Utter Madness

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Jim Costa with Mike Valenny. We shift the focus from football to college hoops. Playing that system that's not a system but sure plays like a system leading up to the tournament. We're looking for that value with the daily dimes. We look for the gross lines. Getting us ready for the tournament where we're going to break down all the matchups and have an eye on some future plays too.

This time of year, baby. Search Cash the Ticket on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Alrighty, rock and roll in our number two of our radio program. A lot going on with the future of the Minnesota Vikings. So let's head out to the guest line right now and welcome in a former Vikings linebacker, now been a part of their broadcast team for a while. And that is our guy Ben Lieber, kind enough to join us back on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Ben, always appreciate the time. Thanks so much for doing this and how you been? Always a pleasure to be on with you, Zach.

I've been, I've been good. You know, I'm actually talking to you from Hawaii, believe it or not. We've got our, our Twin Seas live show is here in Hawaii on a viewer trip.

So we have 175 viewers with us. And yeah, we're just kind of concluding our trip today. So it's a perfect timing. I'm very jealous that I didn't get invited to this.

I would love to go to Hawaii. You could have signed up, you know, pay attention to my social media. It's like I had the link out there. You could have signed up. I was expecting like, hey, complimentary invite, put me up at the resort, you know, free of charge. Get me some steak dinners and stuff like that. You know, I know you still got some NFL money in that bank account of yours, Lieber. Yeah, well, you know, maybe we'll talk next year. We're getting ready to announce even a month or two our next big trip. So I'll keep you in mind. Yeah. Big bucks, Ben.

Just make sure you take care of me. Ben Lieber here with us on the Zach Gelb show talking about big bucks. Justin Jefferson is going to get a lucrative contract extension. I was relieved today to hear Kwasi Adolpho Mensah nip the rumors in the bud in regards to him getting traded, because I think I would have had a meltdown on the air and I'm not even a Vikings fan. I just love Justin Jefferson.

It would have been so stupid if they even entertain trading in this offseason. Yeah, I totally agree. I mean, you talk about a guy that you can you can build your franchise around, not just from a talent standpoint. I think we all know that he and you heard Kwasi talk about he's he's the he's the best player. That's not a that's not a quarterback in the NFL.

And then he goes on to say any deserves to be paid like it. So he understands even the value that he has on the field. But the one thing that I appreciate, I think a lot of Vikings fans, a lot of football fans appreciate is like how he approaches the game. You know, he's not he's not a diva wide receiver. I mean, the guy is what they call a dog. I know that that word is used a lot, very much an NFL buzzword, but he really is a dog. He goes out there and he'll he'll block. He plays a tenacity. He's got leadership to him as well, that he's the type of guy that you want the offense to resemble and reflect. And that really comes down to all the way down from the head coach as well.

He's got that grit to him as well. I know it's a lot of money, but I said this last year that they should not mess around here. They should have got the deal done last year. It's one thing to say you're not trading him, but you could still go through this season without giving him a contract extension and then wait until next offseason, which I think would be a mistake because then it's back to back years of not getting this done.

And then you get down the franchise tag road. Like, are you fully confident that they'll get this long term deal done this offseason? Because once the GM said what he said today, I don't see why this deal wouldn't get done then in the next few weeks. Yeah, I agree with you.

I obviously there's mutual respect on both sides. I think it's you know, maybe it's a little bit like Kirk Cousins situation where it's not so much about the money itself. It's about the terms and the conditions. And, you know, maybe after they saw what and I understand it was Rick Spielman, but maybe after they saw what happened with with Kirk, they're like, well, maybe we'll press the Vikings organization. If if the will family is willing to do that, let's go for a lot more guaranteed money.

I don't know if that's the sticking point, but I feel like it was probably the terms and the conditions versus the actual total value of the money. And it sounds like, yes, they were very close. So if they were very close at the beginning of the season, they also, you know, obviously throughout the rest of the season, I know that he got injured, but, you know, he came back and still played with that fire in his belly and they understand the importance of him on the team.

They know that they have to get something done. They know from a fan standpoint, I think they'd lose the fans. They would have a lot of people jump off this Vikings bandwagon or whatever you want this fandom if they let Justin Jefferson go via trade.

Talking to Ben Lieber right now. How about Kirk Cousins? I know you brought it up a little bit his future. I've been saying all offseason. It does make sense to bring him back, but I kind of feel as if he's going to be playing somewhere else next year.

I go back and forth on this one. You know, when I when I see somebody like PFF put out some numbers of like, oh, well, you know, maybe he'll take. What about this deal? And it's like, OK, you know, two years, 70 million, you know, it's not fully guaranteed.

