The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 2 - The top NFL teams

Episode Date: March 26, 2024

Colin gives his thoughts on the top NFL teams for next season Breaking News on the contract situation of Dak Prescott and what the Cowboys need to do   Guest: Nick WrightSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Thanks for making us part of your day. A very spirited first hour. Jay Mack, Mark Few, Gonzaga coach, last hour. We talked some March Madness last hour. UCLA coach Mick Cronin stopped by yesterday, which was so much fun, talking about all the different teams, regions, the state of college. basketball. This weekend's going to be really, really good. So college basketball is diluted in terms of talent. So many kids go international. G-League, they go one and done. But the first weekend wasn't as

I don't think the quality has been. It's a little thin right now in college basketball. UConn's clearly the best team. And I think Carolina is clearly the second best team. Although keep your eyes on a Gonzaga, Purdue, Houston. I think Houston's pretty good. I'm just proud of you doing March Madness back-to-back days. It was like pulling teeth to get you to talk tournament last week. But now that it's happened and we got good teams. Well, now we got big names. We got Gonzaga and we have Carolina and we have Yukon.

We have big brands, big names. Your brackets look good though, chalky cowherd. I am. I don't. Do you want to get it right or do you want to be interested? People always say, oh, real tough one. You pick Yukon. Yeah, because they look like the best team by 20 points in the tournament.

You didn't want Duquesne and Grand Canyon playing in the Csic-Saintiff? I don't fall for that stuff. Just give me the best teams, the biggest brands, the best coaches, the best NBA prospects. Those teams win generally. Nick Wright in a couple minutes. So the NFL, Draft Kings came out yesterday and came out with its win totals. So if you take those win totals and you stack them in divisions, here's what they look like and here's my opinions on all the division pick. So in the AFC East, they have the Bills, Dolphins, Duffins.

Jets and Patriots in order. I do not disagree with that, although I have my questions about what's going on in Miami, but I think Bill's Dolphins, Jets, Patriots feels right. In the AFC North, I agree with draft kings here. Ravens, Bengals, Brown, Steelers. I think it's jumbled. I think it's one of the better defensive divisions. I like Joe Burrow a lot, but I think Baltimore has a better roster, more momentum,

and I do worry about Joe Burroughs' health. in the AFC South. This is a go-either-way division for me. I don't have really strong conviction. I do think the Jaguars bounce back. I'm really interested in Anthony Richardson and Shane Steichen. So for our radio audience, the AFC South, they have Houston winning at nine and a half wins. Jags, Colts, 8 and a half, Titans, 5 and a half.

I don't really have a problem with it. I think the Texans may pull back. I can certainly be talked out of it. This feels about right to me. In the AFC West, it's chiefs. It's Chargers, it's Raiders, it's Broncos. I would flip the Broncos and Raiders today. I think Sean Payton will land a college quarterback.

I think Denver's roster is better than people give it credit for. Antonio Pierce, rookie coach, Sean Payton, I'd probably flip that. I'd go Chiefs, Chargers, Broncos, Raiders. But, you know, again, neither one's going to be dominating. So here are the AFC playoff teams. I would put the Chiefs, Ravens, Bengals, probably. in, but what they have is Chiefs, Ravens, Bills, Texans,

Texans, wins, Bengals, Dolphins, Jets are wildcard teams. My pushback on that is Aaron Rogers is a 40-year-old quarterback. His last year in Green Bay wasn't good, and this is still a patchwork offensive line with a defensive

coach on the hot seat. I don't see the Jets as a playoff team, and I've got my concerns with the Dolphins. In the NFC, I think the commanders are better than people think, but a lot of it depends on the college quarterback is he ready to play? They have the Cowboys and Eagles at 10 and a half.

That feels about right. I did like the Saquan Barkley move for Philly. Commanders 7.5 Giants are a mess, so I have them last as well. NFC North, which I think will be the best offensive division. They have Lions, Packers at the top, 10 and a half wins. I think they're very, very good. Bears, Vikings, it just depends. Is Sam Darnold healthy?

I have so much confidence in their offensive coach. Kevin O'Connell. Their offensive weapons, left tackle, running back, receiver, tight end are exceptional. Not good, exceptional. I'd probably flip the Vikings and Bears. That's asking a lot for Caleb Williams a rookie to win eight and a half games with a coach on the hot seat in September. But I mostly agree with it. NFC South, I think this is the weakest division in football. I don't have a problem. Falcons Bucks to me feel like the two best teams. Saints Panthers, I think, you're kind of reeling. NFC West, I do think it's remarkable.

