After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 3

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Search for NCAA March Madness right here in the Odyssey app to get started. That music is magical. It brings up all types of memories, emotions, feelings. It's muscle memory, you know, you hear it and instantly you think one shining moment, you think Cinderella's, you think top seeds, you think the intensity and a crafted post-season in which anything can and very often will happen.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. We are jumping back and forth. We're jumping into one pond and then we're jumping into another pond. We got a lot to cover this time of the year, so we will return to the NFL and what is now legal tampering. Time to tamper, peeps. So we'll do legal tampering and these potential moves that teams are making. Still don't know about Aaron Rodgers, if that's what you're listening for. But Jimmy Garoppolo is on his way to Las Vegas to reunite with Josh McDaniels as head coach of the Raiders.

Is he an upgrade over Derek Carr at quarterback? So find the poll on Twitter, After Hours, CBS or ALaw Radio and then also on our Facebook page. We look forward to hearing or seeing, I should say, your reaction. But back to college basketball and the big pond that is the next three weeks of March Madness. If you missed my conversation with Miami Hurricanes head coach Jim Laronega, that was earlier on the show.

Of course, we'll be part of our podcast. He is a character. He's passionate.

He tells great stories. So does Jalen Slauson. He is the Southern Conference Player of the Year. Plays for the Furman Paladins, who had to win their conference tournament to get in.

Of course, this is not a two league, a two bid league. But man, what a story. 12 months ago, losing in their conference championship on a buzzer beater. Having to wait 12 months for this chance to come around again, but now they are dancing for the first time since 1980, which is amazing. So as we get you set for not just March Madness, but your bracket challenges, Furman, the Paladins, a team to watch. Had a chance to catch up with Jalen just a few hours ago, and I started out by telling him I'd watch the video. Jalen, I saw the video of your selection show party, the incredible crowd, the electricity inside the gym. It was cool for me to see, but you were there.

What was it like to see Furman Paladins basketball pop up on the screen on TV? Man, it was definitely a surreal feeling. You know, five years ago when I committed here, this was, I don't want to say a dream that Coach Ritchie proposed to me, but it was definitely a goal to work towards that Coach Ritchie proposed to me. You know, when we won the Southern Conference Championship, we were all looking at each other like, God, we just won the Southern Conference Championship. But it wasn't really until last night that it really set in, like, okay, we're going dancing. We took Tuesday and Wednesday off after the championship on Monday. We practiced light on Thursday, and we were in pretty hard Friday and Saturday.

And then we enjoyed Sunday. But even through the practices, I still didn't feel like, wow, we're really in the big dance. It seemed like it was a pretty large group of fans behind you. What did it sound like? Do you remember the noise? Man, it sounded like we were in the middle of a conference game, honestly.

It was really loud in there. Our administration did a great job with promoting the event. Our fans did a great job showing up. They've been loud and supportive of us all season. We believe we have the best home court advantage in the SoCon. Sunday was just an example of that.

Awesome. For people who don't know, you all had quite a disappointment that led to a 12 months of building toward this. So a year ago, you all lose on a buzzer beater in your conference championship.

It's obviously devastating to have it come to an end like that in that fashion. But also Coach Ritchie talking about how it's going to be 12 months of us working toward a goal and not forgetting about this. And then I heard him say, we've talked about it for 12 months.

Is that true, Jalen? Have you all talked about what happened a year ago for 12 months? Honestly, like no matter where we went, we couldn't get away from it. So it wasn't as much, you know, we talked about it, you know, we talked about we talked about it for a day after, obviously, the next morning, and then we talked about it when the season started. Our first official practice, we went back and we watched the last five minutes and we looked at all the mistakes that we made to ultimately give Chattanooga a chance to win the game when we could have pushed the lead out to make it a multiple possession game. But so, you know, after that point on, Coach Ritchie said we were burying that and it was going to be a stepping stone or stumbling block.

And, you know, we use the motivation to work, but it was kind of like an unspoken rule almost that we just didn't talk about it. But, you know, anywhere, anywhere we went, you know, you go anywhere with a permanent basketball shirt on, everybody's like, wait, didn't that shot going against you guys last year? Wasn't it, y'all, where they hit that shot? I mean, last year, right after the tournament, it was spring break, a couple of me and my teammates decided we were going to go to Charlotte just to get out of Greenville and just spend the day in Charlotte and hang out. And we went to the mall and as soon as we got in the mall, I made the mistake of wearing a permanent basketball T-shirt. And the first person that I saw said, wait, I saw the shot that went in against y'all. Oh, no.

