3.5.24 - JR SportBrief Hour 3

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You'll be glad you did. It is! The JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Happy Tuesday night to you. Hope you've had a tremendous day, a tremendous afternoon, a tremendous evening. I'm going to be rolling with you for the next two hours. The show gets started though at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific every single weeknight, weekday.

That means Monday through Friday. It's good to be back with you here on CBS Sports Radio. Voice has been bothering me for a couple of days, but it's nice to be back. You can always listen on the free Odyssey app. You can tune in on your local CBS Sports Radio affiliate. Sirius XM Channel 158 and to everybody listening on a smart speaker. All you got to do is ask it to play CBS Sports Radio. You got a fancy computer?

Ask it to play CBS Sports Radio. Thank you so much to super producer and host Ryan Hickey holding it down for us on the boards in New York City. And then you. Yes, you of course.

Everybody listening. You driving an Uber? Thank you. Driving a truck?

Thank you. Are you in the back of an Uber? Tip that Uber driver unless they suck. Then don't tip them. But if they drive it nice, they treat you good.

Tip them. Anyway, we've had a fun show so far. Thank you so much to Ryan Harris. Ryan Harris, former offensive lineman in the NFL, played for the Denver Broncos, now an analyst for CBS Sports HQ. Thank you so much to Ryan for coming through and joining us. Also, great conversation with Trey Wingo. Trey Wingo, former Sports Center host and analyst, came through and we talked some football as he is the new host of the alternate route podcast with Kevin Frazier.

And then how about this? We have more conversations regarding the NFL coming. You know, there's a there's a lot to get into. Just stay on tuned. OK, we're going to get into the Vikings.

We're going to talk about the Steelers. And Russell Wilson is there's a lot to do if you want to participate in the show. It's 855-212-4CVS.

It's 855-212-4CVS. You can find me online at JR Sport Brief. Talked about players that have been tagged with the franchise tag. Today was the deadline. Josh Allen of the Jaguars tagged. T Higgins of the Bengals tagged. Jalen Johnson of the Bears tagged. Antoine Winfield of the Buccaneers tagged. Saquon Barkley not tagged. Going to be a free agent.

Christian Wilkins of the Dolphins not tagged. Going to be a free agent. This doesn't mean that they won't sign with their former teams, but they are now free to shop their services. Whoever the hell they want. Doesn't mean that they'll get a better team or excuse me, a better deal from a different team.

Well, they might just leave completely or they might return. Time will certainly tell. We talked about Kaitlyn Clark.

Kaitlyn Clark. We're waiting to see who and what she plays in the Big Ten tournament. Arch Manning deciding that he doesn't want to be in EA Sports College Football 25.

It's not like he needs the six hundred dollar fee. We discussed Kirk Cousins and there's so much right before the break. We talked about Jason Kelce, but a great element. And if you missed our talk with a former lineman, Ryan Harris, I encourage you.

Please go ahead and do so. We also talked about the changes in college sports. College playoffs expanding and teams expanding and conferences moving and changing. Well, today we got a report via The Athletic that college basketball and we're only a couple of weeks away from Selection Sunday. We're two Sundays away from Selection Sunday taking place on Sunday, March 17th. But Dana O'Neill of The Athletic says college basketball is readying to make March Madness even bigger. And they plan on doing it in the near future.

And so what does this mean? We know that as of right now, we have 64 teams in March Madness. They've added a nice little gimmick before then to get to the 64. We have the first four that gets us to the 64.

So in essence, it's 68 damn teams. They started this in 2011. Hickey, it doesn't seem like that long ago, but 2011 they started this first four stuff, man. It seems like it was yesterday. That does feel pretty crazy in a way. Wow. I feel like I've just aged myself there.

Have you? Feels like 2011. Now I'm looking back more. I thought it feels like just yesterday. It was not. It was 13 years ago.

