The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 2 – The Dolphins tear it all down, Does NBA have enough star power?

Episode Date: February 16, 2026

Where Colin was Right and Where Colin was Wrong on a Monday. Albert Breer joins Colin to discuss the reset for the Miami Dolphins and what happens to their big players. Lebron remains unsure on whether he’ll play in a 24th season. Colin met the GM of Purdue and declares nobody can make fun of Purdue anymore. Mick Cronin weighs in on a divide happening between college basketball players and international players – the best in the NBA are coming from the latter and there’s a difference in star power and competition.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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I just love today. When we talk about something, and we've been done something for a while, and people push back and go, you're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong. And then two baseball players come out and an owner and go, no, the Dodgers are fine. They're not ruining baseball.

And a lot of this was because when I went to dinner with the Cubs owner, I peppered him with questions. And his take is, hey, I mean, the competition breeds, competition. Like the Dodgers are going all in. It forces us to be competitive. We're all trying to have elevated revenue streams. But, you know, this idea that, hey, let's have parody. Why in the world should the Dodgers be forced when they make all this revenue annually, they make, what do they make? $800, $900 million a year? Why should they have to play by the

St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds economy? I mean, baseball makes a force. in L.A., in Chicago, in New York, in Boston, in Atlanta, in Houston, and all over Texas, makes a fortune. And you just want the owners to pocket all of it? Well, revenue sharing. Why should L.A. have to share their revenue with Cincinnati? Well, it makes the entire league better. Are you sure Cincinnati will use the money properly and be as well run as the Dodgers? like the Dodgers are the gold standard right now.

Even other rich teams like the Mets and the Yankees aren't as well run. Red Sox aren't as well run. I think Houston's well run. When they're not banging on garbage cans, you know. All right, Colin right, Colin wrong on a Monday. Here we go. Where Colin was right. Well, LeBron James said last week, admitted it publicly.

We, the Lakers, are not a championship team. Why? He acknowledged roster construction. It's a three and deep. league. We don't have any threes or D's. They're old, they're slow, they're too offensive leaning. They just can't put

seven, eight guys on the floor that can compete for an entire game, and LeBron's acknowledging what we've said over and over. The Lakers have a roster construction issue. Where Colin was wrong. Fernando Mendoza, I love him. I've

had now two in-league sources say that he's stiff and not a great athlete. Now, I like Bo Neck. more than the rest of everybody, and he worked out well, but a lot of that, Sean Payton. There's very little I don't like about Fernando Mendoza, but there's another analyst coming out today saying his college numbers in terms of negative plays

and holding on to the ball are very similar to Justin Fields. So you're seeing some red flags. I think he's in a prospect, not an Andrew Luck prospect, but I think he's very much in line with Trevor Lawrence as a process. and he was highly thought of. Where Colin was right? The Athletic did a poll of NFL executives to rank the 10 coaching hires, and Kevin Stefansky was number two.

When the Browns fired him, I said, you will not find a replacement as good as Kevin Stefansky. You will not. Also, he was rated higher than Jesse Minter and Clint Kubiak very highly thought of. coordinators, and he was ranked higher than Mike McCarthy, who's got a Super Bowl trophy. So I just said, be very careful about showing Kevin Stefansky the door. He is going to get a great job. He's going to upgrade owners.

Now he's in a weaker conference. We told you. Where Colin was wrong. For years, I thought Golden State, the Warriors were impeccably run. But that Jonathan Cominga mess was embarrassing. I think they've become too beholden to Steph Curry. I always say you should like your players, love your family. Don't be beholden or fall in love with players.

And everything is about keeping Steph Curry comfortable. This roster is the oldest in the league. It is so slow and so small. And they've just made a lot of mistakes. And unless they can make some sort of deal to get Janus, I don't see a way out. where Colin was right? The Seattle Seahawks, many stories reported they were going to hire an in-house candidate to replace Clint Kubiak, the excellent coordinator.

They did not. They must have been listening. We are not fans when you replace a great coordinator, offensive defense. Do not go in-house. That is not the best candidate. It's the most comfortable candidate. But the Lions just figured that out after losing Ben Johnson. They went instead and hired a guy in his 40s, don't know much about him,

San Francisco tight-end coach, guys got a lot of experience, Brian Fleury. So again, is he going to work? We're not sure. But they did not go. And we've been talking about how well-run the Seahawks are. They did not go with a popular or comfortable in-house candidate. where Colin was wrong. The Jaguars are going to make Travis Hunter a starting cornerback and only a part-time receiver.

