The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 3 – Matthew Stafford

Episode Date: February 28, 2025

Colin talks about how LeBron James still has it, reacting to breaking news as the Los Angeles Rams & Matthew Stafford agree to a restructured deal to keep him in LA, and Tomorrow’s Headlines Today!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Matt Stafford is staying with the L.A. Rams. New York Giants reportedly now interested in Aaron Rogers. I'm not sure I feel about that yet. He's obviously better than what they have in the building. Aaron may want to stay in New York and not come west. He's got a place there, I'm not sure. but the bigger story with a better team is the Rams retained Matt Stafford. I thought they had the money because they don't pay anybody on defense,

so that doesn't surprise me. I will tell you, I was told yesterday that Stafford and his people thought it was a 50-50 proposition, whether he stayed. It got a little bit contentious with Matt Stafford. Contentious maybe is the wrong word. But they had a market, and they made sure. They kicked the tires on the Raiders. That's why they went skiing.

And I told you this. Why did that skiing thing get out? Because Stafford and his agent wanted it out. Stuff gets out when people wanted out. So Stafford and his agent wanted everybody to know that he and Tom were up skiing in Montana. But to me, that was the signal that he really wanted to be a ram. If that doesn't get out, that, you know, let me ask yourself this. Stuff gets out when you want it out.

If it doesn't, there's a lot of secrets in the world that don't get out. Nobody wants them out. So when I saw that, my takeaway, he's trying to make things uncomfortable for the Rams, and he probably got more money. But once I heard the Raiders and the Giants did not offer Stafford a third year, what's the point of leaving? That's the advantage. If you give me another $50 million that I wasn't going to get from the Rams, I'm taking the money, especially in Nevada with no state tax.

And I'm planning indoors, so I would take the money. So Stafford is in. this is a guy that has a chance the next two years. If you look at that roster, if they can get a left tackle in a corner, they have a chance to win another trophy. That's a real team. So this is not a small bit of news. This is a big deal.

And Stafford is intellectually in a very elite group in this league, and McVeigh makes his quarterbacks be dialed in and prepared. And Stafford, I mean, you've seen those social. media clips. There's been a little documentary on Stafford's work ethic. It is very aligned with McVey. It was funny. McVeigh went out. During contract negotiations, usually your bosses don't say good things about you because, you know, they're trying to, you know, they don't want to tell you how great you are. McVeigh came out and said, yeah, yeah, like he's unbelievable. So what it's telling you is McVeigh wanted it to happen, but Stan Cronkey ultimately makes the call.

The owner's right in the checks. So McVeigh wanted it out there that Stan Cronkey knew, yet there's nobody, we are not going to be the same football team without Matt Stafford. We are not going to be the same franchise. So for Sean McVeigh to give flowers, you know, a week before they signed him, that was a message to Stan Cronkey. And the Rams are rolling. I mean, you got, you got Harbaugh and Herbert in the same stadium. You don't want to haminegger at quarterback. I do think they thought about Aaron Rogers, but, you know, I saw a story yesterday that Aaron was interested in bringing Devante Adams. They've already got a receiver

in Cooper Cup. They're trying to move off of. They don't want another expensive receiver, so this feels like the right fit. Well, let's be honest. Coming off an injury, Luca is not playing great right now. He's one for nine last night from three point land. But everybody hedges

their bet in the media. We've all been doing this for years, including me on LeBron. We just don't want to say, you know, is LeBron like the second best player in the league? Nobody wants to say that, right? It's, hey, Yokic, Janice,

I have watched LeBron in the last week outplay Aunt Edwards, Luca, Yokic, and Kyrie Irving. He has been the best player in the NBA in the last week. On every single night, is LeBron the best player in the league? No, on any given night is LeBron the best player in the league. Yeah, his defense right now, it looks like he's 27. It's insane. His energy, better than Luca.

His shooting right now, better than Luca. His on-ball defense, his scoring. LeBron at 40 years old, has better consistent energy than any other Laker. Now, Austin Reeves is close. Austin plays hard all the time. But LeBron's fourth quarter energy, it doesn't even make sense. His on-ball defense right now, this is the best defense he's played in eight years. he's a better defender at 40 than Luca is at 26.

His energy, I'm telling you right now, is LeBron showing off? And I'll get to Steph in a second. It feels like Steph is kind of showing off to Jimmy Butler like, listen to old man. You know? And I feel when Tom Brady beat Mahomes at Arrowhead Stadium in the AFC championship, and then he beat him in the Super Bowl, everybody by then was falling in love and sort of was saying it, you know, like Brady's old.

