Joe Flacco to the Steelers? (Hour 3)

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2024 Santa Fe, available early 2024. Hour number three of our radio program. That's right, that's what I'm talking about. It is the Zach Gelb show, coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. So I was reading this article over the weekend. Jerry Dulak, longtime Steelers reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. And he said that there appears to be some internal division that maybe Mason Rudolph should be the starter, given his performance at the end of the season. Now, it is important to note here, Mason Rudolph is not guaranteed to be back in the Steelers next year. Mason Rudolph is set to become a free agent in March. So Mason Rudolph could get a better offer to be a backup somewhere else. I would have a tough time believing anyone is going to give him starting QB, like a starting QB tag. But maybe he could go somewhere and he could go compete for the starting job as maybe there's an organization that has a stopgap or they're drafting someone. They don't want that guy to start until next year. Or maybe a team's going to punt this year. They need someone to play the quarterback position and Mason Rudolph can be serviceable. I don't think Mason Rudolph is a 17 game regular season starting quarterback in the NFL.

I don't. But I also don't think Kenny Pickett is the answer in Pittsburgh. And there's a saying that if teams believe they have two quarterbacks, that means you have no quarterbacks. And it's not always a situation where there is Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love or there is Alex Smith and Patrick Mahomes.

That doesn't always happen. You know that the way that that saying is meant, it's for two guys that get hyped up and no one actually believes the hype around them. And the fact that the Steelers already have this division and internal division in their organization. Do we stick with Kenny Pickett, who was a first round pick two years ago, or do we bring back Mason Rudolph? Because we think Mason Rudolph is the right answer for this team with what he did down the stretch. That is more of an indictment on Kenny Pickett.

And this shows me another reason. And I know Steelers fans that defend Kenny Pickett and our picket stands. They will end up saying, oh, look at all the game winning drives that he has. He's like seven or eight game winning drives in his career.

Sometimes stats are for losers. And I'm not saying that that's not important that when the game's on the line that, you know, you need a quarterback that could win it. But when you watch the totality and I know it's an extremely premature career so far of Kenny Pickett, who really only had one really good year when you look at his college career and that's when he was the ACC Player of the Year at Pitt.

And Pitt did a phenomenal job in his final season there that elevated him up all those draft boards and made him the only quarterback to go in that first round. But when you have people in your organization leaking out that there's division between Rudolph and Pickett in the organization and some guys prefer Rudolph over Pickett. That is damaging to Kenny Pickett. And I don't think when you watch Kenny Pickett that he's a guy that I look at and I say he's a franchise quarterback. And it'd be one thing if you're in the NFC. But since you're in the AFC, you can't just have a guy. You can't have someone that the Apex may be just being a serviceable quarterback. And I don't even think Kenny Pickett will be a very good quarterback. You need a great quarterback in the AFC.

Like look around the AFC East. You have Aaron Rodgers. You have Josh Allen.

You know, Tuatunga Vailoa, I don't think he's great. In the AFC North, you have Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson. Lamar has won two MVPs.

He can't win a Super Bowl. Look at what the Browns made from a financial commitment to Deshaun Watson. Deshaun Watson, no one's thinking he's going to get back to being a top seven quarterback in football right now. You look at the AFC South, Trevor Lawrence, one year good, one year regress, even though he won't say he regressed.

Anthony Richardson, unknown. He got hurt, but he was looking promising before he got hurt. CJ Stroud looks like he's going to be a star for the foreseeable future. We all know what the standard is in the AFC and in football. AFC West, you have Patrick Mahomes.

Justin Herbert, I believe will be a great quarterback when it's all said and done. So in the AFC in particular, you have to have a great quarterback. In the NFC, you could have a good quarterback like Brock Purdy and get to a Super Bowl. You could have a good quarterback like Jared Goff and get to an NFC title game. But there is a big difference in the AFC and NFC in the overall quality and the overall number of elite and great quarterbacks than compared to the NFC.

So I never believe, and you could say maybe it's early to give up. But if this is where we are two years in, that Mason Rudolph who's done everything in Pittsburgh, right? Like he's been giving so many times since he came in at the end of the season and the offense actually showed a pulse. Since now people believe that Mason Rudolph gives them a better chance to win over Kenny Pickett.

It tells me everything I need to know about Kenny Pickett. But with that being said, it doesn't mean that Mason Rudolph should be the starting quarterback next year. It means that neither Kenny Pickett nor Mason Rudolph should be the starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. And you now need to, with the team that has a lot of talented players on defense, maybe Deontay Johnson gets traded this offseason on offense, but you have George Pickens who's a pain in the ass.