Not quite, Hickey. Relax. Everything feels like yesterday. But yeah, 2011. That's when they started this first four. OK. And now there's talks that they're going to expand the field to 72 or 76 teams. And I'm saying, why? What are we doing here? Here's some perspective. I told you that the first four, this new gimmick, gave us 68 teams.

Gives us an extra day, by the way. It started in 2011. March Madness, and it wasn't called March Madness, but the tournament was first held in 1939.

In 1939, there were eight teams participating in the NCAA Basketball Tournament. In 1951, they doubled it. So almost 10 years later, they doubled it to 16 teams. And then, almost 25 years later, in 1975, they moved it to 32. And then 10 years after that, in 1985, they went to 64 teams. And so literally, between 1939 and 1985, they just kept on doubling.

8 to 16, 16 to 32. And in 1985, since then, we've had the quote unquote traditional tournament. And here we are in 2024. And now they want to add more teams into the mix. And if you don't believe me, if you don't believe this report by Dana O'Neill of The Athletic, you can just listen to the damn commissioner yourself. Because he spoke.

And he spoke to ESPN. Listen to Charlie Baker. He was asked if the NCAA tournament is going to get larger.

Listen to this. Expanding the NCAA tournament or eliminating some automatic qualifying bids for smaller conferences. How do you feel about that? Most of the people who follow college sports think the NCAA tournament and basketball is perfect. Right.

So anything that's done to change it needs to be done with care and consideration. I certainly think there's an opportunity there to do more. To find a way to bring more teams into the tournament. And that's a conversation that the basketball committee is currently having. They started it last summer. They said they would have it. It's a transformation committee recommendation that they do so. But I think we may have more to say about that between now and the end of this year's tournament.

It's going to depend a lot on some schedules. But it's obviously an issue that's very top of mind for everybody. Oh come on. The top of line for who? People trying to make money? And now all the teams that actually get in and are already participating. Now they've got to split the money again? Is that money going to be made up because we're watching more bum teams?

Like let's be real here man. Sometimes they put teams on television during the NCAA tournament that I've never heard of. Sometimes they put teams on the air during the NCAA tournament that I have to Google to see where the hell they are. I have to figure out whether or not I'm being punked. Am I a jerk? Am I missing something?

I'm like where the hell is this team at? Where's this school? I've never heard of this. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I know everything.

I think this is the great Kreskin. I'm not him. The fact is I think I have an idea. And now y'all want to expand the field even more? Reportedly the NCAA feels, just like on the college football side, that if we don't expand the field and figure out a way to make more money, some of the top teams are going to come up with their own tournament. To me it just sounds like the NCAA is just, well we know this, it's always been money hungry.

The NCAA is not trying to protect its own behind, but they are. Before some of the big dogs decide that we're going to run away with our own share. Now listen, if they expand the field, which I know they will, it's just a matter of when, am I going to be on the radio pitching a fit? Am I going to be screaming and yelling like a lunatic? No I'm not because I understand it's just business. Am I a fan of them expanding the field?

No. Am I going to kick and scream and yell about the traditions of college basketball and how dare they do this? You heard it from Charlie Baker.

Charlie Baker said a lot of college basketball fans believe the system is perfect. That it must stay at 64 teams. Well you know what, moving it to 72, moving it to 76, it's probably just going to make folks a couple hundred million dollars more. Hundred million dollars more. You know maybe I don't know, maybe they tack on another billion there. Maybe they add on an additional day for you to sit down and watch basketball.

Maybe the GDP of the country declines again because workplace productivity is going down. It's all about money. Am I a fan?

No. But I get it. I'll just sit around, I'll watch a couple other teams that I never heard of and then I think like most people, they'll get over it. And if you like winning money, if you like gambling, this is your time to shine.

You're going to have a prime opportunity to win some more dough. And I think that's what most people, I think a lot of fans now, certainly care about. March Madness could be expanding sooner than later to 72 or 76 teams. Typically they say hey, don't fix it if it ain't broke. Well this system, it ain't broken. But they could certainly squeeze some more money out of it and that's why they're going to do it.