The Rams won 10 games have McVe Stafford, excellent receivers and 11 draft picks, and Draft Kings thinks they could go under, they could win eight games. That tells you the impact of Aaron Donald. I don't have a problem with this division. I think the Niners have peaked. I think their old players now are getting older, quicker.

They're asking a lot of Christian McCaffrey, too many carries. but I do think the Niners Rams will be at the top. The NFC playoff picture is Niners, Lions, Cowboys, Falcons, Eagles, Packers, no real problem. Again, I think it's asking a lot of a rookie quarterback in a good division to get to the playoffs. I would root for that. I think it'd be exciting. I wish Chicago would be good.

It's good for my business. It's good for sports. The Bears are a huge brand. I, by and large, I agree with Draft Kings on the top and the middle of their playoffs. I'm not a Jets fan right now with an old quarterback asking a lot of Caleb William and the Bears, but I don't think they're outrageous claims. I do think the Jets made an effort on the offensive line to get some more sturdy players, and I do think the Bears have done.

Ryan Poles has done a great job in the last six weeks of getting offensive pieces. It's good to see the Bears actually spending money on the right side of the ball. Offense. They should have hired an offensive coach. They went with a defensive coach. that's fine. Go spend money on offense. Don't be the Steelers. With that, Nick Wright joins us, live co-hosts First Things First. What did you make of kind of, I kind of agree with most of it. I still don't think Aaron Rogers at 40 with that old line. I hope he gets through the season. I would

push back big on that. Other than that, I thought most of it I kind of agree with. So you and I agree on a lot of this at the top. First of all, when your producers told me, they're like, hey, before you come on, Nick, Colin's going to go through all 32 teams win totals. I was like, so I'm going to be on like 145. So great job by you and motoring through that. I would have lost a lot of money in you being able to do that in under five minutes.

So that was impressive. I totally agree with you on the Jets piece of it. I think that the Jets last year were an old injured team and decided to fix that by adding the oldest tackle available, the second oldest tackle available, an injury-prone wide receiver. And I just, Aaron Rogers, hasn't been excellent at this point. Will it will be in three years. So I agree with your Jets skepticism there. Where we are going to disagree, and I hate to do it for the second straight week, is

your love affair with the Vikings is baffling. You're right, Colin. They have a great left tackle. They have a sharp coach. They might have the best receiver. In fact, they do have the best receiver in football. They are also in a brouval division with far and away the worst quarterback in that division,

unless they're starting a rookie who they trade up for so they don't have to start Darnold. I think you're a little too low on the Bears. I just think everyone, and I'm not necessarily, you, but just America needs to remember, the Bears do not have the first pick of the draft. The Panthers do. The Bears get it from them. The Bears were not the worst team in football. They won seven games. So I think Caleb coming in and being a three-win improvement is totally reasonable. So I could see the Bears being a 10-win team. I also agree with you that I think

they are a little too short on the Rams. I think the Rams are a, there is a world that exists. that the Rams have a better final possession against Detroit in round one of the playoffs? And the Rams play in the Super Bowl. Like, I truly believe that. I think that Rams scene was better than we thought last year and next year, even without Donald should be good. But at the top of the divisions, I tend to agree with you.

So, the J.J. McCarthy thing, I said at the top of my show, it's starting to feel like Zach Wilson, where, you know, you're like, oh, what a throw at the pro day. and oh, Harbaugh likes him, and it's like, timeout. He had 22 touchdown passes in 15 games with great protection, playing with leads, the best coat. It feels very Alabama quarterback where I'm not doubting he's a pro, but it was not an NFL experience. Always the best coach.

Always a lead. Always a run game. Always protection. I'm like, guys, they haven't played any games since the season ended. How did he go from mid-first to potentially the second pick? Do you buy that? No, I totally agree with you. So here's where it's different than Zach Wilson, at least from my perspective.