Brady, you know, not a lot left in the tank for old Tommy. Mahomes is the new king, and Brady beat him twice. In Arrowhead and overtime and in the Super Bowl. Tom Brady reminding you, yeah, it goes through me. And LeBron is reminding everybody right now. Yeah, the West, for 10 years, the East went through me, 10, 12 years, however long he was over there. Now the West is going to go through me. So at minimum, and I understand that Luca got hurt, hadn't played for a long time.

He's playing himself back into shape. Like, I get it. And he'll be a better shooter. His jumper right now is short consistently. That's like cardio, that's legs, his jumper short. But at 40 years old, LeBron James, last year had, last year at 39 years old, LeBron had 84 dunks. When Michael Jordan was 39, MJ had 21, four times the dunks of a guy known for dunks, Michael Jordan, at the same age.

And I think LeBron this year is better than LeBron last year. And the other thing is because AD was traded to Dallas, LeBron is hyper aware that he has to play better defense because Luca is a lousy defensive player. And Austin Reeves is limited. So LeBron is like, oh, oh, you need me to do that too. All right. his defense is insane. So he's averaging 25, 8, and 9, that's not the part that's blowing me away.

It's the energy and the defense. And, you know, this, it's, I feel like, I've said this for years, I think the NBA playoffs should be a three-game first round, and then five games, even through the finals. I think create urgency. I mean, March Madness, college basketball doesn't have much talent, and it gets tremendous ratings. Why? There's urgency. I mean, you know, Cooper Flag, take him off Duke. They got a couple of decent players.

But a Duke game with Cooper Flag against Xavier will get a better rating maybe than like the Western Conference or Eastern Conference finals because it's like you have to watch. You got two and a half hours. Somebody's out could be Duke and Cooper Flag. And so I think there needs to be no more urgency. And I also think in the NBA regular season, I'd cut it down to 68 games, start it six weeks later, get away from college and pro football. you know, start playing Christmas. Start playing Christmas. Not your first TV game.

Start playing then. So I understand that if you're LeBron, you're Steph Curry, and you're not with a championship team, you're on a treadmill to nowhere. It is so clear between Steph and LeBron that these moves have absolutely energized these guys and just watched LeBron's defense. It is elite, and he has outplayed Aunt Luca, Kyrie, and Yonk,

in the last week. He has been the best player on the floor. And here is, here's LeBron after. We know we could have been a lot better offensively, but we've been hanging our hat on our deepest under the defensive end. And, you know, when you don't shoot the ball, well,

you've got to be able to get stops. And they made a run. They're really good team. We saw what they did a couple nights ago against OKC when they was down big, and those young guys came in, sparked them, gave them good energy. So, you know, they cut it down to three,

I believe, at one point, but we was able to execute. after that, get some timely stops, and was able to come on with the win. So LeBron in February, 29 and a half points, 10 rebounds, 7 and a half assists, shooting 55% from the floor, 46% on 3-pointers, and playing elite on-ball defense. At 40, at 39, he had 84 dunks. At 39, MJ had 21. Like, you're watching, this is unprecedented.

You know, we're always looking ahead. Don't. Just live in this moment. what you're watching doesn't make any sense. It makes, it's Brady and Tampa. It makes no sense that Brady was that year, first second best quarterback in the league. All right, once again, the breaking news happened 30, 25 minutes ago.

Matt Stafford, staying with the Rams, new contract, couple years, I guess a hundred million guaranteed two years. J-Mack says a little tastier than that. I do not know if you're the New York Giants, reportedly now they will shift their attention to Aaron Rogers. Now, my take is I got him with the Rams and I got Aaron Rogers with the Jets. Like those two I get. I'm not sure if he wants to go to another franchise that can't get its act together.

That is an ugly way to end it for Aaron Rogers. I think I would call it a career if the Giants is the only thing I had. I remember that Daible historically likes mobile quarterbacks. Josh Allen, Daniel Jones. Rogers isn't mobile. I don't think he fits what the Giants really want to do. Can you turn him into a pocket pass when you can't protect the quarterback? Their offensive line is one of the worst in league.

