After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 2

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Call 562-314-4603 for details. I have so many questions rolling through my head. Questions about running backs and which teams actually upgraded at the running back position. I would like to think, as much as I'm a huge fan of Aaron Jones, I would like to think the Packers didn't just dump their number one back for the last six years, seven years, and bring in Josh Jacobs as a lateral move. He is a few years younger.

He's obviously talented. Can he stay healthy? Aaron Jones had some injuries last year too. If for no other reason, getting a running back that's three years younger generally is a positive. But will Josh Jacobs pan out more than Aaron Jones?

So I get sentimental about these things and I think about the human interest side of it. Aaron Jones gets dumped unceremoniously once the Packers bring in Josh Jacobs. Packers actually had a really big day, aside from the Josh Jacobs. Did you see the move for Xavier McKinney?

Four years, $68 million. Now they had already lost their own safety, Darnell Savage, who's on to Jacksonville. But this was a big priority for the Packers in the offseason. And you can understand too, in their division, I know Minnesota doesn't have right now a quarterback beyond Sam Darnold who just made that decision or just came to terms or is coming to terms with the Vikings.

Got to be careful. I don't even know. It may not officially be the start of the new league year, but there's terms. He's got terms with the Minnesota Vikings. So we'll see what they do in the draft. But they do have Justin Jefferson. He's going to make any quarterback better. So you need to have a strong safety and a strong defensive backfield in order to compete with the likes of Jared Goff and a quarterback in the Lions who can throw. And then a Justin Jefferson, who's one of the best receivers in the NFL, also in your division. The Bears not throwing a lot right now, but if they go ahead and draft Caleb Williams, there's potential there. Not to mention they had a couple of safeties who were free agents.

We talked about Jonathan Owens in the past. So they're trying to bring in a guy that they know they can count on and McKinney is certainly one of those guys and make sure that they pay attention to that part of their defense first. And one of the things that people love about McKinney is he can play different places, different positions. I love these kind of guys in the NFL, really in pro sports, who don't only have to do this and only have to be here, but will roam around. I always thought that if I was going to play football, I'd love to be a safety, a free safety who had some freedom to be able to cheat, anticipate, go for the broke, go for the big play.

Now, obviously you get burned more when you do that, but you're high risk, high reward, baby. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. McKinney's only 24, so that's a good signing for them. They bring in Josh Jacobs. That's another splash, I suppose.

But it's an actual upgrade. And at other running back positions, so Tony Pollard ends up with the Tennessee Titans. Zach Moss is one that appeared to be sought after, highly sought after. And so Zach Moss, the guy that you heard a lot about, Josh Jacobs, you knew he was going to find the new home. Joe Mixon now available.

Saquon Barkley off the table, still waiting on Derrick Henry. Another one potentially, Austin Eckler too. Oh, that's right, actually. See, this is what happens. You wake up in the middle of the afternoon. Thank you, Jay.

The commanders with Austin Eckler, that's definitely an upgrade if he stays healthy. So I'll give you that one. Thank you for reminding me. Like I told you, my head is spinning. You wake up in the middle and you're playing catch up for the next, gosh, what was it, six, seven hours?

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. I'm trying to think when I woke up. No, it was more like eight hours. It was hard to sleep on Monday. It's too much happening. Even if I'm not cognizant of it at the time, the second I open my eyes, even if it's just to roll over, I think I wonder what's happening. A feeling that like you miss something. FOMO.

It's FOMO. On Twitter, A-LOL Radio, on our Facebook page too. Love to hear your reaction and these questions that I'm tossing out. So, for instance, who's the best team in the NFC South now? On paper.

So we are talking hypothetical, theoretical, not theological. Should we poll it? If you want to poll it, you can. What are the chances the Panthers don't get even one vote?

Probably pretty high. I think the Saints are getting a little disrespected. Do you?

Not that I think that they're... I'm a little worried about the pieces around Derek Carr. I do love Chris Olave. Kamara will be back, right? I'm actually more positive there. He'll be back, but how durable, how reliable. I'm less and less high on his reliability.

Not so much his talent, but his reliability. And that is kind of the idea at the running back position. Doesn't it feel like a lot of just swapping, almost like trading cards?

