NFL Trade Deadline Winners (Hour 1)

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So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. Live from the police show yet not over the ostentatious studios of CBS Sports Radio here in beautiful New York City sitting on top of the 10th floor of 345 Hudson Street. Welcome on in to a Tuesday edition of the Zach Gelb Show across all of our great local CBS Sports Radio affiliates, Sirius XM, Channel 158 and that free Odyssey app 855-212-4CBS is number to jump on in. 855-212-4227. You can always get at me on Instagram. Where I'm straight flexing or via the good old cesspool of Twitter at Zach Gelb.

That's Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. We are coming to you live from the Rocket Mortgage Studios. Whether you're looking to purchase a new home to refinance yours, Rocket Mortgage can help you get there.

From one solutions that fit your life well, Rocket can. Loaded guest list today coming up 40 minutes from now. Used to host a morning show here at CBS Sports Radio. Greg Giannotti will join us at 7.20 p.m. Eastern. 4.20 p.m. Pacific will be joined by Daniel Vogelback of the New York Mets. And then at 8 p.m. Eastern 5 Pacific Chris Doring will stop by. Massive, massive, massive show. Whole lot of news breaking today left and right.

We will start with the NFL in just a bit as the trade deadline has come and gone. You have big news in the NBA. To no surprise, Steve Nash finally sent packing from the head coaching position of the Brooklyn Nets. And it's rumored that Ime Udoka is expected. And there's going to be no compensation going back to the Celtics. They don't want it. They want to get rid of Ime Udoka.

We'll delve into that later. And reportedly, Shams Woj all over at Ime Udoka in the next 24 to 48 hours will be the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets. We got game three of the World Series tonight. You got the college football playoffs there. First rankings are going to be unveiled. So we got a massive, massive, massive show for you today. And producing the extravaganza, as always, is no other than Hot Take Hickey.

I don't know about that Hot Take Hickey. Okay, let's start things off with the NFL trade deadline. And there's a lot of teams that were aggressive today.

You know the nature of the sport right now. It's wide open where you probably only have three great teams, the Philadelphia Eagles in the water, the Buffalo Bills, and then also the Kansas City Chiefs. After that, trying to figure out who's the third best team in the AFC and then who's the second best team in the NFC is very difficult. You may want to say it's the 49ers in the NFC.

You could say it's the Dallas Cowboys. I'm really intrigued by the Minnesota Vikings. And in most years, I would probably not be this intrigued by the Minnesota Vikings because before the season started, I didn't think they were going to win the division. Now they're a lot to win the division because the Packers have been a disgrace.

They're three and five. And Minnesota's sitting nice and pretty at six and one, coming off that win against the Cardinals. Right before that, they had their bye. And I look at the way that the schedule plays out for Minnesota. I'll be stunned if they give up the lead that they have and the Packers end up going on this hot streak. But you look at the construction of the roster. Number one, it is so important that Mike Zimmer is out and Kevin O'Connell is in because this changes the whole vibe and the whole culture of that locker room. It's more positive, more loosey-goosey, all that stuff, where the last few years of Mike Zimmer, who was a good coach, they got to an NFC Championship game back in that Super Bowl 52 season with Case Keenum, you could tell that his message was wearing thin, the message was getting antiquated, and you had a coach and a quarterback who didn't like each other going at it. So you knew that the Vikings were going to improve this year just because of the culture change.

I looked at the lay of the land to the NFC before the season started, and I thought it was basically a lock that they were going to make the playoffs, but I expected them to finish in second place in that NFC North. So they've already exceeded expectations, and their defense, which has been god-awful the last two, three years, has been good through the first few weeks of the season, through halfway basically now, through the seasons. Adarius Smith has been a home run coming over from the Green Bay Packers. He has eight and a half sacks coming off a three-sack performance against Kyler Murray in the Arizona Cardinals. Patrick Peterson is looking like his old self. This is a defense that now you could win a lot of games with.

And offensively, that's what's sexy. That's what really makes this team attractive because you have Dalvin Cook, who's one of the best running backs in the game. You have Justin Jefferson, one of the best wide receivers in the game. You have Adam Thielen, K.J.

Osborne, who's very underrated. Now it looks like Garth Smith Jr. is going to be out eight to ten weeks, according to Adam Schefter, but today you pull off a mega move and you do so in division. I was so surprised when I saw this deal go down. Not that T.J. Hopkinson is the greatest tight end of all time, but he's another weapon, and he's a really good weapon at the disposal of one Kirk Cousins. And you get T.J. Hopkinson, and you also get a fourth-round pick and another conditional fourth-round pick, and all you gave up was a 2023 second-round pick and a 2024 third-round pick. It shows you're all in, and you should be all in this year.

