The Herd with Colin CowherdColin has no problem with QB Josh Allen winning the MVP
LeBron James seems to be playing on a different level since the Luka Doncic trade
Why the NFL should make changes when it comes to the "Tush Push"
Guest: Dianna Russini
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Here we are. It is Super Bowl Week Friday from the Crescent City, New Orleans, Louisiana.
We are live.
As we were yesterday, as we are ready for Philadelphia and Kansas City, which I think is going to be at All China and at the Super Bowl. Michael Luvin will join us today among others. Jmak Here we are on the Friday before and so you know, we have a couple of weeks to talk about this game. This is ours. This is our last preamble before it gets underway. I think most people think Philadelphia's got the best team roster, Kansas City's got the legendary quarterback and coach. But I do want to start my show talking about a player that can't beat Kansas City, at least when it matters. Josh Allen. So, Josh Allen won the MVP last night. Even though Lamar Jackson beat him head to head in the regular season, Lamar outplayed him on that game. Lamar had better stats, Lamar had a better passer rating, and Josh Allen won. And I have absolutely no problem with it because I don't think twenty years from now will be saying, man, do you remember the year they gifted Josh Allen the MVP? Listen, There's two reasons why I would have given it to Josh Allen narrowly. Number one is when Derrick Henry arrived in Baltimore. Defenses playing the Ravens had to make choices and concessions, and many times it felt like the key to that team was not Lamar Jackson, it was Derrick Henry, and defensive coordinators had to make choices with the number two rushing running back in the NFL. In most years, Derrick Henry would have led the NFL in rushing if not for sake won Barkley's all time year. As much as Josh Allen got support from James Cook, he was the sixteenth leading rusher in the league receiving corps they lost upon Diggs, yet he won ten of his last twelve one pick after December. First, I think, and again, when you play the Bills, there is one and one mission only and that is to stop Josh Allen. When you played the Ravens this year, some teams made the choice to concentrate on Derrick Henry. That of course opened things up a bit for Lamar Jackson. And the second thing is not all MVPs look the same, and we all know that awards are subjective. I mean, Aaron Rodgers has four of these puppies, Tom Brady's got three. There was a year that Joe LMB to Philadelph was gifted and MVP over Jokic because people felt Jokic had won two he shouldn't win three straight before the Nuggets even have a title. They did later that year, and Westbrook got an MVP because it was a good story. He had a bunch of triple doubles. That doesn't mean you win a lot of games, but it does mean something. And KD had dumped him and it felt like, man, this poor guy's he's stranded on the OKC island, so they gave him one. And I think we get to a point. Seven years of Josh Allen since he entered the league, this has mostly been the powerhouse offense, and he has been so great for so long. It was time. I think back to one of my favorite movies of all time, as Goodfellas. Martin Scorsese was the director. He did not win an Oscar for it. I think it's his best piece of art, his best piece of work. He didn't get it, and he'd been doing great movies forever, and so he came out with The Departed, very good movie. I don't think it's an all timer. I like it top thirty Goodfellas time, and they gave him the Oscar for it. It was just too good for too long and if you really boil it down, and I know you don't want awards to be like that. And Lamar's got better stats. They all look different, they come in different shapes and sizes. Sometimes it's the story plus the stats, but if you look at some numbers, he's the first player ever five straight seasons of forty plus touchdowns, and it's just recently that he actually got a really elite weapon, James Cook that's their elite weapon. And for the record, he was sixteenth in the NFL in rushing, So in seven years he's got the most wins, he's got the most total touchdowns, He's got the most total yards through any NFL player, including Patrick Mahomes first seven years, it was just time time for Josh Allen to win the MVP his first, and here he was.
I know this is an individual award and it says most Valuable Player on it, but I think is derived from team success and I love my team beat off. Thank you for presenting. I really appreciate it. We got such a great locker room in Buffalo, and it takes everybody from the equipment staff to the training room, to the strength staff, to Slick Rick in the mail room, to the cafeteria upstairs. Like it truly takes everybody to half team success. And I'm so fortunate to be a part of a great organization.
