Colin Cowherd (2:36)

need delivered with Uber Eats. What do you mean by almost? Well, you can't get a well groomed lawn delivered, but you can get chicken parm delivered. A little escape? No. Delicious bowl of grapes. Yeah. An afternoon stroll? Sorry, no. A burrito bowl? Happily, yes. How about the clear skies? Can't deliver that. But French fries? Yeah. Get almost, almost anything delivered with Uber eats. Order now. Alcohol in select markets. Product availability may vary by region. Ciapp for details. Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio at noon to 3 Eastern, 9am to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd@foxsportsradio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Now let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Welcome in hour to Albert Breer in a couple of minutes. It's the Herd. Bam Adebayou. Don't listen anybody. Bam 83 is 83 points. Wilt Kobe's games. Their teams were helping them. Way to go Bam. He's a good player. He's a two time Olympian, five time all defense. I going to be honest, I didn't watch the game live. Kind of shocked that Bam Adebayou dropped 83 points. Everybody's going to crush him for it. But he's a good kid, he works hard. He got a great reputation. I don't know how you can not like the guy. I mean it's an amazing achievement and you know, it's, it gets Dr. A little bit late. Kobe's Lakers led by 15 points with 4 1/2 minutes left and Kobe scored another 11 points in his 81 point game. Why was he still on the floor against the horrible rafters? Because they wanted to get him over 80 points. By the way, the LeBron thing's fascinating. You know how like in Hollywood actors get typecast like David Schwimmer Ross on Friends. I don't. He could be in Godfather 4. He's Ross on Friends. That's who he is. So LeBron for 20 years made stuff work that I didn't think would work. I'll give you an example. He made Zadrunas Ilgaskas like you're like, yeah, I don't know what that guy is, but it works with Lebron got to a finals and then he goes to Miami with D. Wade and I didn't think they were great together. They're great athletes but neither is a great shooter. And they got to four finals and then he goes back to Cleveland with Kyrie Irving and I'm like, I don't know. Kyrie is prickly needs the ball in his hands, doesn't play defense. I'm not sure if this is going to work. And they get to a finals and they win, and then AD with the Lakers and I'm like, AD Is soft, he's hurt all the time. He's not in great shape. I think he'll frustrate LeBron first year they win a title. So, so Zadruda Celgasquez, Kyrie Irving, Dwayne Wade, Anthony Davis. LeBron makes everything work. So it's so hard, it's so hard to wrap your brain around. You thought and I thought and the world thought LeBron and Luka, that's the easy one. That will absolutely work. That one's like, well, they're both good offensive players. They're both great distributors. They'll feed off each other. It doesn't work. Lakers are 10 and two this year. When Luca and Austin play and LeBron doesn't. And the net rating since Luca was acquired for the Lakers, the net rating is better when LeBron doesn't play with him. And the defensive rating is better when LeBron doesn't play with him. So it's hard to contextualize. It's hard to wrap your brain around. It's like David Schwimmer, he's Ross from friends regardless. And LeBron, you're like 20 years. It's like he made Kyrie work and Kevin Love and Bosch and Matthew Delavadova and J.R. smith was a broken down player. Everybody worked with LeBron. And then you go to the Lakers and you're like, no, LeBron's so slow that the team plays faster. The team is better defensively by a noticeable, you know, margin when LeBron doesn't play. And it's almost like the young teams, the young players for the Lakers are sending a message to Reddick and all the new people in the front office and the owners. Like, this group is really good. We just need some more defense or defended defensive minded players on the wing and a rim protector. I mean, it's not the construct of this roster is not elite defensively. In fact, it's not even good. But here's JJ Redick. They beat the Knicks this weekend. They beat the T Wolves last night. And here's J.J. redick on the team's defense.

Albert Breer (7:25)

Told the guys at halftime to just keep trust what we're trusting in what we're doing. We end up with a 153 offensive

Colin Cowherd (7:30)

rating in the second half.

Albert Breer (7:31)

So thought that end was really good,

Colin Cowherd (7:33)

but really it was, you know, Our

Albert Breer (7:34)

defensive game plan was fantastic. They executed it. You know, Randle takes 11 shots, 14 points. Edwards goes 2 for 15. Certainly, I think he missed a couple of those threes that, you know, he can make, but I thought the majority of his threes were tough, contested threes.

Colin Cowherd (7:55)

All right, and with that Albert Brer, the Max Crosby deal, the Ravens is unravel, unraveled. They go sign Trey Hendrickson, which is. I don't think he's as good a player, but he's a very good player. All right, let's go. What? I just heard your phone ring. What are the Raiders. What are the Raiders going to do? What are you hearing?

Albert Breer (8:13)

That's my bad for not silencing that. I'm sorry, Colin. So Max Crosby was in the raiders facility at 6am Pacific this morning. And, you know, I think over the course of the last 24 hours, they're wrapping their heads around. Max is wrapping their heads around the fact that he very well could be a Raider in 2026. The Raiders did get some calls last night from some teams that I think were more fishing than anything else and seeing if there was some sort of discount deal to be had. I don't think the Raiders are giving him up for way under market value just because they're in this spot.

