Local Hour: The Biggest Bust In Franchise History

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Episode: Local Hour: The Biggest Bust In Franchise History

Date: March 9, 2026
Location: Elser Hotel, Downtown Miami

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Episode Overview

This "Local Hour" episode dives deep into the Miami Dolphins' dramatic release of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, debates whether Tua is the franchise's all-time biggest bust, and unpacks the larger implications for the Dolphins' future. The cast also covers the Heat's recent surge, South Florida sports culture, and memorable broadcasting moments, all with the irreverent, fast-paced banter the show is known for.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Tua Tagovailoa Released: Bust or Just Disappointment?

[01:35—14:14]

• The episode opens with Dan, Stugotz, Jeremy, and the crew reacting to the breaking news that the Miami Dolphins have released Tua Tagovailoa, only two years after signing him to a record-setting contract.

• Is Tua the "biggest bust in franchise history"?

  • Jeremy asserts: “I think Tua is the biggest bust in franchise history.” (02:32)
  • The group weighs Tua’s actual statistical performance (44-32 record, 18K yards, 2:1 TD/INT) against expectations and the “Tank for Tua” saga.
  • Stugotz: “That’s wild to say, because didn’t he lead the league in passing?” (02:33)
  • Dan and the crew compare Tua to other Dolphins’ draft disappointments, noting the difference between overhyped QBs and other “busts” who simply didn’t pan out.
  • Dan: “They haven’t had a playoff win in 25 years, and now you don’t have a quarterback. It’s a start over project.” (05:04)

• Financial Catastrophe:

  • Dan draws parallels between Tua’s dead cap hit (~$67 million, post-June 1st) and Messi’s Inter Miami contract, underlining the scale of financial mismanagement.
  • Dan: “For that amount of money, Inter Miami gets the best soccer player there’s ever been and he actually plays... For the same money, the Dolphins get a quarterback who’s not going to play.” (12:37)

• Front Office Accountability & Franchise Reset:

  • The Dolphins are “fumigating the building”—releasing key players and essentially starting from zero.
  • Jeremy: “When guys like [Deon Jordan] didn’t work out, you didn’t have to reset the franchise. You didn’t have to pay him. With Tua... they are paying him to not be on their team anymore.” (32:34)

2. Searching for the Next QB: Hopeless Options

[05:58—07:04, 08:52—09:14]

• The crew cycles through possible future Dolphins QBs, including Geno Smith, Kyler Murray, and Malik Willis, with little enthusiasm.
  • Dan grimly notes: “You can’t get excited about Geno Smith... the options are Malik Willis and Kyler Murray. Right?” (05:41)

3. How the Salary Cap Dooms the Dolphins

[07:05—13:49]

• Dan discusses the “salary cap as the enemy,” noting that overpaying for elite QBs only works if you truly have an elite, Mahomes-like talent.
• Jeremy: “Either he’s a Hall of Fame caliber QB, or he’s on a rookie contract performing above his value. Guys like Tua—they are not in that category. You cannot win with them.” (11:10)
• Comparison with Deshaun Watson’s deal: Tua’s “cap hit is more damaging in the next two years” (07:56).

4. Debating the Definition of a “Franchise Bust”

[14:14—15:48, 32:34 onward]

• Classic Dolphins misses are listed—Deon Jordan, Eric Kumaro, John Avery, Sammy Smith—and Tua’s place among them is debated.
• Jeremy: “They didn’t have to reset the franchise when those guys didn’t work out.” (14:40)
• Dan: “It’s who they could have gotten instead... Avery over Moss, for example.” (15:08)
• The debate centers on what qualifies as a true “franchise-crippling” bust: wasted money, missed opportunity, or catastrophic reset.

5. Miami Heat: From Doubts to Hot Streak

[20:04—24:29]

• Jeremy demands an apology for longtime Heat skepticism: “I'm waiting for my apology. You guys roasted me... and they were starting to ascend. They've won five in a row.” (20:23)
• Player development and Bam Adebayo’s DPOY-level play are praised, but Dan casts doubt: “Anyone’s going to look great when they go 8 for 10 from 3.” (21:02)
• The Heat’s road win at Charlotte is discussed as an important statement amidst ongoing skepticism over the team’s playoff ceiling.

6. Sports Broadcasting Flubs & Anecdotes

[27:30—29:26]

• Amusing stories about broadcasters’ on-air mistakes—Ernie Johnson accidentally welcoming viewers to “TNT” on ESPN, and historic podcasting blunders.
• Dan: “As a broadcast professional I felt for Ernie Johnson because he was mortified.”

7. The Rarity of Players Traded by the Same Team Twice

[35:47—41:27]

• Roy and Stugotz go down a rabbit hole trying to name athletes who were traded by the same team twice.
• Quick hits about Ricky Henderson, Gary Sheffield, and the wild story of Harry Chiti (“traded for himself”).
• Dan: “If I put any management team at all over 25 years, you don’t think I’m going to get a playoff win? Zasla, one playoff win.” (38:12)

8. Getting Older: Athletes in Diaper Commercials

[41:28—43:33]