Nobody is gonna feel twenty thirty years from now. This was gifted like Scorsese's time. So I know it's Super Bowl week, but the NBA does have its trade deadline during Super Bowl Week. I don't think it's the best time to have it. I would have it next week. I'd move it, just like the NFL has moved free agency teams all the time, alter their calendar if I was the NBA and wanted more publicity, I'd do it next week. But this week the big trades and nobody's benefited more than Lebron James. Last night he had forty two points, to the most points ever for an old guy at forty in the NBA. I don't know what it is I think I do, but he is forty and Lebron, like Bill Belichick, has a new relationship, and let's just say he's got to bounce in his step. He is three and oho since the Luca trade, and I think we forget this about the greats. When you're great, things can come easier. Now. I'm not insinuating it's not hard work, But for a Mahomes and an MJ and a Lebron and a Messy, there's boredom, there's monotony, there's tedium. Lebron's played in over fifteen hundred regular season games. Lebron has played three and a half seasons of just playoff games. This season, even with Ad and Austin Reeves and JJ Reddick, it kind of honestly felt like a train to nowhere. They weren't athletic enough, they weren't dynamic enough. Anthony Davis didn't really want to play the five, he'd rather play the four. Dalton connects fun but can't defend. They didn't have enough shooters. They didn't have enough defenders. And then Luca and Mark Williams happened. And the Lakers are younger, they're born dynamic, and they feel like they could win an NBA championship. All still favor Boston, but I think they match up pretty well with OKC. And I think Lebron's ride into the sunset in the last three to four days has taken a sharp u turn, and I think he's more engaged. He's always been committed, he's more inspired, and I think when you're an all time great, there's this work ethic to become legendary and iconic. But I mean, when Michael Jordan's planned the you know, the new Raptors, who just got a new franchise, you think he's as inspired as he is playing the Celtics or the Pistons. The answer no, And I felt like Lebron, not that he was coasting, not that he's not committed, but it shows you when inspired, what Lebron looks like, and you know, it's I think a lot of times for Lebron and Brady was like this too. But in football, you get one game a week. In basketball, you're in a road trip to Memphis, you go to Orlando. On the way back, we face Houston. They just all mushed together. But Lebron is playing. I mean, this is the best basketball Lebron has played in the last couple of weeks. It's year twenty two. It feels like year twelve. He's not going to do it back to back. He's not going to be as good defensively, he's not going to chase you down and block those shots off the backboard like he did in the first six years in the league. But dude, last night he was not only inspired. That was the best steph has played all year. He's averaging twenty eight and nine and shooting the lights out in January and February, and the last three games cap by last night have been absolutely special. And here was Lebron.
After joining m J.
There's the only two guys a forty plus club.
You know, the biggest thing is that we got the winning obviously, you know, But like throughout my journey, anytime I've been named or in the category or whatever, the case, cross paths with any of the grace is always humbling just to know where I come from, and I love game so much.
So it's pretty cool again, Like belichick new relationship got a little bounce. One guy's wearing the red jacket, one guy Laker gold. But it's different. It feels absolutely different. And Jamack knows that I appreciated Luca's talent, but I was always a little bit of a pushback on the conditioning in the defense, which Dallas eventually was as well. But I will say it again, this idea, it's almost like Lebron is showing off for Luca. He's like, hey, Bro, you can say you're the best player, and you may be the best player, but this is what I can do. This is Lebron. It's Lakers Extreme Makeover edition. That's what it feels like. And I do think even with ad there was a little bit of a train to nowhere feel this year, and you have to admit it does feel different.
By the way.
Belichick wore all of his eight Super Bowl rings, or however many's at wore him last night when he was with his lady friend, maybe Lebron needs to flex those trophies that he's got well, Luca remind.
