The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Richard Sherman Podcast - Lamar Jackson's record-setting contract with Baltimore Ravens

Episode Date: April 28, 2023

Richard Sherman gives his instant reaction to the breaking news of Lamar Jackson signing the highest-paid contract in NFL history with the Baltimore Ravens and quieting his doubters who said that he��d never sign a deal like the one Jalen Hurts secured with the Philadelphia Eagles without having an agent represent him. #volume #herdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes,

creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok's

podcast network on TikTok. Reminder, every episode of this podcast premieres live on AMP. So download the app, subscribe to me at Richard Sherman to tune in to all of our shows live. The volume. All right, we're back.

We're working remotely, but it's another Richard Sherman podcast. Welcome back, Mitchell. Lamar Jackson, got his money. Oh, did he ever, Rich? I didn't see this coming, but I guess the Ravens really had no choice. I mean, initial impact,

like obviously this guy's a game breaker on the field, but Richard, your initial impressions of this breaking news. Mitchell, I heard so many people that are going to have to eat their words. Florio is going to have to, he's going to carry the agent's water. He's going to do that. That's what he does. He's going to say Lamar had somebody working in the background and all this nonsense

after he just said he didn't have an agent. You need an agent. He needs an agent. He needs somebody's talking for him. Yada, yada, yada. The highest paid player in the history of the National Football League had no agent. He saved Mitchell, $52 million a year, as reported by Rapporte. That's 1.5 a year that.

he's saying. Mitchell, the guarantee of 185 million, Mitchell, that's 5.5 million that he saved by not having an agent. Over the lifetime, if he sees the 260, that'll be 7.8 million, he's saying. And everybody's like, he just had his mom. He just had his mom. His mom was doing a deal. Like, man, he needs somebody other than his mom. When things aren't going break, critics are everywhere, Mitchell. But instead of critics, today he's going to have crickets. Mitchell, it's going to be crickets because nobody wants to give it credit because if agents are sitting there listening to a guy say, hey, I'm the highest paid player in the history of the National Football League, and I didn't have anybody representing me. I did it myself because at the end of the day, a standard deal is going to be a standard deal. Now, Nicole Lynn, who just negotiated Jalen Hertz deal, fantastic deal, fantastic agent.

I think she got another great client this year. She got a lot of great clients. fantastic agent. Nothing against her, nothing against the bill. But it can be done this way. And we've been saying that. Bobby Wagner was another example. Got a great deal.

Highs paid at his position at the time he negotiated this deal. It can't happen. Rokane Smith did it himself this year. Highest paid linebacker in football did the deal himself. So what does this mean for Lamar? It means Baltimore is going to be his home for a long time. Oh, Dale Beckham Jr. as his quarterback, I'm looking forward to him having a great season with an actual true number

one receiver. He has a true number one, get open, get money, I got to do my thing. What's your feeling, Mitchell? I'm impressed, but really, Rich, I think the biggest thing with Lamar Jackson, how he played this, he bet on himself, not just as an agent. Take that aside. He bet on himself from the standpoint of he didn't take the easy money with one year left on his deal.

He played through that deal, and he created so much leverage for his position, Rich. To me, I think the Baltimore Ravens had no other choice. I mean, is Lamar Jackson worth this amount of money? I don't know. I mean, he didn't, you know, he's a super talented player. Obviously, he's a freak athlete at the quarterback position. Is he going to be worth this amount of money? Time will tell.

But, Rich, what he did better than any quarterback has done in, the past five, 10 years, as he bet on himself from the standpoint of he played out his rookie deal. He didn't take the first offer that was offered to him, albeit it might have been a nice deal, but I can guarantee you he made a hell of a lot more money with this deal than the one that was originally offered to him one year ago. So, Rich, to me, I'm impressed. I mean, frankly, I'm very impressed how Lamar Jackson handled this. I will say on the agent side of things, as you know, 3% may be, you know, the going rate standard. it can be negotiated down.

You know, let's say an agent does his deal for 1% commission, Rich, 1% commission. And that's why I'll throw this back at you. Someone of his standard of this guy that's going to be making $50 plus million a year, do you think that an NFL agent, a guy that's been in these circles, around these circles, for 10, 15, 20, 30 years would not be worth 1%? could not make this contract $500,000 a year better. That's my only question I'll throw back to you. I don't know.

