Barking Up The Right Tree? (Hour 3)

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That's BirdDogs.com slash MLB promo code Baseball for a free hat. BirdDogs off, we promise you. You start off minicamp with Staphon Diggs is there, he's not there, he's there, he's not there, he's there. What a mess this is. So he shows up Monday, gets the medical exams taken care of, then Tuesday reportedly had a meeting with Brandon Bean and Sean McDermott, didn't show up for practice. All we know, Sean McDermott yesterday said he was very concerned about him not being there and then shortly after that the agent said he's there in Buffalo and he'll be there tomorrow. And Josh Allen said a bunch of things yesterday that they're working through some things that is not football-related and then today he showed up, ended up being the final minicamp practice.

That's mandatory because they canceled the other one for tomorrow and I don't think it's because of what's going on here. Teams do that all the time. But Sean McDermott today tried to kind of play the role of janitor and clean up the mess and he had to prevent a ship that he jumped into.

A ship that he jumped on and put a lot of weight on and started to sink it yesterday, tried to get it back to sailing A-OK. Here is Sean McDermott saying Staphon Diggs did nothing wrong yesterday. Let me be clear, Steph did everything that he was asked to do.

He was here Monday and executed his physical on time. Steph reported yesterday, Tuesday and reported for meetings at which time we had a good conversation. Great communication and we got to a point yesterday where we just felt like we all needed a break and some space. And so I gave Steph permission to get some space and head out and then picked up those conversations after practice. So let me make it clear, it was not Steph leaving unexcused, he was excused by me.

And so those conversations have got us to what I think and believe is a great spot. I love how he said they had great communication and good conversations, but then everyone needed a break. Seems like they had an intense therapy session where people are all annoyed at one another. And then to just end the session they go, alright, Staphon Diggs, you go home. Or Steph, you know, stormed out Staphon Diggs and he said I'm not coming to practice today and now they're just not trying to make this a bigger issue than what it already is. That math hickey, him trying to explain that yesterday, what happened yesterday by the coach and Sean McDermott, yeah, communication is great. We had some much needed conversations and everyone just needed a break.

Trying to tell me that you had something happen that was very productive, but then if you needed a break, if it was actually productive, you wouldn't have needed a break and you could have showed up to the monotonous mandatory minicamp session. Right, clearly he's not telling the truth because it's not week 14 where your team is struggling and maybe tensions are high because there's a lot of pressure going into the season and it's not going as you want. People get emotional.

It's June 14th. This is the first mandatory practice you would have been at since the Bills season ended back in January and already there's frustrations in the room. It's not a communication issue. It could be a communication issue in terms of they just don't know how to communicate with one another and they're just yelling and this is like Real Housewives of New Jersey on the third reunion episode that I watched last night.

But again, it's like, what are you yelling about? And then who's in the wrong and who is upset? Still seems to me that Safon Diggs is still the one that's, I would say, in the wrong in terms of who, yes, and yeah, I'll leave it at that. I would probably agree with you that if you ask me, put my life on the line, who's sharing the biggest percentage of blame, it's Safon Diggs, but the quarterback yesterday, Josh Allen, said they're working through some things that are not football related. And then we'll play you this cut from Sean McDermott, who kind of explains like what happened yesterday.

This is cut four, says all is well between him and Diggs. I feel like we're in a real good spot. So the rest of it, though, the details of it, again, I want to respectfully answer your questions, but at the same time, keep those conversations in house.

I feel like it's resolved. I'm not going to get into what we did and didn't do. I feel overall that we take a hard, hard look at the season and review, and we come out of those meetings with some real truths about what we could have done better, whether it's getting Steph the ball in this case. And listen, getting Steph the ball is an important part of our offense, right?

There's no reason to say it isn't. I mean, he's the big focal point of our offense in addition to Josh. And so, you know, it's important to get him going. And the more production he has, the more production we have as an offense.

So do me a favor, Hickey. That's the coach making it seem like the issue is the fond digs at the end of the season, not getting the ball to his liking. Go back to yesterday with the quarterback in Josh Allen. And let's hear Josh Allen say it's not an actual football issue.