Him, but it does feel like last night's a little bit of a flex, a little bit of a flex. Michael Irvin's joining us. Diana Ruscini as well. I've got my Super Bowl pick top and next hour feels strongly about it. J Max got his as well.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in neonon eastern nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Welcome Back to New Orleans, home of the Saints, among other things from the NFC. Speaking of the NFC, there is a team in the NFC that has a play called the Tushbush. It's highly effective, boring. They've been rewarded by it, but according to Mike Pereira, he thinks the NFL and the Competition Committee may get rid of it. Now. People in Philadelphia don't want to hear that. But after that Washington Commander's Philadelphia Eagles moment in the Super Bowl where at one point they considered, because the Commanders were jumping off side, they were going to just award a team of touchdown, which I didn't know was a rule until Mike Perera on the air said it was a rule. So here's the way I look at it. The NFL, to its core, is always understood it's a television show. Baseball sometimes has to be reminded of it. The NBA similarly, not the NFL. They changed rules for catches in that Eagles Patriot super Bowl, and they don't like automatic plays. They changed the kickoff this year. People thought it looked weird. We got over it. They changed the pat thought it was odd. We got used to it in the end, especially if it's aesthetically boring. This is a television show, they're gonna get rid of it. Listen, if the tush push was great TV, then rugby in America would be much more popular, because that's what it is. And I hear this, Colin, You have got to give Philadelphia credit. They invented it. Now, they didn't invent it, they perfected it. So what even the IRS gets rid of loopholes that have been used for thirty forty and fifty years. At some point if something feels like a cheat code, IRS swoops in. The NBA did it with hack Ashack. I can remember covering a Laker series against the Portland Trailblazers and they employed the hack Ashack series. It so bothered the Lakers and their fans that Mike Dunleavy, the coach of Portland, had to have security around it. People were enraged by it, but it was the right thing to do. Baseball did it with a defensive shift, bit of a cheat code. A lot of guys like Bryce Harper lining out instead of getting on base. Baseball said, yeah, it works, but it makes our game more boring. We want Bryce Harper on second base, not in the dugout. That's why they did it. Networks came to them and said, you know what, your game's getting slow. The Stars aren't on base. Change it. They did legal for a long time, so was Hackashack. And in the end, Philadelphia has been rewarded by it. And there's one with it and has been to a couple of Super Bowls with it. They didn't stop it immediately, they didn't put their foot down. They allowed them to use it for years. But it's become very automatic and automatic and bad TV. And nine of NFL fans watch on television, not in the stands. And for industries that don't adjust, like taxis, newspapers and the Democratic Party. Recently, you get into trouble, right, you got to adjust. Mark Murphy, smart guy for the Green Bay Packers, says he doesn't like it because there's really no skill involved. And that's where I think it does feel a little bit like the Pat. Like the Pat, now you get to December and January and it's a little windy. The better kickers, Harrison Bucker's fine, a lot of average kickers are not. There is skill in kicking. There wasn't a ton of skill in a professional football kicker. With the old Pat, it was kind of a three foot putt for Tiger Woods. Like it just isn't challenging Pat. Now, bad weather on late October early November is challenging even for good kickers. So I like it. And remember the NBA is seriously considering something right now that people really like within reason, the three point shot. The NBA is considering Adam Silver. They're considering implementing new limitations and rules on something now that dominates the game. That would be like saying in the NFL we've got too much passing, We've got a curb passing. And I agree with the NBA there's too many repetitive, monotonous cookie cutter too many threes. But this is bad TV. So was the defensive shift, so was the hack of Shack. I have no problem with the lead allowing maybe two of them a game max to a game three pointers fifteen a game, eighteen a game max to TV product above everything else. Jmack with the news.
Turn on the news. This is the herd Line News.
All right, let's start with the Big Game Sunday on Fox.
Jalen Hurts is one of five quarterbacks to make two Super Bowls before turning twenty seven years old, and he'll face the last.
Quarterback to do it in that guy named Patrick Mahomes.
The two teams met a couple of years ago in the Super Bowl and after the game, Mahomes said there shouldn't be any doubters following hurts impressive performance, and Patrick Mahomes doubled down, Yes, Colin on the Hurts doubters.
I honestly have no idea. It doesn't make any sense to me. I mean, he goes out there and has success every single year. It seems like if he's throwing, running, whatever it is, and so I honestly don't know. If you look at his career, it's all he does is win, and that's what the most important job in the NFL is is to win football games. And if he's asked to make big plays happen, he makes the big plays happen. So I do not understand it well.
As a quasi doubter of Hurts, I'd like you to explain yourself back to Pahom's on the other side.
Well, I don't doubt that he's gifted, like he's won everywhere high school, college and proach. I don't doubt that he's gifted. Do I doubt that he's Lamar, Josh Burrow, Stafford Mahomes in the pocket? Yeah, the film doesn't lie when you pressure him. When you pressure Brady and Mahomes, it's a nightmare. You can't blitz those two. You put pressure on Jalen Hurts. He's a bottom six quarterback in the league. Stylistically, he's more fun to watch than a lot of the pocket guys. But I think there's a clear way to disrupt Jalen Hurts. Now, it's really hard because Philadelphia's O line is so good and their running game is so substantive that the way to disrupt him is almost impossible. But he is clearly not great from the pocket under pressure, and so I think we think he's a really good player. But you're talking Mahomes is top two to three of all time. That's a different discussion.
