Colin Cowherd Podcast - BEST OF: Colin’s BEST TAKES from the Aaron Rodgers saga: Jets to Steelers - The Herd with Colin Cowherd

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Sold a little pre Super Bowl news Jordan Schultz had
put it out and then Jay Glazer followed that Aaron
Rodgers will not be coming back to the New York Jets.
So I've been on the phone this morning with a
couple of different sources, and let me just tell you
what what I've been told. Aaron Glenn who came from

(00:31):
that incredibly strong Detroit Lion culture, and these were the
exact words I were told. I was told he didn't
want the player or the person in the building as
he started his NFL head coaching career, and that that

(00:52):
doesn't necessarily mean Aaron's a bad person.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
That's not the point.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
Is that for what you deal with with Aaron, you
have to be far more productive than Aaron is at
this point in his career, which is around the fifteenth
best quarterback in the league. And again we all know this,
the more talent you have, the more stuff people will
put up with. But Erin now has been dumped twice.
This is the stuff I talked about eight years ago

(01:18):
and got enormous pushback even from NFL media people. Aaron's
a lot of work. I've known multiple Packers who have
played with him. He is Moody depends on what Aaron
you get in the building, and Green Bay caught him
off guard, and so did the Jets. Glazier's report was
he flew all the way to New York and with

(01:40):
the idea that he was going to be a Jet
for at least one more year, and they informed him
that won't be the case. So I'm a little surprised
because I thought Aaron played well in the last eight
or so weeks of the year, and I do think
this is a bad quarterback draft, and so I'm not
exactly sure what they're going to do. Salah and Olbrich

(02:01):
are not the kind of guys really to push back
on Aaron. Aaron Glenn's a different cat. He's very intense,
he's very bottom line. He's not a compromising guy, and
he did not want to start his New York career
with Aaron Rodgers in the building.

Speaker 2 (02:20):
That's what I was told.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
And I think Peyton Manning left Indy and won a
Super Bowl, Tom Brady left Tampa, or Tom Brady left
New England and won a Super Bowl. Brett Favre left
Green Bay, eventually ends up in Minnesota and is a
play from the Super Bowl with the Vikings, they had
great success, Aaron did not hurt, and then a really

(02:43):
really bad season in a division where you know, New
England was bad. In Miami is a little bit dysfunctional
and limited. So there are two teams. I just ran
into chip Kelly Saturday early evening and we were talking
about the Raiders at quarterback before either one of us

(03:05):
had this information. And I think the Raiders and the
Colts are the two places if Aaron wants to play,
that would be good fits Shane Steichen in Indy.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
I like that roster.

Speaker 1 (03:15):
I don't think it's a top five roster, but I
think it's a good roster and a winnable division. And
I think having chip Kelly two good tight ends, two
offensive tackles young their center. I think Las Vegas has
Pete Carroll chip Kelly. I think that's a very promising
landing spot if Aaron wants to play. There are people

(03:37):
I was told this morning that are unsure in the
NFL if Aaron wants to play, and only Aaron can
answer that, and that could go back and forth depending
on the moot.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
Who knows. I'm not going to.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
Try to speculate whether Aaron wants to play or not
have no idea.

Speaker 2 (03:52):
Some of the notes I have here is that.

Speaker 1 (03:57):
Aaron Glenn felt so strongly about what he wanted to build.
And Aaron Glenn has an understanding that what the Jets
don't have, and they haven't had for a decade or more,
is a really good culture. They've had good players. Aaron
Glenn has told people there's a lot of talent on

(04:17):
this roster, and a lot of it's on defense. You know,
I've said this that if you look at all the
job openings this year, we may have misgivings about the
Jets ownership and their stability and their impulsive nature. At
least that's how I view them. Over the last decade,
They've run through a lot of coordinators and a lot

(04:37):
of coaches. The roster's fine, the roster's absolutely fine. But
Aaron now is expensive and DeVante Adams. My guess would be,
I asked somebody this morning about Davonte Adams. He's very
expensive and he came to New York willingly because of
Aaron Rodgers. So my guess is the Jets, and it's

(05:02):
a pretty good guess, would probably cut Aaron and Devonte
Adams who's very expensive. He made what over twenty five
million dollars last year. I did not look good up
this morning. But this really comes down to something I
have hit on and talked about for years and years.
And it doesn't mean he's necessarily a bad person. That's

(05:24):
not what I'm saying. But I've had enough people in
Aaron Rodgers' orbit that he is. There are depends on
the day and what you get from Aaron, and Aaron
Glenn was not going to walk on eggshells. He just
came from Detroit. He knows what culture means. He took
over a Jets like situation where you had some talent.

(05:47):
But when the last time we talked about the Lions
pre Dan Campbell and what a great culture it was
like never they'd had Calvin Johnson and Barry Sanders and
Matt Stafford, They've had really good players. The culture is
the secret sauce for the Lions now that in their
own line and drafting they've got a really strong, formidable culture.
The Jets have players. Jets have better players today for

(06:10):
Aaron Glenn than Dan Campbell had when he took over
the Lions. But after about a year and a half,
you were really seeing the value of culture and Aaron
Aaron Glenn, he didn't want to start with a player
that's older, that's expensive, that Green Bay moved off from.
They didn't know if Jordan Love was going to be

(06:30):
the guy. They didn't They really didn't know if Jordan
Love was going to be it. A lot of people
still aren't sure if Jordan Love's going to be it.
I think he's really good, bit reckless, but very good.
So this has been a theme in Aaron Rodgers' career.
I don't think Aaron was difficult early in his career.
I mean, if you read the Jeff Perlman book, it

(06:52):
really laid out that Farv was not always the most
welcoming to Aaron Rodgers. They get along now fine, probably
because both I've had some uh you know, turbulence in
their careers. Certainly Farv has and Aaron's it's been a
little bumpy, a little bumpy landing in New York, a
little bumpy at the end in Green Bay with management.

(07:13):
But I think I think the Raiders and Chip Kelly
would be a pretty good landing spot. I will tell
you that I have had now three different people tell
me over the course I had two in New Orleans
and one over the last two days. Tell me Shadure
Sanders is gaining steam and Shaduur Sanders could possibly drop

(07:37):
to the Raiders.

Speaker 2 (07:38):
I think that.

Speaker 1 (07:39):
I think that would be my hunch that they need
a quarterback. They didn't get good quarterback played. They're not
missing a ton. I mean really, they're really not. They
need a running back in, a quarterback and another weapon.
There's a lot the Raiders have. I know that division
is tough, but if you're Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly
and let's say Aaron Rodgers, you're going to have to
face Mahomes and Justin Herbert and Sean Payton and Nicks

(08:00):
in the playoffs, Potentially you might as well have six
games against those teams going into the playoffs if you
landed the air and succeeded. But I think over the
course of time, we have to be completely honest. And
I know there's a lot of you know, Aaron fans,
I get it, But when you get dumped twice and
are surprised both times, maybe it's not somebody else. Aaron

(08:22):
has that quality And this has been shared with me
on more than one occasion, and He's certainly not the
only person that has this, but kind of needs to
be the smartest guy in the room, and that can
be off putting to some. But I don't know if
he's going to continue his career. It doesn't matter. He's
the fifteenth best quarterback in the league right now, it
doesn't matter. The league moves on. It moved on from

(08:44):
Brady and Peyton Manning and Drew Brees. It's certainly going
to move on. It moved on from the wildly popular
Brett Farr and Joe Montana. It's going to move on
just fine. But they I'm told that Aaron Glenn, knowing
the value of cold just he made it very clear
inside that building in New York that he wanted a

(09:05):
clean start, fresh start. Everybody had in the same direction.
Didn't want to walk on eggshells, didn't want to have
to deal with any unnecessary potential drama. And so I
don't know where they're going. They're not going to go
get Sam Darnold. I doubt that, But I've said this before.
It may not be the strongest NFL draft in the

(09:27):
first round for quarterbacks, but I do think Kyle McCord
from Syracuse or Riley Leonard are really interesting players. Riley
Leonard had a very good Senior Bowl. I've had multiple
people they really like Kyle McCord from Syracuse. They see
as a starting quarterback in the NFL. But that is
the news on Aaron Rodgers as we get ready for

(09:47):
pre Super Bowl. You know, it's interesting. I like Kansas
City in this game. But you know I say this
without a ton of conviction. I just there's two numbers.

Speaker 2 (09:55):
I like a lot.

Speaker 1 (09:56):
Mahomes is eight to zero against mc fangio, and Andy
Reid is thirty three and seve An off of buy
and the four best players for the Chiefs have They've
all been in this game, and several of them have
been many times. And I like the experience in this spot.
But Philadelphia does have a better accumulation of talent. I

(10:17):
don't think anybody denies that. But I think the Eagles
number one defense somewhat is built on the fact that
they faced a lot of bad quarterbacks. The AFC is
much better at the top, whereas the Chiefs faced Lamar
Jackson and Josh Allen and Justin Herbert twice and Bo
Nix and Sean Payton twice and CJ. Stroud and Joe
Burrow and beat Kirk Cousins early when he was good.

(10:39):
You know, the Eagles faced the New York Giants offense
twice and lost to Kirk Cousins and the Saints and
Cleveland Jaggs, Carolinas Steelers, Dallas with Cooper Rush. I don't
think Philadelphia have faced as many good quarterbacks, in my opinion,
and as many good coaches as the Chiefs defense did.

(11:00):
I think the Chiefs on average face better coaches and
better quarterbacks. Although you know, both teams faced Kirk Cousins,
Philadelphia lost to him. Both teams faced Joe Burrow, but
Kansas City beat Kirk Cousins, who was pretty good when
both those teams got.

Speaker 2 (11:17):
A shot at him.

Speaker 1 (11:19):
So not that the Eagles defense isn't good, But my
takeaway is if you had the fifth best defense in
the NFL and you're playing in the AFC in your
face and Lamar and Josh and Herbert a couple of times,
and Stroud and Nicks and Burrow and Kirk Cousins when
he was in really good shape and some good coaching,
that's a handful. So I think it's a close game.

(11:41):
I think in the second half, the scoring gets ratcheted
up and the defense is tire out a little bit,
and you'll see some really big time plays. But I
think you're going to get a classic Super Bowl. Super
Bowl fifty nine. Jordan Schultz and then Jake Laser reported
the Jets moved off Aaron Rodgers. So for the second
time in a couple of years, a team as Aaron

(12:05):
flew out to New York thinking positively optimistically it would happen,
they moved off him. I think the Colts and the
Raiders work. I think Chip Kelly, they have two tackles,
they have a center, they have two good tight ends.
Then they're running back and receiver. I think I think
the Raiders works b Aaron Rodgers. He'd take that over
the Colts and Shane Steichen. But you know Peyton Manning

(12:26):
and Tom Brady late in their careers leave.

Speaker 2 (12:30):
And have some success.

Speaker 1 (12:31):
Yeah, Brett Farve that as well, got to an NFC
championship a throw from the Super Bowl. Are you surprised
that it was just two years of nothing and the
second team bailed on him.

Speaker 3 (12:43):
I'm not, but are you h No? Because as the
season went on, it got pretty weird between Aaron and
the owner, and I listened you recorded something before the
Super Bowl about you know, this new culture coming in.
You know, Aaron Glen's at former high level player, so
it's like, do I want to deal with some old aging?