But he's a heck of a wide receiver. You have a good one-two punch in the run game. You have enough where you were just a playoff team last year without a quarterback. But if you ever want to get back to winning playoff games and the Steelers haven't won a playoff game since 2016, yeah, you got to improve the quarterback position. Because even when Buffalo wasn't at their best because they had Josh Allen, they were able to beat you in the postseason. And it's only going to get tougher and tougher in your own division and also in your own conference.

Even with the added postseason spot the last few years, we're now seven teams getting compared to six teams in each conference to continuously do this. And I know Mike Tomlin is a heck of a coach. Mike Tomlin, right, you know the numbers.

This team probably shouldn't have made the playoffs this year and they made the playoffs. He's never had a below-500 season, but they don't have a quarterback right now. Now, here's just something I'll toss out there because it's easy for Zach Geld to get on the radio and it's easy for me to say, all right, Mason Rudolph, Noor, Kenny Pickett should be the starting quarterback this year.

And I can give you the names of guys that I think should be the starting quarterback for the Steelers next season. I think Russell Wilson would be a fine option. I think Kirk Cousins would be a fine option. I think Justin Fields would be a fine option via trade.

And we talked about this before, right? Kirk would probably be the most appealing. Then it would be Justin Fields and then it would be Russell Wilson out of those three. Because you got to remember, I know people are down on Russell Wilson. I'm not telling you Russell Wilson's a great quarterback anymore, but Russell Wilson's better than Kenny Pickett. Russell Wilson is better than Mason Rudolph.

So if Kenny Pickett and Mason Rudolph, regardless of just stopgap guys anyway, and you're going to continue the stopgap thing, maybe you should go get Russell Wilson to be your stopgap while you go draft someone and get a younger player in there. And at least he could learn from someone that's had success in this league like Russell Wilson. I don't think Russell Wilson's a bum right now.

I don't think he's great. I still think he could be above average in this league. And you got to remember, inevitably when the Broncos do cut him, the Denver Broncos, since they owe him so much money with his extension, not even kicking in yet, Russell Wilson's going to be playing on a very cheap, and I mean an extremely cheap and team friendly deal next year, because now he's trying to save his legacy and the way people view him. So those are three quarterbacks right away that I think, OK, would be good options in Pittsburgh. But then at the end of the Jerry Dulack report, and I was reading this via Pro Football Talk, the Steelers are not interested in bringing in a quarterback who wants to be a starter.

And then Florio pointed out that earlier this month, team president Art Rooney II didn't rule it out. So let's just take this report from Jerry Dulack of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, who's a longtime, well-respected reporter. There's internal division in the organization that maybe Mason Rudolph should be the starter over Kenny Pickett when Mason Rudolph is a free agent.

OK, we broke that down. Now, the back end of this report is Dulack saying that the Steelers are not interested in bringing in a quarterback who wants to be the starter. So they're basically saying, and I would imagine that the person that said this is more of the Kenny Pickett fan, that they want to bring in competition for Kenny Pickett, but they're probably not confident enough that Kenny Pickett could beat out the competition. So we don't want a competitor that strives to be a starter, that needs to be guaranteed the starter.

So if that's the case and let's just operate that this is true and who knows who voice it is, so maybe it doesn't mean anything. Well, then Russell Wilson's not going there. Justin Fields isn't going there and Kirk Cousins isn't going there.

So you could cross all those names off the list. So if this is right, that there's division in the organization about Rudolph and Pickett and not only that, Jerry Dulac is saying that the Steelers are not interested in bringing in a quarterback who wants to be a starter. You know who the name is that could replace Mason Rudolph to compete with Kenny Pickett? And now watch, this guy's going to be floating around all the AFC North teams. It could actually be Joe Flacco. Now, Joe Flacco wants to play and you can't tell me, oh, Joe Flacco's a Raven, so I'll never play for the Steelers. He just led the Cleveland Browns to the playoffs. And you know Joe Flacco's not going to return to Cleveland next year because they're giving the keys back to Deshaun Watson because of all the picks that they gave up for him and also the guaranteed contract. So for Joe Flacco, who probably won't be guaranteed a starting quarterback position anywhere in the league this year, if you're Joe, wouldn't you go to Pittsburgh? You're probably right now a better quarterback than Kenny Pickett, even with the age difference.

And you just bank that Kenny will be the starter for day one and ultimately he will fail, he will struggle. They'll be like slightly below 500. And then the last month, month and a half of the season, the fans of Pittsburgh won't be waving their terrible towels anymore in support of Kenny Pickett. They'll want someone else and then you'll have another opportunity in back-to-back years to save a team in the AFC North and lead them to the playoffs. So that's going to be the quarterback off this Jerry Dulac report. If all things are true, that the Steelers are going to bring in to compete with Kenny Pickett. It's going to be like someone like a Joe Flacco.