And I love some of the moves. Like, we'll talk about Miami in a moment. I love some of the moves that were made today because you have teams recognizing the moment and recognizing the opportunity that's at hand, that this year is so wide open. And not that you want to think this way, but what happens when you look at those three best teams in the NFL if there is an injury? Like, no one wants to see Jalen Hurts or Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen get hurt, but if one of those three quarterbacks get hurt, we look at the Eagles drastically differently. We would look at the Chiefs and the Bills significantly differently if they lose their quarterback.

It's the obvious statement, and you can never predict injuries in this sport. But through the first eight weeks of the season and moving to the ninth week of the season coming up on Thursday night, when you look at this NFC other than Philadelphia, no one really jumps out at you right now and says, that's a great team. And we still don't know as much as I like the Eagles this year. As much as they are a well-rounded team, when you look at the construction of that roster with A.J. Brown, with Devontae Smith, with Miles Sanders, the defense, Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, they added Robert Quinn at the deadline, the secondary. You have Darius Slay.

You can keep on going on and on and on. James Bradbury, C.J. Gardner-Johnson. That's a Hassan Redick. That's a heck of a team.

That is a well-rounded team. But we don't know how Jalen Hurts is going to respond in the postseason. Because yes, he was in the postseason last year, 9-8 team. Jalen Hurts isn't the Jalen Hurts of last year.

He's better. But until you find a way to win games, that's a major question mark. Now, what Philadelphia has at their favor is that they're most likely going to be the number one seed. Not a lot, but I'm expecting them, with their easy schedule, to be the number one seed and playing home games at Philadelphia in January, in mid-January, late January. That's going to be tough for anyone to go into the city of Brotherly Love in South Philadelphia, Lincoln Financial Field, and take down the Eagles.

But it's not impossible. As much respect as I have for the Philadelphia Eagles, this is not the 72 Dolphins. This is not the 2007 New England Patriots. This is not the early 2000 Baltimore Ravens.

This isn't the 85 Bears. There is still an unknown factor, even though they are the lone undefeated team with the Philadelphia Eagles, if they're going to be able to translate their regular season success into postseason success. We've seen the 49ers go all in. They add Christian McCaffrey.

The Dallas Cowboys, they're getting healthier. And you look at a team like Minnesota, bringing in T.J. Hopkinson today is a marvelous move. And it sends a message to that locker room that our window to win is right now. None of this nonsense, new coach, new GM, first year's the wash, second year improved, third year go for a Super Bowl.

No, no, no. The time to win in Minnesota is now, and that's one of the more compelling storylines the rest of the way. If you could finally have Kirk Cousins erase the demons of the pass, not a clutch player, not a great quarterback, just being good, not great. And that's the ultimate question and the ultimate pause when you look at this Vikings team and you go defense improved, offense left and right, big time names, then you get to the quarterback and I just simply say the name Kirk Cousins and what's the first thought?

The first thought is good, not great. And in a big game, that's the thought and that's the reaction that you have, that same sound effect that I just made about Kirk Cousins because we saw this a few years ago. You go into that year where eventually you saw Kansas City go on and win a Super Bowl against the 49ers, the Minnesota Vikings season came to an end up against the 49ers and it was because of Kirk Cousins. The week before, he threw the game-winning touchdown pass in New Orleans in the Superdome. No one was given the Vikings a chance. He won that game, big throws to Thielen, a big throw to Kyle Rudolph. And then the very next week in a less than one score game, I think it was like four points, he gets picked off by Richard Sherman to start the second half.

Good night, the game is over. They lose. So just like I've said with a lot of these teams in the NFC, we don't know how these quarterbacks are going to respond when the moment is the brightest. Like I like Jaylen Hertz. I don't know how he's going to be in the playoffs. I like Kirk Cousins. I don't know how he's going to be in the playoffs. I like Dak Prescott. Look what he did last year in the playoffs.

He threw up all over himself. And Jimmy Garoppolo is someone that has proven he could win games, has proven he could get to an NFC title game, has proven he could get to a Super Bowl. But when the moment was the brightest in that Super Bowl up against the Kansas City Chiefs, he overthrew Emmanuel Sanders when he could have ended the game. So this NFC, it is wide open. Yes, we look at Philadelphia as the one great team, but they're not a lock to get to the Super Bowl. And what makes it so wide open is you don't have the great quarterbacks like Brady definitely going to get in.