I thought the opposite should be true. It's an offensive league. My instincts on this is the Jags are saying, listen, we're good enough at receiver. And we can always find good receivers. But what's hard in this league is having a great corner because there's about four in the league. And so it's so hard to find elite athletic corner. That's why the Colts gave up two first for Soss Gardner. There's like six great corners in the league, maybe five.

And so the Jags are going where I wouldn't. They're going to put him on defense. Where Colin was right? Well, I've said about Caleb Williams, we're getting too caught up on his completion percentage. Well, what do you know? Most bets to be MVP next season. from not just the Joe's, but the pros.

Not just the squares, but the sharps. What they're telling you is, completion percentage matters, but not as much as Caleb Williams' critics are saying. He has a very low interception rate. He didn't throw him in high school, college, or in the pros. He doesn't throw a lot of picks, and he can make so many redeemable plays off script

that completion percentage is not the be-all end-all. I felt this for years on Josh Allen as well. Where Colin was right? When everybody was telling me two years ago, nobody will pay a running back. It is a Jurassic position. Yeah, Sequin Barclays seem to get paid. Kenneth Walker now,

the story this morning I'm reading, he's going to hit free agent at the right time. He's either going to sign a big deal with the Seahawks or a lucrative deal. somewhere else. And he is not Christian McCaffrey. He's not a great pass catcher out of the backfield. What he is in a physical league is a highly physical running back. He is a number one running back. You can get behind. He's not McCaffrey in terms of total skill set, but the stories this morning, you know, the other thing about this, the NFL is now into the too high safety defense. Everybody's

running two high safeties to take away the big play. Well, that just opens the door. for the explosive running back. So here's Saquan Barkley getting paid. Kenneth Walker's going to get paid. So, you know, it's running backs will always matter because six or seven young quarterbacks are coming into the league every year, four or five are starters,

and nothing makes a quarterback, his growth accelerate like a strong O-line and strong run game. And with that, Albert Breer, Monday morning quarterback is now joining us live. Okay, Dolphins moving off. Tyree Killed. today does not surprise me.

We're going to get a decision on Tua. I would keep him and I would just swallow hard for a year on the contract. He's a good guy. I think he's good enough to win some games. Maybe it's a soft tank. He'd also be willing to be a backup. His personality more than a Kyler Murray would be a backup. What is your guess on what they do with Tuka?

Now Tyreek Hill's gone. Well, this is part of a global effort to reset, Colin. And I don't think anybody should look at these moves to get rid of Chub or get rid of Tyreek in a vacuum. They had fewer draft picks, just a number of draft picks than anyone in the NFL over the last four years. They have not drafted well. And here's the operative question to me.

Like if you look at their roster, how many guys can you look at and say, yeah, that guy's going to be here in three years? Right. Maybe Jalen Waddle, maybe Chop Robinson. And other than that, there's no one. And so, like, when they went and they looked at who we want to hire is the GM. And then they let go of Mike McDaniel, who do we have? want to hire is the coach. Drafting and developing was number one, right? So they hire a guy from

the Green Bay system. That's where John Schneider came from, right? John Eric Sullivan. And then they hire a defensive coordinator from Green Bay as well, who had been a college head coach who knows how to develop players. And so this is a bigger picture thing. I almost think the Tua thing is a side car to all of it. Now, I mean, the number is 54 million for this year. So the question is, are you comfortable eating that number. And I think if all things were equal, they would just move on. The tape wasn't good last year. I think they know that there'd be strings attached. They bring him back because he's got the six years of history in the building now. But, you know, there is that question, okay, if we're going to move on from Tua, we're eating the 54 million. That's less, but it's not totally unlike

what the Broncos did with Russell Wilson a couple of years ago. Now what? And so, you know, your question has to become, A, is to a better than what we're going to replace him with. Maybe that's Malik Willis coming over from Green Bay, right? And then B, these, again, this is another thing that's not in a vacuum because he's got all the history there. He's going to be saddled with it and you're going to be saddled with it. So in the end, I think for that reason, they probably wind up moving on. But because of the contract, like you said, it's not an easy call. Okay. Kyler Murray is talented. I've defended him forever. He's small. there's a commitment issue many have it's toxic in arizona i would move off him he's not a backup

