The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 2 - Mark Schlereth stops by The Herd, why the Ravens backed out of the Maxx Crosby trade, LeBron's resurgence

Episode Date: March 19, 2026

Plus, 3-time Super Bowl champion Mark Schlereth joins the show to explain why the Broncos needed a playmaker like WR Jaylen Waddle and why the Ravens backed out of their trade for Maxx Crosby. LeBron resurgence has changed Lakers outlookSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Jason McIntyre in for Colin Cowherd. I'm joined by Rachel Nichols. We just talked some NFL draft. We've got Mark Schlerath coming up here. Breaking down that big Broncos trade. Broncos best team in the AFC? I sure feels like it. I don't know, Rachel.

You dig Denver? Maybe. kind of sort of. They've loaded up from a team that made the championship game, right? So I don't see. What about your commanders? You haven't talked about them at all. It's been a minute.

What's going on? You know, they're going to get there. Look, I said it at the time, right? It was amazing going to be the NFC championship. Like, when I say championship game, that's what I mean. But it was a little fluky, right? They won a bunch of like one possession games. The other teams didn't, yeah.

And they didn't. There wasn't a huge question going into that. game against the Eagles that, oh, who's going to win? That's hard to replicate right away. You got to build to it. So I have faith. I have faith. I have faith into Jets for 2027.

27, just to be clear. I was going to say, my faith may be different than your faith. For sure. All right, so we'll do NFL in a minute. Real quick, I just got to talk about LeBron. I know people are, oh, he's so annoying. He complains. He gets hit in the face.

It's fake. He's not really hit. Like, let's just put that all aside. he had an unbelievable game last night. 13 of 14 shots. He's 41 years old. He had six dunks. I mean, look who he, by the way, it's small stuff like this.

Tarry Easton is number 17 on the Rockets. You see LeBron just take him off the dribble easily and Easton's shaking his head. All these Laker bloggers out there, they're trying to break down. Who are we going to get next year? Tari Easton is like one of the top four targets. LeBron just abusing him. I mean, look at LeBron. Dunkbacks?

He caught a one-handed alley-up that was a totally turned back to clock. I mean, he's just, the guy is unbelievable. Even if you don't like his politics or his social media or his king, all that stuff, or you're defensive about Michael Jordan, which I don't know why you'd be. Michael Jordan doesn't care about you. It just feels strange to not like and enjoy what LeBron's giving us. There will be a day soon. Look at that, Allie.

Where he's gone. he's no longer in the league. And you're like, oh, you know, I can't get as excited about, I don't know, Cooper Flag as I could, LeBron James, and I love Cooper Flag. And just to see what LeBron's doing in this new role, he's essentially been told, hey, man, you're a free agent. We don't know if it's going to work for you in L.A. next year.

And J.J. Reddick, who used to do a pod with LeBron, clearly talked to him, and LeBron has responded. Here's Reddick talking about LeBron's big night. He was awesome tonight, and I think too, you know, part of the evolution of him on this team has been, and particularly in this stretch, it's just been his patience. His patience knowing, you know, he's going to get the ball and he's going to have transition opportunities and he's going to have plays called for him and he's going to play off ball and get a corner three first play of the game. Like he's going to have those opportunities and he's played. really patiently. You got to respect it.

As an old guy myself, I really love to see this. And I'll just put a bow on it with this. So early in his career, LeBron was surrounded by pretty much nothing, took the calves to the finals. Really impressive stuff. Then he goes to Miami. Oh, I don't know if he can work with Dwayne Wade.

They're too similar. Four strips of the finals, two titles. Then he goes back to Cleveland. Now, can he play with Kyrie Irving, a bold dominant point card? Yeah. they took down the 73 win warriors in the finals. Then he goes to the Lakers.

Anthony Davis, can they work together? I mean, two ball stoppers, two non-shooters, yet win a title in the bubble. At some point, we've got to get wise and be like, dude, why on earth are we doubting this guy? Why? All he does is deliver all the frigging time. It's like with Nicola Yokich in Denver.

Well, he's kind of doughy. He's not athletic. He's just a great freaking basketball. ball player. And we do we see this in sports all the time. I mean, our next guest is in Denver. And like John Elway could not win the Super Bowl for the longest time. Then he couldn't get back to the Super Bowl. Then it's like, well, is he that good? And then he went to the Super Bowl, a couple times late, and delivered. Like, stop doubting superstars. They got where they are because they're special players, special athletes, a different makeup. You're just built different.

