Rob Maaddi | Sr. AP NFL Writer, Host "Faith on the Field"

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Get a wedding suit as unique as you with Indochino. Go to Indochino.com and use code PODCAST to get 10% off any purchase of $3.99 or more. That's Indochino.com promo code PODCAST. We're pleased to welcome Rob Motti to the show for the first time. He's the lead NFL writer for the Associated Press. And I got to tell you, Rob, around the country, shockwaves. When Lamar Jackson shared on Twitter that he has requested a trade out of Baltimore. So there in Arizona, where you're insulated with everyone in the NFL, was it as big of a shock, as big of a story as it was elsewhere?

Oh, big time, Amy. Let me set the scene for you. So the 7.45 a.m. breakfast for the AFC coaches is everyone's gathered around and most of it like there's a ton of media around the Jets table for Robert Salah. Because you want to talk about Aaron Rodgers. Right. And then you start seeing people gravitating and going over towards John Harbaugh and the Ravens, because like Lamar drops this news on social media, on Twitter, just as John sits down to speak to the media. I don't know if it's coincidental. I don't know if it was timed on purpose, but John handled it about as professionally as can be. But that dominated that segment.

Right. It goes from Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets, and now everybody's talking about Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens. And of course, Daniel Snyder is such a hot topic, even though he's not on the agenda for this meeting. What did Harbaugh say then, as you all are communicating to him this bombshell from Lamar's social media?

Well, of course, you've got to say the obligatory I didn't see the tweet or like, well, of course, it does drop. But he said he loves Lamar. He's planning as if Lamar is going to be there.

Great player, great person, great leader. And, you know, I thought he he actually did Lamar kind of a solid because he goes, he's doing a great job handling his own negotiations, because there's been so much criticism of Lamar handling without an agent. And John Harbaugh says that he's doing a great job. And he basically said it's it's not a problem with Lamar.

It's a monetary thing. And I think we all understand where Lamar's coming from. He wants a fully guaranteed contract because he saw what the Sean Watson got last year. Now, no other team other than the Browns since has given a quarterback a fully guaranteed contract.

So this is one of those cases where you can understand both sides. Lamar sees himself as more valuable, more accomplished than Deshaun Watson, certainly without the legal trouble that Deshaun Watson was going through. Why can't I get a fully guaranteed deal? And then the Ravens look around the landscape. See, no one else is giving these fully guaranteed deals out.

Lamar also has been prone to injury the past two years and they haven't even reached an AFC championship with them. So there's no right or wrong. I can understand both sides. That's actually what I'm writing today.

That's great, because it's certainly going to be a topic of conversation moving forward. But just what you know of the NFL and the QB chessboard, as I call it, Rob, are there actual places where the Ravens might trade him? I really think his only option is going to end up being Baltimore. It's hard for a team to come in and want to negotiate with the non-exclusive franchise tender, knowing that more than likely they believe the Ravens will match. And if they don't, then they're giving up two first round picks. So you've got to ask yourself, are you willing to lose two first round picks? Or would you rather, if you're in a position to draft a young quarterback, build around them and develop and try and win with a quarterback on a rookie contract? You saw where the Eagles got to with Jalen Hurts. You see how the Bengals and the Chargers have had success with a quarterback on a rookie contract. So I don't see a team coming in and wanting to sign Lamar and risk that possibility. A trade could be worked out where the compensation is less than two first round picks, because if there is a trade, it doesn't necessarily have to follow signing the tag. And then you start looking at all the teams and you go, who can fit at this point?

And so many of them have ruled out Lamar, whether they've leaked it here, there, or somewhere else. There's teams where you go, oh well, he could fit with the commanders today. They say we're not interested. He could fit with the Indianapolis Colts. And even though Chris Ballard today said, anytime there's a great player out there, you've got to investigate all options. I've already reported that the Colts are not interested. We know that the Panthers traded up for the number one pick.

So I think Amy, when all said and done, his best option is they're going to have to kiss and make up and end up back at Baltimore. Rob Motti is with us from Arizona, where we've got the NFL owners meetings taking place for a couple of days. He covers the NFL as the lead writer for the Associated Press, and it's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. What else made big news? I guess it was the Aaron Rodgers lack of a trade, but what else is happening in the league? I think the news of the day in regards to Aaron Rodgers is twofold.

