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January 9, 2025 • 44 mins

BREAKING NEWS - Colin reacts to the Raiders firing GM Tom Telesco two days after firing HC Antonio Pierce

 

Guest: John Middlekauff

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
Oh, it is a good show today. It is our three.
We are flying through it. Joel Klatt, Greg Cosel just
absolutely crushed today. J McK and I a little blind resume.
He's trying to recover from what I laid on and
it's literally, I mean just he just kind of it
was almost like I landed a first second round punch
and he's got to go to the corner and take
a deep breath, get some water and rehydrate a little bit.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
Hey, hey, you're Ivan Drago. I'm Rocky Balbo.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
Yeah, I had it.

Speaker 4 (00:49):
That's what I do.

Speaker 3 (00:49):
I just take the punches and spy and I come.

Speaker 5 (00:51):
Back like.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
My good buddy. John Middlecoff from our NFL Scout got
the podcast on three and out. He's just fantasticks. Got
thought in the Raiders. Sam Darnold really knows this stuff, Eagles,
San Francisco, forty nine ers and Brock pretty But let's
start with this. The plaoffs are upon us, and right
now it's a season of haves and have nots. This
weekend it's the halves, but we're talking about the teams
that aren't in the playoffs. And despite being a good

(01:15):
team for so long, the Niners are one decision away
from potentially being a have not for potentially a very
long time. A lot of these bad teams are bad forever,
like a lot of these bad Raiders have been bad forever.
Bears have been ridiculous forever. And then there's the Niners,
and they want to be and are usually in the halves,

(01:36):
and now they're a have not and they've got a
big decision to make, because what you don't want to
do is make the wrong decision at quarterback, or you
will stay a have not forever you make the bad
decision there, or you become Dallas when you win when
it doesn't matter, and you're never around in January and
February to play. And so John Lynch, he is telling

(01:57):
you now we are signing brock perty to a big deal.

Speaker 6 (02:02):
What we know about Brock is that he's our guy
we've got. You know, we have interest in Brock being
around here for a long long time. He's done so
much for our organization. He's won big games and you know,
had a little tougher task as we all did this
year with some of the things that happened throughout the
course of the year. We just never could string games

(02:23):
where we were all together. And through that he continued
to lead, he continued to play at a high level.
So we have every interest in him being around.

Speaker 1 (02:31):
Okay, so it's really interesting. The Niners used to be
a have and now it looks like, oh, this year
they're a have not. So what we know is the
eight teams that won their division all had the best
quarterback first time I can remember. Do you think Brock
Perty is the kind of guy that will be a

(02:53):
best quarterback in a division?

Speaker 7 (02:56):
I do not.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
You have to reframe the disc Ushnon brought Perty. It
has to go from ooh, look what he's done to
what can he do? Because once he gobbles up a
big chunk of the salary, he plays with less talented players.
Remember Jared Goff before he got paid in LA Sean

(03:19):
McVay loved him, and then he paid him and he
didn't love him so much. If you ever wonder if
you should pay a quarterback, ask yourself one question, what
does our rival think? Because Buffalo loved it when Miami
paid to a big boy money, Buffalo loved it. He's

(03:40):
one and eight against the Bills and he can't play
when it's cold. Buffalo loved to a signing a long
term deal. By the way, the Eagles loved Daniel Jones
signing up for more money with the New York Giants.
What do you think Sean McVay thing with Matt stafford ooh,

(04:03):
scary Brock Purty. Nope, Sean McVay this year, next, probably
the following year will have the best quarterback. So ask yourself.
It's not about what he's done, it's about what can
he do once you take people away from him. Scheme
and stats. This is where Tua and Purty are very similar.

(04:28):
The scheme and the stats make you go ooh, I
test ham Anegger, little small weather affected, need certain weapons,
lose weapons not as good. And what's interesting with the
Niners is you already have the answer, how many games
you win this year without Christian McCaffrey, Trent Williams, Hurt,

(04:53):
Brandon Ayuk Hurt. You got the answer, would you win six, seven,
eight games? He got the answer in front of you.
So if you're the Niners, you have to reframe the question.
And here's something else, because you want to be playing
this weekend the havelves. There's fourteen halves and that means
there's what you got, eighteen have knots, and the Niners

(05:14):
are in the have nots. And one thing we know
if you have a great quarterback and perty's not that,
in my opinion, you're not gonna be winning your division
going forward. I mean, good God. Kyle Shanahan, boy genius
has a losing record in San Francisco without Christian McCaffrey.
Sean McVay doesn't have losing seasons often Shanny's had him.
So one of the disturbing trends is that Stafford needs McVeigh,

(05:42):
but is he totally reliant on McVay Because the stats
this year for brock Purdy are disturbing. In the first
and second quarter the schemed quarter, his passer rating is excellent.
In the third and fourth quarters the non schemed quarters,

(06:03):
he has a has a passer rating that should pay
you about sixteen million dollars a year, not fifty eight.
And so it is an interesting time for the San
Francisco forty nine ers. They used to be in one group,
now they're in the other. And the only thing that
guarantees no Super Bowls is paying a b quarterback a money.