It's the JR Sportbreeze Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Hickey, let me ask you this. If they expand this tournament, do you care? Is it watered down? Is it necessary? What's your perspective on this?

Definitely not necessary. My question like when it comes to more money, you're kind of brought up for like who actually cares? Like the first four, it's something to watch on a Tuesday and Wednesday. But like you said, especially when it's like two 16-seeds, like if you expand it to five or what, another eight schools, are people actually going to tune in the amount you think to watch another day of basically a play-in for the tournament? Gambling. I guess, but even then it's just like I feel like you kind of save up or wait for that big Thursday when you have what, 16 games?

Or I guess 32 games on Thursday, 32 games on Friday? Yeah, but I think it's just gambling. Like let's put it this way. You know, we're thinking about the validity of the teams that are involved, right? That's how we're looking at it.

Right. Everybody, not everybody, like me, I don't necessarily sit around filling out a bracket. That's not my thing. Like A, I don't gamble. And then B, I'm like, hey, I don't know nothing about this team. Like who the hell is sitting around watching every single team?

And so I don't bother. But just for gambling purposes and office pools and what have you, people are filling out brackets. I mean, if you got to look at a bracket and go, oh, I'm picking a one-seed all the way and you don't know anything else about the other teams, then yeah, sure, you can play the game of chance and play the game of odds.

We know it doesn't always work that way. But we got people filling out brackets of 64 teams. How many of them have they watched? Like how many teams that they legitimately watched?

10, 15? And so I think we can throw that idea like out the window. You don't need to know about Bubblegum University to say, oh, well, I think Duke is going to whoop they ass, right?

No. Interesting, because it's like, especially like you said, a lot of people watch because they have brackets, right? Like people that don't care about college basketball, this is the only time they'll watch. But at least like who knows how the brackets will change, right?

If they expand to 72 or 75, 78, right? But at least how the brackets are now, the first fours are relevant because like you don't have to pick the winner in order to like move on. Like they just put both there and like whatever game they're playing. So it's even like the people that are like excited to do a bracket that normally and that's, you know, a good amount of fans that watch March Madness, right? Don't watch college basketball before the first day of the tournament for the most part.

Well, at least now, like with how the first four situated where you don't have to pick that game. If that's another, you know, if that's the case, I guess they expand again. I'm like, I don't know how much money they're actually going to get if they expand the tournament another day. Like are we moving the needle that much?

Like in terms of financially, you think so? I think so. You know, how they would structure this out is an additional day. Are we now graduating March Madness all throughout the week?

That's inventory, man. People are going to watch and I'm sure it's not going to be two bum teams that they have out there. They'll figure it out. But if it's going to be on, if they're going to associate it with the tournament, they're going to figure out a way to monetize it. Even if it's another day. Like you just said, even to have a gear up for a Tuesday or Wednesday, that's worth something.

That's not worth nothing. And we know Turner, Warner, CBS, they broadcast the games and we heard this from Trey Wingo. If there's anything on television that is still must watch and must see at that moment at that time, sports. And I think any network would be very happy to say, hey, we got we got an extra extra game. We have more inventory that that makes some type of money.

Something's better than nothing. Hey, what did Ryan say? I need to pay him.

Ryan Harris, what do you say? He wanted seventy five to hang up. Seventy five mil. That what he said. Eighty five million dollars to not be on the call anymore.

Well, that's what that's what Russell Wilson is getting to not be on the Broncos. Right. That's right. Yeah. Well, damn it.

I would I would take eight eight bucks to hang up or to be hung up on like I'm fine with that. Let's see if they do it. It's inevitable. Just like college football, they're going to expand the tournament. Just like college basketball, March Madness, they're going to they're going to move it to 70 plus teams.

And hey, people don't have to like it, but it's inevitable. It's just life. Eight five five two one two four CBS is the number. It's eight five five two one two four CBS.