Like Roger is definitely going to get in. Stafford, not that he's on the level of Brady and Rogers, but he did win a Super Bowl last year. Right now, I would say the Rams are on the outside looking in, come playoff time. So if your four best teams going into the postseason are the Eagles, Vikings, the San Francisco 49ers, and the Dallas Cowboys, yeah, on paper, all those rosters look pretty damn good and pretty well-rounded. You don't know, though, how those quarterbacks are going to respond. And in the postseason, I don't care how much you rely on your quarterback or down in the regular season. If you're a run-first team, like a lot of those teams are, you need your quarterback to step up and make big throws, especially on third down in a pivotal stage of a game. And that's ultimately what's going to determine who's going to be getting to the Super Bowl this year out of the NFC.

So here's our poll question today. Between these four teams, who do you trust the most to get to the Super Bowl out of the NFC? Eagles, 49ers, Cowboys, and Vikings. Eagles running away early on, 60% of the vote.

Now, that was expected. They're 7-0. But I'm curious to see the order of the next three teams. 49ers, 31%. Cowboys, 7%. And the Vikings at 2%. And if I had to give you my rankings today, I would say the Eagles won. I would slightly lean the Vikings too. I would then put the 49ers 3 and the Dallas Cowboys 4. Other moves to happen today in the NFL.

I'll give you the quick big ones. Chase Claypool to the Chicago Bears for a 2023 second round pick. That tells me two things. One, the Bears are finally making a move to get a good young wide receiver in the way of one Justin Fields so you could actually properly evaluate him. The other thing that tells me is Chase Claypool I think is more of a number two than a one. But there is greatness potential in there, especially with what he displayed his rookie year. It's that some of the off the field things and the attention to details by Chase Claypool could be out of order a little bit with his priorities. And we saw that leading into and then after that playoff game up against the Browns.

If they're willing to give him away for a second round pick, it means that they had enough of the potential headache that is Chase Claypool. We talked about teams going all in. The Dolphins, it was can they just make the playoffs?

I would expect them to make the playoffs. But they're five and three and their three losses all occurred when two a tongue go by low wasn't the starting quarterback. You have Tyree kill. You have Jaylen model. You have Mike Gosecki. You add Jeff Wilson Jr. today. A solid running back who knows Mike McDaniel from their time together with the 49ers.

But most importantly, you add to an already very good defense and you make it even better getting Bradley Chubb and you give up a first round pick in the process. We talked about in the NFC, who's the second and third best team? Well in the AFC, we know Buffalo and Kansas City are the best two teams. Is Miami emerging?

I'll just ask that question. Is Miami emerging now as the third best team in the AFC? And oh yeah, by the way, they already beat Buffalo this season. And there's always one surprise move on deadline day.

This guy was out of sight, out of mind. That's Calvin Ridley. He suspended this year. One of the bets that he made was actually taking the Falcons over the Jaguars and one of his several parlays. He's now a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars and there's some conditions on those picks that are going back to Atlanta.

2023 conditional pick could go up to a fifth round pick and then the 2024 pick could go all the way up on a conditional second round pick as well. I think that's a great move for Jacksonville and I got to give him credit because I wasn't even thinking about Calvin Ridley getting moved today. You knew before the suspension he wanted out of Atlanta and maybe there's a chance he'd want to go back there because the culture is improving in Atlanta and it seems like they have some good life at 4-4.

Clearly that wasn't the case. He goes to Jacksonville. I don't know if you're jumping up and down about going to the Jaguars, but just like what the Bears did in getting their young quarterback, a good wide receiver. You already have Christian Kirk there for Trevor Lawrence. Now you add a bonafide number one wide receiver in Calvin Ridley, albeit that'll have a year, almost two years without playing football, but we know he's young and he's still pretty damn good. So what's your biggest reaction from this trade deadline day?

855-212-4CBS, 855-212-4227. It's how open the NFL is and teams like Minnesota, the 49ers and the Dolphins took advantage of that to narrow the gap from the three best teams in the NFL, in the Philadelphia Eagles, the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs. We'll take a timeout. When we come on back, the Nets, just when you thought they couldn't get crazier, they got crazier today.

We'll give you the reaction on the reports that Eme Udoka is reportedly going to be the next head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, reportedly as soon as that's going to be announced in the next 24 to 48 hours. Watch up later. There's a lot to listen to.