(13:03):
You know what's the hardest thing to deal with sometimes
in pro sports an aging form or superstar, especially one
that's a little different. You know Peyton Manning that last year,
Remember Kubiak and Elway had to sit him down and
like it was difficult, he took a pay cut. These
are these are tough conversations, but I think it was
pretty clear that the Johnson family was over this guy
about two months left to go in the season. I

(13:26):
wonder if part of the interviews was like Aaron's done here,
which most of these new code who cares like it's
not like okay, fine, I don't need them anyway. I
think the question now is is he even tradable because
he's on the books for this year, his cash you know,
his cap hits twenty three million dollars. I honestly think

(13:49):
they probably have to cut them. I wonder if anyone
at you I think them so it's like they just
cut him. I think they'll cut them and then someone
signs them for ten million bucks. I mean, is he
is that what he's getting? Kind of a unique say
you think about it. Roethlisberger's arm gave out on him,
it was clear, but he just ends as a Steeler.

(14:10):
Manning's arm doesn't work, wins the Super Bowl, but then
no one would resign him. Breeze's arms started going and
it just ended. Is he really just going to go play? Like?
What if the Titans outbid that and they give him
twelve million? The Raiders are only willing to give him.
See he's gonna finish his career on the Titans. Because
I do think it wouldn't just be those two. I
think a lot of teams would be interested just to

(14:30):
try to get their franchise. You know, these owners give
them a little oomph. If you got some cap face,
I'll give Aaron Rodgers fifteen million dollars if you're the Titans,
why wouldn't you pay him?

Speaker 1 (14:39):
If yeah, he has a house in Nashville. I mean
they'll say, hit listen, we'll give you two years. He
got a house in Nashville. It's an easy division. And
then you have that number one pick you could trade
down get a bunch of players around him. It's just interesting.
I was told that Aaron Glenn, for the people that
didn't hear my pre Super Bowl fifteen minute rant, I

(15:02):
was told by somebody I trust that Aaron Glenn, coming
from a really strong culture in Detroit, wants to mimic
that right, duplicate that in New York, and he didn't
want Aaron Rodgers the player or the person in the room.
And they'll they'll say all the right stuff. But in
the end, I mean, Green Bay caught him off guard.
The Jets kind of caught him off guard. Aaron has

(15:25):
that disease of has to be the smartest guy in
the room. I'm gonna do my own homework on the internet.
And you know, I think in the end, Aaron, I mean,
I could write chapters in a book on things I've
heard from people that have been around him. He's a
really moody guy. You can get good Aeron or bad Aeron,
but in the end, he's just not good enough. Now

(15:45):
he's probably the fifteenth best quarterback in the league. He's
just not good enough for the bs you deal with.
Like like he's not early to the locker room. He's
not optimistic like Brady to the end. I mean was
just like high energy, high optimist, some high standards. I'm
not sure Aaron loves the game. I think, you know

(16:06):
how when he ever worked with somebody or you have
somebody in your family and.

Speaker 2 (16:09):
They're like, I work hard, and you're like.

Speaker 1 (16:11):
Dude, hard work is sixty five hours a week, not
forty two. I think Aaron says he loves the game.
I don't see it. I don't I don't see that
just just unbridled, like just relentless passion for it. I
think I think Aaron thinks he loves the game, but
he doesn't love it. He doesn't love it the way
the guys that I see it in pro Sports. Sorry

(16:33):
to interrupt this great video, but please remember to like
and subscribe.

Speaker 2 (16:37):
Thank you. Now back to the video.

Speaker 3 (16:40):
I think it'll be very telling that when they cut him,
if he's only getting seven, eight, ten million dollar off,
he doesn't need the money, right, He's worth hundreds of
millions of dollars. At this point in time, it was
clear he did not want to get hit last year.
Don't blame him. He's forty years old. So is he
going to go play for some of these teams. You know,

(17:00):
Carroll calls the Titans call, It's like, yeah, this this
might not go well again.

Speaker 2 (17:05):
Right.

Speaker 3 (17:05):
The one thing Aaron Rodgers has a good feel for,
you know, the most of his career is what a
good team looks like. So this could be really like,
you go sign up for one of these teams. Best
case scenario might be like seven wins and you you know,
struggled to stay hurt last year on a roster that's
going to be better more than likely than one of
these teams interested in you. So I wonder if he

(17:26):
gets to the point where it's like, am I really
going to do a one year for eight, nine, ten
million dollars. It's one thing, you know, the jetson he
went thirty five million dollars. If someone was willing to
pay him that, I think he would for sure play.
But I have a hard time if you're ten million dollars,
it's like the best options the Titans him just going
I'm just gonna go hang out in Malibu and just

(17:46):
kick it.

Speaker 2 (17:49):
Yeah, he's got a beautiful house.

Speaker 1 (17:51):
I watched that documentary Enigma, and it was interesting, you know,
I watched the first episode, was bored out of my mind.

Speaker 2 (17:58):
I gave it a second episode that better.

Speaker 3 (18:00):
I gave it like ten minutes more brought off. I'm like,
I don't even care. Just wasn't for me.

Speaker 2 (18:05):
Yeah, you're a better man than me. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (18:08):
So I kind of felt like I for the audience
I had to go watch it. But you know, I
just think he's just a different cat, and I think
over the last six or seven years, he's got to
be really high maintenance. But I don't know what the
Jets are going to do at quarterback. But I and
I ran into Chip Kelly Saturday night briefly, and this

(18:31):
was before I knew the era and news, and my
take is that's probably the best place for him. Honestly,
it's probably the best. If I was him, I can
be closer to Malibu.

Speaker 2 (18:38):
It's probably the best.

Speaker 3 (18:39):
I saw the headline today that the Raiders might be
interested in Sam Donald, and I actually ran into Sam
Donald at the hotel gym the day I was leaving,
and I talked to him again in the elevator. You
know one thing that really stands out to me. I
had a bunch of players staying at the hotel I
was staying at ran into like Ladanian Tomlinson. I know
Lorenzo O'Neil really well, so I went up and talk
to him about low Neil and just good easygoing guys

(19:01):
like you can just have a normal conversation with Ladanian Tomlinson,
like in the in the hotel gym for five minutes,
where it's like, you know, this is one of the
great running backs in the history of the league. Like
I don't know if you know, the equivalent in some
of these other sports will just do that. But these guys,
you know Sam Darnold, who just had one of the
great seasons in the league, He's just b esa with
me about where he's gonna play golf this summer in LA.

(19:23):
It's just it's just an easy going group of people.
And my theory has always been is they're they're the
most they have the most in common with normal people
because their job is one they get cut all the time.
One they also get screamed at at their job a lot,
like if it's not going well, you're getting criticized by
your bosses like normal human beings do. And there's just
they just communicate very well with non you know, famous people,

(19:47):
which I can be a struggle with people making a
lot of money, and I was just very impressed. All
the players that I ran into the hotel just had
brief conversations with.

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Speaker 1 (21:20):
Speaking of artists, I think if you took any NFL
quarterback and said he was more artists, it would be
Aaron Rodgers.

Speaker 2 (21:27):
Aaron's very unique, and.

Speaker 1 (21:31):
I tend to believe that people make mistakes, but most
NFL reporters are very, very good. So I'm going to
trust the NFL reporter who broke this story that basically
Aaron begged the Jets to keep him. And it's interesting
because I think we both acknowledge Aaron smart. You know,
he's a bright guy. Better than average intelligence. But he's

(21:54):
had two franchises catch him off guard letting him go.
And it's an interesting thing with Aaron. Generally, these two
things coincide intelligence and self awareness, and we think Aaron's smart.
And twice he's knocked on the door of the franchise
and they're like they do the Vegas.

Speaker 2 (22:16):
Dealer, Yeah, we're out, and he's like, whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa whoa.

Speaker 1 (22:21):
What I find interesting about Aaron, if this story is
true that he begged to stay, is that he doesn't
get like, he doesn't get his brand, and it's like, Aaron,
you're not some dullard, You're not a dim bulb. You're
a lot of work and you're not nearly as good
as you used to be. This, whether you're a talk

(22:43):
show host or a quarterback, never ends well. When I
read that he was begging to stay or he really
wanted to stay, part of it.

Speaker 2 (22:54):
To me was sad. It's like, Aaron, how do you
not get this? Does that sold you? I don't so.

Speaker 6 (23:04):
Albert Brier then reported that Aaron wanted to stay, wanted
and indicated that he wants to keep playing, but that
he was not He did not present it like that
he was begging. Rogers doesn't strike me as a guy
that would get down on one knee and beg the
New York Jets for employment. So I didn't buy the

(23:26):
behind the paywall New York Post story that said it
was like a man walking himself to the gallows and
referencing ayahuasca. It was like very New York posting, and
so I was like, I took it with a little
bit of a grain of salt. What I do think
is true is that Rogers probably went to that meeting
and stayed at his case. I was heard at the

(23:48):
beginning of the year. I played much better at the
at the end of the year, and what's your plan?
If not me, then who? And they probably don't have
a great answer for that right now. So I'm I
bet he stated his case. I still struggle to find
a team that makes more sense for Rogers than Pittsburgh.

(24:10):
People keep saying Minnesota. Aren't they going to try JJ McCarthy.
It traded up in the first round to draft it.
And if they think that if they got a great
season seasons out of Kirk Cousins and then a great
season out of Sam Darnold, I would have to imagine
that they think that the guy that they picked they
can get a great season out.

Speaker 2 (24:30):
Of for very cheap.

Speaker 1 (24:31):
Well, I want to quickly segue to this. I don't
want to spend too much time on Aaron. So there
was a story that Jason McIntyre deserves credit. He talked
about it like four days before anybody else did Stafford
to the Giants? And I made two calls on it,
and it was a real thing. It's now Stafford may
just want a new deal and an influx of money

(24:52):
from the Rams. That's probably it. The idea of going
from Stan Cronkey and Sean McVay and indoor football to
the Giants facing Philadelphia twice a year and Jaden Daniels
does not feel appealing to me. Just chaos to non chaos.
The Rams are a really well run ship. But it
was interesting. So when I propose that, it was amazing.

(25:14):
And again it's fans. So how many people said you
cannot give up a first round pick for Matt Stafford
And I'm like, I definitely can. It is a week draft.
You've been unwatchable for a decade, Like you're the GM
of the Giants. I press you into a corner. What

(25:37):
would you give up for Matt Stafford in a week draft?

Speaker 6 (25:40):
Yeah, I mean I would try to make it next
year's first round pick, right like, not.

Speaker 1 (25:45):
Don't you got to give up some I'm not gonna
let you get away with that. You gotta give me
something this year.

Speaker 2 (25:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (25:50):
Then I mean, listen, I still think Stafford's an arguably
top five quarterback in the NFL.

Speaker 2 (25:56):
I think there's a big wasn't big four?

Speaker 6 (25:58):
And then like Matt Stafford, everyone was immediately like Jaden
Daniels is the best quarterback in the NFC, And I
was like.

Speaker 3 (26:05):
I don't know.

Speaker 6 (26:06):
I think I'll still take the thirty five year old gunslinger,
like personally, to win a game tomorrow, I'll take I'll
still take Stafford over Jayden Daniels though Jayden's amazing. So yeah,
I think that if the Rams were open for business,
they would get a first round pick from Matt Stafford,
even at his age.

Speaker 1 (26:25):
I now, even though you'd have to redo the deal,
like it's he's just too damn good in a league.

Speaker 6 (26:32):
Now, it is all that, And it's the type of
thing that you don't go into it blind, like you'd
be his agent would be given permission to talk to
the team. Hey, are you playing? You know you're not
retiring next year? Right, No, you're playing multiple years? Okay cool? Yeah,
And as long as they have a guarantee that Matt
Stafford would sign a contract extension, rework the deal to

(26:52):
your point, and play multiple years. I do think that
he would get a first round pick. He's awesome. He's awesome.
I don't really get why the Rams would want to
be out of the Matt Stafford business though, Like I
watched your segment and like, okay, I personally would put
up with his wife saying goofy things and like he's
Matt Stafford.

