Cooking The Jets? (Hour 2)

Zach's taking on the most polarizing issues in sports. Which side of the line of scrimmage will he end up on? Offside, defense number 69. It's Onsides, Offsides with Zach Gelb on CBS Sports Radio. I do have a quick question for you, Hekster, where I'm going to throw you a curveball.

Usually you ask me the questions here, I'm going to ask you a question. A source tells me that last week Hot Take Hickey was seen walking around the newsroom in a tuxedo and applying for a different job here at CBS Sports Radio. Onside or offside?

A man that is usually very fashionable in the Hot Take Hickey was in a tuxedo interviewing for another job. I cannot deny, Onsides. Onsides. And for listeners at home, if you didn't hear the start of the show, go back and listen, that's why I'm out of here. Or try to get out of here. Little do people know that I actually encouraged Hickey to go interview for the job as well.

It's true, so I could be getting pushed out here. The joke could be on me at the end of the day. Well no, I just think it's my, I don't want to say it's my job or it's my duty. But if there's another job out there that could benefit you, I don't think you need my blessing, but I try to encourage you a little bit. Or I try to look out for you, because in our relationship, I'll say it's like this. And I know it's weird because we're the same age, so when I say older brother, younger brother, that's not going to really make sense. But I kind of look at you as my younger brother, where I can make fun of you, but the moment someone else makes fun of you, as long as it's not on this show, I'm ready to pounce and fight and go to bat for you and go to war with you.

And I think we've had a lot of great conversations off the air as well, and even though you won't hang out with me if it's not on a work trip, you know, we've had some good times away from the office setting. But a tuxedo! I know that your old name was Trace in a different life when you were producing the Bill Ryder show, but what went on with Tuxedo Trace? Why are you donning, or why are you wearing a tuxedo? Well, I figured everyone in the interview will be wearing a suit, and that assumption was correct, so I figured... Really? For a radio interview? One of our bosses here, Chris Olivero, when I got dressed up one day, he goes, You interviewing for another job, or you just have to go to a funeral? I've never had a job interview in radio where I had to wear a suit. Well, I don't want to call anyone out, but Thursday was a very big day for interviews, and a few people that work here were interviewing, and all were either currently in the suit or brought the suit and changed out of it. So the suit was the big move, so I figured, how can I differentiate myself from everybody else interviewing? And I thought, you know what? I'll do something that no one else is going to do. Wear a tuxedo. I bought one for a black tie wedding.

I had it sitting in my apartment. I said, you know what? Let's go for it. When did you come up with that? Because it wasn't as if you were here Thursday, you saw everyone interviewing, you ran home and got your tuxedo, right? Wednesday night. Wednesday night, I said, you know what? I like it. Plus, also, it was super hot, so I said, It's kind of light because the pants are a little short on me, or that's more the style, I should say, not short on purpose.

They are short on purpose, so I figured maybe it would be a little bit more breathable than a heavy suit, and boy did I need it because the subway was disgusting. And you know who you impressed? Who was that? Tiki Barber. Because I got a photo sent to me right away, where they're taking a photo of you in the tuxedo, and Tiki looks like a proud pop in the background, and I asked Tiki about it today in passing in the hallway, and he said, Hey, Hickey looked good. You looked good on Thursday, so you impressed him. I asked Tiki to prom, he said no, so I got to work on my skills.

What did you ask him? To prom. Oh, to prom. I didn't hear that first part.

Sorry, I said it very fast. I asked Tiki to prom, he said, I don't think Tiki needs help in that department, okay? Well, I needed help, that's why I was dressed up.

In the interview, I said, Tiki, let's go. Now, I'm not ever someone to shy away and go away from any publicity, but man, right away I had people texting me. I didn't wake up yet, and I had people texting me, Hickey's applying for the job, which I knew of before, and I did not know about the tuxedo part, but right away, big appearance for you on the DA show last week. You jumped right at that one. I should not be surprised, but word does travel very fast here.

Crazy. I woke up that morning, and I had at least 15 to 20 texts about you interviewing for the job, and I go, folks, Hickey and I have a great relationship. He told me he was interviewing for the job. Now, that would have been messed up on my part, and a hell of a way to wake up on a Friday morning. Would have been a different vacation. If all of a sudden I'm sneaking around, and you're like, hold on, he's doing what with who and where and where and what? That would have been a little bit interesting.