Thomas was good, but other than that, very shaky. I think the Raiders kind of become interesting here. Would he work with the Raiders? Yeah, they don't want Devonte Adams back, do they? So that's kind of a weird. Yeah, that would be awkward. And maybe Devante Adams kind of poised in the Raiders for Rogers, knowing what's going on in the organization,

although some things have changed, obviously. Right. I don't, I just don't, if I'm Aaron Rogers, I just got my first taste the last two years of a dysfunctional operation. I want to go to one that's even worse. I mean, at least the Jets have a roster that's redeemable. The Jets have some players,

and Aaron played well down the stretch. Even the left tackle, who I like a lot for the Giants, he's had health issues. He gets better. Thomas gets banged up. He does. But Pittsburgh Steelers and Aaron Rogers doesn't fit at all. At all. Culturally? It just doesn't work at all. They can't get their old line ride. It's all about defense. Prima Donna wide receiver stuff. Like I don't think Pittsburgh and Aaron fit at all. At all. I don't know where he goes. I think Vegas or bust. But I'm not, and you could say, well, why would he? Because it's closer west. It's Pete Carroll. It's Chip Kelly. It's Brock Bowers. They've got their left tackle.

I think the Raiders actually have some really good pieces. Go watch them play. Go watch the replays of those Kansas City Raider games with bad quarterback play. They went toe to toe with the Chief in Arrowhead. So I don't, Aaron Rogers, Giants, I just do not see that. I don't, I think Aaron could call it career.

Going out with this sour taste in his mouth? I wouldn't want to, but... Is there a quarterback he could shove out maybe in Seattle? Would you dump Gino Smith and get on board with Aaron Rogers? Does that keep D.K. D.K. Metcalfe around. There's a lot of chatter about him and Lockett maybe being done in Seattle. They could be in flux.

All worth discussion. But Stafford is a ram. Live in Atlanta, it's the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. Hey, it's Steve Kavino. And I'm Rich David. And together, we're Kavis.

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with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Listen, I think the Mavericks made a bad, bad trade. Rick Bueker joining us live, Fox Sports NBA analyst. I took a lot of heat.

I said, but if you've watched the first five games and I know he was inactive since Christmas, there is a little, bit of what Dallas was fearful of. He's not a defender. He's not in great shape. His energy level gets sapped very quickly. He looked exhausted in that fourth quarter against the Mavs.

And then a story comes out today that they called Minnesota for aunt. And they were like, Minnesota said, no, thank you. Which I would have said, I know the Lakers stole him. But if you watch him, can I make just the argument? If AD was healthy right now, Dallas would be a more complete team than the Lakers, who are very heavy playmaker, but still are going to run into a big log jam where they won't stop Biggs in the playoffs. Yeah, no, it's hypothetical, but I agree with you. We wouldn't be looking at this as a lopsided trade if AD was available.

We saw a glimpse of it, right? When they played Houston. When he first came out, you're like, oh, my God. And it's why, you know, most of us covering the league were like, you know what, Dallas is going to be really good. I think so. For the next year or two, that's the gamble. And that's how why anybody who's judging this now, you can't judge this over the next five, six games or the next few months.

It is going to be who wins a championship. If Luca comes to L.A., and especially if they win it this year, which I still think is a reach, but if he wins a championship over the next five years in L.A., and the Mavericks are basically betting short, they're going to win it in the next year or two. that's their best opportunity. If Dallas wins a championship

in the next year or two, then I'm saying they won the trade. And what they decided was, one of the reasons Minnesota wasn't willing to make that, is because it's not what Luca has done to this point.

It's what he's going to do for the next five years and you're going to invest $345 million in it. So is he going to be LeBron James or Steph Curry in terms of durability? No.

Or is he going to be closer to, Joelle and Beater Zion Williamson, who you look at, signed Max Steele's and ended up, that's a regrettable decision in both cases. So based on what he's done at this point, I'm not making the comparison in terms of what Joel and Zion had done. Luca has defied that. But when he was coming out, look, when I looked at what he did in Europe, going into the draft,

there should have been no question he was the number one pick. It should have been like Cooper flagged this year or LeBron coming out. DeAndre Aiton and like, you're going to take him over, over, over, over Luca? But the question was his lifestyle, his conditioning. Even then. And his body coming out. Yeah. People had questions.

I remember, I never looking at the video and saying on the air, is he athletic enough? Yeah. He just looks blocky. Now he's, look, IQ off the. charts and and has and that's the biggest element to his game and why he's dominated in the NBA. He's just, he's so smart. He makes you play his game. Right. And he has been terrific to this point. But I, there's two parts here and we're seeing it. This is not the first player that a team was looking at having to give a max contract, a super max contract at this point and said, we're not going to do it.