And that actually, it's not something that if I'm a Steelers fan, I'm jumping up and down. But that's just the way, Samter, that I kind of read into this report where in one breath it's, hey, there's internal division with the guy that's about to be a free agent and Kenny Pickett. But we don't know, all right, some guys are Pickett guys, some guys are Mason Rudolph guys. There's a big contingent of people that want Mason Rudolph to be the starter. But if you keep on waiting, waiting, waiting on Mason Rudolph, maybe Rudolph goes somewhere else. And then on the back end, they're not interested in bringing a quarterback who wants to be a starter? Doesn't that sound like Joe Flacco to me?

This sounds like the big move the Steelers are going to make this offseason, the quarterback position to create some competition for Kenny Pickett is going to be Joe Flacco, elite Joe, bring him back. Listen, I love the idea of it in the sense of like what the Steelers need and what Joe Flacco can provide. But man, I mean, like in our lifetime, has there been, especially during those mid 2000s when Joe was with the Ravens?

Yeah, it was great. Was there a more like legitimate rivalry of pure hatred where two teams legitimately wanted to hurt each other and just legitimately hated each other? Right, like 49ers, Cowboys, good rivalry, right? Chiefs, Raiders, good rivalry.

I get it. But the rivalry that we've seen in football that really hated each other is Ravens, Steelers. It would actually kind of hurt to see Joe Flacco in the Steelers uniform. Any other quarterback going to any other team probably wouldn't matter. But Ravens and Steelers, you just can't do it. Yeah, but here's the thing. I don't think Joe Flacco, and I'm not speaking for Joe.

This is just the way that I kind of viewed him when he was on this show. And we asked about the Ravens. I don't think he gives a rat's ass about the current day of the Baltimore Ravens.

He hasn't been on that team since 2018. Yes, Joe Flacco hated the Steelers when he was a member of the Baltimore Ravens. I'm not saying he's all warm and fuzzy with them right now, but Joe Flacco still wants to play. We just saw Joe Flacco go to the dog pound and be a part of the Cleveland Browns inside the AFC North.

I get it. It's not the Steelers, but the Ravens and Bengals were also nasty too. Like if the Bengals wanted him last year, he would have gone to the Bengals as well. Joe Flacco just wants to keep on playing. He just turned 39 in January. He knows that from an NFL standpoint, he's on borrowed time. He doesn't have that many years left. It was crazy what he just did this year.

So he wants to capitalize and keep on playing. I don't think any team right now is going to say, Joe, you're the starting quarterback from day one of the season. So from a Joe standpoint, I think the Steelers do make sense because you've got to kind of go to a spot where you don't believe in the starting quarterback and you don't think the starting quarterback is going to be any good. Does anyone think Kenny Pickett is going to be any good?

I don't. So you go to a team that has a playoff caliber roster and it's tough to do this from Joe standpoint and also you don't think the quarterback's any good. And at least it gives you a chance.

At least it gives you an opportunity. And there's a chance maybe, I think it's unlikely that Kenny Pickett starts game one and at the end of the year, right, the third year and the third time was the charm. And maybe he turns out to be in the first round pick that they thought he was.

But I don't think that's likely. And you know, where else is you going to go? Miami? Like maybe that's a place if Tua gets hurt again, but they just they have Mike White as a backup.

I'd rather have Joe Flacco over Mike White, but they already made the financial commitment. I think there's a lot of teams out there. I got a list of teams that would make sense for Joe. So just give me a team.

I'll tell you yes or no. If it's better than Pittsburgh. Titans. No, not better than Pittsburgh. Raiders.

Yeah, you know what? No, the Steelers just made the playoffs. The Raiders didn't. But it's not a bad destination because they don't have a quarterback right now. Broncos. Yeah, he already did that. He already went to Denver. That's not happening again.

It's different though. The Steelers are better than the Broncos. Sure. Now, if Kirk Cousins doesn't go to the Falcons, that's a great one. How about the Falcons?

Oh, sorry. I thought you were gonna say Minnesota. So first, if Kirk Cousins doesn't go to the Falcons and stays in Minnesota, Falcons have an opening.

Yeah, that would definitely be a good one. And then on the contrary, like you were thinking, if Kirk Cousins does leave, then you have the Vikings job open. Vikings.

I would say the Vikings and the Falcons, they may not be better teams than the Steelers, but it's also in the NFC. Now we got three other teams. Oh my God. I never thought we were gonna be doing Joe Flacco destination day here. So here we go. Three other teams.