The Zach Wilson stuff I didn't understand, but I mostly stayed out of because I don't watch as much college football as you do, Colin. And if I was being honest with the audience, I didn't watch a lot of BYU. So I'm like, I don't know, man. like I'm not going to grind all 500 snaps. I didn't watch a ton of BYU. The scouts love him. I guess I'll trust him. I watched this guy every weekend because he was on the best team.

At no point was I watching Michigan and like, oh man, and they've got a top five pick at quarterback. Here's what I know. The game that Harbaugh's replacement had to coach against Penn State, where he's like, I can't screw this up for Jim. I have to rely on what I know I can rely on. They let the kid throw the ball. They gave him the Jimmy G and the NFC championship game treatment. They're like, throw the ball eight times and don't screw it up, which to me was telling.

Yes. And so I just, JJ, I'm not saying he can't be a pro. I have just, there's never in my adult life watching college football been a quarterback that I watched more, that I was more confident on what their draft even. would be, which is a day two pick compared to what it is now with no games taking place. I just, I don't understand it. I know some folks will be like, well, when Harbaugh had Andrew Luck, he ran the ball. Harbaugh let Luck throw the ball 30 times a game on that Stanford team.

Jay J.J. threw the ball 21 times a game. And I just, so I don't understand it, but it sure seems like if he gets past the top three, that there is going to be a team, be it Minnesota or the Giants or the Broncos, that are dying to trade up to get him from Harbaugh at number five with that fifth pick the Chargers have. So I guess he's going to be a top five pick. I just don't understand it. You know, I have to be careful lobbing up a wiffle ball for you to hit out of the stadium here. This is really in your wheelhouse.

But Sean McDermott had a quote at the NFL. meeting saying it's very narrow-minded to say we haven't been successful. Since 1967 in the merger, Josh Allen has the highest winning percentage without a Super Bowl appearance, and this was clearly the year that Kansas City was vulnerable. And I know Sean McDermott can coach. I've always used the Chuck Knox comp. I knew he could coach. But there's two levels to coaching.

The guy that comes in, he's organized and cleans up a mess. That's a good football coach. A great coach can do that and then have vision and the ability to elevate people. And I'm not anti-Shahn McDermott. I think he's category one. Andy Reed is category two. McVeigh is category two. So when you hurt, again, I am just lobbing you up a ball to hit.

This is batting practice. But your take on McDermott, Allen, and the idea that it's narrow-minded to not say they're successful. My take is Bill's fans, coaches, personnel, media, everybody, sick of fans, need to pick a lane. If the lane is, listen, Josh Allen's a good player, and we're a good team. And there are 25 teams that would love to trade places with us the last five years. So be it. You're right. But when I, for years, have said that's who you are, you're a good team.

With a good to really good quarterback, I'm called a hater. I'm called a denier. I'm afraid. No, no, no, no. It's 1A1B Allen and Mahomes. The Bills and Chiefs, they're the Titans of the League. Okay, well, by that standard, you've failed. By that standard, in your era, your rival is 3 and 0 against you in the playoffs.

your sub-rival, the Bengals, is 1-0 against you in the playoffs. By the standard of the great teams, you have absolutely underachieved. So either you're not that good. Let me rephrase it. You're not that great, and you have just achieved what you're supposed to, but I've been yelled at for years when I've said that. So it must be you actually are great, which means this has been a massive failure of the last five years. It can't be both. It can't be this was a success and we're awesome. That does not exist.

And if you're Buffalo, here is the hard part. Colin, I said this to you a year ago and then it happened again. Each year they get further away. 2020 in the AFC title game. Okay, that's great. 2021, the 13 seconds game on the road in round two. That's a little bit of a step back. 2022, round two blown out at home. All right, that's a big step back. 2023, fire the offensive coordinator. You're six and six. You need a mad dash just to make the playoffs

only to lose another home playoff game. Three years in a row, Mahomes or Burrow have beaten you in the, or four years in a row, Mahomes or Burrow, beating you in the playoffs. Two years in a row, it's happened in your building. So what are you? Are you trying to be, you know, the Milwaukee Bucks or the Denver Nuggets? By that standard, you failed.

Or are you the Philadelphia 76ers? Look at the MVP caliber star I have. Look at the wonderful regular season accomplishments and look at everyone else going further in the postseason. I, for a while, have said you might be the Sixers, but I'm just a hater who happens to be right about the bills every single time. So that's all I'll say. Okay, so I want to go to one NBA question.