One, it's Joe Douglas from the Jets saying that they've made progress. And then it's Packers GM Brian Gudekus saying that they may not necessarily get a first round pick, which I think most of us to this point realize you've got a guy who said he's 90% going to retire and then decided to come back at 39 years old. That's not first round pick or 13th pick overalls, what the Jets have, worthy. So I believe that they're going to have to end up on some sort of a second, a third, and maybe a conditional, Amy, to where if Aaron Rodgers leads them to a Super Bowl, then a second becomes a one next year. Or if he plays X amount of years, because there's no guarantee he's going to play more than one season.

He goes year to year. So the Packers are going to have to accept some sort of conditional deal, conditional picks. But I can't see it being a first round pick for 2023 for sure.

Do you believe the Jets when they say there's no urgency to get this deal done, or as Rob said, to add a veteran QB? That was before I ran over and heard him say that. And I'm like, all right, that's great.

That's the face you're going to portray. You've got to say that you need Aaron Rodgers in the building. You've got to get him familiar with, I know he played under Nathaniel Hackett and he knows the system, but you want to get him over there. You want to get him in the system. You want to get this wrapped up, sealed, delivered. Because until it's done, it's not, right? Anything can happen in the world of sports. I think that there is some sort of urgency to have this get finished, finalized before the draft, especially if there's going to be draft to compensation.

You need to know what you have and what you don't have in 23, 24, whatever it is. And I think it will, Amy, I think it will get done. I think they say there's progress being made. It looks like the Packers have come to a realization that they can't hold out for as much as they want.

And I wouldn't be surprised if this is done within the next week to 10 days. It's interesting because you compare those two big storylines, Lamar Jackson and Aaron Rodgers, and what a tough sell it's been to get the deals done. But then you think about Jalen Hurts and Joe Burrow and how it's been so quiet around them, even though those two guys are in line for major deals.

Anything from the Eagles or Bengals, anything about how close they might be to those extensions? Eagles GM Howie Roseman today said it's a priority for the Eagles to extend Jalen Hurts, which is, we knew that coming in. They got to get this done because they got to be able to figure out how they're going to allocate money, salary cap, everything going forward. They were fortunate enough to get to this point where they went to a Super Bowl with Jalen Hurts at a second-round pick salary. Now it's time to get paid, and as great of a job as Howie Roseman has done over the past decade or so, and he won a Super Bowl in 17, this might be his toughest assignment yet. They lost a lot of talented players in free agency, and now Jalen Hurts is going to command 40, 45, 50. If Daniel Jones can get $40 million a year, I think Jalen Hurts can be well within his rights to ask for $50 million a year. Now you got to figure out how you can construct a roster around the QB making that much money. I know the salary cap continues to go up, but I think the Eagles will get it done. And I kind of feel like each quarterback and each agent is waiting for the other deal, right? Yes, yes. And it's smart, isn't it, Angie?

It is. Hey, if you see Jalen get X amount, well, Joe Burrow's going to want more. And then Justin Herbert is going to, like, if I had to rate them, I would say Burrow should get the most, and Hurts should be right there with them. And then Herbert third, so it's going to be interesting to see how this plays out. I would anticipate all three get done before training camp. From Phoenix, AP lead NFL writer Rob Motti is with us after hours on CBS Sports Radio.

You mentioned, actually, the commanders, Daniel Snyder. How much of a priority is this for the NFL that they can get that issue and that sale done? Yeah, I think it's a big-time priority. And even though he's not on the agenda for discussion, he has been a hot topic of conversation.

Everybody wants to know what's happening with him. I will give you a little bit of news that I did report today is that although there's been rumors and different groups that are interested in buying the commanders, it has yet to reach the point where Daniel Snyder has accepted anyone's offer and then presented that bidder to the NFL. And that would be the step.

So no matter who wants to bid on buying the commanders, he's got to eventually accept an offer, then submit that bidder to the NFL for their approval. So it hasn't reached that point. So it's not in that imminent status that some thought it was as recently as a few days ago. So nothing's going to happen during these meetings.

The hope is that something can get done by the May meetings in Minnesota. Who else attracted a lot of attention in Phoenix on Monday? It's Jerry Jones.

