← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
THE HERD - Hour 3 - Chris Finch joins The Herd, Tomorrow's Headlines Today
00:33:58
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- [00:00]
Jason McIntyre
This is an iHeart podcast.
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- [00:34]
Colin Cowherd
I'm Colin Coward from the Herd. Whether you're a seasoned small business owner or thinking about getting started, you'll definitely want to check out season four of Mind the Business small business success stories from iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio and Inuit QuickBooks. In the latest season, hosts Austin Hanquitz and Janiez Torres are talking to self starters about the ins and outs of entrepreneurship and how QuickBooks helps you to get more done in less time. You don't want to miss it. Listen to Mind the Business Small Business Success Stories on the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We all want the best without having to pay the most. That's where Verizon comes in. Get this now you can take your AT and T or T mobile bill into any Verizon store. They'll look at what you're paying and give you a better deal. Period. You get the amazing coverage you want while keeping more cash in your pocket. Visit your local Verizon store to start saving today. Must provide recent consumer mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms and conditions apply. I'll say it up front, I don't usually endorse supplements. Most promise shortcuts. Anybody who's done real work knows shortcuts fail. But I like EM drives. Every morning I put that protein powder in my coffee. It's practical. As you get older, energy dips and weight comes easier. That's biology. EmDrive boost and burn support steady energy metabolism and fat burning so effort actually counts. Clinically tested ingredients. Find it at sprouts, Amazon or mdrive4men.com mdrive for men who still show up. Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and 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.
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Fox Sports Radio Announcer
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio and
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Colin Cowherd
I could sit with Finch and ask him questions for an hour. Most underrated. Most overrated. Best player, this player, that player. So let's start with this. First of all, it's great to see you. We were talking during the break. You're two and one against Spurs. You're two and one against okc. All my NBA guys, they always say there's two, there's two seasons. And the, and the athletic teams that have a closer and a good coach, that's the dangerous team in the postseason. And my guys are all saying, watch Minnesota in the postseason. They're built for the playoffs. So you've done well against Wemby and okc. Let's first start with this. J. Mac and I talked about it the other day. He had a game against Detroit, Chris. He didn't even score until late and he controlled it. Steals, blocks, rebounds. First time you played against him. How do you defend Wemby? What did you do?
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Chris Finch
Well, the defending is just, I think half the problem. It's the. When he's on defense, it just, he just changes the geometry of the floor. Guys don't even want to be themselves. They don't tack the paint in the same manner. He can cover so much ground on a closeout. You know, he can be in a help position and still be, you know, guarding two or three players. I've never seen anything like that. With his length, his anticipation. If he has his three ball going on offense, he's unguardable. And you know, we played him in an epic game in January as a. Him and Anthony both went for almost 50 and it was a lot of fun to watch. And he, you know, he had his three point shot going that night. And if that's going, you know, I don't know what you do with them.
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Colin Cowherd
You've been in basketball for a long time. SGA has been banged up. He's one of their weaker defensive players. If I said to you three or four best defenses you've ever seen in the NBA, does OKC qualify?
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Chris Finch
Well? Last year's OKC version for sure. This year, as you said, some of their better defenders, Caruso, certainly, Jalen Williams, they've been, they've been hurt all year.
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Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
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Chris Finch
But I'll tell you who's, who's really good defensively there. Well, both their bigs are, but Hardenstein has outstanding field defensively and Chet challenges everything, so. And all their guys guard, you know, even Shea, you know, he's going to execute the game plan, compete on the ball, do the things they need him to do to Be really good. So I would, you know, they were historically great defense. No doubt. And they earned that.
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Colin Cowherd
Yeah. So listen, last night, you know, I always say this. I remember there's a video years ago of Peyton Manning and Jeff Saturday yelling at each other. And I'm like, guys and fans freak out. And I'm always like, I've watched Brady rip coaches in the middle of a game or late game. It's pro sports. It's live. So you and Ant go back and forth. Last night, he's like, I don't care. I'm good with it. But when you get into situations like that, you're like, hey, I need you to dish. He wants to shoot. Like how? He's your star. Take me through it. Is it difficult for you as a coach?
- [05:28]
Chris Finch
Yeah. I mean, listen, we're both fiery competitors. It's been part of our, part of our relationship since day one. And you know, we have a phenomenally talented player who makes great shots and he's a closer and he's taken major strides in that department and we're lucky to have him. And you know, this is not the first game winning shot that he's made for us this season. He's. But you know, he also has the burden of responsibility of making his teammates better and making the right play. And that's what we're preaching to him all the time. He's really emotional. I'm emotional. You know, we say these things to each other and we move on. We don't take it personally. You know, I didn't, I didn't think that the com. The comments after the game were mean spirited. I thought he was just kind of joking around and taking, you know, we just jab back and forth with each other and it, you know, as you know, Colin, these guys are super competitive and, and they're very prideful and sometimes you got to stoke that fire and sometimes it comes back on you. But that's part of it.