personality that's fine i still argue he's talented yeah what is the market for him so like i think what we have to do with both these guys with both two and kiler it's just consider them through the darnald daniel jennel smith lens right like does somebody look at these guys and say yeah i can get more out of him, right? You know who did a really good job of that the last couple of years? Was the Minnesota Vikings, right? The Minnesota Vikings brought in Sam Donald, got a great year out of him, brought in Daniel Jones, sort of revived his stock, just having him there as a backup, gave him a little bit of a chance to reset at the end of the 24 season. It had good enough experience with both those guys that they tried to bring each of each one of them back

as insurance against J.J. McCarthy. So like when I look at Tyler, like, it would be a landing spot like that, right? Now, again, what complicates it is the contract. And it's even more complicated than Tua situation, because Tua is just $54 million lump sum. I have it written down here. Kyler's got $36.8 million guaranteed this year, and then another 195 guaranteed next year.

So that complicates trading for him. That complicates cutting him. So, you know, I think you see the way that that splits up. And I think it probably makes it more likely that Arizona just flat out has to move off of him and cut him and let him go to the market. And I think he will find a place that'll view him as that sort of reclamation project. Maybe it's Minnesota. Maybe it's the Jets. We'll see.

But I think the contract situation makes it a little harder for the Cardinals to hang on to them and a little harder for the Cardinals to trade him, which makes it more likely that they'll cut him. So I saw a great story this morning from an NFL analyst that said red flag on Mendoza. He is very much Justin Fields in terms of holding the ball too long and taking negative plays. And Justin Fields played with better town at Ohio State, certainly, than Indiana and Mendoza. I've also had two people tell me they think Mendoza is stiff. So I like Bo Nix a lot more than the Scouts, but in fairness, most scouts thought Bo Nix was high second round late first. And Sean Payton kind of changed the calculus on that. That's fair to say.

Mendoza, he's going to be the number one pick. But, all right, you know, what is you deal in these back channels? What are you here on it? So, like, I think you're right on when you say, like, if you plugged them into the 24 draft, right, into that class, He would probably go, I almost certainly go behind Caleb Williams, Jadenanos, and Drake May, and would probably be in that grouping. I think he would wind up going in front of Pennix, Nixon McCarthy. I do too. But I think that would be a little bit of a fight, right?

Wow. And the comp I like best, I've heard people say cousins, but the comp I like best is Jared Gough. In that, you know, he's got a nice natural stroke. He's really accurate. He could take hits, which, you know, Gough has shown that he can do that. And he comes from one of these offenses that's spread out, relying on RPO's. So he does have a learning curve. And he showed an aptitude to learn.

You just haven't seen him do it yet. Right. So like with golf, what did that mean? It meant his rookie year was a disaster under Jeff Fisher, right? But then once Sean McVeigh got a hold of him in 2017, now all of a sudden you saw the stuff that you saw at Cal. And so I think it's the same sort of thing with Mendoza. It's obviously like we have an idea of what sort of thing.

situation he's going to be going to, is probably going to be the Vegas Raiders with Clint Kubiak as the head coach. So can the Raiders either, A, put enough around him to create a scheme that's going to work for him in year one so they can get him going the way that Sean McVe did in 2017 with golf, or B, do they have the patience to sit him for a year if he actually needs that? So I think that that's, to me, like that's, that's sort of the conundrum with, with, with, with Mendoza, who, isn't a perfect prospect and I don't think it's quite the prospect that Caleb, Jaden, or Drake were a couple of years ago. The, um, you know, there's, there's a lot. I, I think Malik Willis would be great with the Steelers who haven't had a lot of athleticism. And they haven't been

terribly dynamic at quarterback. I do think that Aaron Rogers made them more adult. They cut back on the mistakes. I mean, Aaron knows how to play the position. They felt professional offensively, despite having a very limited receiving core, especially when D.K. Metcalf got bounced for a couple games. I think Malik Willis, the Green Bay connection, Mike McCarthy. I do think it's interesting in Pittsburgh that Mike McCarthy has already built his staff. One of those people on the staff did not necessarily get along with Aaron Rogers. And I also think McCarthy would never say it publicly.