I know internally we're working on some things, not football related. But, you know, Steph, he's my guy. I love him. He's a brother of mine. You know, this does not work.

What we're doing here without him, you know, we wish he was in here today and was out there on the field with us. And that's not the case. But I've got his back no matter what. OK, but you just said it wasn't football related. The coach basically made it seem as if it was a target issue. Sean McDermott on why he said he was concerned yesterday.

This is not your first press conference with me. Whenever a player has something going on or misses, not misses, but he's not here for some reason, I am concerned. That's my sentiment with any player, in particular player as important to us as Steph. So when I say very concerned, I'm very concerned because it's a situation with one of our players.

And it was something that we needed to work through. That's a bad answer there, Hickey, by Sean McDermott. And I liked Sean McDermott a lot, but this is not your first press conference with me.

You're the guy that basically took a, you know, through the grenade yesterday and made this worse than what it needed to be. And Hickey, you thought that was intentional yesterday because he was frustrated. I definitely think it was intentional.

And I think now it's, you almost kind of go the other way on purpose to make it now seem like, oh, I just, you know, it was not that big of a deal yesterday. And almost in a way when he says you've been to press conferences with me before, it's almost in a way he's trying to blame the media for this getting bigger than it is. On a scale of one to douche, that was a douchey answer by McDermott. And I like him a lot.

I've defended him a lot. I've been a big support of his even before he was the head coach of the Buffalo Bills. But that was a douchey answer by McDermott.

Let's hear one more from Sean McDermott. He says Defon Diggs is vital to the Buffalo Bills. You guys need to understand Steph's a valuable member of this football team. He's one of our captains and a leader on this football team. He works extremely, extremely hard, as hard as any player I've been around to be elite in this league. And that's what he is.

And I love him. So I'm just, I want to make sure that you guys understand what really the situation was and is. 24, 48 hours, that really seemed like something that you want to be a captain of your football team? Could you imagine they stripped that C off his chest? That would be a big drama.

I feel like now the Bills almost have to make him a captain again, because if they don't, the wrath of Stephon Diggs is going to just be ridiculous. I mean, I guess it depends who's truly in the wrong here. Like we do, like, obviously we do not know what happened. I do.

I do. And again, he's not getting traded. He's not going anywhere.

So it's like one of those things where I think the Bills do have, like, I think Ken kind of, not push him around, but like, if they want to, like, they don't have to walk on eggshells, maybe is the best way to say it, around Stephon Diggs. I bet you guys are going to ask for a trade. You can't trade him. It's not going to happen. Sure.

Okay. But it's either two things. One, he has an issue with Josh Allen going by the Josh Allen answer.

Josh is going to win that one. Or two, you're annoyed with the lack of targets towards the end of the season. There's a better way to go about this.

So either way, do you look really good in either situation? If we get more information that shows the contrary, sure, maybe. But right now, this is just a big fat distraction that seems like it's unnecessary. Let's go to Jamar Chase. He says he thinks Joe Burrow is the best QB in the league. You asked about the number one player in the NFL. With very little hesitation, you said Joe Burrow.

Everybody knows that. Yeah. MVP. He said Pat. Who said Pat?

Joe. Pat who? I'm okay with him saying that he believes his quarterback is the best player in the NFL. That's fine. You should have that belief.

The Pat who stuff? I don't think that's smart to poke that bear. I know you beat them three times in a row.

You just lost to them though in the AFC title game after your team talked a lot of smack and didn't back it up. Dalvin Cook made an appearance on the Rich Eisen show and he says he's in no rush to sign with the new team. My shoulder's feeling great so it's like it's a waiting game right now at this point. Just trying to find that right situation. I don't think it's a rush for anything. As far as me picking up plays and going to play football, that's the easy part about the game. But I'm not in a rush to go sign with nobody.

I'm just trying to find the right fit for me and my family. Well this was talked about when the Cowboys got rid of Ezekiel Elliott, maybe he could return to Dallas. So Kirk Cousins was asked today, what about Dalvin Cook re-signing with the Minnesota Vikings? I'm excited to see where he goes.

I'll always be pulling for him. I kind of am optimistically hoping maybe we get him back. Who knows? But maybe there's an outside chance. So we'll see.

I don't know, Hickey. If a team got rid of me because they didn't want to pay me my salary and then are like, oh, come back to work and work for significantly less, just out of principle, I would say I'm going to another company. For example, if this company said to me, Zach, we're getting rid of your show. And then two weeks later, they're like, oh, we actually want you, but we're not going to give you the same contract. We're going to say, take a 25% pay cut. I would tell the company to go pound sand and I'll go find another job.

That would just be me. I would not have a reunion that quickly. You want to talk about a year, two years from now? That's different. But having that reunion that quickly, that's totally different. Yeah, I'm with you. I feel especially this quickly, it feels wrong.

I know it's tough if no one else is with you, but wait it out. Someone will be interested. I agree.

I mean, and also too, if no one's interested, lower your price. Now here's the thing. What happens to the team that's interested is like, okay, we'll pay you 3 million and the Vikings can call in and say, we'll pay you 5 million a year.

Is that $2 million? Enough to make you say, okay, Minnesota reunion. I'm back.

I never left. Put out the Jordan Belfort meme. I'm not believing. Is that enough? 2 million?

I'll say no. Okay. And by the way, since there's some idiot on Twitter that keeps on tweeting me that my mom used to date Anthony Scaramucci, you should listen better. Because I shared that story on CBS Sports Radio. It wasn't Scaramucci.

It was Jordan Belfort, the real Wolf of Wall Street. That was my mother's college crush. I don't want to say, well, he probably had more of a crush on my mother than my mother did on him. But anyway, just to clarify that, because there's some idiot that keeps on tweeting me on Twitter. Oh, your mom dates Anthony Scaramucci.

Is that true? And tagging Anthony Scaramucci is Jordan Belfort, you big dummy. I know you listen to every word that I say. You're a dummy. You're an idiot. You're a moron.

At least get it right. Listen better. Use a Q-tip. Even though I think that keeps the earwax in your ears these days. That's been a big lie that we've been told the entire time.

Maybe use some soap when you're in the shower to clean out those dumb ears of yours. Alrighty, let's keep it moving. Kirk Cousins says he won't sign a contract extension before the season starts. I think we'll probably talk about the contract next March. Until then, just focus on this season and the job they do right now.

I don't know if Blake goes as far as talks in the last couple months or something. No, he's going to work. You know that the Vikings won't win a Super Bowl with Kirk Cousins. But Hickey, I'm kind of hoping that Kirk Cousins balls out this year. Just really balls out, because if he does, they're going to have to pay him. They're going to have to do some short extension again. Like if this guy throws like 35 touchdowns, 40 touchdowns, something like that.

What do you do? Not pay him? Not bring him back? Especially if you don't get the Justin Jefferson deal done? But you better get that done before the start of the season. But I like to see how they would navigate those waters. If you have a great Kirk Cousins season, let's say they lose in the second round of the playoffs.

Because that's an easier decision than what people think. I guess it depends on who's out there, but I know it's still a new regime, but it's not like the Vikings overall in the last five years have been pot committed to Kirk Cousins. They're going for a Super Bowl. I can see them moving on, even if that scenario plays out. But once again, who are you getting?

Penn's out there. And right now, I don't know what disgruntled quarterback there's going to be, but there's not one, even a situation you say, oh, keep your eyes on that, especially with Lamar just signing that extension. Maybe it's Kyler Murray.

You're really jumping for joy if you're a Vikings fan. If you get Kyler Murray, I wouldn't be. Finally, Brian Winhorse says Zion Williamson could be on the trade block, this courtesy of get up. The league is certainly wondering if the Pelicans are going to make for the first time truly Zion Williamson available ahead of next week's draft.

To get up to that level in the top five, you'd have to consider a player of this caliber. He's obviously had injury history, a little bit of offseason drama recently. Yeah, they're not going to trade him or try to trade him because of the offseason drama because he's been sleeping around with about like allegedly 9000 women.

That's not going to be the reason why. They're going to trade him because they have a lot of money committed to him and the guy's never healthy. I still think, though, that Zion Williamson will be on the Pelicans this upcoming fall. Zach Gelb's show CBS Sports Radio. Alex Myers joins us next to preview the 2023 U.S. Open. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show. Alrighty, this is Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Time to preview the third major championship of the golf calendar.

The 2023 U.S. Open that will be played in California at the Los Angeles Country Club. And now joining us does a great job. Senior writer for Golf Digest. He, of course, is Alex Myers. Alex, how are you?

I'm doing great, Zach. I'm excited to get this thing going. We've been talking about it all week.

Let's get it going. Well, before we get to that, everyone still has an opinion on this merger that was brought to us just last week. We had you on for an impromptu appearance to discuss it like about a week later. Just what are your thoughts and kind of what's the feel in the golf world right now as you'll have a bunch of golfers that have been made available from both sides the last few days and leading out through the weekend? Yeah, I mean, you know, it's kind of crazy because last week, obviously, we were talking about how it seemed to blindside all these guys. And I would say a week later, I'm most struck by how little it seems like they all still know. I mean, you know, no one seems to have any real concrete answers. You know, there's definitely a lot of maybe disappointment, some anger.

I mean, Jon Rahm said he feels betrayed by the management of the PGA Tour, so certainly he was one of the players who was most vocally ticked off about it. But, you know, I think a lot of these guys still don't know exactly what's going to happen. That's because nobody really knows. I mean, we kind of treated this like, oh, they're going to merge. It's a done deal. I mean, there's a lot to get done for this to even happen. You know, the Department of Justice is investigating this. You've got a lot of senators speaking up and kind of questioning this alliance. So this merger partnership, whatever you want to call it, there's a long way to go for it to actually happen. And clearly the players are still a little bit in the dark. Yeah, and I think when people hear the word merger, it's like, oh, they're all going to work together. Just a private investment fund is going to be funding the PGA Tour. So you kind of look at it from there. I read Alan Shipnuck's article as well, and it gave the live golf side of it, where they don't think live golf is going anywhere, where last week I would have thought for sure that was the end of live golf.

Exactly. I mean, each day you hear something different. You hear that, you know, Greg Norman told his staff live golf staying and you've heard Greg Norman is gone.

Live golf is gone. You've heard, well, it's Jay Monahan's decision. And you hear, well, no, it's actually, you know, the PIF leader, Ramayan, his decision, even though the tour has the 51 percent controlling interest, it's kind of wild. I mean, you know, could there be, you know, no more live, but some kind of team aspect that gets folded in is kind of part of the deal.

There's so many different options. And again, from day to day, you kind of hear different things. So they have to evaluate all these things. You know, the tour was going to have to evaluate the team concept and how to fit it in to begin with.

But now you have these other legal aspects that have to be figured out as well. But, you know, Monahan did say in that initial press conference that you mentioned the team aspect a few times. You would think that would be part of the deal that the Saudi government PIF fund would not want to just lose that entirely because, you know, they kind of thought that was their way to shake this up and do something different because otherwise it's like, well, it's just going to be the PGA Tour funded by a different group.

So, yeah, it's a weird situation right now, for sure. Alex Myers here with us, Senior Writer, Golf Digest. Before the Masters, everyone was talking about Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler. Brooks Koepka played really well for three days and then lost on the fourth day. We all know Koepka ended up to go on and win the PGA Championship and hoist another Wanamaker trophy. Is right now heading into the U.S. Open, is Brooks Koepka the most feared golfer? You know, he is if he's playing, if he's up on that leaderboard, I'd say for sure.

But, you know, Scottie Scheffler, it's kind of crazy. He's moved down to six to one. You don't really see guys that low at a major championship, especially, you know, since Tiger. I mean, maybe, you know, I remember Dustin Johnson before he fell down the stairs at that Masters was going to be four to one. But you just don't see it that much.

And there's good reason for it, Zach. I mean, this guy has 16 consecutive top 12 finishes. I know they keep pumping the streak that it's top 20 or top 25, but they are top 12 finishes.

13 of those are top 10. Of course, he won the players. You know, his stats from T to green, his strokes gained. Only Tiger in 2006 had a better season than what Scottie Scheffler's putting together. Now, on the flip side, of course, the putter has been pretty bad. And we saw at the memorial when he had this historic performance from T to green, gaining 20 shots in the field. And then losing nine shots just on the greens. He still finished one shot out of a playoff. Had he had an average putting week, he would have won by seven shots. So I just think the way he's hitting it right now is so superior to everyone else. And then you throw in the fact that he's got a great short game, a very creative short game, which is going to be required around Los Angeles Country Club.

He deserves to be the favorite and a pretty solid favorite. But that being said, I mean, Brooks and Rahm, of course, make up the rest of this big three that's emerged. I mean, Rory has kind of fallen by the wayside in recent weeks.

Even when he plays well the past couple weeks, he doesn't do anything on Sunday. And, you know, because of that, a big three has really emerged here and they've won the biggest three events of the year so far. Alex Myers, how much do you think with him being the face of the PGA Tour and he was carrying the flag with what transpired and how much he knew and didn't know and when he found out about that, how much of it is mental right now with Rory? No, I think a lot of it's mental for sure. It's been a long year for him. You know, he finally had kind of taken a little step back. It's possible maybe he had had hints of this. You know, he said he didn't know about the actual deal until the night before or that morning of when Jimmy Dunn, his friend, called him.

It's kind of amazing, too. They're supposedly great friends and even Rory was kept in the dark here. But I think that also means he did have some kind of inclination that something was happening. Maybe it wouldn't be a straight up merger or partnership, but he must have known something was coming down. I can't imagine that he wouldn't have had any sort of inclination about that.

But, yeah, I mean, it's possible that bothered him. Certainly answering the questions week after week, kind of taking the brunt of the hits for the PGA Tour and kind of being the good soldier and getting out there. It was a long year for him.

We saw the stress when he didn't win the Open. He kind of disappeared. He did come back. He won the Tour Championship, but then when he didn't win the Masters this year, he kind of didn't even make the cut. He just went off and disappeared. He didn't play in that next event.

He skipped it. He kind of took a $3 million hit even. You've got to wonder if maybe something personally is happening as well behind the scenes.

But certainly I think all the live talk and everything else has played a little bit of a role, for sure, in his struggles right now. Previewing the U.S. Open with Alex Meyer, senior writer from Golf Digest. These three guys, I feel like, are always talked about a lot and they end up not winning the major championship. Victor Hovland, Patrick Cantley, our guy, and then Max Homa as well.

Plus $1,000 for Hovland, plus $1,400 for Cantley, and then Homa sitting there at plus $1,600. Who do you like the most out of those three? I thought you were going to throw Xander in there too. Yeah, Shoffley's also another one at plus $1,800. You're not wrong on that.

Yeah, you know, I definitely like Xander of those guys. I know you're a Cantley guy, but did you see the stat from Justin Ray? I mean, 25 career majors, he's never been within five shots of the lead going into the final round.

I'm not a Cantley guy going into the U.S. Open, if I'm being honest with you. Okay, fine. But you used to bet him. You like to bet him. Oh, I'm very fickle. I love to bet him.

And then this year I've been in and out, in and out, and now I'm out again. Gotcha. Okay, well, I am out because I see this stat, and that is one of the most stunning stats for a guy. He's number four in the world still. I mean, he's always in the top five.

He never even sniffs at the majors. It's just one of the craziest things ever. He's kind of like the basketball version of James Harden. Yeah, yeah, that's a good point. Yeah, he's got all the stats, he looks great, and then the big game comes and, you know, where does he go?

So, you know, I'm off him right now. Haaland is very interesting. He has proven himself, like Xander did a few years back with all those close calls. Haaland, the last three majors, has played, you know, incredible golf, and think about the different tests that he's done well at. When it comes to Augusta and at the Open, and then, of course, at the PGA, I just think, you know, I think he could attend a course this week, but this course doesn't, you know, let him bring out his biggest strength, which I think is his driver. And, you know, this course, it's a lot wider than a typical U.S. Open course. It's going to look a lot different for people tuning in and expecting to see those narrow fairways and the thick rough around it. I mean, certainly the rough is going to play a factor, but it's a Bermuda rough. It looks a little different. And the fairways are just going to be incredibly wide for a U.S. Open. Now, that being said, you have to be in the correct spot or your second shots become a lot more difficult.

So it still does, you know, it still does reward driving. But I just think, you know, he's going to win where it's a real driver test, and I don't think this place is that place. So of those guys, again, you know, and Max Holm, of course, is the big story that everybody wants to see happen.

It would be fantastic. But he's like Canley. I mean, the guy just doesn't do anything in the majors. Now, he hasn't been a great player for that long, so he hasn't had that big of a sample size.

And you would think this would be the place. He has the course record here, 61 at the 2013 Pac-10 Championship. But, yeah, I mean, this is a big week for him because I think if he doesn't play well this week at the major, then it really starts to weigh on him. I like Xander, Xander of those guys. It kind of feels like with Canley and then also Max Holm, we've talked about them potentially winning for such a long time. They're getting into Rickie Fowler territory where it's okay. Rickie was that guy for years, and now no one ever talks about Rickie Fowler than his pants.

Yeah, no, that's certainly true. And, you know, Xander was kind of in that ballpark as well. But now Xander with last year's little spurt where he won the three tournaments, I know one of them was with Canley. But he won the three tournaments, including the Scottish Open, which was almost like a major.

I think it was 14 to 15. Did he win the Travelers too? Yes, and he went on a hot street class summer. And he, you know, he went from four career wins to seven career wins, just like that. He did an interview with me and then he started winning. That's what happened. Is that what happened? Yeah, he came on with us.

They said it's time to start winning. And then he started to do that. He won me some money and he turned it around. Haven't heard from him since. Didn't get any cut as well, so bad job out of him.

Bad job there. But yeah, he's, you know, the seven wins, the multiple close calls and majors. I like him this week. He's certainly in my top five guys. But again, it's so hard to go against this big three right now, and especially Shepler. He's, you know, it's so boring, but he's definitely my number one guy this week. But I would have Xander in there. I would have Jordan Spieth in there.

I actually got him at 33 to one the other day, which was kind of crazy. I think, again, we're talking about a course that doesn't penalize you for the wayward miss as much as maybe other places. I think that helps him when he does get out of position. There's no one better at recovery shots and no one has a more magical short game. He's kind of, you know, the modern Nicholson.

And we know he won at Chambers Bay, which was another non-traditional U.S. Open setup. So I kind of really like Jordan Spieth this week. What about Morikawa at plus twenty five hundred?

So Morikawa, man, and I've seen him even in the 30s, I'm getting very tempted to do a last minute on him. The question to me is this back spasm thing. I mean, he's two off the lead at the memorial going into Sunday and he pulls out. That to me is you've got to be in bad shape to do that when you have a chance to win a tournament that big. So I'm still a little worried about that.

It seems like the kind of thing that isn't bothering him as much day to day, but it can pop up on him. And as a result, you've seen him slide down really far with the odds. So I he's close, you know, three, four weeks ago, I was he definitely was in my top five.

I had him circle, but he's kind of a last minute for me. Another guy who slipped on the board, by the way, Justin Thomas. I mean, oh, my God.

Fifty to one. I bet him I couldn't I couldn't resist. You know, he's had crazy struggles. But, you know, we know he's a two time major champ, plus the players. We know when he gets going how high he can get.

I'm just hoping that I'm buying low a little. And then he kind of figures it out this week. But there's certain guys when when you see the number, you just kind of have to jump at it. And for me, Justin Thomas was the guy this week. And the only other deeper guy that I like was Joaquin Neiman, who, of course, another live guy. He won a little down the road at another George Thomas design Riviera.

He went wire to wire. I think that was just last year. And everybody's kind of forgotten about him because obviously he went to live towards the PGA as well. So.

But yeah. But, you know, he's a he was a top twenty five guy and ninety to one, eighty to one. I think that's kind of a crazy number for a guy as talented as him. I also saw that two other bigger names, Hideki Matsuyama and Bryson DeChambeau at forty to one where I'm looking at. Any intrigue there on either of them?