- [06:25]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. I saw Andy Reid and Travis Kelsey. I thought they were, I thought Andy was going to throw a headset at him. I'm like, it's like, folks, this is life. It's pro sports.
- [06:35]
Chris Finch
Yeah.
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Colin Cowherd
You know, it's one funny. The NFL films does this all the time. They'll mic people and then like a year later you'll hear it and you hear Belichick and Parcels and it's like, guys, it's live. It's, it's. You're on a clock, you're on national tv. Get over it. So one of the things that I think is pretty clear and I think the NBA is right. The WNBA doesn't. They really let physical play in the regular season so their stars get banged up and aren't always available for the postseason. In the NBA, you know, they're going to whistle stuff in the regular season and then they let you guys play in the postseason. And I mean, when you lose players, Tatum gets hurt. Halliburton, what do you do as a coach? Because you're a team that can be physical. Detroit's a team, they're physical. Knicks aren't necessarily as physical. What do you do to kind of ramp your team up and to prepare for basketball? Because by the time it's late April and May, Chris, it looks different, it's officiated different, it feels different. I mean you can, it comes through the television. How do you prep a team for that?
- [07:45]
Chris Finch
Yeah, it's the great point. And coming out of the all star game is usually that line of demarcation. And we've just played a number of physical games. So in terms of getting us ready for the playoffs, I do like that. And we got to respond like we're not always the hit first physical team, but when somebody does hit, we do get, we get back into it with them. And that's good to see. You know, you're right. The playoffs are just another animal altogether. You got to be able to play with, through physicality, with physicality. You got to be smart with the physicality. And referees, you know, at that point in time you're also getting the best referees who can manage that physicality better. Which, which cleans up the product too.
- [08:26]
Colin Cowherd
You know, the, you know, we were talking during the break and this is always fun. I said, okay, give me a guy in the NBA and everybody makes good money. So it's not a salary question. And I said to you, J. Mack asked a question. He goes, who in the NBA do you as a coach, do you look at as a player and think, boy, that guy is good. And we don't talk about him on shows like this or Stephen A show or somebody show or Nick Wright show. But a guy that you look at and you think, man, that guy deserves pub. He's a big time player.
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Chris Finch
Yeah, well, I mean I'm going to start right on our own team. Jaden McDaniels. I think Jaden McDaniels is become one of the best two way players in the league. He's always been great defensively. I think his defense has gotten better. I don't think he gets enough credit for being the level of defender that he actually is. His offense has taken major steps this year. We can now give him the ball. He can get buckets on demand. His three point shot is up over 40%. His rebounding, his usage, his assists, these are all the steps that we needed him to take to be a better team this year. And he's done it. So he's one of the most underrated players of the league. He plays in the shadow of Anthony and Rudy defensively and Anthony offensively and Julius Randle. But he's just as important as anybody else to our team.
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Colin Cowherd
So J. Mac and I got into a argument the other day. I have no problem. I think you have to play 65 games. This is to attack load management to be, to win certain awards. And J. Mac's like, well then Cade Cunningham is going to win mvp. And I'm like, I'm good with that. I mean their offense without him is, I mean it's just, it's non existent. Like he is the offense. That's why I don't think they're a title team. They're too young, they're a little unbalanced offensively. They're physical. He's a star. So my argument is, how could Jokic be the most valuable player in a league when he's less valuable to his own team than he was a year ago? And I love Jokic. So if I said to you, you got to play 65 games, Cade Cunningham's the MVP, how does that sit with you?
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Chris Finch
He's certainly having an MVP season. I'm fine with that. My only counter would be that if somebody like Jokic can play in only 50 games and they can still be second or third in the west, you know, in what he's doing on the floor, when they're on their floor, it's, you know, he still has to be accounted for. I mean, his greatness definitely is going to carry a team all by itself to 55 wins or, or nearly every season. But yeah, I think I'm all for what the league's done to try to counter the tanking. It is. There's going to be some unfortunate cases. There just is going to be, you know, but I don't think saying that Cade Cunningham as an MVP is saying that he's not worthy. I think he's had a season. You know, they got one of the best records in the league, if not the best record in win percentage wise.