Get started and download the free Odyssey app today. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show. The Nets picked up their second win on the season last night. They're two and five, but it means absolutely nothing because the clown show of the Brooklyn Nets continues to commence off the court.

You have Kyrie Irving posting a link to a video that is clearly anti-Semitic and we've discussed that. You have Steve Nash, who is no longer the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, and Kevin Durant, who picked Steve Nash to replace Kenny Atkinson. KD got tired of Sean Marks. KD got tired of Steve Nash, and then this offseason requested a trade.

Joe Seid, thankfully, and Sean Marks said, I don't know if it's thankfully, but they both said, we're not training you unless we get something that we really, really, really, really like back for you and then some, and that wasn't the case. So you have a disgruntled KD playing in Brooklyn. You have Kyrie Irving, who's just so wacky, and he's such a mercurial athlete.

You never know what mood he wakes up in and what he's going to say and what damaging things he's going to say. And now it took a spin and a turn in a direction that I don't know if I'm shocked by it, but I am surprised by it, if that makes sense. Because Stephen A. Smith, two, three weeks ago, floated out the idea of maybe Eme Udoka going to the Nets, and the reason why the Celtics suspended him and didn't fire him is because they feared that Udoka did coach in Brooklyn under Steve Nash would have gone to the Brooklyn Nets and they would have replaced him. So when Steve Nash got fired today, and right away it comes down that Udoka, Quinn Snyder are going to be in play, I go, if Udoka's getting released right now, that name, when the body is not even cold yet, I'm thinking to myself, okay, like that has a chance of happening.

But then I thought, what's the compensation going to be? And it never really crossed my mind how the Nets are going to justify it. Because the Nets are an organization, and a lot of sports organizations operate this way, maybe not in this much of a chaotic state, but they put aside things and they don't clear up things if it's for the betterment of winning games. And you can make the case, and it's expected that Eme Udoka is going to be the next head coach, that if Udoka goes there, that's a guy that Kevin Durant wants, even though he just got rid of a guy that he wanted in Steve Nash, but that's a guy that he's very close with in Udoka. So maybe it keeps Kevin Durant there in Brooklyn longer, and the Nets are already so deep in in this mess, you could say, yeah, get out of it now, but where are you going to go if you get rid of Kevin Durant? Forget about Kyrie Irving, if you want KD there, I guess you also want Kyrie there as well. So I am surprised by it, but I'm not shocked by it, because we were kind of tipped off about this a few weeks ago.

You never thought it was going to come together this quickly. And here you are, seven games into the season, Nash out, and most likely Eme Udoka is in. And remember, this is a Nets organization, when Jason Kidd got hired with DUI situation, no one even asked about it at the introductory press conference, that was on the media, he ended up getting suspended. This is also an organization when Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving signed on with the Brooklyn Nets, they never had an introductory press conference for the two. And Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving say all these things, and they run the organization into the ground, and there's no checks and balances really ever. The only time that Kevin Durant was told no, was when he wanted to trade and the Brooklyn Nets said he wasn't, they weren't going to trade him. So do I think when you're bringing a head coach, you could just ignore the elephant in the room, absolutely not. But I would be surprised if whenever they announce Eme Udoka as the next Nets head coach, and that seems like it's the direction that it's moving into the next 24 to 48 hours, if we really get any clarity from what actually happened in Boston. Because in Boston, whatever he did, they thought it was bad enough, where they said, we don't want you coaching the team this year, and most likely never again.

And in these reports from Shams and also Woj, the Celtics are not even going to ask for anything back in return for Eme Udoka when the guy was just coaching in the finals last year, and the Nets won him. So when you see that, you would think something really bad must have happened. But this story has been out there now for a while, and we have no clue what actually happened. Did he sleep with the owner's wife?

Like, was it just a regular female employee in the organization? Then you saw that there was unwanted comments reportedly made by Eme Udoka, we don't know what actually happened. But whatever happened, the Celtics viewed it bad enough or personal enough, where they wanted no part of a coach that just got them to a final this past year and almost won the NBA Finals in his first year. And I'm not going to expect that the Brooklyn Nets, when they bring this guy in, are then going to release everything that happened or make me watch a press conference and go, oh, now there's clarity, now I know what exactly happened. Because if all it was was consensual sex with another member of the organization, that doesn't mean that the guy should have been suspended for a year, indefinitely. So it's impossible to not think that something else occurred. But still, the only thing that we really got was Matt Barnes saying, it's really bad. And he remember pulled back his initial support of Eme Udoka. But then Matt Barnes never provided any clarity. He just wanted to be a guy that said, I'm in the know, I know, but I'm not going to be the one that's going to release this information.