All right. Let's get to our guest. Fox Sports NFL analyst. Mark Schlereth. I've worked with him many, many years. The guy has to be super excited right now about his Denver Broncos. Where are you right now, Mariah? That is a nice setup. You know what? Jason, right now I'm at the studio, just in a conference room at the studios that I work at in Denver radio. Yeah, looks sweet. So Denver's very excited right now, huh? I mean, goodness gracious. Jalen Waddle for nothing? Like it went from, it went from this panic stricken.

Like the only, the only players that we had signed were our own players in free agency. And the Denver, I mean, Broncos country was just beside themselves. Like, we're not going to participate in free agency. And like, we need a weapon. And we haven't addressed anything. And we don't think our players are all that good. Although this roster is exceptional. But I will agree with the panic of Broncos country that we needed a weapon.

We needed somebody in the offensive passing game to take some pressure off of Bo Nix that Bo Nix can really play with and get excited about. And the thing about Jaylon Waddle is he's a guy that can lift the top of coverage. He'll run every route on the route tree. He'll run the in-cutting routes, catch the ball. He can catch it, you know, at eight yards and take it 80. He's that type of player. And that's what he does. He's a phenomenal football player, a great kid who fits the culture of the Denver Broner.

Broncos, hard worker, all those things. And I tell you, I tell you, he's also a guy that's smart that can play every position. So he can play, hey, if Cortland Sutton's out, he can play the X. If they want to put him at the Z receiver, you know, the strong side receiver, he can play that receiver. He can motion down and play in the slot. So he can do everything. He's an exceptional athlete. And I really think this is the one boy that Broncos were really missing.

that really helps them out in their passing game. Interesting. So I don't want to get too excited about your Broncos, but I'm going through the depth chart, secondary stacked, linebackers are very good, defensive line limited, offensive line excellent, you know offensive lines as well as anybody. I don't see a discernible weakness on this team. If you had to identify a position group, where is the weakness, Mark?

Well, I would say versatility. Dot-in position. they have a guy by name a troutman who you know if he's in in base formation when when i talk about base in the NFL like base is first and 10 for me or second down in five minus if troutman is in there it's probably i did an eight down break at breakdown of him um and and just his targets over the season and an eight game breakdown there's probably and this off the top of my head just watching all the film about an 80% chance that they're going to run the ball when he's in And for Ingram, it's exactly the opposite.

If he's in on first and 10 or second down in five minus, there's probably about 80% chance they're throwing the ball. So to have that guy that's got duality, the guy that's got the versatility to line up and you have to decide as a defense, hey, man, are they going to throw the ball? Are they going to pass? They're going to throw the ball.

They're going to run the ball. Should we play them in nickel or should we play them in base? Like, that's a big thing. And that's a weakness for me with the Broncos right now at that tight end position. and then the health of your running back. J.K. Dobbins is phenomenal, but he's phenomenal for about eight or nine games a season.

That's it. And so, and I did not think that R.J. Harvey, as good as he was in his rookie year, I did not think that he was in every down, like a first and second down back. He excelled in third down situations in my mind. So do you have enough in your backfield to feel confident about your team? Okay, I just was thinking, listen to you talk. So you didn't mention Bo Nix is a potential weakness. I don't think he's a weakness.

But I do recall when he got injured, I think there was something where Sean Payton was like, yeah, you know, he was bound to get hurt given the injury. And then Bo Nix, like, called a press conference or maybe called into your show. I don't remember what it was. But Bo Nix essentially was like, no, he's wrong. Was there any brief off-season squabble between those two

or am I making stuff up? No, I think there's, I mean, I think the way Sean coaches, there's always a little bit of tension. I think it's one of the reasons they went to Davis-West. is the new offensive play caller is because that was the quarterback's coach. There's a combination and a reflection there. And I think sometimes Sean looks at it and says maybe I'm a little bit too close. And I need to step back a little bit.

And I think there's part of it also that I think Sean looking back on on, and I don't know, I haven't talked to him about this, but Sean looking back on that AFC championship game, I bet you he sits there and goes, if I wasn't such a competitive play caller and I wasn't calling the plays on that fourth down and one. If I was just, if I just had that 30,000 foot view, I probably would have kicked that field goal. And I think if we kick that field goal, we go up 10-0. Remember, at the time, New England had 12 plays and 12 total yards in that game, and a snowstorm

was coming. And I think you look back on that and say, maybe I would have been a better decision-maker, had I been the CEO as opposed to the CEO slash play caller. This is why we have you on. That's a great take. I hadn't heard that anywhere. I like that. All right, let's look at some macro stuff around the league.