- [11:12]
Colin Cowherd
So yeah, if I said to you, ant Edwards, obviously his three point shot is much better, but you know, I think, you know, the difference between college and pro is at the pro level, if you don't play defense, you're getting eaten alive. You're going to give up 27 points on the other end. How much with Aunt Edwards defense is it coaching, listening? How much has been his commitment to it? Because you, you know, there are some stars in this league, we all know the Lucas story where he's, he's a liability. How do you get highly compensated, gifted offensive guys? What's the secret to make them play defense where you don't get any credit? It's hard. You can get burned constantly, but it's hugely important.
- [11:58]
Chris Finch
Yeah, I think, you know, first off, Anthony is certainly not a liability defensively. I think he has an opportunity and talent to be elite at that end of the floor. And there are times when he just takes over defensively, whether it's taking on a matchup or making plays. Some of the plays he makes late in games defensively are spectacular in nature. We've seen a lot of really good blocks, great blocks, timely blocks. And for me it's kind of like what's the pathway to being great next? What's the next step? And I think he can be the best two way player in the league and I think that's his platform for being an MVP candidate. And you know, he has a huge load offensively and you know, one of the things that, you know, these players hear when they come into the league and there's some truth to it, I've never scored 30 points in the NBA. It must be, must be hard to do on a night to night basis and you can only put your energy certain places at certain times. But you can't just, you know, punt on defense just because you use a lot of energy on offense. I think there's also a way to maybe, and I'm not talking about just with ant, but in general, you know, be a little more efficient on offense so you can be a little better on defense too. So we try not to buy into those mantras. And you know the great thing about and is he always, he always meets the high moments and when we need him most, you know, he'll step up and play defense. But coming down the stretch here we've asked him to be better defensively and so far he's responded.
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Colin Cowherd
So I moved to Chicago from Los Angeles and everybody in LA is like, oh, you're going to move back, it's just too cold. And I'm like, it's called a jacket. I grew up in Seattle. I know. Wet and cold. So you live in the only place in America colder than where I live. You live in Minneapolis. And guys, J. Mac, who's wearing his Luka jersey on the beach six days a week, tell him the advantages to being in cold weather. Minneapolis has smart, civic minded people. Are you fine in Minneapolis with the weather I love?
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Chris Finch
Yeah, I'm fine in Minneapolis. I look forward to the season. Seasonal change.
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Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
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Chris Finch
Add some variety. Yeah. What you find is where I've lived all over the world. And one thing I've always impressed me about wherever I've lived with people is that they, they lean into what's going on around them. I, I didn't even know snowshoeing was something people did. I thought it was, I thought it was just something people did on cart in cartoons, but apparently it's, it's an activity and, you know, people are outside in the winter, enjoying the winter for what it offers and whether it be cross country skiing, playing hockey, all these things, you know, very active people in Minnesota and they enjoy all, all seasons, including winter.
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Colin Cowherd
Yeah, I'm, I'm going ice fishing and Tuesday, so I love this stuff. Hey, Chris, it's great to see you. Congrats on the success. Four straight playoff appearances for the T Wolves. Top seven defensive rating on my screen. And great seeing you again.
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Chris Finch
Thanks, Colin. Appreciate you having me on.
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Colin Cowherd
You bet. He was coaching and they were winning last night as Ant hit a big shot down the stretch. NFL combine this weekend. J. Mac, I was, I was talking to Middle Cough about this last night in the podcast. I watch less of it now than I did like three years ago. And I think a lot of it is. I talk to a lot of different people and it's, I mean, when you have the Rams and the Jags, playoff teams being like, you know, we're not going to send people, I don't think it's terribly authentic. I think all the interviews are prepped. Everybody's in the world's best shape. You know, I, I think you can get it all done at pro days. How much NFL Combine will you watch this weekend?
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Jason McIntyre
I'm more of an NBA college basketball guy. This kind of season, Collins, so, I mean, you could catch, you could catch the clips online, obviously. The 40 yard dash.
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Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
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Jason McIntyre
What do I need to watch some guy putting up bench press? Like 30 reps for like, I. There's just no value there. And plus, people overreact to this stuff. Sonny Styles, you know, nobody drafts a linebacker early, but Sunny Styles tested off the chart yesterday. Right? Unbelievable. Maybe the greatest performance ever. And now there's like, do the jets take him at 2? Let's slow down, guys. Like, I know we're desperate for football, but like, hey, maybe let's take in the Timberwolves Clippers and enjoy Anthony Edwards and watch some college hoops. Illinois, Michigan tonight.
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Colin Cowherd
So that's on. That's on Fox. That is a real. That's one of the best college games of the year.
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Jason McIntyre
Yeah.
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Colin Cowherd
Tonight, Michigan in champagne against Illinois. These are teams that can make the Final Four.
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Jason McIntyre
These are Minnesota.
