Justin Fields is a Pittsburgh Steeler (Hour 1)

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Minimum monthly payment, down payment, tax and delivery may be required. See store for details. 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 Monday edition, another week of the Zach Gelb show, right here on CBS Sports Radio across all of our great local CBS Sports Radio affiliates. Sirius XM, Channel 158, the free Odyssey app, and of course, streaming live on YouTube.

youtube.com slash CBS Sports Radio. 855-212-4CBS, number to jump on in. 855-212-4227. You could always get at me on Instagram, where I'm straight flexing or via the good old cesspool of Twitter X, whatever you want to call it these days, at Zach Gelb.

That's Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. Got Chris Hess and Big Mike, CBS rocking and rolling with me all the way up until 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific. We'll have a few guests join us along the way today. The SEC Player of the Year, a sensational story, and that is Dalton Connect, who was at JUCO College, had another stop in between JUCO and Tennessee.

He's going to stop by at 4.20 p.m. Eastern time today, 1.20 p.m. Pacific. Tennessee did win the SEC in the regular season, and then they did lose their first SEC tournament game, but they do have big expectations as a two-seater, and they'll kick things off Thursday evening up against St. Peter's. And then joining us to kind of assist you with your brackets at 5 p.m. Eastern, 2 p.m. Pacific, Bobby Regan does a great job covering college basketball all throughout the year for Barstool Sports. A whole lot rocking and rolling today. I can't wait for Thursday to start. Like, don't get me wrong, this is not me saying I'm above or I'm like high and mighty here to the playing games, because those are really good, but I always think even with the playing games on Tuesday and Wednesday that the NCAA tournament for your boy doesn't really start on Thursday. And I do enjoy whenever we have to wait around for the show to start when you just get college basketball game after college basketball game with the crazy endings and the crazy finishes, and all the ooh onions by Bill Raffrey, which I absolutely love. So the tourney for me starts on Thursday and Friday with the first round, and then this weekend right after the show on Friday, I'm bolting down to the Jersey Shore, got to get my casino fix in and my sportsbook fix in, and I have a few buddies that do have a house down there, so I'm going to go down to the Jersey Shore this weekend and just consume all the college basketball, because this is March, and it's a wonderful time of the year. So we have a whole lot cooking, obviously with all the reaction, the aftermath of Selection Sunday, some people happy, some people really upset and infuriated.

We'll get to all that throughout the show. But I got to start off a little football today, because where we left you on Friday, we knew that the Pittsburgh Steelers had Russell Wilson. Not only did they have Russell Wilson, but as first heard on this show by a caller going back to January, that the Philadelphia Eagles were going to trade for Kenny Pickett. So we knew how that all did play on down, and we wouldn't have led the show with it today leading into Monday if something else didn't happen over the weekend. And what we found out happened over the weekend is that Justin Fields gets traded from Chicago to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who already have Russell Wilson, and the trade was for a conditional six-round pick that at best could turn into a fourth-round pick.

So there's two different angles that we could approach this with and two different takes. The first take is the Justin Fields trade return, and the Justin Field trade conversation may be one of the more overblown and underwhelming stories that I've ever covered. And the other part about it is Russ is the guy now for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but how long is the leash with Justin Fields right behind him, and what does it say about their true feelings of Russell Wilson? But let's start with the Chicago Bears' decision. The Chicago Bears, even though at times I think we've all vacillated on this because of the up-and-down, turbulent play of Justin Fields, the Bears made the right decision. The Bears have to take Caleb Williams number one, it resets the clock, it resets the contract, and Justin Fields had this year and then the fifth-year option on his contract that you could pick up. I don't think there was going to be a time in Chicago within the next year or two where you would have seen it all come together for Justin Fields, and you would have felt comfortable giving Justin Fields one of these mega contract extensions.

And also, the ceiling for Caleb Williams is just higher than the ceiling for Justin Fields. So even though I felt some days one way about it, other days a different way about it, the Chicago Bears ended up making the right decision in saying, we're going to take Caleb Williams number one overall and we're going to trade Justin Fields. Now, with all that being said, there was a time, and it's not ancient history, this was talked about in January when the season ended, where the stock of Justin Fields was in a positive way and was in a positive light, and there was a legitimate conversation on what the Bears should do, that some people thought Justin Fields could get traded for a first-round pick. Now, I wasn't in the camp that Justin Fields was going to get traded for a pure and natural first-round pick, but there was some thought that maybe it could be, and probably in all likelihood, be a conditional second-round pick that could turn into a first-round pick. But even with all the scenarios out there, in January and February, before March even started, you could have never sold to me on this show. Like, if you would have called me at 855-212-4CBS and say, Zach, Justin Fields is going to get traded for a conditional six that could turn into the best-case scenario, a fourth-round pick, I would have asked you, what are you smoking and what are you drinking?

