The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 1 - Defending Jalen Hurts, how good is Arch Manning?, the Browns trade away Kenny Pickett, James Palmer

Episode Date: August 26, 2025

Jason McIntyre fills in for Colin to defend Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts as an elite quarterback with Philadelphia in prime position to win back-to-back Super Bowls Thoughts on the Texas-Ohio State game this weekend, and the Arch Manning hype going into this season Raiders trade for Browns QB Kenny Pickett   Guest: JAMES PALMER - NFL INSIDER / THE ATHLETIC “SCOOP CITY PODCAST” CO-HOSTSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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.

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And I'm Kunky, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 Podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines ahead of the big tournament here in the USA. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, and on my new podcast, How Hard Can It Be?

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Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRadio.com. Or stream us live every day on the IHart Radio app by searching Fox SportsPort's Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Hello and welcome to the herd. Yes, I'm back. It's me, Jason McIntyre, joined by Rachel Nichols.

We survived. Day one without Colin Cowherd, he is. Barely. Jet-setting. Barely. What do you think he is right now? Europe? He's got so many homes.

Iceland. Who could tell. Who knows where? The guy's got a good life. But Rachel and I hopefully will continue. to regale you with fun tales. We've got some great guests today. My man, Bruce Feldman, coming up, top of second hour. He's going to talk Ohio State against Texas in what should be a phenomenal game on Saturday. And then we got

Brian Billick, former Ravens head coach. I'm sure he's going to love the Lamar Jackson questions. Kennedy win a playoff game that matters, the usual stuff. Listen, we have a great show today, and I'm going to start by talking about a list. And as a guy who ran a website for close to a decade, I know a good list. Give me a mock draft, right? There's a good list for you. Top sports movies of all time. Everybody loves a list.

It gets people going. It gets them fired up. It gets the engagement going, right? So we had a couple dueling lists this week about the NFL, and wouldn't you know it? My main man, Jalen Hertz, was disrespected on both of them. Okay? the Super Bowl MVP, who was phenomenal in throttling Kansas City. Scored three touchdowns in that game.

I know the defense had won, and Mahomes was on his back most of the night. Travis Kelsey was on a milk carton, but Jalen Hertz, let's remember, was outstanding in that game. And on these lists that emerged this week, one of them over at ESPN, their top 100. They claim it is based on expectations for the 2025 season. Whatever that is. Maybe they broke out the crystal ball. predicting potential greatness. So Patrick Mahomes is at the top of that list.

He's coming off the worst season of his career, but sure, Patrick Mahomes won. I don't think anybody has beef. But Jalen Hertz checked in at 38? What? That's, folks, six spots lower than he was last year. So he has a great year. And as the article notes, he had 15 touchdown passes and 10 rushing touchdowns or more, right? For the fourth straight season.

nobody's ever done that in NFL history. Josh Allen is working on two. Okay? That's how good Jalen Hertz has been. Folks, the fact that he's 38 on this list, it annoyed me a little bit, and then you go into Eagles' message boards. I spent like eight minutes that I cannot have back on Eagles' message boards.

They're really angry about this. But the disrespect of Hertz, I think I have an answer as to why. But I'm looking at this list. And I see some guys that are on there, okay. You know, Derek Stingley, and we're going to bring him up twice. it's not a knock. He's a really good cornerback.

Better than Jalen Hertz? A quarterback? I mean, folks, Hertz has been to now two Super Bowls already. He's, I think, the best dual threat quarterback the league has ever seen. And if you want to go Lamar Jackson, I'm not going to fight you, okay? I get it. Lamar's got an MVP.

But Jalen Hertz has the single most unstoppable move in professional football. And that's short yardage. You can have the Lamar Jackson highlights, but give me the Jalen Hertz automatic one-yard carry for the first down every time he needs it. I mean, goal-line situations. Just go ask Josh Allen if he could use that, right? It failed miserably against Kansas City. So that's one list where Hertz was disrespected.

Then comes the NFL NFL.com list where they haven't actually announced number one that's coming on September 1. But wouldn't you know it? Jalen Hertz checks in at 19 on that list, best players in the NFL. NFL behind Derek Stingley. Derek Stingley, you better have a good season in Houston. Now, he's ahead of Jaden Daniels on the list, but he's only 18th. So just a reminder, Super Bowl MVP, he's done historic stuff on the ground and through the air the last four years, and he's not even a top 10 player.

I look at movies. I love going to the movies, love watching movies, love rewatching movies. You win an Oscar? It doesn't get any better than that in movies. TV, you win an Emmy, you're at the top of your game. In the NFL where the Super Bowl is the most watched television event every single year, you could be the MVP of the game, the best player in the game, and it doesn't even crack top 10 in the NFL in the next season.