Speaker 1 (27:14):
Well, I think what the Rams are looking at some
of that public Cooper Cup Stafford, the Rams felt a
bit belied in social media, the wife, Cooper Cup. It's like, guys,
we're really good, we're really good owners, we're good people here.
Don't go public. So I think that's part of it.
I think the other thing you have to look at
is take Stafford out. Who are the pocket quarterbacks that

(27:38):
you really think can win the Super Bowl over the
next ten years?

Speaker 3 (27:41):
Goff?

Speaker 1 (27:42):
And that's mostly because the on line really of Detroit,
the old line is so suffocating it could move the
ball against PHILADELPHIA'ST line. The truth is, I think, and
they're also looking at we don't we Matt wants four years,
they give him two, So I think it's they want
Matt Stafford. But I do think rent a quarterback for
a year because next year's quarterback class is much better.

(28:03):
Is Aaron Rodgers. I think Aaron. If you go to
Aaron's last ten games in New York with at that
point arguably the worst coaching staff not in Chicago, in
the league, it was the worst coaching staff, and he
put up like really decent numbers the last ten games.
My take is with McVeigh, if you could hold those

(28:23):
numbers for a year, two year deal, we draft a quarterback.
And I also think Aaron has been humbled. I think
I think he'd come live in Malibu and be like,
I'm taking.

Speaker 6 (28:35):
I have no issue with understanding why Aaron Rodgers would
want to play in LA For Sean.

Speaker 2 (28:40):
McVay, that's not as that's not a leap.

Speaker 6 (28:43):
My thing is, if I'm Sean McVay, I think Matt
Stafford is better than Aaron Rodgers at this yes, this age,
I used to don't get why the Rams would want
to be out of the Stafford business to get into
the Rogers business.

Speaker 2 (28:58):
Like if if at Stafford forced the.

Speaker 6 (29:01):
Trade or retired or whatever, then like, okay, we can
have that conversation. But I just I get to me
all these teams that people are throwing out for Rogers,
like the Niners, the Vikings, the Rams, Like, yeah, that
all sounds great for Aaron.

Speaker 2 (29:18):
I think it's much more likely that it's gonna be
like Vegas, Tennessee.

Speaker 6 (29:24):
Nobody's like I think that that that's where it's gonna be.
Like is he going to just play to play and
grind out six wins or I don't. I don't believe
that a Super Bowl contender is calling Aaron Rodgers. Maybe
I'll be proven wrong, but don't. I don't believe that
a Super Bowl contenders ready for him.

Speaker 1 (29:43):
So I thought it was interesting today where Adam Schefter
was almost annoyed with they arned Rodgers, where he came
out and said pick a team. So I said this
on the air to day, if you ever tell a
corporation listen, I need more time all get back to you.

(30:03):
You have to have the self awareness to know how
that lands to the corporation, especially if you're in a
valuable position. It's a big fu. You're literally going back
thinking what A what a prima donna?

Speaker 2 (30:17):
What a?

Speaker 1 (30:18):
And it's where I usually tend to think really smart
people have excellent self awareness, and I wonder sometimes with Aaron,
is he the rare smart dude doesn't read the room well?
I mean he he goes on this darkness retreating Green
Bay and then is shocked when they're like, take a hike,
like how can you be shot?

Speaker 6 (30:39):
Don't? But here's the thing with Rogers, and there's a
lot of it. He talks a lot, but do we
believe anything he says, like, what do you mean he
said he didn't have cell service? Like he's like, he's like, oh, like,
can you live in Malibu and twenty five million dollar

(31:01):
house you have cell service?

Speaker 2 (31:02):
Like? It was just I think that he has a lot.

Speaker 6 (31:06):
Of narcissism to him. And he's like I love the silence.
And then he brought a film crew like what do
these things are just in conflict with each other?

Speaker 2 (31:15):
I just you know what I mean?

Speaker 6 (31:16):
I think that he is a so I don't know
that he knows exactly what he wants and I think
he loves attention, and I think that he He told
Mark Schlareth and Stink has told the story publicly. He
did like a week sixteen or seventeen Jets game and
he Stink said that they talk for almost thirty minutes

(31:37):
twenty something was about the running game because Stink's insane,
and he was like five or ten minutes was about
his future. And he's like Aaron told me point Blake, like,
I'm only going to keep playing if the situation is perfect.

Speaker 2 (31:49):
Well, now apparently it's down to the Steelers and the
Giants and be perfectmn perfect now at least the Steelers,
to me, makes perfect sense. That one makes perfect sense.
He loves Mike Tomlin. Mike Tomlin loves him Mike Tomlin.

Speaker 6 (32:09):
Apparently, it's impossible for this guy to have a losing season.
Mason Rudolph, Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky, Duck Hodges. It doesn't matter.
It's impossible for this guy to have a losing season.
So obviously you're hyper relevant. The fans care. You'll look
good in the iconic jersey. You'll get to play against

(32:29):
Joe Burrow, You'll play against Lamar Jackson. The AFC North
plays the NFC North this year, so the Steelers host
the Packers, they go to Chicago.

Speaker 2 (32:39):
Aaron will eat that shit up like that. To me,
that makes sense.

Speaker 6 (32:44):
He can have an expectation of playing in a playoff
game and maybe winning a playoff game that Tomlin hasn't
done since twenty sixteen.

Speaker 2 (32:51):
They're not going to win a super Bowl, but.

Speaker 6 (32:53):
That makes sense if he comes back and he plays
for the Giants, It's just pure van.

Speaker 1 (33:01):
Sorry to interrupt this great video, but please remember to
like and subscribe.

Speaker 2 (33:05):
Thank you. Now back to the video.

Speaker 1 (33:08):
Okay, So I'm going to argue because this was a
discussion today on our show and I said, because I've
moved so many times that I get a yellow padout
pros cons and I said.

Speaker 2 (33:19):
I'm going to be Aaron Rodgers. I don't have to move.

Speaker 1 (33:23):
I get an offensive coach, I get neighbors and a
really good left tackle, and I'm going to have more
juice in the building. Because the coach and the GM
are getting fired or they had lost Nausee Harris in
their left tackle. They're completely toned af to offense. I'm
old and don't want to get hit, and they haven't
had a good line for seven years. I'll have really

(33:45):
no power in the building, and I'm going to have
two guys that are both going to demand the ball
and neither one runs a complete route tree. I can
make an argument selfishly, Like every time I've ever thought
about moving, my take is, who is my spendali in
the building? Will somebody get me? Brian Dabeles work with

(34:06):
Daniel Jones. He's worked with Josh Allen. Brian Dabeles been
around forever. Man Jeanie calls him one of his best
assistants he's ever known. Like, you go into a building
with a guy you can literally be on the same wavelength.
I mean, Arthur Smith does not appear to be likable
and Mike Tomlin does not appear to care about offense.
And you got two receivers who want to be ones.

(34:28):
I look at Pittsburgh and think this is a powder
kid to two things.

Speaker 2 (34:34):
One I could be wrong. I obviously don't know the man.
I don't think he cares about moving.

Speaker 7 (34:43):
He'll like, come on, he travels to Tahiti in Thailand,
and he lived for fifteen years in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
In you know, he he'll be fine for eight months
in Pittsburgh. I have a hard time believing that is
going to.

Speaker 6 (35:01):
Be a determining factor for him. Maybe I'm wrong, but
I just I think he'll be fine. He's a very
well traveled individual. He'll have as much power in the
offensive side as he wants. Who knows, maybe he'll fire
Arthur Smith and they'll hire Nathaniel Hackett like he is
the offensive coordinator in and of himself. I think he

(35:23):
loves Tomlin. I think that they've flirted with each other.
They wink at each other on the sideline. He shouts
him out when he does the McAfee interviews. I think
he's got a respect for him. Conspiracy theory. McAfee today
retweeted a video of Rogers talking about Tomlin from like
twenty twenty one. I think it's happening. I think it's happening.

(35:46):
I think he's going to announce it on that show.
McAfee is a Pittsburgh guy, or a Pennsylvania guy, whatever
he is.

Speaker 2 (35:53):
He's doing some show in Pittsburgh coming out soon. He's
on a big night act.

Speaker 6 (35:58):
I don't fully understand the McAfee universe, but like I
think Rogers, who's apparently making seven figures from the guy,
which is amazing, good gig if you can get it.
I think he's announcing that he's going to Pittsburgh with
McAfee at his show in Pittsburgh, and he's a Steeler.

Speaker 2 (36:14):
That's what I think is all right, Just you're probably right.

Speaker 1 (36:18):
I'm just telling you the stuff that matters to me,
which is, don't have to worry about moving left tackle,
offensive coach, great weapon, and I'm going to have power
in the building.

Speaker 2 (36:26):
I'll get a say in the building. Where do you
think he wins more football games Pittsburgh?

Speaker 6 (36:31):
Yeah, so I guess okay, And this would be the
other thing I wanted to say to you. And this
is like a like developing more as my media career
continues to just get older or whatever. I root for
interesting powder keg great, awesome. It is so much more

(36:52):
interesting if Aaron Rodgers is in Pittsburgh with Mike Tomlin that,
you know what.

Speaker 2 (36:57):
Great point. Like I've said it.

Speaker 6 (37:00):
I had our guys work up a photoshop of him
in the Steelers' uniform the day the season ended. Like
to me, it's made obviously, if Minnesota wants him, that's
a better situation obviously. So I see him holding I
can see him holding out for that. I think they're
gonna go JJ McCarthy.

Speaker 2 (37:15):
We'll see. But and the Steelers would be on national
TV six times.

Speaker 6 (37:22):
They would be hyper relevant and hyper interesting, good or bad,
good or bad.

Speaker 2 (37:27):
So I am if he's going to play and.

Speaker 6 (37:30):
We're going to talk about him, and he's gonna suck
all the oxygen out of a room, I would much
rather him do it on a ten or eleven win
team than a five or six win team. So I'm
personally am rooting for Pittsburgh.

Speaker 1 (37:48):
I want to throw this with Aaron Rodgers and the Vikings,
the Steelers, you know, the Giants interested. So I've said before,
the Vikings is the obvious choice if you could do it,
if you want. I wanted one more year with their personnel
and their coach. Giants two to me, Steeters three. I'll
get to that in a second. But I went and
watched a movie this morning eleven forty called Black Bag.

(38:12):
It was Steven Soderberg, who's done. He started with sexualize
and videotape years ago. Very heavy stuff, very quirky, plot twist,
fascinating guy. The movie's great. I love that hour thirty three.
I mean, you're in and out of the theater. It's fascinating,
not a wasted scene. But as I was watching it,
I was thinking, as I walked out of the theater,

(38:33):
is that.

Speaker 3 (38:35):
You can tell.

Speaker 1 (38:36):
How smart an actor is by the directors and the
choices they make for movies. Bad dumb actors end up
in bad films and make bad choices. Tom Hanks did
not make a bad choice for like ten years.

Speaker 2 (38:51):
Now.

Speaker 1 (38:51):
I know Tom Hanks gets better scripts than the average guy.
But you know, even a movie like Big, you know
you're like smarts, choose smarter roles. And I think this
is the ultimate test for Aaron Rodgers. Hear me out.
So the teams that want in Minnesota, Pittsburgh, and New York.
Pittsburgh's got the best overall roster. The best overall coach

(39:14):
is probably in Minnesota. But here's something fascinating about the Steelers.
So in five of the last seven years, and I
think we both agree they draft and develop well, they
got dudes. This is a real roster. Five of the
last seven years they've had at least a three game
losing streak at minimum at the end of the year.