And how much of it did you already have? Because that was inconceivable, even with Justin Fields not popping off yet in the NFL, for Justin Fields to only go for a six that could turn into a four. I thought, bare minimum, we were seeing a two, or we were seeing a three, something in that line. Now, there are reports out there that the Bears may have had better offers on the table, and they wanted to do right by Justin Fields.

I think a lot of that is a lot of hogwash and nonsense. Because if the offers were really better, and I'm not just saying slightly better, I mean that much better, it's a complete and utter disgrace, and it's a complete and utter disservice by Ryan Polls to the organization and to his fans. But I'm going to lean on the side that maybe some of the other returns that were being speculated and other deals that Ryan Polls may have been in on weren't that much better, or Ryan Polls is just trying to create a little positive PR here to maybe help out the franchise in future situations with other players in trades and free agency and all that jazz.

But to the Chicago point of it, the idea was going to be you either work one or two ways. One, you keep Williams, or you draft Williams, you trade Fields, and you get some significant draft capital back to already build off your draft capital. Or the other thing was, and this is what they did not end up happening, was that you would keep Fields and then you trade the number one pick and you get a boatload of picks back. I think the Bears have been accumulating and acquiring assets for the last few years where I don't believe in back-to-back years you can trade the number one overall pick. It worked out greatly with what they did with Carolina. I don't think you do that in back-to-back years, especially when people are saying Caleb Williams is a generational talent and your franchise hasn't had a quarterback in my lifetime and a lot of other people's lifetime that are listening to this very fine radio program right now. So I like what the Bears did. I think the Bears ultimately got it right. But how much hot air was there from probably November when the Fields train really started to pick up steam until over the weekend when we find out Justin Fields only goes for a conditional six that could turn into a four? When I heard the reporting of what Fields did land with and get traded for to the Steelers, I was like, that's it? I go, was this like a fake news Twitter account? Was this a parody account? Because it was the ultimate like, wah, wah, wah.

Because where all the speculation, all the hype was, it didn't meet what the ultimate returns were. So that's the Bears side of it. This is a new day.

This is new life for Chicago. Not only do you have DJ Moore. Not only do you have the ninth overall pick in addition to taking Caleb Williams at one. Not only do you have Keenan Allen. Not only do you have Cole Komet a good underrated tight end to this league.

Not only do you have DeAndre Swift. You are putting Caleb Williams, even with the lack of return for Justin Fields, in a good situation. What Caleb Williams is walking into runs circles around what Justin Fields was walking into. So I commend the Bears for finally making the decision. But even though I commend them, there's also that side of it of like, hmm, that's all you get for Justin Fields.

And it's alarming and it shows you what we think of Justin Fields and the way that we've talked about Justin Fields is nowhere close to what the NFL thinks of Justin Fields. Because don't tell me, oh, well, the Bears didn't really have any leverage. What leverage did the Jets have when they were trading Sam Darnold? And they got like, what, three second round picks or something like that for Sam Darnold. So there have been teams before that haven't had leverage with the player that they're moving on.

But there are other teams, coaches and GMs that think they could fix that player. And for some reason, that didn't occur with Justin Fields. It's just, it's wild. It really is wild.

It really is bizarre. And the landing spot, because you heard a few rumors about this on Thursday and Friday, oh, maybe the Steelers will be in on Justin Fields. But once they signed Russell Wilson, I didn't think it was going to happen. And even after they traded Kenny Pickett, you know they need a backup. But I didn't think Justin Fields was going to be likely. And it ends up happening and it's low risk, high reward.

Because let's be realistic. The Steelers, and I know this for a fact, the Steelers when Russell Wilson signed there, and it's all been played out, it's all been reported, these are things that I've said before on the show. When the Steelers brought in Russell Wilson, this was no competition brewing between Russell Wilson and Kenny Pickett. Russell Wilson was getting the QB one reps, Russell Wilson was going to be the day one starter. So you say goodbye to Kenny Pickett, and whether you believe it or not, that Kenny Pickett dragged his feet, he whined, he complained, he didn't want to be there and be the backup, and then he gets traded to Philadelphia.

Whatever you want to believe is fine by me. I told you on Friday, I thought Kenny Pickett came off looking weak. I think there's a better chance he gets on the field and wins back that starting job in Pittsburgh than it is that he ever wins a job in Philadelphia. Because the only way you get on the field in Philadelphia is Jalen Hurts gets hurt.

That's the only way. In Pittsburgh, Russell Wilson could flop. Russell Wilson could fail. And I've been someone that, in this last year, in the last 365 days, I've defended Russell Wilson. But still, the ceiling for Russell Wilson right now in this league is no longer a great quarterback.

At his best, he can only be a good quarterback. But I like how the Steelers did approach this, and I'm surprised by it. And I've been someone that has talked about Russell Wilson and Justin Fields landing in Pittsburgh for months now.