(06:26):
You win a bunch of games, so does Dallas, but
nobody will take you serious come January, big decisions. The
idea of paying him early has never made any sense.
I would let it play out. Oh, by the way,
he got hurt again this year. So I saw this

(06:47):
story yesterday. Belichick. Bill Belichick made sure as he's on
the recruiting trail, he made sure to get a hold
of a couple of sources or as people did, to say, hey,
I am not going back to the NFL because it's hurting.
And here's the thing, Bill Belichick did such a great job.
And you've had this before in your life. Somebody does

(07:07):
such a great job doing something, it's the only way
I can see them. It's like the Rock. The Rock
is an action star. He could do a rom com.
But if you're trying to convince me he's going to
give up action films for rom comms. Uh uh uh uh.

(07:28):
His personality is an action film, his experience with wrestling,
his action, his physique is an action film star. The
Rock does action films. I don't want him crying a
lot on screen. I don't want Rock being too tender
and huggable. That's not who he is, and that's not
what he is, and that's not what he's built to be.
Bill Belichick is a pro coach. He is much more

(07:51):
rotc than nil. He is rigid, He doesn't pander. He
doesn't have time for small talk, and that's what college
football is high volleyball coach, Hey recruit, Nice to meet you,
mister donor. I've always thought it's easier. Although the coaching
is much better in pro football than college, it's much

(08:11):
easier to go psychologically college to pro, just more football
and less nonsense. It's very difficult to be a great
pro coach and have to go backwards to college. A
lot of handshakes, a lot of pandering, a lot of
small talk. I mean, Bill hates mistakes. What a eighteen
and nineteen and twenty year old boys do make a

(08:33):
lot of mistakes in football and out of it There's
a reason Belichick is an NFL historian. He loves great players,
and great players play at Georgia, and they play at
Notre Dame, and they play at Ohio State, and they
play at Alabama and LSU, and a lot of great
players don't play at Carolina. Now, Bill has the advantage

(08:56):
of being a big brand, and some kids may want
to play for him, especially defense of players. But but
Bill was so great at the NFL. I just can't
buy into. I don't care what sources say about, you know, Bill,
because I saw the stories this morning. Bill's got no
interest going back to the NFL. Yeah, and the Rock
would have no interest going back to action films if

(09:16):
somebody offered him thirty large for one. I'm sorry. That's
who Bill is, that's his experience, that's his personality, that's
who he is. And so I would love to see
Bill because because you know, some of these offensive coaches
they age well. Sean Payton age as well, Drew Brees
old as yesterday, Andy Reid is aging well. You see

(09:39):
these old offensive goal old defensive coaches don't generally age
as well because they don't necessarily you know, they're they're
they're they're not necessarily always the best adapters, and college
football NIL portal is all about adapting. So it just
it's almost like Belichick staying in college. Just like you

(10:00):
know New Year's resolutions. You can tell me you're gonna
go to the gym every day. You can tell me
you're gonna keep your New Year's resolution and you're gonna
eat better, you know, bought three weeks in you start
to kind of fade off that. Nine weeks in you
drive by the gym and think you should go, and
twelve weeks in you just don't. You take a different

(10:21):
way to work, like like, so you're getting me to
buy into Belichick's gonna love this college football thing. I can't.
I just can't do it. He was so great at
one thing, I don't buy the other thing. That's where
I stand on it. And I still contend Philadelphia or
Buffalo get bounced early in the playoffs, and I don't

(10:41):
think they will. I think Philadelphia is gonna beat Green Bay.
I think Buffalo is gonna win at home against Denver.

Speaker 7 (10:47):
I do.

Speaker 1 (10:48):
But if they got bounced, you are having absolute phone
calls to Belichick. My belief is he would pick up
the phone for both. With that, I bring on my friend.
He's a former NFL scout. John Middelkoff has a very
popular podcast and he's been on our show several times before.
I want to talk about several things. Tom Telesco, who

(11:11):
I know very well and like and admired, just got
fired as the Raiders GM. So they got rid of
Antonio Pierce. I thought the team played very hard, considering
their quarterback situation in a division with Mahomes and Herbert
and Vo Nicks. I thought they were very competitive. They
beat the Chiefs last year. They could have beaten them
again this year at Arrowhead. So now they fire to LESCo.
That means they've had three different coaches in four years.

(11:34):
What is this signal? Wait, Brady's involved. Now you hear
stories about he you know he's talking to candidates. What
is this signal? John?

Speaker 2 (11:41):
To you?

Speaker 8 (11:42):
Well, I think a lot of people will go, do
the Raiders have something cooking? What does Mark Davis have
up to sleeve? I would say, look at the last
fifteen years, they got no clue what they're doing. I mean,
this organization right now is a complete disaster. Feels like
a rudderless ship. And you know, Mark Davis was quoted
recently of talking ideally in the future, he hands it

(12:04):
off to Tom and Tom gets to run, you know,
kind of like a John Elway type operation. But that
is not happening at least by all accounts, anytime soon.
So I think you just I mean, how many people
can Mark Davis pay to go away and listen?

Speaker 2 (12:20):
He made the right move.