And for people who have no clue what we're talking about, let's just bring them into the conversation and actually make some sense. Hickey interviewed for the job that used to be Mraz's job, so the sidekick to DA, and I think it's the executive producer and co-host, I think is the title of it. So that's what you're going for. So we'll see if you end up getting the job. Have you heard any feedback from the interview?

Have you made it to round two? Yes and no. They didn't say anything official. They gave me a homework assignment that I have to do.

And that is due by Wednesday, so I'm currently in the midst of a homework assignment. I'm assuming that they gave me a homework assignment because they expected to talk to me again, not just to waste my time. Well, I don't know if you're going to get the job or not, but I will say sources told me that you did impress in the interview process. Are these Jonathan Taylor sources that he's claiming the back injury he has getting new sources, they're fake?

No. This is real sourcing. I think my record speaks for itself on this show. I had pretty damn good sources. So I heard you interviewed well. I'm not saying that means you're getting the job. I'm not reporting that, but I heard people were impressed.

Maybe some that were skeptical about you interviewing for the job were impressed with how you interviewed. That's all I'll say. Now you ask me questions. Let's go. Wow.

I have pain. People, the way they look at me is sheesh. I mean, I guess set in a low bar. You can only beat it, which is good, but all right. Good to know. I think you've grown a lot in the last year and a half, two years.

I think people are now starting to realize that because that's a good thing compared to the other way regressing. So, OK. All right. All right. We'll take it. We got to slow start. Now we're coming up strong, unlike, unfortunately, the Colton Jonathan Taylor, who got after a good relationship.

And boy, oh boy, Zach, this has gone south very quickly. He disgruntled running back wants a new deal as he enters the final year of his rookie contract. And the team has not even made a contract offer yet. And seemingly, according to reports, according to Jim, our same self does not plan on making a contract offer before the season starts. Now, last week, Taylor requested a trade way for the team. Later on in the week, Jim Irsay said on the record they are not trading the former Wisconsin running back on sides or offside. Zach, Jonathan Taylor will not be a cult by week one.

Oh, that's offside. John Taylor could request to trade all he wants. And I understand the team is not negotiating with him right now, which was a surprising part to me.

I thought they at least have some conversations, even if they were just preliminary conversations. But they're not negotiating with him right now. And Jim Irsay said it himself that he's going to be there to start the season. And he's not going to trade him at the deadline.

Now, just because you say that doesn't mean that will end up happening. But I don't think running backs and Jonathan Taylor's running back have a lot of leverage right now. And he's still under contract for this year.

And they could franchise tag him after that. So I would be very surprised coming off a year, which was not good because he got hurt, that they're going to sell at a point where he's not at his best value. So I do believe that Jonathan Taylor will be on the Colts by week one. He may not be happy.

He may not be playing. I can't guarantee that stuff, but he'll at least be on the roster. Let's say Jim Irsay is lying and Jonathan Taylor is, in fact, traded.

The question then is, where? Are plenty of teams that could use the 2021 rushing champs services, including a lot of teams in the AFC East. Bills need a running back, Jets need a running back, Dolphins need a running back. The latter two teams, New York and Miami, both have had meetings and contract discussions with Devin Cook. But so far, as we talked to you on July 31, neither team has agreed to a deal with the former Vikings running back.

Onsides or offsides, Zach? If Jonathan Taylor is traded, the team that will land him is the Buffalo Bills. People talked about maybe the Bills are going to get Christian McCaffrey. That didn't happen. People thought, oh, maybe the Bills will get DeAndre Hopkins.

That didn't happen. Oh, maybe they'll go get Devin Cook and have a Cook backfield with James Cook and Devin Cook. And there's been no conversations from the Buffalo camp. Buffalo could use a running back, but they don't have a lot of salary cap room. And we keep on throwing out players, even Odell we talked about potentially going to Buffalo. And none of those players end up winding up with the Buffalo Bills outside of Von Miller when we talked about big names.

Via trade, well, Stefan digs too if it's via trade, but in the last two years when we talk about big names on the move. So I would take my odds with another team. And I will say offside when you ask me if Jonathan Taylor is traded, the team that will land him will be the Buffalo Bills.