LA Clippers did it with Paul George. We'd rather let him walk than give him the Super Max. Miami Heat would rather let Jimmy Butler walk or take less on the dollar than give him a max. And Luca Donutsch is in that same category. You know, I threw this out, Rick. It's one thing when you paid LeBron 40 million. Once the number is 75 million is that I think you're going to see more stars move. Because once I have to pay you 75 million, now you're condo.

conditioning matters, your injury history matters. You're going to make more than Patrick Mahomes. I don't care if you're a billionaire. 40 million feels more like a rounding air for Steve Ballmer. 75 million guaranteed five years is not a rounding air to any billionaire, including Elon Musk. And I think what's going to happen is the player saw themselves. It's a win.

No, it's a microscope. Now I'm counting everything. And when I have four calf injuries and you are, or a bad defensive player, I can even move Luca. Sure. I don't think he's the last star to get moved. I'm with you. Or the last star who's facing, like, we've got to give him a Supermax.

You know what? I think we'd like to get off of that and get something else. Because what we have seen with the teams that are winning is the balance of your team. You can't, I mean, we're still in this mindset of big threes. Like if I have a big three and I can fill the rest. I can't afford to have a big three. Like, if I do that, then I have no other pieces. I have no other money to spend.

And that's just not the way you get to a championship these days. And if you are going to go that direction, if you are going to give supermaxes to two guys, then they better be available 70 to 75 games during the regular season, and they better be able to play an additional 20 games in the postseason. Are you, because analytics, I had said this about six to eight weeks ago, just get Jimmy Butler with staff, Get him in the building.

He's a very intentional player. He's the anti-Wiggins. Is that every possession is intense. And you remember every one of his points. Wiggins can give you 28, and I don't remember three baskets. And I'm like, he's the anti-Wiggins. Get him in the building. I don't care what analytics say.

Because analytics were like, nah, are you a little surprised that it's been this seamless? I'm not surprised that it's been this seamless. I've been surprised, and I think I would disagree with you on the analytics. I believe that Jimmy has answered the analytics as well, because he's filled gaps that Andrew simply did not. Number one, he gets to the free throw line. A lot. Yes.

The Warriors, when Steph was, I mean, they just didn't get to the line. Yeah, they were, last I checked, they were still last in free throw percentage, and they were 23rd in free throw attempts. And that's since Jimmy's come on, averaging nine free throws a game. So they had to have been in the bottom five, right? And when you have 30-somethings like Jimmy and Steph and Draymond, when you're getting to the free throw line, one, that's built in rest during the course of the game. And two, it allows you to set your defense so you're not getting beat in transition,

which the warriors were getting a lot of early on. The other element that doesn't fit in analytics that's the intangible is, Jimmy comes with swagger. And Draymond Green, since his game has fallen off a little bit, he always provided that bravado. The bravado doesn't play as loud when you're not quite as impactful. Jimmy comes in and now doubles down. Now you have two loud bravado guys that adds to the entire atmosphere and environment.

So you add the free throws, also finishes at the rim. Wiggins, they have about the same finishing percentage. at the rim, but Jimmy takes almost more than a third of his shots at the rim. Right. Andrew did not do that. Right. So he's filled a lot of gaps that they did not, that needed to be filled, and it has made a huge difference.

All right. Fine. This is a big topic. So yesterday I said, Tom Cruise is a movie star. Jeremy Ions is a great actor. John Malkovich is a great actor. Jeremy Ion's great actor. Denzel and Tom Cruise walk into a room.

those are very stars. Jason Tatum is a great NBA player. He is not a face of the league. He has no aura. I have seen him play live four times. And I've seen him play four times. He's been excellent. There have been times.

Jalen Brown like, talk to the hand. I'm going to control. And I'm like, that's not a face of the league guy. Yeah. Am I nuts? No, not at all. I mean, it's why we, we, we, we, we,

We kind of shoehorned Anthony Edwards into this. Can he be the face of the league? Because he's got the attitude that you want. He's got the dynamic. He's aggressive. He's got the dynamic game and personality that you want as the face of the league. He just doesn't have the resume. Like Jason Tatum has the resume.

Right. But he doesn't have the persona. Yeah. And you have to have both. There's a formula to it. LeBron Magic and Michael, all great businessmen, very, early on, they got the value of corporate America,

shoe deal, get on TV, make yourself available for interview. LeBron to this day is always available after. I mean, literally it can be a sideline reporter in Orlando. LeBron walks right over outside of the Luca game in L.A.

against the Mavericks, where he left, so that Luca could get the shine on that and get the love. So let me throw this out there. Here's our final topic. So he and I disagree on this. I think inside the NBA is an entertainment show. Barclay acknowledges he doesn't watch all the games. They are one of the, they are to me the only NBA show of note that has bite and teeth

and will call players out for load management and crap. Other than that, because nobody wants to lose access, it's a bit of a fawning media coverage league. NFL reporters are hard. They're hard on everybody, including Lamar Jackson. NBA meetings a little fawning. So LeBron said this about the face of the league conversation. It would be the face of the league when all the people that, you know,

that cover our game and talk about our game on a day-to-day base on everybody. Had that responsibility. That's just weird, it's weird energy from the people that, you know, I don't know. But Channing, he said it. He said it perfectly. No, no, Channing did not say it perfectly. I think this stuff is overstated. 90% of NBA coverage.