We're going to take a break when we come back. Speaking of football and money, we just talked about Russell Wilson, right? This man's getting all types of money to leave the Denver Broncos. He could be a Viking. He could be a falcon.

He could be a raider. Well, on the other side of the break, we're going to have a conversation with Ben Lieber. He used to play for the Minnesota Vikings, and now he's a broadcaster, Vikings radio analyst Ben Lieber, joining us to talk Vikings and cousins and Wilson and Jefferson.

We got it all. The J.R. sport show CBS Sports Radio. I'm Tony Kornheiser. This is my show.

My friends come on and you know them. We talk about the sports you care about. Basketball now. Golf in the metronome of your life. Baseball, whether it's opening day, the big tournament or one of the majors, we have the best to preview it and break down just what happened.

And let's not forget the important stuff, the amount of daylight where I live, the importance of speedies and the rankings of beach style pizza. Listen on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. You're listening to the J.R. sport brief on CBS Sports Radio. It's the J.R. sport brief show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. We all know about franchise tag deadline day.

Now, we also have a better indicator of who might be free to move on, who might go elsewhere. We know quarterbacks have also been a topic of conversation over the past several weeks. Russell Wilson, Kirk Cousins, Justin Fields, what have you, to talk about things from a perspective, a Twin Cities perspective. Joining us right now on the line, we're being joined by Ben Lieber, who not only played for the Minnesota Vikings, but he's also their analyst on KFAN out in Minnesota. Hey, Ben, thank you for taking the time to hop on. Oh, man, always a pleasure.

Thanks for having me on. No doubt. Now, we certainly know there's so much quarterback movement going on. I guess the big story that's popped over the past 24 to 48 hours is that Kirk Cousins might be open and willing to move to Atlanta with his wife who's from the area, what have you. What do you hear? What do you know?

What do you believe might be true? Well, you know, it's certainly been a topic of conversation around these parts, you know, really, ever since he got injured. And now it's kind of picking up steam. Obviously, we're kind of coming to the finish line here. So obviously, the rumors are flying around. You saw Mike Florio in Pro Football Talk talk about his sources out at the Combine saying he's moving his family out there. They're starting their preparations. It sounds like there might be a deal kind of already done. So much of that I don't know what to believe because we all know that the Combine is there. His agent was out there. The Combine is all for spreading rumors, building leverage, whatever you can do to get your player the best deal. So I don't know what to make of that.

I trust Mike's sources, but I do know this. There is a large part of the Vikings fans locally, nationally that all want Kirk back. We all saw, you know, what we could do and what he could do with this offense. Year two under KOC really flourished, was putting up MVP type numbers. Defense, I think surprisingly, was way better than they're expecting in the first year under Flores. So all things were turning in the right direction and then he gets hurt.

But I will say this as well. There is a growing and ever-growing group of fans as well that get really excited about what the possibilities are if Kirk leaves. And I think there's going to be a little bit of grief if he doesn't come back. But I also think that there's going to be a lot of excited fans to see what this leadership group can do via free agency, via the draft. And I'm not talking just at the quarterback spot.

I'm saying about building the whole team. Ben Lieber is here with us, the chair of our sportbreeze show on CBS Sports Radio. Well, a couple of, not even a couple of months ago. Well, we've heard recently from Kirk Cousins about potentially taking a discount, talking about how fortunate he is. He's made about $230 million in career earnings.

Like, where does that fall into, hey, I really want to stay, but I'm just going to end up leaving? What do you think about those comments? Well, he certainly hasn't shown that he's willing to give anybody a discount. And I don't really, you know, for his prior contract, you know, the one that Rick Spillane gave, I don't blame him at all, you know, going for something that big and fully guaranteed.

I mean, if you've got a team willing to give you a fully guaranteed contract, you take it. I think that he's obviously a very logical person. He's very self-aware. I think he understands that he's made a lot of money. He's made generational wealth for his whole family. He's going to do great things when he's done playing. It's not like the revenue stream is going to just dry up when he's done playing. So I think he adds all that up and he has to think about where he's going to be the most comfortable.