Speaker 8 (12:22):
Oakland was a sinking ship in terms of their sports franchises.
Every team leaves and he has made way more money
financially by going to Vegas. But he is paying a
lot of people to not work. And I think it
goes back last year to the Telesco hiring with Antonio
Pierce felt a little clunky. I mean, remember Telesco got

(12:42):
fired after losing like one hundred to nothing to them
on Thursday Night Football. Antonio Pierce the only reason he
got the job was because Davonte Adams and Max Crosby
wanted him to have the job, and Jacobs then left.
Devonte Adams months later wanted to trade, and Max Crosby
by the middle of the season said yeah, I might

(13:05):
want to trade as well if we don't win. So
this this franchise, I think Mark's heart's in the right place,
but he just consistently cannot get it right when he
hires either coaches or general managers.

Speaker 1 (13:15):
Nobody knows you worked in the Bay Area for a
long time and you're really tied into the forty nine ers.
I think the answer on brock Purty was this year
when he had less talent around him, and when you
look at his numbers off script in the second half,
you know he was a C quarterback. I wouldn't sign
him early. Why do you believe the Niners are selling
this insistence because he's got a year left in his deal.

(13:38):
Why are they so embedded in to sign him early?
What is the rush to sign He's hurt again to
sign brought pretty early?

Speaker 8 (13:52):
Well, I think this is a Kyle Shanahan led operation
here when it comes to the quarterback. Kyle loves him
and I kind of came to grips after watching that
press conference yesterday. We can debate whenever the contract comes
out in terms of how much money he ultimately gets.
Does he get a contract closer to Baker, Does he
get a contract closer to Trevor Lawrence? But he's going

(14:13):
to be the quarterback for the foreseeable future. And Kyle
Shanahan said yesterday, I want to coach as long as
he's here. So I think this offseason is a pivot
point for the franchise. I don't think most people realize this,
but the forty nine ers have not won a game
in a long time. They went six and eleven, so
on the bright side, that means they get a high
draft pick, not as high as usual because we had

(14:35):
so many bad teams in the NFL, but they're drafting eleven.
And when you draft high, that also means you draft
high every round. And because of the Trey Lance failed trade,
they lost a bunch of first round picks also last
year because they were in the Super Bowl, right, they
didn't draft till the end of the first round. They
have the eleventh pick and they have the forty third pick,
and I think if they are going to sustain winning,

(14:57):
this has to be one of those offseasons where they
land I think, core impact players for the foreseeable future.
Last time in twenty twenty, they made a trade with
the Forest Buckner and they traded the Forrest Buckner to
the Colts for a the thirteenth overall pick, and they
got cute. They traded from thirteen to fourteen and the

(15:20):
Tampa Bay Buccaneers drafted Tristan Wurfs and they ended up
drafting Javon Kinlaw. And this is an opportunity. Can they
land you know another version, you know, Micah Parsons, I
think was pick eleven ye picks in the you know,
high in the second round, become all pro Pro Bowl players.
If they can do that, even if they pay rock perty,

(15:40):
they'll be able to sustain winning for a while. But
if they miss on these picks, because they're good picking
in the fourth through seventh round, they are littered with
starters in those rounds high in the draft, partly because
they haven't had the picks and partly because they've missed
on some picks. They gotta be aggressive and they got
to get it right. If they do, I I think
we could. You see the forty nine ers schedule Colin

(16:02):
that they have the easiest strength of schedule in the NFL,
at least based on going into next year. They have
no business not winning twelve thirteen games in twenty twenty five.

Speaker 1 (16:13):
I want to talk about Sam Darnold. I really liked
him out of college. I didn't think he was good enough,
like an Andrew Luck to overcome you know, a bad
ownership or bad teams, and that was that bore out.
So I thought they were gonna franchise him or sign
him to a short contract, or he'd go to the
market and get a fortune. But it's so embedded in

(16:34):
our brains that once he struggled with Detroit, we all
went back to the Sam is seeing ghosts. I think
it's a one off. I think he'll play fine against
the Rams. But let me ask you, as a former
scout who has been in the front office in Philadelphia
and you know how they operate. Let's say Sam struggles
a little bit and they lose to the Rams. Does

(16:55):
it change his ascension? Does it change his off season?

Speaker 8 (17:02):
I think one element of the broadcast on Sunday night
against the Lions is they showed JJ McCarthy, who obviously
is you know, coming back from multiple knee surgeries, and
he had a knee sleeve colin. He looked like he
weighed one hundred and ninety pounds, and I look the
other day at the combine, he weighed basically two hundred
and twenty pounds. So to me, when you look at

(17:24):
that player. He's not even remotely close to filling the
void of being a starting quarterback on a playoff team,
which Sam Donald has proven to do. But I think
when you start talking about giving a guy one hundred
million dollars, one hundred and fifty million dollars, this seven
day stretch, I guess it's eight because they plan Monday
night is massive for Sam Donald. I think he's already

(17:46):
kind of locked in on being their quarterback in twenty five. Yeah,
that just may be the franchise tag, And there are
multiple franchise tags. There's the exclusive one, there's the non
exclusive one. I think Sam Donald is getting that at minimum.
Even if this game does not go well on Monday
against the Rams, he throws three or four touchdowns, they

(18:06):
beat the Rams, maybe they go on and win a
second round game. Then I think we start, like you said,
Lions game a little bit of an outlier and he
gets a long term contract. But I think he's already
done enough. And given JJ McCarthy situation, with the injuries,
with the way his body looks right now, I'm sure
he's not been able to work out, and he was

(18:27):
a project to begin with that Sam Darnold is going
to be the quarterback for Minnesota next year. I just
think that, you know, you could look at you win
this game, you win another game. We're talking hundreds of
millions of dollars we see these quarterback contracts, so the
pressure is immense. And let's face it, confidence can take
a while to build up for any young person. Heck

(18:50):
for anyone in life. But it can go like that
and you just have to wonder if that Lions game
doesn't snowball on him a little bit, and can he
get it rolling against the Rams.