Let's start with the Max Crosby stuff. When you first heard that the Ravens backed out, A, had you ever experienced anything like that or heard of a move where you signed somebody, big trade, fanfare, no, we don't want them. That seemed kind of shocking and it was a bad look for the Ravens. Or is that overreacted? It wasn't, no, it was a bad look.

And listen, man, I did an extensive breakdown on my podcast, the signature podcast, about I failed three physicals in a row in 1990, after the 94th season, 95, going into 1995. And I failed in Chicago. I failed in Indianapolis. I failed in Atlanta where the doctor in Atlanta told me I had the left knee of an 80-year-old woman and didn't believe that I played the national football league. That's exact quote. quote. And then I went to Denver and I literally could have made fart noises with my armpit and they were going to pass me. And I find out later that Mike Shanahan just said, hey man, I want this guy's great player and he passes the physical regardless. So now think about this. That same knee at that

point, that same knee that failed three physicals when I went in for in the line of duty disability after I retired in 2001. That knee, at that point, I think it had six surgeries on it. After that point, another six years in the league, another six years of wear and tear, I had another nine surgeries on that knee in particular, right? So 15 total surgeries on that knee. And I went into a physical with the NFL doctors, and the first one I took, they did not pass me as being disabled enough to collect in the line of duty disability.

So meaning from another six years and another nine surgeries, the knee that failed three physicals and it failed a physical in San Diego in 1997 as well, the knee that failed four physicals wasn't disabled enough to get the benefit from the NFL. So the reason I tell you all that is because if Trey Hendrickson isn't available,

if Trey Hendrickson signs in Indianapolis or he signs for 40 million, million dollars and he's not available max crosbie passes that physical that's what i believe that's how it works and so you've given yourself it out and you took the out and i get it you can do it it's a bad look but you didn't all the sudden trip like you didn't all of a sudden max crosby come in there and and all of a sudden your doctors go did you guys know he had surgery you know he just got off crutches we had no idea there is always going to be that Generative changes in any joint if you play in the NFL.

You can have the most pristine career and never been hurt, and you will have arthritic degenerative changes in every joint in your body because you play in the National Football League. That's just the way it is. They backed out of a deal because they have an opportunity to back out of a deal. And look at it, man, that's their prerogative. That's how the rules work. But like you said, it's a really bad look.

Yeah, wow. Let's go to Kyler Murray. I was kind of sort of stunned that the Minnesota Vikings make it sound like some of these reports that he's going to be the guy in Minnesota. But Mark, my question is, once the Cardinals tried to trade Kyler, no takers. Fine, okay. They cut him. No takers. But Minnesota thinks he's a starter over J.J. McCarthy? What are your thoughts on Kyler Murray going to Minnesota? Yeah, I think he is a starter over McCarthy. What we've seen here in recent years, you can go to Baker Mayfield. Baker Mayfield was playing scout team, defensive end for the Carolina Panthers, gets cut, goes to the Rams for a couple of weeks, has a game against the Broncos where he hangs 50 on them, has this quarterback rehabilitation process goes to Tampa and has been great, right? I mean, he does that.

So you've got that aspect. Then you're talking about a guy like Sam Darnold, who turns down other teams to go to San Francisco to have that opportunity to go to quarterback rehab, goes to Minnesota, plays exceptionally well, then wins a Super Bowl last year, right? Now all of a sudden, you've had this, hey, Matt Jones going to San Francisco

and playing exceptionally well under Kyle Shanahan last year. That was, so you look at it. of Kyler and say, hey man, if we can get Kyler to play within the system, the problem with Kyler Murray, and I've done a lot of Arizona games, that he's in love with the sizz more than he is the steak. To be a great quarterback in the national football league, it's not about putting up highlights

for Fox or for ESPN or whatever. It's about falling in love with the boring. And until he learns to fall in love with the boring, he's always going to be one of those guys that puts up unbelievable highlights and loses games. That's who he is until he learns to do that, Jason.