I would like to bring him back. I feel like that's a good deal for both sides. You know, when we heard this like fully guaranteed, 45 million per year a couple of weeks ago, I'm like, absolutely not.

I wouldn't do it for that. I really think that they're going to have to sniper shot this deal. It's going to be a small window. It's going to have to be somewhat of a fair market value. I do not think that Kirk Cousins is going to give some sort of hometown discount. I think that he's he's going to look at the market. He's going to understand what his value is. He's going to want something close to that. I don't think you're going to give him guaranteed money.

So if that's what he wants to stand on, well, then I think you have to let him go. I I think that the Vikings will bring him back. I think they want to bring him back. I think that they will still go out and draft a quarterback that they think could he be his successor. But that quarterback that they draft is going to know that you're going to sit behind Kirk Cousins for at least one season. You know, it's interesting that you say that they want to bring him back because it feels like Kwasi Adolfo Mensa wants to move up in that draft. They tried to do so reportedly last year for Anthony Richardson. It maybe seems like, OK, you know what Kirk is. He's good, but they're looking for that future plan. And once again, I think that would then fall in line with the argument of all right, you let Kirk walk and then you've got to find the way to pounce up from where they are in the draft.

Now to get into that top three, maybe make a trade with New England. Well, listen, I think. Hold on one second. Yeah, man.

No, I'm good. Thank you. What do you got room service coming in there? You know, it's the guys trying to take bags, you know, like they were flying out later today and I don't I don't need to drop my bag off yet. So, OK, so what was the question?

So, you know, it's all good. Ben Lieber here with us on CBS Sports Radio. This is what happens when we bring someone on from Hawaii. They're having a good time.

They're trying to get to a bunch of places. But basically what I was saying was I it's interesting that you think they want to bring him back because it feels like every sign the last two years, whether trying to trade up for Anthony Richardson or even the draft report this year would say that they're going to try to go move up in the draft once again. Well, I look, I'm still in the camp of all these things are not mutually exclusive. I don't think that if you sign Kirk Cousins like, well, we're taking the first best defensive lineman or edge rusher at number 11. I still think that you can leverage that situation. You can still try to move up in the draft and get the quarterback that you want. Again, knowing that that quarterback doesn't have to play right away. You get a little bit of a break and say, like, we're not going to put a ton of pressure.

You're going to be our future guy. Kirk's going to understand that the I'll push back a little bit on the Richardson thing as well. Nobody knows.

I mean, we always hear about these things months and months after the fact. The fact that the Vikings wanted to move up. Did they? Did they like, OK, they put in a phone call. Maybe the phone call was like, yeah, right. That's a ridiculous offer.

Hang up. And then you can come back months later and say, well, look, look, fans, we tried to move up in the draft. It didn't work out. We don't know how hard they really tried to move up.

So I don't really put a lot of stake in some of those rumors. I think that you look at the way Kirk played this year. You gave him a better offensive line. You got him another wide receiver. That is phenomenal as a rookie.

That's going to be even better. The run game wasn't even complimentary. And yet Kirk was playing at an MVP level. And also the defense got a lot better, which was huge. And you look at the defense and you and you see what they did.

And we all understood. You look at this defense. We're winning because a scheme.

We're winning because the X's and O's. Yeah, we have some players, but we need to really bolster the talent and the depth of that defense. And we're still much better than we were last year.

So I think this team knows that we are very close with the coaching staff that we have with some of the players that we have. That why throw it all away in this window of the next two to three years with the rookie quarterback and not bring back Kirk Cousins. So I think this can be a very competitive team, a playoff team if they bring Kirk Cousins back.

All right. Let's go around the rest of the division. Just some quick hitters with Ben Lieber before we let him run bears. They're going to trade Justin Fields, you think, and they're going to take Caleb Williams is what at one.

Yeah, I think so. I think they have to do that. I mean, you know, just resetting the time clock on paying a quarterback, especially with with all these deals are going to go up because of base off percentage of the salary cap. You're going to have to pay these guys, even whether you think the talent is there or not.

You're going to have to pay them when their time is come. So I think they reset the clock on the quarterback situation. They go with probably a more dynamic player in Caleb Williams, and I think they will find a way.

And we heard Ryan polls talk about how, look, if this deal is going to get done, we're going to do right by Justin Fields as well. They're not going to do him dirty. So I think that they'll let him figured out a little bit on his own as well.

And, you know, still get something for him. But I think put him in a good spot. So I think they'll trade him.