And that's just for example, but like there's a couple of guys on the team that have tally marks of how many times they've been asked about, you know, the shot or somebody said something about the shot and then a couple of them have like over a hundred tallies. So, whoa. Yeah. So, so no matter where we go, we couldn't really get away from it. But, you know, hopefully, hopefully now we gave everybody something to talk about and and hopefully, you know, we believe our story is not done.

Yeah. We think we have more to do. But, you know, definitely have had to hear about it.

I would say that's the best way to say it. We've had to hear about it for the past 12 months. Well, it does teach you humility, does it not? When you're constantly reminded of how you came up short.

And so, as you point out, you've used it as motivation. The moment in which you win the Southern Conference Championship a few days ago, what were the emotions after 12 months of having to hear about it? You know, me and Mike Boswell and even Coach Ritchie, obviously, everybody knows how great of a coach he is.

You know, what he's done here at Furman. But, you know, me and Mike had a lot to think about last year. You know, obviously, we both put our names in the draft.

We both had had workouts for different teams and whatnot. And then we had to make a decision whether we were going to come back or not, which is a very unpopular opinion for two first team All-Conference guys to come back to a mid-major school for a fifth year. And, you know, we all just we all decided we were going to come back and we're going to do it. We're going to do it right this year. And that this is how this is how our story was going to end.

You know, we're going to go out of Southern Conference champions, not a second place guys. And, you know, obviously you had those conditioning days and the early mornings and the long practices and the, you know, nagging injuries that you have throughout the season. I get when that when that horn finally went off, it was like, OK, like it was it was all worth it. It all it all it all paid off.

It all came full circle. Like I understand why why God put us through all that last year to make us better for this year. Because like ultimately this team just doesn't quit. Like we just we've caught our way back into so many games and games. People I thought we had done, you know, had no chance of winning. And we always fought back and fought back time after time again. And, you know, we're probably not that resilient if we don't go through what we went through last year. So we're definitely, definitely thankful for that. But it was just a rush. All those emotions, like a silent release, like we finally did it. As you point out, a lot of times it means more to us when we've had to sacrifice and work harder for what we accomplish.

And also when we've had failure first. We're spending a few minutes with Jalen Slauson, who's the Southern Conference Player of the Year with the Furman Paladins. Coach Ritchie, he was the one that recruited you five years ago now. And you mentioned what he proposed to you about potentially getting to the tournament.

But why Furman? Why was it the right spot for you? Coach Ritchie was young and he wanted to use me in a different way than a lot of people. So when I was being recruited, I was being recruited a lot as a wing, like a 3 and D guy. Coach Ritchie called my AAU coach and actually told him that he liked my passing ability.

And I've always loved passing. My brother was a point guard. You know, he's 18 years older than me. So from the time I was little, he was always trying to teach me how to make reads and where to throw passes and whatnot.

And then we came up here on a visit. Coach Ritchie tells me and my dad that he wants to use me as a five. And my dad looked at me with the funniest face. And then I looked at Coach Ritchie and was like, are you serious?

Like, you really want me to be a five, like six, eight. And he was like, he was like, just watch how we're going to use you. So he started selling me on all these five out concepts and showing me different actions that we run, that they run in the NBA and all kinds of stuff. So I fell in love. I fell in love with the scheme that Coach Ritchie had. And, you know, just the fact that he was crazy enough to try to use me as a five.

I figured he was worth a shot. And then I went and hung out with all the players. And, you know, a lot of schools preach about like, oh, yeah, this brotherhood, this, you know, connection, da, da, da, da, da.

You know, I really felt that it was really genuine here. And everybody loves everybody. We were together the whole night. The whole team, you know, the whole team went somewhere. The whole team left together.

The whole team went another place. I felt the connection. They welcomed me as if I had already committed or already was signed. Honestly, even on the team before I had committed, you know, and then we play pick up the next morning.