And I don't know how many are actually upgrading. Just paying someone different. Just knew. I do, again, I like the Zach Moss piece and the fact that the Bengals were able to get him where he was highly sought after, excuse me. It's not that dissimilar from the Packers in that Mixon has been the Bengals primary back since 2017 when he was drafted out of Oklahoma. I mean, last season he had over a thousand yards and nine touchdowns, and that's just on the ground. He also would catch passes for Joe Burrow slash Jake Browning out of the backfield. But Moss is only 26. And he just had a massive season for the Colts.

This is tough too, right? Because the Colts about to get Anthony Richardson back. They lose Gardner Minshew. You may not think that's any big deal, but they need someone behind Anthony Richardson still. He only played a couple of games last year and I think his development is still a rookie. So Zach Moss, a big help there. So Zach Moss, kind of a revelation when Jonathan Taylor wasn't available.

So yeah, lots of moving parts here. But Moss turned a lot of heads. Because he was able to step in, even after Taylor returned, Moss had a couple of really big games. Just another one, the Giants brought in Devin Singletary to a three-year deal, Torpace Barkley. Do you think it's an upgrade?

No, definitely not. Over Saquon Barkley, no way. But Singletary had some really big performances for Houston. Sure, he stepped in for Damian Pierce when he went down and had a great couple of games.

But ended an upgrade? No. Is it a solid running back that they could live with?

Probably. Yeah, it's just a lot of swapping. Giants swapping, Bengals swapping, Packers swapping.

Don't know how many of these are actually big upgrades. Titans swapping. Sorry, Tony Pollard, he is younger, right, than Derrick Henry. But I don't think he's better than Derrick Henry.

I would say no. Even though Henry's 30, I get that. If I'm looking at a two-year window of right now to two years from now, Derrick Henry or Tony Pollard, I want Derrick Henry.

Love to get your reaction. 855-212-4227, that's 855-212-4CBS. Let's talk to Adam, who's in Texas. Adam, welcome to After Hours, CBS Sports Radio. Hey, how's it going? Good, how are you? I'm doing good. So what's up? What do you think? Honestly? Are you still contemplating?

Yes, I am. All those teams you all just talked about, it's hard to talk about, really. And you're not actually sure which teams improved at that position. We knew there would be a lot of running back movement simply because there were so many available at free agent, not as many available in the draft, so teams can't go uber cheap.

But it's weird. It's like we're looking at a deck of, I don't know, not playing cards, but trading cards. And we've got a bunch of GMs that are sitting around saying, here, you take this one, I'll take this one. I don't know how many of them have actually upgraded and gotten much improved at the running back position. Maybe a little younger here or there, but every running back comes with, well, at least the ones that we're talking about so far, comes with some kind of question mark. And when it's an injury question mark, then there's still some anxiety around it. Yeah, you know, that's so true because nowadays, all these running backs, they're so young, talented athletes.

They all came from out of college or some just came from college, they dropped it in a fail. For example, Tony Pollard, he's already saying that he wants to take a low pay cut to stay in Dallas. But now, all of a sudden, they got him for a $24 million deal worth. Was he worth that, in your opinion, for Dallas?

Honestly, you know, he should have got more because he did so well for the past season with Dallas. But now they're saying they're likely, by 2025, he might result back to Dallas, but that's a big iffy right there. Yeah, and that's two years down the road. Two seasons down the road. So he gets three years, $24 million.

That's not a lot of money. If you consider that Saquon Barkley could make double that in a single season, that's with all the incentives. But Pollard decided that he, I guess, wanted that deal, didn't want to wait. And I think that's a smart move because there are so many running backs available. Maybe if you're Tony Pollard, you don't wait because you may be the guy left out on the outside because now Aaron Jones is available. Joe Mixon is available.

Derrick Henry is still available. These are really accomplished running backs. Maybe that was the thinking for Tony Pollard.

You take the $24 million and after back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons, great. As the feature back in Dallas, things were a lot harder than when he was spelling Ezekiel Elliott. But I do think he's durable for the most part. I like that he was able to get a spot with the Titans next to a rookie quarterback so they're likely to need their running back. He's steady. He's a steady Eddie guy, which I appreciate. Oh yeah, 100%.

Honestly, as a Cowboys fan, I was still rooting for Tony Pollard because he started as a Cowboy and honestly, because he's been my favorite running back and I was supposed to support him even though he's on the other team. That's my 100% right there. Look at you. That's very big of you. It's mature, Adam.

Thank you. Just like you said, they have all these three other free agencies. I'm really hoping that the Cowboys will get Derrick Henry a shot. Get who? Derrick Henry. Derrick Henry, gotcha.