So we saw this in men's tennis where Roger Federer, Rafi Nadal, Novak Djokovic were all in their prime at about the same time. And men's tennis, along with Serena, was really captivating. And then Federer starts regressing. Rafi Nadal has injuries. Novak Djokovic, they all start regressing at a kind of the same time. And I don't think men's tennis for the next several years will feel quite as dynamic. It goes through cycles. In the NBA, the sons with KD are 8th.

LeBron's Lakers are 9th. Steff's Warriors are 10. And they have half the MVP's and final appearances in the NBA in the last 15 years. And it feels like men's tennis. There's a passing of the guard. And right now, I'm not sure who's next. Who's going to take it? You don't know who's going to take the torch.

It's a passing of the torch with, you know, you hope Anthony Edwards continues to ascend. And it's hard, you know, it's hard for a player his size to be the best player in the league. There's a reason that's a very, very short list of guys under 6'6 or 6'000 and under who have ever even really been in that discussion. It's a lot of international players that nobody questions their basketball ability to be the face of an American sport. If you're not American, that's something that the American consumer seems somewhat uncomfortable or unfamiliar with at least. And this, though, Colin, is where I would put some of this on the NBA, because I think some of the marketing and some of what they have prioritized has been short-sighted. So I will use, as I often do, your and my kind of professional relationship as an analogy. Seven years ago, eight years ago at this point, my goodness, when I first got hired by Fox and you and the bosses decided that when you took,

time off, I should get to fill in for you. Was I definitively the best person to do those shows? The answer is probably not. But the company was invested in me, and they were like, you know what, even if this show might not be the best we could possibly do, it'll be good, and we will grow the person. More people will know him. He will get experience all of these things, as opposed to what is the very best thing for this show this day. So here's why I mentioned that. The NBA keeps just squeezing every last bit of juice from LeBron, Steph, Durant, even though they know that era is ending or has ended. And it's because, well, Lakers games get the best number,

Warriors games get the best number. Yes, but maybe when those guys are still here, if you shine a bigger spotlight on Anthony Edwards, on the Oklahoma City Thunder, on some of your next generation of guys, then the NBA won't be facing a real cliff when this old generation retires. Because we have taken for granted, Colin, because of how well LeBron has played at damn near 40, how rare this is.

Steff is 36. Michael Jordan won his last playoff game at 35. Kobe Bryant won his last playoff game at 33. Stephen Durant are already, historically speaking, on borrowed time, and LeBron's been on borrowed time, historically speaking, for five years. For those to still be the three most marketed, marketable popular players is concerning, in my opinion for the NBA's long-term health. Yes, they need some of the young domestic stars to step up.

They also need to prime the audience to know you need to keep. about the thunder. You need to care about the Timberwolves. Those guys are stars, or else LeBron's going to walk away one day, Katie and Stepar as well, and it's going to be a bunch of European stars in a league that's not quite as popular. Yeah, it should be noted. David Stern was a brilliant marketer. When MJ left, he chose certain people to be stars. The audience didn't buy in, and they lost 50% of their ratings. So it does matter. Networks make bets on people. Leagues make bets. on people. And I think your take is, next week

I'll ask you about the Chiefs. I wanted to give the Chiefs, since they dominate the sport, I do have them number two in my preseason ratings. I don't want to give you two. You had them number one last week. I've moved them down. They lost a corner who I liked a lot. They're back to two. They lost Lagerie.

Colin, you will never like Sneed more than you do right now. All season, I was trying to tell you they have the best pair of corners in football. You're like, they're good. Now that Sneed's gone, he's an all-pro Hall of Famer. I get it. I understand. We can do Chiefs next week, buddy.

I'll see you there. First things first, Nick, right. Everything you love about Mercedes, the style, the tech, the comfort, the choice is now available in electric. The feelings all Mercedes, the choice all yours. Learn more to MbUSA.com slash EQ.

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You just, you're enamored with Jordan Love's game. You think he's a superstar. He had a good eight games, Colin. Let's settle down. Packers did get to the playoffs, smash the Cowboys. Love is in the final year of his rookie deal. He's in the early stages of extension talks with Brian Gutikunst and Green Bay. Well, I think it's the right call.