Okay, But so let's say he's not top five, he's certainly top ten.
Look at these.
Numbers last thirteen games he started and finished, including the playoffs, yes, thirteen and zero, with thirty three touchdowns and one interception.
You remember, that's incredible. I'm not doubting that. But remember this. Look at the year Sam Darnold had when everything worked like we brought Purty, put up MVP level or close numbers, when Christian McCaffrey and everybody was healthy. So I think with quarterbacks, if you're a general manager, you have to make these tough decisions all the time. Joe Burrow is getting to a super Bowl with a horrific offensive line. Jared Goff with a great offensive line gets like a number one or a number two seed, but in the end gets ousted. Like So, our question is it's not that Jalen's not talented. But this has been a Dak discussion for ten years. Better than Dak, Well, yes, I think so too, But how much is Dak how much is the components? And I think Jalen's a very good player with an unbelievable supporting cast, which is what I argued about brock Purty two years ago. Now I think it's better than Perdy, but I argued it.
All Hurts has to do is win the game. Just be Patrick Mahomes Spagnolo reed.
And that a lot of people Yeah, yeah, all right.
Next up, Colin is the forty nine Ers. What a disappointing season. A couple of people here sitting on his desk called that. By the way, they only went six and eleven, missed the playoffs.
They did have a lot of injuries.
George Kittle is saying, listen, the forty nine or Super Bowl window, it is not closing.
I just feel like at any moment you could kick a window or wide open. Like that's how I feel this year. You need good players on our team. Yeah, but you can find good players anywhere. And when you still have Nick Bosa under contract, Fred Warner under contract, Christian McCaffer under contract, Trent Williams, like, there's still plenty of talent on this roster. I mean Brandon Ayuk towards a seal, but he'll be back. You see guys bounce back from a seals all the time, like it's not that Yeah, there's a long injury. It's not a serious injury ayfore though, So it's just like the talent's still there, our coaching staff is still there, like we still have all the pieces. It's just hey, let's stay on the field, run the ball, and don't turn the ball over.
A little easier said than done, Colin. I looked at their free agents, Are you ready for this? Three starters on defense, u Funga, Ward and green Law all free agents, and you got to pay Rockberdy.
I don't think it's automatic that they bounce back.
Well, when Kansas City let Tyreek Hill go to remain dynamic, they had to hit on draft picks right twenty twenty two, and I think San Francisco is in a spot where they've got to have a really good draft and then I think they'll be fine. I do not think it's a year that you need to be great in the draft because I don't think there's a surplus of elite talent. But if like like Ricky Pierce, the Pierce all the kid young kid at running back comes back, they should be more dynamic offensively. Christian McCaffrey's back. Well, but I do think they're gonna have to reinvent their defense. I think they should attack this draft. Attack defense.
Yeah, so Seemac turns twenty nine in June, Okay, you think he's bouncing back and having like an amazing year.
I think I think he bounces. I know, but I think he bounces back. I think he's gotta cut Williams factor.
I mean, he's he's one more years security this summer. I think so Trev Williams is old.
Well. I think I think in order for this team to bounce back, outside of Bosa and Fred Warner in the box, I think you're gonna move a lot of people. I think you're gonna move people. I think you gotta hit on draft picks. I think it has to be a defensive leaning draft class. I'd love to keep Hafunga, but his safety is a hard guy to pay a lot of money to when you're already paying two linebackers.
One of the most interesting teams this summer.
Final story, Colin is a big story that Pop thinks. To five Sports, NFL insider Jay Glazer, so the Steelers have been saying all the right things.
About keeping Russell Wilson.
Russell Wilson has come out and said, oh yeah, I can't wait to stay here.
Well, according to Jay.
Glazer, he believes the Steelers will move on from Russ this offseason. And before you mention a Pete Carroll reunion, Glazer said that's not gonna happen. So all of a sudden, Jay Glazer saying Russell Wilson is a man without a team.