Alright, we'll see. Offensive line matters a lot for the Cowboys. They're still going through some transition in that position on the field. And I like what they did last year with Dak and Mike McCarthy. I thought it was a great combo in McCarthy's first year of calling plays. Dak's best season as a pro.

You know, the combination with CeeDee Lamb, that was huge as well. Maybe they're not as focused on running back and if they continue with this trajectory for the passing attack, then maybe they don't need as much from their running back. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I like it, Adam. Thank you so much for your phone call.

Thank you so much. You have a good day, guys. T-Dog, is that your given name in Nashville? It is not. Well, my sports radio name is T-Dog in Nashville.

Gotcha. But my real name is Thomas. Hi, Thomas. How you doing, Amy? Good.

First time caller. I'm not normally awake this late, but I used to listen to you a lot just whenever you were on other shows and absolutely love you and I'm glad that you have an amazing show in the nighttime. I've been listening. I appreciate it.

So very cool. Yeah, so I'm here in Nashville, Tennessee. I'm a Cowboys fan, also pulled for the Titans.

So I was going to call earlier and I was like, why is she talking about that? But of course, I know what the Titans are doing on everybody's radar these days. But nevertheless, my thought is Derek Henry is definitely better than Tony Pollard, in my opinion. I think obviously they're looking at the years. You know, I think Tony Pollard is like 26 or 27 or something like that. Derek Henry is 30. And so I think that they're thinking they can get the same production, maybe even more out of Tony Pollard for a longer period.

Obviously, a new regime here. But even in the midst of that, I just, you know, I don't think it's an upgrade at all. It's not even a trade. Derek Henry, behind a garbage line last year, still got a thousand yards. And I'm hoping that he goes to the Cowboys because if that happens, oh my goodness, that would be amazing.

But I do really appreciate the show. And what do you think about that, Derek Henry to the Cowboys? Well, OK, so here's what I think.

Two questions. Number one, he's got to stay healthy. And I think for the most part, he's been pretty durable, though he's dealt with a little bit. I mean, he's nagging injuries.

It's harder for them to heal when you get to 30 because you're so old at 30. And also, I was being sarcastic. Also, the offensive line in Dallas, is it set now? Well, not quite. They're going to have at least one more guy that they swap out. So, yeah, I think the most important thing is O-line for them if they do want to establish the run. I think Henry's a bruising back. Who doesn't love to see him strong arm and stiff arm defenders?

There's an entire highlight reel of that from his career. So I like your point about Tony Pollard is he'll be 27 in April. So he is a few years younger. And if they're going to make the offensive line a priority there as well, then you would expect him to continue on the same trajectory. He gets you a thousand yards. He's a respectable back.

I wouldn't say he's the most talented back available. Didn't want to get lost in the fray. Takes the money. Nashville's a great city. There's some really cool sports fans there.

They're more and more fired up about their teams. So all of it seems to fit Pollard. As for Henry, you're likely not to get him for that kind of money.

At least initially. So Derek Henry, not only has he got an incredible tenure and resume in the NFL, but still thinks that he and his camp should still think that they can hold out for a better offer than $24 million over three years. Now, it may turn out that he doesn't get more than that.

Again, mostly based on need, right? If every other team ends up filling its running back position and there's not a spot left for Derek Henry, well then you're the one who is without a chair when the music stops. However, first blush, I would think that Derek Henry and his camp would expect more than three years, $24 million.

Exactly. So that's what I was going to ask you here, because I remember the KFL last year with Austin Eckler, Saquon Barkley. Who else was there in that whole?

Joshua Jacobs was even in that. And they didn't get paid last year. And so now it looks like they're coming around and getting paid this year. What do you think about a backfield with Tony Pollard and Derek Henry at the same place? Let's say the Titans decide to give them a one year, $10 million deal. I mean, can that work?

I mean, theoretically it could work. They're not going to. They're paying Pollard.

Yeah, they've got other priorities besides this. And so Pollard is, again, he's a steady guy, likely to get you a thousand yards if he stays on the field. They're willing to sacrifice production at that position. They're willing to sacrifice star power in order to address other needs. Right. And they've got Tajay Spears as well, who had a really good season coming out of the backfield as far as a catching back and everything, too. So that's why I don't think it's really possible because Tajay and Tony are kind of the same person, if you think about it. But I just thought, man, what if Derek Henry came back for one more year with all of the records, $10 million, because he couldn't get what he wanted.