Speaker 1 (18:59):
Finally, a lot of college football, about as much as
anybody I know, and you're a former NFL scout. I've
always leaned on you for college quarterbacks. Cam Ward Shadeur Sanders.
If you had to take one, which would be and
give me a breakdown of both if you could, John Well, I.

Speaker 8 (19:16):
Think cam physically. I remember talking to a scouting buddy
a couple of years ago when he was transferring to
Washington State from Incarnate Word, and he said, this guy
is physically really gifted.

Speaker 2 (19:28):
He throws the.

Speaker 8 (19:29):
Ball, I mean, as well as any prospect in the
draft last year. I just think people that there's an
up and down nature with his game, his explosive plays,
his highlight plays are exceptional. Physically, he is much more
talented than Shador. I might be in the minority. I
think Chador is a good player, but his physical gifts.

(19:52):
When you think of Dion Sanders, Yeah, one of the
greatest athletes of my life. I wonder if Shador got
some of his athleticism from his mother, because Schador is
not you know, I would say cam Ward is a
better athlete. Sador is not a great athlete and he
doesn't have a big time arm, so physically when it
comes to gifts, I wouldn't put him on the upper
echelon of quarterbacks that we've seen in recent memories. Just

(20:15):
a solid player. I actually think the curveball in this draft,
and we'll see they play tonight, Drew Aller if he
were to beat Notre Dame, even if they were to
get boat raced by Ohio State. Talk about a guy
that's gained a lot of momentum. Yeah, very physically gifted guy,
little old school, not as much scrambling as Chador or
cam Ward, but I think he would be a curveball

(20:37):
that like could he end up going in the top
five if he were he's committed to coming back to
Penn State. But all of a sudden, you're in the
National Championship game and people are talking about you like
a top ten pick. You would have to wonder if
he would come out and heck, could he be in
the mix? You know, if he throws a bunch of
touchdowns against Notre Dame and looks good against Ohio State

(20:58):
to compete to go? Is high an these other quarter
The simple fact is this quarterback draft, universally around the
league is not viewed as great. Yet there are some
high end players at other positions. Travis Hunter, the pass
rusher at at Penn State, Walker at Georgia. Yeah, so

(21:19):
is a quarterback inflation? Are these guys a lot to
just be the one and two pick or some other
players gonna go and we're gonna see these guys go
six and eight. I wouldn't bet on that because we
know teams need quarterbacks. But I think as we sit
here today, everything's on the table, all.

Speaker 1 (21:35):
Right, John Middlecoff three and Ounces Podcast. Great seeing you
buddy as always, see you coin.

Speaker 4 (21:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (21:43):
The Drew Alller Penn State's fascinating because big arm. He's
kind of a traditional big arm guy. Here's what's funny.
You know now everybody is like, you gotta run around
at quarterback. Jared Goffs has the number one seed in
the NFC. Jared goff the least mobile quarterback, by the way,
in the last twenty years, Tom Brady has the most

(22:04):
Super Bowls. So this idea, Matt Stafford, by the way,
his favor to beat hyper athletic. You know, everybody thinks
Matt Stafford is going to be a better than Sam Darnold.
This idea, you can't be a pocket quarterback. It makes
me laugh. I don't know how good Drew Aller is
because I thought he was coming back to college. But
that dude can spin it like that guy is a
big guy, much better traits, by the way than one.

(22:29):
Brock pretty had to slide that in. There a lot
of show left live in LA. It's the Herd.

Speaker 2 (22:38):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Eastern not a em Pacific.

Speaker 1 (22:43):
John Middlecoff, Joel Klatt, Greg Hosel. We don't get many
days like that. Three three rock stars show up on
the broadcast and then Jay Mack has lost his footing
A little bit about halfway through this show with the
blind resume with Mike McCarthy, Let's see if he regained
his composure. Jay makin No turn on the news, Yes,

(23:06):
as the herd line nnounce.

Speaker 3 (23:07):
Some new material. Here are you a comedian?

Speaker 9 (23:09):
In twenty twenty five, Let's start with the breaking news
out of Vegas. The Raiders have parted ways with GM
Tom Telesco after one season.

Speaker 3 (23:17):
Okay, I don't even know what to make of the
Raiders now.

Speaker 9 (23:22):
They let Antonio Pierce meet the media right fired him
a day later.

Speaker 3 (23:26):
Telesco seems safe. He's gone now.

Speaker 9 (23:29):
Telesco obviously drafted Brock Bowers with the thirteenth pick overall.
Brown Bowers had the greatest season any tight end has
ever had. What's interesting is six quarterbacks, but in the
top twelve the Raiders, you know, just missed out on
all the quarterbacks. Hit a home run with the tight end.
But that doesn't matter. I have a feeling I know
what's going on with the Raiders, but I'm curious. Where
are you on the Telesco.