We have seen before, right? Bledsoe go from the Patriots to the Bills. We have seen McNabb go from Philadelphia to Washington. Is there any chance a deal gets done bears Vikings inside the NFC North where Justin Fields next home is Minnesota?

No, I don't think so. I think that if again, if you're going to bring a guy like that on and feel like he does well enough to where you have to pay him. I don't think that the Vikings want to do that. I think they're fine with maybe a two a two year deal with Kirk Cousins. But going long term commitment on a five, six, seven year deal with a veteran quarterback and have to pay that quarterback money. I think I think they go right back into the same boat that they're in with the salary cap. I think they want to go younger, cheaper eventually and build the team with the extra cash. Wrapping up with Ben Lieber, I know that the NFC North had about an offseason where they were able to celebrate the demise of the Green Bay Packers.

But now it looks like the Packers have found their next franchise quarterback in Jordan Love. I see you shaking your head. That probably makes you feel like, man, they've done it again, right? Yeah, absolutely. It pisses me off. I thought for sure.

Here we go. We're going to watch all these these poor Packer fans actually have to feel like the rest of the NFL where you have to kind of work your way through another quarterback situation. But, you know, credit to their whole organization.

And Jordan Love, he is he's been phenomenal for for going through the season ups and downs early in the season. You saw some flashes, you saw some struggles. And then that second half of the season, he just figured it out. They figured it out.

And and, you know, good for them. I want this. I want this division with the Lions in there. And what let's see what happens with the Bears that they get Caleb Williams. I want this to be the premier division in football. I know that every team wants probably an easy path to the playoffs, but I want the Minnesota Vikings to have a tough road in the division.

That way they're battle tested and they go into the playoffs knowing that they're one of the best teams in the league and they can compete. So bring it on, man. Bring it all on.

Yeah. Where's your confidence long term? It was incredible what we've seen out of the lines the last two years. They got hot at the end of last season and this season. They could have just protected that lead in the second half.

Who knows what would happen? Maybe they would have won the whole damn thing, but they're in the NFC championship game. Do you feel like now Detroit that they're here for the long term with Dan Campbell and company? Yeah, I think so.

I really do. I I think that they have bought into his message. I think that's from the top down with the GM and everything. I really think that what's holding them back is is some of their defensive scheme and adding some talent back there, especially in the secondary if they can figure that out.

I don't see why, you know, again, you go back to quarterbacks situation, you know, he's going to be up there a little bit and age as this goes along, you know, how's that going to shape up? But their formula for selecting players via the draft and building through the draft has been phenomenal. And so I think if they can keep up with that, they don't get to two above their skis and and get too cocky with what they are. I think they're building for a long term success.

Yeah, it's kind of crazy. There's some similarities with the Vikings were the last few years, right? They had that NFC championship game appearance.

They got blown out by Philly. Then they get Kirk Cousins. They were in and out of the playoffs, but it's like both of those quarterbacks. I think Kirk's good. I think Jared Goff's good.

No one's going to really call them great. And then you look at the defense. It's like, okay, can they get their acts together? You know, I think there's some similarities that were both the states of those two franchises.

Yeah, I think so. I mean, I think that there is, you know, Mike Zimmer, when he was with the Vikings, I mean, he brought he brought that edge. Yeah, you know, he brought a little bit that Dan Campbell to him. And I think what what KOC is trying to do is not forget that. I think, you know, I think that's a big misnomer when you think about Kevin O'Connell and what his system is and how he is as a head coach.

I think a lot of people see, you know, this great smile. He's great with the media. He's very approachable, but he wants a very tough minded team. I mean, he wants he wants a defense that's going to get after you, which is, you know, why they made the hire, which is why they were they were a different looking defense. And even offensively, you know, even though they passed the ball around, they want to bloody your nose. And it's just a little bit of a different approach. It looks a little bit different. But I think the core value of it and the essence of it is not to throw away the mentality that Mike Zimmer had brought on. It's it's really the old school field, the Minnesota Vikings and KOC.

KOC knows that he's been Lieber. Ben, always appreciate the time. Thanks so much for doing this. Safe travels home. All right.

Yeah. Thanks, man. Always good to see you. I'll keep you in mind for the next trip. You know, maybe I can get you a comfortable or something.

You know what? Maybe I could get your bags out of the room. All right. I'll put some work in to earn my keep. All right. That sounds good.

Yeah, that sounds good. That works out, man. There he is. Ben Lieber, former Vikings linebacker, also started his career with the Chargers.

That is a great job on the sideline for the Minnesota Vikings Radio Network joining us on CBS Sports Radio. All right. Let's break. When we come on back, should the NCAA tournament expand to 96 teams?