They want to see him play in September. Then October, they announce a new contract. Oh, so you don't think it's coming this summer? Well, I mean, it could certainly could. I mean, I trust the Packers on quarterbacks. They kind of felt Aaron was declining. It looks like Aaron was declining. The Packers' offense was better at the end of this year

than it was the previous year with Aaron Rogers. That is not disputable. All right, here's what Gutiqan said about the talks. There's been some obviously preliminary discussions, but we want to do it the right way and certainly the sooner the better, but at the same time, I think we want to make sure we do it the right way. So we've started, but it's not something that's going to go quickly.

I don't think Ohio will take some time. There's no guarantees that anything going forward, but we know how he's going to respond and how he's going to react and how he's going to work. And instead of signing a player that has not been into building and guaranteeing all that to him, certainly having four years with him, I think there's a lot of comfort of what he's all about

and how his teammates look at him and the organization looks at him. All right, riddle me this. Jordan Love, no extension yet. No extension yet. Tua, no extension yet. Are they playing the waiting game to see who gets what before the next one makes a move? Like, it does feel odd.

Like, these are all known quantities. Love's been in the building in Green Bay for this is four years. Yet they know what they have and they believe in it. Jerry does not really want to pay DAC $58 million. He doesn't. He may have to. The dolphins don't want to sign Tua to a huge deal. They may have to.

What time out? Why do they have to? Well, I mean, who else is out there? Miami, maybe they get panics, but I think Seattle is going to move up to get him. I think Miami will draft a quarterback somewhere this year. I really do. I think Love probably has more leverage than DAC and Tua. Well, I think Love is going to sign a very realistic contract, starting with a four,

and they don't have to pay those receivers and tight ends for several years, so it's not going to get in the way. of building a very good team around it. Love is younger than DAC, and he's going to sign a reasonable deal. Jordan Love is more talented than DAC and more talented than two. So why isn't Dak signing a reasonable deal? Because he doesn't sign reasonable deals. He's been overpaid since his first contract.

Love just got his first contract. Green Bay is going to be a better football operation than Miami and Dallas for the next four years with this contract. Because they have a history of drafting and developing. They don't have the chaos and turbulence of Miami. They don't have the ego and ownership that Dallas has. Green Bay, people in Green Bay think I don't like the Packers. No, Aaron wore me out. There was too much drama.

This version of Green Bay, which is early Aaron, early FAR, without the ego and vanity, and I'm retiring, Green Bay is always good in Farve's early mid years, in Aaron's early mid years, in Love's early mid years. They've been great, where it gets prickly as far. And Rogers, they start talking retirement. I don't want changes. I want this. Green Bay, if you go Favre Rogers and take their eight peak years, 16 years total, money. And I think Jordan Love is going to go on another eight-year run of money.

Okay. Conference championships. Oh, settled down. I am not a Packers hater. I don't dislike Jordan Love. How do we, how certain are you? that this isn't going to be like a Carson Wentz, who remember was like an MVP candidate that one year got injured and then like just was a shell of it. There was a couple of warning signs with Carson Wentz.

First of all, he was reckless as a player. Jordan Love wants to throw the ball and has great receivers. So Carson was a little reckless. Also, Carson came from a small school, weak competition and it had to play very quickly. So did Love. Jordan Love sat for three years, took times. with an organization with excellent history of draft, develop, and O-line protection. And so the other thing is, very early with Carson Wentz, like year two, you were hearing

rumors that he didn't really work in the locker room. Everybody loves Jordan Love, the GM, the coach. So it's a totally different dynamic. Carson Wentz was reckless, wasn't loved in the locker room, and I do think Jordan loves a little more far than Rogers and he has a little reckless in him a little, a little, you know, Josh Allen sometimes you're like, dude, what are you doing? But I'm going to let somebody as talented as Jordan lover, Josh Allen, somebody that moves around, like Kyler Murray just does stuff other people can't do. Matt Stafford has a little reckless. I'm going to give you a little bit of that for the upside.

