BEST OF NFL NEWS PART 1: Micah TRADED to Packers! + SHOCKED Saquon Barkley voted #1 in NFL?

23:57You know, and so because there is matchup. It's either going to be a safety or a linebacker on you most of the time. So come out running, scare the daylights out of them, and then cut off of them. You know what I mean? That's what Gibby does so well. So I think those two – I mean, there's a little bit of Christian McCaffrey, some things that he does as well, man. Yeah, those are the guys. I don't think people understand how difficult the running back position is when it comes to those tier one running backs, LT, like you, Jameer Gibbs, Saquon. Derrick Henry is a little bit different. He's not like you guys from us.

24:31No, no, no.

24:32Shannon Sharpe:Henry's an old school bell time back. He's an old school bell time back. Yeah, yeah. But you, Jameer Gibbs, for example, and you too, LT, being able to get the ball and be fast, being able to come to balance and be able to reaccelerate right then and there and being able to set linebackers up, set safeties up, still make a move and not move and not lose any, not momentum, but what's the word? No wasting movement. That's what I'm looking for. No wasting movement. Everything in one transition, everybody can't do that, man. I told the man, stop letting LT run that damn Texas route on y 'all. Knock his ass down.

25:10Shannon Sharpe:He ain't doing that but looking across y 'all damn face. He's going to run two routes. He's going to run the flat. He's going to come up and make you think he's going to run the Texas to cross your face or he going to break it out on your ass and haul ass on you. Man, knock him down. I got to a point though where they allowed me to stay up that seam if you stayed up. If you stayed inside, I just stay in that seam. I did Denver like that up in my Ohio one time. Went by 70 on. You called us up. We played y 'all. I think that was my I think that might have been my first year back. My first year back in Denver where you hit it for like 200 and had 10 catches.

25:51Shannon Sharpe:I said, well, damn. I'm like, where'd he come from?

26:00Shannon Sharpe:Man, it's like the running back position now, LT, you see a lot of guys, because a lot of teams run a two-back system. That's not what you had. You were old school. Tight end, fullback in front of you, low kneel, leading the way. That's what you had. In today's game, it's more of a two-back system. How different is LT's career if he had to split reps? What do you mean? If I had to, I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't do it. I was selfish. I ain't coming out the game, dog. You know what I'm saying? That was part of the reason why I prided myself on being able to do everything so you didn't have to say oh he can't he can't block or he can't run this route or he can't catch i'm priding myself on that and i wanted to take every rep i was just that competitive because i believe if i was on the sideline something was gonna happen that that you know like i couldn't control so i couldn't do it today man and here's the other thing like when you're the bell cow guy you're thinking the long call huh oh Joe you're thinking okay in the fourth quarter is when I really got to get going let me you know let me get my yards I'm gonna step out of bounds here and there you know I'm saying I'm gonna save myself but in the fourth quarter when the boys a little bit time we give them the stiff arm you know I'm saying I'm gonna run through a couple of tackles that's when because that was something that Marty Schottenheimer instilled in me and pose your will throughout the game.

27:42I mean, I hear it playing in my mind like yesterday. That was something he always said and we live by it.

27:49Shannon Sharpe:Yeah, y 'all, I mean, you went to the perfect situation because Marty going to run the football. Marty going to run it. Marty going to put that ball in your belly, A.L.T. That's what Marty going to do. Hey, but here's the thing, though, y 'all. So in college, think about it. I was a perimeter runner. Like, you know, I was a sweep guy. You know, get on the perimeter, do my thing. Man, when I first got to San Diego and Marty came in, he started talking about running power and going down the A gap. Hey, I used to bounce that thing so much. That drunkard used to get mad at me. I used to get, stay in the A gap.

28:25Stay, trust it. I'm like, coach, ain't nothing to have. I got to bounce it. You know what I'm saying? But I had to learn, man. I had to learn how to be an inside runner. I didn't want to embrace it at first, but I'm glad I did, man. It did make me a better, obviously a better.

28:42Shannon Sharpe:Hell, y 'all running that power. Y 'all pulling guard, tackle, and damn little Loneal. Hell, you kick it out, pin it down, and then here come Loneal up in the hole on the linebacker. Now you one-on-one with the safety. Hey, Zog, Zog going to clear it out every time. Hey, them old school fullbacks like Sam Gash, I played with Gash. And Loneal, they coming with bad intentions. Head first. Oh, yeah. Neck roll it all. Hey, Lo used to say, hey, before the play, he used to say, hey, daddy, get on my hip and don't dip. Let's go. That's what he used to do. Hey, let's get a little kneel, man. Hey, get a little kneel like one carry a game on 31.

29:23Shannon Sharpe:You good. Yeah. Yeah, you good. You good. He bought in. He bought in. LT, man, you look like you done lost some weight. Damn, you done trimmed down. Ocho, man, I'm on this intermittent fasting, man. Yo, yo, yo. Yeah, man, I get my workouts every day, man. I feel good, man. I feel good. You gotta come, you gotta let me. I'm at planned weight. Yeah, LT, you might be under 200, LT. What you? I'm about 210. I'm about 210. Hey, you need to come holler at your boy. You know I'm a nutritionist right now. I'm a nutritionist. What that diet like, though? You know the same thing I eat when I play?