Yeah. You know, Bryson interests me for sure. Again, though, I don't know if this U.S. Open is going to play to his strength as much as Wingfoot. And obviously when he won and he kind of just bombed it out there as far as he could. And, you know, he could wedge it in.

You can't do that as much here, because even if you have shorter shots to the green, if you are playing from the wrong angle, you are going to get burned. So I don't like him as much just because of the venue. But I do like where he's heading. I've heard the way he's talking to is he thinks he's very close to reaching his peak ball striking, which he actually admits came before he put on all the weight. And that's why you've seen him kind of take it off.

His experiment certainly wasn't a failure. He won a major, but obviously he had all those injuries and, you know, he wasn't as consistent. I think he's getting back. And who knows this whole if this merger partnership goes through, maybe, you know, he'll feel a little better, kind of welcomed back by the crowd and everything else. You know, he's kind of a he's a very he's a big thinker. And I think he kind of gets to him that he he was kind of this big star. And now, you know, last year I remember following around at Brookline and there was hardly anybody following him. I mean, all the juice was was kind of gone from him.

So I think he's getting close. I don't like him this week, but I think, you know, he's getting back to being one of the elite players soon. Alex Myers, if you had to pick, do you have a PGA guy or live guy winning this week? Oh, man. Well, I guess I'll just lean with the PGA just because Scheffler is such a favorite and I like Spieth and I like Xander.

But again, I like Neiman. How can you not like Brooks with what he's done? I think, you know, too many people say, ah, you can't win back to back majors. I mean, he already did it once. And, you know, once you win the first, it's not like that's on your head the next time you tee it up. So it's a close call, Zach. But I'll go with the PGA tour still to win this one and go to go one up this year in the majors.

In this battle between the tours. And if golf had a script and I was the scriptwriter, Phil. Phil would finally get in the U.S. Open, especially with the aftermath of live golf and the PGA tour and the merger. That would be the perfect script this week for the casual golf fan like me to see Phil win. That would. Hollywood ending, Zach. L.A. Country Club.

I mean, hey, that would be a heck of a story. No doubt about it. Alex Myers, senior writer, golf guy. Just appreciate the time as always. Thank you. You got it, man. Enjoy it. Take care.

Thanks. There he is. Alex Myers joining us. CeeLo, I know you're a big golf fan. I'm so jealous that I'm not out there. Phil wins. That would be wild, man. That would be the ultimate bleep you.

I did everything in his mind the right way. And honestly, I mean, how can you rule it out after what we saw at Kewa not that long ago? You know, I know it wasn't a U.S. Open, but still like his point there about this being sort of a different track and a guy like Spieth.

You're not going to be penalized. I just saw a video someone posted of from today. Mickelson trying to give Rahm a chipping lesson in this rough. Yeah. And it was as if he was speaking a different language. And that's the number one player in the world or number two, whatever it is right now.

I think Rahm was asking questions that he was like he was befuddled. I got to see the video where they've just been throwing the ball into the rough and you just disappear. That's what the beautiful thing about these tournaments when you have the galleries is they can find it for you when you're out on the course.

Yes. Even on a non U.S. Open rough lined course, you know, you hit a ball and you're thinking, oh, yeah, I'll find that one. All of a sudden it vanishes. And let's be real. Schmucks like you and I, if we do find that ball getting out of the rough is going to be nearly impossible. Probably not doing anything with it.

You can think around the auto parts where your car care needs guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio.

So I was reading this earlier today. Dov Kleiman had it via Ian Rappaport. The Giants have now placed their pre-franchise tag offer back on the table for running running back Saquon Barkley.

Perry and Rappaport. It was taken off back in March when they tagged him. But now it's back on the table. The offer was separately reported to be worth up to 14 million dollars a year.

Per our friends at NJ dot com. So I don't know the range of this hickey when you hear that a running back is getting a deal worth up to 14 million dollars a year. Your first instinct is like OK you should take it especially without running backs are devalued now.

And now a lot of teams just go running back by committee and not a bell cow back like what Saquon Barkley is the most intimidating player on the offensive side of the ball for the Giants. But I wonder what is that offer really when you hear for up to 14 million dollars a year if he isn't Superman getting to 14 million dollars a year and reaching everything to make it worth up to 14 million dollars a year. How much further down do you have to go if you don't reach all the incentives in the contract to make it the max value on the deal.