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Colin Cowherd
These are Final Four level teams.
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Jason McIntyre
IO Desomo, the guy who was at Illinois a few years ago, great player, new addition to the Wolves. So like basketball. Listen, March is basketball time. You know that, right?
- [16:33]
Fox Sports Radio Announcer
Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app. Fox Sports Radio is taking over YouTube and you can be a part of it. Just go to YouTube and search Fox Sports Radio. Hit that subscribe button and smash that notification bell and catch all the videos from your favorite shows. Two pros and a cup of Joe. Dan Patrick, Colin Cowherd, Stu Godson company Live, Cavino and Rich, the Odd Couple with Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington, the Jason Smith show with Mike Harmon and the Ben Ma Show. Fox sports radio on YouTube.
- [17:08]
Colin Cowherd
Subscribe. Hit that thumbs up icon and comment away.
- [17:12]
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- [17:42]
Verizon Advertiser
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- [17:55]
Colin Cowherd
Okay, I lied.
- [17:56]
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- [18:31]
Colin Cowherd
I'm Colin Coward from the Herd. Whether you're a seasoned small business owner or thinking about getting started, you'll definitely want to check out Season four of Mind the Business Small Business Success Stories for My Heart Media's Ruby Studio and Inuit QuickBooks. Mind the business is part entertainment, part instruction manual, part inspiration. Each episode features practical tips and success stories that will resonate with entrepreneurs in any industry. In their latest season, hosts Austin Henkwitz and Janie Torres are covering topics on the forefront of running a small business. They're talking to self starters about everything from how AI helps them work smarter to weathering market uncertainties and enjoying the benefits of being your own boss and using Inuit QuickBooks to help you get more done in less time. You won't want to miss it. Listen to Mind the Business Small Business Success Stories on the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [19:27]
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- [20:00]
Colin Cowherd
J Mac with the News no turn on the news.
- [20:05]
Fox Sports Radio Announcer
This is the Herd line news.
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Jason McIntyre
Start with the Dallas Cowboys. This Brandon Aubrey situation. Colin Very interesting. So the he's a restricted free agent. Cowboys made an offer to make him the highest paid kicker in the league at seven and a half million. But reports indicate Aubrey's looking for 10 million a year. Colin 10. Then Aubrey went on Instagram to shoot down those reports saying it's fake. Now we know he's one of the best kickers in the league. He has hit on unbelievably 88% of his attempts over the last three years. I mean he's got value, he's amazing. But 10 million a year for a kicker?
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Colin Cowherd
I'll so I've always had this argument. The highest scoring player on teams is often the kicker. In no other sport would you be outraged to draft a kicker or pay him 10 million. Are you telling me in an era when 60 yard field goals are fairly common that that kicker is not worth $10 million?
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Jason McIntyre
Well, the highest paid kicker, if a
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Colin Cowherd
kicker wins you two games a year of 17 and Aubrey is absolutely one of the three guys that can do that, I'm paying him 10 million.
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Jason McIntyre
Okay, so let me ask you, you take a guess, this guy's still currently in the league. Who is the highest paid kicker of
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Verizon Advertiser
all time
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Jason McIntyre
still in the league?
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Colin Cowherd
Well, for it was the
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Jason McIntyre
Harrison Butker. The Chiefs 6.4 million according to our staff. 6.4. You're gonna basically move up to 10 for Aubrey. That's a little bit crazy. Like let's. The Cowboys have needs. Colin, I will just say with the new kickoff rules, if, if you don't have a good kickoff and you have a great kicker, the Cowboys need like 25 yards. And Brandon Aubrey's in range, that's like three points for a couple of first downs. I don't let him go. But I'm very curious how this shakes out because I wonder what happens if he hits the open.
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Colin Cowherd
Listen, people didn't used to pay tight ends or safeties. Have you noticed like the safety position for a lot of teams like Seattle, Philadelphia, the Ram. There are, there are teams in the league now that are, you know, they. The value of safeties and tight ends over the last 10 years because these the top tight ends now you can split them out wide. So to me like kicking changed. The pat. A is harder than it used to be. Okay. B 60 yard field goals are in play. C, we've changed the kickoff. So I have three elements in football for anybody listening. The kickoff change, the pat change and the distance in which they're using a new ball now that you can kick with. Well now that's made kicking more important. So six and a half to me if I got to nine I can look, I can. Absolutely. Again he's an offensive weapon in an offensive league.
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Jason McIntyre
So. So you're going to have the highest paid quarterback in the league or one of the highest in Dak Prescott.
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Colin Cowherd
I, I don't love that but I say I'm not letting him walk.