I don't know. I don't think so because it's the richest contract in the national football league. And literally an agent of a quarterback that just went to the Super Bowl just negotiated the highest contract in the history of the game. So it's not like we're speaking without precedent. We're speaking with the immediate precedent. The president was just set by Nicole Lynn, who did a fantastic job, great deal. That was a great deal for Jayland Hertz.

That's a great deal. Highest paid quarterback, highest paid player. Lamar exceeded that deal by himself. And so could an agent have made that $500,000? Maybe, but maybe not. And maybe at the same time, you would be given him $1.5 billion or $500,000 to do the same deal you could have done by yourself.

And that's where the fear factor comes in. They've been feeding off that for a long time. There's so many people that are involved in these deals. There's so many lawyers, there's the NFLPA. At the end of the day, every deal has to go through Mark Levin at the end of the day. Every, every language, he's going to talk to every agent. He's going to talk to the teams. He's going to say, hey, this language right here, you may want to take out.

Hey, on your team, the Baltimore Ravens, this is the best language. These things are the best language. These guarantees aren't really guarantees. They're rolling guarantees that they can void with A, B, and C. So you can find the information. You can get it. It's not rocket science. Now, are there agents who have relationships and been in a game a long time that that may make a difference at times in terms of trades and in terms of getting with certain teams?

Potentially. Potentially. But when you know your worth and you're at the top of your game, I mean, next year, who's going to be the top quarterback next year? When Burroughs comes up, Burroughs deal isn't going to be hard to negotiate, Mitchell. It's not going to be super complex. He's going to get more than what Lamar Jackson just got. That's what his deal. going to be. How much you get, Herbert?

More than what Lamar Jackson just got. Like, are they better than Omar Jackson? All that is debatable. What will not be debated is whether they'll make them. And they will. And so, the agents will get credit and be like, oh, you know, we negotiated this deal to get more than Lamar Jackson.

Yeah, because you went after Lamar Jackson. You went through this. I mean, you were kind of, I don't want you weren't the first athlete to do this, but you went through this and became one of the bigger names to do this in NFL history, and that is representing yourself. And I think you realize you've got to have thick skin to put yourself in that position because a lot of an agent's job is hearing what you can't do.

Richard Torres Achilles, he can't run the same speedy than last year. You know, Richard's getting up there in age. He's not 25 anymore. You know, these are things that you have to be comfortable in hearing. You got to be comfortable being uncomfortable. So to me, kudos to Lamar. And hopefully this doesn't damage their relationship, hearing all the things that Baltimore Ravens' ownership and management probably said that he could not do. So if he can put that behind him and he can be the professional that I know, you know, I feel he can be, you know, this team is going to be a force for the foreseeable future. But before we get into the Ravens and their team as a whole, and Odell Beckham Jr. joining this fold, like, what do you truly see? Like, when does this stop? And this

this quarterback market has become so excessive. I mean, you know, Joe Burrough, sure. Is he going to deserve $55, $60 million? I guess, you know, but what about lower tier guys? What about my hometown Detroit line guy? Jared Gough, like, when does it stop? The thought of this guy, like Daniel Jones, making $40-plus million. I know the salary cap grows year after year after year, rich,

but it shows me how important. a rookie deal is for a contract or for a rookie quarterback because if Bryce Young goes out there and is a stud and the Carolina Panthers are able to keep him for five years, dude, they're saving $50 million

against the cap each year. How much more damage can they do that? They can go put out, various slay just signed for $15 million a year. They can sign three Darius Slays, you know? I mean, that is huge. Those are three pro ball players,

realistically they could sign if they get a good player on a rookie deal. Mitchell, it's not great to stop. It's not going to stop until these owners put a stop to it. You know, just like they said, hey, we're not doing any more guarantees. They stop that. They didn't fully guarantee Lamar's deal. They didn't fully guarantee Jaylen Hertz deal. They're not going to fully guarantee Burroughs deal because they're going to come together

and make a decision to do that. They're not going to come together to make a decision to stop paying these quarterbacks. because they feel like they're the most valuable part of their team. They feel like they're closest to ownership. They feel like they give them the best chance to win. So no matter what, they're going to have to keep overpaying it. Daniel Jones will probably not win a Super Bowl ever. And I don't know if the expectation in New York is for him to win a Super Bowl.