(39:37):
And my belief is as the league has gotten offensively
smarter and the culture has changed and defenses are limited.
That Mike Tomlin is a raw raw coach, kind of
a motivator. That's why such a good as an underdog
coach is that the raw raw stuff, it doesn't land
or stick by Christmas on, It just doesn't. Players have

(40:01):
heard it, and that they're just not a sophisticated team offensively.
They can't get the O line right, which Andy Reid, McVeigh,
Shanahan and Gary Sean Payton, those guys within a year
can figure I mean, the Denver O line sucked.

Speaker 2 (40:13):
Peyton got there. It was top eight, you know, his first.

Speaker 1 (40:16):
Year, and that I think if Aaron chooses the Steelers,
I think it's a big brand, it's a good roster.
You now have two high maintenance receivers who want the ball.
By the way, DK Metcalf's the most penalized receiver since
the enter of the league, temperamental. You have an O

(40:37):
line that can't figure out. They have no sensibility for it.
He's sort of an outsider in a in a kind
of a tough blue collar city.

Speaker 2 (40:45):
He's an outsider.

Speaker 1 (40:47):
And if he chooses Pittsburgh, I really think it tells
you a lot about Aaron. I mean I would I'll
tell you I would choose the Giants over Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh
just lost their left tackle, but just lost Najie Harris.
It's like, if the Giants have an excellent left tackle
an offensive coach, Aaron will have power. They have an
elite weapon. And by the way, what they need is

(41:07):
a running back. It's a great running back draft. It's
hard to screw the running back. I mean, the Giants
will take a running back somewhere early. So my take
on Aaron is if he chooses the Steelers, he's passing
on offensive coaches who clearly every rule advantage goes to
that side. And I'm fascinated by the choice he makes

(41:28):
because I'm you know, you start hearing things. A lot
of people think he's going to Pittsburgh. If you just
wanted to play one more year, where would you.

Speaker 3 (41:39):
Pick'd be begging are we factoring Minnesota in with these
three or just the os two? Begging O'Connell to let
me be the starting quarterback.

Speaker 2 (41:47):
Okay, I see.

Speaker 3 (41:48):
Some of these reports that you know he needs thirty
forty million dollars, like guy's made four and fifty million dollars.
This is probably going to be his last season. Is
he going to go out on the embarrassment that was
the Jet situation in these last couple of years. To me,
the Giants thing is, I can't get with you there.
Now I'm with you. I think the Steeler situation's a
little overrated. I mean, they just they happened to have

(42:11):
Lamar Jackson, who's I don't know, the most unique quarterback
we've ever seen, and Joe Burrow, who when he's on
might be the best quarterback.

Speaker 2 (42:18):
In the league.

Speaker 3 (42:19):
I mean, you're not out doing those two teams. And
then Cleveland just resigned one of the greatest pass rushers ever.
And for a weird organization that they are not easy
to play, that division's really really difficult. And I'm with
you on the Steelers. I thought that that DK Metcalf
trade was insanity, Colin, When you don't have your quarterback

(42:41):
to trade for DK Metcalf when down the stretch of
the season, obviously your offense had some issues, but Russell
did not play well, your defense was falling apart. You
are not in the business of giving a guy one
hundred million dollars guaranteed trading a second round pick. That's
look what the Chiefs or Bill should do, not a
team that's barely getting in the playoffs and getting smoked

(43:01):
the moment they get in. That was crazy. I thought
that was the craziest move when you factor in money
and a high draft pick. But I don't think the
Steelers and the Giants are that good options, Like I
see one the Giants, I don't think would make the
playoffs with them. I mean, the Jets were a much
better team either, and I think the Steelers situation would
probably have some parallels, might look a little better. But

(43:23):
like the way this season nine to ten wins get
blasted by the Ravens for Bills yea, and what's he
just going to retire for it?

Speaker 1 (43:29):
By the way, last year, to my point, last year,
to my point, the Steelers were an awful team down
the stretch.

Speaker 3 (43:34):
I do think and I would imagine, you know, Kevin O'Connell,
I don't think he's ever worked with Aaron. They're just
having long conversations because they go, are we confident that
we could win the division and win playoff games with
JJ McCarthy, Because they I'm telling you we've seen it.
I know you know this, but like you could win
just because this isn't the NBA when you just put

(43:55):
a great roster like guaranteed to make the playoffs and football,
the cohesion and the quarterback play. Sam Donald threw thirty
five touchdowns last year. JJ McCarthy in fifteen games that
last year in Michigan through twenty two. He's never played
like that. They did not, that's not And if Kevin
O'Connell clearly is much more like McVeigh than Shanahan. He
likes to throw the ball. I mean he is, that's
his you know, he wants to call thirty five to

(44:17):
forty passes a game, even when Sam Donald's getting smoked
in the playoff games, like Kevin run the ball, he
just kept calling pass plays. So I'd be begging Kevin O'Connell.
I think that roster. I would disagree with you on
the Steelers. I think the Vikings have a better roster today.
Now the draft, we'll see what happens, you do. I
mean I thought they had an excellent free agency drafting
or I mean signed a couple offensive linemen plug and play,

(44:38):
a guard in a center, a couple of defensive linemen.
I mean their defense overachieved because Flores is such an
elite coordinator now, so they bring a couple more defensive linemen.
I would imagine they draft defense. Their offense is stacked
skill wise, so you know it'd be I mean, it'd
be a little weird, right if Aaron's career literally paralleled
the guy that always drove him nuts far if of
going to the Jets than the Vikings. Yeah, but that division,

(45:02):
I think the one thing right now on paper, when
you say the NFC North is the best division in
all of football with the Bears looking vastly.

Speaker 1 (45:09):
I brow, well, I think it's the best division in
terms of personnel. I think the AFC West is the
best division in terms of coaching with Peyton, Pete, Andy
and Harbaugh. So those are the two best divisions. And
I don't think it's a I don't think it's a coincidence.

Speaker 2 (45:28):
Well, I just.

Speaker 1 (45:32):
The South is such a huge college football region that
both the NFC and the AFC South are very good.
I've always surmised that college football is so big in
that part of the country that you don't face the
same level of pressure that you do on Northern teams
like New England, Boston Media, Philly Media, Baltimore Media. You know,
I mean like cold Weather, Pittsburgh. They live, they don't

(45:55):
care about college football. They live for the NFL. These
NFCAFC Souths. You're like, eh, we'll keep Todd Bowles again.
If he coaches the Eagles, he'd be gone tomorrow.

Speaker 3 (46:05):
Said, you know what's funny is probably like a year ago,
Maria has a close friend who's really successful, girl UCLA grad,
just crushes. She's like thirty years old, she's got multiple properties.
And she was telling me this. She had this acronym.
I forget exactly what it was, but it basically described
high maintenance friends and the moment you become a high
maintenance friend in her life. She's got too much going on,

(46:25):
she got a young baby, she's out on you. If
I would have told you four or five years ago
that we'd be a week into free agency, and people
like Russell Wilson Aaron Rodgers like, yeah, well we'll get
back to you here a little bit. It's crazy. How
And I think both guys, if they were viewed, let's
use Geno and Sam, are viewed as low maintenance, good guys.

(46:45):
Everyone likes them. No problems. If both these guys were
viewed as just normal humans, like a Drew Brees or
I know he's like super high care, but I just
mean like normal guys. I think they both would have
been signed had they would have had a bidding war
for these guys, because they're still solid. They're clearly not
as good as they once were. But it's like the
first question. And I've been in these meetings, not necessarily

(47:07):
with these individual players, but players like this, like do
we want to deal with this? Like do we want
an either stardom is now bigger than their talent that
it's like, is this high maintenance worth the headache enough?

Speaker 1 (47:22):
Look at des Bryant disappeared, don obj disappear, Aaron Rodgers
Russell not really interested? I think, and I'll throw this
at you. I love the NBA, but there's some high maintenance,
you know, these guaranteed contracts. I think the NFL people,
and I've had discussions with NFL people for my entire career.

(47:44):
They often reference Dude, that's an NBA, that's an NBA idea.
They make fun of the NBA and how much players
and employees control the entire organization. Embiid everybody's hostage doing.
And I mean you've heard gms reference this before, like

(48:04):
there Aaron and Russell are getting into sort of like
a little bit of NBA where you're like, this is
a team sport, like this is about the group and
the community not I mean when Aaron said, you know,
there's that picture in Malibu where he's you know, he's
got the pod pods on, and I'm thinking, every guy,

(48:25):
every NFL GM is thinking, listen, just make an e
fin decision. Okay, like you're not married, you don't have kids,
you're not doing much, you're golfing, and you're reading Greek
mythology like that to me, I listen. I've talked to
two GMS and they're like, you couldn't I'm not interested
in Aaron, and I'm like, yeah, but he's he's still

(48:46):
pretty good, and they're like that just I mean, Aaron
Glenn basically just said we're just no, thank you, and
Aaron was actually pretty good down the stretch. This isn't
a shot at Aaron. It's what I'm here from executives
in the league, it's like no thing well, I.

Speaker 3 (49:02):
Mean, look look at the Titans. Their new GM is
from the Chiefs. So he's spend his whole time around
Andy Veach, Mahomes, Alex the guy kind of in this
weird position who's like the president, but he's also kind
of got a scouting background, is a packer guy. They
have no interest. Even if they're going to take cam Ward,
like you guys, get Aaron Rodgers, bring him to Nashville
for a year, get a little buzz. As you're building

(49:24):
this new stadium. You haven't heard a peep, you know.
It's like, it's just crazy. How think of the top
quarterbacks in this in the league, Patrick Mahomes, the only
maintenance they ever have to deal with is his family.
It's not him like he is. They don't even think
about him. Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Herbert Burrow. I mean
Burrow has kind of had to hold their feet to

(49:46):
the fire just historically this organization. If you put Burrow
in the Ravens or the Chiefs, he wouldn't be saying
a peep. He's just scared that this this owner is
going to be cheap. Don't blame him, but I think
the league, the star quarterbacks are just full of guys
who are just you never the season ends and It's like,
I don't know what Josh Allen's doing. He's just doing
You had a bachelor party at the Tiger Woods thing

(50:07):
in Orlando just with his buddies. And I think Aaron
Rodgers and Russell they're different personalities, but I think they
both check the same box of like, I don't know
if we have the energy and you're and you're not
good enough anymore for us to overlook at because if
you put Aaron Rodgers on Minnesota, you know, I could
see it going well, But I get on be good
team weird, like are you sure that you're comfortable with

(50:29):
him with JJ in that situation. But I do think
they're thinking long and hard. But these guys don't really
have options, so they can just kind of wait it
out and keep talking through it.

Speaker 2 (50:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (50:40):
No, I think it's a reality that there's there's there's
The players now are richer sooner. I mean some of
these guys now going forward, John, they'll come in multimillionaires
out of college. So you're gonna see You're gonna see
two things. Guys retire sooner, and guys have a little
more leverage sooner. And and I think the fear on
the end FL is we don't want to become pro basketball,

(51:02):
where basically the employees are are running the team, you know,
like Kawhi showing up at four point thirty and saying, yeah,
I'm not going to play tonight, Like, no, we're not.

Speaker 2 (51:11):
We're not going there.