You know, it was more of the same. And we go to a football game and everybody's it's a big family atmosphere. You've got coaches, kids running around acting crazy.

You know, everybody, everybody on campus is coming to say what's up. And, you know, obviously there you just you just could feel the family vibe. And then I told my dad, this is what I wanted to be. And we pulled some teeth for a little while because my dad went to the Citadel, which is a Furman's rival.

Yes. But once we got home, my dad said, OK, like, you're right. This is this is what I want you to be.

And he's loved it more purple ever since. Oh, that's awesome. Jaylen Slauson is with us from Furman getting set for a matchup against Virginia, a four thirteen matchup in the NCAA tournament. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. It dawned on me. Obviously, you were not alive the last time Furman made the NCAA tournament, but your coach wasn't either.

I actually looked up his age and he was not alive either. What does that mean to you and to your team and to coach Richie to know that you've brought NCAA tournament basketball back to this campus for the first time in decades? It means a lot to us. We as the Furman basketball team feel like, you know, we're kind of the I don't want to say the thing that pulls Furman together.

Athletics wise, because we have some we have some phenomenal, phenomenal programs here tracking cross country. When when the so-called year in and year out, everybody seems most excited for our games. And there's always a lot of buzz around our game. The whole university was really rooting for us, especially after last year.

So, you know, just to be able to do that and be able to play well and accomplish a mission for the program and for the university means a ton to us. So last year, you know, we had Coach Williams go take a job at Anderson. He's not the head coach over at Anderson.

He's doing a phenomenal job over there now. But last year, there was nobody that was on our staff at all that was alive the last time. We talked about how we can't bear that weight that we weren't alive. It's not like we were here and not making it to the national tournament that whole time. But I mean, it feels good. I'm glad I'm glad the university stood behind us and stuck with us.

And it feels good to be able to make them proud. Awesome. I'll just admit, I did not know what a paladin is. And so we Googled it on the show last night. I don't know if you've had to answer that question, but yeah, now people are getting to know exactly what a paladin is. Yes, ma'am. I did. I didn't know what a paladin was, you know, what I committed. So I don't feel so bad then.

OK, good. Jalen Slauson is with us here after our CBS Sports Radio. What have you learned so far?

And it's not as though they're a secret. But what have you learned so far about Cavaliers basketball? Man, they're really good. Coach Bennett is a phenomenal coach.

Obviously, a NCAA tournament champion. Really, really stout defensively. You know, we have some things that we're going to try to exploit with our offense. You know, we have one of the most potent offenses in the country and they have one of the best defenses in the country. Well, we obviously pride ourselves a lot on defense. But at the end of the day, we know that our offenses are bread and butter. We know that our defense allows us to be able to to be able to get out and transition and, you know, do all the things that we do best.

We're going to continue to do that next couple of days, but we're going to try to normalize this game as much as we can. You know, we're going to go out and tip it up and, you know, see if our stuff is good enough to beat their stuff. Do you think you'll be nervous considering that it's your first time collectively on that stage? If you're not nervous, you're not if you're not nervous for a basketball game, you're not a competitor.

There you go. You know, the best of the best can say what they want to even they get a little bit nervous. But I'm going to say is this team has performed really well under the light, you know, at Stanford. We went down to Stanford who claimed they have the most hostile environment and the so-called. And, you know, pulled out, put out a pretty convincing double digit win there. We obviously went down to the conference tournament, played really well there against against a good Chattanooga team. So I think there are going to be nerves, but I don't I wouldn't say that we're going to put any pressure on ourselves for or anything, anything that we haven't been doing all year.

Like I said, we're going to try to normalize this game as much as you can. And so tip it up and see if our stuff is good enough to beat their stuff. You know, it strikes me as you're talking about your journey from 12 months ago and the fact that you had to hear about it and there was no way it wouldn't be part of your story. I'm sure you remember before Virginia won its national championship, it lost to a 16 seed. The first to school ever as a one seed to lose to a 16 seed. What happened was they ended up as a champion 12 months later.

So there's a lot to be said about failure, providing a springboard and that humility forcing you to get better. That's pretty crazy, huh? Yes, ma'am. That is that is crazy. You know, we've talked about that. We've talked about that a little bit. And, you know, we we study Virginia a little bit. So, you know, that that's something that we talked about earlier this year.