30:1711 NFL teams already hired me to help with their nutrition. So the players stop getting hurt. No more. None of that soft tissue injury. No, uh, non-contact. No, none of that. None of that's happened. No, you, you charge it too much. I'll show, you know, I'm on a budget. Hey, Hey, LT, I charge$20 a week. That ain't nothing.

30:40Shannon Sharpe:That's still too much. I'll mess with you. $10 I'll mess with you.

30:47Shannon Sharpe:Hey, LT, so what time do you eat your first meal? About 1 o 'clock. So you get all your meals in between what, 1 and 7, 1 and 8? 1 and 8, yeah. 1 and 8, man. So you're going about 14 to 16 hours. Fasting. Yep. Yep. I do. So when do you work out? You work out in the morning. So you working out on the empty stomach. So you do it fast. I am. Yeah. Okay. I am, man. So I get, I usually work out about nine to 10 o 'clock in the morning. I get up early, get the kids off to school, you know, and then, uh, you know, I see, I will modify with coffee. So I'll have coffee in the morning by 10 ounces. That's it.

31:33Damn, but do you know how much 10 ounces is? 10 ounces?

31:39Shannon Sharpe:Yeah. Yeah, about 10 ounces. That's a can of Coke. A can of Coke is 12 ounces. You got too fewer than that. Boy, that coffee went through. You ain't got nothing on your stomach. Yeah. Yeah, I love that coffee, man. And so then I'll get my workout on. By that time, by that time, you know, it's around 12 o 'clock. And once I order food or cook food, it's 1 o 'clock. So, yeah. Go ahead, Ocho. I was going to say, you smoke cigars? Yeah, absolutely. Yes, sir. I got a cigar lounge in my house, Ocho. What? Yes, I got a cigar lounge. Hey, boy, you rich. Hey, um, I got to leave home to go to the cigar bar.

32:25He got one in the house.

32:27Shannon Sharpe:Yeah. So him and Joe, both of them got properties. Nah, my brother goes, he go on the back porch. He ain't got no lounge in the house. He go on the back porch and blow it out. Hey, LT, people always ask, it was me, you, and Time, and Carissa, and we had picked somebody, and I had picked them to win. And Time told me I didn't do that. And you said, he did, he picked them. I said, Time, I swear for God in two white men, I picked them. And you said, And y 'all, but they don't really, oh, LT, the conversation that we had watching the games, me, you, and time,

33:14Shannon Sharpe:I'm glad because this is what kind of what my mind, this is what I envisioned with NICAP to be, was kind of, you know, yeah, we talk about games, but we talk about a lot of other things. Man, Ocho, that was some of my best work. LT said, man, LT told me I need to be a comedian. Say, I don't know why you play football. You need to be a damn comedian. For real, dawg. This man said two white men. Like, why it got to be two white men? Like, they the stakeholders? That's what we talking about. Yeah, back then, you know, back in the day, you wouldn't lie before them now. Because it was hell to pay. You lied before them.

33:47Shannon Sharpe:But, man, that was some fun times, man. Tymon and I talked about that, man. That was some great times. LT, thanks for joining us, man. Congratulations on the Frogs going down to Chapel Hill. 48-14 over the Tar Heels. Come back and join us later this season, LT. I definitely will, man. Always a pleasure, my brother. Love y 'all, man. Appreciate it, bro. The NFL Top 100, the top 10 NFL players were unveiled tonight. At number 10 was Patrick Sertain. At number 9, Patrick Sertain II, excuse me. Number 9, Justin Jefferson. Number 8, Miles Garrett. Number 7, Derrick Henry. Number 6, Joe Burrow. I don't know if y 'all notice, y 'all keep talking about the SEC is dead, but that's four of the top ten players right there.

34:30Shannon Sharpe:That's from that conference. Patrick Mahomes was number five. Jamar Chase, another guy. I don't know if y 'all noticed, but six of the top ten from the SEC, but that conference is dead. Number three is Josh Allen. Number two, Lamar Jackson. And the number one player voted by his peers, Saquon Barkley. Oh, my bad. Saquon. any surprises are you surprised when you're moving like i do trips don't always come together weeks in advance sometimes production shoots interviews or something i've got to travel for on a short notice like the time when i had the last minute trip to denver and everything came together fast once it was locked in i had to be ready to go that's where amazon prime can make a difference when something comes together quickly you can get what you need like grooming essentials neck pillows, eye masks, even snacks for the flights, so you're ready to show up for it.

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37:59Shannon Sharpe:LT, Ocho, are you surprised that Saquon beat out Josh Allen and Lamar to be the number one player in the NFL this season? Voting on by his peers. I'm a bit surprised So am I Because we're living in a world where it's all about the quarterback And we know that And rightfully so Josh Allen is the reigning MVP So you would think that He would get the most votes from his peers And even beyond Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson With the type of season he had last year Man, he had one of the top seasons from any quarterback in history. You hear me? So, you know, I'm very surprised. I mean, Saquon obviously had a spectacular year and, you know, got close to the Russian record of a single season, but he didn't get it.