I tried to figure out why that is, and I'm drilling down, I'm drilling down, and somebody said something smart in our meeting every morning. Somebody said something smart, but he's boring. And that's, I keep coming back to it. It's like, okay, Jalen Hertz carries a briefcase to games. He does not offer any bulletin board material for folks. You know, Josh Allen had, I think, the single two greatest plays in the NFL last year that touchdown run against the Chiefs to seal the victory in the regular season.

And then he had the hook and ladder in the snow with phenomenal touchdown. And Jalen Hurts doesn't have those. He'll have like a 20-yard scramble that's fun. And he'll have a million brotherly shoves. but that's not sexy. Lamar Jackson dancing, running for his life. That's fascinating. Patrick Mahomes, unbelievable throws down the field. Hurtz doesn't have that. He's not swagged out. You know, he shows up with a business suit on and the briefcase. Meanwhile, you've got Joe Burrow walking the runway in Paris wearing wacky outfits that, oh man, that's going to go viral. Look what Joe Verro's wearing.

And Hurtz is just boring and dull. And that doesn't register on these lists. It's so weird how disrespected not only hurts is but the eagles do you guys remember last year's uh offseason tune can the chiefs three p that was the big storyline all off all the chiefs they're a juggernaut they got a three p have you heard anything about the eagles running it back i look guys they're returning ten of eleven starters on offense okay on that top 100 list for esp and they had the most players on the list with 10 sayquan barclay yeah back healthy Why aren't we talking about Eagles building a potential dynasty? If you want a fun exercise,

pro football focus lists the age of all the players and their grades. The Eagles have to have the most amount of best young players in the league. They are stacked because they draft really well. They've got a potential dynasty and nobody's talking about the Eagles running it back. I hear a lot of, this is finally the year for the Lions. Or, boy, the Rams. Cowherd loves the Rams. Matt Stafford, they add Devante Adams.

Everybody's all excited because they added a wide receiver. Okay, nice move. I think we're sleeping on the Eagles who are in as good of shape to build something real spicy in Philly as we've seen since the Kansas City Chiefs. Now let's move on to a quarterback we know a little less about, and that's Arch Manning. Obviously the huge Texas Ohio State game Saturday here on Fox. Going to kick off the season with, I don't know, probably one of the most. most anticipated games we've seen in college football in a while because it's really the hard launch of Arch Manning. And I said something on the show yesterday that I didn't even realize at

the time it was mildly controversial, but I got a text from a buddy who graduated from Texas and he's on text chains. Can you believe Jay Max asking this? And I asked our guest, Jeff Schwartz, I said, you know, is Archmanning good? Do we know if he's good? Here's what Jeff Schwartz said about that. I don't think we know if he's good yet, and that's okay. He's thrown 100 passes in college football. There are certainly people that evaluate quarterbacks. You think he's very good, and they are the traits there that he has shown at certain times that are high-level traits. He has made big throws.

He's made big runs. They put him into games in situations where you think to yourself, maybe I'm surprised he's in that spell. He's shown those abilities. Now, of course, it's different when teams have watched film on you all year, when teams have seen you play four or five, six games, when you're on the road with new offensive linemen, the potential's all there. I think it's too early to say yes or no.

People already mocking him to beat the top of the job. I know it's not to be all end all, but there's certainly a lot of talent there. He has to live up to it now when he gets to play on Saturday. Yeah, so essentially what Jeff is saying is, we don't know if Archmanageman. It's fun to mock him, number one, because, you know, Peyton and Eli and the family,

the football's first family, if you will, we just don't know. And during that interview with Schwartz, I said, Jeff, I'm looking at the box score from the SEC championship game and then the playoff games against Clems Center in Ohio State. Arch through zero passes. None. He carried five times for 13 yards. I know they love Quinn Ewers. And Quinn Ewers was a really good college football quarterback.

He also was drafted in the seventh round if you're keeping track. If Arch is so good, you couldn't have put in a passing package for the guy? The defense knows, oh, he is a running quarterback. So maybe throw in a wrinkle? And all these highlights, you see, again, it's against like UTSA, Colorado State. I don't want to say they're hiding Arch, but I do have some mild concerns. Well, what are we waiting for here? Now, on some level, I respect that the Texas folks and the Manning family has decided,

you know what, we're going to do things differently. Everybody wants to play now. Everybody wants their NIL money now. True freshman, they want to play immediately. If you're not playing me, I'm out. Right? I get this question every year around April, May, from a college kids who are going to be graduating,

and they send me messages on Instagram. Hey, Jay Mack, man, you have the best job ever. I'm not lying, I kind of do. How do I get where you are, but faster? How do I get there like soon? like on TV talking about sports. And I'm like, yeah, it took me 20 years to be an overnight success. So good luck, just instantly jumping into talking about sports on TV.

