Raiders Options at Quarterback (Hour 1)

Your fever is high and the pressure to log in at work is too. But when you finally decide to take care of you, there's Instacart. Just because that one perfect coworker of yours is attending all meetings, camera on while she's sneezing, coughing and aching, doesn't mean you have to do the same. Take it from us, trying to stay on top of things will only get you further behind.

Instead, get everything from tissues and teas to cough suppressants and comforting soups delivered through Instacart in as fast as 30 minutes. If anyone needs anything, they can just redirect their questions to that one perfect coworker of yours. A Peanut Butter M&M's production. In a world where Super Bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring, but the runners-up get nothing, one retired cop returns- That's one retired quarterback. Read the script.

Oh, sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. That's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter.

But you're on a roll. The Ring of Comfort, coming soon to a Super Bowl new you. Live from the play show, yet not overly ostentatious, studios of CBS Sports Radio here in beautiful New York City, sitting on top of the 10th floor of 345 Hudson Street. Welcome on in to a Friday edition of the Zach Gelb show across all the great local CBS Sports Radio affiliates. Sirius XM Channel 158, the free Odyssey app and of course streaming on YouTube. YouTube.com slash CBS Sports Radio 855212. For CBS's number to jump on in 855212-4227.

You could always get at me on Instagram where I'm straight flexing or via the good old cesspool of Twitter at Zach Gelb. That's Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-V. Got Stuart Kovacs, Moist Mike, rocking and rolling with me all the way up until 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific. Former Bulls guard, now agent, BJ Armstrong.

Gonna stop by to get you set for All-Star Weekend and talk about the NBA season. 40 minutes from now and then one of the unsung heroes of the Super Bowl, Mike Pannell, who did a phenomenal job on the defensive line, was elevated from the practice squad before the game when Joe Tooney was out on the offensive line. And Mike Pannell did a sensational job on the defensive side of the football where he did force that fumble on Christian McCaffrey. And in the third quarter, he just abused Trent Williams. And we all know Trent Williams, one of the greatest left tackles of all time. He put Trent Williams on his ass and then tackled Christian McCaffrey.

So Mike Pannell is going to join us coming up at 4.20 p.m. Eastern, 1.20 p.m. Pacific today. I never thought today, when I was getting ready for the show, that we were going to lead today's show with Jimmy Garoppolo. Because Jimmy Garoppolo is really such a non-story and such a pedestrian story as well.

But today, and this is pun intended, the Jimmy Garoppolo story got a little bit juicier. And when I look at Jimmy Garoppolo, I remember a few years ago when people were like, oh, maybe he'll return to New England. And I was like, no, please, no, I do not want Jimmy Garoppolo back in New England. Because Jimmy Garoppolo, to me, is at best an above average game manager. He is an overrated quarterback. He is at best a okay, slightly good quarterback. I know he's won a lot of games in the NFL, but he will never be an elite quarterback. He will never be a great quarterback. And quite frankly, I've never looked at him as a very good quarterback. I was never a fan of Jimmy Garoppolo.

And this isn't revisionist history. This has been my stance on Jimmy Garoppolo forever. And the other part is, and it's unfortunate, he has been synonymous with being injured.

His body is made out of glass and it gets banged up all the time on an NFL football field. But I was not expecting today when I was working out at the gym and I was doing my hour elliptical ride that I was going to get an Adam Schefter alert. And the alert was going to be Jimmy Garoppolo's being suspended two games.

Now, when I first saw two games, I didn't read the rest. I'm like, what the heck could Jimmy Garoppolo being suspended for? You know, he seems like a good guy off the field. We know he's a good looking guy.

We know he knows how to go out with some pretty good looking woman. So I didn't think he would get into any legal trouble or any physical situation away from the field. Say what you want about Jimmy Garoppolo, he seems like a good guy. And when you hear two game suspension, I didn't even think it was going to be for PEDs because that's usually a six game suspension. But he was suspended for the NFL's performance enhancing substance policy. And he is also getting plans and is planning for the Raiders to release him.

Now they were going to release him anyway. This is just a little, I guess, going away present for Jimmy Garoppolo. Where regardless if he's on a team or not next year, he's going to be out for the first two games of the season.

And I was reading more about this because I was wondering why it wasn't six games and I didn't really get a great answer on that. The policy violation is said to be related, according to Schechter, to Garoppolo using a prescribed medication without having a valid therapeutic use exemption from the league, according to sources. So we don't really know what Jimmy Garoppolo was using, but there's no excuses because whether you're getting prescribed it or not, the NFL allows the players to run by whatever they're putting in their body to them and they either get thumbs up, this is approved, or thumbs down, you can't do this. So I don't want this to be, oh, Jimmy didn't know, or Jimmy was using this and this isn't something that should be on the ban list. The rules are the rules. And there are a few things in the NFL where sometimes I disagree with the rules.