And also, is the coverage of Brawny unfair? We'll get to that on the other side. It's that time of year.

Cash the ticket. Jim Costa with Mike Valenny. We shift the focus from football to college hoops.

Play in that system that's not a system but sure plays like a system. Leading up to the tournament. We're looking for that value with the Daily Dimes. We look for the gross lines getting us ready for the tournament where we're going to break down all the matchups and have an eye on some future plays to this time of year, baby.

Search cash the ticket on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Alrighty, two basketball topics that we'll get to right now. We'll get to what LeBron had to say and then delete on Twitter in regards to Brawny James in just a second. But first, there has been a thought about expanding the NCAA tournament once again. Going from 64 to 68 was fine, right? You do that first four in Dayton, Ohio. It's always a good event. I think the NCAA tournament, though, is perfect as is. I know why all these sports leagues want to expand their playoffs because it's more money. Now, I wasn't a big fan in the NFL going from six teams to seven in each conference, but it hasn't made a big impact.

You know, the buys, it makes a difference. We're now only one team in each conference gets a buy. You know my thoughts on college football playoff expansion. I can't stand the idea and I already lost the battle of going from four to 12.

And within a second, I told you why it's too big of a reach because they're going to try to get it to more and more and more. And I think you take away from the awesomeness of the college football regular season. When you go to the NBA, I think it's a complete and utter disgrace that we have to reward people not caring about the regular season.

And we have to reward losing where you make this playing tournament. The only reason why the playing tournament has been somewhat successful is because they got big stars in it. You know, you've had the Warriors in it. You've had LeBron in it.

You had Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat in it. But when you go through a whole regular season in the NBA where it's tough enough and it's such a battle to get people to actually play in the regular season. Oh yeah, we have to reward the ninth and tenth team and still give them a shot to go qualify for the postseason.

That's just nonsense. So, you know, hockey, the way that they retool their postseason, that's fine. Baseball, I liked the wild-court format of two teams. You play one game and then you get basically into the postseason from there.

I still think that's the best format, but I'm fine with this new format in Major League Baseball. But the idea of going from 68 teams in the NCAA tournament to 96, what is that sport just going to become? A participation trophy? You compete in the season and then you get in. Could you imagine how many coaches are going to get fired if you were team 97, 98, 99, and 100 and you can't get in?

It'd be ridiculous. And it's very similar to the NBA. Now, in the NBA, they just added two spots pretty much for a playing tournament in each conference. But look how you're going from 68 potentially to 96. I know that right now college basketball doesn't really resonate with a lot of people in the regular season. And most people just tune in for March Madness because everyone in the office has a bracket and it's all, what's on your bracket, who are you picking, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

But going from 68 to 96 would just be nonsense. It's too many teams. But what's the point of having a regular season if you have 96 teams get into the NCAA tournament?

So you have two different takes on this. It was debated over the weekend on college game day. Jay Williams, who's like been Mr. Bad Take these days, where he says, oh, Kaitlyn Clark is the most prolific scorer he's ever seen, but he won't call her a great player. Well, of course, Jay, well, he likes the idea of tournament expansion.

So nothing against Jay Will, but it seems like if Jay Will has an opinion these days, you should probably fade it and go the other way. Here was Jay Will on college game day. I love college basketball. We watch all the games all the time.

But let's be honest about it. When we get to March, there is such an excitement around. Like everybody starts paying attention to all these different teams. And for me, if we can extend that excitement a week for some extra games, why not? I mean, it is about money as well, right, for these schools, these leagues. Hopefully it can be about money for these players as well as we continue to evolve it.

And that's inevitably where it's going to go. I don't mind it. I like it.

Why do you like it? Your point is you want to extend the excitement of the NCAA tournament. Does anyone ever when the NCAA tournament ends after having it for three, four weeks, does anyone ever say, I need more of this? I need another week or two.

No, the format right now is a really good format. I love the fans booing him in the background. That was my favorite part of the clip because it's an asinine take. It really is. Sixty eight to ninety six. Now, I understand with the realignment with these conferences where there's a thought, oh, the Big Ten and the SEC is going to snatch so many bids. So maybe you need to expand it by a few teams. OK, I can at least listen to that.

I disagree with it, but I can at least listen. But once again, sixty eight to ninety six. Nah. It's the same thing in the college football playoff committee, like four to twelve.

Nah. You want to tell me four to six, four to eight. I'm fine with. But going to twelve, just way too many teams. Here is Jay Bilas, who I actually think is the best voice covering college basketball these days. When I think of people that cover college basketball and speak out with college basketball, the first guy I think of is Jay Bilas.