You're in those meetings with Kevin O'Connell when you call games. I thought he was more of a, I need my guy on script. I don't want you running around like a chicken with your head cut off just trying to make place. So that's the only reason

I'm still like McCarthy's a pocket guy. He can scramble, but I feel like he wants to go pocket first. Do you think Kyler can be a pocket first guy i think kiler has to have a moment of humility

and self-reflection where he says may i make a lot of really big plays and it looks really cool but ultimately it doesn't win that doesn't win the NFL hey listen when you're playing off script i always say the NFL is a 70-30 rule league 70% of time you got to be on script

30% of time when things break down, you've got to make a play. But your default mechanism, Jason, has got to be from the neck up, not the neck down. Because what ends up happening is you'll make two or three big plays and they're remarkable. They're spectacular. But you'll take four sacks, you'll fumble the ball, and you'll throw an interception. And at the end of the day, you've got a highlight reel that's exceptional that nobody can match. But you lost 2723.

That's the way these things go down. And that's what he has to learn. Can Kevin O'Connell and the Minnesota Vikings convince him that that's the way he's got to play? I've seen him do it. I know he's capable. Will he? That's my question. Can you teach an old dog new tricks?

I'm going to go ahead and say no. I forgot when I talked about the Dolphins trade for Waddle, Malik Willis goes to Miami. Within a week, they trade Jalen Wado. Mark, I'm going to read to you, Malik Willis's first chance to be a starter, right? These are the receivers the Dolphins gave him. Malik Washington, Jalen Tolbert, 2-2-Outwell, Theo Weez Jr., Taj Washington. He's going to have no chance to win there or have any success.

I mean, do you think he's got buyer's remorse? I know he got paid, so he probably doesn't care, but. No, I think there's a rebuilding process that's going on here in Miami. Listen, man, Miami is one of the toughest places in the National Football League to win, because just the culture of Miami. You know, when Mike McDaniel went there to, when he went there to coach,

like he goes as football nerd, he comes out as, you know, crock and tubs, you know, with the, you know, he's got the culot pants, the pedal pusher pants, you know, he's got the big glasses and the whole nine yards. Like, there's a cultural thing there, it's just hard to win.

And I always say this, man, you get late in the season, and it's like your coaches are up your can, right? They're on you. You just lost a game. It's miserable. You're grinding through the tape. Everybody's just angry and pissed off.

You go home, right? It's raining out and it's nasty. And you come back and you just got to do anything you can to get that victory. In Miami, all those things are true. And then you walk out of the facility and it's beautiful sunshine. You go, let's go down to the beach and get margaritas. You know, life is great. It's just hard culturally to win there.

You've got to get the right type of players. You've got to get guys who love the game, who are intrinsically motivated, and not out, you know, trying to be part of the Miami scene. Yeah. All right. We'll wrap up, Mark, real quick. Because you work at Fox, we're contractually obligated to ask you about Aaron Rogers, who is either on a darkness retreat or doing ayahuasca somewhere in Bali right now.

We don't know. First of all, what's your interest level in Aaron Rogers? and B, should the Steelers even won him back? Or do they say, let's reboot on the cheap guy, Will Howard, see what we've got. And if we don't have anything, we draft a quarterback next year and start over. Yeah, listen, man, he played pretty well last year, all things considered. And yeah, he's still pretty, he's still, yeah, but I mean, I think you look at it, like, would you rather have Kirk Cousins or Aaron Rogers?

Like, if it comes down to those two guys, and you, is there still a trade? available is mac jones oh is mac jones like would that be a part of a trade listen i personally feel like at this particular point um you know there's there's this sliding scale of justice and you know when you are so exceptional i mean at 27 tvs versus i think seven interceptions something of that nature but there's like when you're so exceptional you'll put up with the iawasca you know i've got a wife but nobody's ever met her. You know, you put up with all the stuff.

Yes. And I'm an Aaron Rogers lover. But I think at some point, it's time to move on. And I think if I'm in Pittsburgh, I am ready to say, hey, man, see around sometimes. Now, the one thing is McCarthy there is interesting to me because they have worked and they've won a Super Bowl together. That's the interesting dynamic. Can you get Aaron to play, you know, Aaron Rogers football? you run the ball and take some pressure off of him for some of the things he doesn't do as well as he used to.

I don't know. I'm kind of with you. I would move on. It's just a headache. Kurt Cousins is low maintenance. I don't know. When you were a single guy, you like low maintenance women, right? It's like, I don't need the high maintenance.