All right. Now, all three of these teams are likely to draft a quarterback one, two, three in the draft. Pats, commanders, Bears. But if you're Joe Flacco, you got one more year. Mentor. You can be the starting quarterback, mentor Caleb Williams, Drake May, Jayden Daniels. Well, probably not Jayden Daniels. I can't imagine Joe Flacco is gonna be able to teach Jayden Daniels much with his legs, but you just never know. Have him there as your starter until he gets supplanted. If you're Joe Flacco, maybe you have a year of starting while you mentor.

No, no, and no, and here's why. Caleb Williams ready to play right now. Drake May is ready to play right now. Jayden Daniels ready to play right now.

If they were more of a project that was like an Anthony, like Anthony Richardson was viewed as a project. People thought he was gonna sit a year. He was a starting quarterback from day one until he got hurt. I do not think Joe Flacco would go to either of those three places because I don't think any of those teams are ever gonna give him an opportunity to play.

And Joe just wants a chance. He don't wanna be a backup quarterback. No one wants to be a backup quarterback, but you gotta be realistic where you are at in your career and his stock's in a better part now where it was a year ago. And still no one's gonna guarantee you being a starting quarterback. That would be fun, him in Pittsburgh.

Coming in in week 14 to replace a struggling Kenny Pickett. And then you get a Steelers Ravens playoff game in Baltimore where Lamar Jackson and John Harbaugh choke another playoff game. And maybe you get Joe Flacco and all the fans chanting, Joe, Joe, Joe, Joe, Joe, as he upsets the Baltimore Ravens. Then you have Ravens fans saying, get Flacco back.

He was always an elite quarterback. Alrighty, this is Zach Gelb's show on CBS Sports Radio. We'll see you next time. We'll see you next time.

We'll see you next time. 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. Alrighty, Zach Gelb's show on CBS Sports Radio. Paul O'Neill joined us about an hour ago. We hear he's struggling a little bit on the putting green.

I think he'll be okay because once he's done putting and once he's done playing golf, I just found out he has his own beer. Paul O'Neill recently relaunched his IPA beer, appropriately named Warrior 21. Warrior 21 is the first hazy northeast style IPA to ever be brewed in collaboration with the professional baseball player. The first beer to be brewed in collaboration with the Yankees player and the first beer of ever to be brewed in collaboration with a World Series champion. So how about that from Paul O'Neill who joined us earlier?

We just got sent along that information. So Paul, even though the golf game is struggling a little bit, as you mentioned, you could find a way to just drink away the sorrows with a little of the IPA beer that he has out, Warrior 21. And it'll make him tough. Warrior 21 is the beer name. That's gonna make you tough. Or maybe that's why he's struggling on the greens because he's having a couple of the Warrior 21s before he hops on with the putter.

That is true. Now I am going on two golf trips or quasi-golf trips. I'm going on two bachelor parties.

That's why I'm out Thursday, Friday this week and Thursday, Friday next week. Back-to-back bachelor parties? So I didn't do a great scheduling on my behalf.

Both of my friends, and these are two close friends, like one of my closest school friends and then one of my closest childhood friends ever. They reached out to me last year and they were like, we want you to come in the bachelor party. Your schedule is very difficult. We want to do the bachelor party in football season. And I said, well, unfortunately, I won't be able to attend your bachelor party because it's very tough for me to take off on a Thursday or a Friday football season.

I just can't do it. And then also I work on Sundays too in football season. So what? I was just going to parachute in for the Saturday of the bachelor party and that was going to be it?

Listen, you know what? If you missed a Thursday and Friday during football season, we would survive. Well, that's you saying that. Trust me, management would not be happy with me and I would not be happy with me missing a Thursday or Friday towards the end of football season. Both of these would have been towards the later part of the football season. They didn't seem to care when I took those days off. I think there's a little difference here. You are not wrong.

Santa wants to go away a weekend between, you know, after the NFC, AFC championship games and the Super Bowl. Management goes, all right, tough deal with it. It's fine.

Now I did that. They would probably say, no, we're going to reject your vacation days. So all kidding aside, I told both my buddies, it just, it ain't happening if you want me to go. And I'm like, don't schedule it around me.

I won't be offended. And then one of my buddies said, well, when can you do in February? I'm like, well, I need to be here the week after the Super Bowl. Like Super Bowl happens on Sunday, I need to be there that week. So then one of my friends said, okay, pencils in for this weekend. Then the other friend tried to pencil us in for that same weekend, but I told them I already know the bachelor party scheduled. So do the last weekend of February leading into March.

