Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from twelve to three eastern, nine to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS one. Find your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go. It is a Monday, late July live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd. Joy matches the sets of how at that for wherever you may be and however you may be listening iHeartRadio, Fox Sports Radio FS one. So Colin right, Colin wrong in one hour from now. There's a lot going on today. It's a fun Who's Joy's brother, of course, is a legendary Hall of Fame football player and one of the nicest guys that sports ever had. Wonderful guy. And the family nobody in the family has ever had a pimple, So the perfect looking family. But it's the start of football season like today, Yes, all the camps are open, and so it puts me in a good mood, not only because our job gets easier in the football season, because it's like rapid consumerism, like people love it, but there's just so many more stories going in. And this July has always been a weird month for us because June is NBA, right, it's the Finals, it's intense, and then it's the Draft, and then it's Summer League and who's the New Stars And it's so much fun for about seven weeks, and all of a sudden, NBA trades kind of you know, they kind of dissipate, and here comes the NFL. So today feels like to me, the start of six and a half months of more football talk, well increasingly more. There is no real dead time. I mean, look at the news and the stories we got last week. Now you wake up this morning there's a new kd rumor like this. It doesn't really feel like in sports it used to be like this, abyss, there's not really it's football's back, and I can't believe it's here already. So I thought this was interesting. It's been nineteen years all the camps are open in the NFL, nineteen years since we've had a repeat champion. That was back in oh three h four of the New England Patriots. And I believe there's a reason why the Patriots repeated and why they were good year after year after year. Belichick, Brady and Brains without much ego. I do think the Rams have a strong chance to repeat. The NFC is not as good as the AFC. I think they are the best run operation and the most talented team in the NFC. Not sure they stack up with some of the AFC teams, but again I think it's McVay, Stafford and Brains without a lot of ego. Join. I live in Los Angeles. Aaron Donald is the best defensive player in twenty years. You don't see ego. McVeigh less, snead Aaron Donald. You don't get a lot of ego, And that matters because the NFL is so much more popular than every other sport in America that when you win a Super Bowl, everybody becomes a rock star. Everybody gets a book deal, a card deal. You know the name of their linebackers, the interior lineman. We've seen this time and time again. The Philadelphia Eagles. Ego got in the way they won. Everybody got a book. They started lecturing the Patriots on how to win. Remember that that was always good for a laugh. The Seahawks won, Remember they blew out Denver and Peyton Manning. Guys like me are like, that's the best team I've seen in twenty years. Teams unbelaitable going five straight Super Bowls, weren't humbled. Ego got in the way. The Buccaneers won a Super Bowl with Brady. Everybody got paid. Even Brady acknowledged last year the team wasn't as focused. So the key in this is can you win the Super Bowl and be humbled at the same time or criticized? If you go back to those Brady teams when they won early that back to back. Brady's a system quarterback. They weren't blowing people out. These were close games. They were an underdog in big games. It's more culture and system. Brady's not nearly as good as Manning. He's not his talented, his big Ben. There was this constant doubt, There was this content in the Seahawks one. It looked like the best team we'd ever seen Philadelphia one, with all the Nick Foles trick plays. Everybody got paid bucks. When everybody gets paid, how do the Rams get humbled? I saw this this morning. This is perfect pro football focus. Everybody reads that right, everybody reads it had their top fifty players in the NFL right now today, their quarterback, Matt Stafford did not make the list. Didn't make the list. Three rams in the top fourteen didn't make the list. On the same day today, Mike Sando of The Athletic, very respected guy did his NFL tiers quarterback tier list. I talk about this every day every year at this time of the year. It's very respected. Matt Stafford make Tier one. Now think about that. So he beat Joe Burrow in the Super Bowl, outplayed him. Burrow is twenty seven in the Pro Football Focus list and Tier one. Stafford outplayed Brady, who he outplayed. He's eighth. Stafford beat him both. In fact, Justin Herbert, who plays in the same stadium as Stafford and could not make the playoffs, he made the list Tier one and Pro Football Focus. Stafford's nowhere to be found, despite the fact that he led come from behind victories in the Divisional round, the nfs C Championship against Brady on the road and in the Super Bowl against Burrow. And he's not in the Pro Football Focus top fifty players in the league. And he's a Tier two quarterback. In Mike Sandos of the Athletics highly respected quarterback tier list, and that tier list is based on executives and coaches and people around the league. So Stafford's reading that, and he'll of course read that, and he's like, I'm a tier two quarterback. I'm low, Justin Herbert, I'm the second best quarterback in the stadium I play my home games in. He didn't make the playoffs. Just the kind of doubt eye rolling, you're not there yet, settled down. That stuff matters. So this Rams team, their star quarterback. And by the way, Stafford, who's well liked in the building, his coach is reading that. His teammates are reading that, Aaron Donald's reading that, Cooper CoP's reading that, and they're thinking, he's the second best quarterback in SOFI stadium. And you know, I love me some Justin Herbert, but that is some disrespect. Matt Stafford. Tier two, not a top fifty player in the NFL. Alrighty then, So one NBA story today, it's a big one k D. So there is a report from WOSH they called a woh bomb that k D and the Celtics is pretty viable discussion right now. So what was apparently offered, according to wosh Jalen Brown. We just watched him in the playoffs. Very good player. Derek is that Derek White, the guy off the bench average about eleven twelve game, nice bench player and a first round pick. Now, the Brooklyn Nets want a lot more than that. They want Marcus Smart, Defensive player of the Year, another draft pick, and another rotational player. And I've said this about k D. I'm not blown up my chemistry for KD. Brooklyn did. I'm not blown up my bench for KD Brooklyn did. I'm not blown up my future for Kadie Brooklyn did. And I'm not blowing out my coach for Kadie Brooklyn did. The Celtics added Malcolm Brogden, very good player, and they didn't have to give up any of their top pieces to get Malcolm Brogden. So they're a top three team in the league. Brooklyn is looking for a desperate team. That's why Danny Ainge just trying to get a deal done with the Knicks. They're desperate. Knicks right now are like fourth most interesting story after the Yankees and the Mets in the NFL season, starting in the Brooklyn Nets. That's why Danny Angel years ago when he made that big deal with the Brooklyn Nets. They had a desperate owner. Danny Angel is smart. He gets on the phone with desperate. That's how you get a better deal buying a house, selling a house, find desperate. Boston is not desperate. Excellent young coach, excellent culture, excellent chemistry. Brad Stevens appears to be very strong as a GM. They've added Malcolm Brogden. I mean, we all acknowledge the best roster coach culture combo in the NBA as Golden State. Many believe Boston is two. So to me in twenty twenty two today, for Kevin Durant, who's thirty four, you're not gonna get eighty two regular season games. He's had some injuries. I would give you what Brad Stevens apparently offered. I'd give you a very strong star player. Jalen Brown's an excellent player, expensive but excellent. I would give you a very good bench player, and I would give you, if pushed, two picks. I don't care what Minnesota did for Rudy Gobert. I don't care what Danny Aine's gonna how he's gonna work the Knicks. That's a different situation. Minnesota Timberwolves have never won anything. They're kind of desperate. They've got Anthony Edwards and Carl Anthony Towns and they're in a let's win games now mode. I get it, totally get what the t Wolves are doing. They've never had a roster this good. So the t Wolves have never won anything. Not that they're desperate, but it's go time. The Knicks are desperate. When KG got traded to Brooklyn, Brooklyn was desperate. That's not what the Celtics are. So I think the deal is doable. But I am not throwing in Marcus Smart. I'm not throwing in another rotational player. I would give you a second first round pick, Jalen Brown and a bench player. That's a completely reasonable move. Do I think this happens? No, Brooklyn's looking for desperate and start asking yourself in the NBA right now, of all the top teams where Katie would want to play, is Miami desperate? They went seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals. They're not desperate. Is Milwaukee desperate? Is Golden State desperate? Or the Clippers desperate? Or the Celtics desperate? Are the Sons desperate? Seems to me those arenas are full. Seems to mean those teams win a lot of games. They got the right coaches. So I think that's as good a deal as Kade could get. I think that's as good a deal, honestly, as Brooklyn could get. That's the deal. A top end starter, excellent bench guy, a couple of first round picks. If you're trying to get more good luck, I don't think it's out there all right, A lot of stuff today. I was just tickled this weekend. Can I say that I sound old saying that Derek