Offside. The Pac-12, Zach, is in peril. Last week, as you know, the news was made official. Colorado leaving the Pac-12 after this season is over to go back to the Big 12. We know USC and UCLA in 2024 go into the Big 10. And now there's reports that tomorrow the University of Arizona is having a Board of Regents meeting. Usually from what we've seen in recent memory or recent history, I should say, those meetings are mostly about relocating. So maybe Arizona possibly is meeting tomorrow about the idea and maybe the plan of leaving the Pac-12 conference to go elsewhere. So far in 2024, nine teams in the conference.

They will present a TV plan tomorrow, finally, so maybe that can help keep the conference together. But right now it is not looking good whatsoever. Onside or offside, Zach, the Pac-12 will cease to exist in five years. I know Colorado has Deion Sanders, so they're viewed as a lot more of an attractive destination than where you were from, what, at the end of last season?

Clearly, that would be an obvious statement. But if Colorado could quickly bolt the Pac-12 and be attracted to somewhere else, Oregon will be attractive, Washington will be attractive, and other schools. If I am a member of the Pac-12 with USC already leaving, and you have UCLA already leaving, and now you have Colorado leaving, it's only inevitable that more schools are going to leave. So we all thought at first that the Big 12 would be the conference that would fold, then they made a smart move getting the four schools that they brought in even before Colorado, and now they have been removed off life support. We'll see what happens long term, but they're heading in the right direction where, you know, for the interim, they're not going to fold as a conference. The Pac-12, I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel because they already lost out on the attractive independent in BYU, and the attractive three teams that were in the American Athletic Conference, and you're probably going to have your other schools leave, and financially it's not like you need to go join the Pac-12. So I would say, yeah, the Pac-12 is trending on ceasing to exist in five years from now, so onsides. How about the Denver Broncos? Before the season even starts, it has taken a- Incomplete! What a dumb chant.

So stupid. It has taken a turbulent turn in recent days, starting with Sean Payton last week taking an absolute blowtorch to his predecessor Nathaniel Hackett, and the news got worse earlier today with the news that Tim Patrick suffered an Achilles injury. The fear is he'll miss the entire year, poor guy.

That stinks. Missed the entire year last year with a torn ACL. He's one of those guys that I think could be a really good player, but unfortunately he's just getting hit with the injury bug way too many times. To Klay Thompson, ACL into the Achilles, two years in a row, very, very sad. And he's not the only wide receiver that's going to be on the shelf here for the Broncos, as KJ Hamler also announced today he is diagnosed with pericarditis, which is a heart condition that's going to force him to step away from football. Now for a few weeks, the doors to open for him to return, but the Broncos did waive him today with that heart condition. So down two receivers, and obviously Sean Payton started a big fire last week with his comment about Hackett. On sides or offside, Zach, the Broncos will finish the 2023 season under.500. Well, folks, I said this when Russell Wilson got traded there.

In terms of what he had on offense, he did not upgrade going from Seattle to Denver, just in terms of the weapons on offense. And unfortunately for the Broncos, the guys that they have been banking on, like Tim Patrick just hasn't been healthy, the KJ Hamler thing is obviously horrible, and Jerry Judy is not a number one wide receiver in the NFL, and Javonte Williams, even though now he's back, he was hurt last year. And that offensive line has been banged up and is questionable. Their defense is phenomenal. They may have the best secondary in football. And they added Frank Clark up front this offseason. But offensively, you have an offensive line that I don't love. You got receivers that I can't rely on.

I don't know where the health of Javonte Williams is going to be for an entirety of the season. And you play in a gauntlet of an AFC and a tough division in the AFC West. I think the Broncos will be better than what they were last year, but I don't think they're making the playoffs. I think they're right there, anywhere from seven to nine wins. And if they get to nine, clearly that's above.500, but I'll bank that they'll be below.500 this season. I will go onsides there. And also, folks, Hickey is guaranteeing that they're going to make the playoffs.

So, folks, it's usually wise to fade the hot take artist himself and the great hot take Hickey. Finally, Mike Sandow of The Athletic released his annual QB Tiers list, in which he polls 50 NFL coaches and executives to rank all the quarterbacks into four tiers. I wonder to what extent are these people coaches and executives? Like, when you think coaches, you think it's head coaches now.