So that's what happened. But anyway, we are golfing two days in Orlando and two day, one day in Puerto Rico. And you could bet your ass, Santer, you know, if Paul and Neil wants to send me some of this beer, I will be more than happy to be drinking some brewskis on the golf course. And also I'm at the point where I'm comfortable with my golf game. I know my golf game is just not that good. I am actually, Paul could use a tip or two for me because I am a great putter, but off the tee, everyone sees me and like, oh, you probably hit the ball a country mile. My golf game off the tee is maybe the most inaccurate thing ever. I will either hit the ball very far or the ball just will go nowhere. I, you know what, I'll say this on the radio.

I think it's a good line. My golf game has erectile dysfunction is what I would say. Cause the golf ball sometimes is just very low into the ground and goes far. Or sometimes it just goes maybe after some enhancements, some swing juice, AKA beer.

It goes very high up into the air. So that's the way that I would break down my golf game right now. It's not a visual. I needed to have my head on a Monday. I didn't say I had those problems.

I'm not doing endorsements like some other hosts. Swinging around a limp club around like a little spaghetti. No wonder you're not hitting the ball very far. My golf game, my one friend said that about my driving part of my golf game. And I'm like, yeah, that's what I just knew.

It was a low moment. And by the way, Orlando and Puerto Rico was like Sheboygan and Jamaica. Like what do we do in Orlando and Puerto Rico? Like those, you cannot get any more different. Oh, it's, it's two different people's bachelor parties.

But not just that is too complete. It's, it's like going to Cleveland and then taking a trip to Paris. No, no, no, no.

Like, what are you doing? So you're saying Puerto Rico is more like Cleveland, right? Is that what you're saying? No, Puerto Rico is awesome. And Orlando is like, I mean, you guys are going to Disney.

I can see you some like mini Mickey mouse ears. We are not. So for the Atlanta, maybe. So for the Orlando bachelor party, I'm a part of the itinerary planning committee. We're going to a taco place on Thursday night. Friday, we are golfing during the day. We have a chef coming to the house on Friday night to cook us dinner. Saturday, we're during the day.

Oh, we're doing paintballing. Saturday at night, we're going to some fancy schmancy dinner. Saturday evening, we're going to some like bowling alley type of thing, like fun, boozy bowling alley. And then Sunday we're going to play golf and then everyone's going to get on the plane and leaving. Can you do any of that stuff anywhere? Well, like if you're going to go to Orlando, if you can go to a destination for a bachelor party, you do something that's specific to that town. I'm also giving you afternoon drive daytime, Zach Gelb.

If I was like Scott Ferrell, shake it up on CBS Sports Radio and I was doing the nighttime, there's probably an activity or two that I'm leaving out of the itinerary. All right. There's probably a conversation or two that will not be said. You know, I have a very naive mind and a very, you know, PG-13 kind of head.

We're just going to play patty cake. Yeah, so I'm not really sure what you're referring to or what you're implying. Can you get into the details? Can you elaborate a little bit more? Yeah, act is big on the wallets. You got any singles in that wallet? There you go.

Just give it away for you. And then in Puerto Rico, that is a bougier bachelor party. And that is a little bit more detail oriented. The highlight for me on that bachelor party, we're going to a fogo de chao, which I know Stu loves. A Brazilian style steakhouse.

And you just have the card that's green or red. And then all the meats just end up coming to the plate. That's delicious. What day are you doing that? I think that's Saturday evening. Just make sure like you do whatever kind of plans you're going to have, do it before you go to fogo de chao.

Because after fogo de chao, it's impossible to function as a human being. You have meat in your brain. You have meat in your feet. You have meat in your hands. The state puffed marshmallow man. You're the state puffed meatmallow man. That's all you are. Just a walking piece of meat.

So, Samtor and Stu, let me just say this. As much as I love you both, especially you, Samtor, I don't think I need advice with my stature and my size on how I'm going to properly manage the fogo de chao steakhouse. I have been to more fogo de chaos than is probably even good for someone's health.

I used to be very unhealthy. I think I will know how to manage through that meal. Your point is valid, but I don't think it needs to be said. I'm just saying that it will be very, very difficult for anyone in your party to rally and do anything fun and interesting after stuffing your face with meat for three hours.

I 100% agree. Are we still talking about the strip club? Are we still talking about the fogo de chao? Sorry, that was like just putting the ball in the tea there. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio.

Real quickly, because you were talking about it earlier in on-site, off-site. Let's get the train back on the tracks here. Let's all make sure that we have jobs tomorrow. Kirk Cousins.