Could that even really happen? So, hey, thank you guys so much. And I'm loving the show. Keep it going. Let's get you in prime time, girl. Oh, well, see, this is prime time. Thank you, Thomas. You're amazing. Bye bye. 855-212-4227.

That's 855-212-4CBS. Yeah, it's kind of a question about Derek Henry. How long do you wait? I can understand not wanting to settle, quote unquote, if you're Derek Henry, $24 million for three years is not enough. And I would want to wait until a better offer came along. But the issue now is that while some running backs have come off the board, quote unquote, other running backs are now available. Producer J, would you rather take an Aaron Jones or a Derek Henry? Same amount of years, same amount of money.

Yeah, all things being equal. Which back? Derek Henry. Would you rather have a Joe Mixon or a Derek Henry?

Derek Henry. Right. So maybe Derek and his can't believe that they're still more attractive than what else is available.

But the jobs are going quickly. And again, this may sound like a broken record. I don't know how many teams actually upgraded at the position. Maybe got a little younger. I think the Eagles did upgrade the position. But is Zach Moss an upgrade over Joe Mixon? A little younger. But is he an upgrade?

I guess it remains to be seen. Isn't this his fourth team since he got into the NFL? He's been around. Yeah, he's still relatively young.

But there's something to be said for the constant bouncing around too. Which teams do you think upgraded at the position? I think the Eagles definitely upgraded. I think the commanders, like we were saying, upgraded with Eckler.

Other than those two clear ones, like you were saying, a lot of them seem to be kind of lateral. Is Jacobs an upgrade over Jones at this point? I'm honestly not sure. I'm not sure either.

I'm not sure. Just based on what you said two years ago, if it was going into last season, I would have said absolutely. But Jacobs was not that good last year. And Jones is one of the captains and he was beloved in Green Bay. Again, not that that matters.

Definitely a team guy. Took a backseat to Aaron Rodgers all those years and didn't care about it. But if you look at the Packers' deal for Jacobs, they're not giving him a ton of money.

It's $12.5 million guaranteed. No, he's good. Don't get me wrong.

He's definitely a good piece. But did the Packers get significantly better today by cutting Aaron Jones and keeping Jacobs? Only younger.

They only got younger. But that doesn't mean really a whole lot at the quarterback position. They already have such a young offense.

Is that even? Sometimes you maybe need a veteran or two on there. We'll see.

We'll see how that goes. David Bakhtiari also released by the Packers. And so they've got major veterans that are out the door. Even more than last year, right?

When Aaron Rodgers and some of the other receivers followed him. On Twitter, ALawRadio, we put a poll up as well about the NFC South. Jay's giving it away.

He's giving away the wrong answer on the poll. You'll have to check it out. Also on our Facebook page, After Hours with Amy Lawrence.

855-212-4227. In addition to the football and the free agency mixing in a couple of quirky stories. Like one, and I'm not laughing because it happened, only because of how it was revealed. One college basketball coach sits down for a postgame press conference, feels the first question, only to make a jarring announcement and then get up and walk out. You'll hear it coming up. Thanks so much for hanging out with us here on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. This time in his career, Derrick Henry has run it in.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Derrick Henry is available. Anybody?

Anybody? I understand why Derrick Henry and his camp wouldn't be ready on day one to accept a deal for three years, and I'm going to use my air quotations here, only $24 million. However, if the chairs keep getting filled at running back and there are fewer and fewer options, then maybe the temperature in the Derrick Henry camp is a little bit different. Now, I don't actually know that he was offered the same thing as, say, Tony Pollard just accepted in Tennessee, but it stands to reason that if he would have been willing to sign for that, the Titans would rather keep him, all things being equal.

Mike Keith on the Titans Radio Network, it's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Where did we actually see an upgrade? We've agreed in the NFC East, the infusion of Austin Eckler to Washington, Saquon Barkley, changing teams and going to Philadelphia.

Those are upgrades. I don't think I'm sold yet on the Packers upgrading at the position. They definitely got younger a few years, but I'm not sure that automatically means they're better in the backfield with Jordan Love.

Same thing with the Bengals. I like Zach Moss. He has had some flashes, but is he better than Joe Mixon?

He's a little bit younger, but is he better? It's After Hours on our Facebook page, as well as After Hours, CBS on Twitter. What do you think? 855-212-4227. Jordan is in Chicago. Jordan, welcome to After Hours.