Colin your thoughts, Well, that makes Pete Carroll, Sean Payton, and Mike Tomlin, three very respected veteran coaches, and his college coach at NC State, so that you can make an argument four of his last five coaches have moved off him. So I think we both think he's a good player. But he is a fascinating player. If you just look at raw numbers, you would think he would very easily find a home and find a place to play. But there is something about veteran coaches. Is it disruptive in the locker room? Does he connect with players? I don't have an answer, but it is strange because his numbers tell you there's still something there. Yeah, there is. And again again like a Jalen Hurts. Not a great pocket quarterback, but if you don't have to pampin. I think what it comes down to with Russell is they liked him when he was free, but they don't want to build around him. They'll go with Justin Fields, who was going into his prime, not coming out of it.
So let me give you two teams for Russell Wilson.
All right, so.
Let's start with Indy as a mentor to Anthony Richardson. He's not like a real threat, but listen, Russell Wilson is a hard worker, right when we believe.
That, and he could mentor Anthony Richardson and Indy. You like that at all?
Or I don't think it's terrible. I think Darnold's a better fit. But that's probably their second best beat.
So this next one is a little bit of a hot take. But there's a world where Matt Stafford is not on the Rams next year.
I would say the juiciest rumor I heard last night was Matt Stafford and the New York Giants could happen. Now, Malik Neighbors has come out and said, hey, we could use Matt Stafford and Cooper Cup and there is. I think the story will come out later today. There's some connections between Stafford and Dable.
We'll see what happens. But Russell Wilson to.
The Rams play action quarterback for Saan McVeigh.
It would, it would. I think if the Rams could move down in the draft in the first round and get a second and a couple of extra third that would allow them. Because they have about four knees. They need an extra draft pick to get a young Riley Leonard or the kid at Syracuse, Kyle McCorry. If if they can manipulate and get it, get an extra pick, I can see them saying Russ for a year. I mean, it may just be a camp in six games until a Riley Leonard or a McCord plays. But I don't think you can go into a season and have Russell for the foreseeable future replace Stafford. I don't think the fit's good.
Yeah, and clearly there was some locker room issues his last couple stops. Well, we're hoping for the best of Russ. I believe he's a Hall of Famer. I don't know if you do, but a tough end to his career.
Yeah.
J Mack with a news.
Well, that's the news, and thanks for stopping back. It's the herd Line news.
You know.
I was thinking about this. We were sitting around throwing ideas around this morning, and I've been watching the NBA since the early seventies. I've said this before. I remember the Lakers when they had number three Elmore Smith at center. How's that for all time lak trivia. I watched him in the early seventies. I remember the Jerry West, Gail Goodrich, Wilt wearing a head band. It's one of the first memories I grew up on seventies NBA and Wilt was a great player. But I never felt Wilt changed the NBA. I think there's only been in my lifetime. Moses Malone was a great player. George Gervin was a great player. Kevin Durant's a great player. I don't think they changed the NBA. I think there's been seven, six or seven guys that have changed the league. Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Magic and Bird Shaq Lebron Steph Curry feels like it. I thought, as great as Kobe was, he was MJ Light, I didn't think he changed the league. And I was thinking about that in football, what the Chiefs have become now, it's weird. In football. If you talk about who's changed the league, it is always, in my opinion, it always feels like a quarterback with a certain coach. I thought Bradshaw and Chuck Knowle changed the league. Bradshaw super talented quarterback and a defensive minded conservative coach. I thought Bill Walsh and Joe Montana changed the league. The West Coast offense. I think you could say you could argue the way Jimmy Johnson aggressively made trades like nobody done before that. Jimmy Johnson and eight when the Cowboy team changed the league. I think Belichick and Brady did. I think Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes are changing the league. And again, just think how remarkably well built and gifted Buffalo and Baltimore are, and it's shrinking their careers. They've been marginalized. They don't feel special, though we know in any other era they may be the ones holding the trophies. So if you go back to that twenty twenty one Kansas City lost to Joe Burrow at Arrowhead. Since that time, Kansas City essentially wins every big game. They play and they win many the same way, really close, and it feels like they've been on a little bit of a Tom Hanks run. I'm sure you guys all remember this. Tom Hanks had like a ten year run and it started with like Sleepless in Seattle. It was a league of their own Philadelphia Forrest Gump. He went on a ten year run that ended with about catch me if you can. There were no misses like they net were just no missus every year. I mean, you almost felt guilty if you're voting for the Oscars. It's like we've given Tom enough. And that's where I think Kansas what he is and the NFL. And you can really tell because the NFL fans are so tribal and so passionate. Basically, if you can't beat him, blame the league. That was a real Shaq Kobe thing. That was a Warrior's Michael Jordan thing. Wow, the league's changing rules. It's the league. That's when you know you're in a different place. And I by the way, I felt Steven Spielberg's a little bit like this et Jaws Indiana Jones, and then the breadth of his work expands with Shindler's list, and Nick Wright and I were talking about this yesterday, is that it's one thing for Mahomes when he had Tyreek Hill and he's playing a little bit of Big twelve football with Andy Reid, They're scoring a lot of points. It's twenty four point quarters. That's not what Mahomes is now. And Nick Wright talked about the growth and the breadth of what Mahomes now creates.
