The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 1 - Ravens are out of the Super Bowl Bubble, Lamar Jackson's contract, the Chiefs offseason plans

Episode Date: February 26, 2026

Colin Cowherd is officially taking the Ravens out of the Super Bowl Bubble of contenders going forward after the latest reports about Lamar Jackson’s contract demands and why this will hold them back from their postseason aspirations. Colin looks at the Chiefs offseason plans to rebuild around Patrick Mahomes after missing the playoffs for the first time since 2014See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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We are live. We are in Chicago, and it's the herd. Wherever you may be, and however, you may be listening or watching. Thanks for making us part of your day. One hour from now, I'll be introducing some futuristic new technology that I'm really excited about. But I first saw about 9, 10, 11 months ago, and it was, freaked me out. and now you can consume it. I'll introduce that in one hour.

So it's the Combine Week, and a lot of business deals get done. And one of the business deals getting talked about is Lamar Jackson's new contract. It's just remarkable to me, and I've always been a huge Ravens fan and a big Lamar supporter. But just to give you an idea,

I said yesterday, the Ravens are done being a Super Bowl bubble team. There's no possible way with what they're going to pay him. So his current cap hit is $74 million. Let me give you an example of what that pays for in Seattle, the Super Bowl champs. That would pay for Sam Darnold, J.S.N. Devin Witherspoon, Nick Oman Worry the Safety, Gray Zabel, and Demarchus Lawrence. And you'd still have $3 million left over to buy every Seattle Seacca Lifetime Starbucks card.

the Ravens are out of the Super Bowl discussion with this new contract. And they have to theoretically, they also have to pay their all-world center, probably the second best center in football, which sort of matters for a quarterback. So whenever I hear these fans say, it's such a moronic thing to say, give blank star the bag and you celebrate it. Well, I'm glad the player gets rich, but you want to know what wins in the NFL? depth and flexibility like Seattle. Team friendly quarterback deals like right now Chicago or Denver or Seattle or New England.

The four highest paid quarterbacks, the last four seasons. Aaron Rogers, Joe Burrow, and Dak Prescott twice. All missed the playoffs. And I've always been a big fan of Lamar Jackson, but between his mom acting as his agent, his refusal to do off-season camps, the mystery injuries, and let's be honest, the need to be the highest paid quarterback. That's the thing he wants to be. It's starting to feel like, honestly, a little Kauai Leonard, where you're like,

Mercurial, mystery, family to involve maybe. And then there's the stories about him falling asleep during meetings because he's playing late night video games, which was reported by somebody from the Baltimore son who covers the team. So somebody leaked that out. Somebody in the organization leaked that out and I have a hard time believing a person who covers a team just want to do alienate everybody and make stuff up. Of course, the Ravens and Lamar deny it. But, you know, one of the things that's true, somebody in the last week listening or watching this show has been fired. Never forget, Walt Disney was fired, Oprah was fired, Steve Jobs was fired.

It's not the end of the world. One door closes as they say another one opens up. But Jim Harbaugh was shown the door in San Francisco. Things have worked out pretty well. John Harbaugh was shown the door in Baltimore. And next year, Lamar Jackson will have a cap hit that is 20 times higher than Jackson Dard of the Giants. And I'm starting to think when I hear about this new contract situation with Lamar and Linderbaum

is that John Harbaugh escape a potential mess for the next several years. $74 million buys you six Seahawks and three million left over. Eric DeCosta at the Combine talking about the negotiations with Lamar. Lamar and I have an agreement. We handle business kind of in-house internally. As you all know, that worked well for us the last time. And we will continue to have that policy moving forward. I have spoken to Lamar about a lot of different things over the last month.

He's been very engaged. as I said, he was a big value to us in a coaching search. But we'll continue those conversations moving forward. All right. So the Lakers have been a topic this week, Rachel Nichols, in a little over an hour. Because Luca, as I said yesterday, the red carpet, the Lakers rolled out for Luca. They had no idea. It was made of red flags.