Clearly, there's only 32 in the league. Is this an offensive analyst that's considered a coach and an executive? Someone that's like fifth or sixth on the food chain?

I wonder how high up these guys are on the food chain. I would say some are legit. Maybe a few head coaches, a few OCs, DCs. I mean, you want people that are either facing them and game planning against them or working with them, right? And everyone has to start somewhere, too. That's also true.

Very true. So, Tier 1 obviously is the top tier. Five quarterbacks, according to this list, are in the top tier. Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Aaron Rodgers, Justin Herbert.

Criteria for the top tier is this. The quarterback can carry his team each week. The team wins because of him. He expertly handles pure passing situations. He has no real holes in his game. On both sides or offside, Zach, those five quarterbacks, again, Mahomes, Burrow, Allen, Rodgers, Herbert, are the only ones deserving of Tier 1 status heading into 2023. Now, I'm a big fan of Justin Herbert. But if one of the explanations and criteria here is the team wins because of him, a Tier 1 quarterback can carry his team each week, Justin Herbert was spotted, what, 27-point lead in that wildcard game?

And they choked. And he has all the talent in the world. So, I don't understand that. And I don't understand how you don't put Jalen Hurts on that list. I'm not even bashing Herbert. But how is Jalen Hurts, who almost won the MVP, who was an MVP candidate last year, and outplayed the guy that is in the highest point of Tier 1 in Patrick Mahomes, who played him in the Super Bowl, how is that guy not there? Now, we talked about this going back to the Kimberly Martin comments, where she thinks that Jalen Hurts is disrespected nationally. And I just didn't understand that at first. Then you had that one poll. I forget exactly what it was last week, Hickey. They didn't put him in a top-five quarterback in the NFL.

And now you have this stuff. Jalen Hurts is absolutely a top-tier quarterback in the league. So, you said to me those five QBs are the only ones deserving of Tier 1 status heading into 2023.

I don't see Jalen Hurts on that list. So, therefore, I say offside. Alrighty, we'll do a little first and goal next. And we just did the Indianapolis Colts in the last hour, talking to a Colt legend in Dwight Frini.

You'll hear that conversation once again at 9.40 p.m. Eastern, 6.40 p.m. Pacific. But when we come on back, we've got to do a little first and goal with one of our favorites. And that's Solomon Wilcox as we'll preview the Cincinnati Bengals. The NFL season is inching closer and closer.

Who are the contenders and who are the pretenders? We have four downs to figure out your team's future. It's time now for First and Goal on the Zach Gelb Show. Let's talk about one of the better teams in the NFL with a former Cincinnati Bengal. Does a great job with Believe Podcast with Adam Pacman-Jones. And you can hear him each and every morning on Sirius XM NFL radio.

And that's our pal in Solomon Wilcox to preview the Bengals. Solomon, appreciate the time as always. How are you? Zach, good to be on with you. Everything's great. Hope you're doing well.

Well, I appreciate you coming on. And Bengals fans had a scare last week. And they could exhale because Zach Taylor told reporters that Burrow's only going to be sidelined several weeks due to his calf injury.

And then I did see today that Bengals reporter Mike Petraglia said that Burrow was in the locker room at his locker with the sleeve on his right calf walking with no limp. So it looks like they dodged what would have been a major bullet here. Yeah, I mean it could have been something worse. However, you know, a calf strain considering the grade and something we still don't know about whether it's Grade 1, Grade 2 or Grade 3 could still be very serious. Liking it to but to a lesser degree like a hamstring injury where you're walking around, you seem to be fine.

But when you start to move around, run or even sprint, let alone have an explosive move, it could come back to haunt you. So still need to be cautious moving forward. But yeah, this is not as bad as it, nearly as bad as it could have been. Now we know what happened in Year 1. Then Year 2 they go to the Super Bowl. And last year, another good year for the Bengals.

That's my only concern really with Cincinnati Solomon is just make sure that the quarterback who looks like he could one day be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame stays healthy. Well, there's no doubt that with Joe Burrow, good things have come to Cincinnati. You think about it, the previous 50 years prior to his arrival, they had won five games in the postseason. And just the first three seasons, they won five postseason games with Joe Burrow as their quarterback. So they've been able to equal the previous 50-year production in the postseason. They've been able to equal that over the last two seasons.