And there are some things that I will sit back and say, hmm, you know, I don't really crush someone for doing something. And we don't know everything here, but it's very simple. There is a process in place that if you're going to put anything in your body in the NFL, it is so easy for it to get checked by the league and for it to get checked by your team to tell you if you could be putting this substance in your body. So whatever reason or whatever excuse or whatever thing Jimmy G was putting into his body, first off, I don't think it's really working because he stinks on the field.

But secondly, there's no excuse to have a positive test because you could have got it approved by the league. So the back end part of this story is pretty much the inevitable. This is just an extra layer to it is that sooner rather than later, from a financial standpoint, Jimmy G is going to get released by the Raiders.

And let me first start off by saying this. What a ridiculous deal it was by the Las Vegas Raiders to give Jimmy G a contract and give Jimmy G a multiyear deal. Because you got to remember where we were at last offseason.

And once again, this was not revisionist history. This is what I said at the moment. I was more than fine with Josh McDaniels at the time saying we need a new quarterback. Derek Carr has limitations. Derek Carr has been in a league so long and Derek Carr is not a great quarterback. Derek Carr is an above average quarterback.

He is never consistently a top 10 quarterback. And also, more importantly, you can't win a Super Bowl with Derek Carr. You can remove your disdain for Josh McDaniels Raiders fans and acknowledge the initial decision, even though Derek Carr was popular with the fan base, was a right idea and a right thought to try to go get someone else. But when there were all those rumors about Brady and about Rogers and then Brady retires and Aaron Rogers, for whatever reason, wasn't heavily pursued by the Las Vegas Raiders when you had Devante Adams there. And it seemed like if the Raiders were willing to tango, the Packers would have been willing to listen. But for whatever the reasons were, you had Brady retiring. They didn't pursue Rogers.

And then it was like, oh, crap, where do you go from here? And you can't move on from Derek Carr, who was popular with the fan base, even though he was not a very good quarterback. And you can't then sell them on Jimmy G. Because at the time, the best argument you can make, even if you were the biggest Jimmy G fan, is that Jimmy Garoppolo may have been slightly, slightly better than Derek Carr. And I think that is very debatable. So you moved on from Derek Carr to bring in a quarterback that you can't even argue is vastly better.

And at best, you could maybe argue he is slightly better. And oh, yeah, by the way, this quarterback that you brought in is synonymous with injuries. So bringing in Jimmy G was really failed from the get-go. And it was a terrible decision from the start by Josh McDaniels. And look where we are a year later, where the Raiders actually aren't that miserable of a destination. With everything that has gone wrong recently, and as Stu knows more than anybody, there is a lot that has gone wrong recently. And basically for the majority of Stu's life, the Raiders have been able to kind of spin their outlook of their franchise as a team that I'm not ready to say is going to win a bunch of games this year.

But I don't think it's a dreadful spot. You got Devante Adams. You have Max Crosby. We'll see if they bring back Josh Jacobs. But more importantly, they recognize that Antonio Pierce was the right guy for the job. Where a few years ago, Rich Basaccia replaced Jon Gruden when Jon Gruden got fired. And Basaccia did a sensational job with the team under tougher circumstances than Antonio Pierce had. And you had Basaccia take that team to the playoffs, and they were a Derek Carr touchdown away. And he turned over the football from taking down the Bengals in the wildcard round in the jungle, where let me remind you, the Bengals ended up going to the Super Bowl that year.

And instead of making what would have been a logical move and promoting Basaccia, they wanted to make a splash. They wanted to bring in a name that has had success in the NFL, even though he had no success as an NFL head coach. And you had Mark Davis enamored with Josh McDaniels.

So two years later, you had McDaniels be a disaster. Antonio Pierce do a heck of a job. You didn't have to hire Pierce. But if you didn't hire Pierce, you had Max Crosby threatening to force a trade. You probably would have lost Devante Adams as well, and he probably would have requested a trade in addition to that. But if you would have brought in, you couldn't have brought in Belichick because of the McDaniels connection, you could have made the case for Vrabel. You could have definitely made the case for Jim Harbaugh. But the smart move, and I'm not saying that Jim Harbaugh would have been a bad move, it would have been a great move. I'm not saying Mike Vrabel would have been a bad move, it would have been a great move. But the smart move was promoting Antonio Pierce from interim head coach to head coach. So now even after the disaster tenure of McDaniels, David Ziegler and Jimmy G, you have been able to have a top 10.

Let's go top three wide receiver in football in Devante Adams. You have a top five pass rusher in Max Crosby and you have a head coach that's respected in that locker room. Now ultimately, the Raiders are not close to taking down the Chiefs inside the AFC West, but they can't be that far off from being a playoff team, but they have to hit on their quarterback. We knew before this offseason started that Jimmy G was not going to be the quarterback next year.