That's my biggest question here. Right. And obviously we're not going to know that until the deal is signed and the details are released but it could be one of those make all pro every year and it could get up to 14 win a Super Bowl like they're all I'm sure different incentives that are all tied to performance and awards that could. If everything goes right get up to 14 million dollars a year but also the likelihood of realistic nature Saquon Barkley checks all those boxes every single year and stays healthy is not very high. Which is funny because the guy that has the highest AAV in in from a running back in football right now is Christian McCaffrey who has a similar issue.

He's great when he's on the field and elite when he's on the field but the question is how many games is he going to miss year in and year out. Now Alvin Kamara is 15 million dollars a year Derek Henry's 12.5 Nick Chubb 12.2 Joe Mixon 12 million and you got Aaron Jones sitting there at 11.5 million dollars a year. So you're not the highest paid running back in the sport but I don't think Saquon Barkley is deserving of being the highest paid running back in the sport. If it's not too far down in terms of from that 14 and it's it's not like okay you got to do X Y and Z and it goes from 9 to 14. If it's in that range of anywhere from 10 or let's say 11 to 12 probably 10 to 13 million dollars so I get extra million dollars like he should probably take this deal right.

I don't know how much better you're going to do like once again I don't know what the what the floor is here. We only know what the ceiling is here in terms of the money but I can't imagine it being that far down south. Well Saquon too has said he doesn't want to reset the market so it's not like he's looking to be the top paid running back. He wants a fair market value and again it's tough to judge because again they want the numbers to seem big right now. Oh 14 million dollars a year that's huge but again without knowing the guarantees not that running back guarantees are high anyway but that's the biggest thing. It's gonna be one of those things where it's gonna be a front-loaded contract it's gonna be another situation where they could cut them I'm sure pretty easily in three or four years. And that's why I think it's still worth paying a running back now because to get out of a running back contract as you saw with the Cowboys and the Vikings it's not difficult. It's really not that like people freak out oh don't pay running backs don't pay running backs okay you could pay them get two good years and if they fall or get hurt you cut them. And it's not like cutting a quarterback where your salary cap is you know strapped and you're in big trouble. Running back money is one of the you know it's one of the lowest paid positions especially in guaranteed money. It's really not that hard to get out of a running back contract extension.

So it almost makes to me no sense why you wouldn't give him a deal. You know what I kind of feel like needs to happen here you got eleven and a half million dollars a year. Eleven and a half million dollars a year you could get it up to fourteen million dollars a year. The guaranteed money is the biggest key so let's just say if you have fourteen times four that's fifty six million potentially. If you if you if you reach the max value there and you spread that over four years.

How much do you think needs to be guaranteed out of that if let's say if it if it's a four year fifty six million dollar deal with the incentives in there to get it up to fifty six million dollars. McCaffrey is thirty six million dollars in fully guaranteed. Kamara thirty four. Derek Henry twenty five.

Nick Chubb twenty. I'd probably need if we're being fair here. What twenty eight million of that guaranteed you would think like half of what the max value is. I'd say thirty. Round it up.

Nice even number but same ballpark. And again you put that in most of the two years and you move on the first stinks and it's easy to go get out from under it if he's not worth it in three years. Do you think this will get done by July 17th?

Yes I do too. We're about a month away. I don't think the Josh Jacobs deal will get done. Very similar situation just because the Giants need Saquon Barkley right now. Because if you have a unhappy Saquon or Saquon that's not fully motivated. And let's say he's taken off a game or two here and there because he's injured and he's looking out to go secure his bag for the next deal. That's going to hurt Daniel Jones and you just pay Daniel Jones. You look at Josh Jacobs. The fifth year option was originally declined. He had a great year last year. We've seen that team move through guys and move on through guys. Whether it was Darren Waller. Devontae Adams there we'll see how much longer he stays there because it doesn't seem like he's all that happy for that article that we read. I feel like Jacobs it's going to be a wait and see. But for the Giants when it comes to Saquon I think they'll get this done by July 17th.