38:52And so, you know, that holds weight that he didn't get it, but he did win the Super Bowl. So I think players at the end of the day are giving him credit for being, you know, going over 2 ,000 yards and winning the Super Bowl championship and being the catalyst for that Eagles team. And offensive player of the year. That's right. And I think that had a lot to do with it. Look, I think he deserves it. Saquon has really elevated the running back position, the value of the running back position. So, hands down, I salute Saquon, man, for being the number one player.

39:30Shannon Sharpe:Respect. And we've talked more about the running back position in 24 and leading into 25 than we have at any point in time in the last decade, guys, because of what we saw with Derrick Henry, what we saw with Saquon Barkley, what we saw with Josh Jacobs, what we saw with Joe Mixon. There were a lot of running backs like, hold on, Jonathan Taylor. Hold on. They still got some. Jameer Gibbs. Jameer Gibbs. Yeah. So they're trying to say, look, there is still value when used correctly. So y 'all want to put them behind. Y 'all want to put them behind no quarterback, so-so offensive line. Look at all these guys that we mentioned.

40:10Shannon Sharpe:Saquon Barkley, look at his quarterback, look at his offensive line. Derrick Henry, look at his quarterback, look at his offensive line. Joe Mixon, look at his quarterback, look at his offensive line. Gibbs, look at his quarterback, look at his offensive line. Josh Jacobs, look at his quarterback. You see a reoccurring theme here? Yeah. But see, when a quarterback doesn't succeed, boy, they make every excuse in the world. Now, all of a sudden, the running back knows to see, oh, man, he over the hill. There ain't no value in him. No, you're right. Ain't nobody running behind that ain't got no line.

40:42Shannon Sharpe:And if I set my defense and your quarterback can't beat me, I am not going to let your running back beat me. You saw what the Chiefs tried to do in the Super Bowl, guys. They said, we are not letting Saquon beat us. Josh, Jalen Hurts said, okay, you know what? I don't drink no beer, but hold it, Ginger Ale. I got something for y 'all. I got something for y 'all. Go ahead, Ocho. Are you surprised to see Saquon at the top? You got two backs in the top 10. Top 10. Yeah, most definitely. I wasn't surprised at all. Obviously, Saquon is a tier one back, and those tier one backs are the reason why the value of the running back position is now prevalent because of players like Saquon.

41:20Obviously being in the perfect situation, Eagles off the line, and he's one of the reasons why they were able to reach the Super Bowl, actually take them over the hump and getting back to the Super Bowl. Obviously, we have to give credit to their defense as well. But Josh Allen had a great season. Lamar Jackson had a great season. But I think the number one spot was given to Saquon, not with just his play on the field, but what he does also off the field. And the fact that he was able to win a ring with the cherry on top. So it was a no-brainer as far as your peers picking him as number one. Yeah.

41:52Shannon Sharpe:So Saquon Barkley voted by his peers as the number one player in the NFL in the top 100. Lamar Jackson was second. Lamar Jackson was second last year. Josh Allen is number three. I think he was outside of the top 10. Jamar Chase was way down. He's number four. Patrick Mahomes was number four last year. He's number five. Whoa, whoa, whoa. What you mean way down? I think it was 35 last year, Ocho. Chase was. Yeah, he was. Yeah. Oh, I thought you said way down. No, no, no. I was saying compared to where he was last year. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Lamar was two last year. I think Josh Allen was 12. I think Jamar Chase was like 35.

42:28Shannon Sharpe:Patrick Holmes was four. Joe Burrow was a little outside of the top 20, I think. Derek Henry, Miles Garrett. Miles Garrett was number five. Justin Jefferson had coming off that sensational. He got it. I think he got Nick. But Justin Jefferson has been a top player. He's he's been Mr. Consistent. and defensive player of the year, Patrick Sartain. But I think mainly with Saquon and Derrick Henry, what they were able to do. One guy went for 2 ,000. The other guy went for 1921. First time a guy that's rushed for 1 ,900 yards didn't win the rushing title. So that just goes to show you how well the other guy played.

43:03Shannon Sharpe:Because normally, LT, you get 1 ,900 yards, you're like, yeah, I got that rushing. I got that thing in the bag. Yeah. What? Absolutely. And let's keep this in mind, guys. the easiest way to win games is still running the football. I mean, because you take away the chances of turning it over and crazy things happening. When you can run the football and impose your will, you know, cut down on the game, you help your defense and all that kind of stuff. So I think at the end of the day, that's why we're starting to see just a little shift. I'm not saying we're going completely back to when you – No, not early.

43:37No, no, no, no. Not 90, early 2000. We ain't going to never get back there. No, we ain't going to never get back there. But I think there's more teams that's starting to focus on the run game a little bit more to control games, especially when you have a young quarterback or a quarterback who can manage things at the line of scrimmage, like all the ones you mentioned, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, all those guys that have good running backs as well.