Even on the inside the NBA, they like the players, but if you don't call your crap out. This is the problem. The problem is that you have all of these young players coming in. And we look at statistics, particularly offensive statistics. And we have people out there saying, fawning media, saying, Oh, this guy, in fact, we just had this conversation. This guy is better than this guy, and we talk about a legend. Yeah.

Jay Mack just had me on his podcast. Yeah. He said, you're not going to like this. Palo Bencaro is better than Carl Malone. I'm like, what are we doing? What are we doing? And the problem is that when you then say that, then there's the pushback. I love Palo Ben Carroll.

He's in the book that I'm working on right now. Love everything about him. Immensely talented. I think he's a winning player. I think Orlando's got a future. Don't tell me he's better than Carl Malone. He's done nothing to justify that. So what happens is we put him on that pedestal.

And then anybody who actually looks at the league in entirety goes, no, he's not. And so now you end up criticizing or taking apart Palo Ben-Caro. That was never my intention. My take is there's two sports where athletes really believe the media is too hard. International soccer stars and NBA stars. Why? Because they're both star-driven. And so we're constantly comparing iconic stars.

In football, it's like outside of Mahomes Brady, it's a team structure. We don't really, we're just like, yeah, Josh Allen's great. We bang on the coaches, the, we talk coordinators in the NFL. Yeah. So when you're a star-driven sport, Messi, Ronaldo, Rooney in his prime, Mbapé will deal with this.

Or if you're LeBron, Steph, or aunt, in those two worlds, star-driven, they make the most money. NFL, you don't make the money. You don't make the money. So when you're star, it's like Hollywood. Well, the other part is with the NFL, there is no access.

You're not trying to protect any access. Because by and large, your access, if you're covering the league, it's with the GMs. and the coaches. Right? Right. It's not with the players. The players aren't going to say anything anyway. Yeah.

So I agree with you. I think that the attempt to maintain access has us saying things about players in the game today. I'm just like, look, I like that guy, but don't tell me he's better than so-and-so. And usually we're going to have that like with a Jason Tatum. Yeah. We're going to have that conversation about guys who are in the conversation for face of the league. The best players are going to be compared to yesteryear's greatest players. And they're going to be put on a pedestal that they haven't warranted.

And then they're going to get knocked off of that. And so it makes it look like they're being unfairly criticized. Yeah. I've been in a room with LeBron. LeBron has an aura. I've been in a room with magic. Magic's got an aura. I've been in a scrum, a media scrum with Michael Jordan.

I watched Jason Tatum four different times I've gone and watched him play on the court. You used to really talented guy. Yeah. Like that's just the reality of his game. It's not a knock on him. He's just a really talented guy without any charisma. Yeah. No, he's, I mean, he's a really good guy.

His game is not explet. Like, tell me the number of Jason Tatum plays you remember. I said this yesterday. Close your eyes and think of Magic Johnson. You can see the highlight. Oh, yeah. You can see it with Anthony Edwards. Be honest with you.

Close your eyes on Jason Tatum, and I just see 26 a night. Yeah. Good, good, good, a very willing defender. Would love to have him on my team. Absolutely. But am I marketing my team? I might need to get somebody else along with him. All right.

Good stuff. J-Mack with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line. That really irritated J-Mack, that entire segment. He's biting my tongue really hot under my collar. Jason Tatum, oh, my gosh.

All right, let's go to Travis Hunter and the NFL draft, Colin. Combines popping off. A lot of draft boards have Travis Hunter near the top. But Michigan quarterback Will Johnson, All-American in college, MVP of the Natty two seasons ago, feels like he's the best corner in the draft. Here's his quote, a lot of respect for him. He's won the Heist.

He did a lot of great things, but I know I'm the best corner in this draft. I'm going to just wait until. I get on the field and on my play due to talking. Colin, unequivocally, he's not wrong. He is the best cornerback in this draft. No, it's not a great draft, but he and Mason Graham are both play right away guys. He's excellent. He was banged up a little bit of Michigan, but when he was on the field, he was a complete game changer.