Speaker 3 (51:12):
And I think when the NFL benefits, I do think
it could get much weirder in the offseason with the
holdouts and the hold ends like that. That's probably is
at the beginning of that. But in the sport of football,
unlike like in basketball, these guys could play three hundred
and sixty five days a year if they want to
right pick up games, you can play whatever. In football,
the only time you can actually play a game is

(51:34):
in the confines of the seventeen weeks. And that's the
fun part. What Ray Lewis say, you pay me Monday
through Saturday. Sundays are for free. The games are really
the fun part for the players. That's the problem with
the NBA. Turn on the TV. You never know who's
going to play. Even in the NFL, guy making forty
fifty million dollars, he's still going to want to play
in the games. Laramie Tunzel a lot of articles are
coming out like, you know, he's kind of late to practice,

(51:55):
doesn't always work hard. It's like, well, you don't know
that if you just watch the TV, because you're like,
he's a good players. I'd want him on my team.
So yeah, the NFL, they're weird. Stuff happens during the
week when no one's paying attention that the games is
like all the guys want to play.

Speaker 1 (52:09):
The Aaron Rodgers thing has been interesting because he wrote
the book, so you know him pretty well. And I
didn't think his I don't think his football. He's fine.
He's you know, somewhere between the thirteenth and sixteenth best quarterback.

Speaker 2 (52:22):
He's fine.

Speaker 1 (52:24):
I don't think he's quite as committed as the young
great ones. And I don't think he moves like the
young great ones. He's smart. But when Aaron Glenn came
in and for the second time in Aaron's career, he
was caught off guard a little by a team saying hey, thanks,
but no thanks. According to reports that you know, Aaron
had flown a cross country meeting with him, and Aaron

(52:45):
Glenn was like, we're going to move on and to
me downgraded at quarterback. I mean, when you write a
book on Aaron, you think you have a feel or
a vibe for him. I said this the other day.
If the Vikings say no, thanks, I think he retires.

(53:09):
When you look at how the season went and now
we're in this flux period. Are you surprised or could
you have predicted it based on the over one hundred
people you talk to in the conversation with Aaron, I.

Speaker 8 (53:22):
Think I'm not surprised that he I think the overriding
feeling right now is that he still wants to play
in maybe two years. I had a friend of his
telling me two years a week ago, because he kind
of feels like this past season Colin was a rehab year,
and so if he has a good twenty twenty five,

(53:43):
I really do expect him to try to play in
twenty six.

Speaker 4 (53:48):
But we'll even play at all, Retirement is on the table.
I think.

Speaker 8 (53:51):
I don't think the Vikings are going to sign him.
That would be the best case scenario. But if you
let's say you put the Viking Kings roster or the
Steelers and the Giants had an equivalent talent base as
the Vikings, same coaching, same talent, I actually think he
picked the Giants because he does really like living in
the New York, New Jersey area, despite the fact that

(54:14):
the Jets thing was effectively a two year disaster. I
do think if the Giants had a Vikings roster, I
actually think he would pick the Giants. He has respect
for that organization. They've had good conversations. I've talked to
a couple of people with the Giants who said they
have no issues with him as a locker room presence.
As a personality, yeah, they don't care. They think he's

(54:35):
the best available quarterback and they want him. They've made
a good offer. If I had to put twenty bucks
down today, I think he'll be the starting quarterback for
the Steelers because I think he preferred the Vikings.

Speaker 4 (54:48):
But the Steelers, I think, really do want him.

Speaker 8 (54:50):
They've made that clear, and Mike Tomlin gives him the
kind of coaching last year Colin. I've been doing this
almost forty years in the New York market. That is
one the two or three worst coaching jobs I've ever
seen in any sport in New York. And so to
go from that to Mike Tomlin. If Mike Tomlin coached
the twenty twenty four Jets, they would have gone ten

(55:11):
and seven. I'm convinced of that. That was a ten
and seventeam that went five and twelve with horrific coaching.
So I think with the Steelers and with the playmakers
they have now and that roster and particularly the coaching,
I think Aaron can go ten and seven, maybe eleven
and six, and get back in the playoffs, and maybe

(55:32):
that's the way to end his career. I think where
the Giants are right now because they don't have that
roster that we were talking about earlier with the Vikings,
he's looking at that saying, geez, do I want to
finish my career going five and twelve for one New
York team and five and twelve for another. Have you
looked at the Giants home schedule? Let me run these

(55:53):
eight games by you, and you tell me they play
nine on the road next year and eight at home.
You tell me who the Giants are beating from this group? Dallas, Okay,
I think they can beat Dallas. But then they're playing
at home, Philly, Washington, Green Bay, Kansas City, the Chargers,
the Vikings, and the forty nine ers. How many of
those games are they winning? Maybe two if they're lucky.

(56:14):
They go two and six at home, then on the road,
they're at Dallas, they're at Philly, they're at Washington, they're
at Denver, they're at Detroit.

Speaker 4 (56:21):
How many those games are they winning?

Speaker 8 (56:22):
So I think Aaron is far enough to look at
that and say, do I really want to go five
and twelve?

Speaker 4 (56:27):
Even if I play better?

Speaker 8 (56:29):
And even though I don't think the Jet thing is
really going to hurt his legacy, I don't think ten
fifteen years from now, when he's already in the Hall
of Fame as a packer, people are going to be
talking about his experience with the Jets. But if he
does that again with a second team, I do think
that will hurt his legacy. So to me, if the
Vikings aren't interested and they're going with McCarthy pretty much

(56:50):
right away, I think the Steelers make a lot of sense.
I think Tomlin is a built in insurance policy that
it won't be a disaster. I think he should do that.
I think he'll play better. I think he'll make the playoffs,
and that's the way to go out.

Speaker 1 (57:04):
So I said this the other day on the show.
You know, obviously I was in the Northeast for ten
and a half years. But one of the things I
observed when I was in the city a lot or
near it in Connecticut is that, you know, there's a
lot of Yankee and Met fans, and a lot of
Giant and Jet fans, but everybody in New York likes

(57:25):
the Knicks. It's just every single friend I had in
New York, and many of them, more than the Yankees
or Giants, were Nick fans first. And again, I'm old
enough to remember the Walt Fraser, Bill Bradley, Earl Monroe. Yet,
like I go back to the seventies when nobody won.
You know, the Lakers won a title, the Warriors did,

(57:45):
the Washington Bullets did, the Sonics, the Blazers, the Knicks,
and then there were the pat Riley iterations. But I
always said, God, if Dolan could get out of the way,
this city loves its team so much. And I think
when the sphere got built for two years, Dolan removed
himself from the facility, I mean literally physically. He was

(58:07):
in Vegas so often, and it allowed the Knicks to
really grow this really strong basketball group, and I think
they've made very patient, very sharp moves. I don't think
Kat is the future, but I think he was the
right move at the right time.

Speaker 2 (58:23):
But there was a moment.

Speaker 1 (58:24):
Between Tibbs and Josh Hart the other day and Mikhale
Bridges it was public that he had gone to Tibbs. Hey,
we need to play the starters less, you know, young
players don't get a lot of work and minutes under Tibbs.
As great as the brief journey has been with Tom,

(58:44):
it does feel like, does it not ian To get
to the next level, you need two moves. Karl Anthony
Towns probably gets replaced with a better defensive big or
just like a KD a greater player, and Tibbs may
not be the answer. Or is that me three thousand
miles away guessing, Well.

Speaker 4 (59:03):
I think it's possible that's the case.

Speaker 8 (59:05):
I do think Tibbs is good enough to win a
championship as a head coach. They lose in the second
round again this year, I don't think he'll get replaced
because I think he'll lose to a better team. I
think the Celtics are better, and surprisingly enough, I did
not think the Cavs would be better, but they are.
They just are so if they lose in the second round,
to say, the Celtics do you fire the guy with

(59:29):
that you're losing to a better team. The Celtics have
better players. The Knicks have improved their roster certainly. And
I didn't think Jalen Brunson. I wasn't sure if he'd
be this or could be the second best player in
a championship team when they acquired him. Now I do
think he could be one of the top two, if
not the best player on a championship team. He's an
incredible player, and I think a lot of people in

(59:50):
New York were surprised by that. I think where the
Knicks are right now, it's kind of funny because Jets
fans have been complaining and complaining about Woody Johnson, the
owner for a long time. Forty Johnson hires and we'll
find out if he did the right general manager and
Mouji and the right head coach and Aaron Glenn.

Speaker 4 (01:00:07):
He's going to go away and Jets fans will never
talk about him.

Speaker 8 (01:00:11):
Knicks fans are not talking about Jim Dahl, and they
have it now for a number of years because he
hired the right general manager.

Speaker 4 (01:00:17):
And I was a gamble. Leon Rose had never done
this job.

Speaker 8 (01:00:20):
He was a very good agent, he had never been
a general manager, and early on I wasn't so sure,
but turns out he knows what he's doing.

Speaker 4 (01:00:27):
And Tim's of course everybody knew he knew what he
was doing.

Speaker 8 (01:00:31):
He's proven that he could be a very valuable piece
of the coaching staff that won a championship in Boston
under Doc Rivers.

Speaker 4 (01:00:37):
And so is he.

Speaker 8 (01:00:39):
It's almost like Buck Showalter did all the dirty work
in on the Yankees in the mid nineties and then
he got replaced by Joe Tory, and Joe Torre then
won four World Series. So I'm not saying that the
next Knicks coach is going to win four titles in the.

Speaker 4 (01:00:53):
Next five years after that happens.

Speaker 8 (01:00:55):
But I think that he's going to get one more
year year after another second round exit. Maybe the Knicks
will surprise us and win that second round matchup with
say the Celtics. I don't think that will happen, but
I do think you're right in terms of the roster.
It looks like they're still believe it or not after
all the moves they've made and what five number one

(01:01:16):
picks for Bridges and then they made the Cat deal
and they Brunson deal, was an incredible one. It still
looks like they need to make one more move, and
maybe Kat is a part of that package. But yeah,
right now, it's just they're in a tough way because
of the Celtics being in their way, and now the
Cavs had hurdled them, and they sure look like they're

(01:01:36):
for real.

Speaker 3 (01:01:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:01:38):
I think the Hertenstein move, which I think they were
kind of trapped, there's not much they could do. I
thought he added some real toughness and rebounding that's very
hard to replace. Kat is a more gifted offensive player,
but he's not the toughest guy in the league, and
he's a poor defender. Hartenstein had this sort of New
York toughness, just a fighter on the glass, and it
felt like he was just part He almost felt like,

(01:02:00):
you know, he had that Villanova feel. He was just
an overachiever and a fighter, and I think sometimes in
the NBA, it's not what you want to do, it's
what you have to do. And they let him go
to ok See, and you know, it doesn't quite feel
like the same team. John Middlecoff from her NFL Scout,

(01:02:21):
all right, let's let's uh, let's do a little NFL.
The draft is coming up in a couple of weeks,
so I was I was sitting with a Packer fan
the other night having dinner. My wife and I were
with some acquaintances in Chicago and they were talking about
Aaron Rodgers and two people at the table said, well,
why hasn't he signed? And I said, well, I think Aaron,

(01:02:44):
deep down nos Pittsburgh's fools, gold Dk Metcalf, George Pickens,
a lot of drama. They can't get their O line right,
they lost Nause Harris and their left tackle. I don't
know if the offensive coordinator is Aaron's type of guy.
So I think Aaron and if he thought Pittsburgh was
the deal, he would sign with Pittsburgh. And my take

(01:03:05):
on Aaron is he really wants to sign with Minnesota,
and Minnesota right now has kind of bounced around and
been a little ambiguous with JJ McCarthy injury wise. But
I'll just ask you, is I think if Aaron wanted
to sign, he would, and I think he knows. Pittsburgh's
fraught with issues, you know, defensive culture, defensive spending, two

(01:03:27):
high maintenance receivers, left tackle gone, They've had a battle
line for seven years, why do you think.