44:03Shannon Sharpe:Well, it's not going back because you see where these quarterback salaries are going. You're about to have a quarterback making$70 million. You're not paying the guy$70 million to turn around and hand it to a guy that's making$10 million. That ain't happening. We paying you$70 million to throw it to a guy that's making$40 million. So that's why you're never going to see. And plus, why would you? Because guess what? I can get a rough in the passer. I can get illegal contact. I can get unnecessary roughness. I got so many things that can go right if I just throw the football. You see, D? But you're still putting that$70 million quarterback in jeopardy if you got a defense that's in there.

44:41Shannon Sharpe:Yeah, but for$70 million, I'm in jeopardy. You see what Josh Allen just got this offseason LT? $330 million with a quarter of a billy, guaranteed. But, you know, you got to think about two, you got to remember this NFL, two LT, this is the passing league. And the backs that can take that time off the clock, that can get the defense to wrestle on the sideline, it's only a handful of them. it's only it's only a handful of them bulls like they can really carry that whole offense on their back where you don't even have to throw the ball when it comes to crunch time and you want to buy some time and take some time off the clock it's only a few now oh yeah there's only there's only a handful of guys i remember when peyton manning came to the broncos i mean he was he got like 96 million for five years i mean just think about that just just wow and and what for the longest time,$25 million was pretty good money, but was great money for a quarterback.

45:36Shannon Sharpe:And then it went to$30. And then they're like, no, $30 ain't nothing. Now you're at$60 million. Yeah. $60 million. And guess what? LT, we know this, Ocho. They're going to add another game. It's going to be 18 games. I give it five years. They're going to add another playoff game, too. That's coming. Because YouTube, YouTube won't end on this action. They want to become a network. And the only way to become a network, you got to have live sporting events, mainly the NFL. Guess who else want to get in on that? Netflix. Amazon. Amazon said, you know, look, we love that Thursday night package. We really do, guys.

46:21Shannon Sharpe:We don't want you to think we greedy, but we are. We like Black Friday football, that Friday game after Thanksgiving. But, I mean, we could really use a package. And you talking about somebody that's sitting on hordes of cash. Somebody that's sitting on 30, 40, 50, 100 billion in cash. And the one thing, hey, money talk, cash screams. So, we're going to see what's happening, but it's coming. It's coming. What was it? He said, Coach, what you call him say, by 2025, he close. They wanted to be a$20 billion industry. They're close. 20, 30? Absolutely. It's going to be$25,$30 billion a year. Easy.

47:06So let's sit with that one for a minute because I got a question. Okay, so that means that the season is going to have to be prolonged a little bit because the players are going to want another two bye weeks.

47:18Shannon Sharpe:We used to have two bye weeks, LT, before you got in the league. Back in the mid-90s, you had two bye weeks. Yeah, we had two, yeah, in the 90s. Wow. Yeah. You had two by, you got to have it. But Ocho, LT, man, they're going to be playing the Super Bowl on God dang on St. Patrick's Day. Right, right. That's what I'm thinking. Because you started out the Labor Day, and you got two by weeks. Think about it. You already at the second week. You already at the second week in what's coming. So now if you add another playoff game, you're going to be down near St. Patrick's Day. you damn sure after President's Day in February you're going to be the third hey you're going to be the third week, fourth week well there's only four weeks in February anyway but you might be playing on leap year but that's what the money is because what else can you do the only thing you can do is give them another game there ain't nothing else you can do in the game, within the game you can only give them an additional game to create additional revenue revenue yeah And these owners, the one thing we know about them, that's one thing you've never heard somebody say.

48:30Shannon Sharpe:People have said, I got too many pairs of shoes. I got too much jewelry. I got too many cars. I got too many homes. Name the person that's ever said, man, I got too much money. Yeah, you're right. But listen, you got to remember, too, if they are adding the game, even no matter how long it is, if the season goes in the second, third week of February, the players understand they're getting a bigger piece of the pie, too. They're getting a bigger piece of the pie. Now, I don't know, we don't know what it's going to look like yet. All I want that pie, Ocho, I don't want any, don't franchise me, no franchise tax, I want lifetime health, if I get 10 years in the league, LT, Ocho, I want lifetime health benefits.

49:12Shannon Sharpe:That should be a bare minimum, Ocho. LT, that should be a bare minimum, because let's just say for the sake of argument, you get health insurance for five years after you retire. The average career is about two and a half to three years. Okay, you retired 25. Bruh, you ain't going to have no illness, nothing really major. At some, at 30, you need that issue at 65. Down the road. Yes. Down the road. I mean, you can prolong it. You can take the five years anytime you want to. but at 30, from 25 to 30? Nah, nah, nah, nah. If I get 10 years, I want lifetime health benefits. And guess what? I don't want you to be able to franchise me.