And they don't seem to get it. Everybody wants it now. And of course, college freshmen, they want it now. The Manning family a little bit different. They said, you know what, we're old school. We're not going to rush into anything. This is his third year on campus. Like he's been there for a while.

Remember, Trevor Lawrence came to Clemson, starting as a true freshman, was awesome. I don't know if I'm not taking a shot at the kid. I just don't know. Could he be great? Yeah, he certainly could. Do I hope he's interesting? Hell yeah. College football could use it. Here's Arch Manning yesterday on Texas being everyone's target. I think that's all of us at Texas and I think we kind of try to shift the narrative. We're going for everyone else. Target's not on our bat. We have the red dot on everyone else. This is what I've been waiting for. I spent two years not playing so might as well go have some fun, right? I always have to remind myself, it's not all about me, it's the whole team. And,

you know, we got to play the situations well, not give them short fields and take care of the ball. So it's going to be a fun. He's saying all the right things. And again, I'm fascinated by this. I cannot wait to watch. I just, part of me wonders, and the part of me that wonders is the gambling part. Again, I was in Vegas last week. I did lay it. I think Ohio State smashes them this weekend. Now, the line's going the wrong way against me, so that's not great. But I think a lot of that is Texas hype and people are excited for Arch.

Like someone said yesterday, he is the favorite to win the Heisman. They're the number one team in the country, and they're one of the favorites to win the national championship. That is a lot of pressure on a guy who's been on campus for three years and has barely played football. He's thrown on, I just looked this up, a total of 90s. 95 passes in two seasons. Oh, man, little nervous for Arch Manning, but it should be a great game Saturday on Fox. And oh, by the way, if you don't think this is a massive game,

take a look at what's outside the studios here at Fox in Los Angeles ahead of Texas, Ohio State. That is a billboard. That's probably the size of like five cars. I mean, it's massive. And it's hyping a game that's happening in Ohio. Ohio Saturday. This is in Los Angeles.

So listen, folks, I know Rachel's excited about this game. I certainly am fired up because we've been hearing about Arch Manning for a while. I'm a little nervous for the kid, Ray. I think it's my guess is it goes sideways. They lose about 34, 13 or something. And then the pressure's off Arch and he rebounds. His next three games are cupcakes. But your early read on Arch, how do you think he'll fare this weekend?

Well, look, I think what you're saying about them playing the long game, of family is the thing you have to remember even week to week, even this Saturday, even the next week, even the next week. They see this, look at the careers that Peyton had. Look at the career that Eli had. They see this as a decade and a half longer project, right? So one game this weekend, one more year at Texas. There's been talk of him staying not just this season, but next season at Texas. I mean, the family has said that. So they are looking at this as the longest of long games. I think if this weekend doesn't go the way that he would like it to go, and I agree with you, I think, you know, no team has gone into Ohio State and won since 2021, if your name is not the Michigan Wolverines, that's it. Nobody else has done it. So I don't see Texas pulling it off this weekend for all of the reasons we've been talking about for the last week or so. But again, to this family, this is not, this is just like a pittance, right? They are looking at this as a multi-duty. decade plus project. And so

you're seeing this tiny, tiny steps of progression and that's on purpose. Yeah, you got to walk before you can run, I think they say. All right, coming up next, we're going to stay in Ohio because there was a big trade. I find it wasn't big. But we

kind of sort of predicted it here yesterday. The Browns make a move. That's good news for Shedur Sanders. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd. Weekdays and noon Eastern, 9 a.m. on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Hey, is Steve Kavino.

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

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

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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. 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. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action 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 Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Back here on the herd. We've got James Palmer, NFL Insider. He's with the Athletic as well in the Scoop City podcast.

He's coming up at about 20 minutes. So we did see a trade in the NFL yesterday after the show. I mean, hell, we almost predicted it perfectly. Just a wrong player. The Cleveland Browns shipped Kenny Pickett FedEx to the Raiders in Vegas. He will now be the backup to Gino Smith, because Aiden O'Connell fractured his wrist. He's out six to eight weeks.

Let me just quickly give you the back story on Kenny Pickett before I break this down. Do you guys remember Kenny Pickett at Pittsburgh? I don't think many of you do. Nondescript career. So for four years, he did absolutely nothing. I mean, he was like a starter, but he was middling. He topped out at 13 touchdown passes in a season. So the COVID year, was his senior year, kind of wrecked it.