Carr Davanta Adams called him a Hall of famer. You know you know how that landed for Uncle Colin. I'm gonna just say that felt good. That felt finally somebody else jumping on the Derek car is a hall of famer. But I don't think people quite understand how serious I am about this or Davante is. And I'm give you a little story, and I think it'll change your mind for all you Derek Carr doubters. Next, be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Easter nine a Empacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeart Radio app. Oh I had a great weekend. Hope you did as well. It was made even better when Davontae Adams, who used to play with Aaron Rodgers and now plays with Derek Carr, was quoted as saying over the weekend, you know when you go from one Hall of Famer to another Hall of Famer at quarter back, there's a little adjustment. Oh, the Internet imploated, well, Aaron is going to be a Hall of Famer and Derek Carr is going to be a Hall of Famer. Some of us are perceptive enough to see it years before others. But there's no reason to be smug about that. Derek Carr is entering his ninth NFL season. Davante Adams, I don't think he really clarified what he was saying. He still said what he meant when asked about the comment he made. Derek's career proves to honestly, you look at the numbers that he's had, and you know what he's had to work with, and the adversity that he's had, you know, in Oakland and coming to Vegas and the type of stuff that's been going on here in the past, which you know, hopefully we're putting all that stuff to bed. What I'm not going to do is say Derek is not going to be a Hall of Famer, because at the end of the day, I believe, you know, this is not putting any expectations or any added pressure on him, because you know, he puts all that that type of pressure on himself because of what he expects, you know, every time he touches the field. It's amazing to me people struggle with the idea of something we have all lived through adversity. If you told me you ran a company and had a one hundred million dollars net worth, but your dad was a billionaire, I'm going to be much less impressed than if you told me I run a nice insurance business, I make a great living and we've done well for our family. That's impressive. If he came from a tough childhood or adversity, nobody gave you money. You had to build a business yourself. We all know that to be true. That's why we cry when we see certain stories on social media about young people overcoming this and overcoming that. It tugs at our heart because many of us have experienced that we didn't have a perfect family, we didn't have a lot of support, not saying my childhood wasn't better than many, but that's what tugs at our heart. That's what they make movies about in Hollywood. They don't make movies in Hollywood that anybody wants to watch about kids from trust funds. That's not tugging at anybody's heartstrings. And this is where I'm always going to support Derek Carr, and I don't understand that people don't get it. He's in the NFL eight years. For seven of the eight, I'd argue he had a below average offensive line. He's on his sixth coach, entering his ninth year. The franchise moved. He's in a tough division with Kansas City and Andy Reid. The last couple of years, the organization was run from two guys hired out of network television. But this is the stat in Derek's eight years in the NFL. He's entering year nine, the Raiders have allowed the most points in the league in those eight years and had the fewest takeaways. Meaning he doesn't get a short field, he doesn't get a week off. He's got to win by shootout every damn week. Every week the franchise needs him to overcome the defense and the battle line and the TV guy who's now a GM and a coach. What a shock. I looked at Mike Sandos quarterback tiers this morning. He has Derek Carr ranked as the twelfth best quarterback in the NFL. I think that's reasonable. I have him at ten. A study conducted last season says Mike Sandos quarterback tier list show that Derek Carr got worse support from his own defense and special teams than any of forty one quarterbacks with at least three years as a starter over the past decade. The biggest criticism of Derek Carr is explainable. It says his issue he doesn't like to get hit a nobody does be His brother, David Carr entered the league and took a physical beating for years, and that ended his brother, who he's really close with. He watched his brother take a beating physically for years, and so Derek having watched somebody who he cares deeply about his family go through something like if you watch the member of your family go through a horrible divorce, you may not want to be inclined to get married really quickly. So Derek Carr watched this brother go through a physical beating and he is really really aware of get rid of the ball. But we all acknowledge in life the stuff that makes us cry, that tugs at our heart, that Hollywood write scripts about his overcoming adversity. Derek Carr is the picture of it. And last year Henry Ruggs John Gruden in the Tougher AFC he carried them the life preserver for the franchise in the desert. He carried them to the playoffs. So yes, folks, Matt Jones and two and Kirk Cousins complete seventy percent in the clean pocket. That ain't the game. Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh drafted him. Give him a clean pocket for six years. It's gonna complete sixty eight percent of his throws. But the Steelers have a bad online. Now, let's like Derek Carr, if eight years later you can be a three time pro bowler. He's a three time pro bowler with a good seven years left. He better buy a gold jacket. He's going to be given one, but he should just get used to wearing it. And by the way, once again, what does Derek Carr have this year? A new coach, a new general manager. The division is now the toughest in my lifetime, and I wouldn't be shocked if they've made the playoffs. I may not predict it, but I wouldn't be shocked. Shocked. Joey Taylor with the news, No, no turn on the news, this is the herd line news is that possibly going to make an appearance in Calm was right, Colin was wrong. Later today have a feeling leader in the clubhouse. Well, Darvdham has some work to do to get the Lakers back to their winning ways after a disappointment's last year, and he went on All the Smoke podcasts and he was asked what fans can spectrum the team this season, and his answer could be seen as a potential warning to Russell Westbrook. He said, We're going to be together, the most together team always does well, always wins at the end of the day. And accountability. We're gonna be tough, We're gonna be defensive minded. That's the side of the ball where you're going to see the quickest and most dramatic improvement. And we're going to share offensively again. We want everybody all in on what we're doing. We don't want anybody that's second guessing being a laker or am I in the right place. Well, Westbrook is not a very good defender and he's not great at sharing the ball, so that, to your point, does feel like a little bit of a this is what we're going to be. I hope you will comply with our demands. Well, this is what Darvin should say. Yes, and he's right. The way that is how you get better fast, correct. I mean, yes, that's not the defense is easy. But defense is effort and energy and passion. And also obviously you can be an incredibly skilled defensive player, but you can't just automatically become a better shooter like that is a side of the ball where you can make an immediate impact if you come in with the right mentalent. There are no if you look at the end of the year, Joy, there were no bad defensive teams left. In fact, Boston was rated one, Golden State two, and when we watched that series at the end, we thought Golden State may have been one in Boston two. Right, Right, It's it's very important in this in today's game, which for a long time we were like, oh, you're not a defensive player. Or whatever you can get away with it. Not anymore because there are so many complete teams, well coached teams, teams with accountability and leadership and development. So this is the right approach to have. And quite frankly, if Russ doesn't want to buy into something as simple as playing a little bit more defense and sharing the ball, you got the wrong guy. Well it's just what is the point, Like literally, what's the point to me? The situation with the Lakers is very in Russell Westbrook is very obvious. If I'm having that conversation, It's very simple. What are the results? What were the results from what you did last year? Not what Frank Vocal did. He's not here anymore. Yeah, not the rest of the teammates did, not what Anthony Davids did. What did you do that produced winning results? Well, the end of the season was a disaster, So you can't. If you are producing high numbers and it's converting into wins and everyone's happy, and you just had like a couple bad injuries at the end of the year, then you can make that argument. But the results matter. They matter, especially in a place like Los Angeles where you do have one of the most competitive sports markets in the country. Oh, it's star driven teams outside of the Lakers. All good, It's I think it is the most competitive right now. It's insane. So you just can't accept mediocre. It's just it's not going to work with this organization. And those asks of Darvin are very simple and straightforward. I love this story. So Alabama and Fanatics have agreed to a long term partnership to enhance fan experience. It will be fanatics most comprehensive college partnership. Gives them exclusive rights to Alabama's e commerce, as well as additional rights across fan apparel, trading cards, NFTs, and collectibles, and it will also allow for the creation of student athletes name image, likeness merchandise interesting. It's great company. They'll also have the first ever team retail store inside Bryant Denny Stadium, which is expected to open this season. So this will also