So Hickey, this is absolutely bonkers. And once again, I keep on saying this, it's not shocking because it's sports. It's not shocking because of the relationship and you know who really has the power in the Brooklyn Nets organization. This is a Kevin Durant led organization, even though Sean Marks is the point guy, even though Josiah is the owner. But what KD wants, KD gets, it is crazy though, how KD could request the trade on out of the organization, the guy that he brings in and Steve Nash, originally when he gets to Kenny Atkinson, how much he loved the culture, then he gets rid of Steve Nash. And now he's able to bring in the coach and I don't, the Nets, they can do a press conference today. Oh, yeah, the players have no say in this, blah, blah, blah, baloney, bull crap. But it's amazing now how still Durant's going to get what he wants.

If I can't get a trade, I'm going to get a Doka when no one else knows what the heck happened with Eme Udoka in Boston. That's why I'm still skeptical this is going to go down. Really?

I am. Then why would Woz and Shams don't usually get things wrong? No, no, no, not that they're wrong. I'm still skeptical that we will truly see the day where Eme is coaching the Nets as head coach because I just think at some point, the truth has to come out. If it's that bad where the Celtics basically fired the coach in the only year he was there and he took him to the NBA Finals with a team that is going to be a contender for the next decade for the young talent they have on the team, I have a tough time thinking that this was just a run-of-the-mill incident where it's, you know, oh, it's bad, but you know what?

Like, you mentioned it. Like, we live in a world where winning is bottom line. There's a lot that's done off the field that is bad that gets pushed to the side because this player or coach can win. I don't think the Celtics are a team or going to all of a sudden, you know, stand on their moral high ground and dismiss a coach or something that's very minor.

Well, it depends who we slept with, and it depends actually how consensual it was. Now, the second part and the first part, I have no clue what actually happened. No one knows what happens, but let's just play into this. Let's just say there's a very high-up person in that Celtics organization. Like, let's say an owner. All we know is that he had a relationship with a female employee in the organization. Now, could that be the owner's wife?

Could that be a big-time partner's wife that also does work in the organization? Like, if that's the case, it's not illegal. He may have not have did anything that means that he should be arrested and cross that line other than you don't sleep with your boss's wife or something like that. And if that's the case, I could see why it's personal and why the Celtics would never want anything to do with him again, but it doesn't mean that he should then be banned from the rest of the league. So without knowing what actually occurred, you may think it's bad. It may be bad, but it may not be bad to a line where all we know so far from the reports, one reports as a consensual, other is that he made unwanted, unwarranted comments. But if it was a consensual relationship just with the wrong person's wife or someone that is very close with the wrong person in that organization for EMAO Doka, that could have been what ended his career in Boston. And there's only a limited amount of people there when it comes to that. So I think this is going to happen.

I don't think this gets out there. If it wasn't going to happen, and it's clearly going to happen because Kevin Durant wants it to happen. And it's amazing how that guy with the way that he treats the Nets organization keeps on getting everything that he wants. It is a Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. When we come on back, we will connect with a man that used to host mornings here on CBS Sports Radio. He's also a big time Minnesota Vikings fan, and he does radio in New York now, so he'll be all over the Jets, the Giants, Brooklyn, that situation.

He is Greg Giannotti. So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. Football season is here. The new Odyssey app lets you stay connected to your NFL team. Your station, your shows. Follow your favorite stations and come back again and again. Get real-time updates on everything you care about. Miss your show?

Jump back to their awesome re-wide feature. The Odyssey app is NFL football. Live and on demand. Wherever you are, whenever you want. And do we mention it's all free?

Download the Odyssey app today. Greg Giannotti. Gio, how you been? Well, I'm doing great, Zach. It's great to be on. And I know you're broadcasting live from the Gio and Jones Memorial Studio, so it's an honor to be in that place every morning. So I hope you look at the pictures of Brian and I on the wall and you tap it to play like a champion. Notre Dame players tap that sign, because it's really important to remember the history of CBS Sports Radio and how far you guys have come.

You know what's so funny? I've looked around the studio each and every day, and I'm trying to see the ghost of Brian Jones. I'm trying to see your name somewhere on the studio, but all I see is Maggie Gray's name and Andrew Perloff's name. I don't see anything with your name on it. I hate to break that to you. Yeah, no, I know. I'm working on it, all right?