But everybody in this league always gets held hostage by Aaron because he disappears in the postseason. and Mike McCarthy or Albert Breer or anybody, if you took over a new business, you want to get your help in, and nobody wants to sit around waiting for Aaron Rogers. So my take is the one team that could go get Aaron and say, well, we've got a quarterback, a young one, is Minnesota. And so we're going to build our infrastructure and our ecosystem.

If Aaron joins late, he's a pro. He'll figure it out. But Pittsburgh's not going to sit around and wait for Aaron until July. So it's nothing against McCarthy and Aaron, but I don't think Aaron's coming back. And I think Minnesota, who could let him kind of hop on board in July, could work. Yeah. Couldn't it? Does that make any sense?

Yeah. I mean, I could wrap my head around that. I think, like, I just remember last year where Aaron said he wasn't going to hold anybody up. And then we didn't get an answer until, what was it, like April? I think it was right before the draft, right? like so he had whispered to people to to mike tomlin to arthur smith that he was coming um and they knew which is why they stood still at the position and they didn't really do anything um and so you know like i'm i'm with you in that like the the vikings have the insurance of j jay mccarthy

and the roster i don't know i know the steelers like will howard i don't they like him to the level where it's like we're not going to do anything else a quarterback you know and then if you are going to wait for him. The problem is then all that quarterback movement that happens in the middle of March, I mean, you could be left with, you know, everybody's got their seat, you know, in the game of musical chairs and you're left with nothing. So, like, I do think that they would like to have an answer. I do think that that mid-March timeline is important for them. here's the other thing that I think is sort of interesting when it comes to all this too. I don't think Art Rooney wants to be bad this year.

I don't think he wants to bottom out. I think if that was what they were looking to do, if they were looking to go through the hard reset that you and I have talked about a few times with Pittsburgh, they probably would have gone with Chris Schuller or one of the younger guys. Like I think bringing in Mike McCarthy as the head coach tells you, you know, implicitly, that they do not want to go through the full, rebuild all at once, go be bad for a couple of years and draft a quarterback. And so if that's the mindset there, then it would be awfully risky to let that mid-March period of player movement

go without doing anything, without doing anything a quarterback and without having an answer from Aaron. Albert Brewer. Monday morning quarterback. As always, great seeing you. All right. Thanks, Colin. regardless of format was better, mostly because Wembe cared. And I also think one of the things that I almost feel like when baseball made all their moves, like no defensive shift, pitch clock, I thought it was very, very hard for baseball to do that. In one instance, because it's a sport with history and tradition. What made it easier for baseball is the minor league system. They could experiment with the minor leagues.

So the minor league system for the NBA is actually college basketball, which they don't control. I don't consider the G League. G League Ignite, they've already bailed on. So I guess my take is when Adam Silver comes to the podium on the tanking and says, this is an 80-year-old league, we've got to try new stuff. It reminded me of a documentary I started watching this weekend, which is absolutely, fantastic on the ABA. It's called Soul Power.

It's fascinating. So as a kid, I was born in 64. About 1972, I have memories of watching the NBA. The Lakers had like, they were playing the Blazers, and it was the Lakers, and I was on my bunk bed. It was old Wilts Chamberlain, I think.

And I think it was 72. And then I watched the Washington Miami Dolphin Super Bowl on a black and white TV in my room with the bunk beds. So I remember 1916. 72 being the years, I started watching sports and caring about sports. I also remember my parents or somebody giving me an ABA ball. And so in 1971-ish, that's the Spencer Haywood drama in the courts, and that's the Dr. J explodes in the ABA.

As I'm watching the first two parts of that four-point docu-series, four-point docu-series yesterday. It's absolutely fantastic. The video they have, it's so, amazing. Apparently, I didn't know this. Apparently the ABA, there were fist fights every night because it was sort of the last opportunity to make the pros. And the NBA was not a very good league in the early 70s. It was considered overcoached. It didn't have a great deal of diversity in like 60, 67, 68, 69. And it's just, I mean, think about this. And I, the ABA,

it's much like the live golf tour to the PGA. The ABA went and stole the NBA MVP Rick Mary. The ABA is like Brooks Kepka. We're taking him. And they got him. It went to the courts. Can you imagine if there was an upstart basketball league and they took Wemby? Wait, well, what?