give opportunities for student athletes to do autograph signings to sell their own nil merchandise within the store. This is really very organized, a huge company, such a gigant, a billion dollar, multibillion dollar company. I love this story. Obviously, Nick Saban was all over the news this offseason about NIL. Alabama is probably the biggest brands in college football. We'll see how this goes over the next couple of years with the way that the recruiting process is gone, but this is obviously a big incentive for recruits to come to Alabama because this is extremely organized and this is something that people who are skeptics of NIL should look to as the standard for how you can integrate what is a organization. A program that has been at the top of the sport for a very long time is trying to adjust to the wild wild West. Brings in a company like Fanatics, which is a huge, respected company who does great work make it easy for the student athletes to sell their own stuff for them. If they want to have an autograph signing, you can do it right there in the store. Everything is very organized, very upfront, and you can make money off of it and everything will be documented. Yeah, not a surprise that Nick Saban, who's the smartest guy that's ever coach college football, was ahead. I mean, I have my criticisms of Nick. Complaining about the competitive imbalance scares him. I looked yesterday he has six the top fifteen draftable players in the next raft that competitive balance is really getting out of whack. He can make you say some things that aren't very accurate sometimes, but this is I think what the future of NIL is. Extremely organized, huge companies partnering with student athlete's and providing them a very straightforward way for them to make money off of their name, image, likeness, literally their jerseys, game warn memorabile yea autograph signings. It's very simple. So Kyler Murray, thank you Cardinals. Well, you know we only want to talk about this for about two months. Ye I know, this was a piece of cake. Thank you. Yeah. Oh my god, I was so terrified we're gonna have to do that again. That Dak Prescott contract was insane. So five year, two hundred and thirty point five million dollar extension last week. So he will say with the Cardinals through the twenty twenty eight season, and he is looking forward to trying to bring a Super Bowl to Arizona. He said, nothing really changes. It's a payday, yeah, but I'm most excited about getting back on the field. My job is to fulfill my promise and bring a championship here. There's no questions about it. There's no other place I wanted to be this whole time, and I mean that. Steve Kim also said he felt that Murray and the team were satisfied with the deal and that there were some team friendly things in there that were important to Kyler. I think this is great. No, I said it last week. I thought it was very mahomes like and that the team feels like they can still make moves. And this is not a knock at Aaron Rodgers, but Aaron knew when he signed his deal the Packers had no more money. This is really if you look at the way it tears up, it's very mahomes It's the Cardinals will be able to make as long as they hit some draft picks. Kyler's responsibility, that's right, They've got. That's why if you look at the Rams, people talk about how much money they spend. They hit on draft picks so they don't have to pay interior linemen and tight ends much. So if Arizona can hit on draft picks, they'll be able to go get free agents for Kyler. I love it. I didn't one just selfishly. I don't want to talk about someone's contract for years on ends. Two, he has improved the team. I know people argue about whether wins or quarterbacks or not better every single year. He is the future of the organization. This is a position you should want to have to pay. Yeah, And if you can structure the contract with this particular position in a way that gives you flexibility, that's the best situation. Now you don't have to worry about it. You got your guy focus on everything else. Yea. And he is going to only improve as time goes on. And now there isn't this looming cloud of is he going to make his money? How much is it going to be? Oh, the market's going up. Yeah, I love this move for Arizona. Good stuff. Joey Taylor with the news. Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by Thirdline News. So a lot of NFL, a lot of football. Way to go Alabama. That's a good deal. Every NFL camp opens by tomorrow. Many are already open. That means today July twenty fifth until February fourteenth. I looked it up. That's two days after the Super Bowl. Seventy percent of this show will be National Football League talk, and I'm completely comfortable with it. If I was a talk show host in Canada, seventy percent of the NHL season would be hockey talk. If I was in the UK during the English Premier League season, seventy percent of my talk would be EPL talk. In the United States, ratings, what we bet on, what we play, fantasy, what we watch, I could probably go to ninety percent, but then I'd feel like I was on the NFL network six and a half months of rabid consumerism. I have always said, you drive the show, you watch it, you bet it, you love it. I talk it, and it's only grown in my sportscasting career. It's pulled away from other leagues. Why well, unlike baseball, the NFL is constantly evolving and adapting. Unlike the NBA, it's simply more relatable. Load management, Give me a break. Other sports, like hockey or MLS don't have many recognizable stars. They feel niche. But you know why football really crushes in this country because it's US. It's windy and rainy. Get over it, Go to work. I make good money. You're cut. Could happen to me tomorrow. I'm hurt, I don't feel good. I'm sick. Get to work, suck it up. That's the NFL. They play hurt, They play lousy weather. Their employees with some limited power, even though they're well compensated and they can be cut at any time. There are no ten year contracts, even for Tom Brady. Play hurt, play sick, play lousy weather. This country's a hundred degrees almost everywhere, and there's construction sites booming, men and women on top of those roofs in those buildings, and a lot of them are sick. Get back to work. It relates to us because it is us. I love the NBA, I love the baseball playoffs. I love a lot of sports. But my favorite part of the NFL is how much it matters to the players watch the games. I mean, these guys cry every Sunday one o'clock window it's nuts. Bad teams Week fourteen. Joey knows her brother played. I once asked Jason Taylor, a great player, I said, at the end of your career, you know you had to play hurt and very humble guy. He once told me he could not feel his foot in the second half of a game because he had to shoot it up because his team had a very very small chance to get into the playoffs. You're out for three weeks in baseball. You'll take the month off in the NBA. Look at how many people show up to practice. It's not like spring training where there's actual games and two teams practice. It's us. It speak to us, It speaks to us. Excuse me. They play hurt, they play in bad weather, they can be cut, they have limited power, even though they're well compensated. It is relatable load management. Come on, NBA, you're making thirty five large year. It's Tuesday night. Just play, Just play baseball. I know you're a little sore in your thumb. Just get in the batter's box and hit. Can't wait six and a half months. Seventy percent, I'm good. I'll talk about other stuff, but it will dominate our show, and that's a good thing. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays and New Easter ninety and Pacific. Hey, what's up everybody? It's me three time pro bowler Le Warrington and I couldn't be more excited to announce a new podcast called Up on Game? What is up on Game? You asked, along with my fellow pro bowler T J. Hushman Zada and Super Bowl champion Yep, that's right. Plexico Burris. You can only name a show with that type of talent on it. Up on Game We're going to be sharing our real life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen to Up on Game with Me, LeVar Arrington, T J. Hutchman's Out of and Plexico Birds on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast from. Well twenty years of NFL scouting and front office experience, don't forget Colin right, Colin wrong, top the next hour on a Monday. He built that Buccaneers roster that won a Super Bowl years ago. And Mark Dominic, my friend is now joining us, a former NFL general manager. Hall of Fame games right around the corner. It's less than two weeks away from the Raiders Jags. It's nuts. So it was interesting watching the reaction to the Kyler Murray deal. So even people I respect that cover football for a living, a lot of them were like, he's small, he gets hurt, he mailed in the playoff game. There's a lot of social media nonsense, and I get it. It's it's not Dak. It's not you know, it's not Dak makes everybody comfortable, right, He just says the right thing. But boy, I look at this mark and I'm like, Arizona is irrelevant. Without him, I would have made the deal. I would always pay my quarterback early if I believe it. Where did you land on it? Yeah? You know I was at the point where the communication from the Kylin Murray's side and the agent. Maybe you realize this deal was coming together because it finally got quiet. People started to stop talking about it through the public and started talking through it privately. For the deal dynamics, it's interesting you know after year three that quarterbacks are getting deals to this level. There's no more discounts or doing a deal early. But you've been through Josh Rosen there, you know what it's different. Steve Kim drafted both guys and seeing the difference in coach Kingsbury has been will work with Kyler and sees here's a guy that's completing seventy percent of his passes. He can run if he wants to run, he can throw if he needs to throw. He can certainly do so many things. So