He was able to come back as I believe a 24th. year old super senior. And he went nuclear. He had 42 touchdown passes. 4,000 yards. It was like, who is this guy? And all of a sudden, Kenny Pickett rises up draft boards and goes in the first round.

He was throwing to Jordan Addison, who's now in Minnesota. So, you know, that was like his highlight, Kenny Pickett in college. But he was basically a one-year wonder. And there is some data that shows, be careful with these one-year wonders. So Kenny Pickett pretty quickly. flames out in Pittsburgh. He's now traded for the third time. He goes to the Raiders. I think Gino Smith is sleeping fine. He's not worried about anything. How this impacts the Browns is interesting. So they signed Pickett months ago in hopes that he could maybe be the starter. Or did they sign

him thinking, oh, we can flip this guy and get draft picks? They really evened out based on their trade. But the whole picket thing makes sense for one guy. And that's Shadour Sanders. He no longer needs to be the fourth guy on the depth chart, okay? Although he could get bumped there if Deshaun Watson comes back from the Achilles. And this is good news for Shadour, right? Here's Mary Kay Cabot yesterday talking to us about what this situation is in Cleveland. Basically what's happening here is they have two really good young quarterbacks that they're excited about and that they want to develop. As they look into next year's draft, they have two first round picks and they have to find out, do they have a potential franchise quarterback on their roster as they head into that 26th draft? So they want to

develop these guys. They want to see what they have. And who knows, they could end up with Dylan Gabriel, Shador Sanders, and then another rookie next year. So they like what they see in Shador, they like what they see in Dylan Gabriel, and they want to move forward with both of these guys. So they traded, sorry, traded for Kenny Pickett. They didn't sign him. I mean, they actually gave up an asset for Kenny Pickett. And now they're getting one in return. So like, you know, maybe they're playing some kind of chess and not checkers in the front office.

I don't totally know, but I do know this. It's good news for Shador. And I think it fast-tracked Dylan Gabriel to start probably half a dozen games for the Browns this year. Folks, let's just remember Joe Flacco was a starter. He's also 40 years old. Two years ago, at this time, Joe Flacco was raking leaves and picking his kids up from school. That's what he was doing. He got signed by the Browns in November of 23 as like a Hail Mary.

We need somebody because everybody's hurt. And Flacco goes on this magical run and they get to the playoffs. Well, they returned to Earth a little bit last year and went three and 14. Flacco ain't long for the Brown's starting job. So Dylan Gabriel's going to get his crack. And you know Stifansky likes him. Albert Breer was on here like two months ago saying, how the quick release, the processing is exceptional from Dylan Gabriel.

Shadur, hey man, you're going to need to catch a break, but we all need a break at some point. Remember, Tom Brady famously was a backup to Drew Bledsoe. Drew Bledsoe was not going anywhere. He was a star. Meanwhile, Bledso gets knocked out by Mo Lewis of my Jets to enter Tom Brady and the rest is history. So maybe Chadour catches a break at some point. He's going to get his shot probably late in the season when they're going to. going nowhere. Let's go to Rachel Nichols

with the news. No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Jason, let's talk a little bills. They're looking to break through this season and finally get past the Chiefs to make their first Super Bowl appearance in the Josh Allen era. Friend of the show,

Dionne Dawkins, made an appearance on the all-new three-hour edition of First Things First yesterday. Let me say that again. Three hours. Catch it this afternoon. He broke down what they have to do to cross the Super Bowl threshold. We want to win the Super Bowl. We are going to win the Super Bowl when we are putting our best foot forward every single year.

And sometimes we might just need heavier gloves. Who knows? Who knows? I think Super Bowl or Buzz, whatever you want to say, the bills need to cross that threshold. We need to cross that threshold. And we will. We will. All right.

pull off big things? Ooh, well done. Can he pull off getting to and winning a Super Bowl anytime soon? Yeah, I think they do win the Super Bowl this year, although I keep seeing all this Ravens hype. We talked a little bit about it yesterday. You know, Alan, he doesn't have the supporting cast that Lamar has, I don't think. Especially defensively.

That defensive unit has trouble, especially in the secondary. And if you're like, hey, Josh Allen can be Superman again, all right. you know, that's a big, a lot of wear and tear on that body. It's going to be tough, man. We saw Dan Marino mentioned he yesterday. Got to one Super Bowl, never got back. I don't think Philip Rivers ever got to a Super Bowl. Matt Ryan was close in the 283 loss.

Like, it's difficult. But yeah, I think Josh Allen, if I had to ask you over under one and a half Super Bowl appearances for Josh Allen in his career. I'm going over because he's not that old. Yeah, he, that's not. But he's got to fight through Mahomes and Lamar for the end. You're assuming, and by the way, I'm not trying to trade Josh Allen off the bills, but life is long. We've seen these guys.