Now Schefter has put it out there, regardless of the suspension, he's going to get released, and that was even before the suspension. So where do the Raiders go next is the question. And if I'm the Raiders, the first name I call is Kirk Cousins. Now, I don't think Kirk is going to go there. I think Kirk is either going to go to Atlanta and that I think is the most likely destination, or even though it appears that the Vikings do not want him back, I'm not going to rule out the possibility of a reunion and an extension with the Minnesota Vikings, because Justin Jefferson I think does play a big role in this. So it's not impossible for the Raiders to land Kirk Cousins, but I feel as if Kirk Cousins is going to stay in the NFC. I do believe he'll wind up in Atlanta. And just talking to Arthur Blank at the Super Bowl, it seems like he wants to bring in a vet. It seems like Arthur Blank thinks his team is a quarterback away. So I believe the Falcons are going to make a big run at Kirk Cousins this offseason. But let's say the Falcons don't get him. Then maybe he goes back to Minnesota, or maybe he considers the Raiders. I don't think the Raiders are likely, but I would not say that it's out of the realm of possibilities.

The other potential names. Russell Wilson, let's assume that he gets released. I don't think Russ, on a short-term prove-it deal, is a terrible option.

Because you do have pieces on offense with Devontae Adams, you have Jacoby Myers as well, and you have one of the better defensive players in the league of Max Crosby. I think Russell Wilson could weather the storm for a season. For a season or two. Russell Wilson, I don't think it would be a splashy move, I don't think it would be a popular move, but can he be competent? Can he improve that quarterback position?

Absolutely. And the best way to describe Russell Wilson, wherever he goes right now, is a stopgap guy. And I think he can be a stopgap guy. Now the other name I'm going to suggest is Justin Fields. And I'll give credit to my buddy Mike Danger, who does a show in Rochester, who he explained why Justin Fields isn't likely for the Raiders. Remember earlier in the season when Justin Fields was slamming the Bears coaching staff? Well who was the OC for the Bears last year?

Luke Getze. Now we all thought it was going to be Cliff Kingsbury being the OC for the Raiders, but then something happened and he wound up with the Washington commanders. So now Luke Getze is the OC for the Raiders. We've seen coaches and players not get along in the past, and then them rekindle a relationship or learn how to work together somewhere else in the future. But I have a tough time thinking, even though I believe Fields would be a good move, that Fields is going to wind up with the Raiders, even if it costs them like a second round pick or a third round pick, whatever the cost is going to be for Justin Fields, because of how ugly that relationship was with Justin Fields and Luke Getze going back to last year in Chicago.

Now here's another potential name. It's a guy that's on the roster. Maybe they don't do anything and it's Aiden O'Connell. Now I don't think that should be the guy, but Max Crosby joined us last week at the Super Bowl, and he kind of made the case for Aiden O'Connell.

Aiden O'Connell, at the end of the day, he was our guy. He stepped in, he helped us win a lot of games, and there's growing pains. Being a rookie is hard enough, being thrown in in the middle of the season when everyone's starting to figure out who they are as teams, it makes it even more difficult. And the fact that he didn't blink, you know, we go to play the Vikings, we score zero points, he's getting murdered online, everybody.

Turn around in four days, we go out there and set the record for most points scored. That's just a testament to not only him, but the guys in this locker room. So at the end of the day, you know, they're going to have to fight that out, that we're going to probably bring in two quarterbacks. Aiden, you know, is going to have a chance to fight for that spot.

Can he be a franchise quarterback in your opinion? I mean, nobody thought I would be where I'm at after my rookie year. You know, realistically, nobody expected me to be here. I believe in Aiden 100%.

So there you go. Nice teammate, I would say, Max Crosby. That is what I hear in that response. He's a good teammate. Do I genuinely believe that Aiden O'Connell should be this team starting quarterback next year? No. Do I genuinely believe that Aiden O'Connell will be a franchise quarterback in this league?

No. But there's been a lot of players that have been doubted, that have been overlooked, and they ended up proving us wrong and making me shut up. So there's one more potential option.

I'll get to that right now. And this is from Ian Rappaport. The Raiders have been in the market for QB for 2024 with the potential move up in the draft and looking into the position in free agency. Moving on from Jimmy Garoppolo was always the plan. Now they can do it without paying his guaranteed money. So that report out there is potentially moving up in the draft.

They're currently at 13. Antonio Pierce knows Jayden Daniels from his time at Arizona State. Maybe that's a move up. I don't think you're getting to one or two because I do believe the Bears are going to take Caleb Williams. And then I would think that the commanders take a quarterback. Is it May or is it Daniels?

Who knows? Probably right now we would lean with Drake May. Maybe the Patriots want to trade back at three.