So that's why I always defend the live tour. It's like this is the history of America. Uber doing it to cabs, ABA doing it to the NBA. And then eventually the ABA and the NBA, they merge. And you got all these great ABA players. But watching it, it just shows you how much basketball has changed. The three-point shot came from the ABA. The dunk contest came from the ABA.

And the NFL poach some stuff out of the XFL years ago, the camera angles and some of the goofy stuff. So I am all for change. And I thought baseball, I mean, I was tough for baseball to make some of these moves. moves. They got a lot of pushback. I remember the media, the baseball media, very negative on the pitch clock. It's not going to work. It's like, it worked fine immediately. It worked just fine. And I think the A&B has to strongly consider, because this new CBA, I don't know what you do if you don't tank. How do you get good? I mean, if you look what the jazz are doing,

it's going to pay off. They're going to get a top three or four pick and they're going to get one of these great players spurs paid off Detroit paid off I mean post Duncan and Kauai they try to do it the right way for like Dar de rozen and unwatchable no good so when you when you only have one pathway into it that's what you get um so I kind of find myself being pro tanking how is you well it's anti-competitive well tanking long before this year it should be noted this is is not the now it's worse this year but they've been tanking for a long time but in previous decades when they tanked and previous years when they tanked it was also more of a transactional league so tanking was just one of the options now it feels like the only option to go from

what the jazz were three years ago to now so tanking was always part of the league but some big markets like the lakers if they wanted to rebuild they'd go transatlantic transactional. They go buy a player or make a big sweeping trade. They can't do that stuff. So I'm going to give Utah credit. I'm going to give the Pistons credit. I'm going to give the Spurs credit. Like this is the new, this is the new CBA we're dealing with. This is what we're going to do to get great. Well, it's working. Detroit, the Spurs are great. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Fox Sports Radio is taking over.

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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, oh, 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 on Humor Me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

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

What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast, point game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game.

We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying.

He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Oh, yeah. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Keith Giamanka seemed like a mild-mannered suburban dad. But secretly, he became someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree. At the time, did it seem like a crazy idea?

It seemed very crazy. But I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out. Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong and what that might look like? No, I didn't want to manifest that. I was trying to manifest success. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man.

This is going to change my life and my family dynamic forever, because everything that had existed prior in my reality is, now untrue. Listen to Deep Cover, The Family Man, on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is, getting a racist statue removed. And here's something that should be a whole lot easier than it is,

getting a new one put up in its place. As long as there's a politics of race in America, there's going to be a politics of remembering the Civil War. To get to school, I had to go down Robert Lee Boulevard. Get to the grocery store. I had to go down Jefferson Davis Parkway. If you're an historian and you leave out half of what the history is, you're not doing your job. I'm Akila Hughes, and Rebel Spirit Season 2 goes deep on both of those things.

The fights, the politics, the people who won, and my personal campaign to add something to the Kentucky State House that's actually worth the wall space. We are more than our bodies. We contain essence. We contain spirit. How do you represent that? They are just fueling a fire that is really catching. You'll see what I mean.

Listen to Rebel Spirit Season 2 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We've got good stuff today. My buddy Jason Timp is going to be joining us from the volume in the last hour. That guy knows who's. Also, Mick Cronin, UCLA basketball coach is firing on all cylinders. He's been saying stuff before the year that's kind of circulating this weekend. I thought the All-Star game was good for what it is. I'm not a big outside of baseball, not a big All-Star game believer.

You know, I also think as athletes have gotten richer. You've seen this on the PGA tour. These guys can make so much money on their YouTube channel. They don't have to play as many tournaments. You know, so we're getting what I would call fewer fist bump moments. Like Rory McElroy at the Masters is one of those where it's palpable. You can feel it through the TV because the tournament really matters. to Rory McElroy, but, you know, I just think as our athletes get richer and the sports get

more international, don't blame an international basketball player if he comes to the United States and doesn't care about anything other than winning a championship here or his home country. Don't be shocked by that. You know, when you go overseas, there are certain things you deeply care about. Yokic does not care about the All-Star game. Okay, he cares about his country and he cares about the Denver Nuggets and winning titles. You know, so the leagues become very, very international. And I thought it was very encouraging that Wembe clearly cared about the All-Star game. And I thought the players followed suit.

