The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 3 - Expectations for Russell Wilson

Episode Date: July 27, 2023

Nick Wright from First Things First joins the show to give his thoughts on the expectations Russell Wilson faces after a brutal first season with the Broncos More on Sean Payton's comments about the Broncos horrible season last year with NFL Columnist Jarrett BellSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me.

84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year.

I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard Podcasts. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to 3 Eastern 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRedia.com or stream us live every day on the IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Now let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. I haven't talked to my friend, co-hosts First, Nick Wright in a while.

Every time I see Nick, he's more tan, and the beard is longer. He is, look at that. I like it. Maybe I'll just, considering growing my hair and my beard until the Chiefs lose, but that might be well into 2025. Like, I don't know. I don't know if that all end up looking like Rick Rubin. Also, by the way, Colin, how many people,

places around the globe are you going to visit before you come to New York City one time? I've lived here seven years. I think then you've been to every continent, but Antarctica. You made your sixth trip to Canada. Stop by New York City one time, man. Yeah, well, I used to live next to it for 10 years, and, you know, I spent many a night there hobnobbing with the fun people of your neighborhood, which is a fun neighborhood. Okay. Sean Payton did. what is very rarely done, fired back at his industry, executives,

a coach, it just does not happen in sports much. What did you make of it? Well, I thought your take about the kind of, you know, not rushing to be offended. It's not the angle I had on it. I thought it was really smart and interesting.

My takeaway was, though, of a totally different direction, which is Sean Payton for all the shots, deserved shots he fired at Nat Hackett, I fear, might be making the same exact mistake Hackett made, which was his biggest one, which is being in denial about the biggest problem, which is his quarterback. Even if they had the most seamless operation in Denver last year, even if they didn't have any of the issues getting the plays in, if they didn't have any of the issues on the offensive line,

Russell Wilson's arrow pointing directly down, dating from his second to last year in Seattle to his last year in Seattle to falling off the cliff in Denver is a massive problem. This is a player who the first nine years of his career averaged 11 wins, never was below 500, never missed a game. The last two years is 10 and 19, or 10 and 19, pardon me as a quarterback, has been injured both years. years and obviously he's been below 500 both years. So if Sean, I think we'll see what Sean does behind the scenes, but if he is going to coach this team as if they have all pro Russell Wilson, I think he's going to be sadly mistaken. Aaron Rogers took a substantial pay cut. We know this

to be true that if you're the top paid quarterback in the league, it's just harder. Mahomes may be different that he can win a Super Bowl with nine rookies playing legitimate snaps. That's not the model, right? Like you would like to have more seasoned people around it. Patrick's just different. But I did think it was significant. And I do feel that Aaron is putting a mirror in front of him and is saying, I didn't do blank, blank, blank well in Green Bay. I'm going to reboot some stuff. It does feel like self-awareness. It's like, hey, I'm more engaged with the kids. I don't need to be the highest paid guy. I'm not going to keep talking about retirement. It does feel like he's looked at himself and said, don't do this,

this and this. Is it to you? So I totally agree. And I'm skeptical about the Jets this year, and we can get into that if you'd like. But on this specific decision, even though I have been critical of Aaron over the last couple years, there

is no criticizing this. This is an objectively positive thing for the New York Jets and for Aaron's chances to compete for a Super Bowl over the next couple of years, and it undoubtedly will gain him some goodwill not only amongst the organization, but amongst the local fans and

media that can, I don't know how much it'll help, but it certainly won't hurt. There is no yeah but on him. This is guys restructure contracts all the time, but that is different. That is just moving money around. This is taking more than $30 million that he was going to have to be paid and making it to where he won't be paid that. So giving up $30 million is a huge thing, and it will in the salary cap sport help the Jets. My question, and I know Jemak won't like this, is how good should we expect the Jets to actually be,

and I have real questions about them on that front? Yeah, I do too. I'm more in the 8-9, he's more in the 11-12. He's never had a bad O line, and this could be a bad O line. My takeaway in the Jets is that simple. schedule is brutal, a lot of good defenses, Aaron's never had a bad O line, and this potentially could be one. Is that, that's where I live. I agree with all that, and I'm going to add this.