I don't know if that's going to be the case, but let's just say if it's quarterback, quarterback, quarterback, one, two, three, and the Raiders aren't able to trade up with the 13th overall pick. Do you want to take a Michael Penix Jr? Do you want to take a J.J. McCarthy? Do you want to take a Bo Nix?

I'm not so sure about that. Out of those three, I would say you probably would want to take Michael Penix Jr. But you could run this risk.

And if you fall in love with someone, you got to take the quarterback. But you could fall back because I don't think any of those guys should go with the 13th pick. Maybe you make a selection and use your second round pick, assuming they have one, to trade back up into the first round and get one of those guys later on. So Stu, since you are a Raiders fan here, I just want you to answer me this question. Realistic option. Out of all the potential realistic possibilities, what is your realistic starting option this year for the Raiders at the quarterback position? I think best case scenario would be trading up and getting a quarterback. And you think that's realistic? Somewhat realistic.

It would probably cost a lot, but yeah. We've seen it before. We've seen it before. Second, I would say Russell Wilson on a short-term, prove-it deal. Oh, you're in on Russ. I'm in on Russ. I would have been in on Justin Fields, but again, the coordinator, Luke Getze higher is a problem, so I don't think that's realistic now. I would have probably said Fields would have been right at the top of the list, but then you remember the whole Luke Getze connection and how bad that relationship was. It's like, eh, you probably don't want to do that. And then third, I would not move where they are in the draft.

I would maybe trade up from later and try to get like maybe a Knicks or someone late first or early second, something like that. Okay. Can you be unrealistic here?

Yeah, sure. Can you put your Raider cap on, your Raider sweatshirt on? Not small font, Raiders Stu sweatshirt. We want the big font Raider Stu sweatshirt. Give me your unrealistic option. You could say whatever you want right now.

Oh, wow. I mean, I feel like Kirk Cousins is not, I don't think Cousins is coming, so I feel like that's unrealistic and that's kind of someone who I would really like. Mahomes? Yeah. I mean, if you want me to say it, Joe Burrow, Mahomes, Josh Allen.

Yeah, sure. Get Brady out of retirement, you know, something like that. But I mean, look, I guess unrealistic would be somehow convincing the Bears to trade the first pick and getting Caleb Williams. That would obviously be like a dream. You'd be doing somersaults in the streets. I'd be elated if they got Caleb Williams, but I... Would you give up three future first round picks for the Raiders to move up to one to get Caleb Williams?

Because that's probably, from 13 to one, that's probably what it's going to cost you. I'd say I would, but knowing the Raiders, those future picks would be top five picks, so it'd probably be a bad idea. Knowing the Raiders, Caleb Williams would blow out his leg the first day walking into the facility, not even playing, and then his career would be over.

I mean, I got an idea. If you're going to put on the Raiders hat and just go, like, full on, you know, black hole colored glasses and just, like, what is the ideal pick for these? I mean, he's basically going to be an owner of the team. It hasn't been a signed deal. You might as well go Tom Brady, bring him out of retirement, say, hey, until they sign him as an owner, let him play.

I know I asked for unrealistic answers. Also, we have heard nothing about the Brady ownership thing. That has never become final yet. There has never been any more details that have come out about that, but I remember reading about this, and I'm going to use logic here when I ask you guys to be unrealistic.

So, yes, hypocrite of the day Zach Gelb right here on The Zach Gelb Show on CBS Sports Radio. The other owners wouldn't approve Brady to play and also be an owner of the team. They just wouldn't.

I'm just saying they haven't signed the deal, so until he signs, he can play wherever the hell he wants to. And imagine Brady in the same division as Mahomes. Brady basically saying to Mahomes, I already showed you a lesson when I was 40-something years old.

Now I'm getting even older, and I'm still going to kick your ass. I'd actually be in for a Brady return. But Brady's not coming back. He's going to be in the Fox broadcast booth. If he passed on the Niners this offseason, he ain't coming back to quarterback the Las Vegas Raiders, I'll tell you that.

Who should be quarterbacking the Raiders next year? 855-212 for CBS, 855-212-4227. It is The Zach Gelb Show on CBS Sports Radio. When the whole family comes together to watch the game, nobody wants to miss a second of the action to run to the grocery store. With Instacart, you can get all your weekly groceries in as fast as an hour.

Less time shopping means more game time. Let's go. Visit Instacart.com to get free delivery on your first three orders. Offer valid for a limited time, $10 minimum per order. Additional terms apply.

A peanut butter M&M's production. In a world where Super Bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring, but the runners up get nothing, one retired cop returns. That's one retired quarterback. Read the script.

Oh, sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. Um, that's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter, but you're on a roll. The Ring of Comfort, coming soon to a Super Bowl new you.