Now Mahomes, he used to have a little bit. Now he's just taking that all out. That's why Mahomes the best quarterback in the planet. I got all the upside and virtually none of the downside. All right. I will do double or nothing on the steak dinner that the first digit in Love's next contract is a five. He's not going. There's just no way he's doing 40. No way. 48 million. Give me the over. There's just, I just don't see that at all. You've got a great quarterback. Hey, listen, for 48 million, you can get a three-bedroom two-bath condo in Green Bay that is lovely. Next story is Brandon Ayuk. Listen, man, behind the scenes, Bramon,

Brandon Ayyuker does not seem happy. He's very cryptic about his future with the Niners. He puts something on social media that we'll talk about shortly. However, John Lynch is saying Brandon Ayuk is not available for a deal. We're actively talking with Brandon, trying to figure something out. And, you know, I always talk. We have a good history of working with the guys we want to get done to get something done. And it takes two sides.

So can we do that? We'll see. there's a number of different directions, you know, that it could go. But we appreciate the heck out of Brandon and who he is as a player. And we want him to be a part of the Niners. So we're going to work towards making that a reality. So you love Brock Purdy. Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Let me get to this. So anybody watching, we'll see. After that video came out, Brandon and I, you posted this on Instagram stories. If you're not watching, it is an emoji of the money sign and then someone's speaking. Money talks. Money talks. And then there's a bull. and then there's a poop-blank poops or something.

And then someone walking. Money talks, BS walks. So it's pretty clear. Ayuk is not feeling what Lynch and Shadahan are feeling. So let me ask you, you love Brock Purdy. I do. Do you think Kansas City would just let Ayuk like they did Tyreek Hill go? Wait, wait.

Huh? So they already pay McCaffrey a ton, Kittle a ton, Trent Williams a ton, Debo a ton. Oh, do I think San Francisco would let Iuke go? Okay, you said Casey, I was thrown on. Okay. They're paying everybody on offense, top of the market. Kansas City is like, Tyreek Hill, you can go, won a Super Bowl. When you have a great quarterback, you're not held hostage.

They're paying literally the left tackle, the running back, they're tied in, their other receiver. And now they have to pay another receiver. Why? Because they know you can't win big with Brock Purdy unless he's surrounded by great players, top of the market guys. You think Kansas City, Brett Beach, and Annie Reed, which said there are, and go, somebody on Instagram, they'd let them go. And they'd say, we'll go spend money elsewhere. This is the downside to having a less talented quarterback is that everybody's saying,

oh, Brock Purdy is, why wouldn't they just say, dude, you're taking shots at us on Instagram. Get out of here. We're going to go spend money elsewhere, save money. They know that the only way against Stafford and Jordan Love and all these talented guys increasingly in the NFC. The only way to win with Purdy is you basically have to have the deck stacked. You have to have stars at every position.

Okay. Stop saying bad stuff about Purdy. But regarding I, Colin, he's gone before the draft. I guarantee it. I love him as a player. Everything here's pointing to him being gone. Listen, he's been ranting on social media. The whole league knows this, right?

Everybody knows he's unhappy with what's going on. So they're probably talking to the night. saying, yeah, Ayyuk wants out. We'll give you a third. They're not doing that. How do you create leverage? Oh, we're working on a contract with Ayuk. We want him here.

The plan is we're going to have Brandon Ayuk. You've got a whole firm that we're keeping him. We're not trading him. So hopefully, I don't know, what can you get for Iyuk? A second round pick? Listen, Legerius Sneed, one of the top guys at his position, just got a, what, a 2025 third round pick or something? That's nothing for Sneed.

No, I think Brandon Ayuk gets you a one. I don't think that's happening. I think that's probably what Sam Fran. He was a first-round big 25 overall. My takeaway is I love him. He's very talented. But I have so much money and talent invested around him. I can make the argument.

Let him go. Get a first. There's tons. Who's giving you a first for him? Because then you've got to pay him. Okay, let me ask you. People now are paying wide receiver. You just told me there's a seven deep wide receiver draft.

In the first like 45. I'm just saying, you're asking me. You don't think New England is going to draft a quarterback, and they don't have a number one receiver? That's a good idea. I would go. New England, right, day one, go get it. They're kind of a black boss.

We have no idea what's going on there. They're new, Belichick's gone. No, I'm just saying, maybe they do it. You asked me who would do it. I would say that one makes a lot of sense to me. Houston. Well, Stefan Diggs is also out there. He may move.

Diggs sounds like he's going to be going. So these two guys on the market, I would go Iyuk. You're going to have to pay him. Diggs seems like more of a headache than Iyuk. But I'm just telling you, you know this. You can find receivers anywhere. There's not, well, you can't find

Brandon Ayuk anywhere. Brandon Ayukes very, very good. Very good. I think he's a top five guy in the league. I think he's that talented. He's not. He's not Jefferson, Jamar, Chaser, Devante Adams.