- [23:09]
Jason McIntyre
But also you're having so highest, one of the highest paid quarterbacks, one of the biggest cap hits, maybe the most expensive wide receiver duo in the league in Pickens and CD Lamb. And now you're gonna have the highest paid kicker by a country mile.
- [23:21]
Colin Cowherd
You're also gonna have two first round picks and you're going to select two defensive players so you're going to get some value on the defensive side. And you know you and I have talked about this. I think they're really Smart teams. The Rams do this. They put their money on offense. They go young, cheap and talented on defense. So the Cowboys need to get less expensive on defense. Two first round picks will help. Don't be shocked. I'll say this, Cowboys don't have a second or a third. Don't be shocked if they don't move down with their first pick and pick up a third or a fourth round pick and draft another defensive player.
- [23:54]
Jason McIntyre
Yeah, it's just crazy how good of a weapon Aubrey is in the NFL. I feel like anytime you're in field goal range, he's good.
- [24:01]
Colin Cowherd
Okay, so paying a kicker $10 million is 3% of the cap this year. The Seahawks just won the Super bowl. Their kicker was 2.4% of the cap.
- [24:10]
Jason McIntyre
Jason Myers.
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Colin Cowherd
Yeah, and he had five field goal 20 of the 21 top players in the league in points scored, all 13 at the top. All kickers and 20 and 21 top scores are kickers. And I'm not going to pay two and a half percent on my cap for my highest scoring player in an era when the kickoffs change, the Pats change and they're using a new ball.
- [24:33]
Jason McIntyre
Well, how's this?
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Colin Cowherd
Brandon Aubrey, 9 million.
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Jason McIntyre
How's this? Because Sam Darnold's only making 30, 35, 40 and Dak is closer to 60. You can afford to pay your kicker. By the way, Seattle has a great punter too, don't they? If memory serves, he, he had some amazing like punts in the postseason or maybe late regular season. You can spend more when you're not giving it all to the quarterback.
- [24:56]
Colin Cowherd
The last two years, the highest scoring player in the league is the Cowboys kicker. I can't pay him two and a half percent of cap.
- [25:05]
Chris Finch
No.
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Jason McIntyre
Wow. All right, that was, that was fun. That was good. All right, let's move on. The Colts are moving off of Anthony Richardson. They gave him permission to go seek a trade and obviously everybody's speculating what Pittsburgh, where does he go? Who takes a chance on this guy who can't complete five yard passes? Interestingly, a bunch of people looked at when the Colts played the Vikings and apparently Kevin o' Connell is like a huge fan of Anthony Richardson and went up to him and one of them was miked up and he made a lot of nice comments. So now there's speculation. Does Kevin o' Connell say, go get me Anthony Richardson for like a fifth or something cheap? I mean, Trey Lance got. I forget what he was traded for. It wasn't much. But Anthony Richardson has more talent than Trey Lance did. I'd be very interested to see what the market is like for Richardson. Somebody's going to take a chance because he's super young and has 15 starts and is like a freaking Adonis when you look at him. He could make any throw outrun anybody. Where are you on Richardson?
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Colin Cowherd
He is a backup, talented, strong backup. He's just not can't consistently throw the ball accurately. It just doesn't work for me at all.
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Jason McIntyre
So if you're JJ McCarthy, you're like fine with this move.
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Colin Cowherd
You know, I don't think J.J. mcCarthy is going to finish the year as a starter, but I think Minnesota's got problems on their hands.
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Jason McIntyre
All right, so Kyler Murray or Anthony Richardson? Who? You take him.
- [26:25]
Colin Cowherd
It's not even close. Kyler Murray. Not even close.
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Jason McIntyre
Tua or Anthony Richardson.
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Colin Cowherd
Tua.
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Jason McIntyre
Oh, you're low on Richardson.
- [26:34]
Colin Cowherd
I can't be lower. I cannot be lower.
- [26:38]
Jason McIntyre
Final story is let's go to the World Baseball Classic and Shohei Ohtani. Colin, that video you see on the screen. The packed stadium is to watch Shohei Ohtani hit batting practice in the Tokyo Dome BP for Shohei Ohtani and the thing was sold out. The World Baseball Classic obviously coming to FOX and FS1 starting March 4th through the 17th. Look at these bombs Shohei is hitting. Oh, baseball. That was a foul ball. But the first matchup is a week from today, 5am Eastern on FS1. You know, since you're in your Chicago area, you can wake up in the right time zone and watch that, no problem. USA Brazil is a week from today and obviously all eyes will be on Shohei and his country as they World Baseball Classic is going to be fun.
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Colin Cowherd
Man.
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Jason McIntyre
A lot of big names out there.