OK, picture this. It's Friday afternoon when a thought hits you. I can spend another weekend doing the same old whatever, or I can hop into my all new Hyundai Santa Fe and hit the road. With available H-Track all wheel drive and three row seating, my whole family can head deep into the wild. Conquer the weekend in the all new Hyundai Santa Fe. Visit HyundaiUSA.com or call 562-314-4603 for more details. Hyundai. There's joy in every journey.

2024 Santa Fe available early 2024. Alrighty, this is that Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. BJ Armstrong going to join us coming up in about 10 to 15 minutes from now. I saw Dan Graziano earlier this morning was on get up and I don't know if he was like joking or if he was being serious. And like we're all looking for content this time of the year, but he is an NFL insider. He was kind of saying earlier this morning that it's not in the realm of possibilities for Russell Wilson to be sitting right here.

And when he said that, he meant on the desk of get up. Now, I understand Russell Wilson is not a great quarterback anymore. I understand Russell Wilson the last two years has had a drop off where his first year in Denver it bottomed out. The second year, he wasn't bad. He was a solid quarterback. However, the relationship between him and Sean Payton was very toxic.

And it made me question it multiple times throughout the year. Why the heck did Sean even take this job knowing that he was never going to get along with Russell Wilson. And he probably would have been better suited waiting a year.

And then kind of taken another year off back to back years off and then getting back into the game. It felt like that this relationship with the Broncos was a rush decision by Sean Payton. And I go back to why he left the Saints regardless how he wants to spin it. He left the Saints because he didn't have a quarterback. So why would you go somewhere where the guy that you had, you weren't really even sold on with how quickly you gave up that relationship? Why would you go there and go from one team that didn't have a quarterback to Fox where you were doing a good job. And then you come back and go to a team that doesn't have a quarterback.

We're all along. We know the job that he wanted. He wanted the Chargers job a year ago. He wanted to work with Justin Herbert. He basically told everyone behind the scenes that would listen that he wanted that Chargers job. And he used his Fox platform, even though he didn't directly say it, but just to give effusive praise of Justin Herbert and the Chargers. And they had an opportunity, the Chargers, where they could have hired Sean and fired Brandon Staley a year ago.

They were cheap. They elected not to do so. And then a year later, Brandon Staley bottomed out. And now they have Jim Harbaugh. And I can't say that the Chargers ended up not having that work out. Where, yes, it was a waste of everyone's time last year with Brandon Staley. But ultimately, you get a great coach in Jim Harbaugh that knows what it takes to win in the NFL and obviously was a sensational coach in college football.

So the Chargers appeared to have made it work. But with Sean, he hasn't made it work. And I don't believe we're going to look back at his tenure anytime soon in Denver and be like, wow, Sean's getting this thing moving in the right direction. Because I don't know what they're going to do this offseason. They got a lot of work to do. They need to get more talent in. And I think that they're going to be a bad football team once again.

I know they were able to salvage it towards the second half of the season and towards the end of the season. But I don't believe that this is going to be a team that's going to take a big jump here in year number two. But let's see what they do at the quarterback position. But here's the crazy part with Russell Wilson. I would say he was very popular, you know, nationally, and he was someone that was well respected. I don't think he was ever viewed as a top three quarterback, but he was someone where two years ago, if I asked you, would he make the Hall of Fame?

I believe without hesitation, people would say yes. And even though he's a Super Bowl champion, even though he's a nine time Pro Baller, even though he's led the league in passer rating and he's led the league in passing touchdowns. Now with how it's ended and now the way that it looks like it's moving with what has happened in Denver the last two years, I do believe wherever Russ lands.

And I'm never saying that it's going to go back to this great, phenomenal level. But if he's not competent, if he's not a little bit more than serviceable, whether he goes to the Raiders, whether he goes to Atlanta, whether he goes to Minnesota. Like whether he goes to the Steelers, like whoever the team is, if he doesn't have some success, I kind of feel like what happened in Denver is going to play him out of the Hall of Fame.

And that's wild. And I've never seen a fall like this, where in two years he went from being well liked nationally, probably everyone assuming he would get in the Hall of Fame one day to now. I think that will be heavily debated and there's no shot he would get in on the first try. But I don't know if he'll ever get in in the modern era for Russell Wilson to have a spot in Canton, Ohio, unless he has a successful chapter on the back end of his career. Because this got really ugly.

This really got humiliating. I actually think the best thing for maybe his brand was Sean Payton to go there, because with Nathaniel Hackett there, Hackett took a lot of the bullets. But Russell Wilson got dragged, dragged last year and deservedly so. Sean was kind of a bully.

Sean was kind of a jerk, where I do believe some people had sympathy for us last year, but still he never restored himself back to a grade four. And I know you could look at the numbers and say, oh, nine time Pro Bowler, you know, has a Super Bowl championship. But when you think of Russell Wilson, even though he was a phenomenal player for basically a decade in Seattle, what are the first two things now that you think of? You think of the interception in the second Super Bowl up against Malcolm Butler. And now you think, even though it's not fair, because you should remember the first 10 years in Seattle, you think of how bad and how ugly and how quickly he did fall off from being a great quarterback to them being like kind of a punchline for a lot of people in two years in Denver. And if you ask me right now, will he make the Hall of Fame?