What is remarkable about Patrick singularly is his ability this early in his career to identify the exact type of quarterback that team needs that season or that game and be that quarterback. When he got there, it was, well, we have the twenty ninth defense in football, so it better be bombs away at all times. They trade Tyreek Hill and it's like, Okay, we still have Prime Kelsey. We have good weapons, but we can't stretch the field. I'm gonna dink and dunk my way to the most yards any players ever had in a season. It broke Drew Brees' record that year, win the MVP. The last couple of years. Our wide receiver corps last year was not good. This year banged up. We're gonna have to be a possession based offense, lean on the defense.
He can do that. I'd never it was not.
The only other quarterback who I saw could do that was late stage Tom Tom in that fourteen to eighteen run. And then well I guess further than that, you know, with Tampa, whatever version that team needed, he could be. But Tom was thirty five years old when that started. Patrick's twenty nine and already doing it.
Yeah, there's no question his self awareness and his ability to play different ways. Never quite seen anything like it. Uh. Diana Rossini's Around the Corner Michael Urban two my Super Bowl pick live from the Platoon City, just to hurt.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon eastern nan am Pacific.
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together We're Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You could catch us weekdays from five to seven pm Eastern two to four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of course the iHeartRadio app.
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's.
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We have a lot of fun talking about the stories behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture stories that well other shows don't seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact that we've been friends for the last twenty years and still work together. I mean that says something, right, So check us out. We like to get you involved too, take your phone calls, chop it up. As they say, I'd say, the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio, maybe the.
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Back to the Crescent City, Diana Russini, the athletics senior NFL insider. She's been here since Sunday.
Woop.
I don't even know what this is. What happens after about the Fort Daniel, Orleans.
It's much like Vegas twenty four hours.
Get in, get out.
Someone needs to get me out of the city because I'm having way too much fun. It has been a spectacular week. What a host city. The food, the people, the logistics. I hate to bring logistics up. That's boring. But when they're smooth and the travels eas can get around, it just makes the whole experience fantastic and it puts everybody in a good mood. All the interviews over at Radio Row where all the stars are, everyone's talking and happy. So things are great here to ours.
Pull that mic up just a little closer, control that you're a podcast rising.
Star here learning, learning the ways.
Okay, So I want to talk about this because Philadelphia Eagle fans are saying we invented it.
No you didn't.
You're punishing us. No, we're not the NBA with hack a shack and baseball with a defensive shift. Said, listen, it's bad television, it's repetitive. This is a league that moved off the kickoff. And so I really do think that there was a there's a tipping point for everything, and that Washington moment Diana where it looked like dangerous and the league almost rewarded Philly with an automatic touchdown. I think that was a tipping point. What are you hearing by the committee, Will they change it?
Well?
I think there's definitely momentum I just have a hard time believing they will actually ban it. Last year, there were a lot of conversations happening on the Competition Committee, and I was told that Roger Goodella actually is the one who he doesn't love it. It's not one of his favorite plays. And you know, he never outwardly said anything to the Competition committee like I want this ban, But the people in the room were reading it, and they're like, when the commissioner doesn't like something, usually everyone likes to abide. They decided last year, though, we're gonna stick with this. Let's give it another year and they'll go back to the drawing table here in the Competition committee, we'll discuss it again. I just don't think there's a good enough argument right now that they can make for them to ban it. The fact that the Philadelphia Eagles have been able to master it and the Buffalo Bills weren't able to do it isn't the reason for them to get rid of it.