He might not always play for the bills. So we'll see. You know, teams go up and down. We'll find out. I think he's young. He's got a lot of, I mean, he's so good, Jason. And by the way, the Bills and the Ravens, their odds are tied to when they're the first. And they play week one, I believe.

I hope I didn't butcher that. They definitely play this season. Yeah, for sure. Absolutely. All right, let's talk a little Rams out here in L.A. Matthew Stafford, been dealing with that back issue off all season. But he returned to practice last week and has been a full participant ahead of their week one matchup against the Texans. Then continue to tread positively. Sean McBay provided an update yesterday. Take a listen. I can't see into the future, but I certainly, you know, if you look at what the last week is entailed, feel really good.

And there's nothing that would lead me to believe unless we have an unforeseen setback that he's not going to be ready to roll against the Texans. Well, I'm glad to know that he's debating whether he can see into the future. That might help you out of Vegas next year. What do you think of Matthew Stafford going into this season? Because it's one thing to be ready for week one. His health has to hold up the whole season. That's tough. Now, I'm looking at the offensive line, it seems like everybody's healthy for them,

which is a really good sign. No, they've got an issue at left tackle. Oh, that's not great. The guy protecting him, yeah. Oh. So he's got blood clot problems. He had them before. he was able to come back from them, but it took a long time.

These were identified at the beginning of the summer. He is going to start to ramp up this week into more regular practicing, but they have to wait and see how Jackson's blood clods sort of react to all this regular practice. I think it'll be huge. If they don't start with the guy protecting his blindside, you know, they have to go second string on that. That could be tougher. Yeah.

I think Stafford's still one of the elite quarterbacks. Quick release, big arm. He's tough. As long as the line holds up, I think they're in great shape. And I mean, Devante and Puka, are they essentially Jamar Chase and T. Higgins? No, I mean, he's taken more hits than I think anyone in his current quarterback in his NFL career, so he knows how to take a hit. But those hits, you know, they add up.

There's no such thing as a minor back injury. Anyone who's had a back injury will tell you that, you know, it could flare up at any time. It doesn't ever actually go away. You know, so you can get into your legion. late 30s. It's a little harder to get out of bed in the morning. No back injuries yet. I'm curious, how do you see that division shaking out? Because Coward was pushing Seattle winning it. I'm not feeling that at all, but who do you have one, two, three? I mean, look, I think that the Rams in San Francisco are sort of co-leaders there.

People are bullish on Seattle in a surprising way. I saw a lot of projections at the beginning of the offseason putting them forth. And I feel like through training camp, people have sort of drop them up a little bit, but we'll have to see. I don't know if I'm with Colin on that one. That feels like. I think Rams are in good shape. Remember, that Eagles playoff game, that was close. Stafford driving.

Extremely close. You know, yeah, that was, I think the toughest test for the Eagles in the playoffs. Yeah. And Hertz was not great in that one. I'll admit, he was not great. Stafford was good in the comeback, but a little too late. All right, let's talk about another aging quarterback. 41-year-old Aaron Rogers, your favorite,

potentially entering his final season, and we'll get a shot at his former team. in week one. Despite the opportunity to stick it to the Jets, Rogers is downplaying the matchup. Probably nowhere near where it might be made out. A lot has changed over there, you know, coaching staff-wise, player-wise. Obviously, I have friendships over there, but it's one game out of 17 and, you know, at 5 o'clock Eastern, you know, that's a, you know, that's a Sunday, it's only getting me on to the next game. So that's just the way it is. The most monotone answer in the history of professional football.

I do want to point out, Jason, that at the beginning of the offseason, so just a few months ago, Aaron Rogers blasted the Jets. Yes. For the way that they let go of him, that he said, oh, they made me fly across the country. I expected the four-hour meeting. It was in and out. This could have been a phone call. Do you buy it that he doesn't care?

No, definitely. I think he cares deeply, but I think you're on to something. I think the Jets are going to be coming after him. They know he can't. He's a statue. And I do, because Aaron Glenn is the one who, was it Aaron? I'm trying to think of what went down with that meeting with Rogers. They basically did make him fly across the country.

They made him fly across the country. He said he expected it to be sort of an all day of meetings. And I think he was in and out. I mean, he didn't say the amount of minutes, but he certainly made it sound like it was a 25 minute meeting. And I think Glenn was chiefly in. that and making the decision. And I think, yeah, my guess is Aaron Glenn

they're going to lay the lumber to, and I'm looking at the offensive line for Pittsburgh. It's not great. No. No. By the way, your Jets are an underdog in that game. They are. At home.