49:57Shannon Sharpe:No. Well, they got to pick one or the other. I want both of them. You know how this works. You got to come to the table and the owners are going to tell you you're going to get one thing. Which one do you want? Do you want lifetime benefits? well then that's what we're going to work out a deal to make that happen. Well I say you get one. And then the players going to have to deal with something. I say I tell you what, you get one. You want an extra regular season game or an extra playoff game? You get one. Hey, listen, the players got one person on ALT that'll fight for them. One person. You put me in position of power to represent the players.

50:37I'm going to get us lifetime benefits. No franchise tag. and what's the other one guaranteed contracts that's my three hey listen i don't know i'm telling you lt i'm telling you once i put that suit on once i put that suit and that tie on then you put me in the right room and i flip that switch where's a wrap but uh they they the

51:00Shannon Sharpe:players have got to get something but they bargained for petty privileges way back when lt because see you bargaining talking about well i don't want to do two a days well i don't want to putting the pads on but so many times during the course of the year. Bro, you play the game of football. You play tackle football but you don't want to tackle? Yeah. Yeah. So you bargain for credit privileges. Go look at what Roger Goodell bargained for. Look at what they bargained for. Different. Now, Roger Goodell ain't taking no hits. He got lifetime medical. He get used in the jet. You see what he bargained?

51:34Shannon Sharpe:You see the difference between bargaining, what I'm bargaining for and what you're bargaining for, he wants benefits. They think a long-term too. Even though he's making$30,$40 million a year, he wants someone else to pay for those lifetime benefits. But why do you think, I mean, think about it. Why, as players, the current players, why aren't they thinking about lifetime benefits? Why isn't that an area of focus? I'm not going to get a debilitating illness. I'm not going to get anything that's going to disrupt what I've already got. I remember, and I'm not going to call anybody's name, because I was in the league when free agency actually happened, LT.

52:10Shannon Sharpe:And there are a lot of guys, man, you give me a million dollars, damn them benefits. I buy my own health insurance. Now, I ain't telling you what somebody told you. I'm telling you what I know. Because I was in the league when the Reggie White and the Seth Jordan, when they filed that petition, and it came and we got free agency. And that's what a lot of guys say. You give me a million dollars, you give me two million dollars, I buy my own health care. That's right. And that's my point, that's my point, because most players feel like that. We invincible. Yeah, absolutely. We never think about what's going to happen, you know, after we retire, 10, 15 years after we retire.

52:45We never think about that. We are warriors. We only think about what's happening now and getting as much money as possible for us to live off of.

52:54Shannon Sharpe:And see what happens. You get a situation where you get a divorce or you have a couple of kids outside. and next thing you know,$5 ,000,$10 ,000,$15 ,000 a month, the wife takes half, she takes half your pension. So now you're half the person that you went into the relationship with. Now, long term, because if somebody would have told me when I was 25, 30, 35, 40, that I was going to have both of my hips replaced, I wouldn't have believed it. So now you're talking about$125 ,000 surgery per. Okay, you get, I mean, some of these cancer drugs, you're talking about$30 ,000,$40 ,000 a month. A what?

53:36Shannon Sharpe:A month. A what? A month. Yes. So like LT, to your point, LT, we don't think, we think we're invincible. And things that happen to normal citizens that didn't play in the NFL, that ain't going to happen to us. We're not going to become a burden. We're not going to have Alzheimer's. We're not going to have dementia. We're not going to suffer Lou Gehrig. We're not going to suffer things. That is a stress. When you have to have 24-hour care, boy, that'll eat up a savings. And so you don't think about things like that. But I wish the players would think, give it more consideration when they think long-term.

54:22Shannon Sharpe:Say, you know what? Okay. Yeah. Yeah. But a lot of and plus guys. Other sports, they think about the guys that's coming after them. You see, Kurt Flood, he never benefited for free agency, cost him his career. But everybody else that did, you see, nobody is willing to risk anything that might cost them. Right. And the thing is, Ocho, and I told I told Ocho this. Sometimes you've got to plant a tree, realizing that you're not going to benefit from the shade it produces. sometimes you gotta fight for something that you're not gonna be the benefits of what you're actually fighting for think about all the people in the 60s that fought for civil rights never got a chance come on now that never got a chance to sit at a to go to a non-segregated place that never got an opportunity to do anything but sit in the back that never got an opportunity to see a black president, that never got an opportunity to some of the things that we get afforded.

55:37Shannon Sharpe:Sometimes you have to be willing to sacrifice some things for the betterment of everything. And I don't think enough people think of it like that. Ocho, Micah Parsons was reportedly viewed by some Cowboys teammates as egotistical and self-centered. Oh, man. Hold on. Sports Illustrated Albert Breer reports Martin Lamb and Prescott are very popular in the locker room. That's Zach Martin, CeeDee Lamb, Dak Prescott. That's not the case with Parson, who has rankled teammates in different ways, seen by some as egotistical and self-centered. His podcast, which we knew, Ocho, has created issues too, and they go all the way up to the quarterback, Dak Prescott.