So he may not be Lawrence Taylor or Reggie White or Aaron Donald, but I do think Miles Garrett is a once in a franchise player that the Cleveland Browns will never have a defensive player that good. He is now available to the market. And I said this yesterday Diana. Buffalo and green Bay are very well run, but they do not attract free agents. So Buffalo clearly's not beating. They can't stop Patrick Mahomes with McDermott, they can't stop him. It's thirty five points. Green Bay doesn't have Philadelphia's roster or the ability to attract free agents. To me, the packers in Buffalo feel like this is a goal for it moment. Am I nuts?
No, You're not nuts at all. Is Cleveland gotta do it? They do not want to move him. Look, I was told that this thing could get messy, right. And the reason why I can get messy because you got two sides on very opposite sides of what they want to do. I just spoke with an NFL agent, a high powered one, and he said to me while I was walking over here, he said, this is about guaranteed money, right, this is all contract. This is just to play for miles to get more money. I said, absolutely not. This is the one case where the player truly wants to go to a team where he can go win a Super Bowl. So at some point here both sides. They're gonna have to come to a decision because Miles Garrett is not going to step on that field. He's gonna get shipped out of Cleveland. So I don't know how this thing ends. I can just tell you that teams around the league are calling, they're trying, they're discussing, and they want to get their business in order before the start of the new league year in March. Yes, so they can make decisions on how they're going to spend their money in free agency, how they're going to draft. So I think this thing is going to actually pick up over the next few weeks as we know that teams are gonna want some answers here.
Yeah. I mean when you go back to the Reggie Wide or the Charles Woodson moments, like free agency can be a bit of a suckers bet silken trades. Now, this is a guy that can change a really good team like Buffalo into a team that can beat Mahomes. To me, this is a you get this about every fourth year in the league. Every fifth year, Like, okay, let's talk Saquon. You were the first person to interview Saquon when he went to the Eagles, and I remember when it happened. I said, this guy's good with the Giants, O line. This is a crazy move. Do you remember the first interview with him and you had it. Do you think he's surprised by how well it's gone.
No, I don't, because the first thing he said to me about joining Philadelphia, he said, when he was sitting in that room for the first time and he was looking around at the talent, he had never been around a team with that much talent. He's like, everywhere I looked, there were just studs.
Oh, pro State had a bad old line. He never had a great old.
Line he had. This to him is something he has never experienced. So look, you look at the roster, and this is a roster Howie Roseman built to win championships.
Okay, that is exactly.
The mindset that this Eagles team when they were constructing it in the off season. And that's the way how he has looked at it this entire time, which is why all season I knew there was gonna be pressure on Nick Siriannity no matter what they were saying, because they knew that they needed to be playing here in New Orleans this Sunday. And look, they're here, and Saquon is the reason for that. And you know, one of my other takeaways when I was sitting with him at this point, Harknocks had already aired, so he got to see the behind the scenes on how Joe Shane dealt him and how they came to that decision and how much owner John Mehra did not want that to happen. We've seen it over and over. It's almost tortress at this point. And you know, I still felt in that moment, and this was right before training camp, he was still hurt by the Giants. Sure, even though he knew he was playing on a better team, I think he was still stunned that they didn't think he was good enough for him to stay there. And while we know that's not the true reason they believed in his talent, they didn't just believe, they just didn't believe his worth financially right, and they knew they didn't have the offensive line for him. That's the Joe Shane side to this whole thing. But to him, I think it took a minute for him to adjust to go and from going, look, this team didn't want me, but this new team is going to take me to an experience that I've dreamt of and now here he is just one year later.
So you know, we're very sensitive when our high school girlfriend's dump us. We don't forget it. He was dumped. Nobody wants to be dump.
He was dumped. And for the Giants, the new girlfriend is smoking high, like that's the hardest part about this, says, they have to watch this.
Okay, so you were at the NFL honors last night. It's not a great college quarterback draft class. No, Sam Donald until the end had a remarkable year. Kevin O'Connell gets Coach of the Year. Don't have a problem with that. He was terrific, Little bumpy at the end, that's life. I didn't think he had a great roster. I thought he rereadly overachieved all year. It is weird. Daniel Jones, JJ McCarthy, Sam Darnald, what are they gonna do?
Well?