• Dan confesses: “I have never felt older than seeing Deion Sanders do an actual commercial for Depends diapers.” (42:18)
• The cast riffs on the cultural perceptions of athlete-turned-endorsers for products like adult diapers and Extends.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Jeremy on Tua:
  “I think Tua is the biggest bust in franchise history.” [02:32]
  “You're just giving more evidence... this is the biggest bust in franchise history.” [32:34]
• Dan on Franchise Management:
  “I could have put anyone in charge over the last 25 years and stumbled into a playoff victory.” [36:26]
• Dan on Wasted Money:
  “For that amount of money, Inter Miami gets the best soccer player there’s ever been... For the same money, the Dolphins get a quarterback who’s not going to play.” [12:37]
• Stugotz on the Heat:
  “This is what the Miami Heat do. They'll give you one good win, maybe rattle off a good week.” [23:44]
• Dan on Feeling Old:
  “I have never felt older than seeing Deion Sanders do an actual commercial for Depends diapers.” [42:18]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Tua Released / Bust Debate: 01:35–14:14, resumes at 32:34–34:45
• Salary Cap & Financial Fallout: 07:05–13:49
• Searching for Next Dolphins QB: 05:58–07:04, 08:52–09:14
• Heat Winning Streak & Apologies: 20:04–24:29
• Playoff Win Drought Rant: 36:11–38:22
• Legendary Broadcasting Flubs: 27:30–29:26
• Players Traded by Same Team Twice: 35:47–41:27
• Aging & Athlete Endorsements: 41:28–43:33

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Tone & Style

• The conversation flows with the signature humor, sarcasm, and rapid-fire banter the show is known for. They effortlessly shift from hard sports analysis to pop culture, local gripes, and absurd tangents, always with a wink toward the audience.
• Speakers challenge each other's opinions, keep the energy high, and pepper the episode with nostalgia and local Miami flavor.

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For Listeners or Readers New to the Episode

This episode is a must-hear for any Dolphins or South Florida sports fan—equal parts catharsis, comedy, and insight. The hosts dissect the Tua era with brutal honesty and a sense of communal frustration while spotlighting the cyclical heartbreak of Miami sports. If you want a window into what it's like to be a South Florida sports fan, or just love great sports talk, this is the "Local Hour" at its best.

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Transcript

[Dan Le Batard]

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[Jeremy]

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[Stugats]

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[Dan Le Batard]

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[Roy]

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[Dan Le Batard]

pro to handle everything from measure to install, blinds.com has you covered. Shop online, access real design professionals and get free samples. Thank you for 30amazing years. Shop the anniversary sale now through March 11th and get up to 50% off site [e-mail] the Miami Herald is reporting that the Miami Heat have injected a, quote, jolt of intrigue. Zaz, was that you just clearing the snot in your nose on right into your microphone? I'm pretty sure that I just heard the clearing.

[Stugats]

You're hearing things you're mistaken from.

[Dan Le Batard]

I'm pretty sure that radio and audio professional Jonathan Zaslow just started his week by clearing snot from his nose, making things up into the microphone.

[Stugats]

Didn't hear it.

[Dan Le Batard]

Loudest sound I've heard from a body since Gray Greg Cody's stomach growled like a small animal.

[Jeremy]

Why are you making things up?

[Dan Le Batard]

How did you feel about TUA being released here this morning? Cuz Jeremy's claiming it's to get us to not talk about the jolt of intrigue that Barry Jackson is reporting that the Heat have injected into the season.

[Roy]

That's right.

[Jeremy]

How did I feel about TUA being released this morning? I told you how I felt about it when I reported it. I don't know, probably three weeks ago.

[Dan Le Batard]

It was a month ago. We have that sound. We have found the sound of Zaslow reporting before everyone else that TUA was going going to be released but macro instead of micro.

[Dave]

Though.

[Dan Le Batard]

I'm not talking about whether you got it right or whether or not something in the last month is relevant. I'm talking about a quarterback who was here for many years, not unlike Ryan Tannehill. And it ends with fart noise.

[Jeremy]

Well, you know, he can find new team now. It's going to be pretty dope. I mean, you know, it's what he wanted. Said it'd be real dope if he could find a new home. I think two is the biggest bust in franchise history.

[Dave]

Oof.

[Stugats]

That's wild to say because he didn't he lead the league in passing.

[Jeremy]

Let me simplify it for you. We had, we did pretty much two years of Tank for tua. Like this was a major story here for a couple of years. They get their guy. They get to. If I would tell you that Tank for TUA leads to zero playoff victories, is that a bust or not?

[Stugats]

But nothing.

[Jeremy]

Yes or no?

[Stugats]

I guess it's a disappointment. But he led the league in passing. Like, I don't think he's more disappointing than say, Dion Jordan.

[Dan Le Batard]

Is this. Is this a bust? 44 and 32 record as a starter, 18,000 passing yards, 120 passing TDs versus 59 interceptions. So a 2 to 1 TD to interception rate, is that bust?

[Dave]

No.

[Stugats]

I understand the context that Zaz is applying the hype like this guy was supposed to save the franchise. He did not deliver on that. But I will say there are a couple of times where it felt like he might be.

[Dan Le Batard]

So 12 quarterbacks have gotten contracts worth at least $50 million annually over the past four. Tua's the first to get released. And I don't think that you can separate these things from the money. Right. He's calling it a bust, at least in part because of how high he was drafted. Mike's mentioning Deon Jordan. That's a top 10 pick who gave you nothing. That's a pass rusher who gave you absolutely nothing as a top 10 pick. Top 10 pick is Ruben Bane.

[Stugats]

I think he went top five.

[Jeremy]

Deon Jordan, yeah, I think he was number three. But Deon Jordan wasn't expected to lead your franchise like we felt that way because he was drafted number three overall. When you select a quarterback at the top of the he's supposed to lead your franchise.

[Dan Le Batard]

They traded up to get him as well. But what you guys just did to me there is funny where I made him a top 10 pick and you're like, he's better than that. He's top five. And then you said he was number three, which makes him top three, not top five.

[Stugats]

Top three more disappointing.

[Dan Le Batard]

Says

[Dave]

this is the Don Levatar show with the Stugats podcast.