But, you know, all these leagues now are very international. And the quality of baseball players and basketball players is unbelievable. And they're overwhelmingly good guys they care. but when you ask somebody to go to another country, they're not going to adopt and assimilate to everything that matters to us, matters to them. I mean, Shohei Otani may look at our home run derby and think that's dorky.

You know, I mean, the Japanese baseball culture is different than ours. And so the way I look at the All-Star game is the League has gotten more international. I think there's a handful of international guys at the top that don't really care about the All-Star game. I see the ratings for it. I'm not sure you and I care that much about the All-Star game. Here's John Middlough with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news.

This is the herd line news. Well, Colin, one of the biggest stories this year in the NFL was J.J. McCarthy and his struggles. And because of this, rumors are floating around left and right about what they will do at quarterback. And according to one report, there's obviously going to be no shortage of quarterbacks this offseason that all the quarterbacks that will be available this offseason want. to land in Minnesota. We got names like cousins, like Aaron Rogers, Derek Carr's coming back. Tua, Kyler, on the move.

Who do you think, Colin, will be the starting quarterback for the Vikings come week one? Well, the Vikings sniffed Aaron before and didn't make a move, and now he's a year older. So, even though I think that would be really fun, it's probably not the move. I could see

Derek Carr, because you don't have to, I mean, you've done the cousins thing. I don't think that stimulates the fans. I don't know if Derek Carr does. Derek Carr could make some sense. I could see Derek Carr. What's your thoughts? Well, Albert Breer brought up Kyler Murray, and I do think from a vertical passing game, he can let it rip. I have a hard time seeing Kevin O'Connell being a Kyler Murray guy. I mean, that one, I actually think Derek Carr, dome player, now, you know, in the weather historically hasn't been his kind of little Jared golf to him. But in the dome, you got Jefferson, you got Jordan Addison, you got an offensive

You got a good defensive coach in Brian Flores. He comes free. I mean, you've got to pay him some money, but don't have to pay him that much. You don't have to give up any draft capital. So I would keep an eye on Derek Carr in the Minnesota Vikings. Speaking of quarterbacks, though, you and I love ranking quarterbacks, knocking quarterbacks. NFL.com has ranked the top quarterbacks from the 25 season into tiers. Now, I'm looking at these tiers, obviously the Matt Staffords, the Josh Allen's being in tier one.

Trevor Lawrence somehow made it into tier one. A guy like Daniel Jones made it into tier two. My guy Brock Purdy's not even in, he's in tier three below Jordan Love. What do you make of this list here, Colin? Okay, for the radio audience, the tier one, and this is according to who, John? NFL.com. So they know a few things about football. Okay, tier one is Stafford, Josh Allen, Dak, Drake, May, Justin Herbert, Trevor Lawrence.

I'm pretty okay with that. Tier 2, Darnold, Caleb, Jared, Burrow, Lamar. I thought Burrow was really good when he played. Lamar, Daniel Jones, Mahomes, in tier two. That just cracks me up. 13, Mahomes, Trevor Lawrence, turned around his career this year, Liam Cohen. He was not very good in that playoff game.

I get Patrick Mahomes towards ACL. Chiefs had a weird season. You kind of get the LeBron, Steph Curry, treatment when you're Patrick Mahomes. Like, you're just kind of on scholarship in the top tiers. You can't have Trevor Lawrence above you. I agree. Tier 3 is Jordan Love, Brock Purdy, Aaron Rogers, Baker Mayfield,

Bo Nix, Jalen Hertz, C.J. Stroud. I, you know, I mean, Dak Prescott, you know, when he's healthy, he's pretty good. Dak had a pretty good year. Do you remember any quarterback? He was the Super Bowl MVP. The Eagles were dominant two years ago. And this year now everyone just thinks Jalen Hertz kind of stinks. I mean, that happened pretty fast, a precipitous drop off there.