I get it. I get while the deal's done. You know, I always am a believer and take it a little more pausitive You're not sure, but I think you see him every day in practice. You see the dynamic ability of them. Yeah, did you want more out of the postseason? Yeah? Do you still wonder about leadership? Maybe a hint, But to know you've got your guy wrapped up calling, I think is a good thing. Yeah, you drive to work every day. That part set. Let's build around him. So I liked it. So you were very critical of the Niners giving away three number ones for Trey Lance. I remember that you didn't love it. So I have now three different sources that have said that have told me this offseason they liked Trey, but the accuracy thing is practice to practice day to day, and they are a little uneasy with it. So it looks like they're trying to move Garoppolo. Okay, so they're gonna give it to Trey, which I think is the right move. You got to figure out if he can play. But what do you make of There's been a lot of chatter, a lot of talk. We still don't know. Last year Mark he wasn't very accurate. What do you make of all of it today? Well, I mean it is what it is. They made their bed in San Francisco, and said, hey, we're giving up ones when you could get any quarterback in the league almost for three number ones. Obviously, the Cleveland Browns went for Deshaun Watson, who's approven commodity. Here you went for Trey Lance, and even when you made the trade, you weren't quite sure which quarterback he went Right Now, I went back to the lab and started watching all the other quarterbacks who do we like? And they picked trade. The thing that made you nervous about trade now or in that situation, why I wasn't a big fan of it. He's never really faced a real adversity kind of situation. He was great in college, never threw any interceptions, knew what to do. Now he's in the National Football League and he's going to a team that's expected to be a playoff contender, and accuracy is a tricky thing. Now, we all saw Josh Allen. He became much more accurate and quarterback. And so I'm always a little bit more hesitant of like banning or bashing a guy. And I love Kyle Shanahan's system on offense, but he can't have a lot of bad starts. He can't stack one, two, three bad starts. In a row or this season will fall apart real quick, and you're looking at five and twelve in San Francisco. So I bought at you know, I'm starting to read get in my fantasy football all my football MAGA scenes as I flew home yesterday. So I'm just going through it. I am. I'm not shocked, but I'm surprised, and a lot of people who are like, I don't know if Russell's gonna work in Denver, and I think, well, I've seen it twice. It's called Brady and Tampa and Stafford in Los Angeles. Where the roster's good, they need a catalyst, and I think Russell is a catalyst. But there are a lot of doubters on him, even people I like Greg ko Sell watch his films like he runs himself out of a lot of successful plays. Well, I don't know if I've ever asked you this Russell. Has he declined or was it Seattle's mass? What do you make of him in Denver? Well, I love Russell Wilson. Still, I think the guy's a winner. I've talked to players within the organization. I've talked to a couple of coaches on the staff, A couple of fun office people. He's changed the feeling of that it's his team, and he's made it very well known in terms of what he wants out of the football team, what he wants out of each practice, and what are the ones I need each play. I think there's a lot of confidence in Denver right now. I'm a huge believer, Like I'm going to keep the Chiefs as the top just because they've been there and they've earned that right. But I've got Denver coming in saying we can take over this division. But I haven't them to come in in number two and they could be a playoff spoiler for anybody. I think Russell still has it, you know. I think John Steiner, who had him in Seattle all those years at the gym, loved Russell Wilson, but solid that whole organization, that whole roster has got to complete turnover to turn around, and for them to move Russell Wilson had to be a very difficult decision. But I think he is one of those guys that changes overnight. Like I think this Denver team gets up two more wins. I think they're eleven and five or eleven and six type of football team. I think they make the postseason and you don't want to play him. I'm a huge believer in this move. All right, Belichick has been so successful. Who am I to doubt him? But the idea of going into a season with no offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, I'm like, is he think he's too smart for the room? I mean, just from the outside, what am I supposed to make of that? It's such a Belichick thing to do, right, just to kind of enigma and not answer anything onto Cincinnati whatever it is. You know, it's always that kind of a moment. Here's the thing. You think it's a political or it's a political way to move around the football team and say who's going to call the plays? How do we prepare? Because that's what you're thinking as a defensive coordinator. All this offseason, you would be watching tape of who the offensive coordinators for the Patriots and say how do they call games? And kind of get a sense of how they call games because you've had months. Belichick's like, hey, why give anybody that choo to three month advantage and sit there and watch how you call a game and kind of get a sense of what they do because That's what good coordinators do, is they get a feel for the flow. Now, you don't really know who to choose, even though you're going to know in a couple of weeks, because we're all going to see them in the preseason and somebody's gonna be sitting there calling the plays in But I guarantee you this, they know internally, there's no way mac Jones is trying to work through two different play callers right now in his second year in the NFL. They know internally. All Belichick tried to do here was not let defensive coordinators study the habits of the play caller, and that is actually a competitive advantage that of course the Patriots figure out. Yeah, by the way, their schedule is brutal late, but it's favorable early in the year, and maybe Belichick sees that I've not heard it put that way. Finally, you know, Tampa, well, you built them. It's an offensive league. They moved to a defensive coach. It feels like Brady's last year. Fournette comes in out of shape, Bronk's not there. You know, Brady last year complained about you know, once we won the title, the focus wasn't quite there. What do you make of them this year, Colin. I think they're still going to be really good, although I think the Saints are going to push to get a playoff team just because of how explosive they're going to be offensively. I think Tampa's gonna be too good to catch. And I don't think there's anything really wrong with the team. I think they still need a veteran presence in their secondary, just somebody to kind of be there if if something starts to break down. They had a lot of injuries in that position last year. I like this team a lot, you know, with Russell Gage being and there, Chris Godwin will be back on that football field probably whatever it is. Weeks six, weeks eight, and then you Addam Mike Evans. You still got three great wide receivers. You still at Cameron Brady is a good player. Yeah, Leonard Fournette might be a little out of shape. He'll work that off. It's called training camp. It's what you're gonna do. It's what he'll do. And Tom's still tremendously good. And then you know they made the shift with losing Alice Kappa, allam Our pet retires, but then they go get Shack Mason, who's better than those two players. And so I like what Tampa's done this offseason. I think Jason Light's got them primed, and I don't think seeing the coaching change. I think it's actually a good thing for this football team because I have a feeling there's a lot of excitement for that entire team in Todd Bowls to be able to show that he could be a great coach in the National Football League. So Tampa's gonna repeat the Division championship, but they're gonna have a battle through Dallas. I think to go to the Super Bowl. Good stuff. Mark Dominic, former NFL GM. Great seeing you Hall of Fame games around the corner. Thanks Mark, you bet Colin, thanks for having me on. It's a really interesting point. I had it. I hadn't thought about this. If you look at the Patriots schedule, it's crazy, asked. I believe it's seven or eight games. It's the hardest schedule in the league. It's just Pro Bowl quarterback, Pro Bowl Quarterback, Pro Bowl quarterback. Wild they face eight Look at the Patriots last eight games. Joy. Okay, So let's go one to three, four, five, six, last seven at the Vikings offense Buffalo at Arizona's offense at the raiders offense Joey Burrow Miami's new offense at Buffalo. That is brutal. So to Mark's point, does Belichick look at that schedule and say, we gotta go seven and one? We gotta win games early? Which has never been Belichick's fourte Belichick has always been the September experimenter. I think Bill looks at that and thinks, I'm gonna quarterback this advantage eight weeks in a row. I gotta win early. And to Mark's point, the element of surprise, you don't know what we're gonna do that opening those opening two games at Miami and at Pittsburgh, you go oh and two in those that season is you are done in at the vision you are seriously, that is that last eight weeks that's insane. You face Kirk Cousins, Josh Allen, Kyler, Murray, Derek Carr, Joe Burrow, you get two at home, that's the break with all new weapons, and at Josh Allen. Their first four games are not that easy. No, not easy. But I do I do think Bills looks at that schedule and thought, we gotta start quick and maybe to Mark's point, element of surprise steals a couple of w's in September and we have a shot. Wow, all right, Colin right, Colin wrong, top of our number two on a Monday. We've got about five more weeks this summer. Football's here.

Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from twelve to three eastern, nine to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS one. Find your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go. It is a Monday, late July live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd. Joy matches the sets of how at that for wherever you may be and however you may be listening iHeartRadio, Fox Sports Radio FS one. So Colin right, Colin wrong in one hour from now. There's a lot going on today. It's a fun Who's Joy's brother, of course, is a legendary Hall of Fame football player and one of the nicest guys that sports ever had. Wonderful guy. And the family nobody in the family has ever had a pimple, So the perfect looking family. But it's the start of football season like today, Yes, all the camps are open, and so it puts me in a good mood, not only because our job gets easier in the football season, because it's like rapid consumerism, like people love it, but there's just so many more stories going in. And this July has always been a weird month for us because June is NBA, right, it's the Finals, it's intense, and then it's the Draft, and then it's Summer League and who's the New Stars And it's so much fun for about seven weeks, and all of a sudden, NBA trades kind of you know, they kind of dissipate, and here comes the NFL. So today feels like to me, the start of six and a half months of more football talk, well increasingly more. There is no real dead time. I mean, look at the news and the stories we got last week. Now you wake up this morning there's a new kd rumor like this. It doesn't really feel like in sports it used to be like this, abyss, there's not really it's football's back, and I can't believe it's here already. So I thought this was interesting. It's been nineteen years all the camps are open in the NFL, nineteen years since we've had a repeat champion. That was back in oh three h four of the New England Patriots. And I believe there's a reason why the Patriots repeated and why they were good year after year after year. Belichick, Brady and Brains without much ego. I do think the Rams have a strong chance to repeat. The NFC is not as good as the AFC. I think they are the best run operation and the most talented team in the NFC. Not sure they stack up with some of the AFC teams, but again I think it's McVay, Stafford and Brains without a lot of ego. Join. I live in Los Angeles. Aaron Donald is the best defensive player in twenty years. You don't see ego. McVeigh less, snead Aaron Donald. You don't get a lot of ego, And that matters because the NFL is so much more popular than every other sport in America that when you win a Super Bowl, everybody becomes a rock star. Everybody gets a book deal, a card deal. You know the name of their linebackers, the interior lineman. We've seen this time and time again. The Philadelphia Eagles. Ego got in the way they won. Everybody got a book. They started lecturing the Patriots on how to win. Remember that that was always good for a laugh. The Seahawks won, Remember they blew out Denver and Peyton Manning. Guys like me are like, that's the best team I've seen in twenty years. Teams unbelaitable going five straight Super Bowls, weren't humbled. Ego got in the way. The Buccaneers won a Super Bowl with Brady. Everybody got paid. Even Brady acknowledged last year the team wasn't as focused. So the key in this is can you win the Super Bowl and be humbled at the same time or criticized? If you go back to those Brady teams when they won early that back to back. Brady's a system quarterback. They weren't blowing people out. These were close games. They were an underdog in big games. It's more culture and system. Brady's not nearly as good as Manning. He's not his talented, his big Ben. There was this constant doubt, There was this content in the Seahawks one. It looked like the best team we'd ever seen Philadelphia one, with all the Nick Foles trick plays. Everybody got paid bucks. When everybody gets paid, how do the Rams get humbled? I saw this this morning. This is perfect pro football focus. Everybody reads that right, everybody reads it had their top fifty players in the NFL right now today, their quarterback, Matt Stafford did not make the list. Didn't make the list. Three rams in the top fourteen didn't make the list. On the same day today, Mike Sando of The Athletic, very respected guy did his NFL tiers quarterback tier list. I talk about this every day every year at this time of the year. It's very respected. Matt Stafford make Tier one. Now think about that. So he beat Joe Burrow in the Super Bowl, outplayed him. Burrow is twenty seven in the Pro Football Focus list and Tier one. Stafford outplayed Brady, who he outplayed. He's eighth. Stafford beat him both. In fact, Justin Herbert, who plays in the same stadium as Stafford and could not make the playoffs, he made the list Tier one and Pro Football Focus. Stafford's nowhere to be found, despite the fact that he led come from behind victories in the Divisional round, the nfs C Championship against Brady on the road and in the Super Bowl against Burrow. And he's not in the Pro Football Focus top fifty players in the league. And he's a Tier two quarterback. In Mike Sandos of the Athletics highly respected quarterback tier list, and that tier list is based on executives and coaches and people around the league. So Stafford's reading that, and he'll of course read that, and he's like, I'm a tier two quarterback. I'm low, Justin Herbert, I'm the second best quarterback in the stadium I play my home games in. He didn't make the playoffs. Just the kind of doubt eye rolling, you're not there yet, settled down. That stuff matters. So this Rams team, their star quarterback. And by the way, Stafford, who's well liked in the building, his coach is reading that. His teammates are reading that, Aaron Donald's reading that, Cooper CoP's reading that, and they're thinking, he's the second best quarterback in SOFI stadium. And you know, I love me some Justin Herbert, but that is some disrespect. Matt Stafford. Tier two, not a top fifty player in the NFL. Alrighty then, So one NBA story today, it's a big one k D. So there is a report from WOSH they called a woh bomb that k D and the Celtics is pretty viable discussion right now. So what was apparently offered, according to wosh Jalen Brown. We just watched him in the playoffs. Very good player. Derek is that Derek White, the guy off the bench average about eleven twelve game, nice bench player and a first round pick. Now, the Brooklyn Nets want a lot more than that. They want Marcus Smart, Defensive player of the Year, another draft pick, and another rotational player. And I've said this about k D. I'm not blown up my chemistry for KD. Brooklyn did. I'm not blown up my bench for KD Brooklyn did. I'm not blown up my future for Kadie Brooklyn did. And I'm not blowing out my coach for Kadie Brooklyn did. The Celtics added Malcolm Brogden, very good player, and they didn't have to give up any of their top pieces to get Malcolm Brogden. So they're a top three team in the league. Brooklyn is looking for a desperate team. That's why Danny Ainge just trying to get a deal done with the Knicks. They're desperate. Knicks right now are like fourth most interesting story after the Yankees and the Mets in the NFL season, starting in the Brooklyn Nets. That's why Danny Angel years ago when he made that big deal with the Brooklyn Nets. They had a desperate owner. Danny Angel is smart. He gets on the phone with desperate. That's how you get a better deal buying a house, selling a house, find desperate. Boston is not desperate. Excellent young coach, excellent culture, excellent chemistry. Brad Stevens appears to be very strong as a GM. They've added Malcolm Brogden. I mean, we all acknowledge the best roster coach culture combo in the NBA as Golden State. Many believe Boston is two. So to me in twenty twenty two today, for Kevin Durant, who's thirty four, you're not gonna get eighty two regular season games. He's had some injuries. I would give you what Brad Stevens apparently offered. I'd give you a very strong star player. Jalen Brown's an excellent player, expensive but excellent. I would give you a very good bench player, and I would give you, if pushed, two picks. I don't care what Minnesota did for Rudy Gobert. I don't care what Danny Aine's gonna how he's gonna work the Knicks. That's a different situation. Minnesota Timberwolves have never won anything. They're kind of desperate. They've got Anthony Edwards and Carl Anthony Towns and they're in a let's win games now mode. I get it, totally get what the t Wolves are doing. They've never had a roster this good. So the t Wolves have never won anything. Not that they're desperate, but it's go time. The Knicks are desperate. When KG got traded to Brooklyn, Brooklyn was desperate. That's not what the Celtics are. So I think the deal is doable. But I am not throwing in Marcus Smart. I'm not throwing in another rotational player. I would give you a second first round pick, Jalen Brown and a bench player. That's a completely reasonable move. Do I think this happens? No, Brooklyn's looking for desperate and start asking yourself in the NBA right now, of all the top teams where Katie would want to play, is Miami desperate? They went seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals. They're not desperate. Is Milwaukee desperate? Is Golden State desperate? Or the Clippers desperate? Or the Celtics desperate? Are the Sons desperate? Seems to me those arenas are full. Seems to mean those teams win a lot of games. They got the right coaches. So I think that's as good a deal as Kade could get. I think that's as good a deal, honestly, as Brooklyn could get. That's the deal. A top end starter, excellent bench guy, a couple of first round picks. If you're trying to get more good luck, I don't think it's out there all right, A lot of stuff today. I was just tickled this weekend. Can I say that I sound old saying that Derek