Speaker 1 (23:49):
Firing Well, I just don't get it. I know Tom
very well. I I mean, find the organization that draft
at the top of this draft in the last decade.
There's only one thing they have in common. It's not quarterback,
head coach, scout.

Speaker 3 (24:08):
It is.

Speaker 1 (24:10):
Impulsiveness at the ownership position. The Raiders now will be
paying four head coaches, be paying four and not all
seven figures. So does that sound like a well run corporation.
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (24:26):
They're treading towards the brown.

Speaker 1 (24:27):
One of the reasons, one of the reasons that the
Chargers are good instantly is not just Jim Harball that
the roster was good. Now, he missed on a J. C.
Jackson cornerback acquisition. He missed on that till let's go quickly.

Speaker 3 (24:41):
They'll give him credit for that.

Speaker 1 (24:42):
Yeah, But the truth is this roster was good. They
had a quarterback, they left tackle, they had weapons, they
had pass rushers. I mean, the Chargers were ready to
pop to go toe to toe against the Chiefs because
they had a good roster, right Like, So they didn't
have a lot of needs outside of like one more
you know, right Hackle, try to get another slot receiver

(25:02):
next year's draft. They don't have a ton of needs,
mean another running back. So Telesco's not the issue. Telesco.
The issue is lots of people who have had lots
of success in other places are just getting run off.
I mean, it does it feel like I mean, to me,
it feels a little like Tom Brady now has major
influence in the organization. That's what it feels like.

Speaker 9 (25:25):
It also feels like teams around the league are starting
to realize listen, coaches are gonna want their GM to
work with someone they can trust in, someone they believe it.
I think Rabel was so scarred by what happened in
Tennessee where they traded Aj Brown, that my guess is
Rabel's going to be going to the Raiders. And I

(25:46):
think he just says, listen, I want someone I know
as my GM, who I can work with and build
the roster, has the same vision as me. And I
guess they have someone in mind, and that's why they
said to let's go by I would I.

Speaker 3 (25:58):
Don't want to you never gear anything. But I think
Brabel's going to be picking the Raiders.

Speaker 1 (26:03):
Well, it's very interesting. I thought it was New England,
but I mean, if you just connect the dots, and
I'm just spitballing here, but Brady is really close with Brabel. Yeah,
and now the GM and the coach are fired, and
we know from reports two days ago that Tom Brady
has influence and the decision making. I said, if I

(26:23):
was Brady, i'd sit down with Brabel. There's no way Tom.
I mean he already called Belichick. That's been confirmed, right,
So it's not surprising that Tom and Brabel probably sat
down and played around of golf for pad dinner and
discussed it. And I think what you're leading to makes
sense is that Tom has major influence. And I mean,

(26:44):
if the GM's not fired, I wouldn't buy that. But
with the coach and the GM out after a year,
after all the moves, it tells me Rabel Brady feels
like it's cooking.

Speaker 9 (26:59):
And I remember yesterday you said the two guys who
are far and away better than every other candidate are
Rabel and Ben Johnson.

Speaker 3 (27:05):
What did we hear about Ben Johnson a couple of
weeks ago.

Speaker 9 (27:07):
He wants a specific GM if he's taken the job,
he already has his vision. Hey, everybody wants to me
I'm in demand. Well guess what, here's my demand. You
see this GM right here. I know him, I want
to work with him, I respect him, and I feel
like some of these coaches.

Speaker 1 (27:22):
Imagine, let's just say Rabel takes the job, this will
be the greatest coaching division in the history of football.
And he read Jim Harbaugh, Sean Payton, Mike Rabel, that's
your division.

Speaker 3 (27:34):
That's pretty strong.

Speaker 1 (27:35):
There's never been a division with that good at coaches.
And I'm not one of these guys that would duck competition,
but it would give you pause. Now, Andy Reid may
retire in two years. So but it's like I would
feel better about the Raiders' job if it was a
really strong quarterback class. Well, I think, how about this
for a year. Aaron Rodgers, that's in play. He's got

(27:58):
a place in Malibu and in Nashville. Vegas fits the
other thing I.

Speaker 9 (28:02):
Would say, you know, in the short term, they may
bottom out Ray Bowl, and the new GM may look
at the roster and say, we got some stuff here.
We want to gut the old guard who's been plus
like three coaches in the last five years, and we
want to bring in our guys. So they might have
a painful year draft high next year and all of
a sudden they get this thing cooking again.

Speaker 3 (28:20):
Remember Rabell went, was he the number one seed with
Ryan Tannehill. Yeah, he's a pretty damn good.

Speaker 1 (28:25):
Tom Brady's last game in Foxborough, Titans beat him.

Speaker 2 (28:30):
That's right.

Speaker 1 (28:30):
I remember they had that to pick six. It was
Logan Ryan. I think maybe it was I fore forget that.

Speaker 10 (28:34):
That was right.

Speaker 9 (28:34):
Good call Tennessee in the They's just a shocking development
out of Vegas.

Speaker 3 (28:39):
Next up is the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Speaker 9 (28:42):
They got an eight season streak without a playoff win.
In current four game losing streak this season, they're trying
to snap all that on Saturday. Pittsburgh has the longest
Super Bowl odds in the playoffs, but Russell Wilson is
staying positive out of Round three with Baltimore.