And that's saying a lot. So he's the fourth multiplier, there's no doubt it. He's the rising tide that they hope will lift the program to a championship. Let's get to the next down. Solomon Wolcott's here with us. Contractually, we've seen Justin Herbert get a deal done this offseason.

Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts as well. Now all eyes are on the Bengals and Joe Burrow. You feel like a deal will eventually get done? The question just becomes when as he gets said to enter Year 4. Oh yeah, I think the deal gets done.

In fact, I was talking with some reporters today. We believe that before he steps out on the field again. That he will have a deal done.

It's just a matter of what it's going to look like to be honest with you Zach. Will it be a longer term deal to kind of help spread that money out over space and time? Or will he get it over the course of a five-year deal much like we saw with Jalen Hurts and Justin Herbert and Lamar Jacks? And I couldn't fault him if he said I want to be the highest paid player ever and do it over a five-year deal. But now the Mahomes deal looks even better now where he's a seventh or eighth highest paid quarterback in the league. Which is crazy. Ultimately, you know and Joe a little bit.

What do you think he will do? Because it's easy for us in the media to say, hey the guys should take less money. But I don't fault any player that tries to go get the most amount of money possible and tell the team to figure out the rest of the roster. Yeah, we're all capitalists.

I mean if you were born and raised in this country you kind of get the deal, right? Everybody is going to maximize their potential earnings while still trying to do some of the other things. I don't look at it as an exclusive situation where you say, hey get the most money you can get and all else be damned. He wants his receivers. He wants to keep his players around him. I think you can accomplish both.

It's about how you do it. And so let's face it, Joe Burrow was born and raised, well he wasn't born here but he was raised here in Ohio, okay? So he has lived here. His parents lived here. He's put down roots here. His friends that he grew up with are not too far away.

They can always come and see him. So to think that while other quarterbacks may not want to make maybe Cincinnati or Ohio their home. I think for Joe Burrow that's perfectly okay. And so the deal that he could strike with the Bengals could look I think a lot different than maybe what we would creatively think for maybe some other quarterback. Yeah, my only question on that is I feel great about the Burrow deal getting done and I'm with you.

It probably gets done before the start of the season. I got to think eventually they'll get the Jamar Chase deal done because you know how much Burrow loves Chase going back to their LSU days. The question just becomes what happens with Tee Higgins because he could be a number one wide receiver on a lot of other teams. And I know Mike Brown will tell you there's only so many hogs and so many corn that could be put out there.

I wonder if Higgins is the odd guy out. I don't see it that way. You got to ask yourself, can you pay your quarterback over time and still have two quarterbacks say at $20 million a piece? I mean, the Dodgers seem to be doing it, right? So it's not out of the realm of possibility for it to get done. The salary cap continues to go up. So being able to spread the money around the players, I think every single year it becomes possible to do more and more. When owners tell you, oh, if I pay you, I can't pay the other guy, it's just not true. I think it's one of the biggest misnomers. But listen, if you are the business owner, wouldn't you want your workers to believe that?

It kind of helps you do whatever you're trying to do. But if you're trying to win, and I do believe Mike Brown where he is right now, he wants to win a championship. And he knows that he stands a better chance of winning it with T. Higgins and Jamar Chase. And I know Burrow feels that way, and they're doing everything they can to try to keep that trio together. And so I expect them to find a way to get that done.

It's going to be challenging, but they are working to get that done. Let's get to the next down. Talking about contracts, Solomon Wilcox, I'm actually surprised, I know he renegotiated his contract and took less. That Joe Mixon, after all that talk this offseason, is still on this team. And I even go back to the Super Bowl, and they use Samajay Piranh late more than him. I'm shocked that he's still on this team, Solomon. I'm not, because if you think about what he's done over 1,200 total yards of offense three of the last four years, he is a dual threat running back.

And for his side, and the kind of leader that he is, the better leader than what most people could possibly imagine. Remember, Mixon was here during some of the dog days when things were really hard around here. He came out in 2017. Joe Burrow didn't show up until 2020, when Mixon was getting a new deal, a new contract. And he's the reason why, how could the Bengals poach an offensive tackle like Orlando Brown Jr.? Go check where he played ball at, who he played with, and who he blocked for at Oklahoma. It was a running back by the name of Joe Mixon. And so Joe may not be the best pass protector that Piranh was, which is why Piranh stayed in the game at the end of the Super Bowl, because pass protection was at a premium.

There was a guy named Aaron Donald who was stalking Burrow all day. Yeah, pretty good football player. Yeah, that's the only reason why he came out of the game.

You're not going to get coaches to tell you that, but I think that's why you have me on the show tonight, because I will. And also the other thing, I think from the organization standpoint, Mixon willing to take half of the salary pretty much and reduce that shows you that people want to be in Cincinnati now, because this Bengals team, they have a big window to go win a championship. Yeah, and look, he probably would have had to move on from the team or maybe try to play one more year, but this ensures that he'll be around now for two more years. So he restructured his deal, was able to lower his deal, but he can get almost within what, eight million, which is only a million shy of the nine he would have made, but he can get back to eight million with incentive. So I do think the Bengals were able to split the baby. They allowed Joe Mixon to keep his dignity of saying, look, we still value you.

You can make the money back based on the incentives, and if you perform and play the way that we think you will, you'll be made whole. But yet we ensure that you'll be around now for two more years as opposed to just one or like Dalvin Cook, maybe not even dealing with the team for 2023. So I think they were able to strike a really good court, and he wants to be here.

I think that's the real key there. He wants to be on this team because, as Mike Tomlin would say, you want volunteers, not hostages. A hundred percent, Solomon Wolcott's here with us. You mentioned the Orlando Brown Jr. connection, and it's weird to say that he was an underrated offseason acquisition because we know how good of a player he is, but you know this. The big boys up front usually don't get that much love and only get talked about when there's a crucial holding penalty or they miss an assignment. This is back-to-back offseasons. The Bengals have just done a phenomenal job and keep on improving that offensive line. Absolutely, and look, we lost three of the five starters up front as they were heading into the playoffs, and I think it cost them. I think Chris Jones looked really good against some of the Bengals' backups, but they're back and they're healthy.

It starts with Ted Karras at center. Alex Capa, remember he came over from Tampa, did a great job last year until he was lost to injury at the end. Cordell Volson, the fourth-round pick out of North Dakota State, is at the other guard, and then Jonah Williams moves from left tackle to right tackle. He did play at that position when he was at Alabama in college, and then Orlando Brown Jr. is a guy that could anchor in left tackle.

What do you have to know about Orlando Brown Jr.? A road grader in the run game, and if you're going to beat him in pass pro, you're going to have to beat him from the outside. What the Bengals want to do is secure the pocket from the inside out with a stationary guy like Joe Burrows, who, oh by the way, moves as well in the pocket as any quarterback in the league. And I know that Lael Collins in December suffered the ACL injury.

Is there any hope that he'll be back this year? Because that could be a big late-season push for the Bengals in acquisition if you get Lael Collins back. Oh no, you're right, and that's the reason why there's no rush, because they now have depth on this offensive line. You've got a guy like Lael Collins kind of waiting in the wings. He gives us stability, and he's a road grader too in the run game, so he's the guy that can play the, you know, God forbid something should happen. He can come in at right tackle, he can swing, Jonah Williams back over the left tackle. So they've got great depth and versatility up front on the offensive line, and they haven't been able to say that. Since the days of Andrew Whitworth. Let's get to the last down.

Alrighty, last one for you Solomon Wilcox. You know, this has been the only team that has made Kansas City look human. They beat them three times in a row, once in the playoffs, and then last year they talked a lot of smack on the defensive side of the ball leading into that AFC Championship game, and they didn't walk out there with the victory. What do you think this team learns from coming up short last year against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship game? I think they learned that, you know, games are decided in the final moments, and even with a guy like Patrick Mahomes, you cannot give him the ball last, cannot hit him if he runs out of bounds. You know, you've got to really be on par, but you know, Joe Burrow talks about this.