I would say no. I do not think right now he would make the Hall of Fame. Like, there are some guys that have had to wait at the quarterback position that are heavily debated as well, where you look at someone like Eli Manning, who some people don't think Eli should be a Hall of Famer. Personally, I do. You know, Eli Manning, he'll get in the Hall of Fame, and I know that he's already retired and he's eligible next year, but I feel a lot more confident about Eli getting in the Hall of Fame than a Russell Wilson.

Heck, I even say this. Phillip Rivers doesn't have a Super Bowl ring. I think Phillip Rivers was a better quarterback than Russell Wilson, even though Russ won a Super Bowl. I would put Phillip Rivers in the Hall of Fame before I would put Russell Wilson.

I think it's going to be an uphill battle and a very tough climb unless he has some success in the next two or three years for Russ to make the Hall of Fame now. I mean, it's hard to say that for me. I see the nine-time Pro Bowl. I see the 334 touchdowns to 106 picks. I mean, that's a three-to-one ratio.

It's unbelievable. The 65% completion percentage, the 44,000 yards passing in his career, the 62% win percentage, 66% while he was in Seattle. The guy was a winner, and the guy did great things. You talked about Eli Rivers. You throw out names like Tony Romo, Matt Ryan. I've never said Tony Romo is going to be Hall of Famer or Matt Ryan. I love Matt, but no.

I'm throwing out names that are like Hall of Fame borderline guys, guys that probably won't get in but could get in. Eli, yes. Phillip Rivers, yes. Matt Ryan, no, even though he won an MVP. And Tony Romo, no. Now you have Russell Wilson as a no, so you're putting Russell Wilson closer to the Romo-Matt Ryan category than the Eli Rivers category, and I think that he's probably closer to the Eli Rivers category than he is to those other two. I mean, Russell Wilson did some incredible things. But did you ever view him as an elite quarterback? Yes, absolutely.

But hold on. When I say elite, how big is your number for elite? Top five? I don't know if I ever viewed him as, especially the era that he played in, I don't know if I ever viewed him as a top five quarterback.

I don't. When you had guys like Tom Brady, you know, he played in the same era as Mahomes, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers. You know, I never looked at, like Russ, remember for a while, it was Russ never got an MVP vote.

Like, don't get me wrong. Russ was a great quarterback. I'm not saying he wasn't a great quarterback.

But I think there was only like two or three seasons where you're like, wow, wow, wow. You know, maybe that's elite football play. I think he's had a very good career. I think, you know, you would love to have a career like Russell Wilson. But now with the quarterback position, a lot of it is longevity. And years ago, 10 years would be a nice long sample size. But with what Brady has done, basically playing for 20-something years, I think now with a lot of these quarterbacks, it's going to turn into, you know, have you been able to sustain that?

Unless you walk away sooner rather than later. And now for Russ, he's kind of like wandering around with no direction. And we're trying to see him restore this. And I don't know if he's going to be ever able to be able to restore it. There's a case.

I'm not saying there isn't a case. But a few years ago, I would have said it's like 85% chance he gets to the Hall of Fame. I really do feel like it's a genuine flip of the coin now. You know, maybe at most 55% that he gets in. But I think that's going to be a heavily contested debate. And also, this may not help in his favor, a lot of Russ's former teammates in Seattle, they have not talked positively about him.

And that's been very negative and very nasty with the LOB and Russell Wilson. BJ Armstrong will join us next. This is that Yelp show on CBS Sports Radio.

Update time first. Here's the act man, Rich Ackerman. An Odyssey and Paper Kite production. Listen on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Dana Carvey and David Spade here. You might know our podcast, Fly on the Wall, featuring guests from across the entertainment industry.

We decided to spin off called Superfly. And it's fun. It's just two of us riffing on current events, pop culture, catching up, impressions. Joe Trump's trying to be a dictator. Yeah.

This is a, you know, bump on the tater tots. Joe, no. Listen to and follow Superfly on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.

All right. Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio. Panini is the title partner of the 2024 NBA Rising Stars and fans can check out exclusive content featuring Panini Rising Stars participants on social media via the hashtag Panini Rising Stars. Panini is the exclusive trading card partner of the NBA. You can get Panini NBA trading cards at Walmart, Target, and hobby stores nationwide. And you could also start collecting your favorite NBA players as digital collectibles on the Panini America platform at PaniniAmerica.net.

And now joining us on behalf of Panini is a three-time NBA champion. And that, of course, is BJ Armstrong, kind enough to join us on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. BJ, I always appreciate the time. Thanks so much for doing this and happy All-Star Weekend to you. Thank you very much. It's always great to be here. You guys do an excellent job and appreciate you.