But they had to pay him because if he gets to the free market, who knows what he gets. You never know. And so for guys like Herbert and Burroughs who are established stars, you know, Herbert hasn't won in the playoffs. has went to a Super Bowl and lost and showed that he played well in those playoffs, they're going to get what the going rate is. It's a percentage of the cap. I mean, usually for a quarterback is 20%. So whatever 20% of the cap is, when Burroughs comes up,

that's probably about what he's going to get. That's just what it is. It's not going to stop until the owner stop it, and they're not going to stop it. So the game is about the quarterback, and who can do it. It's about scoring points. That's the way they've designed it.

That's the way they continue to officiate it. that's how it's going to be. But it's going to, I mean, it's a problem, but it's going to continue to be a problem until they see it as a problem and try to fix it. Well, Rich, let's get, let's break down the Ravens. I mean, this is, this is huge, especially with the draft being right around the corner here. I mean, this is day of the draft. Obviously, there was a ton of pressure for them to get this deal done.

And now they got OBJ. I mean, they're healthy with J.K. Dobbins now. You know, they finally have some weapons. around Lamar. This is a guy that's throughout his career, his best attribute and has been into

athleticism. Do you see him, you know, forming a good rapport with Odell? Like, what is the next step of Lamar's game? I think people limited Lamar Jackson

and made him feel like he's a running quarterback and that's all he does well when in college. He played nothing but the spread. You know, they're spread out. He's tossed him ball around the yard. He's running some.

He's doing everything. And I think he has a new officer. and support now. Greg Roman's gone. So the style that they've been playing with for the last five years is going to be different. It's going to be an adjustment. But I think it's going to be good for Lamar. It's going to be allowed him to showcase his talents more. He got to do that a bit last year as well. He's hitting his back foot, letting him ball go before he sustained the injury. He was playing some of his best football. But I think with Mark Andrews, obviously, his biggest weapon, you know, his favorite target coming back, O'Dell Beckham, Jr. Nelson Aguilar. Like you said,

Dobbins is going to be there. I think it's going to be a fun year for this team and I'm excited to see how he responds. A year full of criticism. Hey, he never stays healthy. He hasn't stayed. He missed, what, 10 games in the last two years. You know, you heard all this stuff said, you know,

to bring him down and I want to see how he responds because if he has an MVP year, Mitchell, or anything close, oh my God, haters turn my podcast on. Mew. because I'm going after. I already know that Lamar got a big fan in you now, Rich,

with what he's been able to accomplish being his own agent. This is incredible. Certainly, this is an historic day in NFL world, right? I mean, it doesn't get much better than this. We see what happens. I mean, we got the NFL draft tonight, Rich. I know you're out of the country, but what do you think is going on? We got a couple days more to digest.

justice. I just don't know. It's starting to get to be too much noise out there now. It's starting to be too much noise. Like you got some experts saying, hey, we, four quarterbacks are going in the first four picks. And you got some experts saying, hey, that's not going to be a

quarterback. Richardson may not go to a 25. And then now you're hearing Hendon Hooker won't last until a 20. You know, we weren't hearing Hendon Hooker because he was hurt. We weren't hearing some of it about his name. And now you're talking, teams are changing their minds. You're talking about Paris Johnson. old tackle. They're talking about people, Arizona moving up, I mean, trading back and

still taking him in the top 10. People were talking about him 15, 16. So I don't think anybody knows anything. I think Jalen Carter is still the best player in the draft, and I think that's still consensus. I think his off-the-field issues and work ethic and all the question are going to allow him to fall, just like Laramie Tonsu did that year. But I don't think he falls past Seattle. I think Ced Judge Straub is the second best quarterback in his draft. I think he goes. People are talking about the Texans are only in love with Bryce Young. And if he's not there, they're not taking C.J. Stroud.

I believe it when I see it. I believe it when I see it. Will Anderson is a heck of a player. I don't see him going past Arizona. But it's not a predictable draft. They're saying this may be the most unpredictable draft in the history of drafts. But of course, that's what they're going to say. Absolutely, Rich.

Well, listen, we have breaking news. I'm glad we were able to break it on the Richard Sherman podcast here. I'll let you sign us off. Thank you guys again. I'm out the country, but we're still giving you this content. We had to give it. I'm so happy for Lamar Jackson. Went through so much scrutiny this year, so many ups and downs mentally,

and he's battled through. He got the money he deserves. And I love to see a player get paid. Good luck to all the men today that are getting picked. And good luck to the guys who don't get picked. Even though you don't get picked doesn't mean the journey's over. It means you got more work to do and you got to stay focused and you stay down. You don't got as long of a leash, but we've seen some great ones still undraft.

The volume. 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. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show.

This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but sell. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.