Aaron Rogers is high maintenance. Kirk Couss. Yeah, it feels to deal with. Right. It feels to me like the, you know, the juice is not worth the squeeze anymore with Aaron Rogers. And I'm with you on Kirk Cousins. I think Kirk Cousins now two years removed from the Achilles. And I thought last year doing an Atlanta game and seeing what was going on on Friday practices that just baffled me.

And nobody practiced off. Kirk Cousins on a Friday going into a game was running his offense with nothing but backup wide receivers and backup players. I think three or four of the offensive linemen weren't practicing. none of the receivers were practicing. Like, I understand that on Wednesday if everybody's beat up. But Friday's your dress rehearsal. And we are practicing on Friday with nobody who's actually going to play in the game. I was saying, you know, what are we doing?

What are we doing? Were they just, you can't? Yeah, oh, yeah. They get the day off. You know, your hamstrings are a little sore. I don't know. So maybe that's why they fire the staff. I mean, you know.

it was for me it was one of those things where i'm like dude that that that that does friday's your dress rehearsal Friday i got to have you going like in my day if you didn't practice Friday you can get to play that's like that's how it worked uh you know and and you know I know I'm old man shouting on clouds like Colin always says um but dude there's there's something to being ready to play this game at an elite level. There is something to do being a I was a professional freaking football player because that's what I did and that's what I expect and that to

me is not professional football. That is that is patty cake, Pop Warner you know, everybody gets a certificate of participation stuff. Participation trophy. Love it. All right. Mark Slayrith, great stuff. Enjoy the offseason, buddy. We'll see you soon. All right, sounds good. Jay, Jay, Jay. Take care, buddy.

Good guy, Mark. And he had a couple funny one-liners in there. That guy's That guy's funny. Coming up next year. So you guys thought I was overboard comparing Camboozer to a young, Nicola Yokic, young. I didn't say he was MVP of Nicole Yokic. Skill set-wise. Well, a former NBA player has compared Camboosur to a Hall of Fame superstar. That's next to run the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific.

Hey, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives down your throat every day. Straightfire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest sports headlines, accurate stats to help you win big at the sports book and all the best guests. Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 throughout there.

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

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

Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo.

Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant this plant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds,

Just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. Jenchian win. 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, Lina Rabakina 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 scene. 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. Back here on the herd. Great stuff from Mark Schlerich. I love it. If Trey Hendrickson had gone somewhere else, Max Crosby's physical, would have been no big deal.

And plus, anytime you can mention fart noises and armpits, it's worth a good. laugh. Mark, a great dude. Let's go to Rachel Nichols with the news. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Love working with Mark. He was great. Fun never have around. Let's talk a little Carlos boozer, though, because shockingly, he has some

confidence in his son. He thinks he's going to peek in. Cam and Duke, just getting ready to start their tournament run, but his dad is already looking ahead to the NBA. Carlos said that any GM that passes on Cam will quote, regret it in 15 years. He says that while a son might not have a 40 inch vertical, he is an elite worker and leader, his skill set his skill set IQ and will the win set him apart.

And he also brought up, as you mentioned, Tim Duncan. He said that, look, I'm not comparing him to Tim Duncan, you know, winning five championships. But he said there have been guys who succeed in the NBA. Without being, he brought up Shaq and Kobe and Vince and Tracy McGrady, you know, He didn't have that athleticism when he played against those guys in the league, but because he had a lot of the qualities that Cam has now, that if you're a GM thinking athleticism, he doesn't have it, he won't succeed. Look, here's the guy who did it, and you've brought up Yokic and just, you know,

the idea that you don't need to jump out of the gym to necessarily be a top prospect. Do you agree with that? It's tough because nobody, nobody would have projected Yokic based on his analytics to be become what he is when he was like 20 years old. Zero people. He was drafted. By the way, Yukic was drafted during a commercial. That's a Taco Bell, I think, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You just, right now, everything is quantifiable. What are his analytics inside eight feet? What is his vertical? Cone shuttle drill or whatever. Somebody was talking about earlier on the show. Everything's quantifiable so you could use that to project ahead. But with guys like Tim Duncan, we're looking in the rear view mirror.

Well, look at what he did. It was an athletic. Well, I mean, he had a stack team. I mean, amazing shot blocker. It's just, it's really tough. And it's why this is so fun. Tim Duncan's tough because he was like a seven-footer. Blocked a lot of shots.