People, I think the simple logic on him is they won seven games with the worst quarterback situation in the league, so how many will they win, even if Aaron's not MVP, Aaron, if he's just a good quarterback? And my question would be how accurate of a portrayal of their season, are those seven wins, when you look at those seven wins, and they came against Josh Allen, that's a great win, against Aaron Rogers, that's a good win. And the other five wins, Colin, came against either backup or third-string quarterback.

Yep. They beat Jacoby Brissette. They beat the Steelers in Kenny Pickett's first game ever when he came in off the bench and threw three picks. They beat, I think, maybe, the worst coach quarterback combo for any one game in NFL history when it was Nat Hackett against Brett Rippin. They had two other wins against backup or third string quarterbacks. That to me, they beat the dolphins in a game that Tua didn't play.

Bridgewater played one snap. Then it was Skyler Thompson. So I do think there are legitimate questions of, is Aaron walking into a 7 and 10 team? Or is he walking into a 5 and 12 team? And if they are that, then even if he's, he's a big improvement. Eight or nine wins feels like about the ceiling to me. All right.

Mahomes took a team friendly deal. You know, he's a highly paid quarterback, but I think he's going to be around seventh. Should that bother him, do you think it does bother him? Okay, I don't think it bothers him. And I would make the argument

that he will make more money by making less money. And that sounds ridiculous. But so if we are talking about right now he averages 45 million a year, and the number one paid quarterback now is at 52 million a year. So if we're talking about he's probably already cost himself, call it 10 million, and now it's 7 million a year moving forward. How much is it worth at the end of his career if he is near universally considered

the greatest player of all time? Is that worth $100 million? Is that worth $200 million? How much is being the goat for a long time been worth to Jordan? How much will it be worth to LeBron? How much has it been worth to Tom Brady? So from a pure dollars perspective, I think Mahomes, forgoing every last dollar,

will actually make him more dollars. And from a team perspective, so that's just the money, and obviously it's good for the team. So if Mahomes had squeezed every last dollar out of the Chief's last offseason when Josh Allen and others or whomever had passed him on the list of that point, Aaron certainly had at that point, guess what? Maybe they can't sign Marquez Vald as Scantling for three years, $30 million. Well, he caught the critical touchdowns in the Jags playoff game and the Bengals playoff game. Like, do I think, and I know people have made the argument, Colin, well, they can restructure and they can restructure and they, can move things around, that bill would come due during Mahomes' career and at some point

he would have less around him. Now, in a decade, if he's near the end and he wants to squeeze the chiefs because the bill comes due after his career, more power to him. And I'll support him no matter what. But I think he is doing what is best for the team, but also actually what's best for him because his ultimate ceiling is not Hall of Fame. His ultimate ceiling is the greatest player in the history of the sport. And in order to do that, he's going to need a lot of good talent around it.

By the way, you had your NFL tiers, and you go all in on this. You have half the league represented or more. In fact, you may have had the whole, it's a lot. No, it's the whole league. It's the whole league. You know, it's named tears. I saw, by the way, while you were gone, I saw J. Mack doing his NFL tiers. Jay Mack, you do whatever you want, but I appreciate you find a different word.

Tears is proprietary, you know, of this show. in the committee, but go ahead. What's your problem with it? Because it's a perfect set of tears. Dark Horse candidate, Green Bay, Chicago. I think Pittsburgh at the end of the year was significantly better than both teams. I think you're giving a lot of, let's just stick with Green Bay.

Dark Horse candidate for what? So to make the playoffs. Here's the problem, Colin. Here's the problem with, you know, and I'm not casting aspersions, but with you. You're going to say, oh boy, my dark horse this year is the Carolina Panthers, who I have going from seven wins to eight wins. That's not dark horse.

You're going to hear other people be like, guys, my dark horse candidate to make the playoffs, the Detroit Lions. And it's like, folks, they're literally favored to make the playoffs. The definition of a dark horse is a team that no one sees coming, that storms in, and makes them. the postseason, like the Giants last year, some would argue. And if you look at those three teams, there is no clear-cut team in the NFC North if you expect that the Vikings are going to take a step back.