Speaker 3 (01:03:33):
Yeah, remember you had Danny parkins on probably a month ago,
and he thought that Aaron was going to sign it
at Pat McAfee's deal in Pittsburgh, And at first I
thought he was crazy, and then the closer we got
him like, yeah, maybe it's gonna happen. So I kind
of expected him just to announce at that thing, and
then it doesn't happen, and you're like, well, maybe this
is not inevitable. And like you said, Kevin O'Connell, I

(01:03:55):
think he said at the owners meetings that two things
can be true. We believe in JJ McCarthy, and we'd
also not be doing our job if we weren't showing
interest in Aaron Rodgers. They get a tryout period at
least physically how it's going to look with JJ McCarthy
and Ota. So if you're Rogers, it's like, well, what
is Pittsburgh gonna do? Even if they Shaudre Sanders falls

(01:04:15):
of them, they still wouldn't be interested in bringing me in.
That they want to win next year. Schador doesn't guarantee
that right, So he actually has a weird amount of
leverage over Mike Tomlin and Pittsburgh. I mean, that can't
feel great if you're Steelers like Aaron Rodgers, but he
has no leverage in Minnesota, which is clearly his best
spot unless OTA's you know, the coach goes.

Speaker 1 (01:04:35):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (01:04:36):
They still looks skinny, maybe the offense doesn't look as smooth.
Maybe physically he just doesn't look right. So I think
he can gauge if there are reports after you know,
a couple of those OTA practices, which again I'm not
acting like those are the end all be all, but
from a physical standpoint, we saw him walk the sideline
against the Lions. He looked like he weighed one hundred
and seventy five pounds and he had needed multiple knee search.

(01:05:00):
I understand, and listen, I like the player as well,
but you can't go off just one good experience in
a preseason game for a team that if you just
removed the quarterback for every team in the NFL, Minnesota
undoubtedly would be a top five pick of a roster team.
You would take them probably above like the Chiefs or
the Bills, but quarterback matters.

Speaker 1 (01:05:21):
Well, they just revamped their I mean the Bears and
the Vikings both real upgrades. On our own line, so
we know we like Minnesota's coach and running back and
wide receivers and tight end. They went and shored up
their offensive line, so I think it's one of the
more attractive places in the league.

Speaker 3 (01:05:37):
So to me, if if you have any reservations, I
also think if I'm Kevin O'Connell, I go Aerin. We
want you, and I'd even do it before OTAs, but
we're offering you a veteran minimum, no guaranteed, Like you've
already made five hundred and four hundred million dollars on
and off the field. Who knows how much you've made,
but we're not guaranteeing you anything. So if things ever
get weird or it doesn't fit, we can both move on,

(01:06:00):
you know, cause if you really want this, because you're
no dummy, you know this is by far your best opportunity.
But like I don't know what Pittsburgh has even offered
him one year, twenty million dollars, something like the Minnesota
wouldn't even entertain something like that one year a couple
of million dollars. And if things don't work after training camp,
we can both go our separate ways. But we're not
being stuck. But I wouldn't fault them for being interested,

(01:06:22):
just because we have seen enough now with you know,
most of these rookie quarterbacks go to really shitty teams, right,
so it's like even if you have a bad year whatever.
Trevor Lawrence's first year with ierban Meyer, he got like
a pass. It's happened twice now, a guy's been drafted
really high and gone to a team with like legit
playoff expectations. Trey Lance was higher than Caleb, but Caleb
had pretty big expectation, and then it was just it's

(01:06:44):
a lot of pressure, a lot of stuff going on.
That is JJ McCarthy. I know he's a second year player,
but he's technically like you know, like Flake Griffin, right,
he didn't play his rookie year because he tore his
eight knee. You're a rookie, you know, on the field
like that. You can't have much more pressure as a
first time starting COQ quarterback. That's twenty two years old,
it's never played. Kevin O'Connell is not Kyle shannan. You

(01:07:05):
watch him in those the game against Detroit and the playoff.
He's calling pass place he wants to. He's a McVeigh.
He wants to and Andy he wants to pass. JJ
played in a running office. Remember when they beat Penn
State and they didn't hand they didn't pass the ball
in the second half like the Michigan handoff handoff handoff
play d that's what he's used to doing.

Speaker 1 (01:07:23):
No, Yeah, I think there's real concerns there, and I
think Aaron's smart to just I would wait till the
drafts over. I want to see where the ships fall.
I don't want to get burned like Kirk Cousins. And
I'm going to sit around if I'm Aaron, and if
I don't get the right offer, I got a two
hundred million bucks.

Speaker 3 (01:07:40):
I think definitely still on the table.

Speaker 1 (01:07:42):
You know, there's so do wid I want to talk
about this because this got a lot of pushback this weekend.
So Tennessee is a very young quarterback and he was
making about two million dollars. They were paying him two
million dollars when he was red shirting as a freshman
to not play. And his name is and I'll just

(01:08:03):
call him Nico. He's got a long last name and
I don't want to butcher it. So I watched him
play three or four. Well, I probably watched him play
four or five times last year against the better teams.
He was a young quarterback, not overwhelmed, but not a
missus open receivers. He's not should do or accurate. But
he's also not draft eligible right now. He's going to grow.

(01:08:26):
But he's a really nice talent. He's slender, he moves well,
he's got a decent arm. And my take is, so
he comes out this weekend and basically doesn't show up
to practice and says I want four million, and Tennessee,
to their credit, is like, listen, we're not going to
play that game.

Speaker 2 (01:08:42):
We're going to let him go.

Speaker 1 (01:08:43):
And I thought it would have been very difficult to
hold out, not show up to practice, and come back.
So I think the volunteers made the right decision as
a program to say, listen, this isn't going to work,
this is a bad vibe, this is bad locker room smell.

Speaker 2 (01:08:57):
Here, we're moving on.

Speaker 1 (01:08:58):
I totally agree with that, but I wasn't necessarily bothered
by the move because it is April and coaches now
are fetching twelve to thirteen million dollars in college football.
So if a top quarterback wants four I'm like, I'm
not going to hate the player. You can hate the system,
you can hate nil, but I think this is I

(01:09:20):
think this is what we're going to see. This this
is the way the game works now. I don't think
it'll hurt him in the NFL. I think eventually, if
he has a great year, people draft him. Everybody needs quarterbacks.
Nobody care. I mean, Cayleb Williams had some emotional stuff
people didn't like, Johnny Manziel had all sorts of it.
There'll be a team that'll draft him that needs a quarterback.
What do you make What do you make of the

(01:09:43):
kid doing it? What do you make A Tennessee's react.

Speaker 3 (01:09:46):
Which get the kid's name. But there's a pass rusher
on South Carolina the game Cocks who's like looks like
a clowney or just like a you know, Miles Garrett.
In the middle of the season. They're like, they had
to up what they were going to pay him, and
you get true freshman. He looks like he's got a
chance to be like a number one overall pick. I
have no problem when you're an elite player. Renegotiating happens

(01:10:06):
in pro sports all the time.

Speaker 2 (01:10:08):
What happened.

Speaker 3 (01:10:08):
Who holds out in the NFL Micah Parsons, Nick Bosa, right,
Justin Jefferson, Jordan Jamar Chase. This guy did not have
a good year. I'm with you. I watched a lot
of them last year because Tennessee was good and they
were in the mix. Have you heard of him in
high school? Like he was one of the highly touted
guys in La Oh.

Speaker 2 (01:10:27):
No, no oh.

Speaker 1 (01:10:28):
I think he was the number one quarterback I believe
out of Los Angeles. So I watch all those guys
tape on YouTube. Again, moves well, lively arm I thought
as a college quarterback, his accuracy was against And again
I only watched the Tennessee games against the better teams.
Very hit and miss down the field, very hit and miss.

(01:10:48):
But again my takeaway is, okay, it's like a red
shirt freshman.

Speaker 3 (01:10:51):
Well, here's my issue with the whole thing is all
reports have it it's his dad. You know they say
pigs get fed, hawks gets slaughtered. Like you said, he
got four years, eight million dollars without ever playing a snap,
where a lot of coaches, Kirby Smart does not give
those type contracts to high school kids, right, A lot
of the top coach because it's not good business. Tennessee
did because I think he was like second or third

(01:11:12):
overall recruit in the class Arch was one, So I
mean the hot, the hype, the hype was big, and
that he got paid for. I think he threw twenty
touchdowns last year and only nine of them came in
the SEC. He was not good in the SEC and
against good teams. So to try to renegotiate off a
bad year to me's bad business. And Dan Lanning turned
him in essentially like hey, you're getting played, yes, And

(01:11:35):
I think some of these coaches because again, he's not
that good. If he was viewed as a camp if
he was draft eligible right now, he's not getting drafted
in the top one hundred picks. It's all projection and
potential but not off actual play. And his dad again too,
and I think it was like two point two he
was scheduled to make this upcoming year. What if this

(01:11:55):
is one of those I forget the NBA player, but
he like opted out and he thought he could get
like eighty millillion dollars and ended up getting like a
one year eight million dollars. What if he can't even
get a million dollars in the transfer portal because some
of these coaches are going to go, well, he's a
little overhyped one, and we're going to try to make
a statement for our business. That's why Dan Lanny called
him right. This is because they're like, this is insane.

(01:12:17):
It'd be one thing if he was making one hundred
thousand dollars in like the hey, the going rates of
million dollars, a couple of million dollars would totally get it.
His dad, by all accounts, leading the charge. If someone
needs to give that guy some business advice, get Drew Rosenhouse,
because I think it's bad business. No issue if you're
an elite player, if it's Drake May a couple of
years ago or ashing genty guys that could transfer and

(01:12:37):
totally get it. This guy was completely underwhelming, Colin, This
guy was It's why I think Tennessee and most people universe,
they are like, this is nuts. This is this is
just dumb business. Two and a half million dollars to
play average football in the SEC. They were a defensive
team last year, which is ironic because Josh Hipel is
their coach, right.

Speaker 1 (01:12:56):
Yeah, yeah, And if Josh Hipel's the coach, which you
would think it's one of those things where like when
Shanahan couldn't make Trey Lance work and the Cowboys gave
up before it's like that's bad GMing. Josh Heipel, you
would think would be able to get the most out
of this kid.

Speaker 2 (01:13:14):
I think.

Speaker 1 (01:13:18):
One of the things the NBA. I never understood this
about the G League. So let's not pretend this is
the fifties, sixties or seventies where basketball players are all
starving coming into college basketball.

Speaker 2 (01:13:31):
They're not.

Speaker 1 (01:13:31):
It's a suburb sport aau kids. The good players are
all getting taken care of. Even before nil kids were
getting swag chef money.

Speaker 2 (01:13:40):
They're getting treated great.

Speaker 1 (01:13:41):
I have like, yeah, So I never understood kids that
went to the G League instead of going and playing
for a top six program where you're on television twenty
five times. I know Zion because he went to Duke.
Would you rather take four hundred thousand dollars for the

(01:14:02):
G League or three hundred thousand dollars or take thirty
five million dollars of free marketing and advertising for Duke?
And people say, well, they didn't grow up with a
lot of money. Again, it's a year You're not asking
him to take a seven eight year hiatus away from money.
This is not like, this is not I mean again,

(01:14:24):
great au basketball players are getting taken care of. So
I kind of feel the same way about the dad here.
I don't blame the kid, but it's like, if you
have one good year, if you come back to Tennessee
and have thirty touchdowns, eight picks, and you move well,

(01:14:44):
you will be a first or an early second round
pick next year. Because there's Arch Manning will go number one.
After that, there's about five guys and they're all in
the same class. It depends how the season goes. I
just think the dad, it's a certain self, which is understandable.