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Colin Cowherd
J. Mac with the news.
- [27:31]
Fox Sports Radio Announcer
Well, that's the news and thanks for stopping by. The herd lie news.
- [27:36]
Colin Cowherd
Team USA is favored to win just like they did in hockey. Everybody seemed to enjoy that except the print media. Everybody in America loved Team USA winning
- [27:49]
Verizon Advertiser
gold except sports riders, apparently.
- [27:52]
Colin Cowherd
Tomorrow's headlines today. Next. What's that?
- [28:06]
Fox Sports Radio Announcer
Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific
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- [28:41]
Verizon Advertiser
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.
- [28:53]
Colin Cowherd
Okay, I lied.
- [28:54]
Verizon Advertiser
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- [29:29]
Colin Cowherd
I'm Colin Coward from the Herd Whether you're a seasoned small business owner or thinking about getting started, you'll definitely want to check out season four of Mind the Business small business success stories from iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio and Inuit QuickBooks. Mind the Business is part entertainment, part instruction manual, part inspiration. Each episode features practical tips and success stories that will resonate with entrepreneurs in any industry. In their latest season, hosts Austin Henkwitz and Janice Torres are covering topics on the forefront of running a small business. They're talking to self starters about everything from how AI helps them work smarter to weathering market uncertainties and enjoying the benefits of being your own boss. And using Inuit QuickBooks to help you get more done in less time. You won't want to miss it. Listen to Mind the Business Small business success Stories on the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [30:26]
Verizon Advertiser
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Colin Cowherd
So what are you waiting for?
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Verizon Advertiser
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- [31:00]
Jason McIntyre
The Fastest Racing on Earth returns to Fox. Practice is happening right now down in St. Petersburg, Florida. Leading up to Sunday's big race. Alex Palou looks to defend his title when the 2026 IndyCar season gets underway Sunday at noon Eastern on Fox.
- [31:18]
Colin Cowherd
Well, the 2026 NFL off season is heating up. The combine's going on right now. We have multiple veteran quarterbacks and Malik Willis on the market. Somebody's going to make bids on these guys. It's time for tomorrow's headlines. Today J. Mac knows where they're all going to land. Colts have some decisions to make. What say you on Daniel Jones?
- [31:43]
Jason McIntyre
Yeah, got it. Got the crystal ball out. Started to look into the Colts situation. Daniel Jones, do they want to keep him? Do they punt? The headline for Daniel Jones in Indy will be nickel and dimed. Colts divvy up to keep Danny Colin. I cannot see a scenario where they lose him. I mean I know this sounds bad to say but like they were in a great spot. No other team is backing up the brinks for a guy coming off a major injury. Achilles and he's had two other season ending injuries in his career. So nobody else is. They're not bidding with anyone else. They can get a team friendly deal. Obviously he thrived early in the season, started to fade a little bit late, then had the injury. I think you bring in a bridge quarterback to get to Jones. I mean again, you don't know how he's going to react coming off the Achilles. Remember Aaron Rodgers coming off his Achilles. Now Jones is much younger, but part of Jones's strength is escapability. Running with his legs. Is he going to get that back instantly? I don't know.
- [32:37]
Colin Cowherd
Tomorrow's headlines today, what about the the veteran nice guy, Kirk Cousins.
- [32:44]
Jason McIntyre
So we know they're in the market for somebody. Unless your boy Riley Leonard, remember you, I think you said he was like Josh Allen or something. I don't know, something ridiculous. But you know, he showed well a little bit. But they got to go get a veteran, right? This team needs to compete. They gave up picks to go get Sauce Gardner. So the quarterback the Colts go after, the headline will be a Kirk in the road. Colts find trail to two quarterbacks. Yes, I'm going Kirk Cousins here over TUA over Kyler Murray. So I looked into the data of where Shane Steichen liked to throw the ball last year, right? He had Daniel Jones and they threw deep to Pierce a lot. Loved the vertical game. Pierce is a free agent. He's leaving. So what happened when Jones went down? They brought in Philip Rivers and and they had to pivot to a more truncated offense. Middle of the field stuff for Philip Rivers, who does middle of the field stuff. Kirk Cousins. You got a great tight end in Tyler. Warren Pittman goes over the middle a lot and you've got a smart running back.
- [33:40]
Colin Cowherd
This makes sense.
- [33:40]
Jason McIntyre
You got a great running back in Jonathan Taylor who, who can also get everybody to, you know, suck up to the line of scrimmage to. To contain him. And then you got Warren and Pittman on the outside. I think Kirk Cousins fits and frankly, I mean, I don't know that Daniel Jones is a lock to overtake him once he returns. Where are you on Cousins versus Jones?
