Super Bowl. Why even play? Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd line news. By the way, I want to continue. I said, you know, I don't want to, you know, nobody likes L.A.

anyway, right? Like, nobody wants to move here. But, and we hate everybody because they win. The Dodgers won the Lakers won the Rams won. But it's interesting. So I was reading a story yesterday. Ooh, the Rams are getting poached. So they lost a great punter, expensive.

An expensive number two cornerback. A very expensive, Bon Miller, they'll probably lose. A left tackle who was good. A guard, Austin Corbett. So here's what they've lost. And people are saying, Oh, they're going to get poached. As I said during the year, the key to the Rams, the reason they can give up first-round

picks is they have such a strong GM and scouting department. So you look at this stuff. Oh, now, O'Dell Beckham, we think it's going to come back. Vaughn Miller, I don't. Sony-Michel, I think they're going to move off him. But here's why it's okay. They draft so well. If you spend big money and don't draft well, you're dead.

Seattle, Jamal Adams, Bobby Wagner, Russell, Russell, and nobody behind them. In the last three L.A. Ram drafts, on a Super Bowl winning team, eight added starters. That's with no first round picks. So on a Super Bowl roster, no first round picks,

last three drafts, eight starters. Seattle's last three drafts on a team that couldn't make the playoffs, a bad roster, they had first round picks in two of the last three. drafts, they've added three starters. That's the difference. The scouting and front office and GM for the Rams. On a much better roster, with no first round picks, they've added eight starters

in three years. Some of them really talented. Dude's going to get paid here. The Seahawks on a bad roster that's been way worse, that Russell Wilson basically kept afloat for the last two to three years and two first round picks, three starters. So when I hear about, oh, they're getting poached, they just reload because they have a great scouting department, which, by the way, the Patriots don't. They lose Tom. What do they got? They don't have elite players.

So so much of this, I know we talk free agency, but so much of this, the ability to pay big money for great players is you 14 of the 22 starters for the Rams this year were drafted and developed. Guards, linebackers, receiver. So you can go spend a fortune on Aaron, Donald, Matt. The Rams were paying two quarterbacks last year. Gough and Stafford won the Super Bowl because they draft so well. It's not that Seattle couldn't pay Bobby Wagner and Jamal Adams and eventually D.K.

Matt Calf Ross, they just haven't drafted well. 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, Hey, I'm Doug Gottlieb. The podcast is called All Ball. We usually talk all basketball all the time, but it's more about the stories about what made these people love their sport

and all the interesting interactions along the way. We talk to coaches, we talk to players, we tell you stories. You download it, you listen to it, I think you like it. Listen to All Ball with Doug Gottlieb on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me. 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 entertainment and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be.

Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes.

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Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. 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 was big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you 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 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. I like stories that move the football, as they say, take us somewhere. I don't want to talk about stuff that doesn't take us anywhere.

So last night, Kyrie Irving scored 41 points in the first half, 60 points, and the Nets won. And so what did we learn? Kyrie's a gifted offensive player. No, no, we knew that. Kyrie still can't play home games. No, we knew that. The Nets are better than 18 win Orlando. Nope.

I knew that. And the Nets are currently in the playing game in the East. No, I knew that too. I learned nothing from last night. Great player, great night. Random Tuesday night in the NBA, star player against the garbage team scored a bunch of points. And a typical social media.

Oh, my God. It doesn't change anything. 13 games left, as Joy said, he can play three of them. There's a story this morning that Ben Simmons, they're not sure if he'll come back this year. I don't even know what to make of that. What am I supposed to make of that? Why I never liked the Brooklyn Nets part of this trade.

I get Kyrie, who's not available physically, because he's unvaxed, and Ben, who's not available mentally for reasons I'm not sure of. No reason to poke fun of him. It's just he's not available. And Kevin Durant increasingly, who is brittle as he ages. It's not Kevin's fault. He's a 7-1 guy.

Sometimes a slasher. He hits the floor. He gets hurt. Just don't get the Brooklyn thing. I didn't learn anything from Kyrie Irving scoring a bunch of points. I knew he was special. I knew the magic were garbage. I know they're in a playoff game.

And he's not available for home games. What did I learn? You got to teach me stuff. I got, you got to give me new stuff. I got nothing new from that. You know, the other thing I was thinking about, because Baker Mayfield came out, and it looks like, I mean, what it looks like is the Cleveland Browns, and this has been going on for a while, so I was just on the internet.

So remember, Baker went off social media, like in January, and came back for this. So what does that tell you? if you read what he said in his release last night, he's clearly been unsure for months what they're going to do. He probably got word. They were doing some investigative work on Deshawn Watson. It's not like the Browns just suddenly got interested in Deshawn Watson. Carolina and Cleveland have been doing homework for months.