Here is him sounding off on college game day. And he hates this idea of NCAA tournament expansion. Never underestimate the NCAA's capacity to do something stupid.

And if they did this, it would be profoundly stupid. When anyone says more teams need access to the tournament, every team has the same access to the tournament now. All you have to do is win your conference automatic bid, which is against your peers, with a group of teams that you have chosen to be among. And every team is in the tournament already. All you have to do is win your conference tournament. You're already in the tournament. And what are we going to do now? We're going to go to 96 and we're going to print the bracket out, first on legal paper, then on a roll of toilet paper and just roll it out.

It doesn't make any sense. That's awesome. And it was a very fun discussion. Seth Greenberg, who's a friend of the show, he was on it too. I think that was a good panel. You know, as much crap as we sometimes give Jay Will for saying his Twitter was hacked when he said Imeu Doko was the first black head coach of the Boston Celtics.

And then he was like, oh, my Twitter got hacked because he wasn't. I thought that was pretty lame that Jay Will didn't own it. Then the Kaitlin Clark stuff was pretty lame. And I don't like his idea of tournament expansion or being for it going from 68 to 96. But I do think that was a good showing of having a studio show where people have different ideas. And Jay Will and Jay Billis couldn't have had two totally different reactions to this.

And it was a good, solid conversation. Once again, there's no way they should go to 96. Like Stu, I think the NCAA tournament serves its purpose perfectly. It gives us something to watch in March before you really get full mode NBA playoffs, full mode Stanley Cup playoffs. You get the draft right around the corner once the NCAA tournament ends, you get the Masters, a tradition unlike any other, of course, gymnast. And you get all that stuff before you get a good two-month kind of rush of sports where we see a lot of championships given out. It really starts with college basketball because from now until the tournament in a few weeks, it is a little bit of a dead period in sports. Like the combine, since football is a 365-day sport now, that's going to get a lot of coverage. But there are some stories that you're already fatigued out with.

Like how many times are we going to talk about? And we do because it's the story, the Bears and what they're going to do with the number one overall pick when most of us think that Williams is going to be the pick and they're going to trade Justin Fields. But the NCAA tournament perfectly serves its purpose. It gives you a three to four-week buffer period where you get highly competitive basketball that everyone, you don't have to be a basketball fan, is invested in. You get upsets, you get sixteens now beating a one twice. You get these magical runs like Florida Atlantic FAU to the Final Four. You remember George Mason, Loyola Chicago, Dunk City with Florida Gulf Coast, like these great runs. And I understand the more teams you give access to, the more chances we are that we get these Cinderella's. But it's not like we have had less Cinderella runs throughout the years.

We get the perfect dose of it. And going from 68 to 96, it's just what's the, I know that a lot of people don't care about the college basketball regular season, but then what would be the point of the college basketball regular season? Why even play the games, shorten the regular season, and then start the tournament two, three weeks earlier? Because there would be no point to play the regular season.

Because if you can't get into a 96 tournament, you just suck. There's no other way to put it. I would be so against this if you can't tell. I would too, and I just think you're not going to get more smaller schools in. They're just going to put more SEC, ACC, Big East, Big Ten.

You're probably right. They're going to put a lot more of those schools in, which I don't think we need more of. We don't need the 12-win Georgetown team in. I like the mid-majors.

That's great. If you're going to argue that we're going to put more mid-majors in, but then that kind of lessens the impact of the conference tournaments for these one-bid conferences. Yeah, and maybe for some of these one-bid conferences going to 96, like if you have a really, let's say a top 25 team that's in a one-bid conference, and then they lose instead of having to basically sit on the edge of your chair on selection Sunday, hoping that you're getting in, or if you're right outside the top 25 and you lose in your conference tournament, maybe you get an extra school in there out of the 96. But I don't think we need to make that big push to 96. You want to say, all right, you go to 72 or 74. I don't love it. More of those playing games, I guess, right before the actual, you know, the first Thursday of the tournament. Maybe that's what you do, but 96 would just seem ridiculous to me.

It would be watered down. All righty. Let me get to your guy, LeBron James. So it wasn't that long ago, right, if I have this correct, that LeBron James publicly said that Bronny is definitely better than some of the guys that he's been watching on league pass today.

So better than some NBA players. That's what LeBron said about his son. So the other night, this article comes out that Bronny was taken out of a mock draft.

So that gives the indication that Bronny's coming back to college for another year after this year at USC. And then LeBron has the audacity to tweet out, let the kid just be a kid. I'm sorry, LeBron. And I know that you're just being a supportive dad. And I respect the way that LeBron has raised his children and how supportive he is of his children.