[Dan Le Batard]

The Dolphins knew ownership leadership is now in a position where they are fumigating the building. If Jason Sanders isn't already gone, he's about to be. It's 27 straight field goals, 9 for 9 from 50 plus. They couldn't agree on a contract that was a serviceable kicker. I don't know why it is that they would get rid of him. I'm assuming he's just counting. He's asking for too much money. Alec Ingold is leaving as well. He's joining Mike McDaniel with the Chargers.

[Stugats]

People felt that one.

[Dan Le Batard]

I mean, he's a fan favorite. The Dolphins haven't had a lot of those over the years. Just a little guy who's overachieving out there. Anytime he does anything. You talk about TUA being a bust because of expectations. Alec Ingold is a fan favorite because of the lack of expectations. He was so small. But they're clearly fumigating the buildings as and it's a start over project with where Dolphin fans have to be wildly frustrated by the fact that 25 years into an experiment that doesn't have a playoff win, you're back at everything is starting over. Now you don't have a quarterback. Geno Smith's preferred destination is Miami. He went to Miramar High School. So the reports are that this is where he wants to be. And I guess the options are. You can't get excited about Geno Smith, but the options are Malik Willis and Kyler Murray. Right?

[Jeremy]

All signs are pointing Malik Law is going to Arizona. It seems.

[Dan Le Batard]

So this means that the thing that's left is Kyler Murray. Why in God's name would he choose here? We talked last week about why he would choose the jets when he's going to have skill position limitations. He'd have those here as well.

[Jeremy]

No, he should go to Minnesota. Kyler Murray very clearly that'd be great for him. You got weapons there. You have a coach who has proven what he could do with a quarterback and you have a chance to be the starter. Kyler Murray. Minnesota feels like a thing.

[Dan Le Batard]

Let's examine this for a second because this was, amazingly enough, this was just a couple of years ago. Let's play the sound of tua. He told us this was him just trying to cash a bet with one of his teammates where his teammate dared him to do something like this and then he did it. This was merely two years ago.

[Stugats]

Woof.

[Dan Le Batard]

The money is always an interesting thing in sports because that sport is salary capped for no good reason. The players have no one to blame but themselves because they collectively bargained the salary cap. And there is no reason that other than it's been collectively bargained. And owners want to fix costs because Jerry Jones can't be trusted to not spend a billion dollars trying to get Patrick Mahomes, literally, no matter what the cost, if you don't have a salary cap. So we're always talking about the money. But the money is the biggest gulf between fans and players. It's the biggest problem. Even though I can make reasonable arguments that most of the players in that sport are underpai. A few are paid fine, but most of them are underpaid for what it is that they're doing. And salary cap restrictions make it so that we're always talking about the money. But the salary cap hit that tua's going to be going forward is more damaging than the Deshaun Watson one is and will be over the next couple of years. And I thought the Deshaun Watson contract is the worst in the history of that sport and yet tua's is more damaging over the next two years. Just fighting financially in terms of what it's going to cost you to simply release him. I have not read because it just happened. So I haven't read the details. I'm not a salary cap expert. Why are they releasing him this minute? Because they said last week that all options were on the table. They were saying at the scouting combine that they were still trying that they said they put their name on. There has been interest in Tua, but they get, they get nothing for him.

[Jeremy]

You know that's not true though. I mean interest, yeah, yeah.

[Stugats]

Kyler Murray I guess would have a bigger market and they ended up releasing him to all the teams in the league. Know that we're not going to give you anything for these guys. We're not going to let you off the hook. You're not going to get anybody to willingly absorb this.

[Jeremy]

Did you even believe there was a report a couple days ago that there is a team out there that would be willing to trade for two but you have to attach a first round pick to it? I don't even know if I believe that.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, they said there's interest and I don't think they'd say I don't. I'm going to give the new leadership the benefit of the doubt that they're not going to just lie. They're not going to open with lying to our face when they are saying there's interest. I want to give you some numbers here though because I remember many, many years ago when the Marlins got Carlos Delgado okay. In a non salary cap sport. They he got so much money and one of the stats that was given then when he got so much money is that you cannot tie up a in a non salary cap sport and win. You cannot tie up a disproportionate percentage of your salary cap in one player in baseball. And win. Here's the numbers on quarterbacks who were on the books for at least $45 million a year last year. Six of them made the playoffs, six of 15 made the playoffs and none got past the divisional round. Eight finished below.500. So half of the quarterbacks you've got to hit, you have to hit on a star if you're paying him this in a Salary capped league. 2A Kyler Murray and Kirk Cousins are all going to be released. Deshaun Watson obviously didn't play, but that's quarterbacks and six made the playoffs, none passed the divisional round and eight finished below.500. You, you can't do it that way unless it's Mahomes and what you also can't do and the Dolphins did this. You see what the Rams are doing again with McDuffie with paying their corners. They're behaving as if they're player way because Stafford's old and they have to win in the Stafford window. They know they've got a quarterback. McVeigh's gonna get exposed at least some when he doesn't have that kind of anymore at the quarterback. It's not even his fault. Your, your quarterback has to be great, but he especially has to be great if you're paying him the way that the Dolphins were paying Tua.

[Jeremy]

Well yeah, the, the way the way the league works now clearly if you're paying your quarterback top money, like if he's being paid in the top seven, eight, nine, ten quarterbacks in the league, he has to be like a Hall of Fame caliber quarterback. That's the only way to win when they're making that much money. So you have two ways to win with your quarterbacks. Either he's a Hall of Fame caliber quarterback or your quarterback is on the rookie contract. So he's performing so far above the value. And that's why Kyler Murray was making the money. Not a Hall of Fame caliber quarterback. Kirk Cousins to a Tonga by loa like those guys are getting paid the top dollar. They are not in that category. You cannot win with them.