Boozer, I think, has one block in the last five games. He's not some shop blocking machine. But you can't quantify heart. You guys enter your laugh now. No, I agree with you. IQ is tough to measure, even in the NFL. Yeah. When they're doing those tests for the quarterback,

What is it, Wonderlick, and there's another one that's newer. Like, processing, you can't quantify like Brock Purdy's going to be able to process. I think you can scout for that, especially in the NBA. And Cambooser has it. I mean, there is no doubt that he is a high basketball IQ. Being the son of an NBA player, if it's important to the dad to teach his son what it's like to be a pro, these guys come out ahead. I really believe that.

I believe that the guys who come into the league who are sons of, if there has been an effort, to really bring that knowledge down, they have an advantage. Also, by the way, from birth, they have the best access to the best trainers. Yeah. And the best protein shakes and food. And, you know, there's a chef at their house and all of the things that go into making you more MBA ready. And the thing about athleticism, I will say, is it's the first thing to go. Yeah.

So, you know. Ask Alan Iverson. I think that when he says in 15 years, that could be true. That aspect could be true. But it's a gamble. It is a gamble for NBA teams. I mean, what if I said the name to you, Shane Batier? Yeah.

Like a consummate pro. Absolutely. You know, there's been articles written about how valuable he is because of his brain. Yeah. You could do so many things. But then you think, like, well, I'm not drafting Shane Battye fifth overall. He went sixth, actually, 2001. What I was I said?

Shane Battye was, I covered those two titles that he was a part of. They would not have won without him. Now, obviously, you can say that about any key role player. You know, people will say the X factor is actually the role player, not the star. Yeah. But there's a reason for that. You need those guys to be able to do what they do. I think it is a very interesting choice.

We've been talking about all the pot potential number ones. Camboos are in there is an interesting choice. I mean, we've talked about it for the last three or four days. He blows the doors off and a lot of stats. So the problem is if he goes to like the Sacramento Kings, well, it's, you know, they need an alpha superstar. Yeah. He is a different kind of superstar. Now, if he goes to, I don't know, Cam Boozer to your wizards.

So you've got Anthony Davis, you've got Trey Young, you've got veterans. You've got Alex Sar. Come on. You're not asking Boosier to do a billion things because they've got guys. If he can go, if he can fall a little bit, it could be ideal. He goes to Utah Jazz. I know people can stop at the tanking jazz. Marking in, Kessler.

Let's see if he moves on. Jaron Jackson, Boozer slides in. Doesn't have to be a savior. Yeah. Yeah. So it's going to be a tough choice at the top of the draft. And obviously, how this tournament goes, I think, is going to have more influence on the draft than it has in years. Yeah.

So I'm very curious to see what happens there. All right, Jason, it's finally happened. The WMBA and its Players Association have agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement. Some big wins for the players in here. Salary cap has increased from $1.5 million to $7 million. Minimum salaries increased. They were at $66,000. I mean, it's kind of crazy to think that that was the minimum in the end.

Now it's 300,000 and players are now expected and this is huge to receive about 20% of the revenue share from the league. Before this, there was no tie to revenue for the players. Unlike the NBA where it's a 50-50 revenue share, there was no tie to revenue. And the old song from the WMBA owners was like, hey, league's not making any money. And the WMBA players in this negotiation were like, great. I mean, you've heard this before on labor negotiations. Show us your books. and the fact that they got this 20%,

it's not 50-50, but it is something. This was a long labor negotiation. Now that you look back on it and you see the deal, which side do you think had the upper hand? It's so new. I don't know that I can fully weigh in. I'm happy that this happened. And my guess is that this is all a projection

that the likes of Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese and the two girls in LA, everybody is going to be elevated by this. And listen, there's some good players in college right now that are going to come into the league. And ultimately, the league's on the uptick. Are they making money now? I don't know, but like you said, the books aren't open. What about in three years?

Are things going to be different as these players continue to elevate? And I know people don't want me to make it about Caitlin Clark, but I don't know. If Caitlin Clark's not there, do they have as much negotiating power? I mean, but she is there for these, you know, things. Look, I always say that in labor negotiations, it's the owners who have the power. because of a few things. First of all, they're richer. Billionaires are richer than millionaires, and so they can outlast things longer. They can declare losses for the team as a tax break, so it's not even hurting them as much financially. And the thing that they have that players don't,

is they're not losing anything over time the way players are losing a year of their career. You have a year-long lockout. You lose a year of your prime. And that is something that you can't get back, even if you get more money in the end. So to me, owners always have more leverage. But this case is fascinating to me because I think the players actually have more leverage. To your point, they need the league to keep growing. For all these valuations that have come in, oh, the valaries are worth $400 million. Well, they need the league to keep going. They couldn't really have a lockout this summer.