So last year, I bet the Steelers in the opener, I think it was last year, against the Niners, wherever they opened. I was feeling great about the Steelers. Mike Tomlin, and they got smashed. I think if I had to bet this, I would go Jets in this one, getting two and a half at home. Where do you leave?

I think so for all the reasons you've said. And also, let's not forget, this is a revenge game for Justin Fields also. Yes. Again, Pittsburgh. Yeah. So, I'm talking about motivation. Double revenge game. Oh, the NFL is just so crafty. They're so good with the schedule, right? Yeah, great stuff. All right, Rachel Nichols with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Lie News. The NFL news is coming fast and furious. So Terry McLaurin got a new deal. yesterday. Then Trey Hendrickson got one. We're waiting for one guy.

Micah Parsons? That's 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, name? 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. We're starting a trend. But this one's

extra special. So how did 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. 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 I 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 Smigel 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.

Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice. radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slico 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 Levin this went 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. Back here on the herd, let's welcome in James Palmer, NFL analyst, NFL reporter, NFL insider.

He does it all. He has recently joined the Scoop City podcast at The Athletic. And oh, by the way, James is an Ohio State guy. I got to start talking about the big game Saturday. on Fox, James. Are you nervous, excited? Or you think they're going to just mall archmanning? What do you got? I'm excited. I'm terrified. I remember the last time this game happened in the shoe guys. I was a student at Ohio State. I separated my shoulder pregame during an incident tailgating. I don't want to talk about it, but it involved, you know, did it involve, you know,

the game Donkey Kong of throwing kegs down the stairs and you got to jump over them? Possibly. But I watched the entire game holding my left arm to my chest. and watching us lose at the shoe. It's something that still is, you know, hasn't stuck with me, has it? No, I think we're a really good team. I'm excited to see some of the younger guys. I'm excited to see what saying can do, obviously. I mean, it's a difficult spot to come into for your first start,

but, I mean, they play these games for a reason at the shoe, and I'm excited for another one. I might as well ask while we're on it. Arch Manning, as a pro prospect, you talk to a lot of front offices, scouts, decision makers. I know it's early. Are we going overboard with this? Hey, Archmanning, first round, first pick overall in 26 or 27.

Yeah, I mean, I think that's what we do, right? We do go overboard when you look at the pedigree he's coming from, and people say he's Eli and Peyton and a combination of the two, oh, but a better athlete than both of them like his dad. Of course, the hype's going to be there. But I do think you look at the family, like I mentioned, and all signs would probably point to him staying. Now, we'll see how the season goes, right?

If they win a national championship, he plays out of his mind, and the Saints end up with the number one pick, maybe, you know, there's a greater chance of him coming out than not. But I do think, you know, there's a small sample size, which we've seen. Obviously, some of the hype is definitely warranted, but I think he's wired exactly the right way to where this is not going to bother him in any sense. And I think that's the most important part. You know, a lot of times we hype a lot of these players at the collegiate level with small sample sizes.

We're looking at, you know, Anthony Richardson, what's going on in Indy there with such a small sample size. Let's see him play. I think you'll handle it the right way. And if you talk to NFL evaluators, a lot of them, now if they're picking at the top of the draft, it might be different next year, but they're going to say, we want these guys to stay.

We want guys to stay. That's something I hear around the league a lot is, look at the starts Jaden Daniels had, look at the starts that Bo Nix had, and look at the early success. Hey, stay, make some money in college. You can do it now. But if you're picking towards the top of the draft,

the sentiment might be a little different with Archman coming out. Yeah. All right, let's go to the NFL. Obviously, a lot of news to cover, but you just mentioned, Anthony Richardson, he clearly came out too early. I had heard he was getting advice from potential agents. Hey, man, stay in school.

You could be the number one pick the next year. He's like, now I've got to get that money. It's kind of a disaster. Do you think that the Colts would actually trade him? Because I did see someone speculating, hey, he could be the next Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback. Yeah, I think there's two things that happen in the NFL pretty regularly. One, we learn over and over again developmenting quarterbacks

at the NFL level right out of the gate is very difficult, right? That's why certain coaches that have been in this league or in the sea for a long time like Gary Kubiak will stand, you know, from the highest mountain and say you've got to sit them and you got to sit them for a year. There's still people in the league that do believe that, and that's because developing quarterbacks, you know, in-game is tough, specifically with the small sample size that Anthony Richardson had. But I also think the other part that teams are so fearful of

is letting a guy go and watching him go have success in another uniform. And obviously the talent is real. he's unbelievably raw. He's still very, very young and still very inexperienced. I think Chris Ballard, who, you know, they're in year nine now, I think, in Indianapolis. He has to be looking going, I made that, you know, I was a big part of this pick. I've been a big part of what's going right and wrong here. The last thing I want to do is make the decision that he leaves and gets developed somewhere else.