[Stugats]

But we have to admit that when those contracts were signed, there was plenty of scrutiny applied to it. Everyone, everyone knew these were potential ticking time bombs and that they ended. So I do want to clean one thing up. You said that the Dolphins announced immediately that they're releasing him. But part of that statement was they're going to wait till the new league year starts. And there's a reason for that. Because the NFL salary cap isn't real.

[Roy]

Yeah, that post June 1st designation means that the $99 million in dead cap will be spread over two years. So it's just a tick over $67 million for this upcoming season and then just a tick under $32 million for the following year.

[Jeremy]

And is it the timing of it being today is because free agency starts in three hours from now.

[Stugats]

Yeah, you want to do right. Let him know what his options are. Have the marketplace have a deep understanding of what his situation is.

[Dan Le Batard]

When Jeremy hit you with that number though, 67 million for a quarterback to not play. Pair that against what Moss just told everybody Messi's making for Inter Miami, which is between 70 and 80 million dollars. So for that amount of money, Inter Miami gets the best soccer player there's ever been and he actually plays and his contract is through 2028. For the amount of money that 2 is counting against the cap here, the Dolphins get a quarterback who's not going to play today, who they release. That is an uncommon disaster. Whether it's the biggest bust in franchise history or not, I don't know. I'm willing to say that given that he did give them seven years of play and was their starter and did lead the league in offense one time. But as a financial move, it's unquestionably a disaster in a salary cap sport that you gave this guy all this money two years ago and two years later you are simply cleaning house in a way that I don't think the Dolphins have ever cleaned house. I think this is. This is the biggest fumigation of the facility that there has ever been.

[Jeremy]

Why are they cleaning house?

[Dan Le Batard]

Because they haven't won a playoff game in 25 years. And largely they had a general manager in charge who was allowed to stay in charge without winning a playoff game more than any general manager in the year in the league has ever been. As was allowed during that time period to stay in charge with that kind of failure.

[Jeremy]

All correct. If the quarterback worked out, would they be cleaning house today?

[Dan Le Batard]

No.

[Jeremy]

Biggest bust in franchise history.

[Dan Le Batard]

So what goes into that classification? Because the guys I think of are Eric Kumaro. The guys I think of are Daddy Bosa, the original Bosa who spawned pass rushers. His sperm better at rushing the passer than he was.

[Jeremy]

Good sperm.

[Dan Le Batard]

So you got Bosa, you got Kumaro in franchise history. Deon Jordan, you know, Sammy Smith. Sammy Smith, Till Green.

[Stugats]

But that was injury.

[Jeremy]

But they didn't have to reset the franchise when those guys didn't work out.

[Stugats]

John Avery. That one stung.

[Dan Le Batard]

I still can smell the nachos on Jimmy Johnson's breath as he explained to me why it is that John Avery was the right pick over Randy Moss.

[Stugats]

You know, John Avery might be up there. John Avery, when you consider that Randy Moss. Oh, yeah, but Randy Moss was on the board and that was the debate. Avery's pretty bad, late first round.

[Dan Le Batard]

But that, that is a funny way we do busts though, right? It's who they could have gotten instead, like I remember, I remember basically all of my viewpoints on coaching smarts disintegrating with the smell on Jimmy Johnson's breast breath as he explained to me why John Avery was the correct pick over Randy Moss.

[Jeremy]

Was there jalapeno or just the nacho chips?

[Dan Le Batard]

Just the chips.

[Stugats]

You know, that chip breath, a little cilantro, little hint?

[Dan Le Batard]

No, it was just all. It smelled all like Tostitos.

[Stugats]

Yeah. But I do think, like, who's on the board does play a large factor. Ted Ginn might have been considered that. But then Brady Quinn ended up being bad.

[Mike Ryan]

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[Dave]

on this year and honestly, it's comfortable. That's it. Especially during hockey season. If you've ever been to a hockey arena, you know it's cold, you're walking, you're sitting you're standing while listening to an interview where the player is giving the same type of cliches. The wrong socks will ruin your night. That's why I'm into the new Bombus sports socks. The engineer for movement. Cushioned in the right spots, breathable, sweat, wicking supportive. Whether I'm at the rink or out for a walk or just locked into a three hour game that somehow goes into overtime, they hold up. And when I get home, Bombas has the everyday comfort cover too. The Sherpa Sunday slippers are elite. The tees and underwear soft, breathable, just easy. It's comfort you don't have to think about. And for every item you buy, Bombas donates one to someone facing housing insecurity. When purchased. When donated, head over to bombas.com dan and use code DAN for 20% off your first purchase. B O M B A S.com dan code dan at checkout. Hockey's stressful. Your socks shouldn't be.

[Stugats]

Hey, it's Mike Ryan and I want to talk to you about the random midweek hang that you have with your friends. Maybe it's an NBA game. You get a text, hey, come over. You want to watch the game? And maybe you're like, I don't know, I kind of just wanted to stay home. And then you think about it after your buddy hits you up and you know, just the thing that'll make you that regular hang, that regular midweek hang around the basketball game into a special time, into a Miller time.

[Roy]

That's right.

[Stugats]

This happened to me just last week. I grabbed a six pack of Miller Lite, said I was on my way, and next thing you know we're arguing about rotations like we're on the coaching staff yelling about a missed call and the game's coming down to the final possession. It was one of those nights that you look around, you take a sip and you think, yeah, this was the right call and my friendship stronger for it. It cheers to legendary moments with Miller Lite. Great taste. 96 calories. Go to millerlight.com dan to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Co. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.

[Jeremy]

Don LeBatard all right, we gotta go back out there.

[Roy]

That was big. Wake him up.

[Dan Le Batard]

Uh oh, he doesn't want. He doesn't want to be bothered anymore. Now it's getting tense because he didn't need that. As a result, he needs something that happens. You can see him. Mother effing. Can we bother? Are we bothering you right now? Turn on your microphone, Greg. My microphone's on.