You know, right before we finally put it to bed and and very, very last year. But, you know, most definitely, you know, if it if it provides it can provide a hunger. And as long as you make sure it's healthy, then then those type of upsets or half court ease or whatever the case may be, can can definitely prove to be no to beneficial to programs if you if you know how to use it, if you know how to do the right.

Sure. So before I let you go, you fifth year senior, you mentioned Mike also and guys on your team that you've been together as a unit. How much do you think experience matters?

Man, it's a it's a it's a big help. You know, just being able to see the game that that would be what I what I say most, you know, how much the game slows down for you as you get older. But I will give our young guys credit. We have some young guys that really, really do play a lot older than they are.

No, I started playing cards. J.P. DeDeuce is a sophomore. Got snubbed to be an all conference really was the best point guard in the league.

And it wasn't even close. And he showed that he went out won the tournament MVP at the so-called tournament. I think he's averaging 22 over our last four or five games. So he's playing, playing his tail off right now. Alex Williams comes up huge in the championship game with 12 points.

I think he had eight, eight straight in the first half, seven or eight straight in the first half. Carter went to Lake Forest transfer. So he's a he's ACC caliber out of high school. So we've got we've got guys who are really good and honestly are ready to play in these type of games. You know, I was a little bit different.

I might be a little bit gun-shy my sophomore year. These guys don't give a rip. They're going to go out there and they don't care who's lined up across from them. They're going to they're going to go out on it. And I love it. I'm here. I'm here to see it. You know, Coach Ritchie says all the time.

He would much rather have to tell a dog woe than go. And, you know, we have to calm those guys down a little bit sometimes. But, you know, as a fifth year, I can so much rather have them having to tell a guy to calm down a little bit or less relaxed.

And then to pick it up and he needs to play harder. Sounds like you guys have a blast. Yes, ma'am.

Yes, ma'am. We definitely is definitely a fun group of guys to be around and fun group to watch play. If you guys haven't seen us play, I would highly, I would highly advise to watch this game Thursday at 1240 on true TV.

Oh, yeah. Well, the nation's about to see and hear more about Furman Paladins basketball. Twenty seven and seven this year, a 13th seed against Virginia. First time in the tournament since 1980, which is amazing.

And Jalen Slauson, the Southern Conference Player of the Year. Congratulations. I'm so glad that you have this 12 month full circle and you know, it was all worth it.

And we are rooting for you, Jalen. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. Thank you, Miss Amy. I appreciate it.

The parallels, right? Furman gets bested by a buzzer beater in the conference championship 12 months ago. Devastated because it's a one bid league. Southern Conference, as a matter of fact, Chattanooga goes on to be near Cinderella in the NCAA tournament. Last night's guest, Malachi Smith, was the SoCon Player of the Year 12 months ago. He was part of that Chattanooga victory that was so stunning. Furman had to hear about it for 12 months. Jalen tells us everywhere they went, if they made the mistake, that was his phrase, made the mistake of wearing a Furman shirt.

People at the mall, people out in the street, they would remind him and other teammates, oh, weren't you that team that lost on the buzzer beater? Right. No matter what they tried, they couldn't escape it. And neither could Virginia. After losing to UMBC as the overall number one seed, the Cavaliers had to start from scratch.

They became a footnote to history. But 12 months later, they were the ones cutting down the net. Furman has used this as motivation for 12 months. Also, I love that the head coach, Bob Ritchie, is, in Jalen's words, crazy enough to try different things.

That's why he went to Furman. Good story. Love it when we get to hear the stories, the character, the personality, the makeup of these mid-majors, which otherwise are not in the spotlight very often. We've got a poll up that's already getting all kinds of traffic, a brisk early voting in our poll on Twitter after our CBS. We've already got dozens of comments on Facebook.

I can see them. Do you believe Jimmy Garoppolo is an upgrade at quarterback over Derek Carr in Las Vegas? Cheaper? Yes.

Upgrade? That's for you to decide. But for those of you who are trying to tell us they're the same guy, oh, come on, they're not even remotely the same guy. Completely different personalities. Derek Carr wears his heart on his sleeve. Jimmy Garoppolo, sometimes you can't even tell if he has a pulse.