Carr Davanta Adams called him a Hall of famer. You know you know how that landed for Uncle Colin. I'm gonna just say that felt good. That felt finally somebody else jumping on the Derek car is a hall of famer. But I don't think people quite understand how serious I am about this or Davante is. And I'm give you a little story, and I think it'll change your mind for all you Derek Carr doubters. Next, be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Easter nine a Empacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeart Radio app. Oh I had a great weekend. Hope you did as well. It was made even better when Davontae Adams, who used to play with Aaron Rodgers and now plays with Derek Carr, was quoted as saying over the weekend, you know when you go from one Hall of Famer to another Hall of Famer at quarter back, there's a little adjustment. Oh, the Internet imploated, well, Aaron is going to be a Hall of Famer and Derek Carr is going to be a Hall of Famer. Some of us are perceptive enough to see it years before others. But there's no reason to be smug about that. Derek Carr is entering his ninth NFL season. Davante Adams, I don't think he really clarified what he was saying. He still said what he meant when asked about the comment he made. Derek's career proves to honestly, you look at the numbers that he's had, and you know what he's had to work with, and the adversity that he's had, you know, in Oakland and coming to Vegas and the type of stuff that's been going on here in the past, which you know, hopefully we're putting all that stuff to bed. What I'm not going to do is say Derek is not going to be a Hall of Famer, because at the end of the day, I believe, you know, this is not putting any expectations or any added pressure on him, because you know, he puts all that that type of pressure on himself because of what he expects, you know, every time he touches the field. It's amazing to me people struggle with the idea of something we have all lived through adversity. If you told me you ran a company and had a one hundred million dollars net worth, but your dad was a billionaire, I'm going to be much less impressed than if you told me I run a nice insurance business, I make a great living and we've done well for our family. That's impressive. If he came from a tough childhood or adversity, nobody gave you money. You had to build a business yourself. We all know that to be true. That's why we cry when we see certain stories on social media about young people overcoming this and overcoming that. It tugs at our heart because many of us have experienced that we didn't have a perfect family, we didn't have a lot of support, not saying my childhood wasn't better than many, but that's what tugs at our heart. That's what they make movies about in Hollywood. They don't make movies in Hollywood that anybody wants to watch about kids from trust funds. That's not tugging at anybody's heartstrings. And this is where I'm always going to support Derek Carr, and I don't understand that people don't get it. He's in the NFL eight years. For seven of the eight, I'd argue he had a below average offensive line. He's on his sixth coach, entering his ninth year. The franchise moved. He's in a tough division with Kansas City and Andy Reid. The last couple of years, the organization was run from two guys hired out of network television. But this is the stat in Derek's eight years in the NFL. He's entering year nine, the Raiders have allowed the most points in the league in those eight years and had the fewest takeaways. Meaning he doesn't get a short field, he doesn't get a week off. He's got to win by shootout every damn week. Every week the franchise needs him to overcome the defense and the battle line and the TV guy who's now a GM and a coach. What a shock. I looked at Mike Sandos quarterback tiers this morning. He has Derek Carr ranked as the twelfth best quarterback in the NFL. I think that's reasonable. I have him at ten. A study conducted last season says Mike Sandos quarterback tier list show that Derek Carr got worse support from his own defense and special teams than any of forty one quarterbacks with at least three years as a starter over the past decade. The biggest criticism of Derek Carr is explainable. It says his issue he doesn't like to get hit a nobody does be His brother, David Carr entered the league and took a physical beating for years, and that ended his brother, who he's really close with. He watched his brother take a beating physically for years, and so Derek having watched somebody who he cares deeply about his family go through something like if you watch the member of your family go through a horrible divorce, you may not want to be inclined to get married really quickly. So Derek Carr watched this brother go through a physical beating and he is really really aware of get rid of the ball. But we all acknowledge in life the stuff that makes us cry, that tugs at our heart, that Hollywood write scripts about his overcoming adversity. Derek Carr is the picture of it. And last year Henry Ruggs John Gruden in the Tougher AFC he carried them the life preserver for the franchise in the desert. He carried them to the playoffs. So yes, folks, Matt Jones and two and Kirk Cousins complete seventy percent in the clean pocket. That ain't the game. Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh drafted him. Give him a clean pocket for six years. It's gonna complete sixty eight percent of his throws. But the Steelers have a bad online. Now, let's like Derek Carr, if eight years later you can be a three time pro bowler. He's a three time pro bowler with a good seven years left. He better buy a gold jacket. He's going to be given one, but he should just get used to wearing it. And by the way, once again, what does Derek Carr have this year? A new coach, a new general manager. The division is now the toughest in my lifetime, and I wouldn't be shocked if they've made the playoffs. I may not predict it, but I wouldn't be shocked. Shocked. Joey Taylor with the news, No, no turn on the news, this is the herd line news is that possibly going to make an appearance in Calm was right, Colin was wrong. Later today have a feeling leader in the clubhouse. Well, Darvdham has some work to do to get the Lakers back to their winning ways after a disappointment's last year, and he went on All the Smoke podcasts and he was asked what fans can spectrum the team this season, and his answer could be seen as a potential warning to Russell Westbrook. He said, We're going to be together, the most together team always does well, always wins at the end of the day. And accountability. We're gonna be tough, We're gonna be defensive minded. That's the side of the ball where you're going to see the quickest and most dramatic improvement. And we're going to share offensively again. We want everybody all in on what we're doing. We don't want anybody that's second guessing being a laker or am I in the right place. Well, Westbrook is not a very good defender and he's not great at sharing the ball, so that, to your point, does feel like a little bit of a this is what we're going to be. I hope you will comply with our demands. Well, this is what Darvin should say. Yes, and he's right. The way that is how you get better fast, correct. I mean, yes, that's not the defense is easy. But defense is effort and energy and passion. And also obviously you can be an incredibly skilled defensive player, but you can't just automatically become a better shooter like that is a side of the ball where you can make an immediate impact if you come in with the right mentalent. There are no if you look at the end of the year, Joy, there were no bad defensive teams left. In fact, Boston was rated one, Golden State two, and when we watched that series at the end, we thought Golden State may have been one in Boston two. Right, Right, It's it's very important in this in today's game, which for a long time we were like, oh, you're not a defensive player. Or whatever you can get away with it. Not anymore because there are so many complete teams, well coached teams, teams with accountability and leadership and development. So this is the right approach to have. And quite frankly, if Russ doesn't want to buy into something as simple as playing a little bit more defense and sharing the ball, you got the wrong guy. Well it's just what is the point, Like literally, what's the point to me? The situation with the Lakers is very in Russell Westbrook is very obvious. If I'm having that conversation, It's very simple. What are the results? What were the results from what you did last year? Not what Frank Vocal did. He's not here anymore. Yeah, not the rest of the teammates did, not what Anthony Davids did. What did you do that produced winning results? Well, the end of the season was a disaster, So you can't. If you are producing high numbers and it's converting into wins and everyone's happy, and you just had like a couple bad injuries at the end of the year, then you can make that argument. But the results matter. They matter, especially in a place like Los Angeles where you do have one of the most competitive sports markets in the country. Oh, it's star driven teams outside of the Lakers. All good, It's I think it is the most competitive right now. It's insane. So you just can't accept mediocre. It's just it's not going to work with this organization. And those asks of Darvin are very simple and straightforward. I love this story. So Alabama and Fanatics have agreed to a long term partnership to enhance fan experience. It will be fanatics most comprehensive college partnership. Gives them exclusive rights to Alabama's e commerce, as well as additional rights across fan apparel, trading cards, NFTs, and collectibles, and it will also allow for the creation of student athletes name image, likeness merchandise interesting. It's great company. They'll also have the first ever team retail store inside Bryant Denny Stadium, which is expected to open this season. So this will