[Stugats]

Stugats.

[Dan Le Batard]

Paint the scene.

[Dave]

The paint the scene is.

[Dan Le Batard]

I gotta go to work.

[Dave]

Good night.

[Dan Le Batard]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugach.

[Jeremy]

Two coaches and a general manager served, but two coaches and a general manager were fired because Tua didn't work out.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah. I mean, I don't know that Brian Flores merited being fired on record.

[Jeremy]

Well, not on. And you know what? I'll take that one back because he wasn't really fired because Tua wasn't good. He was fired for a handful.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, but he was also fired. He was also fired because he didn't believe in Tua like that.

[Stugats]

And the way that he went about it.

[Jeremy]

Right. Yeah. I take it back.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Stugats]

I mean, that's kind of how the league goes, though. Yeah. You build around the quarterback. If the quarterback doesn't work out, you usually go down with that quarterback.

[Dan Le Batard]

Jeremy is wearing a jacket, and. And I'm not sure if it's because he's working very hard. I've noticed, you know, Jeremy's working very hard around here. And then I see him late at night also sitting next to Ron Rothstein and doing an assortment of things on the Heat broadcast. Did you wear a jacket in because you forgot that this was the job that you were coming in?

[Roy]

No, it's because I'm a professional. Ok. Well, I'm a pro broadcaster and I'm a pro analyst, clearly, because I have continuously been right, not just this season, but for several years about the Miami Heat. And I am waiting for my apology. I'm waiting for my apology. You guys roasted me all last week for believing that the Heat could beat the Hornets and the Pistons over the weekend and that they were starting to ascend. They've won five in a row. They're one of the hottest teams in basketball. Bama de Bio is right at the top of the league. In, on, off. He's potentially coming in as a dark horse for his first defensive player of the year, despite the fact that it should have been for years and years and years, averaging 24, 10 and 3. He's been spectacular. And so is Tyler Hero.

[Dan Le Batard]

Bam has been good. An apology, Tyler Hero. You're not owed an apology yet. Tyler Herro has been very good. Against Charlotte, he went 33, nine and nine. Well, it looks zero turnovers. Yeah. And zero turnovers. Anyone's going to look great when they go 8 for 10 from 3. Okay. And he did go 8 for 10 from 3.

[Roy]

How many guys can do that?

[Dan Le Batard]

And they're. I mean, Brian Shaw did it. So. You got me there, Dan. There are a few.

[Jeremy]

Shaw was Ted apostle 15 that night.

[Dan Le Batard]

There have been. Go. Go. Look at the number of Heat players. Look at the list above Tyler.

[Jeremy]

Mario Chalmers.

[Stugats]

Just inflation. Brian Shaw hit 30 threes in a game.

[Dan Le Batard]

Most. Most threes in a game by a Heat player. It's not an impressive. It's not. It really isn't an impressive list for six.

[Stugats]

That's crazy.

[Dan Le Batard]

But you mentioned Charlotte and it was a nice win because we were really talking up Charlotte to go on the road. I don't believe this Heat team can win road games. But. But they keep telling us they're better than their record indicates. And right now they're the hottest team in the league. They beat Eric Collins team. Eric Collins is the broadcaster who screams and yells. He's going to be on with us later in the show. Let's just give the people a sampling of what it is that Eric Collins does. Lamello.

[Jeremy]

Yes.

[Dan Le Batard]

With the guts of a cat burglar. We're tied at 97. Lamb's going to have to fire. Making her train.

[Jeremy]

Woo.

[Dan Le Batard]

Looking like Vince Carter. Train man come alive. The greatest shot by Lamello.

[Jeremy]

Ball.

[Dan Le Batard]

Miles Bridges Pumpkin league. Lamello. Oh. A double clutch. Dipsy New boom. Half court.

[Jeremy]

Elliot,

[Dan Le Batard]

this is Hornets basketball. Roy, cut up a couple of those that sound most like someone being shivd in prison so that I could just play again and again. The difference between true horn insulation and someone being stabbed with a sharp object. I'd like to see what the difference is between those two things.

[Stugats]

We're just gonna let Jeremy say he's been right about the Heat for several years.

[Roy]

I have been.

[Stugats]

Okay, you keep doing it. I mean. But I have actually been right.

[Roy]

No, you're gaslighting me.

[Stugats]

Unless you've been saying that four years about that.

[Roy]

This stuff.

[Stugats]

Excuse me. I reclaimed my time. Jeremy, you haven't been saying that the Miami Heat are going to go out in the first round of the NBA playoffs For the last few years. That makes you wrong.

[Roy]

No.

[Stugats]

What?

[Roy]

I've been saying that they shouldn't tank and they have.

[Stugats]

I reclaim my time pieces. I reclaim my time around. I reclaim my time. Okay. I reclaim my time. That was a very nice win against Charlotte. This is what the Miami Heat do. They'll give you one good win, maybe rattle off a good week.

[Jeremy]

It was an incredible game Friday.

[Stugats]

Night Charlotte and that's. That's a tough place to play. We've been there where the franchise that has been down down bad for a little bit bit starts believing not a

[Dan Le Batard]

tough place to play.

[Jeremy]

Not at all.

[Dan Le Batard]

But that.

[Stugats]

That was a good atmosphere.

[Jeremy]

It's one of the arenas that you routinely get.

[Stugats]

I reclaim my time. I reclaim my time. I had the sound up for this game. That was a good atmosphere in Charlotte. They were starting to believe there was reason for real excitement. That was a real good performance from Miami. The Pistons, I'm a little confused by. They've had a wretched week. They were on the back end of a back to back. I just started watching the NBA this week and I can tell you the Detroit Pistons are the worst team in the league from what I can tell.