- [34:02]
Colin Cowherd
Daniel's a much better athlete. I would probably at this point in Kirk's career take Daniel Jones.
- [34:08]
Jason McIntyre
Yeah, interesting. All right, well, we'll see. Kirk, I think Tua and Kyler probably a little too pricey. And those guys are better than Kirk Cousins at this stage. They're not giving up that job to Daniel Jones.
- [34:17]
Colin Cowherd
Tomorrow's headlines today, what about the current Niner backup, Mac Jones?
- [34:24]
Jason McIntyre
Yeah, Mac Jones really fortified his value last year with a great showing coming off the bench. The headline for Mac Jones in 2026 will be Mac to reality. Jones stays on track with Niners. Colin, I see no value at all in trading Mac Jones anytime soon. The smart move for San Francisco. And you look at this historically, every year some quarterback gets hurt in the off season program. Something happens in preseason and you need a quarterback and you're desperate and then there's nobody out there. I think the Niners keep Mac Jones and if they plan on moving him, I think at the deadline during the season is more likely to a team desperate to fill that quarterback role. I mean, hell, what if something happens to Brock? Brock Purdy this offseason. You can't you go on a next season. No Mac Jones brought no Brock Purdy. It's over. You're not going anywhere. And so then you maybe tear it all down. What do you do with McCaffrey? So you definitely keep Mac Jones now I would be floored to get what, a third round pick? And oh, by the way, Colin, next year's draft early returns very early. Looks to be much better than this year's draft, right? That's what the draft guys are saying.
- [35:29]
Colin Cowherd
Tomorrow's headlines Today, the enigmatic semi committed Kyler Murray, who I like much more than J. Mac.
- [35:36]
Jason McIntyre
Yes. Well, you guys hanging out at UFC fights and stuff? I don't know. Kyler Murray is a tough one, man. He ran out. He wore out his welcome in Arizona. They don't want to keep him, but where does he land? The headline for KYLER Murray in 2026 will be fried. Cala Murray quarterback comes with a side of pick six sauce. Kyle, what do you think about that Minnesota Vikings. Let me go into the logic here. I know Kevin o' Connell is a quarterback whisperer. I just don't know if JJ McCarthy is the right fit in that indoor setting. Holy cow. Kyler Murray can do some great things on the turf. And oh, by the way, he comes into an offense with Justin Jefferson.
- [36:15]
Colin Cowherd
Hello. Good running. Better O line than Arizona too.
- [36:18]
Jason McIntyre
Yeah, yeah, for sure. I just think Minnesota makes a lot of sense now. If the schedule comes out and they got to play Chicago and Green Bay in December, that. That stinks. We know Kyler obviously has struggled in his career outdoors, but I like the offensive line in Minnesota. In Minnesota, I think Kevin o' Connell is a guy you want to go rehab your career. See what Sam Darnold did before moving on to win a. Yeah, listen, I
- [36:41]
Colin Cowherd
think Kyler would like that. I just will koc like that. And finally, tomorrow's headlines. Today, I. I think Malik Willis, I think there's going to be two or three teams that make a real run at him. Athletic, little small, accurate, nice arm. Learn the Green Bay system quickly. What say you?
- [36:59]
Jason McIntyre
Yeah, so Miami is supposed to be a contender. They don't have any money. They want to move heaven and earth to get Malik Willis. My jets, they are not in the mix. Sorry Malik. The headline for Malik Willis next year will be a don't tomorrow. Boop, boop, boop, boop boop. Be happy. Gimme Malik Willis to the Arizona Cardinals reuniting with a LaFleur brother. LaFleur obviously coached him in Green Bay. Colin, I just. It's real tough for me to get super excited about. I saw NFL Network ranked him as the number one free agent and I'm like, why? He threw 35 passes last season. What are we doing here, Colin? His four year sample size is not even like a full NFL season. He just hasn't done enough for me to justify 35 mil. Now we know there's a quarterback deficiency around the league, right? There just aren't enough good starters. So maybe somebody desperate overpays Malik Willis. But do you really have confidence he's going to be a three year starter
- [37:58]
Colin Cowherd
on a playoff team at $30 million, I can stomach that. Here's Robert Ma from the Athletic earlier today on the Malik Willis market.
- [38:09]
Robert Mays
If you're a quarterback at ed team and you're telling me that you're not looking at Malik Willis, you're a liar. And think about how many quarterback needy teams there are and how few avenues there are to those guys this year. BAKER Mayfield signed a one year, $4 million deal to be the Bucks starting quarterback. And then when he succeeds, you see it start to creep up. All right, Darnold's 10 million. Daniel Jones is 15 million. Justin Fields is now 20 million. And so the idea that you could have gotten baker for 4 million bucks three years ago and now Malik Willis is going to make $30 million a year in free agency. It just shows you how fast things change when a certain idea starts working for people.