Yeah. No, he's kind of in the Richard Sherman Bowl, long-rangee. Yep. And this guy's going to, I think he's a top 10 pick. Maybe he might slide a little bit depending on trades. But I like this kid a lot. He's immensely talented. Second story is just breaking recently, Colin, and this is getting ugly in Phoenix.

Uh-oh. According to NBA insider Chris Haynes, a few weeks ago, Mike Boonehalzer. Remember, he got hired because they fired a coach after one season. Bud called a meeting with Devin Booker telling him to be less vocal on the court and in huddles. Telling your star be less vocal on the court and in huddles. Coach Bud asked Booker to vocally tone it down and a little bit. allow the coaches to be heard. Well, Booker was shocked. He kind of came out. Oh my gosh. What? Last night, the son's lost their 10th in a row. And Booker talked about communication post

game. Oh. Everybody has to be on the same page. You know, you can start with the leaders of the team. Obviously, me, Brad and Kay and coach. But, you know, from my history, there's, you know, there's 15, 20 guys on the sidelines that know the game playing, that know what's going on. And in the huddles. you know, just constant communication. Skipping over the details and, you know, always taking the, you know, get them next game mentality. At some point you've got to draw a line and should have been drawn a long time ago. That is, that's not good.

Boone holes are in a little trouble. I don't think you could fire another coach back to back? No, I think. What you can do is try to blow this whole thing up. Kevin Durant, see you, Devin Booker, see you? No, I think that's what's going to happen. It's not working, so let's, I mean, Ishpia has proven.

He's not a real patient person. Like, they're going to make moves. It's like the whole Mark Zuckerberg thing at Facebook was move fast and break things. A lot of people think that works. The sons have tried that. Hey, let's just get stars. Let's get caught. None of it's working.

They got swept last year. They're probably not going to make the playoffs this year with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. Two Hall of Fame locks, Olympians. Colin, this is really awesome. now the coach squabbling with Booker. But who do you keep on that team? Booker or KD or neither? I think, it's a good question.

I could move everybody there. Well, except Bradley Beale because his contracts are moving. I would get younger. It's a good NBA city. You've got a very wealthy owner. I think you have to start over. I'd consider anything. I think you have to start over.

And by the way, Booker's going to have a huge market. And listen, I know you don't follow. Booker is going to have a massive, huge market. I know you don't follow high school hoops a lot, but there are some major, big time like Cooper flag level wings

who are coming up in the high school ranks. Gilbert Arena is the son is one of them. So if you tear it down starting now, you could get like a super, I'm talking like, these are big time guys coming out of high school. You could get a very good player and two number one picks for Booker. Booker is a bucket.

Yeah. And he's going on his prime. Yeah. No, I mean, Booker is going to get you a haul. Could he be a number one on a team? No, he's a great two. He is a great two in a championship team. Like, I'll give you an example.

They went to the finals and he was there one. I'll give you an example. If you sent Carl Anthony Towns to Phoenix, you get a, the Knicks make a move and say, okay, we're going to get, we're going to get Booker in the wing. We'll get rid of Carl Anthony Towns because he just gets exposed in the pick and rule. I'm just throwing a team out. But I'm, I would, Booker's going to get a lot back. I would keep an eye on the Miami Heat, you know, Pat.

Oh, there you go. There you go. Destination, they're smart. Yeah, yeah. Very interesting to follow. Final story is back to the NFL. Ole Miss quarterback Jackson Dart doing a media tour at the Combine. When he was asked to his favorite quarterback to watch right now is,

hmm, take a listen to this one. I feel like it's a little bit of a cop out because he just won the Super Bowl. But, you know, I love Jay Hertz and what he does. I feel like I'm very similar in my play style to him. I feel like we can do a lot of the same things. Obviously, he's an elite player, and I'm trying to reach that level. But he's been somebody that I try to resemble my game after just because of his versatility, being able to run and throw the ball.

And just, you know, how strong he is in the pocket. I think that that's something that I've had a lot of fun, you know, watching and observing his playstyle. Jackson Dart has two advantages. Lane Kiffin's coached in the NFL, so we got real coaching, and he played in the SEC, which is generally the best defensive conference. So he's an NFL quarterback. I don't know where he is,

but he is one of those Riley Leonard, Kyle McCord guys that he probably isn't going to play year one, but he got real NFL coaching with Lane Kiffin. And that absolutely matters. How to break these quarterbacks down is so tough. I mean, it's just increasingly difficult. Was it the system for Dart or does he have actual traits? No, no, no.