I'm working on it. Turn off before he left, he said, we're never going to put anything on Greg Giannotti's name in that studio. Never, ever. Well, that's why he got fired, right? So now we've got someone else in there, and we're moving in the right direction. Other than getting the promotion and leaving CBS Sports Radio and going to WFAN down the hall, what was your favorite memory host in Gio and Jones? Oh, man, we found this movie that Brian was in back like 15 years ago that had the most ridiculous premise of any movie I'd ever seen, and we ended up buying the DVD and getting all the clips and playing them on the air. I still don't think I've ever laughed that hard in my life, and Brian played like the biggest loser I've ever seen in my life, treated everybody like crap, couldn't get a job, and then, I mean, I hate to laugh about this, but just picture this. So Brian Jones shoots himself in the head in the movie. What? He's slumped over in a chair with blood splatter on the wall with all this somber music there, and then they throw a benefit concert in his honor, and I'm like, wait a second, this guy was the biggest A-hole on Earth.

Why are we now celebrating his life? It was so funny. That was definitely my favorite memory. The two of us, we couldn't breathe.

Like three or four minutes straight, we were playing those clips. It was a lot of fun. I think the best story, and you could tell it, but is the Bob Huggins prank phone call.

That's my personal favorite. Yeah, that was a great one, too, where we had my buddy from Pittsburgh, Chris Muller, who was doing a Bob Huggins impersonation. Well, that was Chris Muller? Yeah, that was Chris Muller. Yeah, doing the Bob Huggins impersonation and just jabbing Brian the whole time and saying, you picked against West Virginia.

How dare you do that? And Brian getting more and more angry, and then finally he just let loose. He was calling Bob Huggins all these curse words that I can't say on your show right now, but he just absolutely lost it on fake Bob Huggins, and then we played that on the air as a prank and revealed it live on the air.

It took him like three or four minutes to realize how funny it was because his initial reaction was not to enjoy something like that because he was getting clowned about it, but once he finally turned and he realized how funny it was, that was another really, really fun moment. Greg Giannotti here with us. So, Gio, big reason why we brought you on today is we know you're a massive Minnesota Vikings fan. What was your reaction to the TJ Hockinson trade?

I loved it. I wanted them to go in and do something big because this is what the NFL's become at the trade deadline is, you know, for years and years and years, nothing used to ever happen at the trade deadline, and finally teams figured out, like, hey, you know, we can go for it if we have an opportunity to do so, and we've seen more and more of that last year. Obviously, the Von Miller trade was a big one for the Rams, and you saw where that ended up, so, you know, that's what I wanted for the Vikings. You're six and one, you're in a down conference, and I know there's some good teams in there, and, you know, the Philadelphia Eagles are better. If the 49ers figure it out, you know, maybe they're better, but, you know, they're going to win the division, and I'm confident in saying that at this point, with the Packers being three and five, so I wanted to make a splash.

You know, I either wanted to see them, you know, maybe try to improve the secondary or, you know, add a strength to a strength. I didn't know how bad the Earp Smith injury was when this deal went down, and then I loved it even more when I saw that he was going to have to go on IR with the high ankle springs. I think Hockinson is a tremendous player. He's a top-four tight end in the game. The fact that you're taking him off the line, not like the Lions ever compete, but I just...he knows the division. He can block. He can catch. He's a gamer. He's the type of guy that on a good team, I think, gets even better, so I know he gave up a lot.

You know, two-twos, two-fours. You save for a tight end that, you know, may or may not make the team better. I think he will, but I just...I love this mentality, especially out of a first-year GM and a first-year coach.

You don't see a lot of that. Usually, you get a first-year GM, first-year coach in a rebuilding situation like you have with the Giants to find themselves at 6-2, and they're like, all right, we're going to stand pat, no problem. But the Vikings go, hey, we got an opportunity here. I mean, you know, Justin Jefferson, Adam Phelan, Dalvin Cook, Kirk Cousins might not ever be this good at the same time again, so let's go and do it. So it fired me up this afternoon. Well, here's the big question.

You know it and I know it. They have a team that on paper is very good in a wide-open NFC like you said, the sky's the limit. It all comes down to the quarterback play, because even in the postseason a few years ago, one week he throws a game-winning touchdown. The next week, he ends up throwing an interception to Richard Sherman in a close game against the 49ers a few years back. Where's your confidence in Kirk Cousins? Well, I've been very critical of him over the years.