Speaker 3 (01:15:01):
A lot of these dads, a lot of human beings,
would not have any clue or knowledge what to do
in this situation. If I was one of these people
that had the opportunity to make millions of dollars and
now in this world where I can get real representation,
I would have Tennessee, Hey, could we get in contact
with either CAA Rosenhaus. I'd want someone real negotiating my thing.

(01:15:24):
And I would imagine they're like, well, Carson Beck just
got four million dollars. Well, two years ago, when Carson
Beck had Lad McConkey and Brock Bowers, a lot of
us thought like this guy could be a first round pick.
He had a really, really good year. Now I think
most of us also about Miami's kind of crazy. But
some of these numbers to get thrown around, no one
truly knows what's real or not. It's pretty clear like
it was concrete. This guy signed an eight million dollar

(01:15:46):
four year deal and if he came back in three years,
he will have banked over six million dollars in a
no state income to state at I don't know where
Tennessee like, I don't have a great feel for their
roster right now. In April, I would guess it's a
top ten during college football and you got a pretty
good chance to compete. So we'll have to see where
this guy ends up. But it doesn't feel like Oregon,
Ohio State are just lined up for the kid. So

(01:16:08):
if he if he ends up losing money, not only
would it be a bad business decision a football decision.
The Tennessee's got to be on the short list of
great places to be a young quarterback playing football In
twenty twenty five right.

Speaker 2 (01:16:22):
Listen.

Speaker 1 (01:16:22):
I've learned over the course of my life is the
young media oh as sides with the player because it's
a good story and all the narrative. They don't come
from anything. We don't know that. Again, if you're the
number one or two or three high school football quarterback
in the country, you're getting taken care of by a
lot of people. So I just think it's one of

(01:16:44):
those situations. I don't blame the kid. And I think
when I watched him, I thought, oh, yeah, I can
see it. I mean, he's got talent, but he's.

Speaker 3 (01:16:51):
Got no fuel. He's got no fuel, and I will
say it he doesn't.

Speaker 1 (01:16:55):
That's the when you watch like, you can say what
you want about sid Or Sanders. He has a feel.
He's an accurate throw of the football under duress, like
you can tell he's quarterbacked a lot. And also Shore
is not a great enough athlete to make extra yards
running around. He's had to make hey in the pocket.
And by the way, his dad Dion Smart. He's told
that kid, kid, you want to get rich, don't be

(01:17:18):
a run around guy, sit in the pocket and throw darts.
I mean, Dion knows what the hell's going on. So
when you watch Shadoor Sanders, you can clearly tell that
he can see the field.

Speaker 2 (01:17:27):
He's super accurate. This kid's just talented.

Speaker 1 (01:17:30):
But yeah, but I you know, I do think they're
the family needs to take a deep breath because I mean,
if he's great, he'll get drafted. I don't think he's great.
I just think he's talented. You know, we talk a
lot Aaron Rodgers, and I know it's tiring, but and
I really don't care where he goes. If you're retired, great,

(01:17:50):
if he goes to Pittsburgh find they're a third place team,
I don't really care. And he has some personal drama
situation in his life, so I can have some of
the people that I don't really care that if you
were in the league and worked in the league, if
he just retired, how would Pittsburgh view him?

Speaker 2 (01:18:10):
If they were caught off guard.

Speaker 3 (01:18:12):
I just don't think they had many other options. Like
I don't think that they are losing a bunch of
sleep over the situation, which sounds crazy, but we have
a pretty good sample size now knowing that they think
they could get around. I don't know somehow, not having
attempting to get a Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson just drafting quarterbacks.
You're in, you're out. But at this point in time, Colin,
it's May fifteenth. I mean, what are we doing here?

(01:18:36):
I mean I think they have to at least have
come to grips with like everything's kind of on the
table here that they cannot for a very old school organization.
I saw a quote from I don't think he's the
Papa Rooney. He's like the sixty year old Rooney that said,
you know, we don't love playing at night late in
the season. It's like, well, that usually means you're good.
It comes with the territory. You think Andy Reid wants

(01:18:57):
to play all these night games. No, but it comes
with being the chief. You're the Pittsburgh Steelers. I just
think they have gotten to this position where it's ard.
I mean, look at the Saints. Tru Breese retires and
they're just going through quarterbacks. They tried to Derek that failed.
Now they're in this weird position with a twenty eight
year old rookie. It's not like an easy solution, but

(01:19:17):
they've shown their true colors of like their organizational philosophy
is run the ball and play defense that is Bruce Arians.
When Roethlisberger was turning into a star, the Rooney family
was not happy with them throwing the ball so much.
That's when they were winning the Super Bowl. You know,
the organizational philosophy does not start with Mike Tomlin. It

(01:19:38):
starts with the Rooney family clad run the ball. I mean, look,
they draft that running back who I like, the Iowa kid,
and they drafted defensive tackle in the first They've been
doing the same thing since well before I was alive,
and I think they are going to be doing it
well after Tomlin's gone one day. So I think whether
Rogers shows up or whether they Mason Rudolph hands the

(01:19:58):
ball to Caleb Johnson and they to stuff the run
with Harmon and TJ. Watt like that's how they're gonna play,
which is insane, But you could argue even if he
shows up, they're gonna beat Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson
of these teams. So it's the Bills. What are we
even talking about? They are kind of stuck. They're like
the better version of the post Peyton Drew brees Saints,

(01:20:20):
but it still doesn't get you anywhere, and it leads
actually to a lot more animosity where it's like what
are we doing? Like how often are we celebrating he's
never had a losing season. Yes, we know he's really
good coach. But like, if the organization we don't pick
or go after young quarterbacks, why not just draft a
quarterback every year in the top couple of rounds just
until you figure it out. When you're in this position,

(01:20:41):
you got to take some swings. So let's just resign
Mason Rudolph and trade for this, Like this is not
gonna work. Guys.

Speaker 1 (01:20:47):
Well, just the fact they keep going back to Mason
Rudolph's I mean, they just they It tells you they're
just uncomfortable with risk offensively.

Speaker 3 (01:20:57):
Well, they tried last year, right, which was a little
out of there. They're like, we'll get these two guys
and it ended and there you could tell it that
wasn't really our thing, you know, Russell big personality, fields,
got some limitations, but ideally probably not a starter for us.
They didn't like that, and I give them credit for
trying what they tried. They punted on Canny Pickett and
clearly they're like, we're not doing that thing again. Too

(01:21:19):
many people talking about there but now they're waiting on
Aaron Rodgers. I don't know, just they're in just a
weird space for a franchise that. I mean, what would
you say, in your lifetime one of the better run
American sports franchises in America?

Speaker 1 (01:21:33):
I thought until maybe twelve years ago, I thought you
could argue they were the best overall franchise most of
my life. I mean I started watching football nineteen seventy two,
but from like nineteen seventy four, seventy five until maybe
ten to twelve years ago, I thought they were in
the you know, they were in the argument with the Patriots,

(01:21:55):
and Patriots had down years, but the Brady years, but
I mean, they were just like well run. And now
there's it's I always find this this ish is fascinating
to me, old successful people that can't age well and
I it's it's just really really weird to me. When
you like, when you see Bobby Knight, I'm not going
to do the one and done?

Speaker 2 (01:22:16):
Why not?

Speaker 1 (01:22:17):
Don't want to win games? Like I don't get it?
Or Belichick Matt Patrici is the offensive coordinator. Bill, You're
smarter than that.

Speaker 2 (01:22:24):
What are you doing?

Speaker 1 (01:22:24):
Like, it's fascinating to me that all the people in
the building in Pittsburgh and they can't get the offensive
line right, they can't get quarterback right, and they're not
I mean Kenny Pickett, I guess was a swing. But
it's like I just it's not that hard. I think
sometimes I underestimate the gap between like Sean McVeigh I

(01:22:48):
did this the other day.

Speaker 2 (01:22:50):
The Steelers are the opposite of the Rams.

Speaker 1 (01:22:53):
The Rams spend money on a young, progressive offensive coach.
Steeler's an oldie asive coach. One team has made the
playoffs like like seven of the last eight years. The
Steelers haven't won a playoff game in like eight years
or something.

Speaker 2 (01:23:12):
You know.

Speaker 1 (01:23:12):
One team spends no money on defense. One leads the
league in spending on defense. One never takes a chance
on character guys, like they just they don't put them
on their draft board. One makes a living off. That's
it's it's it's almost if I can't quite figure the
Steelers out. They want character, but nobody's had more divas

(01:23:33):
and high maintenance offensive guys than the Steelers. They want
to win, but then they don't take care of the
number one position, like I just I find them. I
feel like there's a messaging issue in the building. And
like Omar Kahn, my sources don't consider him like a
great general manager.

Speaker 3 (01:23:54):
Yeah, I know that. What was his name, Colbert, the
former GM. I think one really really highly thought of
in the NFL circles by personnel people. I think people
would say that they've dropped off, you know, in terms
of that just the group Cohn and his group relative
to Colbert, I would say. The other thing is, you know,
once the Ravens moved to Baltimore and Aussie and DaCosta

(01:24:16):
was with them the whole time they had you know,
during the two thousand now they had really good teams,
but they basically played the Steelers every year. They became
their rival, and they copied the way they did things
like toughness, hardcore guys, playing any environment, toughest team in
the league. And now over the last decade plus, it's
like we do it better than you. So we had
a front row seat. It's like you're our main competition

(01:24:39):
in business. We know exactly how you do things. Yet
we're a little more open minded and progressive to the
way that we scout coach. However, and we've now lacked
you because that's what it feels like. The Ravens are
running circles around them, and hell, the Ravens can't even
get over the hump in the playoffs. But they're in
a different universe than the Steelers. And then the Bengals. Listen,

(01:25:00):
a lot of people make fun of them, but they've
hit on some players over the years, and getting Joe
Burrow changed that franchise. Regardless how weird and rinky dink
it can feel sometimes, but I do think the Ravens
kind of getting their blueprint and then modernizing it like
the Internet version, has really hurt if the Ravens were
a little bit more of just a regular run of

(01:25:21):
the mill, you know, ten to eleven win team, but
they just have become a dominant NFL team, especially with Lamar.
It has made the Steelers look a lot worse. I mean, look,
anyone could have had Derrick Henry right. They got him
eight million dollars, boom, he goes there, he runs for whatever,
almost two thousand yards and they give him an extension.
It's like no brainer. It's like, shouldn't the Steelers have

(01:25:42):
been all over a guy like that? I mean, they
were kicking Najie Harris to the curb, and I just
think that the Steelers are just kind of in this
weird spot. They're too well run and they, you know,
Mike tom was too high level of a guy. They're
never gonna suck like, They're never gonna have a season
where it's like, oh, this is the year they drafted
six This is not gonna happen. But draft I think
sixteenth to twentieth every year is not a great place

(01:26:03):
to be either, because they're doing it basically every year
for what a decade plus. They haven't won a playoff
game since they beat Kansas City in the second round.
I think that was Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, and levey On
Bell where their star offensive players.

Speaker 1 (01:26:20):
Yeah, well, last sixteen years, Ravens, including playoffs, have won
the most games in that division, and that was about
I think Steve Bushatti bought the franchise twenty plus years ago,
but it took him a few years to get it right.
And to your point, they think they copied the Steelers
model a little bit. I mean, in that cold weather
part of the country, there are certain absolutes, like you

(01:26:41):
have to be able to run the football, you have
to play really good defense, you better have good offensive lines.
You're not going to be throwing the ball down the field.
In fact, I could argue before Za Flowers, I just
I didn't think Baltimore drafted wide receivers particularly well. They
drafted everything else exceptionally well. The Steelers draft wide receivers
exceptionally well, but they've had a lot of misses on
the offense, intive lining, quarterbacks, and other spaces. So it is, Uh,

(01:27:04):
it is a weird franchise. Okay, this is just a
little bit of a little bit of schedule talk, and uh,
that's good. Speaking of social lifes, Aaron Rodgers got married.