Panini, it's great. Great city of Indianapolis at All-Star Weekend. So thank you again for having me on. So we're getting ready for the dunk contest. I'm happy Jaylen Brown's doing it this year.

You have Mack McClung, the defending champ from a year ago, Jaime Jaquez, and then Jacob Toppin. Still though, whenever I think of the dunk contest, Lebron has done everything possible there is in this league except participate in the dunk contest. Why do you believe that Lebron never went through with it and tried out this dunk contest once? Well, I think many times when you play the game, you have the participation of playing in the game, the spontaneous reactions that you get in playing and competing. And then all of a sudden when you get in front of an audience when it's just you and you're dunking and you're playing.

And I remember the first time I competed in the three-point contest. It's a different feel. And I can only imagine I would compare it to being an entertainer and being on the stage all by yourself. You know, I used to always imagine what would that be like? You know, you're on the floor with nine other guys.

That's one thing. But then you're on the on the stage and you're all by yourself. Suddenly, it's a different thought. And I remember being in an arena with 20,000 people and you're playing in the game and I didn't think twice about it.

But I remember shooting and you realize you suddenly realize that everyone in the arena is looking at you. And that required a different type of feel. So I would imagine, you know what?

Also our weekend, you don't want to wear yourself out. He's playing. And I just think it's just probably, you know, so much. He's in the this that he's moving around with his partners and NBA things.

So I think there's a lot of things of reason. He probably hasn't done it. But certainly for the fans, for all of us, we love to have seen a talent, an athletic player like himself participate.

And I'm sure to be a treat for all the fans. Now, we know the cameras have always been on LeBron his entire life with that individual moment like you were talking about. Are you saying you felt like LeBron was a little bit intimidated by that extra attention? Is that what you were saying?

No, I don't think it is. I just think it's a different it's a it's a different thing. You know, you don't just a lot of two things you have to have to me if you're going to participate in the dunk contest. Right. And I've never been in. But I would imagine in talking to people, one, you have to be prepared for that.

Right. You have to be prepared for you know, you've got to have a you know, you've got to have a combination of don't you say this is what I know I can go to. So that's one thing you just don't show up and play because, you know, you've got to you've got to engage with the crowd.

You've got to engage, get a feel for what what are you going to need? Is this your 50 dump 50? You know, one that you get a 50 if this is this one that's going to get you to the next round.

But more importantly, you have to have an incredible imagination. And I'm talking to any player that participates. You know, when you watch some of the greatest doctors of all time, like Dr. J, and you talk to these guys, you say, what made you do the free throw line?

He was like, I just had a feel. Yes. Vince Carter. Yes. Dominique Wilkins. Yes.

Michael Jordan. Yeah. They had some thoughts of what they're going to do. But the imagination and the things that they were doing a lot of that time just happens in the moment. So I think you have to really be all into it to to give a performance like that.

When you watch Zach Levine and Aaron Gordon, those guys, I think it takes some preparation. And a lot of times you play the grind of the season, you do these things. And the last thing you want to do is have another thing put on your plate. So I'm not saying that's what it is. But if you're going to participate in this, you have to be prepared.

And it's not something you just show up and say, hey, I'm here. You've got to be ready if you're going to compete and try to win it. Talking to BJ Armstrong, I'm always a sucker for the three point contest. I know there's a new wrinkle this year. I guess the three point shooting an all star weekend with Steph going up against Sabrina.

I can't wait to see how that unfolds on Saturday. Yeah, I think it will be. And it'll kind of remind me a little bit of, you know, men's women's. And I think they're shooting it from the men's three point line.

If I if I heard if I read that correctly. So I think it will be fascinating. I think it will be very engaging. I think it'll be a lot of fun for the sport. And certainly both players are amazing three point shooters in their own in their own right. And to have them out here competing against one another, I think it's good for the game. Talking to BJ Armstrong on behalf of Panini. So we know Doc Rivers has taken over the Bucks.

He's three and seven in his first 10 games. They've been disappointing. A lot of people weren't happy when Doc took over.

Do you feel like they'll eventually get this thing moving back in the right direction, which would be playing in the NBA finals this season? Well, you know, it's kind of like this situation kind of reminds me of having your first child. You don't go home with the instructions of how this is going to work. OK. And, you know, Doc gets the job. A very unusual situation. How that occur, especially, you know, let's you know, we got to talk about the elephant in the room, you know. You know, the outgoing coach, you know what, he was in 30 and 16 or something, which I think at the time they were in second place.

Things seem to be going well. And then all of a sudden they make this change and they bring in Doc Rivers. So there were some expectations there. And currently, after about 10 or 11 games, you know, they haven't been playing exactly championship caliber basketball. We both know that they have phenomenal players, all star players that both will be here.