So that would give the Packers and the Bears some eligibility, if you will. And the Steelers are never bad. They have an excellent defense, one of the three best coaches in the sport, and a quarterback in year two. So what I am saying is one of those three teams. is going to shock the world and make the playoffs. This, again, it's very important. This is not a power rankings.

If you want a power rankings, go to a local hotel and open up the USA Today they give you for free and you'll see it. This is a tiers that each category matters. And I just think one of those three teams is going to be a playoff team. I don't think that's ridiculous. Look at Nick Wright. Nick Wright is this look. You look like... I know.

I look ridiculous. I'll be honest. I look ridiculous. But I think the more ridiculous I can look and stay on TV, the more it makes my takes seem important. Because I think people are like, why is this guy? This guy must be brilliant if they put them on TV looking like that. So it's all part of my master playing, Colin. And the pocket square brings it all together.

Whatever all is. Thanks, man. It brings it all together. Nick. Good seeing you, buddy. See you, buddy. 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clivert Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions,

my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes,

creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever

you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at It podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode, with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack.

I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah.

For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right. J-Mac with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. They might have to check that cup.

Nick kept drinking. Did you notice that during that segment? And then he got saucy, he put the jets in some wacky, oh, I almost said a bad word. Some wacky category there, like way down the list. I'm like, he has to be drinking when he's doing that. that list. Jets are fundamentally interesting because I think they could be disappointing.

Anyway, so let's move on to Sean Peyton and that criticism he levied on Nathaniel Hackett, who's now the O.C. with the Jets. Well, of course, Robert Sala has responded today. Colin, here's Sala coming back at Sean Payton. I kind of look by saying, if you ain't got no haters, you ain't

popping. So hate away. You know, obviously we're doing something right if you got to talk about us when we don't play it till week four. I get it. There's a lot of external noise. There's a lot of people who are hating on us. There's a lot of people looking for us to fail. There's a lot of crows pecking at our neck. But all you can do is spread your wings keep flying high until those crows fall off and suffocate from the inability to breathe. Whatever that was, I kind of liked it. He's very positive.

We don't have any haters on this show. That's the good news. Oh, yeah, we got plenty of them. We do? And I couldn't give a rip, yeah. So, listen, I didn't think the Sean Payton stuff was out of pocket. Like, he bagged on Hackett. Hackett was terrible. He called it like he saw it. What's wrong with that? You know how rarely we get somebody being authentic, harsh, and willing to put themselves out there? We should celebrate that. We should celebrate Dana White, Dion Sanders.

We should celebrate Sean Payton willing to be hated, willing to put themselves out there and take big swings on stuff. You know, I mean, Dana leased an island during COVID. It got a lot of pushback. Dion's like, I'm blown up the program, and Sean Payton's criticizing people in his industry. For us, it's content. It's guys taking, having big opinions. It's why I may have problems with Aaron and Green Bay and his sort of lack of engagement, but, I mean, he was giving us quotes every week.

It's content, and that's what we're in the business to discuss. Yeah. I think that sums it up pretty well. Hackett was a disaster. Like, we called this three weeks into the season. We called it. Do you remember the Monday night football game? That was the first week.

They had to fire a clock management or a high. Higher o'clock, man. They couldn't figure out the clock in the first week. That was the first sign that they were just, and Russell was sort of looking to the sidelines, that was the first sign that Nathaniel just wasn't ready for the gig. So the Jets play the Broncos, I believe, in week five. Nobby. That's in Denver, though.

I got to look at it up, real. I think it's in Denver. The Jets did beat them last year. That is correct. And yes, it is in Denver. So it's an altitude. Not something Aaron Rogers can't handle. The Jets did go win there last year.

They didn't have to face Russell Wilson. and they faced some backup. That was the game where briefed lightning went around the end. It was gone, 70-yard touchdown. Yeah, I don't want to reminisce about it. Can we show the highlight? No. All right, let's get to the next one.