Colin Cowherd (8:52)

They.

Apple Pay/Public Ad Voice (8:53)

And.

Albert Breer (8:53)

And I do think everybody now is of a mind to move forward together. Look, Max never wanted to be traded from the Raiders in the first place. It was a result of everything that happened between October and December with his injury, with the handling of the injury, with the handling of the last two weeks of the season. We don't need to go all over all that again, chapter and verse. And that's why he asked for a trade, was because of everything that transpired in those two months.

Colin Cowherd (9:20)

That doesn't mean he doesn't still have

Albert Breer (9:21)

love for people in that organization, still loves Mark Davis, has a good relationship with the general manager, John Spytek, has had good interactions so far with Clint Kubiak. And I think, you know, they're all sort of in the same boat now. They're all in a bad situation. It's not a great situation for Max, not a great situation for the Raiders. But, you know, there is this feeling that sometimes things happen for a reason. And the reality is Max is walking in now to a building that's markedly different than it was 72 hours ago with all the additions they've made. And so, like, now there's a feeling like maybe we can make the best of this and. And maybe Max can actually come out of this and make good on his. His intention to be the agent of change in Vegas doesn't mean he can't be traded over the next five or six months. Like, there certainly could be a godfather offer that comes in and makes everybody reconsider. But I think as of right now, as we sit here, what is it, one o' clock eastern on, on March 11, you know, they're full steam ahead. Like, let's see, let's see if we can make this work.

Colin Cowherd (10:20)

So I was saying this. The difference between basketball culture in America and football culture is that you don't have to be a great teammate. You can be kind of goofy, semi committed. You can last a long time in the NBA. But in the NFL, if people start sniffing, you're, you're not very disciplined, you're not always great in the room, you're not committed, your market dries up. I mean, Tariq Woolen's a really good player. I mean, he walked into this league and you're like 6, 4, 2, 10 burner, sticky hands, whoa. One year deal with the Eagles. And then there's Kyler Murray, who apparently has a significantly smaller market than Malik Willis. Willis has a reputation as a wonderful kid, hard worker. Everybody in the building loved him. And Kyler Murray's like, does he love football? Is there a market for. I mean, what's the latest on Kyler Murray who I would argue, like, Tariq is a. Is a unbelievably talented athlete.

Albert Breer (11:20)

I think the one thing that Kyler Murray has as a weapon right now is the finances of his situation versus most other quarterbacks who are in his spot situations. He's getting $36.8 million this year regardless. And so now he can go out and sign with whatever team he wants, whatever the best football situation is for him out there, and stick the Cardinals with the rest of the bill. And so that allows him to make this a football only decision. So I think at the top of his list would be the Minnesota Vikings. Now, I can also tell you factually that over the last three or four months, the Vikings have started to investigate and look into potential reclamation projects because they had so much success with the last one that they undertook, and that was Sam Darnold in 2024. They won 14 games with him. You could even say they had some success at the end of that year with Daniel Jones. So that was looking at guys like Kyler Murray, looking at guys like Tua Tungavaloa, and trying to see which one would fit the best for them to Throw into a competition with JJ McCarthy. And so I think right now things are lining up for the Vikings to bring Kyler Murray in on the minimum. And I think if you're Kyler Murray, you look at that situation, the opportunity to work with Kevin o', Connell, an offensive line that they've invested in, Jordan Jefferson or Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, TJ Hawkinson, I mean, you start to add up the pieces that you've got in Minnesota. And even though they didn't play very well last year, a lot of those same elements that put Sam Darnold in position to resurrect his career would still be there for Kyler Murray. So you know how the Vikings proceed. We'll see. But I feel pretty confident saying Minnesota would be the top of Kyler Murray's wish list, you know, and then if that doesn't work out, maybe that, maybe you look at a place like Indianapolis where at the very least in Indy he would be getting a lot of the first team reps in the spring and the summer as Daniel Jones works his way back from the Achilles and he'd get to work with Shane Steichen. And then if Jones misses any time, he's going to have some built in chemistry with his teammates there from having worked with him over the spring and the summer that would put him in position to showcase his skills and play at the highest level possible. So I think there are a couple of good options out there for Kyler Murray now.

Colin Cowherd (13:34)

So it's very obvious since Jim Ursay passed away and his daughters took over the team, Chris Ballard has become super aggressive. He was always known as sort of Moderate to conservative. Two first round picks on Sauce Gardner, almost 30 million a year for Alec Pierce, Daniel Jones, $100 million. And it's like, whoa, these are unballard like moves. It's almost like there's been a signal. Ownership down, go for it. That's what it feels like to me. I mean these are, I would argue two firsts is a little aggressive. 100 million Daniel Jones off an injury as a little aggressive. I mean, don't you think?