I can argue he's four. If you had to put your top ten wide receivers, he's not top five. Stop Colin. He's not even better than Debo, Samuel. Oh, he is too. As a receiver. Debo's a chess piece.

Iyuk's the better receiver. Pure receiver. Okay, sure. But I'm just telling you can find those guys in the top 50 picks. Niners could get one. I think Ayuk's toast. We don't need your head.

Well, he's not toast. He could be... I'm saying the more I look at this situation, my take is I think if I could get a one for him... Of course, you'll take a one for him. You're not getting a one.

I think a two is reasonable. If it's a top 45, pick at two and a sixth. Call one of you, text one of your GM buddies during the commercial break instead of telling me about which airport is the greatest in America. Come on, get to work. They're coward.

Final story. Let's go to the Lakers. 39 and 32. Are they going to miss the playoffs? No, the Warriors are. They're their road. Have you seen the Lakers' road schedule coming up? Brutal.

Down the stretch. They want them on TLC tonight, don't they? They do play Milwaukee tonight. And the LeBron's not playing. LeBron's out. Ancles throws. So good luck. Well, they got a back-to-back against the Grizzlies tomorrow.

That's a must win. You can't lose to those guys. They stink. So they'll punt the game against the bucks. Unless Austin Reeves, DeAngel Russell, go crazy. and then you got LeBron to beat the Grizzlies the next night. So it's fine. So it looks like there are 11 games left in the season.

LeBron says he's eyeing this. I'm sorry. He has stopped looking at the standings and taking things one game at a time. Lakers are in good shape, which you don't see. The three teams I want to watch in the playoffs are the Suns, Lakers are Warriors. Well, the map. By the map. By the way, the Houston Rockets are 11.

They're on your herd hierarchy at 11th. They're half a game back of the Warriors. If Golden State loses tonight Who do they play? Who do the Warriors play? I don't have the schedule. Okay, I'm going to stay home and watch that. Who do they play? They play somebody.

Well, I know that. Well, I know that. You'd hope they'd play somebody. They play, oh, good God. They play Miami and in Miami. That's a must win for the Warriors. What are you going to do if they missed the playoffs? They added Chris Paul in the last season.

What's going to happen if KD. Lakers, KD misses it, LeBron misses it, A.D. misses it, and Steph misses the playoffs. that is like that's like NBC losing friends in Seinfeld in one season it's like what and friends and Seinfeld I know I'm not saying it did but I mean that would be like cheers Seinfeld friends they all they're all off the ball lineup yeah so we what we need is you know I know we love the kings around here even though I'm not allowed to talk about them on air we need them bump down to the playing and they get knocked out we need the Lakers in we

we need the Mavs well that the audience doesn't want to hear us say We want Sacramento knocked out. I do like the Aaron Fox and Sabonis. I like them too. I love the matter. I'm just saying when LeBron's in the playoffs, half the country routes for him, half against, it makes our job more fun. And selfishly, I'm rooting for Otani being cleared so we can just talk baseball and watch him play. Yeah.

You want him to be peatine throws. Yeah. It's awful. Ryan Winhorse had a great line. The NBA, if they could have their druthers. We would like to see the Lakers play the Lakers in the finals. That's what the NBA would want. There's a great line by Winhorse.

and we don't want LeBron going down. I will say this. The Celtics in the finals is good for business. Not as good as the Lakers, but yes, good for business. That's a big brand. They've been good for years. People are kind of going back and forth on Tatum. They're a little polarizing.

Boston's good for business. Jay Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lye News. Safe Big in your water and energy bills with a new Navian tankless water heater. Go to Tankless Mayte. Simple.com. It's Navian. Local rebate. Save more money, more efficient.

Only heat water when you need it never runs out. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Hey, gang, this is Jay Glazer, host of Unbreakable, a mental wealth podcast. And every week, we will have on leaders from sports entertainment like Sean McVeigh, Lindsay Vaughn, Michael Phelps, David Spade, Guy Fieri, and also those who can help us in between the ears, anyone from a therapist to someone like Ed Milet or John Gord.

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

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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.