Oh, yeah, Stefan Diggs. I don't know if you saw it when you were on break. T.J. Hushman Zata came on here, had some choice words for Stefan Diggs in the Buffalo situation. Things seem to be getting back on track for Diggs in Buffalo. He's at training camp this week. No drama. And spoke to the media about the entire situation.

I've been in a league, I'm going on my ninth year right now. I'm saying. I'm in a very, I got more football behind me than I do in front of me. My main focus and my only focus is winning. We've been trying to get over the hump, and obviously it costs for a lot of frustration. But all in all, like, as far as with that, I was here, but he did have a conversation. Me and him did have a conversation. It's all water under the bridge now.

But I attribute it to, like, I mean, family matters. I'm saying? I don't like dancing. I don't like those kind of questions. Black and white is everybody has family matters. We had a conversation. Everything is all as well. Water on the bridge.

Now we're back at work. I like that. That's a good answer. He was very good at the podium there. It's a family thing. Families argue. I tell my kids all the time. Families are imperfect.

Step families are harder. Don't be precious. That's very good. That's a really not reading the PR sheet. Stefan Diggs comes right up to the podium and just says, so family matter, water under the bridge, family struck. That's exactly how you do it. Confront it.

Bottom line, have a message, deliver it. Thanks for flying United. That's how you do it. I like that. Okay. That's pretty good. It's one way to look at it. The other is, you know, you had four catches for 35 yards in the playoff loss to the Bengals.

Is that what you were angry about? Are you angry about not getting the ball, playoff failures? Athletes have a right to show emotion. Are you worried about the opener against Sauce Gardner? Oh, God. Are you worried about the jets coming? The dolphins are coming? Patriots got an O.C.

A lot of questions for Mr. Diggs, no? Well, I think he's going to be a Hall of Famer, so I don't think he has been. that many questions. Sauce Gardner had a good rookie year. A great rookie year. He was all pro. Come on. What are we talking about?

All right. Final story. Oh, yes. This is delicious. So there were rumors this off season. The Rams were shopping Matt Stafford. A lot of them originated on this show. Of course, the Rams tried to shut that down and McVeigh said, hey, we're keeping our guy,

Stafford. However, there is a disconnect between Stafford and the team. C.O. Demmoff previously stated they did not have discussions about restructuring his contract. Stafford was asked about it this week at camp and said they did approach him. Confirmed. Which both you and I had reported with different sourcing. I had been told that they approached him about some restructuring.

I'm not here to inflame situations or make him up. And Stafford acknowledged what we had reported on this show is that there's a reason they were bailing on Ramsey and, you know, Mike linebacker, Bobby Wagner. The real question about the Rams. If they're not going to be good, do they decide early, let's just shut this down. We're not going anywhere. It's time to reboot. Let's make a move on Caleb Williams at the top of the trip.

Because I have said on the show that they could be that bad. You disagree. Listen, if you have an excellent quarterback, Stafford is, and an excellent coach, McVeigh is, an excellent weapon. Cooper Cup is, and a dominant defensive presence, Aaron Donald is, in a weaker conference, I think you can be viable. I think they're an eight-win team that doesn't make the playoffs but is viable. Many people have them at three and four, the over under six and a half.

McVey and Stafford, they're going to win games because they're really, really good. And I've been told they didn't want to trade Stafford. They like Stafford. Yeah, they just needed money. Everybody in the league's working around stuff, moving. It's a shell game trying to get guys in and guys out. So here's where it gets problematic. They opened the season at Seattle, and Seattle beat them twice last year but didn't face Stafford.

After that, they host the Niners. We know the history of Shanahan and McVeigh. And then they travel to Cincinnati for a Monday night island game. Colin, there's a chance that the Rams go into Cincinnati, 0 and 2, staring 0 in the face in an island game. Yeah. Listen, it's a rematch from the Super Bowl. Bengals you know are going to be looking for revenge.

Yeah. there's a world where the Bengals blow them out, and you're 0 and 3, and you're like, oh, my gosh. Now, Indy looms after that, they should beat Indy. They'll be favored. But then there's Philadelphia. And it's like one in four, and it's like, I'm not banging on. I'm just, this is reality.