Of course, everybody has. But it really comes down to how many games are they going to get at home in the postseason. I will take the Vikings against anybody in Minneapolis at home in that place going crazy. Skulltant, I will take them against anybody in the NFC if they are hosting that game. But it's going to be very difficult because the Eagles schedule and, of course, how good they are head-to-head. Of course, the Vikings lost to the Eagles. So they're probably going to have to go there if it came down to an NFC Championship game. So I cannot pick the Vikings to go on the road, outdoors, on grass, and beat a better football team until I see it.

And I've really never seen that in my lifetime with this team. I've also seen them lose a lot of games inside. There were big games, you know, NFC Championship games over the years. So I think if they could get the one seed in a buy, which is going to be tough, but they're right there, then sky's the limit. Go to the Super Bowl, take your chances against what should be a very good AFC team. And if they don't, and they're going to have to go to Philadelphia in the NFC Championship game and beat them on the road, it would probably take a miracle for them to win that game.

That's really where my expectation level is at. But, I mean, hell, you know, giving yourself a shot in an NFC Championship game, you could be in worse places. Greg Gianotti here with us, ever since you've been the host of Boomer and Gio, the football teams in New York have been awful up until this year.

It's wild. The Giants at 6 and 2, I know they just lost to the Seahawks. I thought the Seahawks were going to win, though, going in. But they're a lot to make the playoffs. The way their schedule breaks, I'll be stunned if they don't get to 9 or 10 wins at this point. Oh, well, of course, I mean, I think they're going to have eight wins heading into Thanksgiving. They've got the Texans and the Lions back to back at home, and then they've got the Cowboys, of course, on the road on Thanksgiving.

So, yeah, I mean, they're going to be a playoff team. And I really thought the way that the game was playing out in Seattle was another one of these Brian Dable specials where they were going to come out with a victory. I mean, you're talking about a tie game, then they're even down just one score, and then the second Richie James Fumble then changed the rest of the game.

But they were playing that same exact football game where they're hanging around, they're not making a ton of mistakes, and obviously the mistake killed them, and then they find a way to make the big play in the fourth quarter. So seeing this has just been amazing, especially with the disappointment of both the New York baseball teams that we saw, the Mets going out very early, and then the Yankees with a whimper against the Houston Astros would have been nice to see one of those two teams make it to the World Series, so we could have enjoyed that. So having to fall back on the Jets and Giants playing this well has been great, and I'm with you.

I mean, you know what? Why not? If I am any NFC team right now, I'm thinking why not? If I'm a team that is underachieved like the Buccaneers or the Packers, I'm saying why not?

And I'm certainly saying why not? If I'm the New York Giants, let's put them in a very interesting situation because there's no way you could tell me that Brian Davel and Joe Shane, the general manager there, thought that the Giants were going to be this good. There was absolutely no way that they thought they'd be sitting at 6-2 heading into the buy, so they're trying to rebuild and win at the same time. They didn't go out there and make a big splash at the deadline and bring in a wide receiver or somebody else. They think that the pick capital is more important for their process, which I can't blame them for, but yeah, this New York Giants team is a playoff football team, which is just absolutely stunning. I want to give credit to the Jets because I love the way that their roster is built with Joe Douglas and Robert Salas did a good job this year, but after that loss to the Patriots, it feels like momentum is starting to turn where they have a really good team. I know there's been some injuries along the way of Breece Hall and Elijah Vera Tucker, but all eyes are on the quarterback in Zach Wilson. What's your read on the Jets QB?

Yeah, I mean, this was really tough. This game changed the entire trajectory of the season. If you end up winning that game and you go, we have Buffalo come in the next week and you get your teeth kicked in, you're okay with it because you know you're not supposed to be on the same level as Buffalo, but right now you're supposed to be on the same level as the New England Patriots in this version of what they are or you should be, and then you prove not to be in a huge spot at home, and a lot of that was on Zach Wilson, the John Franklin Myers penalty, of course, is going to be a big talking point. I did think that was a penalty. I think that he's a knucklehead on the field. He saw it earlier against the Bengals.

Same type of situation. Third down, defense got off the field. He took a dumb penalty, and Zach Wilson was just awful. I mean, just doing things that professional quarterbacks shouldn't be doing.