Hey, how are you doing this morning? Good, thank you. I haven't heard you mention this name, DeAndre Swift.

Yes, you're right. I believe that's definitely an upgrade. Some of the pundits here in Chicago, some of the guys at the local radio, they hate paying running backs, but he's a clear upgrade over Khalil Herbert. Khalil Herbert is a plotting back. He's horrible in pass protection. If he sees the hole, he hits it, but DeAndre Swift, as we know, he's explosive.

It's not my money, so I don't care who you pay. I definitely believe he's an upgrade. Let me ask you this, Jordan. Is he an upgrade over Herbert and Justin Fields, who was obviously doing a lot of the running himself? I don't want my quarterback to be my running back. I agree, but he was running, though. Yeah, he was running, but a lot of times, as far as his running was, he dropped back to pass, and instead of processing like he's supposed to, he ran. They didn't do as many planned runs as they did the previous year.

Of course. I want my quarterback to sit back in the pocket and pass, run when he has to. As far as the running back itself in the room, I believe Swift is an upgrade over what they had in the room.

I hesitate to say more legitimate, but that's the term I'm going to use. By having a more legit option there, or a better option at running back, then it's likely not to be Justin Fields, but if it's the rookie quarterback, then maybe he's not a guy who is running for his life or running as much. If it is Justin Fields, maybe they can tame those instincts where he does want to take off and run instead of throwing the ball, if they have a better option in the backfield, though it's really unlikely that it still fields this coming season.

Yeah, I had a question about that. What do you think as far as the market for Justin Fields? I know you're going to deviate a little bit, but the way this market is going, I don't see the Bears, if they trade them, getting nothing more than maybe a 56-round pick. If that's the case, you might have to keep them until training camp or something. I just find that interesting how many mediocre quarterbacks are getting paid and getting back up jobs or even starting jobs. They can't even find a suitor, it seems like.

Here's part of the issue. When it's the worst kept secret in the league that they're planning to draft to QB number one overall, the teams that would be looking for a QB are content to sit there and wait until Fields gets released. Why would you give up any kind of draft capital if you're pretty confident the Bears aren't going to keep him? And they're maybe keeping him right now because they're hoping a team will try to jump the line, and they're hoping a team will become desperate and will give up something. But that's kind of the deal, is that if you know he's going to be released, well, why bother giving up anything?

Why not just wait? And at the same time, except before being here, seeing all of his games for the last three years, I think this is more of an indictment of a team saying what they feel about Justin Fields. They're showing their hand and saying, hey, you know what? He's not what we want in our room as far as the quarterback.

Maybe they'll pay up when they're desperate. But they're just showing you what they feel about him. Agreed. And that is more and more what we're hearing the crescendo about Justin Fields, is that there's not a lot of teams that are super high on him. He's extremely talented, extremely, well, I should say extremely athletic and a very talented runner. But in terms of being able to make the throws process, as you were pointing out, sometimes making the simple plays far more difficult.

There's not been a ton of development there. And that's not all on Justin. There's been a lot of pieces around him. He's changed coaches, changed systems, all that jazz. It doesn't seem like it was a great fit this past year. So not all on him. Maybe he needs a fresh start and some better coaching. But he definitely wants to run, prefers to run, and not every quarterback that prefers to run is going to be attractive around the league. Yeah, I agree 100 percent.

It should be fun and fascinating. As usual, the NFL has us, right? Yeah.

A March Madness of a different sort. Jordan, thank you for reminding us about DeAndre Swift. I appreciate it. Not a problem. Love the show. Thank you. That's good to hear. From AM 670, the score in the Windy City and beyond actually got a really nice signal there. On Twitter, ALawRadio, our Facebook page too.

Jim says the commanders did well and the Lions trading for Davis. Have a good show. We are 90 minutes in, but we will continue to. Thank you. It's a lot to keep up with, I'll be honest.

Andy on Facebook. Graders did good today, improving on both sides of the ball. Wilkins and Minshew. I suppose when you have no quarterbacks, then yes. Minshew is an upgrade.

And that's not a knock on Minshew. Wasn't he a Pro Bowler this past year? Like somebody couldn't participate and he ended up as a Pro Bowler? You know what? Snoop Hundley was a Pro Bowler the year before.

I'm sorry. My point is that he turned some heads. He helped the Colts. Very confident backup. He helped the Colts a lot once Richardson went down.