Because what is every coach think they can do? Wait till I get my hands on him, right? Like, wait until he comes here and then he can really. And so from my understanding is I don't think they have any interest in trading or releasing him right now. They'd like to see him sit behind, you know, Daniel Jones and learn and grow some more. I think Shane Steichen was very clear with there's been strides for sure, changed his diet, changed his footwork, you know. But the preparation, the understanding of the operation, all those things need to get better. And I think they'd prefer to have that happen in a cult uniform.

All right. Let's go to the big news yesterday. Kenny Pickett gets traded, clearing, clearing the runway for Shaddu. Sanders to be third on the depth chart. Yeah. I'm sure James you're as sick of it as everybody talking about a fifth round pick who probably won't see the field for, I don't know, at least two months with the Browns. But I'm curious, your takeaway with the picket move and Cleveland, you know, they seem still like a bit of a disaster. Yeah, I mean, you ask around the league, they'll say they put

themselves in this situation, right? I mean, this is what they did to themselves. Now, I do think Kevin Safancy can handle it. I do. I think the world of him as a coach and a developer. What the departure of Kenny Pickett does, in my opinion, is Dylan Gabriel's closer to being ready to be one snap away week one than maybe we've got to thought of the start of camp. That was a big part of Keating Pickett that was right enough that something happens for a four-year-old quarterback in the first part of the season. Uh-oh, looks like some technical difficulties with James. Hopefully we can get it back. But, you know, he did make a good point that the Browns, you know, this Kenny Pickett

move does clear the runway. Listen, Dylan Gabriel is essentially Bo Nicks minus four inches, right? Isn't that what he is? A guy who stayed for a long time in college can thrive in a quick read and react offense. And Dylan Gabriel essentially could be the starter by, I don't know, the end of the month. Nobody expects Flacco to stay long. It sounds like including James. So hopefully we can get him back and finish the interview. But I did also like his answer about Anthony Richardson. Because I'm going to be real. I thought Richardson would have been the starter this year.

But pretty clearly, he did nothing whatsoever to inspire the Colts staff. And they pulled the plug quickly. Now I was out of town when I saw, I got this. But like Anthony Richardson, I'm a guy who plays a lot of fantasy football. He's a fantasy goldmine. Daniel Jones is not the same. And, you know, Anthony Richardson's kind of one of those boom or bust quarterbacks. It's just the quarterback situation around the league, you know, there's about 20 good ones,

10 elite, you know, four or five superstars, 10 elite, and then you got like 20 good ones. After that, you've got like a poo-poo platter of guys who are just going to be cycling around. Like no disrespect to Gino Smith, but you're in that bottom 12, you know. Daniel Jones, you're in that bottom 12. Cleveland, New Orleans, my jets. Like, have you seen the latest Justin Fields? clip going around the internet. Jets fans are pulling all of his misses in preseason and practice. That's where the Jets are.

So, like, there's at least 12 teams that are going to be in the quarterback market, whether it's Arch Manning or you do the cycle where it's like, hey, let me take a chance on this guy who flopped his first time around, i.e. Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, although he did win a playoff game with the Browns. But you look down the list of guys in recent years, can he pick it? You know, people forget. He's a Super Bowl champion after being with the Eagles last year. He's on his third team in three years.

He was a first round pick who's now bouncing around. And you just look around the league at the quarterback position. And it's just, it's not a great situation. I think Bo Nix has clearly established himself as one of the top 20 guys. And that's only off one season. You have your elite, your Jane Daniels, you know, C.J. Stroud, those types. I still have Trevor Lawrence. I don't know if the masses are in agreement.

But real quick, I want to go back to one quote. Mary Kay Cabot yesterday talked about the Shador versus Dylan Gabriel Battle. Basically, what's happening here is they have two really good young quarterbacks that they're excited about and that they want to develop. As they look into next year's draft, they have two first round picks, and they have to find out, do they have a potential franchise quarterback on their roster as they head into that 26th draft? So they want to develop these guys. they want to see what they have. And who knows, they could end up with Dylan Gabriel, Shador, Sanders, and then another rookie next year.

So they like what they see in Shador. They like what they see in Dylan Gabriel. And they want to move forward with both of these guys. Yeah. It's interesting, Rachel, the draft that just went down, it was clear Cam Ward was going to be a guy. And then it was like, we don't know who's going to go second. Some of the betting markets were all over the place.

And Jackson Dart was a surprise. And that's, does that not speak to the desperation in this league to find a quarterback? I mean, there's so many teams who are like, please let Arch hit. Please let him be good so he can come out and be our guy for the next 10 to 15 years. I think part of the thing is you just don't know. I think it speaks to the fact that what a guy does in college, Richardson you were just talking about, doesn't necessarily spell what he's going to do in the NFL. So you're a little bit, excuse the pun, you know, thrown in a dartboard to sort of figure out,

can this solve our problem? I think what you're seeing now more is that teams like the Giants who have had a quarterback problem for quite some time now, teams like the Browns who've had a quarterback problem for 26 years now, that those teams are sort of going all in. And the reason why we thought that the Browns might keep four quarterbacks is because they've had such a problem in the quarterback room. And even now with this decision with Pickett, I saw this trade as basically them saying, we know we're not going to be very good this year. We know we're going to end up with a high draft position. So let's figure out what we have in Dylan Gabriel and Chodor Sanders and see if in the 2026 draft, which is very quarterback rich, whether we need to go again

and take another crack at it. You got the kid from Clemson, you got the kid from LSU, you got the kid from South Carolina. There's a bunch of prospects there. Yeah. I mean, even looking around the league, I mean, if I said Kyler Marie to you, right? You think he's a franchise quarterback? He got paid. What if they win five or six games? Do the Cardinals, reboot the coaching staff, and do they say, this is not our guy? Can we get rid of Kyler? And the tougher one might be Tua in Miami. Because the concussions, obviously.

Mike McDaniel, I think he's one of the hottest seats in the league. Like, is Tua the starting quarterback in Miami in 2026? I don't know. Can he play a full season? That's another good question. And so, like, if you have these questions about your quarterback, like, okay, Baker Mayfield, I get it. Michael Pennick's in Atlanta.

Like, we think, you know, he showed flashes for three games. Yeah. He's got to get a look this year, but probably get a two-year leash at least, right? But you look around the league and it's like quarterback is so tough to identify. It's obviously also, you know, it's not just the premier position. It's like such an imbalance. It's not just the most important. It's the most important by this much.

So really, as your quarterback goes, your team goes. And I always say when you're talking about firing coaches or switching quarterbacks, it's not should we get rid of this guy. It's who else can we get and is that person better than the guy we have? Because teams that just are like, yeah, throw this quarterback away, can you get someone better? Well, that was the Brock Purdy question. Do you keep him or get someone better?

And I go back, you know the NBA well. So Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum for years kept Portland relevant. They were in the playoffs every year. They win the first round. Maybe one year they'll make the conference finals, but you're in the playoffs. Eventually, they said, that's not a high enough ceiling for us. let's move off CJ.

It went downhill. Let's move off Dane. Where's Portland? They are totally lost. And that's why, like, the Kyler situation, the Tua, I don't know if it's, let's just stay with Tua. We'll be competitive. Maybe make the playoffs.

If we're super lucky, we win a playoff game. But what's the alternative? Exactly. Remember when they got rid of Dan Marino or Dan Marino left? Yeah. Like, they had nobody for like 20 years. It's very difficult. And that's why I think you're right.

The Brown's just taking bites at the apple. Maybe Dylan Gabriel's our guy. It just makes more sense to look at the two young guys than to have Kenny Pickett, which is to your point, you know what you're going to get. So why not have the two young guys duke it out this season? And then you can see if you need to go into that draft again in 2026 for a QB. Yeah, even the Jets with Justin Fields. It was like, you know, he was decent in Chicago.

He was okay in Pittsburgh for a handful of games. Can he be the guy in New York? I'm going to guess no. but I guess anything is got maybe Justin Fields gets the Jets to nine wins. Does that get him a contract? Because you know he's not the long-term answer. No, but I mean so much of it is situational too. Yeah.

Right? What's the team around you like? How good is the defense? What is your strength of schedule that year? That all factors into whether we think that's the guy or not. Gero Wilson getting nervous. All right. Coming up next year on the herd, there's only really four teams that can win the Super Bowl this year.

We're unveiling Super Bowl tiers. That's next year on the herd. 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.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care. you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and

friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you. get your podcasts. Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Kunky, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called the 1021 podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines ahead of the big tournament here in the USA. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the IHRour Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, and on my new podcast, How Hard Can It Be?

I call on my Gen X squad from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. Unfiltered conversations from night sweats to futas to scheduling sex. Wait, what sex? Is it just me or does every woman my age want to look at Pinterest instead of having sex sometimes? They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. so let's get blunt with laughs, tears or tears of laughter. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Tiana Maria Riva on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.