The one detail you for guys, he got a new contract, right. They just extended Kevin O'Connell as well, which is always part of it, right because now he's got the security he always had the belief from ownership. But there was definitely some whispers about teams poking around possibly wanting to bring Kevin O'Connell to their program. Minnesota was never going to entertain any of that. But that being said, the quarterback position that he's got so much confidence in what JJ can do. And this was even going back to training camp before he was injured. I think if JJ stayed healthy, he was gonna have a shot to start right. So now here he's gonna come off this injury. Kevin shared that, you know he's doing well. He's ahead of schedule a bit. I think they have enough confidence in their coaching ability and their staff and even their defensive staff that they can pretty much make this work with who they've got on this roster. Do I think they want Sam? Absolutely. They are not going to spend a lot of money though keeping Sam there. They could always tag him and trade him, but they like something. But you're also taking a risk, right because then if you can't trade him, if they want to tag and trade, then they're stuck and they're on the hook for forty forty two million a year and they don't want to do that. So look, if you were to ask me, if I had to guess what happens, I think Sam Darnald hits free agency, it makes good money, and then they move on and they try to find a way to make this work with Daniel Jones and JJ McCarthy.
Yeah, I think I think Donald'll get a Baker Mayfield contract. He deserves it. Same draft class. So I said this, We're not going to look twenty years from now and say, you know, do you remember the year they gifted Josh Allen the MVP, but Lamar beat him in the regular season, had the head and played much better. Lamar a better passer rating, Lamar had better stats. But I do think, like I used Martin score, Good Fellow, is the better movie. They gave him the Oscars for The Departed because it was like Body of Work, It's a good movie. Josh had a good year, He'd had more profound years. But I do think there was a feeling like it was time. Any animosity from the Lamar fans. I mean, what was the vibe.
Well, I'm a voter, so I had an opportunity to place my vote, and I went back and forth on this for weeks for weeks and called GM's head coaches, I called players, a lot of players answers, which surprised me. Was Saquon. I got a lot of sequin I get it, but I just I was laying out all the reasons why I was going to go with who I went with, which was Lamar Jackson. I went with Lamar, and the way I viewed it, it was essentially I looked at the pieces around him, right, and you could make an argument that Buffalo had less on offense, but what Buffalo had better than Baltimore was a defense, right, and the times that the defense let Lamar down in Baltimore, He's the one who raised the level and got them wins. And to me, that deserved my MVP vote on top of the fact I voted for him last year and he was even better this last season. So I definitely think there was a feeling of its time. We've seen Lamar do this before. It's time for Lamar to get excuse me, for Josh Allen to get his opportunity. But I don't think that there was any animosity. I just think people were very divisive about it. I think some people were just set that it's gonna be Josh Allen. Some people are gonna be set on Lamar, and you saw in the voting it was so close yeah. But in the end, I feel really good that I voted for Lamar. I think it was great one.
Okay, Russell Wilson, Pete Carroll moved on, Sean Payton moved on. Jake's lazer came out and said, Mike Tomlin's gonna move on. What are you hearing?
Yeah, I'm hearing the same thing those conversations had they started to happen at the end of their season, they decided, all right, we're gonna probably most likely stick with Justin Fields here moving forward. Just knowing that for Russell Wilson, I don't think it was the perfect fit. I think it was a great move by am I Tomlin and the Steelers organization to take a chance on him. See what we got was free, and then we saw so much success out of it, and there were blips of it. But I think in the end, with who they want to be and the identity, all the reasons that we thought it was strange almost came to light now, like the reasons why we were giving them a hard time initially of why would they bring russ on or what you know they're gonna start Russell Wilson. Remember we were all confused by that it was Justin Fields has got this talent. They can do so much more with him, He's so much more mobile. In the end, though, I think that all came back and now this is going to be a clean slate for them as they make a decision moving forward. I think Justin Fields is gonna be one of that they that they keep on this roster.
I also think keep your eye on Pittsburgh in the second third round. Riley Leonard a little like Justin Field's athletic, big, nice arm young I think I think Pittsburgh's in the market the drafted quarterback. It's not a great quarterback year, but in the second third round you may get a you may get a little value in Riley Leonard.
I think they're gonna see some really interesting decisions knowing that it's a quarterback weekend draft.
Diana Russini all was fun. The athletics from the Crescent City. We are live. Michael Urban's around the corner. My Super Bowl pick as well. Thanks Danna. It's really