Albert Breer (14:17)

I think it's the position everyone in that building is, is, is under now. I don't know if I'd go so far as to say they got a stay of execution from Carl Yearsay Gordon, the new controlling owner, one of one of Jim Irsay's three daughters. But like, you know, Chris Ballard has been there. This is going to be his 10th year. He's made the playoffs twice, he has one playoff win and you know Then if you want to extrapolate that to the head coach, Shane Steichen, who's well respected across the NFL. Yes, he's been there three years without making the playoffs. Most head coaches don't make it three years without making the playoffs their first three years. And so I think for everybody in the building now, there's a ramped up sense of urgency and we have to cap, capitalize on what we've built because we're not going to get the chance to tear this down and build something new. Right. So that's meant leaning into what they have. I think, you know, going and getting sauce. Gardner was a strike at the time to try to try to capitalize on a hot start. You know, you look at the landscape, quarterback wise, Daniel Jones, I think it's fair to say it's the best they're going to do this year. And then Alec Pierce, to me, like, when you look at Alec Pierce versus Michael Pittman, Pittman's a better player right now. But who's harder to replace? Like, if you're going into the draft and you're saying, okay, we've got to replace one of those guys or the other, it's harder to, to, to replace the guy who can get down the field the way Pierce can and averaging over 20 yards of catch the last two seasons than it is to replace a chain mover like Michael Pittman. So they're betting that Alec Pierce can develop a lot of the other stuff as they give him more. They've got a couple of nice underneath weapons and Tyler Warren and Josh Downs and, and, and now you, you just trust that you'll be able to find someone to replace what Pittman did or at least pieces of it in the draft. So, you know, I, I just, I, I look at like where The Colts are. GM in his 10th year, has only made the playoffs twice. A coach in his fourth year who hasn't made the playoffs yet. Everyone's on high alert. And so you do things to try to win with the core that you've got on hand right now.

Colin Cowherd (16:23)

So I, I thought one of the moves that, you know, and I you. Everybody's kind of optimistic with free agency. We know about 35% of the free agency moves really hit. And so, you know, one of these moves like the draft, 30% of the first rounds, there can be two or three busts in the first round minimum. And, and so I was saying it, it, they're the teams in this league that I really like are a lot of them are young. Chicago Seattle, New England, Denver, the Rams. And then there's this group of four or five teams that I feel are getting old. Baltimore, Kansas City, Detroit's getting close in San Francisco. Like Mike Evans off an injury, 30 years old, great red zone guy he's choosing maybe gets less money, goes from tax free Florida to California. But My takeaway is McCaffrey's 30 with a lot of usage and kettles in his 30s and Trent's 38 at left tackle. And they just had a weird Brandon Aiyuk situation and Fred Bose is getting older and I'm like, ah, Mike Evans is not on my bingo card. What do you make of that move?

Albert Breer (17:33)

You know, I think it's sort of a result of striking out on the IU contract, you know, and they were sniffing around a lot of different guys, Colin and you know, so they had their toes in the Alec Pierce running. They had checked in on Romeo Dobbs and they wind up with Mike Evans. And I think that as much as anything else was will he really leave Tampa? You know, because if he'll really leave Tampa, inserting him into the, the receiver room, probably good for Ricky Pierce all helps you get a little bit more out of him. If you're going to draft a receiver, then it helps you break a new receiver into the NFL. And Kyle Shanahan's really good at evaluating this position. So I think part of it is that right, like is that you can plug him in right away and he's going to help your younger guys. And then I think there's a very specific role for him in the, in the, in the Kyle Shanahan offense. Now it's not who he's not Julio Jones in the prime of his career. But I don't know that Kyle has had a prototypical ex in San Francisco the way that Mike Evans can be that X for him, the way that Julio Jones was that X for him in Atlanta. And so as far as a guy who blocks, who can give you a lot of effort, who could be a matchup problem, who could draw coverage, who can make people around him better, I think he fits and it's a short term play to me. While you pick up the pieces from the Brandon Ayuk mess.

Colin Cowherd (18:57)

All right. Okay. Anything on your phone go off in the last three minutes? Any big moves or anything?

Albert Breer (19:04)

Well, I have to check that after we're off the, off the phone, but I would say that the next thing we're looking at is probably, well DJs done now. So it's Kyler Murray right? What happens with Kyler Murray? Like you said, I think we got it all covered.

Colin Cowherd (19:17)

All right. All right, buddy. But who knows?

Albert Breer (19:19)

I wasn't expecting at 8 o' clock to have my night ruined last night, so. Kidding is what it is.

Colin Cowherd (19:25)

Monday morning quarterback Albert Vere. Good seeing you. All right.

Albert Breer (19:29)

Thanks, Colin.