No. And I think the players knew that. And there's unrivaled out there. There's other basketball leagues. If the WMBA shut down, there was a danger of other leagues coming in there and saying, hey, we're the women's basketball league. Why not? It doesn't have to be tied to the NBA.

So this is the first time I can remember where the players, in my opinion, had more leverage than the owners. I think that's amazing. I haven't spent much time on social media this week, but I will say the little toe that I dipped in, it felt like people were upset that they got such a race. Did you get any sense of that?

No, I didn't. I mean, my algorithm versus your algorithm. Yeah, a bunch of angry. I got a lot of women's sports fans on my algorithms. And my only thought was, why do you care that they're getting a big race? They play professional basketball. Yeah.

I can't see. I mean, look, if someone's upset about that, they are upset actually about something else. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, there's just no way. You can't be upset about this. I'm happy for me. And I'll say this. I think I've been on the show for three years.

The first probably two years, I don't think we did any women's basketball stories. Caitlin Clark starts popping at Iowa. And she did the show like every other week. And it's only been elevated. So I'm all in. We went to a game. I have you taking your kids to a game? Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

I'm just taking the couple games. They've been really like the sparks a lot. All right, I'm so excited for this, Jason. On Saturday, the Fanatics Flag Football Classic. It's going to air here on Fox 4 p.m. I'm going the game. I don't know about you. I can't wait to see this unfold.

And now, especially because the rosters are set. This is a format change, too. They were originally going to have three teams of, like, pros and celebs. Okay. And you can look at the rosters here. They've changed it. Now it's two teams of pros and swebs. But then they also are going to have the Team USA men's flag football squad.

And you might not know that we had one of those, the Team USA flag football squad. But remember, flag football will be in the next Olympics. So these are the guys right now on the team. Now, obviously, they will make some changes before the Olympics. I'm sitting here thinking, like, is this an audition for some of these NFL pros or even like just retire guys? You know Tom Brady would love to add the Olympic gold medal to his collection of rings. Don't you think? Would we let him, you know, in Fox here?

I don't think we have to worry about that. I don't think it overlaps with football season. Yeah, I mean, these are big names for sure. Flag football is becoming massive. It's huge. Where we are, like, it's an emerging girl sport. Yep. And, you know, a couple dads, my daughter is athletic.

And you should come out to Flag Football. I was like, is that a thing? And they're like, yes, it's becoming huge. huge. And some of these girls actually, you know, high school, it's becoming a sport, and then maybe college. And now, I mean, like, some of these athletes out there,

like I see some of the names on here. These are, these are no, like, Sequin Barclay. Yeah. Like, that's an elite. Jade and Daniels. Like, I mean, and by the way, it's not just girls in flag football. I know parents who don't want to put their boys in football with the rising concussions or identifying concussions.

Yeah. And it's a great sport. It's just so much fun. My daughter actually played it in elementary school. She loved it. And this is just going to be such a fun event. You can tell the players are really into it. I don't know if you saw any of this draft.

It was crazy. Like they talking trash and they were like high-fiving each other when they got to be on the team together. It's just really fun thing. Tom's super into it. I love it. I think it's gonna be really, really great. I can give you a report after I'm there on Saturday.

I see Joe Burrow there. Yeah. They have big, big names in this one. Yeah, no Jets. Interesting. Huh. As I said, they've got big, big names in this one. Oh, all right. Rachel with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. So early 2000s NBA, one of my favorite players was Tracy McGrady. Oh, love that guy. Well, he had some comments this week about a situation in the NBA,

and I think I disagree with TMAC. He's been on the show as a guest before. Honestly, I love that guy. You played video games in the early 2000s. Timak was unstoppable. We're going to talk about his comments next. You're on The Hurt. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio,

FS1 and the IHard Radio app. Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, new? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.

We just contributed to a... 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 did we... 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.

Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas,

and offered it up as a potential title for the five. 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 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. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant, 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. 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 athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered.

SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 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.

Jen she 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. Stars studded three-team round robin tournament featuring the best in the game. I'm so excited about this. I'm going to work on a Saturday. I am going to be there.