56:20Shannon Sharpe:We said that we would start hearing negative comments about Michael. Ocho, what did I tell you? When we had this conversation, I said, Ocho, pretty soon you're going to start hearing negative comments about Michael sleeping at the locker room. I said, it's coming, Ocho. I know it's coming. But I always felt because here's the thing, Ocho. You do a podcast, you lose the first thing they're going to say. If you get your ass off the podcast and practice and study your play, you win games. In order for your podcast, you got to be interested, you got to be entertaining. So you got to take shots at other people.

56:56Shannon Sharpe:And you know, I think there was a situation, wasn't he talking about quarterbacks and he didn't have Dak in his top five or something like that? Yeah. I remember that. So, yeah, I get it. I don't have a problem. I think the thing is, Ocho, a lot of people want to get on the media, going to get in the media space and they're trying to create that medium now. But you have to be careful. You really have to be careful. I tell guys, look, if CBS or Fox or NBC calls you and they ask you, go do it on your biweek. Right. Go to your local news station. Talk sports. Talk to, you know, the guy that does sports.

57:34Shannon Sharpe:That's what I did when I was in Denver. I had a local radio show. But when they called me, hey, I would go do highlights. Right. Do something. But this podcast, I mean, you have to be careful. And plus, and I'm going to turn it over to you, Ocho. Everybody is not going to be liked in a locker room. I don't care how great you are. There are going to be some people that you're going to rub the wrong way. You don't talk too much. You standoffish. You don't talk enough. You don't ingratiate yourself to the locker room. So everybody is not going to be beloved. That's okay. That's okay. But I knew this podcast would cause an issue.

58:13Shannon Sharpe:Go ahead, Ocho. It shouldn't have. There's no reason it should cause an issue. Anything Micah decides to do outside of the game of football, when he's not playing, when he's not in meetings, when he's not playing a game, you know, it's all for it. I'm all for it. If you know Michael, if you met him personally, you understand he's a very playful, fun loving guy. He's not he's a likable person. He's not in the type of place that you could you could you could not like, you know, or one of those people who who come to work and is strictly business. He doesn't associate with you. No, he's friendly.

58:42So, again, when things like this come out, of course, those who might not like him or those who probably don't do their goddamn job on Sundays, at one o 'clock. I bet you that those who don't like him are the ones who don't show up like he showed up the past four years and doing what he's supposed to do and being one of the few who's had 12 sacks in the last four years at his position. I guarantee you that. Let's pull up the stats for the people or the person that's in that locker room that claims they don't like him. And I guarantee you it doesn't live up to the standard at their position that he lives up to as his.

59:14I bet you that. It's always some hating-ass shit. I'm sorry. it's always someone that's not frowned upon someone else who's doing something outside of the building, but they handles their business inside of the building, especially in between the lines.

59:32Shannon Sharpe:That's it. It is. But I'm not, look, I'm not surprised. I'm sure there are a lot of people that like me in Denver. Some didn't. Some people like me in Baltimore. Some didn't. I guess some a little more now than others. But hey, that's neither here nor there. Ocho, you know, Cincinnati. Hey, that threw me for a loop. That threw me for a loop. I mean, I know, I know, I know. But I'm just, yeah. It threw a lot of people for a loop, Ocho. But look, it's over with now. And let's go to that right here. Because this, just add some layers to it. Just a week ago, Dak said he was confident Parson would be on the field for the Cowboys matchup week one.

1:00:17Shannon Sharpe:Well, Dak has a new tune since Michael got dealt. I definitely think he was going to get traded. I definitely didn't think he was going to get traded, but just the way their negotiations went down, obviously to some extent, hell, y 'all were asking me questions. Remember I said that's how it becomes a distraction because you're not asking me about the game. You're asking me about Michael's contract. Y 'all were asking me questions. It seemed like it had gotten personal, which we said that it had become personal, and so that's why I wasn't surprised. Yeah, I told you. It's Jerry's ego. Now, it came out today that Deron Bland got a contract extension.

1:00:54Shannon Sharpe:Yeah. But did you hold on? Well deserved. Well deserved. But they had been working with his representative since offseason. Jake Ferguson got a deal. They had been working with his representative all offseason. They're trying to get Tyler Smith done. they're working with his representative you see here Ocho you see how Jerry's ego Jerry's ego wouldn't let him work with Micah's agent because I'm gonna show you I do what I want to do and if you want to do a deal here you're gonna do it my way so if you work with all of those guys representative he worked with CD's representative he worked with Dak's representative I just listed three guys represented that he worked with but for some reason he was unwilling to work with Michael's representative.

1:01:42He took that friendship and those conversations to heart. He took those friendships, those conversations and that friendship to heart. And Michael spit that right down the middle. Listen, I play for your team. You sign my checks. But when it comes to conducting business, you're going to have to talk to my representation. Even after whatever handshake or whatever words might have been exchanged. That's not the way contracts work. That's not the way business works. You were trying to undermine Michael Parsons. You were trying to pay him not what he's worth, obviously, because he mentioned about what he was offering, but the offering that he was paying Michael to make him the highest paid was before T.J.

1:02:20Watt got paid. It was before Miles Garrett got paid.