He should be commended for that. But you can't be saying how much your dream is to play with your son and be on the same team as your son in the NBA. And then not that long ago say Bronny is already better than some of the players that are in the NBA today that you watch on league pass. And now all of a sudden, when something negative comes out about your son getting dropped down the draft board, now it's all let the kid just be a kid. If you wanted the kid to just be a kid, and I know naturally there will always be public attention around LeBron, but you wouldn't have fed into that. And LeBron has clearly not only fed into that, he has fed Bronny James and the idea that Bronny James is going to be a top ten pick in the NBA and he's already better than some NBA players.

He's fed that idea with like tomahawk steaks, alright, filet mignons, you know, great food, stone crabs, alright? That's what he's done. But it's just hypocritical of LeBron. And it's amazing that LeBron is now taking this approach.

And this is coming from someone. I hated the coverage of Arch Manning in high school. I never wanted to talk about Arch Manning when he was in high school. College different. About Bronny James, I always felt awkward talking about a high school kid on a national radio show. It was always awkward.

I never enjoyed doing it. I always said that every time that they wanted us to talk about Bronny James and Arch Manning. But once you get to college, it's fair game.

It is. I know college athletes get covered differently than professional athletes, as they should. But now with NIL, these are professional athletes in college, pretty much. But you can't be LeBron and say, oh, my son is better than some players in the NBA. And then when he gets some criticism and some people drop him down the draft board, it's like, oh, can't we just let him be a kid? That's not how it works.

You can't feed into the beast when it benefits you and then want to kill the beast when it goes against your son. So once again, nothing but good health and good wishes to Bronny James. It was terrible what he had to go through over the summer. And it probably does behoove him to go to college back for one more year at USC. But also, I think maybe what LeBron is starting to realize, and he walked it back a little bit. He said it's my dream to play in the NBA with my son.

But I don't know if that's my son's dream. Maybe behind the scenes something's going on where now it's changing the approach of LeBron. Where maybe Bronny is saying, Dad, I want to do this my own way.

Like, obviously, you're always linked to your dad because of who your dad is. But like as much as I love you, I want to go be a rookie without you being in the same locker room as me. And maybe LeBron is starting to realize that he put that pressure on Bronny, but that's not what Bronny wanted to do. Like Bronny is going to be playing in the NBA one day. So if LeBron kind of senses that his son doesn't want to be in the same team as him, maybe that's why you're starting to see some pushback here. Or LeBron could just be a typical dad.

And it's kind of like the rec league dad where you're saying that your son's the greatest thing ever. And then once people start to give you criticism, like you're fighting a referee, you're fighting a coach on the side, then that's what LeBron's doing now, fighting with people on social media. And maybe Bronny told his dad to take down the tweet. Because I went to go find the tweet this morning, couldn't find it.

LeBron James took down the tweet and then I read that in an article as well. All right, Zach Yelbshow, CBS Sports Radio Update, some of the biggest stories in the world of sports. When we continue on the other side with the news brief update time first, let's send it over to Rich Acker. By the way, coming up at 5.20 p.m. Eastern today, 2.20 p.m. Pacific. Clay Harbor, former NFL tight end, does a bunch of media work in Chicago now, is going to join us to talk about the never-ending conversation about Justin Fields, Caleb Williams, DJ Moore, and what's going to happen with the Chicago Bears.

Let's start things off, though, with Sean Payton. He addressed reporters today in Indianapolis at the Combine, and he gave a timetable with the Russell Wilson situation. Look, we go through the Combine week here next week. I think Tuesday, Wednesday we'll be in meetings with ownership. And so I expect that we're going to know fairly quickly. I said it's a Super Bowl, but I think more specifically, I think somewhere in the neighborhood next week we're going to – there's a couple factors here. You know, obviously the cap projections came out. We're further down the road with the draft class. Obviously the pro-free agents.

So I would anticipate it being within the next two weeks. I just don't get what they're trying to accomplish here. Like, why would Russ restructure at this point? He wouldn't. The only way he would maybe restructure is if it expedites his release sooner, and then we know that Sean Payton doesn't negotiate in good faith with what he tried to do in the contract, and maybe they just further kick this can down the road on when they're going to release him. But no one's going to trade for Russell Wilson right now because of the contract, so inevitably he's going to get released. Like, when I hear Sean Payton speak there, it's like a lot of womp, womp, womp, womp, womp, womp, womp. That's what I hear, because we all know what's going to happen.