No, that's not true. He smiles, but he's very even keel. He's not the same guy as Derek Carr. And their games are very different as well. Carr is a gunslinger. Carr likes to chuck and duck. He's got a big arm. Garoppolo, more of a game manager.

I'm not saying that's bad. He can be steady Eddie and he can not turn the ball over. That's exactly what his team needs.

They're not the same quarterback, but is Garoppolo an upgrade over Derek Carr? So again, on Twitter or Facebook, phone numbers 855-212-4CBS. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Bayne around a Jackson screen. Kicks it out, Guinard. Guinard catches, drives, kicks to the corner, Roddy. Three on the way.

Ring it up. Put three on the board. David Roddy may be turning into a certified Mavs killer tonight. Bayne brought the ball through his legs from behind. Gives it off to Conchar. Conchar to Guinard. Out to Bayne. Wide open straight away. Three off the extra pass is good.

Ring it up. Put three on the board. Bayne's got 20.

Pump fake. Kicks it to the right sideline. Conchar out to Roddy. Back to Bayne. Now he'll try the three.

This one is pure. Ring it up. Put three on the board. It is all Grizz here. Late in the ballgame. Starting to pull away. 96-75.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. I checked in on the end, actually it was not quite the end, but second half of the Grizzlies-Mavericks game, which I believe was a nationally televised game. The arena in Dallas, at least the lower bowl, empty.

Awful. The money that many of these fans paid thinking that they would be seeing Ja Morant and Luka Doncic and even those who hopped on board more recently believing that Kyrie Irving would be on the court. Those three?

All scratches. Doncic and Kyrie both missing because of injuries. Ja Morant still away from the team in the wake of some of his poor choices and trouble. Though he's not officially suspended, at least that's not the word that's been used, we did find out, I would say, oh gosh, during the game, maybe a little before the game, that he is actually in rehab. He's in a counseling program. So I guess rehab maybe gives it a negative connotation. He's in a counseling program in Florida and there's still no timetable on his return to the Grizzlies or to the NBA.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. According to Ja himself on social media, he wants to get help and work on learning better methods of dealing with stress and my overall well-being. And so he's on a leave of absence from the team. Again, not a suspension, but a leave of absence from the team.

Taylor Jenkins didn't want to say anything more about Ja specifically, only that right now he's trying to take responsibility for his actions to get better so he can be better for our team. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies are finding a way to win without him. But again, with the Dallas Mavericks short-handed and missing their top two stars, they only have two guys who end up in double figures. The Grizzlies more than able to... More than well-equipped to be able to score 100 points even without Ja. And the Dallas Mavericks, they only manage 88.

You don't see that much anymore in an NBA game. And so they've won three in a row. Didn't they lose three in a row where they lost back-to-back games? And we're kind of stumbling a little bit, but Taylor Jenkins is really proud of what his team has done over the last week. Obviously we're facing all kinds of different adversity right now. So I think it's just our guys really sticking together because that's the only way we're going to get better. We've had great dialogue since coming out of All-Star break about the challenges ahead, what we're going to face every single night, what we can control every single day is just staying together, keep putting in the work.

You see it with a lot of guys getting different opportunities right now, guys stepping up too. So really proud of them. That's why we just got to continue to hang our hat on.

Always go with your first answer. Yes, they did lose three in a row. They were on the road in Denver, in LA then for both Clippers and Lakers. So those three games they dropped in a row. Remember they fell back into a tie with the Sacramento Kings in the standings, and that's where they were for a bit. Now they've inched ahead of Sacramento. The Kings falling in a second-half rally to the Milwaukee Bucks as Giannis returns.

We'll talk about that next hour. And so the Kings are in third, Grizzlies are back in second, but we don't know when Ja returns, and that certainly makes them a very different basketball team. But I do hope that he gets the help that he deserves and that he needs. It's hard sometimes when we're fans of sports, whether it be pro or college, to think about these athletes off the field, off the court, off the ice, away from the spotlight, off social media, but they're people. And most of them are dealing with far more professional stress than we are. I'm not saying that's the case across the board.

It's not a carte blanche statement. Only that for them, messing up, the pressure of messing up can sometimes carry consequences that you and I don't have to deal with. Everyone sees them mess up.