(01:27:24):
I saw he had a wedding ring on and I
was talking about this on FS one today. In the
last year, I've had a couple of buddies who are
gms in the league, and one of the lines I've
I've used in my business for a long time is
weird doesn't work. You can be you can have an ego,

(01:27:47):
you can even be a little temperamental, you can make mistakes,
but if you're weird, eventually companies will move on from you.
And I had a general manager tell me I was
out them about six months ago, and he said, Aaron
just got weird, and he said, and there's a story
that McVeigh passed on him, Kevin O'Connell passed on him.

(01:28:07):
He was the Steeters third choice. And it's I was
writing down a list today of the quarterbacks I would
take over Aaron in the league, and there were sixteen
of them, including like bo Nicks. I'm not paying Bnicks anything.
He's more coachable, he's more athletic, he throws a fine ball.
I think Aaron's just gotten to a point where I
think Pittsburgh's about the only offer he had, and reportedly,

(01:28:28):
according to Schefter, he was their third choice.

Speaker 3 (01:28:30):
Yeah, I mean, I do think it's pretty bizarre that
he signs this contract. He's supported in the wedding ring.
I mean, this is these quarterbacks. You know who they're
married to is kind. I mean they're pretty big stars, right,
They're like actors, NBA stars. Josh Allen gets married. We
all know it's not all these guys even married famous
people like Josh Allen or Tom Brady. They're married to

(01:28:51):
other famous people. Patrick mahomes married to his high school sweetheart.
Peyton Manning is married to a girl I think he
dated in college. Who cares. This whole thing of like
I got things going on in my personal life, which
I assumed it was negative stuff. Turns out maybe he
was just getting married and wanted to push this off.
It's just kind of the I've always been pro Aaron
Rodgers as a player because I thought he was incredible,

(01:29:12):
you know. I thought, in the peak of his powers,
he's one of the best athletes in terms of their
sport I've ever seen in my entire life, which is
weird because when you look at the totality of his career,
it almost feels underwhelming for how good he was. You know,
I think he let down in the playoffs. I mean
they lost a couple of years ago to at Home
to Jimmy Garoppolo in the forty nine ers offense. I
think they scored thirteen points. That can't happen. But I

(01:29:34):
think this whole because we knew he was going to
go to Pittsburgh, it was just when he was going
to sign. But that picture of him with the wedding
ring is just a little bizarre. I mean, there's really
no way around it, right, And you've been on this
forever listen as someone that got I got married for
the first time at forty years old. Now there is
a and a lot of my friends and my brother
got married in their late twenties, early thirties. Your life

(01:29:56):
is dramatically different, you know, I mean basically, then you
have kids. It is a completely different lifestyle. And he's
just kind of been in this weird spot. Obviously. Also
as a player, he's no longer the saint. His mobility's gone,
think about it. Not a dominant player anymore.

Speaker 1 (01:30:15):
You can argue Tom Brady had a twenty year prime,
a twenty year prime now even though he was really
good past forty I don't really consider it. Maybe forty
one and then the prime ended, but he was still
through a great I.

Speaker 3 (01:30:30):
Can put that first. That first year and a half
in Tampa. I think he was pretty good, still.

Speaker 1 (01:30:35):
Twenty year prime. People forget this. Aaron's last year in
Green Bay. They played in they played an average Lions
team at home and lost, and it was Aaron. I
think it was Aaron's last was his last game as
a Packer.

Speaker 3 (01:30:48):
And he got outplayed by Golf in that game, thoroughly outplayed.

Speaker 2 (01:30:51):
Okay, so Aaron.

Speaker 1 (01:30:53):
So that year, if you go back statistically, Aaron was
a B plus quarterback. He didn't play his first three
years in the league, right, he sat in the bench.
His fourth year he started, he went six and ten.
I can argue Aaron had less than a ten year prime.
I mean, because he hasn't done anything in four years.
He didn't do anything the first four years, So I

(01:31:16):
mean Aaron's prime was about half.

Speaker 3 (01:31:18):
I'd give him two thousand and nine to about twenty
one twenty two. I mean he won the MVP in
twenty one, twenty and twenty one. Yeah, about about ten
to eleven years max.

Speaker 2 (01:31:29):
Think about that.

Speaker 1 (01:31:30):
Brady's at twenty and I So if you really look
at Peyton, Manning's probably about fourteen usually. Yeah, I mean
Mahomes maybe one of those seventeen to eighteen years. Aaron
just and I think a lot of it was just Aaron.
I don't think he was as committed in the off season.
I think he wasn't.

Speaker 2 (01:31:51):
You know.

Speaker 1 (01:31:52):
I thought he was really good the year he went
six and ten, But I didn't think he was I
just thought he was talented. He wasn't a winning quarterback.
But I think a lot of that is just I've
always been one of these people. I'm not impressed by
people that get jobs. I'm impressed by people that keep them.
Like I think there is a real skill to being
Lebron James or Tom Brady or Derek Jeter, and it's

(01:32:13):
a commitment on nutrition, what you eat, sleep, And I
think that's a skill. I think discipline is a skill.
Maybe people don't. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe mental health professionals
would argue that disciplines is you know, it's it's.

Speaker 3 (01:32:26):
Not a he says that, not as a moron. From
the Navy seals, to our athletes, to our CEOs, what
are they one? It's a skill.

Speaker 2 (01:32:33):
And I just look at Aaron's crime.

Speaker 1 (01:32:38):
It's half of Brady. And you can say what you want,
But that last year in Green Bay, he was a
b quarterback and he's gone downhill since. I mean, he's
just a pocket guy now. And he's not even like
an elite pocket guy. He's just a pocket guy.

Speaker 3 (01:32:51):
Well, I think when you look at his contemporaries or
definitely his peers over his career, because he came in
a lot later than Peyton and definitely, you know, definitely
Peyton and Tom, he was way more physically gifted than
those guys. Those guys couldn't run. Tom and Payton couldn't
run at all. I would say Drew Brees definitely wasn't
a mobile quarterback, and he just had more skills. I mean,

(01:33:13):
I would say Peyton and Drew Brees are known at
best average arms, right, they hung their hat on accuracy.
Tom had the best arm of that trio. But those
guys worked like they could get cut next year. I
mean everyone you ever talked to that were around those guys, Yeah,
they were discussed like they were Michael Jordan or Kobe
Bryant or Tiger Woods. Their addiction to their craft and
how much it meant to them. I do think Aaron

(01:33:36):
really benefited a lot. I mean, Tom Brady goes to
the Patriots who sucked him, and Bill turned that thing around.
Peyton went to the Colts who had the number one
overall pick, and Drew Brees and Sean Payton showed up
to the Saints that were known as the Aince. This
guy went to the Green Bay Packers, who were a
model franchise for fifteen plus years before we got there.

(01:33:57):
And I always think that, like listen him and Devon Day,
sometimes you know, you kind of make up your own
problems in your head when life's going a little too good,
and it felt like those two guys, I mean, they
have to look back after the couple bumpy years of going,
we actually had it pretty good. You know, it can
be a little boring in this town, but we had
a lot of success here.

Speaker 1 (01:34:16):
For a reason, I'm looking up Aaron Drew Brees's career
from the first five years with the Chargers and then
you know that fifteen year run or whatever it was
with the Saints. If I go back to Drew Brees,
a smaller athlete, you can say his first great year
was two thousand and four with the Chargers. So let
me count these years one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen,

(01:34:41):
fifty sixteen. I would say Breeze had either sixteen or
seventeen elite years, I mean, and I think Brady's twenty plus.
So and again this isn't bash Aaron. It's just when
you go and I've said this, I said this before
to you. If Stafford won another Super Bowl, Stafford was

(01:35:02):
better in college. He was better early, he was much
better later. If Stafford plays three more years and endor McVeigh,
they would be good they have. I mean, it's they've
got their shit rolling. If he gets one more Super Bowl,
you're gonna look at Matt Stafford, and you're gonna look
at Aaron Rodgers and you're gonna have to have a
real hard conversation because that means Stafford's playoff record is

(01:35:26):
gonna be significantly better than Aaron Rodgers, which is basically
five hundred. People think I'm crazy when I say this,
Stafford has more to gain legacy than any player in
the league over the next three years.

Speaker 3 (01:35:40):
I will say this about Rogers when it came to Stafford,
he was one of his biggest proponents over the years.
You know, he was middling away in Detroit. He's like,
you guys don't realize and obviously the football people held
him in high regard. Kind of got screwed that he
got drafted to this franchise that I mean, they're gonna
be kids right now in Detroit that have no clue
how big would joke that franchise used to be. I

(01:36:02):
will say I think Rogers kind of morphed a little
more into like an NBA player, right, or like receivers
off then act than these quarterbacks. I mean even Tom
for a long period of time just kind of shut
his mouth, kept his head down dealing with Bill. I mean, Peyton,
would he have ever gone to Denver if they hadn't
cut him in India and he had no other neck injury,
he just would have played it out forever in Indianapolis.

(01:36:23):
So yeah, I just think Aaron, and part of it
might be the the nature of that franchise. You know,
You've talked about this a lot of people have over
the years. There's no owner to really get involved and
kind of calm everyone down, even just the basic of
like hey, you want to take my jet with your
new wife or your buddies to wherever you want, just
the you know, the Eddie de Barbelow, Jerry Jones, the

(01:36:46):
robber craft like kind of taking care of you. There's
no that guy doesn't really exist. So I honestly think
that those guys, and if I was a Packer fan,
We'll see how the Jordan love stuff plays out. But
it's like, God, why do these guys make such a
big stink. We could have kept it rolling for a
couple of years. We have a really good coach. It's like,
remember when he was having at odds with Gudakins. It's like,

(01:37:07):
what are you actually mad about with him? Like, what
did he do? You know, what are we talking about?
And let's face it, his ego was really really hurt
with the Jordan Love draft pick Well, looking back and
there have been a lot of articles, so was Tom
and what did Tom do? Went out and said I'm
going to dominate and win Super Bowls and you're gonna
have to get rid of that guy, not me. Aaron
kind of took the different tactic like screw you guys,

(01:37:28):
get rid of me, and obviously age let's face it,
in the history of sports, is An Aaron's career parallel
the most guys we've ever watched. Once you get to
your late thirties, you had an injury, popped achilles, and
you're just never quite the same. And then usually you
go to these weird franchises or in his you know,
this scenario kind of a desperate one. I think they

(01:37:50):
have a lot of guys, from Cam Hayward to TJ.
Tamika that are like serious cats. This has got to
be like, wait, we had to wait for you. It's
not like you're the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Speaker 1 (01:38:00):
Here, buddy, yeah, yeah, I mean, listen, I'm not this.
I think this year he'll win the int A nine games,
he'll have twenty three touchdowns, ten picks. He'll be fine,
and as a game or two'll But it is interesting
when you look back, I think Aaron views himself has
picked on or marginalized by the media. And when you
just start looking at Peyton's career and Ben's career, and

(01:38:20):
Breeze's career, and Brady's career, and Elway and Marino, you
just start looking at some of these careers, Aaron's prime
was just not as long, and some of that's he
sat behind far. But I thought he aged really quickly,
and you can speculate why he did, but he did

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Colin Cowherd Podcast - BEST OF: Colin’s BEST TAKES from the Aaron Rodgers saga: Jets to Steelers

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