[Dan Le Batard]

They are very physical basketball team. They have gone through a rough patch. It's going to get roug in the playoffs when they're counting on 2/5 of their starting lineup being Duncan Robinson and Tobias Harris who Myron Gardner felt comfortable enough yesterday to call him the. The B word three times called Tobias Harris. Tobias Harris is running around out there and has been for many years for no discernible reason like he. Tobias Harris I would not trust at all. And they are counting on him in Detroit. They are limited offensively after cunning. They really are that there are some limits to what it is that they can do. And I think that Baltimore and the Knicks are. I go back and forth on the Knicks because of how close that series was last year with Detroit.

[Jeremy]

Max Crosby trade.

[Dan Le Batard]

That's why when I look at Detroit I see a very physical team. And winning with physical teams is another way of doing it in the modern age. Nobody's really trying it that way in the modern age.

[Jeremy]

Yeah, but you're right though about what they're going to look like in the playoffs when. When you're playing a good defensive team in the postseason in a seven game series and they're going to focus on Kate Cunningham and you don't have really anyone after him that can score. Like I think Detroit. It's weird to say that a team it's 45 and 18, they may be in a little bit of trouble. But like I feel like they may be a little bit of trouble.

[Stugats]

I will surprise you guys though. There is something that I've said last week in regards to the NBA that I need to walk back and apologize.

[Dan Le Batard]

Go on.

[Stugats]

Jason Tatum and the Celtics.

[Jeremy]

Jason. That is him. No aura. No aura.

[Stugats]

I mean they've looked pretty good since he's come back.

[Jeremy]

But Tatum, no aura.

[Roy]

Crazy that that was your take and your take along.

[Dan Le Batard]

They won at Cleveland and Boston is really good and has been for a while. And I would assume that the Miami Heat are a team specifically that Boston would prefer not to have anywhere around because over a game series with Spoelstra as your coach, it's going to require Jaylen Brown and Tatum to be better than they've been the last few times that they've faced the Miami Heat in the playoffs. And that could be a substantive ask. But the Celtics for years now, when healthy, have been a good deal better than everyone in the East. I saw over the weekend we have a number of mistakes around here. And the worst mistakes that we make, though, are right at the beginning of the broadcast. I saw the Pablo Torre at the Sloan Conference Conference. David Sampson wouldn't shut up at the beginning of what it is that they were doing at the Sloan Conference. And I could see Pablo getting frustrated because you want to get the kite up in the air at the start of a broadcast. And I know that Ernie Johnson gnawed his face off when the other day, for the first time this season, he welcomed everyone into the ESPN broadcast by saying it was TNT right at the beginning.

[Stugats]

Muscle memory, that's tricky, right?

[Dan Le Batard]

But it was right at the start. I know I sometimes call Zaz Dugats by accident. You've heard me do it a couple of times here. And the first couple of months that Shannon Sharpe was on with Stephen A, he kept calling him Skip by mistake.

[Jeremy]

Come on, Skip.

[Dan Le Batard]

But Ernie. But Ernie somehow managed to go several months without doing it and then did it right while welcoming everyone in.

[Jeremy]

Did he acknowledge it?

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah. He's like, oh, he was mortified. He's like, oh, it happened. I knew it was going to happen. And then they started sinking into. I never see that show. That show sinks into the mistakes, right? But the mistakes are never earning. The show sinks into the mistakes because it's a bunch of other guys and Ernie's the one tethering the whole thing together so that the others can make the mistakes. It was. I saw it as a. As a broadcast professional. I felt for Ernie Johnson because he was mortified. It was as if he had seen something paranormal wandering around the studio, and it was a segment of his past that was coming to haunt him. But. But when I put in front of you the numbers on Messi because Moss pointed out, I've never heard. The stadium sponsor is called New Nu. It's a Brazilian financial service. I don't know anything about them, but they're going to be able to refer to it as Inter Miami's new stadium, which, which really works as a. And he was explaining why it is that he had to take them as the sponsor because it's very difficult. The Marlins had this difficult. Very few businesses in Miami actually are able to support the big sports, major league sports things that we have here. It's why you have so many attorneys broadcasting, you know, sponsoring the Miami Heat stuff. It's why the baseball park is called Loan Depot. And it's why Inter Miami could not find a local sponsor to pay the amount of money that it costs to pay Messi between 70 and 80 million dollars. But when I say that number to you guys and Jeremy says that 2 is going to cost $67 million against the cap and it's what Inter Miami is paying Messi, I mean, when you talk about how it is that franchises in this market have gone from spending money well to get to the top, like the Panthers, like the Heat. The Heat. The Heat don't have a lot of busts in their history. Michael Beasley qualifies. But they. There's not a lot of wasted money. And you cannot waste money in a salary cap sport. In one player who doesn't work out who you was up on Monday morning and you've just released to play for someone else, you realize the Dolphins, he's going to be able to salvage his career by playing for small amount of money. Wherever he goes, he's going to go to a place where he's going to be either the best backup in the league or somebody who's able to rejuvenate his career because he's gone someplace to get back to big money making. As they pay him the minimum and the Dolphins end up paying the entirety of a giant salary.

[Stugats]

There is an option three. Option three is he continues this downward trajectory and he's out of the league in a couple of years. The most likely option, he's not that skilled anymore and it could be a byproduct of the head injuries.

[Dan Le Batard]

Oh, but he's a low level starter right now and you saw last year, the second half of the season, how many bad quarterbacks were playing. Because every year in that league you have by the end of the season an assortment of Kenny Picketts playing because. Because they're low level starters and you just need company.