That compounds the mistakes, and it can also compound the stress and the anxiety. There's no hiding. They're not anonymous. There's accountability.

And if they're not willing to take it, often public pressure, social media. Now, I'm not telling you that Ja hasn't brought a lot of this on himself because he has. His decisions have been disappointing.

They've been questionable. They've put both himself and his team not only at risk but in a very difficult situation, forced the NBA to not only investigate him but the Grizzlies and what they've allowed him to do. But it's better that he gets help. He's still young, maybe some maturing to do there.

He's not the first, won't be the last professional athlete to be in a situation where all the spotlight, the white hot spotlight, the responsibility of being a superstar athlete at such a young age creates a bit of a personal crisis. To whom much is given, much is required. But very often when it happens overnight, it's tough to navigate. It's tough to accept. Sometimes it's tough to understand or to grapple with what's expected of you. And I'm not saying it's fair, but you're getting paid a hell of a lot of money. And so while you're a professional athlete and you're earning that kind of money, your responsibility is sure to yourself but to your teammates, to your franchise, to your league because you represent your teammates, your franchise, your league with your example and with your profile and with your decisions.

And so there can be the highest of highs but there can also be the lowest of lows. And again, they're never hidden. They're never kept under wraps or kept under cover. We pretty much know everything there is to know about professional athletes these days, except whether or not Aaron Rodgers is going to play for the Jets. Right. We'll give you the latest coming up. We've got a little more QB news, but also it was a big day for linemen. Why not?

Linemen are people too. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Ms. Benson, thank you so much. The warmth and the love that you've shown my wife and to my family and to me is really something that just took us over the edge. The love and the genuine heart that you have towards us and towards your whole team and towards your whole staff and there's not one person in this building that wouldn't say the same thing. And that meant a lot to us in the decision making. And as soon as we met you, it was like we met family. It was like we already knew you. And the love that you showed us, that meant so much to us. So thank you for welcoming us to your organization and to your city. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. The voice of one Derek Carr introduced by the Saints and with the Saints on Saturday.

Kind of odd to do it on a weekend, but that's when they chose to do it. And there was a lot of smiling, a lot of goodwill. Derek Carr admitting that the way his tenure ended with the Raiders really lit a new fire under him. He's excited about reuniting with Dennis Allen, his first coach, with the Raiders and says he's raring to go.

Love that he's happy again because he's a guy that will put heart, soul, blood, sweat and tears into his team and to his teammates. And he gave everything he had to the Raiders for a decade only to be unceremoniously dumped and actually told to leave the team with, what was it, two weeks to go in the regular season. Just something that Derek would never do. Derek would never defect.

No matter how badly he would feel about getting benched, he would never defect and leave his teammates. But Josh McDaniel and the Raiders didn't want him to get hurt. They didn't want him around the facilities.

They didn't want to be on the hook if something happened, so they told him to get the heck out. Hated that. Of course, it was really neat that Peyton Manning allowed him to be the final AFC quarterback to play at Allegiant Stadium in the Pro Bowl games, the flag football game.

That was fun. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Derek takes the high road and he's talking about the Saints and how grateful he is to Mrs. Benson, the owner, and he was alongside both Dennis Allen and general manager Mickey Loomis. He said nothing negative about the Raiders and he's chosen to keep all of his feelings and emotions to himself. So from the perspective of the team and the GM, Mr. Loomis, why did the Saints target Carr as their next QB? Whenever you have an opportunity to get a player that you like, that your staff likes, our offensive coaches like, he fits the type of offense that we like to play. And look, I get that it didn't end well or didn't end the way that Derek wanted to in Las Vegas, but we did pretty well with the last quarterback that we got from a team some years ago, and hopefully this one will turn out the same way.

It was fun to hear Derek talk about what an ambassador Drew Brees has been for him in bringing him to New Orleans and making sure that he has all his questions answered. So we're asking you, even as Derek is much more expensive, I'll give you that, that's one way in which the Vegas Raiders were able to save. Well, it's weird to say upgrade, but he's a better option when it comes to price tag. Okay, but you get what you pay for very often, especially in the quarterback market. We know that Derek Carr earned a ton of extra money in getting this free agent deal. Garoppolo made a ton of money even before he was the starter in San Francisco, though, and I would say he outperformed his salary. He was at $27.5 million in average annual value, and I know he missed 30 starts in his six seasons, but they also won 44 games when he was starting.