Colin Cowherd (19:30)

Yeah, the it is, man. There are. You know, it's. I like most of the moves the teams have made. I do think San Francisco, Baltimore, Kansas City feel old to me. And I like young teams. I want a team full of young guys that if I mentioned 401k, they think it's an old rapper. They don't even know what a 401k is. I want a young roster full of young guys who can get hurt and they're bandaged up and they're back on the field in two hours. I want Seattle and the Rams and the packers rosters.

Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (20:05)

Don't forget about the Jets, Colin. They've got a very young roster. Trading off some vets. I know Geno Smith is probably the senior citizen in that lineup, but Jets. How you feeling about my guys?

Colin Cowherd (20:15)

Who's coaching?

Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (20:17)

Aaron Glenn, still head coach. He's got like three new starting defenders. Demario Davis coming back. I think he's like 35.

Colin Cowherd (20:24)

Maybe they can get an interception this year.

Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (20:26)

Maybe. Maybe one would be nice. It'd be a good start. Isn't that.

Colin Cowherd (20:31)

It is crazy. At the top of the show, we didn't discuss this. Oh, look at this. Last four super bowl champs were in the top six youngest rosters in the league last season or that season. So last four champs, your players are either going into their prime or they're in their prime. It's hard to be old. Just like San Francisco. We're going to 18 games here probably within a year and so 17. It's like I say about college football now, like college football, the champion played 16 games. So it's not just about having stars. With the nil, you've got to have four to five legitimately starting wide receivers in corners. Like last year, I'm watching USC running back. It's a walk on. They ran out of running backs. Like guys you got to go into a season now with college football, if you're an elite team and go play 15, 16 games, you have to have four capable running backs in the NFL. So it's not about paying a million dollars for. In their transfer portal in the nil, for one star back, you need four guys who can play. So college football now is like the NFL. It's attrition like who is old teams are not healthy. Plus that damn substation next to the Niners practice facility.

Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (21:46)

Well, it's funny you say that because in college football and basketball, you look at the ages of a lot of these teams and like Michigan's got like 23 year olds, 24 year olds. You look at Indiana and college, you know what, Old guys win. So they're ready for the league.

Colin Cowherd (21:58)

In college the trend is get older.

Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (22:02)

Yes.

Colin Cowherd (22:02)

In the NFL the trend is get younger. So and, and that's by the way, that's why college and pro football, I thought last year more than any of my life looked like each other. When Miami played Indiana, it's the first time since Texas played USC in the national championship. I thought I was kind of watching like a 30% pro game, 70% college game. Because you had so many high end, seven or eight high end guys, you're like, oh, they're all going to play. They're all going to be on the NFL field next year starting and playing 7, 8, 9, 10 guys a little by a little. Like those Bama Georgia games a few years ago, you're like, oh, there's 22 NFL players here that, that LSU team

Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (22:44)

with Joe burrow, jabar chase, FSU's Jameis Winston team was ridiculously just a bunch of pros.

Colin Cowherd (22:49)

And I think that's better for college football. I think the college football in the 70s and 80s when you had one receiver wide and you know, wishbone and Nebraska offense, you know, Georgia won a national championship with Herschel Walker. I think they completed one pass. I think college football is getting older. NFL is getting younger and NBA also.

Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (23:10)

NBA getting younger. Remember those Bulls teams in the 90s with Jordan? Go look at the ages of. Oh, I know they could not compete today. I'm sorry, have like five guys, seven guys under 30.

Colin Cowherd (23:21)

That's what's hurting LeBron. The league is so fast. I mean, in fact, LeBron's come out and said it with soft tissue injuries. He's like, it's a up and down the floor. The speed of the game is so Fast. It's made LeBron defensively look really slow and really old. One more herd.

Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (23:41)

The herd streams 24 hours a day,

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Stugatz here I have a podcast empire. It continues to grow and I have brought it here to iHeart. I'm also doing a live radio show from 3 to 5pm Eastern because my

Colin Cowherd (24:03)

wife wanted to kick me out of the house. It's called Stigatsy company Live, which is

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available in podcast form right when the show finishes every single day. Some of the biggest names in sports,

Colin Cowherd (24:15)

a lot of phone calls.

Albert Breer (24:16)

I love you guys show. It's one of my favorites.

Levar Stugatz (24:18)

A lot of interaction, guys not taking themselves too seriously. Those are just some of the things that you could expect from Stugouts Co. And Stugouts Co. Live. So listen to Steugatson Co. Live and our original podcast. Please subscribe, rate and review Stegotson Co.

Colin Cowherd (24:37)

And God bless football.

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all of those out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. All right, Two Truths and a Lie. Here we go. I went to college with college football coach Jim McElwaine, I began my broadcasting career doing play by play for the Las Vegas Stars, and I've been a Verizon customer for 15 years. Okay, I lied. All three are true. Verizon isn't as expensive as you think. In fact, if you bring in your AT&T or T mobile bill to a Verizon store, they'll give you a better deal. That's right, a better deal on the best network with the most ways to save on plans, streaming and phone deals. So take that AT and T or T Mobile build to your local Verizon store today, get a better deal and start saving based on root metrics Best Overall Mobile Network Performance US Second Half 2025 all rights reserve must provide recent consumer mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms, conditions and restrictions apply.