And, you know, maybe maybe his being close to his wife's family and Alpharetta is going to be great for him. But I think when it comes to leaving a legacy, I think he's fought so hard to get out from under this critical rock. He's been in his whole career about not being a winning quarterback, not even a top 10 quarterback. He's been fighting for respect, I think his whole career.

And I really believe these last two years he's finally gotten that respect and is gaining more and more national respect. I think that if he goes to Atlanta, he gives himself a harder situation to win a championship, to cement his legacy as a quarterback that could maybe win the big one. I think his best opportunity is here. So, you know, money aside, if it comes down to legacy and what I think is going to make him the most happy, I think that's staying here in Minnesota. Yeah, Ben Lieber is joining us via KFAN out in the Twin Cities.

If he does move on, you had mentioned that there's a segment of Viking fans who would say, hey, it's nice to go ahead and start over. Quesi Adolfo Mensah, we know he's going to have a chance and an opportunity to potentially build the team in the way that he wants to. What are those options and is it a long build?

You know, potentially it's a long build. You know, defensively, whether or not Daniel Hunter comes back, you still need to add pass rushers. You've got DJ Wanam that tore a quad and he's not going to be ready at the start of the season.

And outside of those two guys, you don't have many guys that can actually win a one-on-one battle and be a straight-up dog on the outside. And for me personally, I think that we need to upgrade the interior part of our defensive line. We don't really have a true pass rusher on the inside part of the defensive line. They like to move guys around at our defensive ends and move them around on sub-packages.

But we don't have a true three technique and I think great defenses need to have a great three technique. I also think they could probably upgrade a linebacker position and our cornerbacks, although you saw a lot of effort, just flat out weren't very good. And then what are you going to do with Harrison Smith?

Sounds like they might let him go to save some money as well. So now you have a little bit of a hole at safety. Defense alone, if all you had to work on was defense alone, that's quite the task. Not only finding some high-end starters, but also finding some depth. Because we saw that kind of rear thugly head as the season went along, we just didn't have enough depth.

So that's the defensive side of the ball. Obviously you want to probably add one more guy on the interior offensive line. Dalton Reisner has not been re-signed back yet. He had a fantastic year when he stepped in.

Need to find a running back as well even though it's seldom used in this offense. But I think people get really excited by the money that they could save. We all know that they're going to sign Justin Jefferson at some point in time. It's going to be a monster deal, but he deserves it.

But where else are you going to spend that money? You've got to spend it on defense and there's a lot of intriguing free agents out there. Yeah, it's going to be tough for the Vikings with no Kirk Cousins in the way the NFC North is pretty much moving forward. Ben Lieber is joining us here on CBS Sports Radio.

Even covering the Vikings, you're real familiar with these other teams in the NFC North. Another name that has been bandied about and is likely to move, we all know, is Justin Fields. What has been your observation of him? I guess when you've seen him out there and healthy. You know, I think he sort of needs to put his pride, I think, aside just for a little bit. Because I think he's the most dangerous when he does run the football and he does have designed runs and he becomes an extension of that running back spot. You know, watching him in college and early on, I think that he wants to prove himself as a pocket passer. And that was one of the things I think a lot of people stereotyped him coming out of college. You're like, well, he's a dual threat guy.

I'm like, not really. You know, he actually wants to be a passer. And I think at the pro level, you know, for whatever reason it is, whether it's just process, anticipation, timing, whatever accuracy, he has not proven himself to be a consistent pocket passer. But he's extremely dangerous when he can run the ball and he has the freedom to run around and he plays with a reckless abandon.

I think he's actually a pretty damn good player. He just needs to find the right offense, the right organization that believes in him long term. And I think he can flourish. So, Ben, where do you think that might be?

Well, probably Washington. Something about Washington that I feel like I think would be a fresh start for him, clearly a fresh start with their ownership. And I think that they understand that there might be some bumpy roads and I think they're willing to grind it out with him. I don't, for some reason, I think with the way things are in Atlanta, with some of their offensive young, offensive firepower, I don't think that they want those guys to wither on the vine very long. I think they want to see what they can get out of those young guys.