You know, all the ramp fans can put their head in the sand and pretend like it's not happening. Reality is they're not a good football team. Well, let's just, I think they're better than you think, but those are all potentially true. And then they could beat Seattle be 1 and 0, and the whole world changes. Some things would change. positive Uncle Colin. JMAQ with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd lie news. The only electric EQS sedan from Mercedes-Benz. Innovation on a magnificent scale. The vehicle is all electric. The feeling's all Mercedes. Learn more at NBUSA.com slash EQS.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Easter, 9 a.m. Pacific. Two NBA insiders, podcasting twice a week to plug you right into the NBA great fight. All happening. only one place. This League Uncut. The new NBA podcast with me, Chris Haines, and me, Mark Stein. Join us as we team up to expound on everything we're covering, hearing, and chasing. Listen to This League Uncut with Chris Haynes and Mark Stein on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'll say. Yep, that's me. Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media.

Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger.

So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking.

What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because. of crack.

I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. They're finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really?

Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your Podcasts. Baseball fans, you can win $10,000 this weekend playing Fox Bet Super 6. Download the free Super 6 app on your phone and enter six predictions for your shot at the jackpot. Jared Bell has been covering for the USA today. He's been covering the NFL, all told, for 40-plus years, since the early 80s.

A pro football Hall of Fame selector, and he's in the news today because he talked to Sean Peyton, and Sean Peyton was in a mood. In all your years, you don't get very often where a coach, an insider, levels harsh criticism and other insiders. It just doesn't happen. So as you were talking to Sean, whatever you did to initiate this, were you surprised by his sort of authentic passion? Were you surprised by it? Not totally because I know Sean. And I've known Sean.

And Sean is, you know, you used the word authentic. And he can definitely be that. But I know what you're saying, Colin. It's like there are certain lines that coaches and players don't cross. They don't want bulletin board material. Well, one thing we know about Sean Payton, and I think he wanted to send a message. I really do. I think he was willing to go on the record with me about a lot of things.

There were a few things he told me. He said, this is off the record, so we didn't use it. But I think Sean is a guy who's savvy enough. He wants to get his message across, not just to any other team. His team, his players, anybody in the league, the league office. Sean, a lot of times doesn't give a crap. He's all about this is kind of my mindset right now. So it was great, Colin, to get a chance to visit with him.

And we visited for over an hour. He took me on a tour of the headquarters. We sat in his office. We just really chopped it up for a long time. And I've done that with him before, you know, obviously over the years in New Orleans. but to catch him now. That was the whole purpose of coming here for the first stop, Colin, was, you know, knowing that this is a new deal for him

and wanting to kind of capture his mood as he opens his training camp. Whoa. We got you. There we go. Sorry about it. Yeah. Yeah, sorry about that. But anyway, yeah, it's good to kind of capture his deal.

All right. So when I, when you sat with him for an hour, There are going to be some things he's going to want to talk about, and there's going to be some things he doesn't want to talk about. But when you sat with him for an hour, I think a lot of this feels, Jared, like he wants to make sure that the locker room saw these quotes, that he wanted, because a lot of people bailed on Russell in Seattle.

And I think there was a percentage of people in that locker room that may have been bailing on him in Denver. So my takeaway was, these quotes are being read by those players. How much of this, in your opinion, was big support for Russell, who by the way, Russell doesn't defend himself, a lot of critics, always takes the high ground, always. How much of this was Sean sending a message to the locker room? Colin, I think that's a great question. And I wondered about that. And I asked him several things about Russell Wilson, you know, pointedly just to kind of get a sense.

of his relationship, and he never criticized Russell. So that left me with the impression that he's definitely all in with what he's got and what he's got to work with. I mean, obviously the Broncos invested heavily in Russell Wilson. They brought Sean Payton in here to fix Russell Wilson or to revive him, if you will. And so you're right. The comments about Russell Wilson probably had a purpose to extend to the locker room. Now, some of the players have been asked about Sean's comments, a couple of them today, as a matter of fact.