Cowboys and Dak Prescott have a mutual understanding of his contract situation. And there are no offers from Dallas despite him being in a contract year. Owner Jerry Jones said we are where we are loaded and locked for this year. No indication a deal is coming. That's exactly the way it should be played. I think Jordan Love of the Packers really opened eyes. There were a lot of people that were on the Justin Fields is the man.

Man, even Chicago Media, week 12, 13, still selling that. And then Jordan Love faced Justin Fields in the last week, and the gap between Jordan Love and Justin Fields in the same division was the Grand Canyon. And you could no longer look at Justin Fields, three years as a starter and go, we've got to play Jordan Love twice a year? They're just not good enough. I think similarly, Jordan Love going in a down, with all those young receivers, youngest playoff team since the 1970 bills,

Jordan Love walking into Dallas and clearly being more athletic, more ready for the moment than Dak Prescott was a complete eye-opener. Jordan Love is much more talented than Dak Prescott. You are not a serious football operation. If Dak Prescott gets a contract and the first number is six, you're not a serious football operation. I always say this. If you want to pay somebody a lot of money, what's the market? I mean, the Kansas City Chiefs are the best run team in football.

Legerius Sneed was a good corner. He wanted top of the market money. And they said, we're going to trade you for a third rounder. That was the market. The market tells you what you're worth. What is DAC getting on the open market? So again, I think he's got a market. You're not making $58 million on the market.

I don't believe. So, you know, I, this is one of these things is, when I talk about the Cowboys with Dak, it's always the same thing. I like him. But you're paying him, I love him money. You got to pay, I love him money when you love him. Stafford, Mahomes, Allen, that's I love Joe Burrow. If he gets hurt again, I may change my opinion on Burrow.

I love that quarterback. Justin Herbert, I'll pay him. I love you money. The Cowboys pay I love you many for a quarterback inside the building. They may love him as a person, but they like him as a quarterback. This is not a regular season league. The NFL is not baseball, where you romanticize the past. And it doesn't matter if you never win a World Series.

It's almost covered like writers have their baseball gloves since when they were eight and they go to the park each night. And it's all about the game. No, it's about winning in January and February. That is the NFL. Nobody cares about the regular season. Ryan Tannahills won a lot of regular season games. Nobody cares.

So I think Dak Prescott is a regular season champ. If I'm paying you six is the first number, you either have to be an extraordinary talent. Josh Allen is undisputably a world-class talent. He hadn't gotten to Super Bowls either, but nobody thinks Josh Allen. is less talented the DAC Prescott. The gap there is very wide in league circles.

Okay, so let's play the game, Colin. You said basically, you know, you're not paying DAC a five or a six, which I get. So let's do it. Let's play it out. So the Cowboys say, thank you, Dak, we're not doing that. You now hit the open market. Dak is on the market. Kurt Cousins just hit the market.

He was snapped up in like 30 seconds by the Falcons, who may have tampered by the way, just to get him. A team with a great O line, great young weapons in a terrible division. Kirk in that division works. You're not going after Kirk in the AFC West.

The NFC North, the AFC North. Kirk Cousins in that division has absolute value. But that is the weakest division in football. Now, if the Saints want to go after DAC in that division, that's different. But I'm just saying Kirk's value, I mean, even the Vikings and their brilliant offensive coach said, we can't pay you that.

We're going to go with Sam Darnold. And they know Kirk Cussel. is better than Sam Darnold, but they said in our division with Gough, Jordan Love, here comes Caleb Williams, stacked offensive rosters. Kirk, we can't pay you that. Are you saying, do you think DAC would get 40 from someone else? Yes. Okay, that's fine.

42, 43 in the Kirk Cuss. But you start talking 56, 58. Well, that's the problem, you know. In that division where Philadelphia is well run, Washington looks like they got a lot of momentum going with them. I mean, I just, it's, I can love. like somebody, but then I want to pay them, I like you money.

You can't pay I love you money. Do I like you, cornerbacks? So that's the problem. Dallas is Hamstrung. Hey, I'm your guy. I've been here forever. Pony up. Pay the top dollar. And like Minnesota said with Kirk, we're not doing that. Hour number three next. Another podcast

from some SNL late night comedy guy. Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman helped make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and headwriter, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and

friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the 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, Kare Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations, that it'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 are armored? 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 to learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed human.