Oh, gosh. Jerry, people are always going to flock to Jerry and the Giants, Amy, too, because John Maris spoke and he said he wants Daquan Barkley to be a giant forever. He mentioned Eli and he mentioned Tiki. He mentioned Michael Strahan. He also said he hasn't they haven't ruled out Odell Beckham Jr. And he would love to say he said he's going to leave it up to the coach and the GM.

But if he had a say in it, he would certainly favor that. So it got a lot of Giants fans excited and then something where we don't want to go down that road either. Speaking of coaches, I'm not sure if any of the new ones are on hand there. I know there's a lot of people excited about what D'Amico Ryans can do in Texas.

How do you see that pairing between the Texans and Coach Ryans? I just had a chance to speak with D'Amico for a few minutes at an event. And I've always thought since his days playing in the NFL, I got to see him for a few years when he was in Philly and I was there. I thought he was certainly a guy who was positioned well to be a leader of a team like this. Chip Kelly loved him as a player and thought that he had all of the intangibles and everything that you look for in a coach. And they just need they need players.

They need pieces around them. I think he's the right fit. This is the third year, third straight new head coach for the Texans. I know that the front office has been in disarray and there's been a whole lot, so many issues involving that franchise. I think they got their guy now in D'Amico. So I'm excited to see what he can do.

But he's going to need a franchise quarterback too. Rob, before I let you go, in addition to covering the NFL for the Associated Press, you have a show called Faith on the Field. I just saw it on your Twitter.

What is that? What's your show all about? Amy, Faith on the Field is my passion. It's a show I launched several years ago in 2017 on a radio affiliate sports radio station in Philly. It has since grown to I believe we've been on over 11 or 12 sports stations across the country.

And my wife is my co-host. And I interview a different Christian athlete in professional sports. Now that I cover the NFL predominantly, it's been a whole lot of NFL players.

But we talk about their faith in sports and how the intersection of that has helped them get to where they are, what their faith means to them. And it's been awesome because I've never had a player actually say, no, I don't want to sit down and do that interview. Whether it was Tua Tonga, Bailoa, Brock Purdy, C.J. Strab, most recently all at the Super Bowl. Russell Wilson, he's been on a few times. It's been a who's who.

Hall of Famers, everybody. And it's just a great opportunity. And we don't sit there and preach and beat anybody over the head with a Bible. We just talk about what their faith has meant to them in their lives. And we try to give people inspiration and hope and motivation and find peace and joy in things that aren't worldly. Find their peace and joy in someone.

And for me, it's my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I got to tell you, following the scare with Tamar Hamlin, it was pretty incredible to hear it from every locker room that they were praying for him. To hear guys like Josh Allen talk about the conversations that were taking place with teammates around faith and what that looks like. And then, of course, to see the miracle of his recovery. And even now, the talk about him getting back on the football field, it's incredible. So it was neat for those few days to hear NFL players who very often are putting their health and even their lives on the line.

And they have this kind of moment where they realize, hey, there's something bigger than what we do on the football field. I thought that was awesome. Yeah, it really was. I thought it was an opportunity where the country really came together in prayer for someone, for Tamar. And it was prayers answered. It was miracles being played out right in front of our eyes.

And it's so great that Tamar understands the platform that he's been given. You mentioned Josh Allen. I think of all of the players who talked about it and related faith to it. He gave me goosebumps when he spoke that game and said, hey, I was going up and down the sidelines after, I guess, my second kickoff return saying, God's real. And I was like, man, what an awesome moment. So I love that. Yes, that was amazing.

And I love that he was so open about it, too, these emotions that kind of cut him off guard. So, yeah, that's so cool. So you can check it out on Twitter. Find Rob at Rob Mahdi, M-A-A-D-D-I. He's the lead NFL writer for the Associated Press, joining us from Phoenix, where the NFL's going through its owners meetings, but also the show is called Faith on the Field.

The variety of stations that you can listen to it. Rob, it's great to connect with you for the first time. We'll definitely have you on again. Thank you. My absolute pleasure, Amy.

Thank you so much. Planning a wedding can be intimidating, but finding the perfect suit shouldn't be. Indochino makes it easy to get a custom suit right from home.

Fine tune every detail and design a suit tailored perfectly to your body and your personality. Starting at just $4.99. Get a wedding suit as unique as you with Indochino. Go to Indochino.com and use code PODCAST to get 10% off any purchase of $3.99 or more. That's I-N-D-O-C-H-I-N-O dot com promo code PODCAST.