also give opportunities for student athletes to do autograph signings to sell their own nil merchandise within the store. This is really very organized, a huge company, such a gigant, a billion dollar, multibillion dollar company. I love this story. Obviously, Nick Saban was all over the news this offseason about NIL. Alabama is probably the biggest brands in college football. We'll see how this goes over the next couple of years with the way that the recruiting process is gone, but this is obviously a big incentive for recruits to come to Alabama because this is extremely organized and this is something that people who are skeptics of NIL should look to as the standard for how you can integrate what is a organization. A program that has been at the top of the sport for a very long time is trying to adjust to the wild wild West. Brings in a company like Fanatics, which is a huge, respected company who does great work make it easy for the student athletes to sell their own stuff for them. If they want to have an autograph signing, you can do it right there in the store. Everything is very organized, very upfront, and you can make money off of it and everything will be documented. Yeah, not a surprise that Nick Saban, who's the smartest guy that's ever coach college football, was ahead. I mean, I have my criticisms of Nick. Complaining about the competitive imbalance scares him. I looked yesterday he has six the top fifteen draftable players in the next raft that competitive balance is really getting out of whack. He can make you say some things that aren't very accurate sometimes, but this is I think what the future of NIL is. Extremely organized, huge companies partnering with student athlete's and providing them a very straightforward way for them to make money off of their name, image, likeness, literally their jerseys, game warn memorabile yea autograph signings. It's very simple. So Kyler Murray, thank you Cardinals. Well, you know we only want to talk about this for about two months. Ye I know, this was a piece of cake. Thank you. Yeah. Oh my god, I was so terrified we're gonna have to do that again. That Dak Prescott contract was insane. So five year, two hundred and thirty point five million dollar extension last week. So he will say with the Cardinals through the twenty twenty eight season, and he is looking forward to trying to bring a Super Bowl to Arizona. He said, nothing really changes. It's a payday, yeah, but I'm most excited about getting back on the field. My job is to fulfill my promise and bring a championship here. There's no questions about it. There's no other place I wanted to be this whole time, and I mean that. Steve Kim also said he felt that Murray and the team were satisfied with the deal and that there were some team friendly things in there that were important to Kyler. I think this is great. No, I said it last week. I thought it was very mahomes like and that the team feels like they can still make moves. And this is not a knock at Aaron Rodgers, but Aaron knew when he signed his deal the Packers had no more money. This is really if you look at the way it tears up, it's very mahomes It's the Cardinals will be able to make as long as they hit some draft picks. Kyler's responsibility, that's right, They've got. That's why if you look at the Rams, people talk about how much money they spend. They hit on draft picks so they don't have to pay interior linemen and tight ends much. So if Arizona can hit on draft picks, they'll be able to go get free agents for Kyler. I love it. I didn't one just selfishly. I don't want to talk about someone's contract for years on ends. Two, he has improved the team. I know people argue about whether wins or quarterbacks or not better every single year. He is the future of the organization. This is a position you should want to have to pay. Yeah, And if you can structure the contract with this particular position in a way that gives you flexibility, that's the best situation. Now you don't have to worry about it. You got your guy focus on everything else. Yea. And he is going to only improve as time goes on. And now there isn't this looming cloud of is he going to make his money? How much is it going to be? Oh, the market's going up. Yeah, I love this move for Arizona. Good stuff. Joey Taylor with the news. Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by Thirdline News. So a lot of NFL, a lot of football. Way to go Alabama. That's a good deal. Every NFL camp opens by tomorrow. Many are already open. That means today July twenty fifth until February fourteenth. I looked it up. That's two days after the Super Bowl. Seventy percent of this show will be National Football League talk, and I'm completely comfortable with it. If I was a talk show host in Canada, seventy percent of the NHL season would be hockey talk. If I was in the UK during the English Premier League season, seventy percent of my talk would be EPL talk. In the United States, ratings, what we bet on, what we play, fantasy, what we watch, I could probably go to ninety percent, but then I'd feel like I was on the NFL network six and a half months of rabid consumerism. I have always said, you drive the show, you watch it, you bet it, you love it. I talk it, and it's only grown in my sportscasting career. It's pulled away from other leagues. Why well, unlike baseball, the NFL is constantly evolving and adapting. Unlike the NBA, it's simply more relatable. Load management, Give me a break. Other sports, like hockey or MLS don't have many recognizable stars. They feel niche. But you know why football really crushes in this country because it's US. It's windy and rainy. Get over it, Go to work. I make good money. You're cut. Could happen to me tomorrow. I'm hurt, I don't feel good. I'm sick. Get to work, suck it up. That's the NFL. They play hurt, They play lousy weather. Their employees with some limited power, even though they're well compensated and they can be cut at any time. There are no ten year contracts, even for Tom Brady. Play hurt, play sick, play lousy weather. This country's a hundred degrees almost everywhere, and there's construction sites booming, men and women on top of those roofs in those buildings, and a lot of them are sick. Get back to work. It relates to us because it is us. I love the NBA, I love the baseball playoffs. I love a lot of sports. But my favorite part of the NFL is how much it matters to the players watch the games. I mean, these guys cry every Sunday one o'clock window it's nuts. Bad teams Week fourteen. Joey knows her brother played. I once asked Jason Taylor, a great player, I said, at the end of your career, you know you had to play hurt and very humble guy. He once told me he could not feel his foot in the second half of a game because he had to shoot it up because his team had a very very small chance to get into the playoffs. You're out for three weeks in baseball. You'll take the month off in the NBA. Look at how many people show up to practice. It's not like spring training where there's actual games and two teams practice. It's us. It speak to us, It speaks to us. Excuse me. They play hurt, they play in bad weather, they can be cut, they have limited power, even though they're well compensated. It is relatable load management. Come on, NBA, you're making thirty five large year. It's Tuesday night. Just play, Just play baseball. I know you're a little sore in your thumb. Just get in the batter's box and hit. Can't wait six and a half months. Seventy percent, I'm good. I'll talk about other stuff, but it will dominate our show, and that's a good thing. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays and New Easter ninety and Pacific. Hey, what's up everybody? It's me three time pro bowler Le Warrington and I couldn't be more excited to announce a new podcast called Up on Game? What is up on Game? You asked, along with my fellow pro bowler T J. Hushman Zada and Super Bowl champion Yep, that's right. Plexico Burris. You can only name a show with that type of talent on it. Up on Game We're going to be sharing our real life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen to Up on Game with Me, LeVar Arrington, T J. Hutchman's Out of and Plexico Birds on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast from. Well twenty years of NFL scouting and front office experience, don't forget Colin right, Colin wrong, top the next hour on a Monday. He built that Buccaneers roster that won a Super Bowl years ago. And Mark Dominic, my friend is now joining us, a former NFL general manager. Hall of Fame games right around the corner. It's less than two weeks away from the Raiders Jags. It's nuts. So it was interesting watching the reaction to the Kyler Murray deal. So even people I respect that cover football for a living, a lot of them were like, he's small, he gets hurt, he mailed in the playoff game. There's a lot of social media nonsense, and I get it. It's it's not Dak. It's not you know, it's not Dak makes everybody comfortable, right, He just says the right thing. But boy, I look at this mark and I'm like, Arizona is irrelevant. Without him, I would have made the deal. I would always pay my quarterback early if I believe it. Where did you land on it? Yeah? You know I was at the point where the communication from the Kylin Murray's side and the agent. Maybe you realize this deal was coming together because it finally got quiet. People started to stop talking about it through the public and started talking through it privately. For the deal dynamics, it's interesting you know after year three that quarterbacks are getting deals to this level. There's no more discounts or doing a deal early. But you've been through Josh Rosen there, you know what it's different. Steve Kim drafted both guys and seeing the difference in coach Kingsbury has been will work with Kyler and sees here's a guy that's completing seventy percent of his passes. He can run if he wants to run, he can throw if he needs to throw. He can certainly do so many things. So