That was a very sad train sound. Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson. Yes or no, do you agree with me? Kirk Cousins will not be back with the Minnesota Vikings next season. I don't think the Vikings are going to get this deal done. You even hear that they're hesitant and skeptical with the new regime being in here, giving him a fully guaranteed contract. I'm going to say, as I said earlier, Kirk Cousins is going elsewhere.

He's going to be on the Atlanta Falcons. Sam, do you agree that Kirk Cousins won't be back with the Cold Lake Minnesota Minnesota Vikings next season? I don't know.

I don't know. Cousins has said multiple times that money isn't his biggest factor. He's made enough. I think Kirk Cousins is the kind of guy who, if he likes it in Minnesota and he loves Justin Jefferson, why, at this point in his career, try something different that you don't know if it's going to work? I think Cousins is back.

What about Justin Jefferson? So if Cousins is coming back, then they get the long-term deal done with Justin Jefferson is what you're saying? I think they get the long-term deal with Justin Jefferson and Cousins gives them a team-friendly, structured contract that will help the team keep Jefferson and build around.

So I don't disagree with you that Kirk Cousins would prefer to stay in Minnesota, but I don't think they want him. I think they realize that they need the next chapter. Kevin O'Connor needs the next chapter at the quarterback position.

And hey, it doesn't always go smoothly. Look what happened this year when someone got injured. But I think they'll try to move up in the draft, or if not, they will sign a stopgap guy until they can move up one of these years in the draft. And one of those stopgap guys, right, we talked about it, Justin Fields not going to probably get traded in division, even though that'd be a good decision. Maybe it ends up being Russell Wilson, who I suggested on Radio Row, to Justin Jefferson, where I'm not expecting him to jump for joy. That is a downgrade for Kirk Cousins, but that could be the stopgap kind of guy. We talked about Joe Flacco earlier. I don't think he starts for all 17 games, but if you need someone for the second half of the season, Joe Flacco, as he showed this year, is more than clearly capable.

But I'm going to keep on thinking that Kirk winds up in Atlanta, and I think the Vikings have their eyes set on trying to find the next guy, whether that's this year or next year. The Jefferson one, they better get a deal done though before the start of this season, because if they don't, that's back-to-back off-seasons not getting a deal done, then when does Justin Jefferson just try to tune him out? This should be the easiest contract negotiations ever. This guy is the face of your franchise in Justin Jefferson. He has all the power. You got to give him a deal that he's comfortable with. And when you read this report that after the first year, they don't want to give guaranteed money, that makes absolutely, positively zero sense, because he is a stud.

And when healthy, he's the best wide receiver in football. Alrighty, this is that Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Why I don't think the NBA should get rid of their All-Star game. We'll do that on the other side.

Update time first. Here he is, the act man, Rich Ackerman. I'll get to ask the pros question in the second. It is Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. So recently I've seen two videos where, you know, people do this for a living, where they basically stalk athletes to get autographs from athletes and they sell the autographs. I always feel like it's very, very scummy when you make a kid go up to the player with like six or seven cards, where you know that the cards are going to get stolen.

And the kid just being used is basically like a prop here. Cause an athlete sees a kid, you don't want to be the jerk that says no to the kid, but then the kid has six or seven cards. It's like, yeah, we know that this is part of some sort of scheme, but Michael Parsons recently put out a video of people waiting for him at the airport to sign autographs. And, okay, you see like things like that happen. Here's what I always wonder. How do people know where Micah Parsons is going to be flying to? Now, if he's flying private, right?

That information gets leaked. There's way to travel. But if he was flying commercial and just like sitting in first class, how do they know that his flight was coming in and he was even on that flight? Like you could research the flight, right? Track the flight.

But how do you know that Micah Parsons was on that flight? But anyway, I don't even care about that part of the conversation because you know how video is a little bit more powerful. And when you have a confrontation and it gets put on video, that thing goes viral. Carl Banks, legendary New York giant, had to step in front of one of these autograph seekers and Breece Hall, the guy that just wrapped up his second season with the Jets and the fan or the guy that was trying to get the autographs, he was annoyed that Breece Hall wouldn't sign for him. And he's calling him like the P word. He's saying, be a man, be a man, be a man. Like, dude, you're a grown man who's trying to get Breece Hall's autograph.

Whether you're selling it or not, I don't care. The fact that you get into an altercation because some guy wouldn't sign for you is just crazy to me. And like, it's one thing when you see people go after athletes or celebrities on social media because it's not in person. And you would think 9.9 times out of 10, what someone would say online, they wouldn't even come close to saying to someone in person. Like, I'm not comparing myself to Micah Parsons or Breece Hall. I would never do that. But I have never had a fan in person tell me, I suck or I'm horrible or I'm the worst at my job.