Well, he appears to be, as does Siriani, very coordinator-dependent. I would say that. He's as good as coordinator. He needs to start running again. Okay, to the NBA. Obviously, All-Star weekend here in Los Angeles. Everyone's been waiting on pins and needles for LeBron to announce. He skipped the media day, but don't worry, he did his own press conference and gave

some thoughts on his, on his future. I want to live. When I know you guys know, I don't know. I don't know. I have no idea. I just want to live. That's all. And how is your personal uncertainty for the summer and beyond for your career

play as a factor in your urgency here? No. It's just, we're getting glared up as a tour as the post season. So it has nothing to do with that. Same motivation. Same mind factor. Just, you know, this is, we've got past the marathon. And now the sprint is about to start.

you know i'll give lebron credit he always gives good answers he's willing to talk to anybody he's never he never ducks the media i think we talked about it last week john i think it's really difficult for lebron when you're when you're making what the top tier players are making and you love the game and you're still very good at it i would love to see him retire after this year and put a bow on his career. But he is still a top 15 player. He's still very good. He tends to play winning basketball.

He's a good distributor. He can defend in brief spurts. I get LeBron sitting there thinking, talking to Savannah and going, I'm making 50 large. You don't want me around the house. I like playing basketball. You know, I get it.

I think what complicates is, is he going to take the veteran minimum next year to play for the cabs? Probably not. No. I think this has always been lingering, especially the last couple of years. How about the all TV ratings team, him with Steph Curry next year, Golden State Warriors? Who wouldn't be interested in that? That'd be fun.

Draymond's got a house in L.A., their buddies. You don't have to go that far. He's not going to New York where it's freezing cold. And again, they don't have any money because of the rules. So not that the Warriors necessarily do, but I think the Golden State Warriors, Steph Curry, kind of like the Steve Nash, Kobe. Remember that? kind of that kind of feel could go bad that'd be the problem could get weird but uh that's my

prediction yeah john middle cough with the news well that's the news and thanks for stopping by the herd lie news so uh yeah we were taking a victory lap today on the show because all these baseball players and the met's owner are coming out and saying what we've been saying since last year is stop blaming the Dodgers. Dodgers are helping baseball. In a Monday through Friday sport, a dynasty is a good thing. NBA could use a dynasty right now. Hockey could.

The Montreal Canadians won four straight Stanley Cups. You would tune in. I mean, I remember when I was a kid and the Montreal Canadians had gila flure. I didn't know anything about hockey. But Montreal was a dominant, I don't remember if it was late 60s, early 70s. But I would watch hockey. NBC at a hockey package. And I can remember, I can remember the Montreal Canadians.

They were a dynasty. And we were not nearly as distracted a country. I can remember the New York Islanders and Mike Bossy being dominant for years. I was paying attention a little bit to hockey because they had a dynasty. And now we're a much more distracted nation. So taking a little victory lap. But coming up next, Mick Cronin, UCLA basketball coach.

It's circulating. He said this before the season, but it's coming true. What we told you isn't working is definitively not working. Next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.

Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast?

Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it.

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 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.

What's up, fam, Isaiah Thomas? And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about Define the Odds. like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game.

We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything. everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson,

we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah. You figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court,

and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is, getting a racist statue removed. And here's something that should be a whole lot easier than it is, getting a new one put up in its place. As long as there's a politics of race in America, there's going to be a politics of remembering the civil war. To get to school, I had to go down Robert Ely Boulevard. Get to the grocery store, I had to go down Jefferson Davis Parkway.

If you're an historian and you leave out half of what the history is, you're not doing your job. I'm Akila Hughes, and Rebel Spirit Season 2 goes deep on both of those things. The fights, the politics, the people who won, and my personal campaign to add something to the Kentucky State House that's actually worth the wall space. We are more than our bodies. We contain essence. We contain spirit. How do you represent that? They are just fueling a fire that is really catching. You'll see what I mean. Listen to Rebel Spirit Season 2 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever.

you get your podcasts. Keith Gianmanca seemed like a mild-mannered suburban dad, but secretly he became someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree. At the time, did it seem like a crazy idea? It seemed very crazy, but I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out. Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong and what that might look like. No, I didn't want to manifest that. I was trying to manifest success. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life?

That is not the look of an innocent man. This is going to change my life and my family dynamic forever because everything that had existed prior in my reality is now untrue. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man. on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Cross State rivals tip it off on Fox College Hoops Fridays. Braden Smith leads Purdue in a Big Ten battle against Indiana. Friday night at 8 Eastern only on Fox. I met this weekend the general manager of Purdue football could not have been a nicer guy.