So good for him in getting paid. But really the whole point is that if you're the Raiders and you have nothing at quarterback, well then yes, pretty much anything is going to be an upgrade. I'm telling you, I feel like Gardner Minshew.

And you could call this a knock, but I mean this in a sincere way. He's the new Ryan Fitzpatrick. If you have Gardner Minshew as your quarterback, you could be a lot worse, but you could be a lot better. But you're not good, but you're there.

You're right at that mediocre line. That's what Ryan Fitzpatrick was. You knew you had a guy that is best.

He can help you out. He's going to make a lot of mistakes. He's not the worst quarterback in the league. He's not one of the better ones.

He's right smack in the middle. That's what Gardner Minshew is. The Colts were expected to suck and they finished above.500 and were right there in the mix for the playoffs, which is crazy.

And they were more than happy to watch him walk out the door. That tells you something. And again, if he's your backup, you're in great hands. If he's your starter for a few weeks, you feel good. If he's your starter the whole season, eventually it's going to go south. That's just the way it is. He's just not good enough for the full year to be on a true contender.

And that's okay. He's going to make a hell of a career. He's going to make a lot of money. I think the Raiders are one of the few, I think there's only two teams that are left. I mean, that caller was talking about Justin Fields. I still feel like the Raiders could be in play there. And the only other team, I just don't know if they're going to be willing to give up any draft capital because they're stripping it down, is the Broncos. Other than that, where is Justin Fields going?

Right. And that's the point is that he likely could end up as a backup or competing for the starting job. But in terms of teams that are willing to give up anything for him, there aren't any. If you think you can get him without giving up anything, it's even more so when you're looking for a backup, not a starter.

Yeah, and I don't think anybody's going to break the ban. They weren't going to do it to begin with. I thought the idea of everybody, oh, you get a second, a third, you're not getting all that for Justin Fields. There's a reason why he's available. But I think the Raiders, even with the Gardner Minshew signing, and I didn't look at the contract details, who knows how much it really is and how fast they can get out of it. It's two years, $25 million. That doesn't mean he sees even a quarter of that $25 million.

So let's not get nuts with the numbers themselves. It's all funny money when you talk about the NFL. If the Raiders, if you can swing a deal, give up a sixth round pick and get Justin Fields and have Fields, Gardner Minshew, and still want to throw in Aiden O'Connell, go right ahead. Obviously, the Raiders are telling you that they don't really believe in that either. I feel like that's one of the few spots, probably the best spot, that Justin Fields could possibly land because I do think the Raiders are one of the teams that'd be willing to take that flyer and see if they can find something with Fields because they're not in a position to draft and they really don't have a guy. The Broncos don't want a guy.

That's what they're telling you. They're basically telling you, we want to rebuild this thing and strip it down to its core. To do that, you're going to have to draft a quarterback and I don't think the Raiders do that. I don't know if they want to, but they've got almost $90 million wrapped up in dead cap money.

They're already doing it. Gardner Minshew is going to get at least $15 million. That's capitalizing on the season he just had. Good for him. Yeah. Like I said, though, is that the Raiders telling you that he's their quarterback for two years? No, no, no. He's going to buy for it.

He's going to buy for it. I don't believe that. They need a body. They need a warm body.

And Aiden O'Connell was okay, but he's not their quarterback. And they know that. And they also don't want to spend big, giant money because they still got to pay off Garoppolo and they still got that dead money to deal with with that. So they're in a weird position. Their moves make my head hurt. They're in a weird position, but I do think Fields might be the one place because, again, you look around the quarterback roulette around the NFL, it's not a lot of landing spots.

They took the seats away. But there are teams that will need veteran backups, though. Yeah, but see, I don't look at Justin Fields as a veteran backup.

I think of him as a young player that still needs to develop. And if you bring him in to be a veteran backup, I think you're either putting your young quarterback in a bad position because he's not there to teach. And I think you're putting your veteran quarterback in a spot where he's going, you got this guy behind me, so am I out the door? He's not the guy. He's not that guy. He's not, you know, Tyron Taylor landed with the Jets. Veteran backup. You know what he is. He knows what he is.

Everybody's cool with the situation. He gets hurt at like every half he's on the field. But he knows he's a backup. He's not going to push Aaron Rodgers for the job.

Are you yelling at me? But Justin Fields will push whoever he's there with. He's not a veteran backup. He's a guy that wants to play and get paid. To me, that's different. But there may not be that option.