You're not going to get your way, and you're going to have to release him. So I don't really get what much of the conversation is about. Here is Mike McDonald, the new head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, on Seattle's plan at QB moving forward. Yeah, that's a tough question, and it's one that I probably can't answer right now, but we're doing a lot of work on those guys, and I've had conversations just to get to know them and understand who they are as people and their background and goals and what their family's like and where they're from. I didn't know anything about them coming into this whole thing. I understand that I'm cognizant that a lot of times these press conferences you don't get genuine answers, but when someone asks you about who's your quarterback and how do you view Geno Smith and Drew Locke, you're like, oh yeah, that's a good question, you know, and it's tough to answer.

I'll translate that for you. You don't believe in the quarterbacks. I don't think anyone actually believes in Drew Locke. I know Drew Locke had a 92-yard drive to basically put the nail in the coffin for the Eagles' season this year, but no one's saying Drew Locke is a long-term answer in Seattle. Geno Smith, he's a stopgap guy. Geno Smith is a solid, above-average quarterback, average quarterback at this rate.

He had a really good season two years ago, was okay this year, but you're never going to say this is a long-term answer. So you have a good roster where you look at Seattle, you have Tyler Lockett, you have D.K. Metcalf, you have Jackson Smith and Jigba, you have two good young running backs, you got some up-and-coming names, especially in the secondary.

Like, there's pieces in Seattle, but you need a quarterback. And it wouldn't shock me this offseason with the overload that they have at the wide receiver position, right? With Jackson Smith and Jigba on a rookie deal, D.K. has two years left on his contract, you're going to have to give him a lucrative extension. Tyler Lockett is getting into his 30s and he has two years left on his deal. I think with the wide receiver overload and what you're going to have to pay Metcalf down the road, and you're going to try to maximize a first-round contract and a rookie deal for Jackson Smith and Jigba, wouldn't shock me if the Seahawks this offseason ended up trading Tyler Lockett. But regardless, I think the Seahawks next year could be back being a playoff team, but you're always going to be feeling, man, we need a new quarterback.

And we're going to see when they're going to pounce to try to go get that quarterback. Here is the Giants' general manager Joe Shane and how much the team values Saquon Barkley. I'd say his value has changed, especially the organization.

Like, he's a captain, he's a leader, he's a hard worker. I think the world of Saquon and I still think he can play. So my value for Saquon really hasn't changed. Unfortunately, throughout the process, starting back in November of 2022, we weren't able to come to an agreement in terms of where we both thought a deal made sense. So we'll circle back again, he has a new agent, Ed Berry, who we have a really good relationship with, with CAA, really good guy and does a great job. So I look forward to sitting down and having conversations with him. I think we've all grown, Saquon, myself, the organization, through the last 12, 13, 14 months, and Saquon may be in a different place now than he was then in terms of understanding the market and the business side of it, and I'm looking forward to having those conversations with him.

Well, that's pretty big at the end. So Saquon didn't get the market. Basically, Joe Shane just said, yeah, running backs don't get paid that much. Now, you could jack up the guaranteed money, but I think what this is going to come down to, it's what does Saquon Barkley want to stand on here?

Because he could probably get a similar offer to what the Giants offered him last offseason from somebody else this offseason, but do you want to leave New York? With this not getting done last year when there was some momentum to get it done, and also now a running back getting a year older, kind of feels like he's going to get that money somewhere else. Here is Joe Shane once again. He has high hopes for Daniel Jones still. I like Joe Shane, but let's listen up to this.

Yikes. He actually started throwing. He's been throwing for about two weeks stationary now. He's not dropping back or doing any of that stuff, so he is on track. He's doing everything he can to get back. We're optimistic about where he is, and there's some talk in the spring that he may be able to go through, whether it's seven on seven or individual throwing routes on air, that he'll be able to do some of that stuff.

We probably won't expose him to team activities, but every patient responds differently to surgery, so knock on wood, we haven't had any setbacks. He hasn't had any setbacks, and if he continues on that pace, he should be ready for the start of training camp. I have faith in Daniel. I have faith in Daniel as our starting quarterback.

I don't. Now, let's be real. Daniel Jones played better than what anyone thought two years ago. You don't have enough talent around him. He now has an injury history, unfortunately, and it's kind of one of those situations where, yes, he wasn't put in a good position, but do you ever think he's going to be that franchise guy? And I hate to basically just reiterate what Brian Erlacher said about Justin Fields, and Justin Fields is more polished than Daniel Jones, but if it's been this many years and you still can't give me the clear-cut answer if he's the franchise quarterback or not, and you're basing things off hope and potential, it probably means he isn't the guy. Now, they paid Daniel Jones. You could work around that contract and get out of that contract sooner rather than later, but I don't think any giant fan is actually sitting there saying, yes, Daniel Jones is the guy for the foreseeable future. Let's go to Jason Light, the general manager of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He said the team is focused on re-signing Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans. We're focused on signing ours right now. I mean, if we could re-sign Mike and Baker from on-town, and Chase and Antoine and Tristan, I mean, we should be throwing another bullpen.