And I do think that that's what makes Kirk Cousins so intriguing is he's a guy that can throw the ball around and accurately and down the field and in the right spots for their big, tall, outside wide receivers to see if they really got the juice to make it in this league. So, they want to hit the ground running. I feel like Washington can probably be a little more patient. Well, certainly.

Ben, final question for you. You know we're moving towards the NFL draft and then we're going to blink. I know time flies. It's going to be training camp all of a sudden. What is the most intriguing story for you between the draft and training camp?

Is there a particular player who you really have your eyes set on to see what they do as we move on into the season? When it comes to the hottest names in the draft right now, and I know that we won't really want to wait and see until the season starts, but Jayden Daniels to me is the most intriguing guy of the quarterback possibilities in the whole draft. We know what he can do running the football. We know how athletic he is.

He's got a great arm. He really wasn't, from an attempt standpoint, wasn't really asked to throw the ball a ton, but when he did, he was pretty darn good. I think that he's the biggest x-factor in this whole thing as far as what is he going to be in the NFL? Depending on who drafts him and who that offensive coordinator is and what sort of system they run, what's he going to look like? I think you can kind of say pretty surely with these other guys what sort of offenses they fit in, but for him being such an x-factor that he can be so dynamic doing both, I don't know. Do you risk him running the ball as much as Lamar does or showing off some of that arm talent and getting down the field?

Is he more dangerous that way? I don't know, but I'm really intrigued to see. We'll see a lot of varying opinions on Caleb Williams and May. It's going to be real fun and interesting.

A lot of times we know that all the names that get bandied about, they don't always work out. Tom will certainly tell. Ben, thank you for taking the time to join us. Where can people follow you and your work, especially as everything gets kind of parsed out with Kirk Cousins? Ah, man, I appreciate that. Well, on TwitterX it's just at Nacho Lieber, a little homage to Nacho Lieber, so you can just check that out and then if you're on the Instagrammy thingy, then probably Ben Lieber Additional.

That's where you can find me. Well, Ben, thank you for taking the time to hop on and we'll see how things kind of play out in the Twin Cities. Thank you. Yeah, no problem, man. Thanks for having me on.

Absolutely. That Ben Lieber used to play for the Minnesota Vikings, now covers them for W-F-A-N-K-F-A-N, excuse me, out in the Twin Cities. 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4CBS. We're going to take a break. When we come back on the other side, hey, we talked about Kirk Cousins. We also asked him about Justin Fields and where he might end up.

Well, it appears that there's a team that already may not even want to explore adding Justin Fields. I'm going to tell you who that team is on the other side of the break. The phone lines are open if you want to give me a holler. It's 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4CBS. You're listening to the J.R. Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio.

It is the J.R. Sport Reshow here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Thank you so much to Ben Lieber, former Minnesota Viking and now Vikings analyst on KFAN for coming through and joining us here on CBS Sports Radio. 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4CBS. Obviously a lot of conversation going on about who goes where and what they do and what quarterbacks end up in new places. And we're certainly going to find out, you know, what happens with Kirk Cousins certainly being rumored and bandied about. Russell Wilson certainly being rumored and bandied about.

And then there is another name. He's been talked about a whole hell of a lot. Where does he go? What does he do?

It's Justin Fields. We know what he did already. He unfollowed the Chicago Bears and the NFL on social media.

Said that he wanted to clear his mind as he went on vacation. And now it's also being reported that the trade market for Justin Fields is not hot. That the interest to bring him in isn't as hot as you thought it would be. And we know the suitors. We know the teams that need quarterbacks. Whether it be Washington.

Ben Lieber shared that he believes that that is the most logical landing spot. We know that the Falcons need a quarterback. We know the Raiders need a quarterback.