- [38:47]
Colin Cowherd
And the cap now is 22 million higher than last year. It's 301 million.
- [38:55]
Jason McIntyre
Let me just jump in. And Mays is smart and it does a great job. He mentioned Baker Mayfield. Baker Mayfield started for four seasons in Cleveland.
- [39:03]
Chris Finch
Four.
- [39:03]
Colin Cowherd
But he also had baggage.
- [39:05]
Jason McIntyre
He did. Sam Darnold, multi year starter around the league. I know you're going to be shocked to hear this. Malik Willis has started six games.
- [39:13]
Colin Cowherd
Give me four years. They're in front of you. Give me his stats. So far as a professional football league
- [39:19]
Jason McIntyre
quarterback, he has attempted.
- [39:21]
Colin Cowherd
Give me all his numbers right now.
- [39:22]
Jason McIntyre
So Malik Willis has attempted 155 passes in four years. 67% completions, 1300 yards, 60. These three picks. He hasn't thrown an interception since his rookie year. Because he's not throwing the football anywhere. Colin. He's not throwing in Green Bay. I mean basically they had him come in and remember it was a heavy run game and he threw like 13 passes. Yeah, because that's what called for the victory. La Flor is a smart coach. You're giving a guy with 155 pass attempts. Again, that's like a month for Baker Mayfield as a starter back in Cleveland. Okay, you're giving him 3,500.
- [39:55]
Colin Cowherd
You're glossing over this. He has a career 99 passer rating. He is hyper athletic and he doesn't throw picks
- [40:05]
Jason McIntyre
well, hasn't thrown picks.
- [40:07]
Colin Cowherd
You're, I mean again, 99 passer rating in two different conferences. Hasn't thrown a pick in four years and is crazy athletic and from what I can tell, well liked.
- [40:23]
Jason McIntyre
Yeah, I can't find an apples to apples comparison for any quarterback who's played this little after four years and then got a lucrative free agency.
- [40:30]
Colin Cowherd
I'm not asking you to pay him 38. I'm saying can he get? Can he get? I mean, let's say the mark because I think two teams will go after him. Would you be comfortable with this 26 million?
- [40:42]
Jason McIntyre
I mean, you could be comfortable with that. I honestly would rather get an inferior quarterback, trot him out there and have my jets win three games and then pick Archbanning or Carr or Sellers or whoever you want. Malik Willis is going to get you like six wins and then you get back to the middle, which is like the worst place to be because you don't pick high.
- [40:59]
Colin Cowherd
I am genuinely interested in Malik Willis.
- [41:02]
Jason McIntyre
I am too.
- [41:03]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, I think it's interesting.
- [41:04]
Jason McIntyre
Just remember his agent is going to be putting out stuff to reporters. Oh, 35 bill for sure. Yeah, look at the market. Who's he competing with? Like all that's agent driven. I think the reality could be a little different.
- [41:17]
Colin Cowherd
All right, nice job this week. It is a slower time of the year, but I thought our staff crushed it and as I was choking in the hour to they threw a life preserver to me. Don't forget the Fox Sports apple. Click on that lower tab. AI Sports. It's a lot of fun with the AI version of yours truly. We'll see you Monday. It's the Herd.
- [41:46]
Verizon Store Promoter
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Colin Cowherd
Whether you want to maximize your performance or form healthier habits this year, knowing what your body needs can help put you on the right path. With Quest. You can buy your own lab tests online@questhealth.com no doctor visit required for purchase. Quest has a huge selection of tests, including the new Elite Health Profile, a panel made for men and Women, and tracks 85 plus health markers affecting the heart, liver, kidneys, hormones, metabolism and immune system, delivering a ton of insights in one snapshot. For a limited time, save on select lab tests@questhealth.com with code herd10. That's herd10 at checkout. Terms apply.
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Verizon Advertiser
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- [43:31]
Colin Cowherd
I'll say it up front. I don't usually endorse supplements. Most promise shortcuts. Anybody who's done real work knows shortcuts fail. But I like EM Drives. Every morning I put that protein powder in my coffee. It's practical. As you get older, energy dips and weight comes easier. That's biology. EmDrive boost and burn support steady energy metabolism and fat burning, so effort actually counts. Clinically tested ingredients find that it sprouts. Amazon or mdrive for men.com m drive for men who still show up.
- [44:02]
Jason McIntyre
This is an I Heart podcast.
- [44:04]
Chris Finch
Guaranteed human.