But if you're not into the L.A. area, get on your couch. Be there Saturday at 4 p.m. Eastern, only on Fox. Sounds like an exciting time to be alive. You know, I got to just talk about this Tracy McGrady thing. So obviously the NBA announced they're expanding this week. They announced this week their expansion. It'll happen in like 28, 29 in that ballpark. They're going to go Vegas and one other city.

But all that's immaterial right now because Tracy, McGready. Teammack, as he's known, the legend from the Orlando Magic. I think he was a star with Houston, scored like an unbelievable amount of points in 10 seconds or whatever. He was in with the Raptors. Just a great career, T-Mack.

I totally disagree with what he said about expansion. Here's T-Mack on if the league has enough talent to expand. We don't have the talent to be trying to start two more teams, I just don't think we have the

talent to start two more teams. Now, do we, can we take two teams away and add two teams? To still be at 30. To still, yeah, eliminate two teams. To still stay at 30. I'm saying keep it at 30. I don't really know what he means by we don't have the talent. My guess is that everybody's looking at all the teams tanking and saying, oh my gosh,

the bottom four teams have lost 35 games in a row. There's no talent in the league. And like, guys, that's just. not reality. The NBA is swimming with talent. I know the guys from the 2000s and the 90s and the 80s don't want to hear it, but there is infinitely more talent in the NBA now than there was 20 and 30 and 40 years ago. It's not even close. And you know why? Because the game is international. Yes, we can thank the dream team for it, but they largely put basketball on the global map. We're now pulling guys into the NBA from Asia all over Europe.

It's ridiculous. There are more international players in the league now than ever before, and it's not close. I mean, I don't even need to tell T-MAC. I think the last six MVPs have been international guys, and yeah, we're going to count Canada, SGA, even though you went to Kentucky. Like, come on. It's not even close. The game is a global sport.

And then you want to bring in college basketball. So yes, in the last five years, A lot of guys coming from college were not ready or even close. I brought up to Scoot Henderson. Do you remember for like eight minutes there was a Wembe or Scoot Henderson? Who's the number one pick? It's close. It's like, what the hell are you guys talking about?

And listen, I liked Scoot Henderson's game for the, you know, 14 plays I saw him before he came into the draft. But like, he's not close to Wembe. These international guys come in polished. They've been playing pros since they were like 14. Like Scoot Henderson and a lot of these G-League guys, they were not ready. Ah, but the NIL game has changed things in college. So now you've got a lot of good players who instead of going to G-League ignite and being selfish and looking to show out with streetball moves and dunks and flashiness,

they're going to college getting paid and playing in systems and structure that gets them ready for the league. and oh, by the way, they're staying longer because I don't want to go in the middle of the second round when I can make $2 million playing for Michigan or Illinois. I mean, Yaxel Lendaborg of Michigan, 23 years old. He could have gone into the draft last year. Would have probably been early, second, late first. Stays at Michigan, makes $5 million, rejects $7 million from Kentucky, according to him.

and he's a big 10 player of the year. And now it's like, oh, this guy should be a lottery pick. He's talented, and he's 23. So he's going to come in ready to help. So like all signs are pointing to TMAC. The talent is definitely there. And the international guys, we talked about this. I think it was with Miles Simon, maybe Kasich Jacobson,

but go look at the Arizona roster, international guys. They're not anymore playing in Byron Munich. They're playing in college basketball high-level NCAA tournament. I'm telling you, there's a guy Karchenkov on Arizona, best glue guy in the country. And his numbers are down. But if he went to and played at George Washington or, I don't know, some middling team in the Big Ten or what have you,

he would be putting up 20 a game. His numbers are mediocre. NBA loves him. He's ready to come in and do everything. Players are smarter. You've got better nutrition. It's not the talent. is there. We can easily have 32 teams in the NBA. I couldn't disagree with Team Mac more. I think

people are overreacting to the tanking this season, which, you know, might be bad, but I'll tell you right now, nobody's going to care in three years. If you tanked, you got Caleb Wilson, and he's putting up Cave Cunningham numbers in three years for New Orleans or whatever. So the talent is there. Basketball's on the rise. College and pro. Final hour. Coming up next, here 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. Nice. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it.

We get to ask other 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 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, S&L'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. Will Ferrell's big money players and IHart Podcasts presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. A redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drinks. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer?

Oh, they had a bogo. Well, then you got it. Listen to soccer moms 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? 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 turn, 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 Deanna Maria Riva on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was part of it.

You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come until he's like, you're like, You know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.