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Colin Cowherd (28:56)

Rodgers still no word if he's coming back. Michael Pittman They've added him. Rico Daddle didn't the Steelers just pick up the Carolina running back? He was with Dallas, he was with Carolina and now he's with the Steelers. So pretty good complement of talent. J. Mack with the news no, no, no no. Turn on the news.

Albert Breer (29:19)

This Is the herd line news.

Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (29:21)

All right, we're going to start with the NBA. Colin, interesting game that got overlooked last night. The spurs faced the Celtics. I've been championing the spurs here for months. They smashed Boston last night, beat them handily. And Colin, people aren't noticing this. The spurs are playing dominant basketball against the elites. So they faced OKC, Detroit and Boston nine times. They're 8 and 1 against them. And just, I mean, it's not really close now. Jaylen Brown got ejected last night. Here are the numbers again. These are the two best teams in the east and the best team in the West. I'm just, I don't know why people aren't. I'm more hyped about the spurs, man.

Colin Cowherd (29:56)

Well, I think they are. I don't think they're. I think Wemby is a remarkable transformative talent. But San Antonio is not a flashy market. It's the NBA regular season. I think by the time we get to the playoffs, people will talk about it. But we, you all, you know, this young teams like the Pistons or the spurs that haven't won anything, they play much harder in the regular season. You know, okc, Boston, they're, they, you know, it's just not the same. And the Knicks, by the way, are having a very good regular season. The Knicks haven't won anything. So I think, I think Wemby, Stefan Castle and the crew, I think people will catch on. But it, I mean, it's hard to sell in March. NBA regular season. Sometimes the players don't look interested.

Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (30:41)

Yeah, well, it's interesting with the spurs, everybody's using the analogy you've got a walk before you run in the playoffs. The spurs haven't won a playoff series in like eight years. It's been forever. So everybody thinks, oh, they can't do it. Colin. I'm on the opposite side. I watch this team closely because since that NBA Cup, I actually bet them to win the NBA Cup. They lost in the finals to the Knicks. And I watch this team and I'm like, where's the weakness? They got blue chip talent everywhere, Colin. They match up great with, with the Thunder.

Colin Cowherd (31:08)

Yeah. And they're young. I mean, it's, it's. But yeah, I mean, listen, when Wemby came into the league, the first couple of years, he didn't have any impact on wins and losses. But the understanding was, oh, this is the future of the NBA. And so now finally this year you're seeing it. I mean, it would be interesting if they won because that would Be your what, eighth champion in eight years?

Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (31:27)

Yeah.

Colin Cowherd (31:27)

The NBA is so anti dynasty to me. Dynasties happen for a lot of reasons. You draft Mahomes, you have the Dodgers deferring payments. If they happen, they happen. You shouldn't make it easy to do it. But I wouldn't be paralyzed by it. But if, you know, I thought Denver was going to reel off multiple titles, but because of the aprons, you know, they, they lost a lot of like four and five starters and key bench guys and suddenly you look up with Denver and it's like it's not the same team. Even with Jokic.

Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (31:56)

I'll just say this. We talk about the best player in the league and the most dominant. Okay. I think Wemby's the most dominant player in the league. Colin. People do not attack the room. They're legit afraid of him on inbounds passes. It's crazy how much of a factory is defensively. I saw some stats when he hits over four threes. They're like undefeated, this spurs team. I mean they are going to be fun in the playoffs. All right, let's go to the NFL. Colin. And Brock Purdy is still the Niners quarterback, but there was a lot of chatter that his backup Mac Jones could be on the move. Well, according to Diana Rossini, teams have reached out about Mac Jones and described the price as quote, astronomical.

Colin Cowherd (32:36)

What's that mean? Two ones?

Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (32:38)

Well, this is interesting. I was just looking at the roster here. You're, you're spot on, man. This is an old team and one of the ways you could get young quickly, you move off Mac Jones. Can you get a two and a three?

Colin Cowherd (32:50)

You can get. I think you can get a. I think you can get a third round pick that.

Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (32:54)

See that's. I don't think that's enough to bake in the protection in case Purdy gets hurt. A third is. What is that now? You could just say, well, you'll lose him for nothing next year. I don't know, maybe he thinks he can compete with Brock or he's having fun. People love that Niners organization. The team hangs out together. They go to warriors games. It's going to be real interesting. With Mac Jones there. I don't think he gets moved. I think he's a. He's the best backup in the league. Would you say that now with Malik Willis gone?

Colin Cowherd (33:20)

It's a good question. Best backup in the league? Malik Willis probably was. That's a pretty.

Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (33:28)

There really isn't a close second given what he was able to do. I Mean, this is how desperate backups are. The Colts went and got Philip Rivers off the sofa to play quarterback. I mean, you know, we could talk about Joe Flacco and all these other guys. Mac Jones was good last year. All right, final story con. Let's go with the Niners again because Brandon Aiyuk, who complained until he got his money last year at this time, he's going to be released by the Niners that would. They would take on $13 million in dead cap this season, 21 million next year, and the one landing spot that's come up for this. I don't want to choose the wrong word here. I don't want to call him troubled, but he's clearly got some issues. Something's going on with it personally. Like Washington is the one place you're hearing about taking him on. Petulant. Is that a better word?

Colin Cowherd (34:20)

Yeah, I mean, Washington. That's not. Washington's weird. You got a. You got an NBA guy, man. Ben Johnson came out publicly and said the Washington people are basketball people that think they know a little too much about football. I don't think I, I don't. I wouldn't be interested in Brandon Aiuk.

Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (34:38)

Well, people show their job. Dan Quinn needs to save his job. Colin, he's on the hot seat. All his, all his assistants got fired. And you got to do whatever it takes to win. You might roll the dice with iuk. Is there another buy low? If you're Miami, do you buy low and say, hey, Malik Willis, you know, you need someone opposite waddle?

Novartis Ad Voice (34:56)

I don't know.

Colin Cowherd (34:56)

I mean, the only way it makes sense in Washington is Jaden Daniels. Did he not play with Brandon Aiyuk at Arizona State?

Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (35:03)

I think that's why people are linking. Yeah. To Washington.

Colin Cowherd (35:06)

There's the answer. J. Mac with the news.

Albert Breer (35:10)

Well, that's the news and thanks for

Colin Cowherd (35:12)

stopping by the herd lie news it. I mean, just think about the players in the NFL that have switched teams. Even if one unraveled. Max Crosby, Trey Hendrickson, Kenneth Walker, Stefan Diggs will sign somewhere. Michael Pittman, like, these are. These are like B plus players up. It is. The NFL doesn't worry about dynasties and it gives you so many ways to get better. Free agency, trades, draft and develop. I always think one of the weirdest things in the NBA is you have to have salaries match the trade players and that's because they're just, they're terrified of tanking. Well, everybody that watches, anybody that's my age that has gray hair, the NBA's bottom five or six teams now it's like bottom 10 have always been unwatchable and has been tanking forever. I don't worry about stuff that you can't solve. It's like in the NFL, you can't solve injuries. Now you can change the kickoff rule because that's where there were the most concussions. You can do that, but people will still get concussions. And you can, in the collective bargaining, you can have less hitting in practice, but people will still get hurt. Like there are certain things that we know to be true in baseball. You're going to have arm injuries. You can't avoid it. Have a deep roster, have a deep bullpen. You, you can't avoid in the NBA tanking because it's the one Pro Sport where one or two players can literally change your franchise for 15 years. So there's going to be some tanking. To me, the obvious way to avoid tanking is the opposite of what the NBA does. If you want to avoid tanking, which the NFL doesn't have a tanking problem and hockey doesn't have a tanking problem in baseball, you know, you've got cheap owned billionaires, but you don't have a really a tanking problem in baseball. How would I solve, because it's easy for me to lament NBA. How would I solve the NBA's tanking problem? I would allow like the NFL and baseball. Trade all you want. You can make any trade. Your salaries don't have to match. If I want to get rid of a guy and I want to get another guy and I want to rebuild, let him trade. Go look at baseball, go look at hockey, specifically look at the NFL. You can trade anybody anytime. You can trade Dak. It would be a terrible trade, but you could trade Dakota for a couple of fifth round picks and a, you know, if somebody else can fit them under the cap. But the NBA is so paralyzed by, oh, we could get a tanking situation. Well, it's because your system forces general managers with bad teams to tank. It's the only way I can rebuild quickly is get Wimby. So in this year's draft, which is an unbelievable draft, I'm, I'm telling you how good this draft is. There's a point guard for Arkansas, a crop is his name John Calipari's best player. He's, he's got a little bit of Westbrook where he's wildly dynamic, incredibly athletic, 25 points a game. He's a little ball needy, he's a little ball centric, but he's a great talent. He may go like seventh. There are drafts. He would have been the first guy taken. He may go seven. That's why I looked at a mock draft last night. He was seventh and eighth. And I'm like, wow, this is an unbelievable draft. Well, if you only give me one way to get that kid, I'm going to take. So it's like the NFL. I guess my whole point is the last five days have been unbelievable because the NFL doesn't get paralyzed with tanking. They don't worry about it. Even though obviously at the end of years there's teams not playing quarterback. NFL's like, hey, it's business. The Colts wanted to get Andrew Locke, Tate Manning left down. Whatever. The idea that you can solve certain things in sports, like basketball, one or two guys change the fortune of your franchise for a decade, you're gonna have you make it easy to trade. But it's not gonna. I mean, the NBA's bottom five teams have always been unwatchable. 30 years ago, 20 years ago, and today. Except the problem. Now it's like eight to 10 teams at the bottom are unwatchable. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app. All right, two truths and a lie. Here we go. I went to college with college football coach Jim McElwain. I began my broadcasting career doing play by play for the Las Vegas Stars, and I've been a Verizon customer for 15 years. Okay, I lied. All three are true. Verizon isn't as expensive as you think. In fact, if you bring in your AT&T or T mobile bill to a Verizon store, they'll give you a better deal. That's right, a better deal on the best network with the most waste to save on plans, streaming and phone deals. So take that AT and T or T Mobile. Build to your local Verizon store today, get a better deal and start saving based on root metrics. Best overall Mobile Network Performance U.S. 2nd Half 2025 All Rights Reserve must provide recent consumer mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms, conditions and restrictions apply.