But at the end of the day, this is what it boils down to. If you decide to trade for Justin Fields, what are you giving up, number one? And then number two, you're going to have to figure out and most likely pay him because you've given up draft compensation to bring him in. It is a disastrous situation. The Bears are likely going to trade him.

General Manager Ryan Polz made it very clear. He's looking to offload him before free agency starts on March 13th. Well, we're looking at that date right in the face.

That's next week. And if there's not interest in him, then what's the deal? And so we've even got a report that one of the teams that needs a quarterback or at least needs an upgrade at the position, they don't even want him.

That happens to be the Pittsburgh Steelers. There's a report out right now that the Steelers, they got no interest in bringing in Justin Fields, that they legitimately want to give Kenny Pickett a chance and an opportunity to move forward as their starting quarterback. And they don't want to bring in someone like Justin Fields, who would be expected to just have the job. Well, I mean, has he done enough work to to show that he needs it? I don't think so. A matter of fact, let's listen to head coach Mike Tomlin.

This is at the end of the year. He was asked if Kenny Pickett is going to be the guy. Take a listen. You know, he will. But obviously there will be competition. There's always competition in this thing.

We don't anoint anyone. Man, I'm appreciative of his efforts and where he is and excited about continuing to work with him. But certainly he will be challenged from a competition perspective moving forward. Competition brings the best out in all of us. Well, yeah, that doesn't mean that they want to bring in this man, Justin Fields.

That certainly would not mean competition. That would mean, hey, we're replacing you. And so there could be some other quarterbacks, guys who don't necessarily have the standing, more veteran individuals who might say, hey, I'll compete.

I don't know. Ryan Tannehill. We know Ryan Tannehill actually worked with Arthur Smith when he was down in Tennessee.

And so there are some possibilities there. But for Justin Fields, I feel like he is one of the quarterbacks in the NFL right now. Time might be up. You know, he's going to get his chance and his opportunity. But I don't want to put him in the same category as someone like Zach Wilson who completely bombed with the Jets.

The Jets bombed with putting a good system and good players around him, good coaches. It could be over. Like who's starting Zach Wilson next year?

The answer? Nobody. It would take a complete catastrophe on a team for Zach Wilson to get his chance. And with Justin Fields, he might get his chance. It might not be on a good team.

And typically, in a lot of cases, we know after you've gone through your first chance and you get your second chance, that third one, it ain't necessarily a charm. I can look at someone like Baker Mayfield. Looks like he's going to come up. Had success with Cleveland. Cleveland then said, we'll get DeSean. Baker then had the bounce around out in Carolina. He then had to move around again.

L.A. quickly. And it looks like he might find or have found a home in Tampa. Were they going to give him a deal? I just don't think it works out for most quarterbacks. We can look at someone like Stafford who had success in Los Angeles, goes to the Lions and they say, hey, you're good enough for us.

I don't think that's the case for Justin Fields. Wherever he ends up might be his last chance and opportunity as a starter. And I think it's very telling that, hey, the market ain't all that hot.

Chicago Bears basically said. We are here. We're likely to move on. And we haven't heard a peep.

Hickey, what do you think about this, man? It's just the fact that there is no movement and we're a week out from the start of free agency. It just looks like Justin Fields is he's like the couch that you put up outside that nobody wants.

It is interesting because I think there is talent there and especially to like I mean, you look at the other options, right? Everyone's in need of a quarterback. And if you are not drafting in the top three or four, it seems like you're going to get shut out, at least of trying to draft a quarterback in the first round. Russell Wilson and Kirk Cousins are both thirty six years old, one of them coming off an Achilles tear, the other coming off to the worst years of his career.

Like that's I guess the weird part. Not that Justin Fields is perfect. Obviously, there's been way too much inconsistency and a lot more bad than good so far in his three year career.