1:02:23Shannon Sharpe:And plus, he said, I'm going to make you the highest paid, but you added years. You added a year to it. Trying to be slick. Trying to be slick. Miles Garrett. Miles Garrett got four years, 160.

1:02:42Shannon Sharpe:No, bro, I'm not going to let you do that. I shook your hand, but I told you, call my agent. Call my representative. You won't call the representative back? No. You're trying, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. They told you, no, you want to do a five-year plus the option, that's six years. Most agents want to keep that thing four plus the one because I want another bite at this. Now, because once Micah contract, once that 136 guaranteed money, so within the first three years, he's not going to have any more guaranteed money, the back end, Ocho. So now, and plus, that means his cap number is going to be extremely high because I get to prorate that 120 over a five-year period.

1:03:27Shannon Sharpe:So I try to divvy it up equally. But at the back end, those last couple years, Ocho, That thing going to be high to drive here. Yeah. Oh, yeah. So now I come back to the table. Well, you know, six years. Nah, Michael says, hey, I'm 26. I can get another bite of this apple at 30. Y 'all have to see your boy at 30. 30. Come on now.

1:03:55Shannon Sharpe:But that's what I'm looking at. I'm like, hold on. What you mean they talk to Deron Bland's representative? What do you mean they talk to Jake Ferguson's representative? What do you mean they're looking to talk to Tyler Smith's representative? Micah just asked to talk to my representative. No, we had a deal. No, we didn't. I shook your head and told you. Call my agent. Right. He knew what the agent was going to say. Oh, he knew. No. Hey, wait. The supposedly the best agent in the game? Oh, you knew exactly what he was going to say. You knew exactly. You can't pull a fast one on the agent. Right.

1:04:30Pull a fast one on the player. Yeah, because he looking at, Michael's looking at it, Ocho, he looking at that. Man, 200 million, Ocho? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. See, it looked good. It looked good, but the agent, the agent got a magnifying glass. Let me peel back some of these layers to this 20 million you talking about.

1:04:48Shannon Sharpe:You know? See, I got light on, Ocho, I got light on. You know what I'm saying? It was dark in the room, Ocho, I can't see. You know how you go into these restaurants, Ocho, and they hand you the menu? I pull out my phone right quick, put that light on, and, oh, look at these prices. Damn. Hey, it never, it never, ever seems what they say it is. Never. That's why you need representation. That's it. Oh, Joe, I'm not saying. We've seen guys, we've seen Lamar and his mom, and with the help of an NFLPA lawyer, do the contract themselves. But they made it abundantly clear. We're not hiring representation.

1:05:22Shannon Sharpe:We'll do something hourly. We'll get an NFLPA. We saw Bobby Wagner do that. We saw Sherm do his own contract. Okay, if the guy says I'm doing my own contract, I got no problem with that. The owner, the general manager, can work directly with the player. You see Shea Gilgis. Now, it's a lot easier in basketball because you either get in the max or damn near close to a max deal. So Shea says, I'm not going to hand over 3%, 4 % when I already know I'm going to get the max. Right. Got it. Got it. But in the NFL, hey, Lamar says, I feel like I can go it alone. That 3%, I can keep that in my pocket.

1:05:57Shannon Sharpe:and when you're dealing with that kind of money, 3 % don't seem like much. When you start dealing$100,$200,$300 million, 3 % is a damn lot of money. A whole lot of money. So with that being said, he knew Michael had representation. Now he worked with everybody else's representation. Now if that's what I read was correct, it says they've been working with Deron Bland's representation all offseason. Same thing with Jake Ferguson and they're working with Tyler Smith trying to get something done now. We know they work with Dak Prescott. He's the highest paid. He didn't do a deal directly with Dak.

1:06:32Shannon Sharpe:He worked with Todd France. Who's the CD's agent? He worked with that. But for some reason, I just need to know why was he so unwilling to work with David Muguleta? I just need somebody to explain that to me. Also probably understand, maybe he didn't want to pay Mike all along. Maybe he didn't want to pay Mike all along, understanding that he had other deals coming off the table. like Deron Bland or whatever he's getting ready to do with Jake Ferguson or whoever else they might pay before the season starts. But they CAA? Okay. Okay, they would CAA. Yeah, but here's the thing, Ocho. If that's the case, if you needed to stop the run, if you didn't like the way Micah was hurt, if you don't think Micah, so why would you negotiate?

1:07:15Shannon Sharpe:So why would you want to do a deal with the guy? If he is not what you think he is or he's not the player, so why would you even try to work a deal with him? Why did I just go ahead and trade it? Why did I not get a draft pick this year? Because he was lying to himself. Oh, he was lying to us, trying to make us believe that he's the reason. Yes. Like, okay, now he's gone. Well, we let him go because, hey, we need to get better at stopping the run. Child, please, stop playing. Yeah. You hadn't been able to stop the run for four years. So what you got all those defensive tackles for? You see, the problem that I have is that your defense was not built to stop the run.