Speaker 10 (28:59):
I think that's the portunity that we have in front
of us. It's a great one. We're excited about the
opportunity to play. I was seen in the playoffs and
it's uh, you know guys that you know haven't played
fifteen years and never guy in the playoffs, or for
a lot of these guys who haven't, it's exciting moment,
exciting time. It's exciting for all of us because we
also know how how how how good of a team
we are when we play our best, and we're excited

(29:20):
about the opportunity of those, you know, facing the challenge
that we're in.

Speaker 1 (29:24):
It's interesting with Zay Flowers out for the Ravens. Do
you think Pittsburgh keeps it close? No, okay, you do well.
I think Zay Flowers is a dynamic player that can
certain he can force you to do things defensively you
don't want to do. I mean, he's just underneath drag routes.
He turns five yards into twenty five. He's a He's

(29:46):
a dynamic player that a couple times a game like
changes field position.

Speaker 3 (29:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 9 (29:53):
Russell Wilson's kind of coming back down to earth. He
really needs a big game here.

Speaker 3 (29:56):
Pickens.

Speaker 9 (29:57):
Remember the last time we saw him one cats for
zero yards and three drops in that Cincinnati game and
he was yelling at fans and teammates hold. So they're unraveling.
I don't know if Russ can get them together. Look
at these numbers for us in the last four games.
It's just not good offense, not great. Pickens starting to
fall apart as.

Speaker 1 (30:14):
We all, Is it me or the Steelers have more
high maintenance receivers in the last decade than anybody in football?
There always drama. Deontay Johnson, Antonio Brown, Chase Claypool. I
mean they they roll the dice on and they know
these guys. Usually they call it red flag generally speaking.
If a guy comes in with a lot of drama,
he had some drama, Pickens had some drama in college.

(30:37):
There's you know they yeah. So it's like they but
they roll the dice and that their feeling is our
culture is so good that we'll bring these remarkably gifted
players in. But it's like it's almost as a rule
Pittsburgh will have every year last decade, somebody's dealing in
drama at that position.

Speaker 9 (30:57):
Final story is the Bucks Commanders matchup night in the
Wildcard round second straight season. The Bucks that faced an
NFC East team. Remember last year they smoked the Eagles
and then ended up.

Speaker 2 (31:07):
Losing to Detroit.

Speaker 9 (31:09):
This year, Baker Mayfield believes the run game will help
them go deeper into the playoffs.

Speaker 7 (31:14):
The biggest difference is the run game of when we've
needed to run the ball to win games, we've been
able to do that. And so that's a physical mentality
and everybody being on the same page with that and
understanding that when you get into a certain mode late
in the game where you're having to run the clock out.
We're able to do that, and that's to me, that's
the biggest difference. You know, skill player rise in the
past game. Yeah, we're we're connecting quite a bit, but

(31:35):
the biggest difference is the run game.

Speaker 1 (31:37):
I like tamp in that game, and I think that
I get a more experienced team at home that stops
the run and runs, and I think Washington is going
Jayden Daniels is going to have to be the hero
because they will not run the ball and he is
going to have to do some hero ball here. And
they don't have a number two receiver I love after McLaurin,
So I think I think you're putting. I think Baker

(31:59):
Mayfield Countil twenty four times complete sixteen and they'd win.
I think Jayden has to be a superstar to win
this game. They will not have a run game.

Speaker 9 (32:07):
This could be one of those games where, like you said,
only one receivers McLaurin. I mean, they got what Zach Zakihias,
the guy they got from the Falcons.

Speaker 3 (32:14):
They're gonna be if they can't score.

Speaker 9 (32:17):
My guess is they're big game hunting for a receiver
this offseason, Tybreek Hill, Yes.

Speaker 3 (32:21):
De Bo, I mean I think Higgins.

Speaker 1 (32:23):
So Baker doesn't have to play great for Tampa to win.
He could be Okay, he could be be He could
I mean honestly, he could go sixteen for twenty four
with a pick and one touchdown and you could see
the run game dominate. Washington doesn't defend the run, particularly
Bucky Irving. Man, If Jaden Daniels isn't great, they're not
winning that game.

Speaker 3 (32:38):
Man, it's a tough one.

Speaker 1 (32:40):
Jmack with a news.

Speaker 2 (32:42):
Well, that's the news, and thanks for stopping by The.

Speaker 1 (32:45):
Herd Line News Live in La.

Speaker 2 (32:47):
It's the Herd one more Heard. The Herd streams twenty
four hours a day, seven days a week within the
iHeartRadio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand
whenever you like.

Speaker 11 (32:58):
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and Rich on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 5 (33:03):
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Speaker 1 (33:10):
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Speaker 5 (33:12):
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Speaker 11 (33:16):
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Speaker 5 (33:25):
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Speaker 9 (33:55):
Make sure you play this week's Fox Super six sponsored
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Speaker 1 (34:05):
So Antonio Pierce got fired a couple of days ago
as the Raiders head coach, and now within the hour
they have fired Tom Telasco, the general manager. My guess
is Tom Brady Now, who is partial owner, has significant
impact and say in the organization, and that leads both

(34:25):
Jay McK and I to believe that Mike Rabel now
could be a leading candidate for that job. Rabel and
Brady are very close. But Peter Schreger yesterday with some
foreshadowing about what's going on with the Raiders.