So that's a pretty good class there. Yeah, a lot of mouths to feed. I don't think Mike Evans is taking a hometown discount. I know why the Bucs would want to keep him, and I know why he would want to stay there, but I think Mike Evans will go somewhere else. And for Baker, I think you have to bring him back. Baker's better than what people think he is. You know, in Cleveland, he did win a playoff game. Then he had the injury, and it was always, was it lack of performance because of natural ability, or was it because he was hurt? I don't think he was as great as the way that he played the year that they made the playoffs, but I also don't think he was that bad as the following year after that. But Baker, I think if you could dress up a team-friendly three-year deal where there's some outs in there, I think it would be a good decision by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Let's go to Kwasi Adolpho Menta, the GM of the Minnesota Vikings. He was asked by reporters, could they actually trade Justin Jefferson? Kwasi, along the lines of things being thrown out about Justin, maybe some that are false, is there a world where you would ever consider making him available to trade a trade? That is not something that's once crossed my mind.

You got a blue player, a blue person, you try and keep as many of those as you can. Yeah, they would be idiots. They may be the dumbest team in the league, and there's a lot of teams that could claim that. Maybe the Panthers. I saw that the Panthers are raising season ticket prices. Yeah, great, when the highlight of your season was an owner throwing a drink in another fan's face. Like, that's what people remember about that season. Yeah, now let's throw a drink in the face of our own fans with this dreadful product where you just fire coaches year in and year out, and you intervene on every big decision. Now, let's throw a drink in the face of the fans and raise season ticket prices. But anyway, I don't need to go off on a Carolina Panthers rant.

I've already done enough of those. But the Vikings would be stupid to not get a deal done with Jefferson. They should have got the deal done last year. Here is my guy, college friend of mine, Dion Dawkins on VladTV. He had a big rant when Michael Clemons was brought up. They had a little kerfuffle this past year where Clemons was trying to start things, and one guy was holding him back, and then a whole army was holding back Dion Dawkins. So who really wanted to fight? Yeah, come on, Michael Clemons is doing the whole NBA hold me back kind of situation where you're trying to fight, but you're not really trying to fight. Dion just unloaded, though, on the Jets. Listen up.

You get into it with the Jets. Yeah. What happened? Weirdos being weird.

Weirdos being weird. You know, I don't even want to get a man no credit talking about him, you know. But number 72. Michael Clemons.

Michael Clemons. Yeah. Yeah, bitch boy. Bitch boy. You know, I'm going to just keep it a buck. I hate them.

All of them, bro. They are awesome. Like, when it comes to sports, right, there's people that play the sport because they love the sport, and then there's people that play the sport just to try to be cool. I feel like they play the sport to try to be cool.

Like, those are a bunch of dudes that just want to take pictures on Instagram. Like, that's whack. Like, I play this because I'll die by it. Like, but yeah, like, Clemons, look, I'm going to tell you exactly what happened because you know I want to. Let's go.

Try to fix myself in the seat. Tell you about your boy, man. You know, look, Quinnen Williams, solid. I respect the dude. Quinnen Williams is valid. I like him. When Todd Bowles was there, I respected him. Temple got two. Couple guys.

Even their, like, D-line coach, Ryan Davis, he was one of my teammates. Cool. I'm going to get them off the grid.

And the rest of them don't care. Don't like you. I like that. We don't have, like, natural hatred anymore in sports.

I think that's good. Like, Sauce Garden is a great player. You know, Quinnen Williams is incredibly underrated as well. We all know Quinnen Williams is a stud. The Jets do have great players, but the Jets talk as if they are an all-time great defense.

And they're not. So, I could understand when you are the team in that division why you get annoyed with the very loud Jets defensive front, who think they are the 85 Bears or the early 2,000 Ravens or the L.O.B. in Seattle or the steel curtain with the Steelers.

And they're just a good defense, not a great defense. But I like Doc going after them. We get to see that matchup twice this year. Oh, that's going to be fun. And wait until Rodgers is going to insert himself in the situation. He's probably on line one right now with the Pat McPhee show. DANA CARVEY & DAVID SPADE Join the Superfly on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcast.