Chiefs Bracing for Andy Reid Retirement? (Hour 3)

All righty. Hour number three of our radio program.

That's right. It is the Zach Gelb show Coast to Coast on CBS Sports Radio. One of my favorite ways to read about the NFL is through Pro Football Talk. The man behind the website, of course, is the always entertaining Mike Florio.

Make sure you check out his book as well. Father of mine, and he's kind enough to join us to discuss really a chaotic time in the NFL with all these coaching cycle rumors, and we have playoff games this weekend, but it seems like everything is about who's going to be coaching where or who's returning as a head coach in the NFL this year, and Mike's kind enough to join us right now. Mike, what's happening? How's it going, buddy? Good to talk to you again. Well, always great to have you on. I'm doing fantastic. Let's start with the Cowboys, right?

They've been the biggest topic of conversation. Jerry Jones brings back Mike McCarthy, but he's kind of still a lame duck coach because he has one year left on the contract. I'm just trying to figure out Mike, what is Jerry Jones actually care about?

Because it doesn't make sense to me why you would bring McCarthy back. You know, I've suggested from time to time that this whole I want to win the Super Bowl every year and you'd be amazed at the size of the check. I would write if it would guarantee me a Super Bowl win. I kind of feel like that's a grift on the fans who are expected to write big checks for tickets every year to show up at games and paper overpriced popcorn and hot dogs and beer. And don't even get me started on the stale popcorn at AT&T Stadium. 13 years ago, when the Packers and the Cowboys played slipped out of the press box because I wanted some popcorn. The popcorn had been made, I think, a week earlier. You didn't get hit by an icicle at that Super Bowl.

Just wonder. Well, no, no, but you know, that was like a 48 hour window where things could have been very ugly as people were approaching the Super Bowl that day. I did learn how to walk on ice for about a quarter of a mile at a time, though.

So that was a benefit, a skill I didn't previously have. But anyway, I just think that there are factors well beyond winning, winning and winning that go into Jerry Jones thinking, whether it's he doesn't want to pay Mike McCarthy to not coach. He typically doesn't fire coaches with time left on their contract. He was Jason Garrett, moved on when the contract expired. I think the last guy he fired with time left on his deal with Dave Campo, maybe Wade Phillips during the final season of his contract in 2010.

So he doesn't like to do that. How you make it work with a guy like Bill Belichick. Belichick was even interested. I've been talking to some people in the general loop of the coaching rumor mill. And, you know, the coaches talk all the time among each other and they get information and they share some of its accurate.

Some of it's not. But there's a theory making the rounds that Bill Belichick kind of locked in on Atlanta and Dallas and Philly are going forward with their current coaches. And it looks like Philly is going to stick with Nick Sirianni as of right now because Belichick just ultimately wasn't interested in either of those teams. Or, you know, when they worked it through the back channels, they couldn't get to a point where there was a sufficient comfort level that got Belichick to veer away from whatever he has going on in Atlanta, where I think, you know, based on the news that Belichick and owner Arthur Blank met one on one. And now they're going to have another interview. That tells me Belichick had some specific terms that blanks OK with them and that maybe Belichick is more interested in power structure money.

And then going to a place where it looks like he'd be more likely to win quickly. So with that being said, let's say if there may have been interest from the Eagles and the Cowboys and Belichick and we looks like, as you said, Sirianni is going back in Philly. We know McCarthy is going back in Dallas. Mike Florio. Why wouldn't they then explore Jim Harbaugh, Pete Cowell or Mike Fable? Because all three of those guys, I think, are better than who they currently employ. Or who you have.

Are these guys upgrades? Most people would say Jim Harbaugh, Mike Fable are upgrades over the current coaches both in Dallas and in Philadelphia. But other factors, I think, creep into this. There is the benefit of familiarity.

There is the question of how much are we upsetting the apple cart here? How's the locker room going to react? You know, are the players in Dallas ready to welcome a new coach? Would they have responded well to a Bill Belichick going in and imposing his very unique style? Of coaching on a team that isn't used to being coached that way. Would it be counterproductive until you could get enough players in there who are comfortable with the Belichick way? Look at what's happened in the past when Belichick lieutenants have gone elsewhere.

Where there's been a different culture. And they try to bring, even when they say I'm going to be my own coach, they don't realize how much by osmosis they become like Belichick. And they go and they piss everybody off because they go in there with that Belichick attitude. Could Belichick even pull that off in a new city? Where it hasn't grown up over 20 years, fueled by early success. Super Bowl win in year two.

Two more two years after that. People tend to go along with what the boss is saying when you've won Super Bowl. When you're just coming in cold, you've got to get guys to buy in.

Now, you're going to have to do that in Atlanta, too. But if he goes into Atlanta, a place where they aren't even competitive and guys resist, you just move on and you go find other guys to come in and play. It's easier to sacrifice some of the talent in a place where there's less talent to get the mindset you're looking for by way of guys who are going to be amenable to the Belichick system. Talking to Mike Florio right now, the assumption is Dak on the final year of his contract with this cap hit for next year being nearly 60 million, that they'll find a way to get a long-term extension done. Is there any chance that the Cowboys who are picking in the 20s right now elect to move up in the draft and maybe have this be the last year of Dak Prescott as their quarterback? Well, I think that by the time we get to the draft, they will know exactly where things stand with Dak Prescott. They've got to get that $59.4 million cap number down dramatically before the first day of the league year when your top 51 players, you take their cap numbers, you add them up, and they have to be within the bounds of whatever the salary cap is going to be. And we still don't know exactly what it's going to be, but it's going to go up.

It's going to keep going up, but still nearly 60 million for one guy. The Cowboys need to figure that out. I think they'll have an extension by then. One of the incidental benefits to the Cowboys this year was Dak having such a good season, it justifies the kind of contract they have to give him. He has them over a barrel with this gigantic cap number in the final year of his contract with the team. They have to give him a market level contract. They had to do it no matter how he played this year. They were stuck.

And if you trade him, the cap hits even worse. So that has been the issue for a long time in Dallas. They screwed this up by not giving him a contract earlier in his career. They let it play out.

They let it play out and finally blew up in their face. They've got to deal with this contract. So I think they're going to make another multi-year commitment to Dak because they have to.

Whether or not they want to is a different issue. They have no choice but to stick with Dak. And I'm not saying that they shouldn't want to stay with him, but the contract and the way it was negotiated and the way the Cowboys screwed this thing up a few years ago, that puts them in a position where they have to keep them around.

Talking to Mike Florio right now, just circling back about your Belichick point. Everyone assumes that it's going to wind up being Atlanta. My big question is who's going to be the quarterback? Do you see that as a destination for Justin Fields? Is Kirk Cousins in play? Who do you think Belichick brings in to be his quarterback in Atlanta? Well, they're going to have options and Desmond Ritter and Taylor Heineke probably aren't at the top of the list. I guess if all else fails when you consider the offensive weaponry they have, maybe you just run the single wing or something in Atlanta until you get a good quarterback. And I'm only partially kidding. Is Kirk Cousins going to want to be coached by Bill Belichick? That's the ultimate question here. Who wants to be coached hard the way that Tom Brady was coached by Bill Belichick for all those years?

Some guys may welcome it, some guys might not. And if you have choices, if you have options, how much money is Bill Belichick going to offer to a Kirk Cousins or Justin Fields who's eligible for a new contract? And presumably if you would trade for him, you're going to find a way to pay him. So I think you can go in a lot of different directions. But one of the great failures of the latter years of Bill Belichick in New England, the failure to adequately replace Tom Brady, the misadventures with Mac Jones.

And it's the most important position on the field. So there's a lot of unknowns there. And I don't know how much Arthur Blank is locked onto that. I think from his perspective, it's just get Belichick and we'll figure everything else out later. Talking to Mike Florio right now, why haven't the Raiders yet officially named Antonio Pierce their head coach in your opinion?

Great question. Could be that owner Mark Davis pondering whether or not Mike Vrabel is in play. Is Jim Harbaugh in play?

It's a dangerous game for them to play at this point if they do anything by way of interviewing some of these big name candidates. Because you've already got Max Crosby, the defensive end for the Raiders, making it clear that if Pierce doesn't get the job, then Crosby may have to ask for a trade. You've got players on that team that really want Pierce. And that doesn't mean that Pierce is poised to be a great coach, but he's done a great job under difficult circumstances going five and four in nine games after the firing of Josh McDaniels. But I just can't help but wonder, you know, of all years, two years ago would have been the time to stand pat with an interim coach, which Mark Davis should have done with Rich Passaccia in hindsight. Now, this year, when you've got an unprecedented array of options, we haven't mentioned Pete Carroll. There's so many great options out there that Pete Carroll doesn't even get discussed. You've got Harbaugh, you've got Vrabel, you've got Belichick, not that he'd hire Belichick, but there's so many names out there that would be safer than rolling the dice on Antonio Pierce. Because I said, hey, give Pierce a year or two to see what his ceiling is as a head coach.

The problem is, if you do that, you're not going to have this cluster of great candidates available to hire when you decide, if you decide, if it turns out that Pierce has a ceiling on his coaching abilities that you didn't know about, because you hadn't given him the time to get there. You know, it is fascinating with those big four names, Mike Florio. Like, I believe Belichick is coaching next year in the NFL. I believe Jim Harbaugh is coaching next year in the NFL. Carroll would be surprised at this point, and I don't know what to make of Mike Vrabel either. Like, I think Mike Vrabel is a really good coach, but I could see him wait another year. I think Seattle is one to watch with Vrabel.

I also still think the Raiders. And Carroll, who knows what's going to happen with Carroll? You know, it may just be that there's so many options out there, it just takes time for everyone to process it and understand it and make up their plan. We're only a week removed from that chaos of last week when you have Carroll and Vrabel and Belichick available, and then you throw in the Saban retirement, which is irrelevant to the NFL coaching search, but it just made everything feel more historic and seismic as football goes. Maybe someone will, you know, come around on Carroll. Maybe someone will realize Vrabel is the guy we need to be locked on. We're so focused on this name and that name and this name and that name and lining up these interviews, and we're talking to this guy, we're talking to that guy.

Sometimes the obvious thing gets overlooked for a while, and then you realize, you know, what are we thinking here? Why aren't we making this move? Let's get serious about Vrabel. Let's get serious about Harbaugh, or maybe even let's get serious about Carroll. I'm a firm believer that if the Buccaneers had lost on Monday night to the Eagles, and frankly, I think one team played in that game like it wanted to keep its coach, and the other team didn't, but if the Bucs had lost that game, I wouldn't have been surprised if the Glazer family, who has a history of going after big names, were to try to get somebody like Carroll down there for a few years. Now, just wondering, is McDermott definitely safe in Buffalo?

Because, like, we're still trying to figure out if there will be any other openings. Like, Bills lose this weekend to the Chiefs. Do you think there's any chance Sean McDermott gets fired? I'd be stunned at this point, because they turned it around. They bottomed out after that Broncos lost on Monday night football, fired Ken Dorsey, even though he had nothing to do with extra guys on the field for the field goal attempt that went awry. But still, still, they turned it around.

The move to Joe Brady worked. I think that they've done enough to put out any and all flames of potential change in Buffalo. The one I'm watching is when the Chiefs' season ends, is Andy Reid going to retire?

Oh, wow. He has said he's not thinking about it, and I guess the smart aleck would say, well, there's nothing to think about if you already decide you're going to do it. But I think there's reason to believe the Chiefs have the possibility on their radar screen.

We'll find out when the season ends. You know, a lot of times, guy keeps his mouth shut until it's all said and done. He doesn't want to be the story. He doesn't want to be the focal point.

He doesn't want it to be the issue. Although I could say at some level, the closer they get to the Super Bowl, if guys start thinking maybe Andy Reid would walk away, that gives them the extra little kick to let him walk out with a trophy. But we'll see.

We'll see. But that's, going into wild card weekend, I was looking at Philly, Dallas, Tampa, Pittsburgh, and Kansas City, and now we've trimmed out Pittsburgh. We've trimmed out Dallas. We're likely trimming out Philly.

The Bucks won. The last one I'm watching is Kansas City. And could you imagine if that job opens up, that would instantly become the most coveted job in the sport with Mahomes? I was saying, ever since I caught wind of the possibility that the Chiefs are bracing for Reid leaving, not saying he will, but I think there's reason to believe the Chiefs have it on the radar screen. Mahomes, there's only one, and the Chiefs have him. So if you're Mike Vrabel, who played for the Chiefs for the final two years of his career. If you're Bill Belichick, if you're Jim Harbaugh, if you're one of these great coaches with options, you kind of want to play it out. And maybe at some level, you're kind of hoping that they lose sooner than later because you don't want to ride this all the way out until February 11 if the Chiefs make it to the Super Bowl. Mike Floyer, last thing I'll ask you from Pro Football Talk, always does a great job with us right here on the Zach Gelb show. Let's just say the Chiefs don't become open. Is Harbaugh definitely going to wind up with the Chargers? Is that where you feel like is his most likely destination?

I don't know because the thousands have interviewed him. There may be other teams that are lurking. He may be taking full advantage of this leverage he now has.

There's been reporting about some requests he's made from Michigan that I think are probably beyond what Michigan can do. Now maybe he's looking for a way to leave with a clean conscience, and that's the way to do it. You make an offer that you know they can't accept. But I heard something today that maybe the Chargers are not as sure of a thing as we kind of were starting to think it was. Ultimately, at the end of the day, you've got to negotiate a contract.

And there's contours to it. There's money involved. You've got to have a team that's willing to pay the price, give up the power, whatever it may be, to get that head coach. And Harbaugh's never had more leverage than he has right now. He's been in the mix each of the last two years. He thought he was getting the Vikings' job. He didn't.

He interviewed with the Broncos last year. That didn't go his way. This year, he's the guy. From his perspective, how can you not justify having the attitude? I should be able to get whatever I want. I'm the guy. I won the national championship and all these teams are interested in me.

I want what I want. We'll see if someone offers him what he wants and if he does make the jump to the NFL. I feel like if he's ever going to do it, though, it's now. He's 60. He's never going to be in a better position to make the leap.

And he's tormented by the fact that he lost the Super Bowl to his brother 12 years ago. Yeah, I'm just trying to wrap my head around the whole Reid thing going back to that. Like, out of 100 percent, how likely do you think that is that Reid walks away? I don't know. I don't know. But there's reason to believe the Chiefs have it on the radar screen that he could.

Gotcha. So I don't know what he's going to do. And you know what happens. This is a great point someone made to me when we got to the point where we had all this crazy speculation about who's going to do what. And is Mike Tom going to walk away?

Who else might walk away? A lot of people, when they find themselves in a difficult season and it's stressful and they're tired, you say things that you don't ultimately do. You make comments to people that make them say, hey, he's thinking about retiring. And then when it's over and it's done, you take a little time and you say, all right, let's go. I'm ready. I'm ready to get back on the horse.

Now, Nick Saban, he decided it was time. But a lot of times before you get to the point where you walk away, you feel like I'm just going to get through this and then I'm done. And then when it's done, you're not ready to be done. That's something to keep in mind. So even if there's any thoughts, discussions, family conversations about Reed walking away, it's one thing to have those conversations before the season ends. Once they end, it's a different conversation altogether because it's real.

Mike Florio from Pro Football Talk, tell people real quickly. The floor is yours, my friend, about Father of Mine, how they could get a copy of it. Well, I appreciate that. Father of Mine is a mob novel that I wrote set back in 1973 based on actual events.

My dad was a bookie connected to the mob in the small town I grew up in. So that's the starting point. Everything is fictional beyond that. You can get the e-book now for a mere three ninety nine. Three ninety nine. There is absolutely nothing. I made the argument all week last week. There's nothing you can buy for five ninety nine when I was trying to get people to get peacocks for the cheese dolphin game. So I get my paycheck last week. This week I can definitely say there is absolutely nothing you can buy for three ninety nine. Other than the e-book.

Father of Mine, you can get it on Amazon right now. You know what I take from this conversation just on the tail end that Florio is connected. So therefore you go after him on Twitter.

Get prepared to be whacked. I have no comment. Thank you, Mike.

Appreciate all the best. There is Mike Florio joining us from Pro Football Talk. Is there a chance that Andy Reid joins Nick Saban in retirement? Are we living in a world where next year we know Pete Carroll's not coaching the Seahawks, we know Bill Belichick's not coaching the Patriots. We know Nick Saban is not coaching at Alabama, even though he still has an office with the Crimson Tide. Are we about to see Andy Reid walk away?

We'll discuss when we return in five minutes on the Zach Gelb show. Free at your local auto zone. Get in the zone.

Auto zone restrictions apply. So what Florio just said about Andy Reid, I think is very interesting. I'm not telling you it's going to happen. I do lean on the side that it's more likely than not that Andy Reid will be back in Kansas City next year. But I do think it's fascinating that Mike Florio brought up when I asked him about Sean McDermott on.

All right. We got through wild card weekend. Eagles go down. The Cowboys go down. Everyone kind of thought, OK, McCarthy's going to get fired. Sirianni getting at least one of those two. We're going to get fired now. We know McCarthy's back now.

It appears nothing official yet that Sirianni is going to be back. He brings up, OK, if Tampa Bay were to have lost last weekend, there was a chance that maybe the Bucks would have made a home run swinging, got rid of Todd Bowles and tried to go get someone else. But then he said the name that he is looking at when I brought the bills and I don't think Sean McDermott's going to get fired. I think the Pegula family likes him too much.

And I think him and Brandon Bean are too close to do that after he saved a sinking ship and got him back to sailing. And we'll see how far the bills can sail to this year. I thought it was very interesting that he just brought up the Kansas City Chiefs and he said, just monitor Andy Reid.

Now, let me play this. This was from was this from last week? Yeah, it was it was right after the Saban stuff happened, right? Belichick got let go as the coach of the Patriots. And Andy Reid was asked about the possibility of him retiring.

I haven't even thought about that, Nate. I'm thinking about one thing. I figured that would come up when you guys were asking these questions because I'm old.

So but not that old. So that answer, once again, the key word in this segment is interesting. That wasn't a no. He just said he hasn't thought about it. So if you haven't thought about it, you probably wouldn't do it.

One would infer. But maybe you think about it at the end of the year and you think about retiring. Now, Reid is 65. And I believe this contract is through 2026. Now, it doesn't matter.

You could walk away whenever you want. And he's had a great coaching career where for a while he was one of those guys that was viewed as a very good coach, but couldn't get over the hump in Philadelphia. All those NFC title games, only one one of them lost the Super Bowl where his offense is moving about as slow as molasses. They were trying to come back from down 10 points up against the Pats in that 2005 February 2005 Super Bowl in Jacksonville. And then he goes to Kansas City and now he's been to three Super Bowls of Kansas City and he's won two Super Bowls. With Mahomes being this young and not even having a great roster this year and being in the final eight and potentially after this weekend, being in the final four and who knows, maybe they're playing the Super Bowl this year. Maybe they win the whole thing. If they win it, I think there's a chance he could walk away, but I don't think the Chiefs are going to win it. And I'm not saying you have to go out with the Lombardi Trophy. But when you were that close yet so far for so many years and now you have the guy that's always going to keep you in it. I know a lot of people look at 65 is close to an age when you start to think of retirement. It's different in coaching.

It is. And I could see Andy Reid saying, I let me go win another one. Let me go win another one.

Let me see how many I could go get. In the next year to five years. Like I'm not telling you Andy Reid's going to coach north of five more seasons, but I would be surprised if he walks away. But let's say you win it this year or even if you don't. Like Andy Reid's going to the Hall of Fame. He's done everything that he could in the NFL. But I don't think this is like Sabin in college where he got fed up right with NIL and the transfer portal. I don't think there's a lot to get fed up with Andy Reid outside of not having a legit number one wide receiver right now.

So let's just do this real quickly. We have Florio once again. Mike Florio joined us to start off this hour. If you're just tuning in, Mike Florio bringing up the possibility. Never said it's going to happen, but just the possibility, something to monitor about Andy Reid's future. Listen up. The one I'm watching is when the Chiefs season ends, is Andy Reid going to retire?

Oh, wow. He has said he's not thinking about it. And I guess the smart enough would say, well, there's nothing to think about if you already decide you're going to do it. But I think there's reason to believe the Chiefs have the possibility on their radar screen.

We'll find out when the season ends. You know, a lot of times guy keeps his mouth shut until it's all said and done. He doesn't want to be the story.

He doesn't want to be the he doesn't want it to be the issue. Although I could say at some level, the closer they get to the Super Bowl, if guys start thinking maybe Andy Reid would walk away, that gives them the extra little kick to let him walk out with a trophy. That would be something.

It really would. And Florio lays it out perfectly. You never want to be the distraction as a coach, you know, unless you are Coach K, where you wanted the bow down tour and you wanted everyone to genuflect to you and give you all the gifts and things like that. But in the NFL, it's about limiting the distractions. And like if you would have told me a week ago that Belichick could be gone from New England, I would believe it. If you would have told me a week ago that Nick Saban would have retired from Alabama, would not have believed it. If you would have told me Pete Cowell would have been out in Seattle, would not have believed it. And now heading into this week, if you were to tell me at the end of this Chiefs playoff run, at least it's something on the Chiefs radar that Andy Reid could retire and maybe he's not back next year. Like if you would have told me we would have been talking about this on the show today, I would have never believed it.

I wouldn't have. But Florio is very well connected to the NFL. And he said it's just something to monitor.

It's something to watch. And he's spot on. You go back to that denial of Reid when talking about retirement. Oh, you know, I knew this was come up when Nick Saban retired, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And he goes, I haven't thought about it. You know, if you actually aren't going to, it would have been a direct no. But he just said he hasn't thought about it.

So maybe it's something to monitor. But I would still be surprised. I would be maybe even a little more than just surprised, like very surprised if Andy Reid does not return next year as the Chiefs coach and let's say he retires. And then if that's the case, it's like who didn't already take a job with the big four? In Belichick, who I still think will go to the Falcons, in Pete Carroll, in Mike Vrabel and Jim Harbaugh. This this has already been the craziest coaching cycle and the craziest two weeks of coaching news that I've ever seen. Starts with Carroll getting let go. Saban then retiring, right?

You had Vrabel, who's not in the same category as those other guys, but still very good coach. He gets axed in Tennessee and then boom, Belichick. It was speculated he gets let go as well.

Could be heading a fifth to that chapter. Andy Reid walking away. I think it's more likely that he's back in Kansas City next year than he's not. But it is something to monitor when Mike Florio does bring it up. How about that audio from Mike Florio, who just joined us a few moments ago on CBS Sports Radio?

Alrighty, this is Zach Gelb's show. We'll take a timeout. We'll come on back, wrap up the show out in style with a little news brief. I'll take you to some of the biggest stories in the world of sports with some audio.

But let's get the latest CBS Sports Radio update first. And any time there's coaching news and it involves a team that wears red, Richard Ackerman has a big play in his playbook, and that's to wear, what is that, a sweater? Sweater, yes. A red sweater. When Nick Saban retired, you were wearing a red sweater. That's correct. When Mike Florio is speculating that maybe you need to monitor Andy Reid retiring, you're wearing a red sweater.

Or Bill Belichick meeting with the Falcons again. Ah, as well. I like the Falcons red rather than the Falcons black. Ack is well connected, by the way. Ack is very well connected. And I think, because you're not a let's go break news, let's be a Schefter, let's be an Ian Rappaport, but Ack gets told a lot of things. And I think the way that Ack tells us what he's getting told is by wearing the colors of the team that it involves.

It's got that mental telepathy working, you know? So wait, you like the Falcons, what was the color take? The Falcons red. Over the black uniforms? Yes, the original Falcons uniforms.

Okay. I kind of like those black Falcons uniforms. Nah, I was never a big fan. But you're a big uniform guy. I am a big, and I'm a big traditional uniform guy.

You are. See, you get, you freak out, I would imagine, when teams wear uniforms that you're like, ugh, ugly. It doesn't bother me. Oh, it drives me crazy. Especially a team with a uniform that I like, when like the Nick uniforms or the Celtics uniforms, they're so traditional, and the Celtics are wearing, you know, black uniforms, the green and gold uniforms.

I'm like, what is this? Well, it was, who was it, the Tennessee Titans a few weeks back? The Houston Oilers. Did that annoy you? Oh, I love them. I love the old Oilers uniforms. But did it annoy you that they were wearing the uniform? No, not at all.

Okay, gotcha. And I'd like to see the Pittsburgh Steelers go back to the original numbers. What's the ugliest uniform that you've ever seen? The ugly?

I'd have to think, off the top of my head, it's just, you know. Do you have a favorite uniform? In the NFL, it's the Steelers. Always love the old Steelers uniforms.

Here we go. I'm a traditional guy. Baseball, I like the Dodgers. I do like the Met uniforms. I like the powder blue Chargers uniforms. That could be my favorite uniform ever.

You know what? I do like the powder blue Chargers, but I love the Dan Fouts royal blue Chargers. Okay. That's a great one, too.

You know, even though I'm not a big fan of teal, I do like the Dolphins, the original Dolphins uniforms. Those are good, too. Gotcha.

I feel like we could do a whole segment with that. Yeah, absolutely. What uniforms he likes, what uniform he hates.

That's a clear antithesis. Like, I see people lose their mind on Twitter and social media about uniforms. The only uniforms that ever annoyed me are in the NBA. Those, like, T-shirt jerseys that they wear with, like, the sleeves. I just think they look horrible.

That's the only time I think a uniform looks bad. Yeah, I'm there with you on that. So, you know, the Oklahoma City Thunder. They've got to do something with the Oklahoma City. It's just not going.

Just not going. Act likes Oklahoma City as much as Kevin Durant. No, I love Shay Gilders Alexander.

I don't know, those uniforms, they don't do it for me. How'd you say his name? Shay Gilders Alexander. Nice. Nice to hear an update anchor here at CBS Sports Radio say his name correctly. Why?

How do people? There was a younger update anchor that say Shay Gilders Alexander or something like that. Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. Ack is always on top of his game. All right, let's get another award-winning CBS Sports Radio update with a man that we need to monitor his wardrobe.

Because whatever shirt he's wearing and the color of that shirt, it will tell us something. Little wind-horse fingers will tell us something about a coach's future. Here he is, the Ackman, Rich Ackerman. All righty, wrapping up shop on this Thursday, this is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. We'll get to a news brief in just a second, but let me bang out a call first.

855-212-4CBS, 855-212-4227. Let's go to Jake in Texas, he's been holding patiently. He's next up on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Jake, what'd he say? Hey Zach, thanks for taking my call, love the show.

Appreciate it. Just wanted to say something about Jerry Jones and Mike McCarthy, Dak Prescott. You know, I've been a lifelong Cowboys fan and Florio is correct. You'd have to go all the way back to 2002 to find a year when Jerry Jones let go of a coach before his contract was up. Now, that being said, I think that, you know, come May, Trey Lance has to have his fifth year option picked up. Now, I know everyone's going to laugh when I say Trey Lance, but if by the end of May, if they do not pick up his fifth year option, then you kind of know, okay, well maybe they're thinking Prescott, you know, they'll extend him. But it's going to be a very interesting offseason. This is a contract year for McCarthy.

I don't think Jerry extends him unless they do really well. And he doesn't have a problem with openly putting his team and players on the hot seat. And he's not afraid to let go of a star like Dez Bryant or Tony Romo.

You know, when the time comes, he'll let it happen. The only thing that's tricky here, Jake, is the contract. Because there's $59 million, you know, for the salary cap space for this year when it comes to Dak Prescott.

That's the cap hit. The only way you can move that around is if you give him an extension. So, like, I hear what you're saying.

I don't think it's going to be Trey Lance. But, like, maybe if they wanted to move up in the draft from, what, their 23-24 to try to get in the top ten and get the quarterback, okay. And then it's okay. One year you have to bite the bullet.

But I do kind of think what Mike said ends up being the reality here is where you're going to have to hold your nose. And Dak's done enough to get a new contract. But you never think he's probably going to win a Super Bowl with you. Yeah, I hate to say it, man. Lifelong Cowboys fan. But, yeah, I just don't think he's the guy to get it done.

You got it. And I don't think you're wrong. I don't think McCarthy wins in Dallas.

And I don't think Dak Prescott wins in Dallas as well. Good phone call, Jake. Appreciate you. Let's get to a little news brief. We'll teach some of the biggest stories in the world of sports with some audio right now. You know, we're going to go through our draft process and we'll make what's in the best decision for the best interest of the team.

That's what the hoodie would say. Jerrod Mayo lets on a little bit more. Let's listen up to my new head football coach. I'm very excited. I'm very excited. What I will say is this, we're going to draft the best player for a position that is very important.

You put the pieces together. The way I take that, Caleb Williams going one to the Bears. Drake May probably going two to the commanders. And welcome in Heisman Trophy winner from LSU. And also, let's not forget Arizona State.

Got to pay attention to Moist Mike's team. And that's going to be Jayden Daniels winding up in New England. Let's go to Mickey Loomis, the general manager of the New Orleans Saints. He defends Dennis Allen's record. Bill Belichick.

Here's his first three seasons. 6 and 10, 7 and 9, 7 and 9. Tom Landry, 0 and 11, 4 and 9, 5 and 8, 4 and 10, 5 and 8. Hall of Fame coaches, all of them.

Bill Walsh, first year, 2 and 14, second year, 6 and 10. So I think the easy thing to do is just look at the results and say, oh no, we've got to have a change. You've got to look beyond that.

What are the reasons why we were 9 and 8 instead of 13 and 4? And look, it's collective. It's the players. It's the coaches.

It's me. It's our personnel staff, our roster. It's variables sometimes that we don't have any control of. And so my assessment is Dennis Allen is a good coach.

I think sometimes the hard thing to do is to be patient and recognize your other shortcomings and get those fixed. And that's what we're doing. So, number one, I don't get how you're a serious executive and you go to a press conference with a wad of gum in your mouth. All right? That's number one. Number two. Is that another PSA? Yeah, sure.

That is. You can't be holding a press conference with gum in your mouth. Number two, I love how conveniently he forgets the Raiders' ears. Dennis Allen was 4 and 12, 4 and 12, 0 and 4, then fired, and he only talks about, oh, 7 and 10, 9 and 8. You know, you got to give some time. I'm not even saying Dennis Allen should be fired.

I don't think you win a Super Bowl with Dennis Allen, but this should have been gifted to you that you should have won the NFC South this year and you couldn't even win this division. So like, stop trying to make him out to be this great coach and you're on this foundation of all-time great coaches and you're on this track. You made a decision.

Don't sound like a jackass when you're trying to defend that decision and just say you simply believe he is the best coach for this team in 2024. Less is more. All right? That's all you got to do here. Instead it's wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah. Oh, geez.

Man. Like, McCarthy earlier today would have been better off saying nothing. Mickey Loomis would have been better off saying nothing as well. Just keep on putting your foot in your mouth.

It's ridiculous. By the way, let's listen up to Mike McCarthy. Defends his playoff record.

Here's Mike McCarthy bloviating. We have established a championship program that's just not the world championship yet. We know how to win. We know how to train to win. We have the right people, but we have not crossed the threshold of winning playoff games. And it's extremely disappointing to be sitting here talking about it. But you know, I know how to win, and we will get over that threshold. I have total confidence in it, and that's why I'm standing here today. Oh, you're standing here today because the owner said you're back.

That's why. We have a championship culture, just not a world championship culture. So you don't have a championship culture unless you're just saying you have an NFC East championship culture. You know what? I need to get out of sports talk radio. I do. I need to become a PR person, and I need to train coaches and general managers how to not sound like a jackass while talking to the media. That should be my next calling. You know, this doesn't work out.

I'll go do that for a living. Here is Mike Tomlin. This is apology for walking out of the press conference right after their playoff loss to Buffalo. When he was asked about his contract, he did a media availability today and had this to say about his future. Good afternoon. A little better mood today, man.

Anybody got any contract questions? I'll say this. I certainly could have handled that situation better than I did. But I'll also say this. I just believe there's a time and place for everything and postgame press conferences are probably not the place to address contract issues and things of that nature. Mike Tomlin could be the best talker in the NFL.

He's so smooth, too. Like, he just apologized, hey, how's everyone doing? He knows that he's going to get an onslaught of questions. He doesn't usually say a lot. Like, he speaks for a long amount of time, but it's not, like, a lot of details that he's giving you. But every time he speaks, I'm just like, yep, yep, I agree with what this guy's saying. No, I like this guy a lot. Here is Mike Tomlin, though.

This one I don't love that much. Maybe Chris in California does, though. Biggest Kenny Pickett fan on the planet, besides his relatives. Chris may be a relative to Kenny Pickett.

Here's Mike Tomlin and Kenny Pickett. I'm extremely confident in him. I feel stronger about some of the intangible things than I did, obviously, when we first started doing business with him because I have evidence of it. He's highly competitive and professional. He doesn't run from challenges.

He runs to challenges. I think that's evident in the way he plays, particularly at the end of close football games. He's got good framework to work with and for a young guy. He's matured beyond his years. I'm excited about him. Is he at the point of spring now where some of the improvement has to be tangible, not just the leadership? Certainly, it's a big year for him.

We acknowledge that. It is a huge year for him. So he's going to be their guy next year, even though Deontay Johnson the other day, when talking to a reporter, was saying he hopes that Mason Rudolph wins the job this upcoming season. So does Kenny really have the trust of the locker room? He has the trust of his head coach.

I don't think Kenny Pickett is the guy. I think he's just a guy in the NFL. And this is a make-or-break season. Some could argue that he shouldn't get that right, and neither should Mason Rudolph. I believe they should bring an established quarterback and try to take advantage of this defense. But Mike Tomlin's telling you, we're going to do it my way. We believe in Kenny Pickett.

We're going to give him this year, and we're going to see what he can do. All righty, that's a news brief, Zach Gelb's show, CBS Sports Radio. Good to be back today.

After being out sick yesterday, we will be back tomorrow. Big Football Friday show. You know, it's wild. The last two weeks, we have all these playoff games, wild card round, divisional round. And there's just been so much with the coaching cycle, with last week with Saban retiring, Carroll getting fired, Belichick getting fired, Rabel getting fired. This week, oh, well, what's going to happen with the Cowboys?

What's going to happen with the Philadelphia Eagles? You get to Friday, and it's like, oh, we got games to talk about. So we'll spend a lot of time talking about the games tomorrow and get you set for divisional round weekend as we trim eight teams down to four teams. So Greg Williams will stop by tomorrow. Ryan Horvat will stop by tomorrow. Moist Mike will be here. Stuart Kovacs will be here, and each and every one of you will be here as well, including yours truly. Thanks so much for tuning in. We out. Talk tomorrow 3 p.m. Eastern. Bye-bye. We'll be right back.