[Stugats]

Oh, he's certainly going to get another shot around the league in a situation that'll give him a pathway to playing unless he goes to A team that is fully solidified at the position and it's just like give me a get right year where I can learn at the staff. Like maybe let me go to LA so I can refurbish my career the way that Baker Mayfield did under this coaching staff. I just became Pat McAfee there for his coaching staff. Your little one grew three inches overnight.

[Dan Le Batard]

Adorable.

[Stugats]

Also expensive. Sell their pint sized pieces on Depop

[Dan Le Batard]

and list them in minutes with no

[Stugats]

selling fees because somewhere a dad refuses to pay full price for the clothes his kids will outgrow tomorrow and he's

[Dan Le Batard]

ready to buy your son's entire wardrobe right now. Consider your future growth Bird budget secured.

[Stugats]

Start selling on depop where taste recognizes taste. Payment processing fees and boosting fees still apply. See website for details.

[Dan Le Batard]

Don LeBatard While there's nothing official official and conversations are still ongoing.

[Jeremy]

Was that a fake shifter? Because it was pretty good.

[Stugats]

I feel like there's legs.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah. Tried at the beginning and then I lost confidence in it.

[Jeremy]

Good.

[Dave]

It was good. You got this.

[Dan Le Batard]

Nothing official.

[Stugats]

Yeah.

[Dan Le Batard]

So conversations are still ongoing stuff. It is trending towards Nick Sirianni remaining the head coach of the Eagles. This is the Dan Levitar show with the stugats.

[Dave]

Sad.

[Dan Le Batard]

So you were eager to get in here because you've got a lot of tour opinion.

[Jeremy]

Yeah, I just, I, I, I still feel like every time that you bring up the things that have gone wrong with TUA and specifically how much you count against the salary cap and a salary cap sport, you can't, you know, be making that much money and have it not work out. But you're just, you're giving more evidence to me saying this is the biggest bust in franchise history. I just, I understand guys like Dion Jordan amounted to literally nothing with the team, but you didn't have to reset the franchise. You didn't have to pay him. When guys like that didn't work out with tua, they gave him a record contract, the most money the team's ever given in franchise history, and two years later they, they're paying him to not be on their team anymore.

[Dan Le Batard]

It is interesting to me to watch the Rams go all in on right now. The Ravens, they've never, the Ravens have never done what they just did where they give up a bunch of future capital for a Max Crosby because they feel like they're a piece away. The Dolphins thought they were a piece away when they gave Bradley Chubb that money. That's egregious mismanagement. To think, to look at the roster Construction and do something like that because you think your piece away. When we can all look at the Ravens and Rams and say, okay, I understand how they come about the analysis, we're a piece away. The Dolphins were playing like they were a piece away, and now two years later, their quarterback's gone. It. It is an apocalypse. Like, it is so crippling. I thought Deshaun Watson is a. And I'm right, is a contract you can't recover from. When you fail that badly with that pick and that guaranteed money, it's going to set your franchise back for several years. And the Dolphins are in the same position and don't have Miles Garrett. Myles Garrett, who drives at a rate of speed that you would think he would no Longer Drive at nine speeding tickets since 2017, including in the middle of that, an accident you would think he would learn from. He drives way too fast and is reckless. And I don't feel like anyone is surprised that he's reckless. I feel like everyone's just saying to themselves, yeah, he goes 100 miles an hour every day, everywhere, at all times.

[Jeremy]

Yeah, why wouldn't he drive like that? It's not like, you know, the negative that could happen is, you know, death. Like, why would he do that?

[Roy]

It is like the way that they say other athletes go onto the golf course and can't help but put giant gambling stakes on it because they need to be so ultra competitive all the time, they can't turn it off. For him, it just happens to be speed. But for other people, it's competitiveness. So they go insane on gambling. On XYZ.

[Dan Le Batard]

What do you guys do with nine speeding tickets since 2017? I told you guys that I did not start wearing a seatbelt until Derek Thomas died in a car accident not wearing a seatbelt. It took me that long in life to sort of learn the lesson. Myles Garrett was in the car accident and is still consistently driving around at 190 and 100 miles an hour.

[Jeremy]

So your car would just be beeping and you're like, I don't care. I'm not going to put on the car.

[Dan Le Batard]

It was before the beep. It was before. I don't know when the beep was invented.

[Jeremy]

That's an annoying sound.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, my car did not have that beep at the beginning. I wouldn't be driving around with the terrible beep at all times.

[Stugats]

The Miami Dolphins have traded Minka Fitzpatrick again.

[Dan Le Batard]

What are the details on that? It's one of the few pieces that they have that is tradable. They don't have many.

[Stugats]

7th round pick, new York Jets.

[Jeremy]

Okay, that is. Hold on a second. It's a great point that Roy brings up there. How many players ever have been traded by a team? That can't be something that's happened a lot, right?

[Dan Le Batard]

In all of sports. I'm assuming that Rickey Henderson and Bobby Bonillean, baseball, were both traded multiple times by the same team, but you're thinking it hasn't happened much across sports.

[Jeremy]

I feel like that's a really rare thing.

[Dan Le Batard]

I mean, it certainly is in football. It's not something that I think we'll look it up here because this is just happening now. But the fact that the Dolphins have very few tradable pieces like it, really, I. When Greg Cody was on here a couple of weeks ago and they had just released Bradley Chubb, he said to me, what are you so upset about? Wouldn't you have done that? And I was like, yeah, I would have done that. But this recurring frustration is fairly amazing to witness. Locally, the sport rewards when you're bad. I'm not joking when I say I could have put anyone in charge over the last 25 years and stumbled into a playoff victory. The Dolphins have the longest playoff list drought in the sport without a win, Right? It's longer than even the Raiders. During this time, we've seen the Patriots fall and get back up again. During this time, we saw The Bills go 17 straight seasons without getting a playoff win. To now having the MVP of the league and expecting to be in the playoffs. Do you guys disagree with me when I say I could have put any management in charge for the last 25 years, anybody, and gotten a playoff win mathematically? How many teams haven't? How many teams have not had a playoff win in 25 years? Where you're just sitting there waiting for them to get better based on the medicine the league gives you to get better? It's a major market. People want to play here. People want to live here 25 years. I'm not saying, you know, I'm not saying. They say that if you put a, you know, a million monkeys at a million computers, eventually they'll produce Shakespeare. But if I put any management team that's not primate, if I put any management team at all over 25 years, you don't think I'm going to get a playoff win? Zasla, one playoff win.