And Devante Williams, the running back, who, by the way, looked really good today coming off of knee surgery. But he was asked about Peyton's declaration that he'd be ticked off if this is not a playoff team. And Williams said, hey, it was great to see that, to hear that with Sean Payton, because it shows that he's got some belief in what they're they've got going here, as opposed to saying, look at what this team did last year, it's going to take a long time to rebuild it. They set the standard. And I think that was kind of part of the deal with Sean Payton, who we know, just like his mentor, Bill Parcells, I mean, he's very, very savvy when it comes to delivering a message

with a purpose. Also, and that's interesting, Jared, because he criticized the general manager who's still in the building. What did you make of that? that felt almost strategic. What did you make of that message? Yeah, you've got the general manager, the team president. He mentioned him. I think he just kind of wanted to send him. Because he also said that he really likes George Payton, the general manager. And he feels like that they are going to work well together.

But again, I think he probably wanted to send the message that, hey, there's a new sheriff in time, okay, and get in line. And you're going to be accountable for what you do just like, the left tackle is going to be accountable, and the second string linebackers going to be accountable. Everybody's going to be accountable. So I think all in all, the totality of the message is, okay, you know, we're serious about this, and we are not going to pull punches.

We're going to be aggressive in how we operate. Now, we'll see how all this shakes down over time, but, you know, what a great way to get it started, at least from my perspective as a reporter. Yeah. By the way, you talked to him for an hour. I mean, he was really critical of Hackett. How do you think, one last question, Hackett in New York. They go sideways early.

There'll be a lot of speculation. How do you think that thing works Hackett in New York? Yeah, you know, I think, Colin, if you or I went to New York and had Aaron Rogers as our quarterback, were probably going to be, you know, successful better than average, right? I think that's kind of part of the thing with Nathaniel Hackett. Now, not trying to take away anything from him, but you get a chance to work with Aaron Rogers, right? Much like if you got a chance to work with Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, you're going to be good. Now, there are nuances to that, obviously, and Aaron Rogers could probably speak to that as well as anybody in terms of what Hackett means to him, what he brings to the person.

how he helps him, you know, with his game from a day to day week to week basis. But, you know, Nathaniel Hackett came into a Denver Broncos situation woefully unprepared. I mean, they took a chance on him. It never been a head coach before. And he, you know, he fell on his face. Not sure if he's ever going to get another chance to be a head coach again. But, I mean, he's young enough that that could happen. And I think a lot of what he does with the Jets and with Aaron Rogers is going to dictate

what happens in terms of his career arc moving forward. But to your point, for Sean Payton to say, hey, I heard that things were so bad with this coaching staff that that was one of the problems last year. I mean, that's quite telling. And you know what? It almost sounded like Sean Payton, the TV analyst, too, because everybody talked about that

as it was crashing and burning last year. That's right. We saw the Denver, yeah, we saw the Broncos offense, just how horrible it was, right? And so from that standpoint, what Sean Faiton said in terms of, hey, this offense was really a mess last year, that's not a surprise. It's just a surprise coming from the guy who has now replaced the guy who, you know, ran that offense. Jared Bell, covering the NFL since the early 80. I was still in high school when you started covering this league.

81. How about that? Hey, it's great seeing you again. Let's make it a habit. Yeah, for sure, man. Okay, my man. Good to see you. All right, Jared Bell, been doing a long time at a high level.

By the way, tired of take a nice cold showers. Navion has a 15-year limited warranty. Go to tankless maidsimble.com. Valuable space freed up, energy bills cut in half, 15-year limited warranty. He knocked that little camera over and he recovered quickly. He had makeup speed there, catch-up speed. Got burned on the route, corrected. A minute later, he was all ready to go.

I saw you there laughing at that whole situation there. That's what you do when you're a veteran journalist. You recover quickly. Calling me out. Goodness. I mean, it was funny. Come on. It was.

So you know what? This whole camp thing, I'm going to go home today and sit down and read all these camp reports. I love it. It's one of my favorite times. We don't have a lot of games. Got a lot of stories. A lot of stories. I'm going to double down on the Rams.

May have nine wins. Eight, nine. Really going to double down. Listen, just one word. Look at the schedule first. All right. We'll see you tomorrow. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite.

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