So my read on him right now is that they're getting very frustrated. I mean, it's one thing to bring along a rookie quarterback in a year when you don't expect to win when you're a first-year head coach like Rob Solid. When you get out to a five-and-two start, and this kid's coming back for his second year, and Mike LaFleur is there wanting to showcase his offense, and this guy's throwing the interception that he's throwing, it's got to drive them absolutely insane. So I think that this elevation of Mike White to the backup quarterback and Joe Flacco being deactivated is more than just a cosmetic thing. Like, I really believe that they also were hiding Mike White in the beginning of the season and making Flacco the guy because they don't love that controversy and how well Mike White played last year. Now I think they're sick of it, and they want that controversy again, and they're pushing Zach by saying, hey, listen, this guy beat the Cincinnati Bengals last year, who, oh, by the way, won the AFC, and will put his ass right back in there if you keep throwing those interceptions. At least I hope that's what's going on, because I feel like Zach Wilson has been babied his entire career here, and that has to change, and it's got to change right now, but it's a bad week to try to get right, Zach. Think about the Bills coming in with this Jets team and the way that they play offense.

I mean, this is like the exact opposite of that classic get-right spot. I mean, this last year was really ugly, too, when Mike White played the Bills that met life. So, man, you know, you went from a five and two, feeling great, surprised, feel-good story, to like, you know, five and four with potentially a blowout on your hands. Yeah, I would lay the 13-and-a-half points with the Buffalo Bills.

I can't talk myself into the Jets, even with that being a huge number. Before we let you run, Greg Gianotti, it looks like Eme Udoka is now going to be the Nets' coach, and I think it would be so simple how they would address this at a press conference, but the Nets don't hold anyone ever accountable, and here's the thing. No one knows what actually happened with Eme Udoka. Was he just sleeping with someone in the organization, or did it go to a level that definitely crossed the line? This is just wild, and the Celtics don't want anything back from him.

Yeah, which makes me think there has to be more than just a relationship within the office. I mean, you know, you have a guy who is the most talked-about new head coach around last year, taking that team to the NBA Finals, and how unbelievable that team was playing, you know, getting the best out of the best players there, and then all of a sudden, the guy's getting suspended for a year, and you're just giving him up to another team in the conference? I mean, what? So, I mean, to me, I need those answers. I need those answers from the Nets.

I need those answers from Eme Udoka. I need to know what's going on, because, oh, by the way, like, you know, at this point, the Nets are like, why don't we just go for broke? Like, if there is some more stuff there with Eme Udoka, you're probably thinking, like, oh, who cares? You know, we got Kyrie Irving here digging his own grave. You know, Kevin Durant is despised by all of basketball. Like, let's go get a coach now, potentially add some inappropriate behavior going on.

I mean, it's sickening what's happening over there. I dislike that Nets team probably more than any other team in the history of sports that I've ever come across. And the fact that the NBA and Josiah, except for, like, one little tweet to cover his own ass, is letting Kyrie Irving get away with this is just disgusting. And you know what didn't make me more sick is the fact that you don't get a pretty damn good coach. You know, put everything aside, so chances are he might get the best out of this team.

If they start winning, I'm not going to be able to take it. So, I mean, I don't want to see Kyrie anymore. I shouldn't be playing basketball with everything that went on with what he posted on his social media accounts with that movie that was on Amazon. He shouldn't be around anymore. He needs to pay for that.

And that has not happened, and now all of a sudden you're going to get, you don't get, like, it's just, it's not, what world are we living in right now? Brooklyn Nets, how did this even happen? I just hope they fail miserably. I hope they light themselves on fire. We could sit there and dance around in their ashes. Before we let you run, by the way, ever since you came on here in the beginning, I've been looking around the studio to try to see what was left from the Gio and Jones era, and I found the baseball bat, and there's a little piece of Mike Baseglia still on it.

A little Baseglia DNA left on it. Very good. I don't know if that story's past the statute of limitations, so I'll just say thank you so much for coming on today, and we appreciate it. It's my pleasure, Zach.

I'll see you soon. There he is, Greg Gianotti, formerly of Gio and Jones, heard right here on CBS Sports Radio Now, co-host each and every morning with Boomer Asai. And safe to say, he's rooting against the Nets big time. And the Nets are an unlikable team right now. They really are. That's coming from someone who grew up as a big Nets fan.

They are a really unlikable team with the way that organization is just operating right now. Coming on back, Zach Gilb Show, CBS Sports Radio, some college football predictions next. So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. Throughout the 60s and 70s, the listening you love is on the free Odyssey app. Your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown, and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams, pause or rewind your local sports and news, and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to. So get started and download the free Odyssey app today.