Giannis and and Damian Lillard. However, right now, it's a tough stretch for them. I know they're on a road trip. They lost a tough game, I think, last night against the Memphis Grizzlies. So there are some things they have to figure out there. However, any team that has Giannis Antetokounmpo on the team will always be in contention. So certainly they have the talent to turn it around. But right now, things are looking a little tough. And I think eventually, because of their talent, they'll get it figured out.

However, you know, they have one thing in mind. This is a championship caliber team. So anything less than that, I think they were probably considered that a failure out there in Milwaukee. BJ, I know you were close with Draymond Green and used to represent him. Just what is kind of stood out to you in this last year with everything pertaining to Draymond? Well, you know, when you have a championship run, you know, it's phenomenal and you enjoy the moment, you live in the moment. And certainly all of those guys, their big three in particular, Clay Thompson, Draymond Green, who you mentioned, and Steph Curry. Those guys have enjoyed a phenomenal amount of success. They have four championships.

You know, a good friend of mine, Steve Kerr, who I played with for many years up there in Chicago. You know, what they've been able to achieve speaks for itself. However, you know, every championship run comes to an end. So you're seeing now this run in the sort of the latter stages of their run, wherever that's going to end.

It feels like the juice isn't worth the squeeze anymore with Draymond. That's what it feels like to me. Well, you know, it's just a matter of figuring out right now they've gone through some they're going through some adversity to put it kindly within their team and their structure. And they're not playing at a championship caliber. Let's just call it what it is.

So if we call it like it is, we'll say, you know, that's what's going on right now. Now, the thing is that we know they have the experience. We know they're battle tested and we know they have the heart of a champion. However, as you age, it gets more and more difficult to get through the regular season to get to the playoffs. And if they are in, they are in really a tough situation, because if they don't continue to improve or get better or start winning games, this team may not even get into the play and let alone the playoffs.

So right now they're trying to figure it out. They've had some things that have sidetracked them. Draymond missing games. You know, right now, Chris Paul is out. Klay Thompson isn't playing at the level that, you know, we're normally seeing Klay Thompson play at. And consequently, you know, this is a team that's won 10th or 11th place somewhere around there.

So they have a lot of things to figure out. However, you got to say what they did achieve. You know, they're they're they're world champions and that's what they did yesterday. But right now, they're certainly not playing at a championship level. And we all know that a mediocre basketball is mediocre basketball.

And that's where they're playing right now. Tell me what you're doing today on behalf of Panini. Well, I'm here. I'm celebrating Panini. You know, I'm so excited. I got my Victor Winbunyama rookie card, so I'm holding on to that.

And I'm just going to watch that being sore in value over the years as his career takes off. So I'm here hanging out with Panini at All-Star Weekend. I'm in Indianapolis. Great food, great people. So here I am doing the show with you. So it doesn't get any better than that. Panini America dot net.

Make sure you check it out. He's BJ Armstrong. BJ got about 20 seconds here. Real quickly, what's your finals prediction right now? Eastern Conference, Western Conference. Who gets there? My final, the Boston Celtics versus our Denver Nuggets.

So that's my prediction. BJ, thanks so much. Enjoy the weekend. Thank you for having me on.

Appreciate it. You got it. There he is. BJ Armstrong joining us on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. We'll talk more about the slam dunk contest on the other side.

Also, I have a wide receiver that the Kansas City Chiefs should pursue. We'll get to that next. And Mike Pinnell from the Chiefs will join us 20, 25 minutes from now.

A peanut butter M&M's production. In a world where Super Bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring. But the runners up get nothing. One retired cop returns. That's one retired quarterback. Read the script.

Oh, sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. Um, that's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter.

But you're on a roll. The Ring of Comfort. Coming soon to a Super Bowl new you. Okay, picture this. It's Friday afternoon when a thought hits you. I can spend another weekend doing the same old whatever. Or I can hop into my all new Hyundai Santa Fe and hit the road with available H track all wheel drive and three row seating.

My whole family can head deep into the wild. Conquer the weekend in the all new Hyundai Santa Fe. Visit HyundaiUSA.com or call 562-314-4603 for more details. Hyundai.

There's joy in every journey. 2024 Santa Fe available early 2024. Chris Chapman's hit podcast was canceled. As you know, my old show, The Chris Chapman Confrontation was a victim of a little thing called cancel culture.

But he's learned, he's grown, and he's ready to win back his audience. I'm back better than ever with The Chris Chapman Do-Over. Starring Ike Barenholtz. I have a new lady co-host on the pod. Lisa Gilroy. My mic is on. And Neil Casey is the professor. Greetings, my humans. The new hit improv comedy, The Chris Chapman Do-Over. An Odyssey and paper kite production. Listen on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. No long term commitments or contracts. That's Stamps.com code program.