That translates great to the NFL. Well, no, he throws an NFL. That's not, I've seen him play. I've seen him in person of the camp. Jackson Dart's got talent. There's no doubt about that. But he's, you know, it's, like, I think he's a better, I think he's a better prospect than Will Levis.

And Will Levis went in the second round. I was never, I think Jackson Dart can play in the NFL. I don't think he's ready to carry a franchise. But nobody thought Jalen Hertz was ready to carry a franchise. And by like year, what, four, he's in the Super Bowl. And then year six or whatever the numbers are, he's already won a Super Bowl. It's tough, man. Quarterback really is difficult.

Now, where he goes matters. I'll tell you right now. If the Rams take Jackson Dart in the third round, he's going to be good. You go to McVeigh. You're going to be good. Yeah, yeah. Jay Mack will the news. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The Hurdline News. Heard line news is over, but Jay Mack. Tomorrow's headlines today next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news.

What's the news? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there.

But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. And we were thinking I'm originally calling it. one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers was...

This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, Hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad,

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

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

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions,

the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth.

He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant this plant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, Just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history.

You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, we are in the heart of the NBA season. You've noticed that with some of our topics this week. Matt Stafford's deal, according to Ian Rappaport, agreed and finalized over the next couple of weeks around free agency,

but they have agreed to terms. They'll get it all finalized. That's the way contracts work. We call it tomorrow's headlines today, Jay Mack. Let's do some NBA. What's the headline for these suddenly temperamental Phoenix Suns? Yeah, we just talked about that Devin Booker versus the coach. They almost tried to trade Kevin Durant.

Things are going sideways. The headline will be not all sunshine and rainbows. KD's rain ends in the rain. Colin, I think it's over for the Suns. They are 27th in the league in defense. 27th. You can't make the playoffs with that. They are two and a half outside of the 10th spot.

I don't see them making a big push here over the final 26 games. You got the infighting, the uncertainty. Kevin Durant's got one foot out the door. Anybody who covers the NBA knows right now, Kevin Durant is the bell of the ball this offseason. I don't know where he goes, but I have a feeling in July we'll be talking about him. I think it's over for the Suns. This was a unmitigated disaster.

They tried the big three, failed. Yep, took a swing. It missed. It's okay. I appreciate the swing. Tomorrow's headlines today at team I'm out on. Headlined for the turbulent 76ers. Reeling 10 straight losses.

Wow. Eric Gordon just had surgery. They got everybody injured. The headline for Philadelphia will be. Liberty hell. Phillies crack finally crumbles. Colin, 22nd in the league in offense when you've got Paul George. Joel Embed and Tyrese Maxie.

The problem is they keep getting hurt. Mbeads missed 19 games. Joel Embedsons, Mr. I'm 18, Jared McCain, the young kid from Duke, who Tick-Tock sensation, really talented player shooter, could have been rookie the year.

He got hurt. He's done. This has been really bad for Mori. I know it's your guy. And again, another team who took a big swing. Hey, let's go big three. Paul George, Embed, and Maxie. Yeah, I like the Paul George move.

I did. It has been, you know, I don't want to pin this fully on Embed because injuries happen. and win as a team, loses a team, but Embed is the guy who pushed for that MVP two seasons ago, and he's never been the same. Tomorrow's headlines today.

No AD, but how about the Mavs? So this is one of your, I feel like this is your Denver Broncos, Washington commanders pick. You think there's something here. I think if AD and Lively come back, I think they can be anybody in the league, even the Celtics. I think they're that good.

Sounds like Lively's out the rest of the regular season. Right. AD expected maybe to give it to go in like a, week. We'll see. The headline for Dallas will be. We're going to rock down to electric avenue. We wish our seed was higher. I got Dallas in the play in. I don't think they can get out of the playing, Colin. The Warriors are too hot right now, and I don't think Dallas is going to get enough guys back. That being said, if they're the eighth seed, oh, remember the Lakers made the conference finals two years ago as a seven seed. Dallas is going to be a threat. If you've got Kyrie and AD,

They've got remarkable size, really nice Spencer Dinwiddie, PJ Washington, and an unstoppable force in Kyrie. Good role players. And don't forget about my man, Max Christie, aka Super Max Christie. They're calling him to Dallas. They love him. If this team gets healthy, and you don't even mention Clay Thompson, who right there, still a great shooter, we saw his second half against the Lakers,

this Mavs team can be dangerous. But are we going to see AD survive, you know, through the regular season? and then the playoffs, I would be very nervous if I was OKC facing this Dallas team in the first time. So did I. That's not going to be a five-game series. That's probably going to go six or seven. Yep. Tomorrow's headlines today.