1:07:53Shannon Sharpe:Your offense was. And Shannon, what do you – I know Chet, you're asking me, and I say, well, Shannon, what do you mean by that? His offense was bid to get the lead. And so now his defense pinned their ears back. They're an undersized defense. And as long as you can keep the game close or you can get the lead, you can pound their ass. Pause. You can run the ball. Because I know what y 'all go. I know y 'all go. Y 'all about to say some crazy stuff. So, in other words, you can run the ball on them because they're built to play with the lead and get pressure. now guess what they ain't got no lead they have to stand up in there and a lot of those guys ain't got a whole lot of bricks in their back pocket so when you build your off when you build your team a certain way well you build your team with speed you need to be able to use it you got a team that want to run the football speed don't help you nah at all so uh that that's that's one of the things.

1:08:53Shannon Sharpe:And look, and people are like, well, Dak could have did. No, if I'm Dak, I ain't doing nothing. I'm getting all my money. Oh, absolutely. My job, you tell us who we're players. Ocho, what'd they tell us? He's a player. Well, if I'm a player, my job ain't trying to figure out the cap. You figure out the cap. You don't pay me extra to work on the cap. You pay me a salary to do what I do on the football field. All that other stuff, it ain't my job to worry about the cap. Well, you know they got a cap and you can only do so I ain't got nothing to do with me. You know what else? You know what else works in favor, especially in quarterback positions, especially in Dak's position?

1:09:27There have been other quarterbacks that have been in great situations where the timing of when it's time for them to get paid, there's nowhere else for that team to go. Right. There's nowhere else for that team to go to get someone that's competent enough to come in and be quarterback number one. So you ain't got no choice but to pay these young fellas what they owe at the time. You ain't got no choice because there's no other option.

1:09:50Shannon Sharpe:Right. And plus, I'm not, first of all, I don't trust Jerry. Jerry ain't built nothing in 30 years. So why am I going to leave him money on the table? First of all, this is my really first big bite at the apple. Why am I going to give a guy that's worth$15 billion, why am I going to give him a discount? Absolutely not. Chad, let's just say for the sake of argument, you work for a company, and that company's worth$20 billion. And they say, you know what, Charlene, we want to get Pam in HR. But it's going to cost us to go take$15 ,000 of your money. Well, Charlene ain't going to be in HR because you ain't taking a dime of mine.

1:10:29Shannon Sharpe:So, no, you don't give no billionaire no discount. You a millionaire. Now, if the next contract that wants to be generous enough. That's different. That's on him. But I feel no obligation to cut you a slack so you can. No, no, no, no. That ain't got nothing to do with me. Not that first one. No. That first one. No, sir. because what Jerry say when CBS I don't know if you watched this CBS had had the uh the broadcast right a lot of the other owners CBS was losing money a lot of the other owners wanted to keep CBS as the broadcast partner Jerry said no we're not cutting them a deal we're not gonna do it but see Jerry refute go ask CBS go ask NBC go ask Fox go ask Amazon go ask Netflix did y 'all get a deal with these NFL rights

1:11:23Shannon Sharpe:they didn't get a deal but they expect players well Shanna there's a cap what they got to do with me ain't no cap on my bank account my bank account says as much money that'll pour in we can take it that ain't got nothing to do with me because teams will make as much money as they can now it's going to sound very interesting now you watch with these next contracts Watch around 28. These things come and do 2020, about 10 years. Watch around 28 when they start doing it. YouTube is going to say, hey, we want some of this. Netflix is going to say, hey, man, live programming. We want some of this. Amazon said, whoo, man.

1:12:05Shannon Sharpe:I see what we're doing. I see what we're doing with these Thursday night games. I see what we're doing with these Black Friday games. Just imagine we get a whole package. so that 430 that 432 gonna probably be 650 come 2028 2029 yeah I'm gonna get me a little piece of that too so alright man please yeah we gonna get me a little piece of that I need to holler at Jeff I gotta I gotta interview with Jeff Bezos for a position over at Amazon so So I'm excited to see how that's going to go. All right. The Cowboys agreed to turn with cornerback Deron Bland. Four years,$92 million, with an extension of$50 million guaranteed.

1:12:51And, Ocho, he got, what,$20 million at the time of signing.

1:12:55Shannon Sharpe:Bland averaged$23 million, makes him the sixth highest paid corner in the league. Bland, a one-time pro bowler, the one-time all-pro, from his nine interception 23-23 campaign, in which he delivered a record-setting five pick sixes is part of a prolific cornerback duo with Trayvon Diggs. He earned it. Oh, yeah, absolutely. He got off. He got Nick last year. But his first year, I think he had five picks. He turned around and gave you 14. He got Nick. Hey, you believe he's your guy? You got a little extra money stashed away since you didn't sign Micah? Hey, we good. They good. I like it. Yeah, he definitely earned that.

1:13:33I'm excited to see him back. I'm excited to see when Trayvon Diggs comes back. You know, so I think they, defensively, I'm not sure what the Cowboys are going to look like, but they're going to have some bright spots at certain positions. I'm going to say it like that. They're going to have some bright spots at certain positions.

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