Speaker 4 (34:38):
They had Antonio Peers to a press conference yesterday at
ten am local and they fired him two hours later.

Speaker 3 (34:44):
Like there's thirty one teams and.

Speaker 4 (34:46):
There's the Las Vegas Raiders, and there's one man in charge,
and he acts how he wants to act, and he
pays out who he wants to pay out. And Mark
Davis is that guy. Tom Telesco's the GM, He's got
his thoughts. He's got a great record in the first
round with the LA Chargers and the San Diego Charges
before that. But I'll tell you there are a lot
of people who are in that building who did not
know that Antonio Pierce was getting fired early in the

(35:08):
morning yesterday. That tells me that Mark Davis holds a
lot of cards here and anything could happen as far
as the Raiders go. I mean anything, and anyone who
tells you otherwise, is either a very close friend of
Mark Davis or is talking.

Speaker 1 (35:21):
Out of there.

Speaker 7 (35:22):
You know what.

Speaker 1 (35:23):
You know, it's funny. I grew up as a kid
in the Pacific Northwest and we didn't get a football
team until the Seattle Seahawks arrived and played in the Kingdome.
It was nineteen seventy seven. I could be wrong on that,
nineteen seventy seven. And it was interesting because the Raiders
at the time were these swashbucklers, big brand. Kenny Stabler

(35:46):
was one of the great quarterbacks, and they had you know,
Mark Van Eagan and you know, I jogged my memory,
but it was like Cliff Branch and Fred Bulitnikoff and
Lester Hayes and Jack Tatum, Phil Villape. They were just
great and they were just like unkept. They were an
unmade bed of a team. It was like mustaches, beards,

(36:07):
long hair, wild crazy. You'd go into a locker room
before the game and players would be smoking. I mean,
it was really a crazy brand. It was. It was
anti corporation and Al Davis was a visionary owner. A
young Al Davis saw the world differently. Ohwa was pushing
back on the NFL and I remember it because my
Seahawks as a kid, Jim Zorn, Steve Largent gave the

(36:29):
Raiders fits. And after about four years, one of the
Raider players, I think it was Jack Tatum, said, would
you guys stop calling them an expansion team. They're not
an expansion team. I got good players. So the Seahawks
had this great offense with Steve Largent, former governor of Oklahoma,
and and Jim Zorn and Sherman Smith, and they had

(36:51):
this high powered offense, usually had very good offensive lines,
and they would give the Raiders fits. And the Raiders
were a much better team. And so my, you know,
I grew up with the Raiders were these kind of
rebels with a cause. They were like UNLV basketball with
Tark pushing the envelope, making the league and the commissioner uncomfortable.
And they were just good forever. And then John Madden

(37:13):
was the coach, and it was just they were just
it was the Steelers, it was Don shul and the Dolphins.
It was the Raids and they were such a cool brand.
And then as Al Davis aged, he made poor and
poor decisions, had a little too much control, probably should
have seeded some control to some other NFL people and
woulden that he gives it to his son and his son.

(37:37):
You were hoping his son would be like Al Davis
when he was young, sort of a pioneer and a visionary,
and instead it just feels like they're taking these big
swings and they keep missing, and it just they're gonna
be paying four coaches here. So I do ye. Seahawks
first season was nineteen seventy six, my bad, not seventy seven.
So I wish the Raiders mattered because I have such

(38:03):
fond memories. What's interesting, there's another team like this was
the Golden State Warriors. Again, I'm taking you down memory lane.
This drives J Matt crazy, But I grew up with
the Golden State Warriors were great with Rick Berry and
Jeff Mullins and Keith Wilkes and Al Addales and I
was the coach was Al Addeles. This guy, yeah, Clifford
Ray was the center for years and years. I was

(38:25):
just starting to fall in love with sports in the
mid seventies, and the Raiders were great, and the Warriors
were great, and these Bay Area teams were great, and
I was just getting my Mariners and getting the Seahawks,
and so I had this kind of fascination with like
Oakland because all their teams on the West Coast and
the Warriors, and Rick Barry was a hot head and
he was getting technicals and screaming at refs. And I mean,

(38:46):
you had the Raiders and you have the Warriors, and
then both going to the tank and they don't matter
for a long time. And the Warriors then get resurrected.
Joe lakea bis them gives it to Mark Jackson, Steve
Kirstef Curry. You know the story. I'm waiting for the
resurrection of the Raiders, and like the Warriors, I'm kind
of waiting for the right coach and the quarterback. And listen,
I didn't know if Tom Telesco and Antonio Peers were

(39:08):
going to rule the world. Antonio Pierce is the you
know the cautionary tale. You hire the interim coach because
he has a winning record, or they play really hard
for the interim coach for seven or eight weeks, watch out.
Most interim coaches don't hang around. But it just feels
like they're a little lost at see here. And I mean,

(39:28):
the Raiders are gonna have to hire a GM and
a coach for the third time since twenty twenty two.
I mean, the Jets look like IBM compared to these guys.
I mean Robert Salid got like five years, Joe Douglas
got four or five six years. I mean, seriously, the
Jets are looking at the Raiders going, hey, you guys

(39:49):
are poorly run. I mean, the Browns the Bears look
at the Raiders and they're like, would you guys settle
down and take a deep breath so we'll see you know,
it feels like Brady's got a lot of influence, which
is not surprising. But I think, did you read this
online when you heard the Mike Rabel stuff? Is that
online or is that when you were talking about Vrabel?