Many teams have. People on the ground in Houston. So it tells you that Baker's been, he's probably, know now for a couple of months, three months or more, I'm not sure about my future here. So here's the question. If the Browns land to Sean Watson, and it would be an upgrade for them, there's no question. What do you do with Baker? Because Houston reportedly doesn't want Baker.

They don't want Baker. They got Davis Mills. We don't want him. That's just a salary we don't want. It's 18 million. We don't want. So the Browns not only would get a new quarterback, but they could get something back for Baker. where would be the landing spots?

And I thought about this during the commercial break. So Jimmy Garoppolo is going to be out there and Baker. If you're the cults, who do you choose? I don't know. I don't know the answer. But is Baker a smaller version of Carson Wentz? What drove Jimmer say crazy is they had the playoffs in sight and Wentz couldn't hit the layups. He'd occasionally give you a windmill dunk, but he couldn't hit layups.

Couldn't get the easy stuff. Well, that's been the knock on Baker. Baker can make great throws. He's got a nice arm. He can't hit the layups. He makes too many mistakes. Wentz is a much bigger, more athletic version of Baker. So as Jim Hersey, if you run the Colts,

are you just going back into the nonsense that drove your owner crazy? Garapolo, by the way, can hit the layups. Jimmy doesn't make a lot of mistake. Jimmy throws for 180 yards a game. He doesn't have, he doesn't, Baker's got a better arm. But Garapolo, he's a guy's guy, loved in the locker room, total alpha, no noise, total team guys. and so what wence wasn't liked by everybody

Garoppolo would be. Wentz is spectacular but misses the easy ones. Garoppolo isn't spectacular and can hit the easy ones. So you know, you think more about it. I mean, it's just like, I've said this. I worked in this business for years and years when I used to work for like 14 years in local television. You know, whenever an owner of a TV station would fire a dynamic news director

that was loud, they'd always let the pendulum swing way too far. and then they'd hire a meek, quiet news director that wouldn't offend anybody. And it was always like, well, you like the one enough to have him that was dynamic, him or her, so maybe not quite as much, but you can't let the pendulum swing the other way and then go hire somebody who's meek. And businesses do this all the time. They've got like a loud CEO, rises the stock price, but offend some people. And then they fire him and they go get somebody who's quiet and meek.

Well, you liked him when the stock price was going. So Carson Wentz had a lot of gifts, but man, he missed the easy stuff. That's the knock on Baker. There's a lot of noise with Wins. He's a lot of the vaccination. There was a lot of noise with Wins. There's a lot of noise. You're just getting back into the noise game.

Even if Baker's matured, at some level, his DNA is sort of snarky and competitive and he's walked on. So I can see them, the Colts just saying, we just want to get out of the noisy quarterback. business. We want a guy who liked in the locker room, Alpha male, steps in, hits the layups. We have a good defense, a good old line, a star running back, an emerging star at receiver. I can see the Colts doing that. You don't want to go back to what you just had, but a less talented version. Because Wence, for all the criticism, is 6.5, 2.30, big arm can run. Now, he makes some of the worst throws in the league. So does Baker. So, you know, you just kind of talk your way through what they would want.

You don't want to go get like a Tyrod Taylor because he's considered a bridge. You know, Chris Spattered could say, you know, two years with Garoppolo, he got the, you got the Niners to a Super Bowl. You want a lot of playoff games with the Niners. He just beat Aaron Rogers. You couldn't talk yourself into Jimmy Garoppolo. There's a lot of stuff there. And, you know, I think Baker's got a better arm.

Neither one of them are that athletic. I think Baker thinks he's more athletic than he is. Garoppolo knows he's not athletic, plus he's been hurt, so he didn't like to run. but that you know just you're sitting around thinking what do we get what do we you got some I mean the Colts are a pretty good roster so if Baker lands there it's pretty good that's pretty good that's a pretty good place to leave and they're not dysfunction free with the Colts but not as much as Cleveland last 15 years a lot of wins a lot of Ws a lot of playoff games I mean they got to the playoffs with Phillip Rivers and he couldn't move at all and

the league were quarterbacks now. You almost need him to move. He couldn't move at all. So Greg Olson, who is fantastic, Fox Sports, three Pro Bowls for about 12, 15 years in the league. He's going to be joining us last hour. Free agent stuff is still wild and woolly. So we got the Deshawn Watson stuff, the Baker May Move stuff. I thought it was interesting. The Buccaneers got Shaq Mason from the Patriots. The Patriots in the Buccaneers are using a different bank. How can the Patriots not afford a top five guard, right guard in the league? Who are they paying? Brady gets another really good player.

Hour three, Greg Olson coming up. 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 Acap a pelle a 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 apps. 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. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that's really not safe

to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor. It signals to the world that you not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen and learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes.

Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a gal. far, far away, such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.