I get it. I get while the deal's done. You know, I always am a believer and take it a little more pausitive You're not sure, but I think you see him every day in practice. You see the dynamic ability of them. Yeah, did you want more out of the postseason? Yeah? Do you still wonder about leadership? Maybe a hint, But to know you've got your guy wrapped up calling, I think is a good thing. Yeah, you drive to work every day. That part set. Let's build around him. So I liked it. So you were very critical of the Niners giving away three number ones for Trey Lance. I remember that you didn't love it. So I have now three different sources that have said that have told me this offseason they liked Trey, but the accuracy thing is practice to practice day to day, and they are a little uneasy with it. So it looks like they're trying to move Garoppolo. Okay, so they're gonna give it to Trey, which I think is the right move. You got to figure out if he can play. But what do you make of There's been a lot of chatter, a lot of talk. We still don't know. Last year Mark he wasn't very accurate. What do you make of all of it today? Well, I mean it is what it is. They made their bed in San Francisco, and said, hey, we're giving up ones when you could get any quarterback in the league almost for three number ones. Obviously, the Cleveland Browns went for Deshaun Watson, who's approven commodity. Here you went for Trey Lance, and even when you made the trade, you weren't quite sure which quarterback he went Right Now, I went back to the lab and started watching all the other quarterbacks who do we like? And they picked trade. The thing that made you nervous about trade now or in that situation, why I wasn't a big fan of it. He's never really faced a real adversity kind of situation. He was great in college, never threw any interceptions, knew what to do. Now he's in the National Football League and he's going to a team that's expected to be a playoff contender, and accuracy is a tricky thing. Now, we all saw Josh Allen. He became much more accurate and quarterback. And so I'm always a little bit more hesitant of like banning or bashing a guy. And I love Kyle Shanahan's system on offense, but he can't have a lot of bad starts. He can't stack one, two, three bad starts. In a row or this season will fall apart real quick, and you're looking at five and twelve in San Francisco. So I bought at you know, I'm starting to read get in my fantasy football all my football MAGA scenes as I flew home yesterday. So I'm just going through it. I am. I'm not shocked, but I'm surprised, and a lot of people who are like, I don't know if Russell's gonna work in Denver, and I think, well, I've seen it twice. It's called Brady and Tampa and Stafford in Los Angeles. Where the roster's good, they need a catalyst, and I think Russell is a catalyst. But there are a lot of doubters on him, even people I like Greg ko Sell watch his films like he runs himself out of a lot of successful plays. Well, I don't know if I've ever asked you this Russell. Has he declined or was it Seattle's mass? What do you make of him in Denver? Well, I love Russell Wilson. Still, I think the guy's a winner. I've talked to players within the organization. I've talked to a couple of coaches on the staff, A couple of fun office people. He's changed the feeling of that it's his team, and he's made it very well known in terms of what he wants out of the football team, what he wants out of each practice, and what are the ones I need each play. I think there's a lot of confidence in Denver right now. I'm a huge believer, Like I'm going to keep the Chiefs as the top just because they've been there and they've earned that right. But I've got Denver coming in saying we can take over this division. But I haven't them to come in in number two and they could be a playoff spoiler for anybody. I think Russell still has it, you know. I think John Steiner, who had him in Seattle all those years at the gym, loved Russell Wilson, but solid that whole organization, that whole roster has got to complete turnover to turn around, and for them to move Russell Wilson had to be a very difficult decision. But I think he is one of those guys that changes overnight. Like I think this Denver team gets up two more wins. I think they're eleven and five or eleven and six type of football team. I think they make the postseason and you don't want to play him. I'm a huge believer in this move. All right, Belichick has been so successful. Who am I to doubt him? But the idea of going into a season with no offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, I'm like, is he think he's too smart for the room? I mean, just from the outside, what am I supposed to make of that? It's such a Belichick thing to do, right, just to kind of enigma and not answer anything onto Cincinnati whatever it is. You know, it's always that kind of a moment. Here's the thing. You think it's a political or it's a political way to move around the football team and say who's going to call the plays? How do we prepare? Because that's what you're thinking as a defensive coordinator. All this offseason, you would be watching tape of who the offensive coordinators for the Patriots and say how do they call games? And kind of get a sense of how they call games because you've had months. Belichick's like, hey, why give anybody that choo to three month advantage and sit there and watch how you call a game and kind of get a sense of what they do because That's what good coordinators do, is they get a feel for the flow. Now, you don't really know who to choose, even though you're going to know in a couple of weeks, because we're all going to see them in the preseason and somebody's gonna be sitting there calling the plays in But I guarantee you this, they know internally, there's no way mac Jones is trying to work through two different play callers right now in his second year in the NFL. They know internally. All Belichick tried to do here was not let defensive coordinators study the habits of the play caller, and that is actually a competitive advantage that of course the Patriots figure out. Yeah, by the way, their schedule is brutal late, but it's favorable early in the year, and maybe Belichick sees that I've not heard it put that way. Finally, you know, Tampa, well, you built them. It's an offensive league. They moved to a defensive coach. It feels like Brady's last year. Fournette comes in out of shape, Bronk's not there. You know, Brady last year complained about you know, once we won the title, the focus wasn't quite there. What do you make of them this year, Colin. I think they're still going to be really good, although I think the Saints are going to push to get a playoff team just because of how explosive they're going to be offensively. I think Tampa's gonna be too good to catch. And I don't think there's anything really wrong with the team. I think they still need a veteran presence in their secondary, just somebody to kind of be there if if something starts to break down. They had a lot of injuries in that position last year. I like this team a lot, you know, with Russell Gage being and there, Chris Godwin will be back on that football field probably whatever it is. Weeks six, weeks eight, and then you Addam Mike Evans. You still got three great wide receivers. You still at Cameron Brady is a good player. Yeah, Leonard Fournette might be a little out of shape. He'll work that off. It's called training camp. It's what you're gonna do. It's what he'll do. And Tom's still tremendously good. And then you know they made the shift with losing Alice Kappa, allam Our pet retires, but then they go get Shack Mason, who's better than those two players. And so I like what Tampa's done this offseason. I think Jason Light's got them primed, and I don't think seeing the coaching change. I think it's actually a good thing for this football team because I have a feeling there's a lot of excitement for that entire team in Todd Bowls to be able to show that he could be a great coach in the National Football League. So Tampa's gonna repeat the Division championship, but they're gonna have a battle through Dallas. I think to go to the Super Bowl. Good stuff. Mark Dominic, former NFL GM. Great seeing you Hall of Fame games around the corner. Thanks Mark, you bet Colin, thanks for having me on. It's a really interesting point. I had it. I hadn't thought about this. If you look at the Patriots schedule, it's crazy, asked. I believe it's seven or eight games. It's the hardest schedule in the league. It's just Pro Bowl quarterback, Pro Bowl Quarterback, Pro Bowl quarterback. Wild they face eight Look at the Patriots last eight games. Joy. Okay, So let's go one to three, four, five, six, last seven at the Vikings offense Buffalo at Arizona's offense at the raiders offense Joey Burrow Miami's new offense at Buffalo. That is brutal. So to Mark's point, does Belichick look at that schedule and say, we gotta go seven and one? We gotta win games early? Which has never been Belichick's fourte Belichick has always been the September experimenter. I think Bill looks at that and thinks, I'm gonna quarterback this advantage eight weeks in a row. I gotta win early. And to Mark's point, the element of surprise, you don't know what we're gonna do that opening those opening two games at Miami and at Pittsburgh, you go oh and two in those that season is you are done in at the vision you are seriously, that is that last eight weeks that's insane. You face Kirk Cousins, Josh Allen, Kyler, Murray, Derek Carr, Joe Burrow, you get two at home, that's the break with all new weapons, and at Josh Allen. Their first four games are not that easy. No, not easy. But I do I do think Bills looks at that schedule and thought, we gotta start quick and maybe to Mark's point, element of surprise steals a couple of w's in September and we have a shot. Wow, all right, Colin right, Colin wrong, top of our number two on a Monday. We've got about five more weeks this summer. Football's here.