(40:11):
And I mean it does feel a lot spet. I mean,
I just I read the story where Brady A source
said Brady called Belichick. Well, if he called Belichick, he
certainly called Mike Rabel. I mean, obviously they're closer in age.

Speaker 9 (40:22):
Generationally, feels like a tug of war over Rabel between
Craft and the Patriots and the Raiders, does it not.

Speaker 3 (40:30):
They both want Rabel. He's the he's the best guy
on the market.

Speaker 1 (40:34):
But I would take the Patriots job because of Craft
and because I've got Drake may So, I the Patriots
job to me is more I only, not only do
I have Drake may I got Milton for the next
four years. If I mean I literally, I have a
legitimate backup.

Speaker 9 (40:47):
You're not picking the job because of a legit backup.
But what does it tell you if he picks the Raiders?
So what does that say about and may Well?

Speaker 1 (40:55):
I'm just saying, if I pick the Patriots, yes, I
have to face Josh Airlin, but I get the Jets,
I get Miami. If I take the Raiders job, I
got Andy Reid and Mahomes. I don't Harbaugh, Herbert bo Nixon, Peyton.

Speaker 3 (41:09):
I don't think he's viewing it that.

Speaker 9 (41:10):
I don't belie view it that way, and I understand
I would agree that's a logical way to look at it.

Speaker 3 (41:14):
That's why Brady went to the Let me.

Speaker 1 (41:15):
Let me ask you this, when you take a football job,
how many of those SEC guys last? You have to
consider the competition? Yeah, I mean, all of a sudden,
you look that Oklahoma Sooner's job doesn't look nearly as
good in the SEC as it did in the Big twelve.

Speaker 3 (41:30):
You know these coaches are ultra confidence soup.

Speaker 9 (41:32):
Hey, if I'm able to do my system, get my
guys in, we're gonna win. I don't care about Patrick
Mahomes or Herbert We're gonna win because I'm Mike Ragel
And I know you would you if you could do both?

Speaker 1 (41:42):
Would you take the Patriots job or would you take
the Raiders job.

Speaker 9 (41:45):
It's just tough because I don't know person Craft personally.
I don't know Brady that you know.

Speaker 3 (41:49):
I just would you do?

Speaker 1 (41:50):
But you've read a couple of them. I mean Craft's
got there's six books out on him.

Speaker 9 (41:54):
I don't know him person I don't know if he's
I don't know him. I mean he's just fired what's
his name? After one year?

Speaker 1 (41:59):
He loved by every report, and I supported the higher.
I didn't love the higher, but he was over his head.

Speaker 2 (42:06):
I had that was like Craft's guy.

Speaker 3 (42:08):
He's known him for a decade.

Speaker 1 (42:09):
Hey listened the best owners in the history of football
miss on coaches and everybody. I mean, it's like missing
on a draft pick.

Speaker 9 (42:16):
What if Rabel's family sees oh Vegas. So that's close
to the West.

Speaker 3 (42:20):
Coast, it's warm weather, tax situation versus New England Snowy.
Maybe they don't like which I don't know.

Speaker 9 (42:26):
There's so many factors at play, but yes, Drake May
versus whatever.

Speaker 1 (42:30):
You start looking at the current NFL head coaching Vegascies, Okay, Bears, Jags, Jets, Patriots, Raiders, Saints.
I'm gonna make the argument the best ones, the Patriots,
why they don't run through coaches, the winningest owner, and
I get Drake May. Drake May can play. And by
the way, the reason I like this job, it's never

(42:52):
going to get lower than this. And in the division,
the best team Buffalo. We don't even know if Sean
mcdermot's going to be there in five years. I get
a couple of I get, I get an offer. Miami's dysfunctional.
Jets are dysfunctional.

Speaker 3 (43:03):
By that argument, you could say the Jags job is great.
I get Trevor Lawrence.

Speaker 1 (43:07):
They have no history of winning that organization.

Speaker 3 (43:10):
NFC championship with or sorry, AFC championship.

Speaker 1 (43:12):
With Blake Bortless.

Speaker 3 (43:14):
You know why you can remember plate that division?

Speaker 9 (43:16):
You want to talk this function Titans, Colts, who are
a bit of a mess, and.

Speaker 1 (43:22):
THEE ask yourself this as a coach. What are the
two things that matter? Owner a quarterback. New England's got.

Speaker 3 (43:28):
Vote more than that.

Speaker 1 (43:29):
Man. I'm not I'm saying it's not more than that.
But if you tell me there's this one job and
there's six jobs opens, you get the best owner and
potentially the best quarterback, and the quarterback's on a rookie deal,
that's attractive to me. I'm not saying New England has everything.
They need upgrades in speed offensively, but they got about
a half dozen players.

Speaker 3 (43:47):
I like, raiders have a good shelve.

Speaker 1 (43:49):
They just need a quarter None of these jobs have everything,
or they wouldn't have an opening. I'm just saying New
England I get owner and quarterback I like, and I
like Joe Milton is a backup. Come on, you need
to pay close attention to that.
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