But online, you get a lot of that. But the fact now, and it just shows you how scummy some of these people are, you're getting into an altercation where you need Carl Banks, who is a large man, to step in as you're trying to fight Breece Hall because he won't sign for you. It's just a joke. And I understand that people have to try to make a living. And if this is your best way to try to make a living, which is collecting autographs, okay, but when an athlete doesn't want to sign, I don't think you should try to get in the fight.

Here's the hot take of the day, the hot take of the year. I don't think you should try to get into a fight with that athlete. And also, there needs to be some personal space. Like I've said this before, Taylor Swift doesn't live that far away from our studios. The fact that there are fans lined up outside of our home nightly is scary.

I read that Travis Kelce had to move homes. Jason Kelce said this when he first started dating Taylor Swift because so many people would go outside his home and then we move into the new home, some dude like knocked on his door. Like you got to at least, I understand people want to meet famous people. People want to meet celebrities.

It's cool, but there's got to be some line here. And when someone's at an airport, I'm not saying you can't ask them for a selfie. I'm not saying you can't ask them for an autograph. Like Phil Simms is on my on my flight to the Super Bowl.

And Phil Simms took a selfie with anyone in the airport that wanted to. But he wanted to do that. When Bryce Hall is getting off a plane and he doesn't want to sign your 17 cards or your 17 photos, he's allowed to say no.

It would be nice if he said yes, but also I understand why he says no. And I'm not saying all fans aren't important, but at least for autographs, autographs to me is like a kid thing. When I was a kid, I love collecting autographs.

Now I don't collect autographs. But if I meet someone like pretty cool. Yeah, I want them on the show first. That's the first priority.

I want them for an interview. But if we can't get that person on like, yeah, I would. I would want to take a picture with that person.

That's fine. But if they say no, it shouldn't be. Let's get online or harass them with video and trash that person. Like famous people are allowed to have bad days. They're allowed to have a day where they don't want to interact with people in the public. But because of who they are, they have to go out into the public.

They have to interact with people in the public. But that's just crazy, man. There's no boundaries anymore. And how Breece Hall didn't want to sign for this guy.

And this guy is incense. I'm like, I was waiting for the other shoe to fall. I'm like, what else is going to happen? And then TMZ came out with it basically like this guy wanted an autograph.

You know, he's selling autographs, obviously. And Breece Hall said no. And then the next thing you know, Carl Banks, whose nickname is Killa. Imagine his nickname when he played was Killa. Imagine how dumb this fan is that he's trying to fight Breece Hall. And then you have you have a guy who's in cars like the sweetest dude ever. But not not with this football name.

And his nickname is Killa. And that's the guy that is saving you from getting your ass kicked by Breece Hall. It's just it's wild to me. There's no more personal space in this society anymore.

And I just can't like I could not fathom going. And I know this was in an airport, but going to an athlete's house or going to a celebrity's house when you don't know them and just knocking on their door or standing outside of their house, just waiting to see a glimpse like Stu, you're a big Swifty. All these people that stand outside of Taylor Swift's apartment. I get it.

They're massive fans and a lot of them are children. But like, what do you think is going to happen? She's going to walk from outside of her apartment into a car. You're going to see her for two seconds and that's it. That's it.

Wait, now, have you been to Taylor Swift's apartment? It's super weird. No, I'm with you. It's very, very strange. Yeah, I wouldn't do it. But I wanted to sound off on that because Thursday I won't be here.

We usually do the Zach Gelb show Thursday PSA. Even the people that collect autographs for a living. And I'm not crapping on you. That's how you have to make money. I get it.

But if an athlete says no or a celebrity says no, don't try to fight them or don't give them attitude. Like I once saw a video online. I love Justin Bieber. You do? I love Justin Bieber. I think Justin Bieber is a phenomenal talent. I get he could act like a jerk sometimes.

He's had his issues. That's been well documented. But I think a lot of men hate Justin Bieber just because they're jealous. They're not Justin Bieber. Like I am totally fine and comfortable in my own skin and admitting I have a man crush on Justin Bieber.

But there was one time where the paparazzi was following him and there was fans following him as he was going into his home. And he's like, guys, I'm fine if you follow me, but I'm at my home. Like, this is my home.

I don't come to your home. I'm in a supermarket. That's one thing.

I'm at the gym. That's another thing. But when I'm at my home, there needs to be a personal boundary. You just need to go away. And then someone will say, oh, well, can I get a selfie with you? After you just said that at your home, that should be a safe area and you should be able to go home and not have people following you.