But it's also not like the other options are that much better or that much more attractive. He's the youngest guy out there. He has shown flashes. He was a former top 15 pick. He's cheap still, you know, going into year number four. It is interesting right now that the market, at least as we see it, has cooled when you look at how many teams are in need of some sort of upgrade at quarterback this offseason. Yeah, but he's he's still a prospect. That's the thing. And he's further along in being a prospect because although he's not going to be owed one of these fifty forty five million dollar contracts, that's what you you're likely going to be on the hook for.

Either way, almost. And if you don't pay him the money in a couple of years, then you basically wasted the draft picks. I don't want to call it a Russell Wilson situation or Russell Wilson scenario, but it's it's almost similar. And granted, yeah, we know Russell Wilson had a whole hell of a lot more success, but you've basically reached the end of a line with a quarterback.

You need to move on. And if you trade for or acquire this man, you have to give up some type of draft capital. Is it going to be multiple players in first like Russell Wilson? Hell no. But you're going to have a decision to make. And for a prospect. That's a lot to ask for. I think they're going to get him for nothing. You know, am I going to be a jerk and go a six round pick seven round?

No, I don't think so. It's not going to be a lot. It's not going to be anybody out here risking adding him. And then I think, to be honest, a team that acquires fields, they know they're not acquiring him on the high. You'd have to think you to be honest.

And I sound like a jerk. If you're a general manager bringing this dude in, you're probably thinking, hey, I can trade him for a low pick. I'd rather have the problem of if I have to pay him and maybe he's more likely to fail than to succeed.

But who wants to live life that way? I just noticed the bears are going to move on. And Justin Fields, he's probably going to get his last chance. Atlanta is probably the best option for him. And if you're Atlanta, hey, there's there's more surefire bets and guys like Kirk Cousins. And then even this this Russell Wilson guy who we know is going to be out the door. And there's no more let's ride. And speaking of Wilson, I found a hilarious hickey in reading his statement. He thanked everybody except for Sean Payton. Nothing.

Zip zero zilch. When is the Russell Wilson book come out? We got to wait like 20 years for his autobiography, right? Yeah, probably.

You know, the politician he is, he's going to wait till his career is long over. The question is, what's the title going to be? I don't know. Leadership. Leadership by Russell Wilson.

How to lead. Right. I don't know. Something corny, probably.

He should just name it corny. But he's not that self-deprecating. He's not. He's not. This is the same dude who got to the team and all he he should have recorded a video on the way out the door.

The same way he recorded a video when he got there. That what did he say? Broncos country. Let's ride. Let's ride Bronco. A matter of fact, listen to this.

Maybe you can call it. Let's ride into the sunset by Russell Wilson. Listen to this. Let's ride. Let's ride. Let's ride.

Perfect. One more time. Broncos country. Let's ride. Broncos country. Let's ride. Broncos country. Let's ride. Broncos country. Let's ride. Broncos country.

Let's ride. Yeah. He can see he's a he's built for Hollywood already. He got it down packed. That was another omission. He didn't mention Sean Payton. We needed one last Broncos country. Let's ride. He started by saying, like, thank you, Broncos country. Should have signed off by some corny. We'll ride with you forever.

Right. Some time when you can't record. You can't have you try to make that your catchphrase for two years and try to just, you know, yourself push it to be your thing and then ditch it. You needed to close the bow on the story. Broncos country.

Let's ride the rod. It sucked. It was rocky. It steered them to nowhere. This like the wagon was in the middle of the mountains and they just got stranded.

Nobody wants to go on that ride. And Russell Wilson riding to nowhere. It's the chair of sport ratio here with you on CBS Sports Radio eight five five two one two four CBS. We're going to talk more quarterbacks, more football, more NFL basketball. I got it all here on CBS Sports Radio.

Don't move. This is Richard Deitch, the host of the sports media podcast with Richard Deitch multiple times a week. Our podcast will get you interviews with the most notable names in sports media, from broadcasters to dealmakers, to people doing great work behind the scenes. Here's Huey Brown. Any time that you win an award, it's not just because of the announcer and the analyst. It's always because of the production team. That's the sports media podcast with Richard Deitch. Listen on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.