They went to a Super Bowl, a couple of NFC championships. He's got a track record. He's a veteran. He's an above average QB. When he's taking care of the football, it's probably something you could say about most quarterbacks, but he does better in more recent years in not turning the ball over. So I like what Jimmy Garoppolo does in incorporating his playmakers, but I also think Derek Carr has a higher ceiling.

He's, we'll call him a poor man's bread farm. He's a gunslinger. He can chuck that ball. He's aggressive, sometimes to his detriment, but he's definitely aggressive. He's a guy that wants to play faster with the football and wants to, oh, I love this phrase, take the top off the defense. I think he has a higher ceiling. I think Jimmy Garoppolo is more your steady Eddie, not that he can't make plays or make throws because he can, but generally his game is not predicated on explosiveness and deep throws downfield.

I know game manager is one of those terms that people throw around in the NFL like it's an insult, the gum on the bottom of someone's shoe, but you can win a lot of games by not turning the ball over and by incorporating all of your weapons. And I love Garoppolo's even keel. That's not Derek Carr. Definitely not Derek.

And so it's actually kind of interesting how many people on Facebook, the three or four of you have said they're essentially the same guy. Oh, I couldn't disagree more. They may not be so separate in terms of their value to their teams, but they're definitely not the same guy. So we're asking you in a poll on Twitter, A Law Radio or on our Facebook page, is Jimmy Garoppolo an upgrade at the quarterback position for the Raiders? He's cheaper, so they save some money there.

But is he an upgrade? Gosh, you're blowing us away on Facebook. Tons of reaction there. And our poll again on Twitter in a poll form. It's easy.

You can weigh in right away. Oh, and we've got a team that's a team, an option that's way out in front. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. OK, other QB news, even as Garoppolo is poised to head to Vegas. I hope he's excited.

I'm excited for him. The Niners bring in Sam Darnold. Interesting.

So interesting. They expect the Trail Aids is going to be healthy. Darnold obviously cheaper than what they would have had to pay Garoppolo. Let's just say if they were considering keeping Jimmy G around, which they're not. Kyle Shanahan's had enough of that. He tried to quit Jimmy G for years and it didn't work. So instead, the Niners bring in Sam Darnold.

Here's a rhetorical question that I asked producer Jay when we were talking on Monday afternoon. Do you think it irks Baker Mayfield that Sam Darnold got a deal before he did? I feel like there's still a part of Baker Mayfield that thinks he's going to be a starter somewhere. That's what I was thinking. He's holding out. He's not going to settle, quote unquote, for a one year deal.

Right. That's what I think. I think he's still going to he thinks he's going to go start in Tampa.

I see them out there or he might use scarf, but he might. So I think that's what I don't think he's upset. I think he wants a deal for sure. I think he's holding out.

I think he's holding out. I do. All right.

All right. Baker Mayfield, we're rooting for you. We've become big Baker fans here on the show. Hello. Except for when you start asking, acting all cocky and then zip it. Stop that. It's still the way he talks there.

It's like the old Baker Mayfield that was so unbelievably arrogant, had not been yet knocked down two, three, four pegs, which he certainly has now. So. See you guys on Monday. I knew you were going to do that. I'm so happy to be home. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Hey, I'm happy to be home. We'll always have Monday Night Football in the fourth quarter comeback anyway, Sam Darnold is going to the Niners. Interesting. He'll provide a veteran presence, which is kind of funny because he's what? He's in the league four years and he's a veteran presence. But Trey Lance has started all of four games, three games. And then there's Brock Purdy, who has to recover from the UCL surgery, which he had recently.

They said it was a success. But yeah, that's kind of interesting. Right. And so he ends up as right now would be the backup to Trey Lance, but likely ends up as the third option at quarterback. And then we're still waiting on Aaron Rodgers. We are. We're still waiting on Aaron Rodgers.

Just interesting. The QB chessboard, but waiting for the I would say the biggest pieces to get moved, to get moved into place. Is it unfair to call Aaron Rodgers the queen? We move the queen, please. It's just not going to happen after hours. CBS Sports Radio.