He said that game went just like the previous three, came down to the very end. Somebody's going to make a play, and you just hope that you have the ball in your hand. Joe Burrow didn't get the ball like he had in the previous situations. And then everyone knows that Patrick Mahomes is a stone cold killer. You give him the ball with a few seconds left on the clock, he's going to find a way to put points on the board. It's going to come down to that every single time. Last guy with the ball typically wins. Inside the AFC North, 1-2-3-4, I know you're going to rank, and deservedly so, the Bengals won, but how do you rank the other three teams in the Ravens, Steelers, and Browns? Hey look, you cannot deny Lamar Jackson.

That guy went healthy. He's must-see TV, and he's going to put up some plays because of the wide receiving core around him. I think I counted, what, four first-round picks on the wide receiving core. So that tells you about the way that they're all set up.

They're ready to do some things. Look, I think Cleveland should be number three. It's just about the rest or rust quotient when it comes to Deshaun Watson. But that is a loaded roster that I think is ready. You can see three teams going to the playoffs, and I wouldn't be surprised. And only because Kenny Pickett is a young quarterback, that the Steelers would be finishing fourth.

But they could still be above 500 and still finish fourth in their division. So that's the way I have them stacked up. Make sure you check him out on the Believe in Bengals podcast on the Believe podcast network, and then also each and every morning on the opening drive on Sirius XM NFL radio. He's our pal Solomon Wolcott. Solomon, appreciate it as always. Thank you. Thanks, Zach. Keep up the great work, my friend. You got it.

Back at you. There he is, Solomon Wolcott. We will take a break on the Zach Gelb Show on CBS Sports Radio. When we come on back, is Dalvin Cook using the Jets? And what the heck is going on in terms of the truth with how the 49ers evaluate Trey Lance?

You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. All right, you can think around the auto parts where your car care needs get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. O-O-O-O-O-Reilly Auto Parts. So I'm trying to figure out what's the truth here with Dalvin Cook and the Jets. Aaron Rodgers clearly, and I've been saying this ever since he got released. I'm talking about Dalvin Cook. Aaron Rodgers clearly wants Dalvin Cook. But the question is now, does Dalvin Cook want the Jets? And over the weekend, you had the Jets host Dalvin Cook for a visit, Hard Knocks cameras following him.

He's at the practice. The fans, because these practices are open to fans, are chanting Dalvin Cook's name. And I go, all righty, you expect the deal to get done doing appearances on Good Morning Football, ESPN.

I think he was on with Rich Eisen, too. So I thought this was building up for the Jets at the end of the weekend to sign a deal with Dalvin Cook. And the only reason I asked this question is I think it's clear that the Jets want him. I think it's clear that Aaron Rodgers wants him. But does Dalvin Cook want the Jets?

And I go back to Tyreek Hill when that trade was going down and they were trying to figure out the extension and all that. Tyreek Hill absolutely used the New York Jets to get the Miami Dolphins to pay him what he wanted and had that trade go down. So I'm just wondering here, is Dalvin Cook using the Jets?

Because the Dolphins really haven't shown you their all out and make it a real extravagant thing for you that they really want you. The Jets have shown you that. Now, I'm not saying the Jets have to bend over backwards and give you some ridiculous contract. But I do wonder how far off the Jets and the Dolphins are.

But it's clearly big enough where Dalvin Cook could be. I'm not saying he definitely is, but could be using the Jets to get that price up a little bit from the Dolphins. Now, if it doesn't exceed what the Jets are offering, is that going to be a deal breaker? And will Dalvin Cook not do that?

Like, I don't know. But with how the Jets have gone out of their way and how Rogers did take thirty five million dollars less of pay cut to go out there, I'd say it's all to go get Dalvin Cook. But to get a player like Dalvin Cook, I just keep on wondering why this deal hasn't been done yet.

And I'm not saying that he could. He's only using the Jets because he could sign with the Jets. If he doesn't hear what he wants from the Dolphins. But I just wonder how far apart are Dalvin Cook and the Dolphins, where clearly the Jets are doing almost everything they can in an ideal or a realistic term, and they're still not getting a deal done where that's on Dalvin Cook's part. So until they're leaving, until they continue to leave that door open with the Dolphins, they don't slam it shut. I do think the Dolphins are still in play because it appears that's destination one for him. However, he could spin it where he'll get out there if he ends up signing with the Jets.