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Levar Stugatz (41:39)

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Colin Cowherd (42:10)

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Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (43:53)

the IndyCar series roars into Arlington for the first time ever and the inaugural race begins with a star studded Texas sized party, the Java House Grand Prix of arlington. Sunday at 12:30 Eastern only on Fox.

Colin Cowherd (44:08)

The Listen, there's a lot of reasons I Even though Mike McDonald, defensive coach, made the super bowl and Mike Vrabel, defensive coach made the super bowl, by and large the New England situation, I defend Vrabel getting hired because he's great. But also Josh McDaniels has said publicly he likes raising his family in New England like he's going nowhere. So that works. The downside to a defensive coach is that if you do and you don't always hire a smart, clever young offensive coordinator, but if you do nail him like Todd Bowles did in Tampa, well, they move on and Liam Cohen goes to the Jags and Dave Canalis goes to Carolina and you're only going to hit a home run so many times. So it's the worry. Mike McDonald's great for Seattle, but then Clint Kubiak, boom, he leaves. You're like, wait, what, what? So you're going to be on the third offensive coordinator here in what, three years for Seattle and Mike McDonald and that's the hard part. So I've said this with Mike Tomlin, he didn't even nail his offensive coordinator hires. I respect Big Ben more now seeing what Aaron Rodgers did last year. Aaron didn't fix everything, but the Steelers were an atrocious, Jurassic tone deaf offense for years. And then last year they scored more points than four other playoff teams and were a top red zone team, you know, top five or six in the league. Now Aaron couldn't solve all their problems. They were still a bottom 10 running team and they didn't have a receiver, I think one receiver over 500 yards. So there's just systemic issues inside the Steelers that Aaron couldn't solve. But he did a hell of a job to solve what he could, which is red zone high IQ plays, you know, and I thought he maximized their size and tight ends and run game. So I will tell you, Mike McCarthy I didn't think was a great hire but maybe it's better than I think because I've watched this off season and the Rico Dowdle move, they got him for a bargain. Rico Dowdle was good with the Cowboys, he was really good with Carolina and they're going to go with Chuba Hubbard and their guys. But I thought Rico Dowdle is a really good pickup for Pittsburgh. And then they traded for Michael Pittman. That again, that's a Warrior, a tough, physical guy. So offensive coaches, not only can they lose top coordinators, but in the end, they. They've got a feel for offense. So, you know, Aaron did as much as Aaron could do with this organization. But I got to tell you, I like the moves they've made, and I think they're moves that an offensive coach gets. Rico Dowdle is something Mike McCarthy gets. I'm not sure if Mike Tomlin and Mike Tomlin's not a bad coach. He's a motivator. That's why the Steelers were always great at covering the spread as underdogs pounds that table. But I always thought the Steelers were a little scheme light offensively. And so I don't know, I look at Big Ben and the minute Big Ben got out of his prime and his athleticism couldn't save a lot of these scheme limitations by the Steelers, they got really clunky and really bad offensively. So James Harrison, Joe Hayden, a couple former Steelers on their podcast, they like what they're doing, too. That's exactly what we need for the team. That energy that you got a blocking receiver, you got a crazy strong running back. Yes. I'm loving the moves. They're early and it's not crazy. Brad, you're not just over these dudes. No, we got Rico. Rico could have made eight real. Could have had eight million. Eight million a year. But we went and got him for six.

Novartis Ad Voice (48:00)

You know what I'm saying?

Colin Cowherd (48:02)

Pittman, 29. No, let's go get him from the 19. Like what? These are great players at great deals. Yeah, I agree. Totally agree. I. And I think Mike McCarthy deserves a lot of credit. And listen, we have this time in our life where there's these McVeighs and there's these Mike McDonald's and Dave Canales in Carolina and we, we love all these young coaches, but Andy Reid is pretty good and Belichick, when he had Brady, was pretty good. And John Harbaugh with the Ravens is pretty good. And Kevin Stefanski's got some gray hair as well. And I think Mike McCarthy is. I've said before, I think he's Tomlin just on the offensive side. But that's important because they got way too much money on defense. They don't really understand offense. And I thought, you know, I defended Aaron. I thought Aaron did about as well as you could do. He didn't solve everything. But they, they went from an atrocious red zone team to a top 78 red zone team. That's on Aaron. That's on nobody else. That's just Aaron's ability. Quick release, move a little, see the field, audible in and out of trouble. So there you go.

Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (49:08)

Colin, can I ask you. So McCarthy was in Dallas, had to

Colin Cowherd (49:11)

deal with Jerry Jones and left on his own accord. He left?

Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (49:15)

Yes. I'm getting some Signal here that McCarthy doesn't want Aaron Rodgers. I don't think he wants that drama. He saw it with Jerry. Aaron, I know you love him, whatever. He had a great career. He's drama every week. It's a soundbite. He's saying something. He's getting involved.

Colin Cowherd (49:29)

I think that's.

Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (49:30)

I wonder if there's a world where McCarthy just says, Guys, look at how we've already improved our roster by going with note, not paying a quarterback. Ken, Will Howard give you 70% of Sam Darnold last year? I mean, the two deep at running back is good. Rico and Warren, two good receivers. Pittman an over the middle guy. DK stretches it. Friarmouth, the tight end.

Colin Cowherd (49:51)

No, they're all.

Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (49:52)

I wonder if Kirk Cousins could be an. I know that sounds gross.

Colin Cowherd (49:55)

Well, but the other thing is McCarthy, I think wanted to end his career in Green Bay. And then, you know, Aaron, you can say what you want, but Aaron basically started throwing the ball away, getting very moody, eye rolling. That's been documented and reported. And I think McCarthy wanted to stay in Green Bay in his career. Okay. He gets booted and then, you know, he goes down to his basement and kind of promotes himself and gets the Dallas job. But I still think he pined for that Green Bay job because it was no owner, no dysfunction. And then Pittsburgh comes and he's very emotional because he's a Pittsburgh guy and this is his Green Bay. So is Mike McCarthy thinking, yeah, the last time I had my Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers say what you want, it became dramatic. This is his new Green Bay. I don't. It's nothing against Dallas, But I think McCarthy feels like a Packer coach and feels like a Steeler coach. I think he tolerated the Cowboys, but I think it drove him crazy that the owner after every game is, is. Has big, strong opinions. No. No coach. Well, I think McCarthy feels. Looks. Sounds like a Packer Steeler coach. And the last time he had that kind of job, Aaron was a problem.

Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (51:16)

Yeah, it feels to me like a lot of these coaches, you know, you're worried is your quarterback going to produce a phone call at 2 in the morning that there's a problem? You don't want that. I also don't think you want your owner or your quarterback starting brush fires at every press conference. I mean, Aaron Rodgers went on one of these radio shows and is talking about like the FBI director boozing it up with the US Hockey team like that. Rogers is making news all the time. Can you imagine if McCarthy was like, hey, we don't want the media spotlight. Let's just operate here. Will Howard Great skill position, guys.

Colin Cowherd (51:46)

Well, we know that here's I would

Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (51:48)

like it more if they didn't bring Rogers back.

Colin Cowherd (51:49)

I'll just Here is something that has always been true. What people say publicly is not what they say privately. So you know, we see this all the oh, I love this player. This guy's a good guy. I mean, for years and years everybody wanted to play with Carmelo Anthony and had chances and nobody signed up for it. LeBron chose Kyrie and D. Wade and Bosh and Kevin L. What about his best friend Carmelo? He didn't want to play. If he wanted to play with him, he could have made it happen. People say different things on air and off.

Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (52:21)

Think Verizon is expensive?

Colin Cowherd (52:23)

Think again. Anyone can bring their AT&T or T mobile bill to a Verizon store today and we'll give you a better deal.

Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (52:28)

So bring us your bill. Walking, running, Hogo, sticking, Teleport. If you can ride on the back of a rollerblading yak or flying on the wings of a majestic falcon. Any way, you can bring your AT&T

Colin Cowherd (52:39)

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Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (52:40)

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Colin Cowherd (52:48)

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Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (52:49)

Additional terms, conditions and restrictions apply. This is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea. After the Big Game, like most people, I kept thinking about the commercials, and there was one that stayed with me. It was from the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate. And it wasn't loud or flashy. It showed a Jewish kid being targeted

Albert Breer (53:04)

at school and another student who chose

Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (53:06)

not to ignore it. As someone who is Jewish, that moment felt very real to me. Not dramatic, just familiar.

Albert Breer (53:13)

And what struck me was how clearly

Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (53:15)

it showed that hate doesn't always announce itself, but the impact is still huge. If you saw the Blue Square spot during the big game. It's worth thinking about and if you want to show support, sharing the blue square is one small way to do that.

Colin Cowherd (53:28)

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Colin Cowherd (53:54)

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Guest Analyst (possibly a sports commentator or co-host) (53:57)

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Colin Cowherd (54:14)

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Colin Cowherd (54:27)

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