How about those playmakers in Los Angeles? Yep, you know I love me some Lakers right now. They are, I think, 16 and 20 or 16 and 4 in their last 20 games. Yeah. Number one defense in the league during that duration. That's a fourth of the league. Fourth of the season, Colin. The headline for the Lakers will be.

Take the ring, leave the canoli. Don Luca re-crowned the king. Yes, a little godfather, actually. I've got to work on my accent there. Sorry, Alex. Colin, this is just such a diverse team. And I've broken this down with a lot of hoops guys out here in L.A. Love this.

So we know that they have their core foreclosing. Rui, LeBron, Luca. They can score. Last night, we saw Jared Vanderbilt get under Anthony Edwards' skin. Hit a couple big shots. You know, it might be against the Warriors. a Gabe Vincent game chasing around Steph Curry. It could be a

adult and connect game. They are versatile. They've got options. Listen, they're going to have the two best players in any series in the West. Right now, the way LeBron's playing, you said he's looking like MVP LeBron from his prime. Oh, he's been, I've seen him out play Yokic, Aunt Kyrie, and Luca

in the last week. Yeah. And guess what? Luca's going to get healthy. They're not going to do them these back-to-backs that they got coming up. They're not going to do that. Luca gets healthy, Reeves, LeBron. They win the West, buddy. They're going to the finals. They are a very dynamic team. Offensively, they've got three different playmakers, and really from the corner is a dead eye shooter.

Tomorrow's headlines today. Listen, I know you don't want to hear it, folks, but the Celtics remain the king. They've been quiet all season. Let the calves run out to a big league. We don't care. We're good. The headline for the Celtics, Will, be, Irish.

Hello! Celtics sneak into O'Brien again. Listen, it's tough to pick against Boston. It is. I know. I just want to warn people who are picking the cabs and the thunder. Guys, take a deeper. It's the regular season. Boston just won a title. Their foot is off the gas. Who's their fifth best player, Colin? Is it Derek White? He would be a three on like 99% of teams in the league. He's our fifth best guy. Yeah, they're really. And by the way, we worried about are they well coach? Oh, Missoula. Yeah. Yeah, they're well coached. He knows what he's doing.

He knows what he's doing. I know people don't love the threes. They're going to shoot 503s. in a game, you know what? They're one of the best three-point shooting teams in the league. And they also, they're a fairly eagoless team for a championship team. Yeah. Interesting. I mean, this is one of Tatum's gifts. Is there a very giving team? Drew Holiday, that's why he was such a great get. Drew Holiday works with everybody. Poor Zingas had a bad rap, but actually he works with a team. It is a really high character, high EQ team. Like, they like each other. It's like, you know, we look around the league and, oh, that guy's got swag, and look at John Moran's dunks and Anthony Edwards dribbling. Tater doesn't care about that stuff.

He's like, you know what? I'd rather win. And by the way, Jason Tatum is in line, Colin, to win his, to be first team all NBA for the fourth year. Okay, fourth straight year, first team, meaning he's the best in his league at his position. You know how many for Dirk Novitsky first team all NBA's? Dwayne Wade, go look him up. Jason Tatum is accomplishing stuff. They took guys their entire career to do. Tatum's still in his prime. I'm telling you, this Boston team is so stacked. No way I'm picking against him. I thought the Knicks could push him, but it hasn't looked good in that match.

All right. Indy car practice is next. Very fast cars. I want to throw this out. Adam Schaefter reporting with Matt Stafford remaining with the Rams. The Raiders are going to now investigate Russell Wilson, Justin Fields, and Sam Darnold, according to sources. So Darnold is the best of those three in his prime, athletically good arm. Fields is a lively athlete.

We don't know in the pocket if he's consistent enough. Russell and Pete again feels a little clunky. Well, one name is missing. Aaron Rogers. No, no, good good get. Why would they not include him? They don't want to get in that business? I just don't.

I think that's, that's right. Listen, remember the Jets, and I had a source on this, the Jets said we don't want to get into Aaron the football player or Aaron the guy business. They wanted to get out of that business. Aaron comes. He's a moody player. It's not taking shots at him. He can be prickly. He can be moody. He is not for everybody. And yes, he'll be a Hall of Famer. IndyCar practices next. Have a great weekend. A wonderful safe weekend. Live in L.A., it's the hurt. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast.

Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen.

We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman helped make. You funnier. This week, my guest, S&L'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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in.

I'm Timbo, and every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlic on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicalif 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. Is everyone lying to me about who they are?

I felt such desperation. I felt it was what I had to do. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.