But sometimes that's not always the case. Anyway, what were you going to say? Sam says you go to L.A. They have maps of all the stars homes and people just kind of go from place to place. Now, I think also, like, listen, if you're like in New York or wherever and you and there and someone tells you where Taylor Swift apartment is and you want to just go and take a picture of the place and walk away. Fine. Right. It's kind of like it's a it's a landmark to you. Right. Like even around the city. Teddy Roosevelt's my favorite president.

They have landmarks of all of Teddy Roosevelt's old apartments. And it's cool because it's history and it's something cool for me. So I'm OK with that. If you want to go up to someone's house like, oh, this is someone's house picture. Walk away standing outside trying to hope for an autograph or to bother them while they're there.

That's very annoying. I think I think the line between human decency and celebrity has been so Teddy Roosevelt pass away a long time ago. Nineteen like nineteen, ten, nineteen or no, no, no. Nineteen seventeen right before World War One started. OK. Nineteen sixteen.

Nineteen fifteen. You're comparing this. Like going to see Taylor Swift's house to some guy that died. Well, that's a I'm just saying that there's a hundred years ago, certain locations that are landmarks. But that's different.

Then, like, then the whole Taylor Swift thing, but that person's living still. Sure. But she may or may not be. If you just go there because you know where it is and you take a picture of it, I don't have no issue with it. OK, that's fine. It's a different story. If you're waiting outside, hoping they find it, whatever. And then and then especially if you hoard them, if they are there, I'm just saying if you're just like, hey, this is Taylor Swift's apartment building and you take a picture and walk away. OK, I understand what you're saying. Different.

Just my brain didn't process it. You're like, we're talking about Taylor Swift. We're talking about Bree Solomon. Sanders is like, yeah, Theodore Roosevelt was one of my favorite people ever, one of my favorite presidents ever, like pretend like he was actually alive when he was alive. And I love visiting his homes. And I died in 1920. That's a historical landmark. That's a little bit different.

Taylor Swift, you know, in 60 years passes away. You want to go visit what her apartment was. I'm fine with that. But when they're alive and you just stalk them outside their house, that's a difference. But I will say, if you want to go see the house, which I don't know what you're going to see from the outside, really, it's an apartment in New York City, whatever.

That's different than sitting there and just waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting to get one glimpse of that person exiting their home. Anyway, it's time to answer Ask the Pros question of the day. It's brought to you by O'Reilly Auto Parts. Jim in Louisiana says, Zach, do you want to see the All-Star game go away? You can submit a question by tweeting at CBS Sports Radio or at Zach Yelb using the hashtag Ask the Pros.

Think O'Reilly Auto Parts for all your car care needs and get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. I do not. My expectations are low for the All-Star game. I don't care about the All-Star game. I did not watch the All-Star game last night.

I don't think it needs to go away because it's marketed for children. That's what it's marketed for, the younger fan. You would like to see a more competitive effort, but the NBA has a competition issue where NBA players don't really care, some of them, for the regular season.

Why would they care for an exhibition game? But I don't think the All-Star weekend was as bad as what everyone's making it out to be sure. The dunk contest was pathetic, and I gather this game last night was pathetic.

But what were your expectations for it? What I thought was the best part of the All-Star weekend was the Steph Curry, Sabrina Nescu three-point competition until you had Kenny Smith almost ruin it with him opening his mouth and saying dumb things on the broadcast when Sabrina put up 26 three-point shots made or points, whatever it was. And the guy that won the men's competition, Damian Lillard, had that same score.

So I would like to add on to that. I would make it the featured event of All-Star weekend. I don't think they'll play it on a Sunday, but they should do that every year on Saturday and next year we should see Damian Lillard, Kaitlin Clark, Sabrina, and Steph. And I thought that was the best part of All-Star weekend. So I don't need All-Star weekend to go away, and I don't need the All-Star game to go away.

Just lower your expectations and know what it is at this point. Big thanks to Paul and Neil. Big thanks to each and every one of you.

Stu and Mike as well. We'll talk to you tomorrow at 3 p.m. Eastern, noon Pacific. We out. Bye-bye. Peace!

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. I'm Tony, and this is the Tony Kornheiser show. Wow, that makes it sound a bit more serious than it really is. So what exactly is the show about? It's been almost 30 years, and I still don't know. Right now, we have some of the best voices in football come on to explain to us what we need to know in the college and pro world, and we get weekly picks from a monkey. Do you really need more than that? I might just tell you about my bunker game and the latest failed entry in my quest to find the best coffee ice cream. No schmutz, please. Listen on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.