So he may have to be like a Baker Mayfield and work his way back in. On Twitter, A Law Radio. Marco, what's your Twitter?

People may want to talk to you. My name. Marco Balletti.

At Marco Balletti. He likes to talk about these things, too. And coming up at the top of the hour, we had to push him back. But Luke Braun with the Locked on Vikings podcast, Sam Darnold.

But what else did they do at quarterback? 855-212-4227. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Man, I couldn't be just more grateful for the opportunity.

You know, first the shame. You know, the faith is to bring me here and give me a chance. And, you know, the team kind of rallying around me. I couldn't be more grateful for this year. And the guys in that room just really, you know, happy to be a part of this group.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. That is the voice of Gardner Minshew. Loved playing for the Colts. Obviously helped to spark them to a winning season.

Despite the fact that there were very low expectations. Once Anthony Richardson was shut down for the year, Gardner stepped in seamlessly. He's fearless. He has a great attitude.

Sometimes he makes bonehead decisions, right? So we're not talking about a quarterback who is in the upper third in the NFL. But he translated a very solid season and a real competitive spirit and attitude. The ability to be a leader in the locker room into a new deal and will vie for the starting position in Las Vegas. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. The Raiders are in a transition offensively. So they bring in Gardner Minshew. They've got a new offensive coordinator. And they also are changing running backs. Josh Jacobs is gone. And Garrett says on Twitter, Fields isn't an option for the Raiders. Because they hired the offensive coordinator that had no success with him for the last two years and got fired.

So yeah, what a tangled web. He's right. The veteran is Luke Getze. That's the OC now in Vegas.

And he spent the last two seasons with the Bears. So great point, Garrett. Thank you for reminding us of that. Let's go back to our phones here.

855-212-4227. You guys are definitely wanting to weigh in on what we saw and heard the last couple of days. James is in Illinois. James, what do you think? Yeah, I was just wondering what you think about the Aaron Jones, Joshua Jacobs, that deal. What do you think about that deal? I was kind of side blinded by them getting rid of Aaron Jones.

So I was too, actually. I was also side blinded by the fact that Aaron Jones was unceremoniously dumped that way. And clearly they were waiting to see if they could get something else at that position. The only thing I can think, and we know sports as fans were loyal many times, but teams and players, not so much.

It's their business. The only thing I can think is they believe they've upgraded because Josh Jacobs is cheaper. That's the only thing, cheaper, sorry. He's younger, maybe a little cheaper.

That's the only thing I can think. Otherwise, I don't know why you wouldn't just stay with Aaron Jones, but he is a few years older. Yeah, well they wanted him to take a pay cut.

They did, right. So then in that case, maybe you're talking cheaper and younger. Yeah. But I don't know that he's better.

Jacobs gets hurt a bunch. I've been to you for the last couple months because I work at UPS. I get off at 2 o'clock in the morning and I congratulate you on your wedding. Oh, thank you.

I appreciate that. I can't believe that it's about to be three months on Sunday. St. Patrick's Day is exactly three months already, right? Yep. And it doesn't, hey, it doesn't slow down the older you get, okay.

The world is spinning furiously on its axis. I got you. I got you. Thank you so much, James. I appreciate it. Hey, I appreciate you. You have a great night. You too.

We're glad to keep new peeps company. So a job in which he can listen to us gets off at 2 a.m. central time. Can we possibly get to the Utah State women's basketball coach or do we not have time to squeeze that in? I guess we don't now that I've been talking too much. It actually isn't too tight, but I wouldn't have any time to set it up.

I checked the exact number of seconds. Now it's too tight because I've been talking. But anyway, at some point we'll get to it because it's a pretty incredible exchange. And this is the type of thing that we always are on the lookout for the after hours Hall of Flame. But even as we sort through running backs, moving all over the place, and you guys have been great to provide the, those called bumpers when you when you're bowling and they keep you from going into the gutter. There's so much in my head that you all are providing great bumpers along my bowling lane. So reminding me of Austin Eckler and also DeAndre Swift. And that's been a great signing as well for the Bears where our teams actually upgrading at running back.

And we'll talk about the Vikings in their quarterback void next here on CBS Sports Radio. We've seen a lot of change in the past 20 years. But two decades later, Mountain Dew Baja Blast is still a fan favorite. Bringing you the cold, tropical lime flavor that folks can't get enough of. It takes you back to a sunny day at the beach with every delicious sip.

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