That he remains in average to below average condition. he no longer really attacks the basket with regularity and finishes at the rim, settles for a lot of okay jump shots, and he doesn't play a lick of defense. And he nonstop complains to the officials, which is really tedious after a while. A lot of technical fouls too. The Lakers yesterday named a former college coach, Tony Bennett, who was at Virginia. That was the school that never scored any points. Smart guy, but he retired early.

they would win like 42 to 38, put everybody to sleep. But I actually, when I looked at the hire, I was like, that's kind of a weird hire. But he's going to be now like helping in their personnel search during the draft. And my take, after thinking about it is, will he sort of be the Brad Stevens to the Celtics? So they brought in Brad Stevens to coach and then GM, and they've done a really good job drafting and developing in Boston since Brad Stevens arrived as a coach and as a coordinator. as a general manager. Because it's weird with the Lakers. The Lakers have always been a transactional franchise.

They did not draft Wilt. They did not draft Kareem or Kobe or Shaq or AD or LeBron or Luca. I mean, you've got to go back to like 1979 in Magic Johnson. And before that, Jerry West, they just don't draft. And with the new CBA with big trades and big sweeping free agent moves are almost impossible. because nobody wants to do the Lakers any favors. And if you look at the best teams right now in the NBA, I would argue it's OKC, San Antonio, and Detroit.

Well, Detroit's four best players, they drafted. OKC's best players, they got Chap Holmgren from tanking, you know, the San Antonio Spurs. It's all draft and develop. And so since Jerry West left, the Lakers don't really draft. And even with Jerry West, it's just not what they do. And with the new CBN, you could say,

well, what about Austin Reeves? You don't get credit for drafting him. He's undrafted. You didn't even draft him and Rob Polenka. You can see him on the screen. Rob is not a scout. Rob was an agent who became a general manager. I'm not saying he's not a sharp guy,

but his schooling in history is not in scouting. For the last six Great Laker players are LeBron, Luca, 80, Shack, Kobe, and Palgasol. It was transactional for all of them. It wasn't draft and develop. And so in the last three times, by the way, the Lakers really haven't shown an ability to draft well. And when they kind of do, they get impatient. A prime example.

They drafted Lonzo Ball, who was all flash. And they could have drafted instead Jason Tatum, who was no flash. They went with the flashy guy. They drafted perpetually skinny Brandon Ingram, and the next pick was Jalen Brown. Yeah. And then they drafted DeAngelo Russell, a historic flake, who hasn't worked anywhere for more than like an hour, and they could have had Devin Booker. So when they draft and do get like really good picks, they've shown no ability to land them. And for the record, they moved off two of those draft picks quickly, that are not terribly patient.

So when I looked at Tony Bennett getting the job, I was like, that's weird. and I'm like, well, Boston went to the college ranks, and it actually turned out great. And I'm not saying that Tony Bennett is Brad Stevens, but I will say this, the Celtics draft really well, really, really well. And the Lakers don't at all. And that's going to be important because, as we've talked about, the NBA now is not a transactional league, and you've got to surround Luca with the right players. Chris Broussard was on it earlier this week. You have to go find athletes, wing defenders, and catch and shoot guys

because Luca plays no defense and has to have the ball in his hands. Here's Bru on Luca. I don't know if he's ever going to win a championship. And it's not because he's not individually good enough. It's because of the way he plays. he is so hard to build around because he's so ball dominant. And we've seen ball dominant players, but ball dominant players that shoot and score a lot are really tough to build around.

Steve Nash, Chris Paul, they're ball dominant, but they were past first guys. Even LeBron, when he was really in his prime and ball dominant, it was a challenge to build around him. So there's where we stand. The Ravens are renegotiating with Lamar. I view that as getting and moving out of the Super Bowl discussion. And the Lakers hire a retired college coach. At first glance, I didn't get it.

Thinking about it, I sort of do. J. Mack, listen, I don't want to give away the house here, but JMAX got a little bouts in his step. Oh, come on. As the New York Jets have made a trade this morning, That's what the combine's about. It's not just seeing guys work out in their underwear. It's actually where everybody goes out all night.

The GMs and the executives make deals during this week. So everybody's getting their trades ready and their free agent signings all in order. That's a great trade for the Jets. We'll talk about it. Quick note, I just looked this up when you were talking about Tony Bennett, you know, to the Lakers and the Lakers botching a bunch of traffic. So Tony Bennett is the guy who got Clay Thompson to go to Washington State back in the day. state.

Okay. Tony Bennett goes to Virginia, recruited Joe Harris, who became an Olympian. Malcolm Brogden, rookie the year. Yeah. Tide Jerome.

He's good at finding diamonds in the rough. Guys that maybe are overlooked or people think, oh, they're slow or not that athletic, and they become great players. I love this Tony Bennett. Moved by the Lakers. How about that?

Lakers doing good things. Front office that you love from the Dodgers paying dividends. Yeah. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.

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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.

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in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jenchian went. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface, Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Look at all sorts of good stuff today. At the top of the hour, introducing a new feature that I think some of you will really like. And it kind of, the first time I saw it, I couldn't quite figure it out. And now it's habit forming, I would say that. The herd brought to you by Credible, the No Bull Zone, sponsored by Credible, great rates, none of the Bull. So the NFL Combine starts today. But really it is a deal-making venture.

And one of the teams that is really in an interesting spot is Kansas City. So they're pivoting as a franchise. So Patrick Mahomes 1.0, 5 Super Bowls, 3 trophies. That's like Brady 1.0 in New England, 5 Super Bowls, 3 trophies. The difference is the second part of the New England run for Brady also delivered four trips and three Super Bowls. And this Kansas City roster does not feel close, too many holes. This Kansas City coach is aging at 68. He does not have seven, eight years left.

This Kansas City team is now in a brutal division. And the division is a really important note here. So for years and years, because the jets, the bills, and the dolphins were overwhelmingly dysfunctional, it allowed the Patriots a first round by, they would stack their record and home field. So basically, didn't have to play in the first round. Well, now you only get one buy per conference. In Kansas City's got to face Herbert and Harbaugh twice in division, Bo Nix and Sean Payton twice in division.

And who knows how good Fernando Mendoza is, but he's going to be better than Gino Smith twice in division. So there was always a great advantage for Brady in this dynasty. And I've said this before. When Nick Sabin dominated the SEC, it was mostly because Georgia and LSU and a lot of the powers couldn't get their act together. When LeBron was getting to the finals every single year, it was mostly because he played in the east.

He couldn't do it in the West. So the reality is the division's harder. There's now only one buy per conference. The roster has holes. Andy Reid's 68. And Mahomes, now he did sign a long-term deal, which makes, like Brady, his contract a little bit more viable for the organization.

They're not trapped with it, like Baltimore is going to be with Lamar Jackson. But, I mean, Brady had the advantage until the bills drafted Josh Allen for a 20 year period, there was one star quarterback in that division. For 20 years, his name was Brady. And then Josh Allen suddenly came into the league and very quickly, remember Bill Belichick's first six or seven times against Josh Allen? He's like, yeah, I can't stop him. The only thing that ever stopped him was like a Nor'easter.

Or I think it was Mack Jones. It may have beaten Josh Allen once. So I, when I, you know, I just, Albert Breers at the combo. and he's talking about what Brett Veach is trying to maneuver around right now in Kansas City. One thing Brett Beech is really good at is looking at this stuff globally. So it's like, and I think this is the way that he's going to view it. I want to do more around Patrick Mahomes. Whether Kelsey's back or not this year, we need to put more premier talent around him.

So like how do you look at it? Do you look at it like we're better off getting a running back in the top 10? 10 and then a receiver and free agency based on what's available, or are we better off doing it the other way around? Yeah, I don't know, I know where JMAQ falls on Kansas City, but I don't have them winning the division again this year, and you start looking at that Denver roster and that small bow-nick salary, I think I'm taking Denver once again to win the division. Now, they don't have a lot of draft picks.

I would not be shocked if they go heavy into offensive line and rush end, but that means they probably can't solve their run game, which seems to me to be a primary issue why Mahomes is throwing on third and long much more now than three years ago. I mean, Colin, just from a basic standpoint, Patrick Mahomes, would you be shocked if he started the season on the Pupp list and missed the first, I don't know, three or four weeks? He's coming off a major injury.

That would not surprise me. I mean, I'm seeing some early win totals. Again, you can't really bet it big because it's pre-draft, pre-free agency. And there's like Chief's 10 and a half. I'm like, what is that? How are they close to a 10-win team? There just is not a lot of talent. I know Chief fans are all excited about reading the Mahomes of Colin.

You know this. Kelsey's going to bounce. They don't have a lot of guys. No, they don't. They need about four more players on the offensive side alone. When they moved off Joe Tooney and Ben Johnson immediately goes and grabs Joe Tunney and look what he did to the Bears interior O line. Once they moved off Joe Tuny, that's the vagaries of having a really expensive weapon and a really expensive quarterback

and a really expensive defensive tackle. You have to hit on a lot of picks. And they've missed on just enough picks to put them in the crosshairs of, you know, like we say this before, you don't have to be great everywhere in the NFL to win the Super Bowl. But like Seattle, you can't be lousy anywhere. Think how good the Rams offense was this year, coaching quarterback play, bad in special teams, bad at corner. So like what you want is a team friendly quarterback deal. Well, they don't have it with Mahomes. It's not as punitive as Lamar or Josh Allen, but it's not team friendly. So you have to hit on more draft picks. And if you miss and they missed on a Skymore here or a running back there late in the first round, all of a sudden you look around and like, oh, we're bad at right

tackle. We don't have a running back. So, If you want to pay a quarterback top of the market, you have to be really, and remember, when you have a star quarterback, you know this, you're drafting at the end of the first round, at the end of the second and third. That is a tough spot to find great talent. The Searks in the second round got Nick Omn-Wory, and it's like, that's about as good as you can do in the second round. You have to hit stars at the end of rounds.

And you can do it, but I mean, go to the last, you know, 10 drafts. And not a lot of guys drafted at 29, 30, 31 who are all-time players. J-MAC with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, let's get started with a team in the AFC West. The L.A. Chargers, Colin, obviously got Mike McDaniel in the fold.

That's a big get. And now the beneficiaries expected to be Justin Herbert, the GM, Joe Horv, Hortiz said as much in an interview at the combine yesterday. Through the interview process of the OC and our OC search, Mike talked about this is why we did this in Miami because this is the personnel we had. Mike is a coach that will literally create his scheme, create his offense based around the players we have, and it's not that you go out and find this specific player. So I think his flexibility as an offense coordinator and play caller is what makes one

the things that makes them great. Does you bet Herbert to win the MVP? Bet Herbert to have a really exceptional season. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think there's... I mean, listen, we've seen this in recent years. Ben Johnson leaves Detroit, and you're like, wow, they really miss Ben Johnson. Shanahan left Atlanta. There was a hole at offensive

coordinator. At any one time, there are two or three offensive coordinators and two or three defensive coordinators, Jesse Minter, Mike McDonnell, defensive guys to Miko Ryans who are above class. Mike McDaniel got Tua to a Pro Bowl and Tua to the playoffs. Well, Herbert's bigger, stronger, less injury prone with a much bigger arm and more athletic. This is a, I mean, there is a reason that Mike McDaniel had many offers and chose, anytime I hear fans say, well, Justin Herbert got to win playoff.

games. Jim Harbaugh left Michigan, his alma mater, because of Herbert, and Mike McDaniel had six offers, and he chose this one cross country. Everybody's doing it because of Justin Herbert. That's why people are moving out to Los Angeles with the Chargers, Justin Herbert. Herbert has the third best odds for MVP already. He got an MVP vote last year. Remember the controversial one that may or may not have caused Drake May? I'll say this. Remember, Mike McDaniel was in Miami, and of course, the dolphins had the choice of Tua or Herbert back in the day. Yeah. I think it's interesting. They just put up the stats on the screen. Herbert was missing both offensive tackles. It was the 32nd ranked offensive line in the NFL. And yet, look at his

numbers. Honestly, look at those numbers. 11 and 5, 94 passer rating, twice as many touchdowns as turnovers, 4,200 yards, and 66. six and a half percent completion percentage with the 32nd ranked offensive line. And that's, that's, and, and, and a tight end and a wide receiver shy. And Hampton and Naji Harris are hurt all year. I mean, it's unbelievable the numbers he produced with what was around him health-wise. As the kids say, Justin Herbert carried last year. Just carried the team.

All right, let's move on to the Jets. Huge trade, seismic deal. Okay, not seismic. in the NFL, the Jets and the Titans. Now, Robert Sala is now in Tennessee. He obviously needs edge rushers, so he goes out and gets a guy he knows Jermaine Johnson from the Jets. Sala was with him in New York.

Listen, Johnson was a little older, I think coming out of FSU, was like 24-ish. He had a major injury, so he missed a season, but he knows how to play in Sala system, and he is going to be motivated in a contract. You're here. Meanwhile, the Jets get Tavondre sweat from Tennessee, who was awesome. Great out is the first.

fifth best defensive tackle in the league, according to pro football focus. Missed, I think, five games early and was very good. So the Jets are pivoting to a three, four. I know you care deeply. They're going to draft at two. Now, they're measuring guys right now. And Ruben Bain just had like one of the shortest arm lengths of any edge rusher ever.

So they're saying he's falling out of the top 10. But the Jets are going to draft somebody at two. They've got Will McDonald on the other edge. And now you've got sweat in the middle. And Aaron Glenn's three, four defense, rounding into form. Listen, rare to get trades in the NFL,

but these are two starters making moves here. I'm sure you like it for Sala, right? Well, you have Jeffrey Simmons on the interior for Tennessee, so you have probably the best interior defensive linemen since Aaron Donald retired, and he's like, oh, right, I want to compliment him on the outside. So I think Tennessee is, I think you were a year early on him. I didn't have them as a playoff team,

but I think they're going to pop. I think Tennessee is going to be really interesting. I don't love their ownership. A little political down there. But I will say, I think Saul and Brian Daibol, I think they know what they're doing. I think it's going to be a really fun team to watch now. We'll wrap up with the NBA, Colin. And I'm going to be honest, I don't love this MVP situation,

all because of this 65 game minimum nonsense. Essentially, SGA keeps missing games, and he's now in jeopardy of not being eligible to win the MVP. Same with Yokic, Colin. They're one, two, and odds. but Cade Cunningham is coming on strong. Now, you were out last week. I said on the show, Cade Cunningham plus 1,400 makes a ton of sense.

Look at his odds. They keep shrinking. But, Colin, you know Cade's not the best player in the league. Well, it's not called the Best Player Award. It's called the Most Valuable. Cade Cunningham is the only dependable score for Detroit. It's a bunch of kids. The whole roster's 20 through 23 years old.

And Cade Cunningham is carrying that franchise. Now, it's the East, but they're going to be a number one seed with one dependable. I mean, everybody knows Detroit's weakness. It's their half-court offense. That's why when they play San Antonio and Wembe, it's a bad matchup because they can't score from the perimeter. They have to attack the basket. They're a terrible matchup against, you know, like a Wembe. So I think Wembe, first of all, is probably my choice for most valuable player,

but he has a lot around him and Cade Cunningham doesn't. The other thing is people criticize this. Well, you got it. It's outrageous that you have to play 65 games. Well, in football, should you win the NFL MVP if you play 13 games? No. So the NBA's got a load management issue. That's why they enacted the 65 game limit.

If you can't get the 65, then you're not playing 20% of the games. I'm not giving you MVP. You have to fight back on load management somehow. So you're on, well, this is not necessarily load men's been. SGA's been out with an ad thing. Yokic missed time, he was hurt. You know, that's the brakes. Sometimes you just get bad breaks.

You twist an ankle, you don't win MVP. And also, I'm sorry, Cade Cunningham winning MVP does not bother me at all. Jalen Brown's got an argument. He's been sensational without Tatum. Wembenyama is fourth on the odds, as you see on the screen. Jalen Brown, 5. Luca is 6. Guys that are not eligible because they've already missed too many games.

Steph and Janice, we can throw LeBron on there. He's not winning the MVP. I think availability matters a lot. I don't care how good, I'm not going to give the name out. Years and years ago, I worked with somebody really good in local TV.

Really good. MS. two days a week. You didn't know if they were going to show up to work. Boy, when they showed up, they were great when they showed up. It's the Kauai Leonard situation. Everybody knows Kauai. It's like a combo of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

We all know it. It's one of the five best players when healthy. I mean, LeBron's been saying this for years. The guy's like an all-time talent. The Clippers have tried to build around him. How has it worked when you don't know at 4 o'clock on game day if he's playing? They got a great coach. They have a bench.

They have a rich owner. I mean, the Clippers have a new stadium. They got great revenue. But yet, they're built around Kauai Leonard. So I don't want MVP's playing 59 games. I think you're out. And Cade Cunningham to me is a great choice. So on the surface, I like your argument.

That makes sense. the problem is we get into this rings debate and legacy and well this guy has all these MVP's and Kobe only has one and then you start digging it you're like oh so the media fell in love with you know Steve Nash ask yourself like Steve Nash has two MVP's and Kobe has one come on well like I love Nash you know but nobody none of us think Nash is better than Kobe that's a straw man argument never in my life have I been talking about MJ and LeBron and said you know the difference is regular season MVP. No, the difference is six for six. So regular season MVP's, in the big legacy argument, nobody cares how many, Kevin Durant, how many MVPs does he have?

I don't know. He's one of the great cash and shoot guys, top 20 players in the history of the league. So I don't think regular season MVP, we all know SGA is an all-time top 50 player. And I don't think more MVPs or fewer are going to move them up or down dramatically. Okay. That's a take I did not expect from you, but that's why I love doing the show. All right. Jay Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lie News.

So I said this yesterday. I'm doubling down on this. It sounded crazy. So the Raiders, John SpyTech, the new GM, has said I will take calls on the number one pick. So I've said I would retain Max Crosby. I mean, if somebody's going to give you two number ones and two three, three, I mean, you've got to consider moving Max, but I would keep him because the Raiders have 10 draft picks if they hit on seven of them, which is a reasonable number, that that's a lot of cheap labor. They'll be able to afford Max Crosby. They're not paying a lot of money to anybody outside of Max Crosby, and they're getting a

rookie quarterback. So I would keep Max Crosby's the sole of the franchise. But there's an argument that Fernando Mendoza is not Andrew Locke. He's not even potentially archmanning, that you didn't really know who he was at Cal or the beginning of this year. And he's not a great prospect. He's not Drake May. He's not Caleb Williams. He's closer to Bo Nix. And so the Raiders GM has said, I would take calls. I honestly believe this strongly. If I'm the Arizona Cardinals at number three, only got to move up two spots, I would call the Raiders and I would offer them three first round picks if we can draft one and you

can draft three. And the reason I would do that. A story came out, and I said this yesterday, and I'm doubling down on it, I saw this story this morning. Kyler Murray and the Cardinals GM, Monty Osenfort, have not spoken this entire offseason. So Cliff Kingsbury, who loved Kyler Murray, he wore Cliff Kingsbury out. The owner doesn't like him. He drove Steve Kime crazy. Now he won't talk to the current GM. And the Cardinals, and here's, and here's, why that Fernando Mendoza is the opposite of Kyler Murray. Fernando Mendoza is an air freshener for an organization with a bad smell, and a lot of that smell is ownership, and a lot of it's Kyler Murray.

He is small. He's a bit entitled. He's semi-committed. He's not terribly verbal. He doesn't communicate with front office people. All of it the opposite to Fernando Mendoza, who is big, committed, humble, grateful, like everything you question about Kyler Murray, sighs. Well, Fernando Mendoza is huge.

Commitment. You don't worry about that with Fernando Mendoza. He's like a workaholic. Gratitude, humility, staying healthy. Again, I watched Fernando Mendoza get clocked against Ohio State in Miami and Iowa and Oregon. That's not a concern. So, and you say to yourself, how can you give up three first round picks? The Rams have had one first round pick in nine years.

They're the second best team in the league. If first round picks are so valuable, then ask yourself, how come the New York Giants, the New York Jets, and the Cleveland Browns aren't great? Because they always have a bunch of first round picks. They're always picking in the lottery. Right? They're always picking in that top eight, top nine, top ten lotteries, obviously NBA, but they're always picking near the top.

And if it's so effective and so valuable, why do the Saints stink? The Raiders sting, the Jet Sting, the Cardinal sting, the Titan sting, the Brown stink, the Giant Stink. They're always at the top of the draft. And my take is, once you get a quarterback, I mean, if you don't have a quarterback in this league, it's just a ship with no captain. It doesn't matter what else, what other cargo you have. The Cardinals have excellent wide receiver, tight-end running back talent. They have a sharp new offensive coach from the Vick Vade Tree.

I've got nobody to lead this team. So, and I don't know if, I don't know if the Raiders would listen. But, I mean, I, the Arizona Cardinals are such a landfill. I'm surprised the waste management open doesn't advertise all over their stadium. I mean, it's, it is just a bad smell and it could all be solved. by getting the clean cut, hardworking, incredibly humble Fernando Mendoza. And I've met Kyler. I've always defended him.

But, I mean, when you start hearing story after story after story, they didn't talk to anybody in the building. And not great. And I like Mendoza better than I think the evaluators do. I think he's an A prospect. I don't think he's an A plus plus prospect. He's not Andrew Locke or Trevor Lawrence, but I think, or Caleb Williams. but I think he's better than J.J. McCarthy.

I think he's a better talent than Bo Nex. I think he's Matt Ryan Plus. Albert Burr yesterday, why Mendoza is probably a lock to go to Vegas, though. If the Raiders are offered something that is just completely off the charts. And you say if you're John SpyTech, if you're Tom Brady, if you're Clint Kubiak, this is something we can rebuild our entire roster with. and there's a great quarterback class coming next year. And if we aren't very good this year,

because maybe we aren't in a position to pull ourselves off the map that quickly, like if we're going to be in the top five next year anyway, does it make more sense for us to take a historic offer if that's out there for you? I think you have to consider it. Now, you can certainly debate whether the Cardinals are even equipped as a franchise to get Mendoza in-house and make it work. I mean, that's an argument in itself. It's a poorly run franchise, very much like Cleveland of the Jets.

But it's just everything with Kyler Murray, it's just, Mendoza feels like an air freshener to an organization that stinks. Everything about the quarterback situation is just, it just doesn't feel right, and it hasn't for years. He's got one winning season in seven years. And I think he's talented. I really do. I think Kyler Murray is really talented.

but, you know, I was wrong on that one. I had much higher hopes. Yesterday, there's something happening with the best college basketball player and nobody can quite put their finger on it, or can they? We'll talk about that coming up. 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 our first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with the name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. 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. 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 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs. And on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening. at Roland Garris, every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jenchen went. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted.

She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lerna Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface, because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court-side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports.

The fastest racing on Earth returns to Fox. Alex Palo, Joseph Newgarten, and Pato Award lead the way as the 2026 indie car season launches in St. Petersburg, Sunday at noon eastern, live on Fox. So Darren Peterson, in a stacked draft, appears to be a notch above everybody else. You can watch him four or five possessions and you get a Kobe feel. But he has missed

11 of 27 games and has perpetual injuries and cramps. And in the history of the NBA and college basketball, I don't know another player who's constantly missing games and time due to regular

cramping. It happens just not a lot to NBA stars and college star. So he's missing a lot of time and there's a lot of consternation and disappointment in Lawrence, Kansas. So 99% of college athletes, you know, they're all in, they're committed, but we live in a new world. There's NIL transfer portal.

And if you get, you know, you're the top guy drafted, which he will probably be the top guy drafted, it's a $100 million check. So the only thing that I'm, you know, and I've said from the beginning, I think I would draft him, number one. The only thing that gives me pause is what Jeff Goodman said yesterday on our show. If this kid was load managing, he would have shut it down six weeks ago. There's no reason he would have played. He was the clear number one pick.

He wants to play. I think it's gone from physical, Colin, talking to people and kind of knowing the situation well enough. I think it's gone from physical to now mental as well. whereas when this happens, he doesn't know how to work through it. Okay, and that's concerning to me because let me give you three other players who had some roadblocks mentally. Royce White, bust, Markell Fultz, mega bust, and Ben Simmons, after an all-N-BA, early season, became a bust.

And it's not just a basketball issue, it's an athlete issue. It's a young person issue. Simone Biles, David Duval, Jordan Speath, the great pitcher John Lester. You know, this happens a lot. So it's, again, not just a basketball story. It's very, very rare. Now, Matt Barnes, a thoughtful guy, former NBA player, says,

are we looking at just the beginning of something that the NBA has been dealing with for years, which is college load management? what's rubbing people the wrong way is kind of i think he's exerting the business of basketball and i think this could be the new load management of top college players only he's the only one doing it because if you look at all this is a loaded freshman class and everyone else is playing every single game as many minutes as they can and having great seasons this guy is still having a really good season but he's he's on load management yeah i i i don't know if it's load management i would

hope it's not load management. I defended college football players like Christian McCaffrey and Leonard four net years ago when they said, I'm not going to play in a bowl game. I'm going to save myself. That I will defend. If you're playing one year of college basketball, just go play. If you're thinking about injuries, you're getting bad advice. I mean, you're getting really bad advice.

Could be from dad, could be from a cousin, could be from an agent. You're getting bad advice. He is a remarkable player. I'd take him number one. I'm not a basketball scout. But he jumps off the television. I don't know exactly what to make of it, but it's, it's, you know, people can say, well, he's just cramping.

Give me the second player ever in basketball at 19 years old that was missing multiple games due to cramping. It doesn't, it's pretty uncommon. So if he's dealing with something or going through something, listen, it's hard. Young people need support. He's probably got a lot of people at his ear. He is a $100 million player. But it also looks like he doesn't, according to people who watch every minute of Kansas basketball like Jeff Goodman, that he doesn't have the elevation he had six months

ago. So he could be dealing with something. But it's, you know, the load management thing. Of all the issues the NBA has, I've said, you know, you can say what you want about tanking. Tell me how the Utah Jazz are supposed to get better in two years. I mean, that's how OKC got Chet Holmgren and Cleveland got LeBron and Detroit got Cedningham. So you can say what you want about the tanking stuff. I'll defend that. Of the two NBA problems, I think, number one is load management. I'm a kid from a small town. I went to one Sonics game every three years.

If you'd have told me as I got there, three of the Sonics weren't playing because they were resting. It wouldn't sit well with me, and I probably wouldn't have gone back. And the second thing, I would change in the NBA. I think it's gotten very repetitive. I would move the three point line into the bench, eliminate the corner three, but I don't think that'll ever happen. Baseball, stodgy to its core, made multiple changes. changes over the last five years. They've all worked. The progressive NBA refuses to alter the three-point shot, which feels so obvious to me. Hour two, new technology next.

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 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. Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless. And at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know. I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs,

on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast for no nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris. Jen, she's an outsider to win the French fame. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lernerabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on, a Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me?

Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human.