[Stugats]

D' Angelo Russell was traded by the Lakers twice. Both times to the Brooklyn Nets, both

[Dan Le Batard]

times to the Nets.

[Roy]

Brandon Cooks has been traded four times in his career. That's the most times anyone has ever been traded in the NFL. Just four times.

[Dan Le Batard]

Overall.

[Roy]

I can't find an example of someone being traded by the same team twice. I'm like a dog with a bone on this though. I'll find it.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, see, see Ricky Henderson. Look up Ricky Henderson and Gary Sheffield, who were nomads, who were great. And it's rare for nomads, it's rare for the great ones to be nomads. Hall of Fame talents. It's good to see that Roy is back and I want to publicly accuse him of the same thing I've been accusing him of privately, which is going to Key west for a weekend fishing and barbecue tournament. And he left last week on Tuesday. And I'm pretty sure everyone listening to this knows that the Keys are asleep Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Nothing happens in Key west until Friday. You've been off since Tuesday with this company grift. You and Rose have been fishing and barbecuing on company time. How did you end up doing? Doing?

[Dave]

We didn't win, Dan. The best we did was we finished third in a category which was turkey. But we did not do well in day one with the fishing. We thought that we would do well. Day two on a sandball party that had a a People's choice award. But that didn't go too well either, apparently. And day three, I thought we had a good cook, but apparently not. You know, judging is subject, but just

[Stugats]

throw them under the bus.

[Dave]

I'm not throwing anybody under the bus. I thought we had a good cook. We should have won.

[Roy]

Not a good cook as in a person. A good cook as in the result of the cooking.

[Dave]

Yes, the result of cooking.

[Stugats]

Okay, Misunderstood.

[Dan Le Batard]

Okay, so did I. I thought that they had Dave Williamson, who is a good cook. That's what I'm here for, Dave. He won the championship. You guys won the championship last year. You were the defending champion. So it's not merely that you grifted off of the company for three days enjoying a lovely barbecue and fishing vac three days before Key west awoke. You also failed while you were out there.

[Dave]

That's right, Dan. It was a four man team. Myself, Dave, Jody and Chico. So we thought we did well, but not according to the judges.

[Dan Le Batard]

So also lacking in self awareness as well. So not just failures who grift off the company for three days, but also lacking in total self awareness where you think you had produced something that was tasty and award winning and instead you just failed.

[Dave]

You are right, Dan. You are absolutely correct.

[Stugats]

Found a player in Major League Baseball history that was traded for himself. He was the player to be named later. Harry Cheady.

[Jeremy]

I don't believe you.

[Stugats]

No, Harry Chidi. He was a Cleveland baseball player. I'm an ally. Got acquired by the Mets and then was sent back to the Cleveland baseball team. Ally as a player to be named later in the deal.

[Roy]

Ricky Henderson was traded four times. Gary Sheffield was traded five times. Jesse Chavez 11 times. Leads major League Baseball.

[Stugats]

But we're looking for. Traded by the same.

[Jeremy]

Yeah, I know.

[Stugats]

Twice. I'm looking for it.

[Dan Le Batard]

Keep looking for it. See what it is that you find. Some of the players that we're making that we're mentioning might make you feel old, but I've got something right now that I believe represents the oldest I have ever felt as it regards watching an athlete do something. And I'm including dots dying in the conversation. Okay? Because I've told you, I feel very old when I see Jermaine O' Neill Jr playing for SMU. I feel very old whenever people from my past die, people from my childhood die. But I have never felt older than seeing Deion Sanders do an actual commercial for Depends diapers.

[Dave]

Oh, no.

[Dan Le Batard]

Now it's. It's bladder cancer. So I don't mean to shame him, but when I think of Depends, I think of ancient people. When I think of people who have to wear diapers in public, I think of the president of our country.

[Stugats]

I think therein lies the problem. Depends has several practical uses for people that don't look like that.

[Dan Le Batard]

That is correct. But when I saw Deion Sanders specifically doing an ad for Depends when he can do ads for whoever he wants, I did not think that it was him trying to take the stigma off Depends. I thought that Depends paid an enormous amount of money, well beyond the going rate in order to get Deion Sanders to do that commercial.

[Dave]

I mean, this is like Jimmy Johnson doing Extends commercials, right?

[Dan Le Batard]

Not quite. Extends and impotence is something different. He just wanted cash. Can you guys get me that ad? Please find me the commercial that Jimmie Johnson did in a race car outfit. It's a good, good. It's a good call by Roy, but put it on the poll as well. At LeBatard show. Does it make you feel old to see Deion Sanders doing a commercial for Depends diapers? Yes or no?

[Roy]

Antwan Walker, traded from Boston to Dallas in 03, reacquired in 05. Traded to the Heat.

[Stugats]

Shot clocks, big shots, upsets, aces. TGL playoffs are here. First Atlanta Drive starts their repeat run against Los Angeles Golf Club. The then Rory's Boston Common Golf and Tigers Jupiter Links face off in their playoff debuts. Who will advance? Keep up its playoffs? Tune in Tuesday, March 17, at 6:30pm and 9pm only on ESPN and the ESPN applied.