No more jokes at Purdue's expense. I'm rooting for Purdue football because I met their GM and he was the nicest guy. So listen, I know I'm repetitive because I see the research and in talk radio, a very small percentage of the audience listens more than twice a week.

And so there are themes that I want to ensure that they stick to me because I believe strongly in them. And I have been on something for, multiple years and it irritates people, I imagine. College basketball is the NBA's friend. The G-League is nonsense. G-League Ignite, which already went belly up.

Nonsense does not help the player's development. That the two things that help a young basketball players development, the European academies, where young men have to play with older men, so they have to have multiple skill sets. And college basketball, excellent coaching, excellent travel. You play in these packed arenas that feel intense. G League, you're playing in cities. You couldn't find a chick-fil-A.

I mean, the coaching's average. And so I think AAU basketball is bad for player development. And I think the G-League similarly does not develop players. G League Ignite was a disaster. The NBA after four years just said it's over. They didn't develop one legitimate big time consistent all-star level player. But Mick Cronin talked about this before the season started, and this has been circulating this weekend about player development in this country and why when they demonize college basketball, it is a mistake. Too much goes on in youth basketball where it's about me and not we.

And it's not the kids' fault. They're a product of the system. We're trying to tell you've got to play defense, you got to play smart. You know, everybody else just lets them run around shoot every time. Get beat on defense. They don't come out. You know, just not helping them, though. It's not helping them.

That's why you hear all the NBA guys now talking about why there's so many Europeans because they actually play real basketball. There's no such thing as a pickup game in Europe. For the record, this was a great NBA draft. go look at the top 11 guys picked college basketball who are the top 12 players in the NBA no order

Wemby International Yokic International Jalen Brunson Jalen Brown Steph Curry SGA Kauai Leonard Cade Cunningham Devin Booker

I mean I don't know where Cooper flags at but he and the other kid from Duke are both tremendous They spent time in college basketball. So, I mean, the best non-college basketball, non-European academy, the best story for like the G-League crowd, because G-League Ignite already went belly up. And have you ever noticed with G-League guys? They always come out there.

You always explain them the same way. You always describe them the same way. Super athletic, really raw. None of them can shoot. Kaminga can't shoot. scoot henderson can't shoot the best of that group is a men thompson from houston tremendous defensive player really raw three years in can't shoot so do i think he'd be a better shooter if he'd gone to the international academies absolutely or college basketball for two years with calipari on his butt

or mark few on his butt or mick cronin on his butt absolutely or eric musselman or all these great coaches bill self there's great coaches everywhere so it just there's no there's no there's no G League All-Stars around. You look at the best players in the league. And we got two more out of Duke. And within two years, they'll be in that top arc. It's all college basketball guys. So the NBA got into this weird thing before NIL. Like, we got to get the players paid. You're not making them better players. They can get a paycheck. That's why I think NIL saved not only college basketball. It's going to help the NBA in marketing. And I think it's saving a lot of kids from being just kind of

nobody ever gives them a second big contract. I don't think it's a coincidence. These G-League guys can never shoot. They're great raw athletes. Well, where do you develop that consistency, that work at hard coaching? Really, you know, minor league baseball, they manage.

I mean, I used to work in minor league baseball. It is hard coaching. College football, hard coaching. G-League, A-A-U. Eh, not a fan. All right. We got good stuff.

Jason Tim's coming up last hour. Had a fun weekend. I was down in Florida. I went for a walk. I told the staff, I get into my head thinking about rants and sports. I went for a walk on a Florida beach. I looked at my phone.

I'm like, I've been walking one direction for an hour 15. It could take me an hour and a half to get back to my. my hotel. I woke up Sunday morning and I'm telling you, I felt like I had done a 16-hour Pilates class. I'm still limping down the hallway. The moral of the story is

don't walk in one direction for an hour of 15. Unless you do it every day. All right. Final hour on a Monday. Live in Chicago, it's the hurt. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe.

I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts.

We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know. Tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite, unhumored me with Robert

Smigel 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 IHeart 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 hit a bogo. Well, then you got them.

Listen to soccer moms 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 harmed. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow.

Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to him. He's 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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.