This is the place I always wanted to play with. You know, I was in the NFC North for all those years, and Aaron Rodgers was kicking the crap out of my football team, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Now I get to play with one of the all time greats and I get to go to a fan base that absolutely showed me so much love. But if that is all actually true and you really want to go to the Jets first, why hasn't the deal got done yet?

And that's why I kind of do the math here. And he's giving the Dolphins every opportunity to offer him the deal that he wants. He could justify even maybe even leaving some money on the table to pass up on the Jets and go home to Miami. If the two deals are anywhere in the same neighborhood between the Jets and the Dolphins, it feels like it's screaming he's going to Miami.

Hometown. You have the Mike McDaniel coming from the 49ers offense, which runs the ball and has a lot of success on the ground. So you think that would fit kind of his style of play better, maybe compared to the more pass happy offense Aaron Rodgers is going to run. And like you said, when you're on TV all Friday, when you're in the New York City area all weekend, you go visit the Jets on Sunday. You're on CBS Sports HQ talking about how it's a super everywhere.

If you are right, he did not turn down a media opportunity all weekend. Talked about how great the Jets are. And then you leave there, like I said, empty handed. I know what happened with DeAndre Hopkins and the Titans where he left without a contract and then eventually came back and got one. But this feels like he is just trying to make the Dolphins jealous, almost kind of like you're flirting with another girl to make your girlfriend or ex-girlfriend jealous to get her back. That's what this kind of feels like.

The other thing that I'll bring up here, and this is totally different than what we were just talking about. But I don't want to say I'm confused by the Dalvin Cook situation, but I'm at a point where I just don't care anymore. Don't get me wrong, Dalvin Cook is a really good football player. I still think he should be on the Minnesota Vikings.

I'm a fan of Alexander Madison as well. I don't like the message that it sends to your locker room when you move off of a player like Dalvin Cook, even though with the current state of the running back position in the NFL, I get that those things happen and you go running back by committee and pay people less, all that stuff. But I'm at a point where it's like, just make a decision already. You're a good player. You are not a great enough player where we need this dog and pony show to be going on right now and to get to a point where there's almost daily Dalvin Cook updates. The offers are what the offers are.

You've been in the market long enough. Go make a decision already. Either the Dolphins come up on your offer by the end of the week or I'm taking the deal with the New York Jets. And if I'm the Jets, I know you don't really lose here because, worst case, he just says no and he goes to the Dolphins, which would stink. But it's never bad to get yourself out of it. But deadlines do make deal.

They do make deals. If I'm the Jets, I'm saying you have at the end of the week to make a decision. If you don't tell us by the end of the week you're joining us, we're out on you and we'll move forward and we'll be okay as a football team. How much is this him wanting to skip training camp?

It's July 31st. Running backs, would you argue or think that maybe they need the least conditioning in terms of practice time to be ready for week one? So I think that factors into it, but tomorrow we're already in August.

And you've got to give yourself some time to get familiar with the playbook and things like that. Could you do it in two weeks, though? Could he sign August 15th? Potentially. And maybe that's what he's waiting for?

And I've even discussed this when it was happening from the beginning. It wouldn't surprise me if that deal takes longer to come together, just like DeAndre Hopkins, too. Now, I know Hopkins already eventually got the deal, but maybe that could factor into it. But I really think it's more so he's trying to get the Dolphins to offer him more money because he wants to go to Miami and he'll eventually settle for the Jets and he's fine with settling for the Jets.

And that's his second destination, but it's not his number one destination. And the Dolphins haven't come up on their price yet, it seems like. And they haven't given an offer that he's been OK and gave two thumbs up to. So he keeps on giving them every chance that eventually the Jets got to move on or Dalvin Cook has to move on and sign with the Jets.

All right. We'll talk a little bit about Trey Lance coming up later in the show as I talk about things I don't understand. It's a Trey Lance situation. There's a different report each and every day how he's doing at training camp.

When we come on back, I got some expectations for what teams must do in twenty twenty three. This break is brought to you by Adobe Photoshop. Here's a fun fact. Every day, millions of people around the world use Photoshop to create all kinds of cool stuff. Designs for T-shirts and posters, graphics to promote brands and businesses, images for social and Web sites. Anyone can do it. And to the guy who put a bulldog's head on a parakeet's body, you, sir, are a genius. Get started for free today. Click or tap the banner to head over to Photoshop dot com.