But the fact that they got both, it shows you two things. One, as I said, it's a new day for the Bears, it's also a new day for the Steelers. Because the Steelers have kind of been stuck in being a complacent team ever since their last playoff victory, which was in the 2016 season. Ever since then, they have just waited. They waited for Big Ben to walk away. Then they waited to settle on Kenny Pickett in the first round. They waited and just waited and waited, and it didn't seem like they were going to really move on until they had to. But this offseason, they signed Russell Wilson to a $1.5 million contract.

That's being proactive. And then they kicked Kenny Pickett to the curb because they didn't want to deal with his nonsense. And then they just, they don't say, oh, we'll just give it over to Russ and we'll hand the entire team over to Russ. No, they went out there and got intriguing backup option. And what I think it does here, with no long-term security to Russell Wilson, is it gives him a little bit of a leash in Pittsburgh.

But when you have a passionate fan base, sometimes you could send a message and it could be sent through your fan base. And right now, Russell Wilson is the guy in Pittsburgh. But if he doesn't get off to a strong start, you know the fans with the terrible towels waving those gold flags and wearing their gold and black uniforms, they will be demanding to see Justin Fields because there still is a thought of what Justin Fields can be in the NFL.

And that thought will still sit and that thought will still marinate. And there will always be a door that's open into maybe seeing Justin Fields get out onto the field if Russell Wilson doesn't hold up his end of the bargain. So I like the insurance move that the Steelers made. And don't get me wrong, this isn't Zach Gelb sitting here saying, oh, Steelers lock it up, they're going to the Super Bowl. Oh, Steelers lock it up, they're winning the AFC North.

I'm not even saying the Steelers win a damn playoff game this year. But they are better at the quarterback position in the quarterback room this year than where they were last year. And not only that, there are two options in that room this year that are better than the guy who was the lead dog last year in Kenny Pickett. And Russ, you get the first opportunity.

Russ, you get the baton. And if you don't fall on your face, if you don't stumble, then you're the guy for the rest of the season. But we're sitting there six, seven, eight weeks into the season and the Steelers are underwhelming. And Russell Wilson isn't holding up his end of the bargain, you bet your ass they're going to be fans saying, Justin Fields, let's see him. Let's see Justin Fields get out on the field and show us what he got. And for both these guys, they wind up in better situations. Justin Fields in a better situation for him right now in Chicago. Russell Wilson in a better situation for him right now than where he was in Denver, both going to Pittsburgh. And it's crazy that both of those guys are in that QB room.

So Russ is the guy for now, and we'll see how much longer that will last. Sanford, what's cooking? I'm very distracted. Two reasons why.

Sanford's given me this look that he has a take here, or he has some sort of retort. But the other thing is, I saw like a mystery man walk in, I couldn't see who he was, he had a box of what looks like was food. And now you're sitting there and there's food that I can't even see. What was the food there?

Well, first of all, it was a she, not a he. Oh, so I couldn't see the person? Yes, there is some food outside. I didn't want to take anything because I didn't know what you would have wanted. You didn't get me anything?

There's a whole box right out there, so I figured that during the break you'll take a look. Was the person that brought the food, was the initials JC? Yes. Oh, okay.

JC got to take care of us. There's no doubt about that. And there's a lot of really good options. It's just not the healthiest of options, but it's delicious. Oh, we're talking fat food on a Monday?

Yes, yes, but it is delicious. See, I went to the gym today, I was feeling good, I came off what was a gluttonous, I will be the first one to admit it, gluttonous weekend. A bunch of Italian food on Friday, had a friend's 30th birthday on Saturday, it was all you could eat, all you could drink for $50, great deal of sushi. And that wasn't enough because Saturday night after having a bunch of alcohol throughout the day, I had to get some grease in the system, had two slices of pizza, and then last night I had a fantasy baseball draft and it was a big Indian food night. Oh, I love Indian food.

Oh, phenomenal. I actually had a vegetable samosa burrito just now from Trader Joe's. It was absolutely delicious. So I ate like a fat pig this weekend, and I'm going down to the Jersey Shore this weekend so I'll eat like a fat pig again.

So I'm trying to eat very healthy Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Yeah, then don't have the food that's out in the box. It looked like there was a burger there. Yeah. Is it Shake Shack?

Yeah. Oh my goodness gracious. And chicken sandwiches too. I actually, for the show, took the last bin of fries. You're welcome, Zach. You can have as many of the fries as you want.

And there's chicken and there's burgers and it's Shake Shack and it's delicious. I'm in pain. So I don't have a take, but I do have a question based off of a very interesting development with the Steelers quarterback position. Is this breaking news or is this everything I just talked about?

It's what you were talking about, just a very interesting development that has come to light that's super interesting and it makes me wonder in question. Now, all intents and purposes, all indications show that Russell Wilson is the starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The odds in Vegas for MVP in 2024, Russell Wilson plus 15,000, Justin Fields plus 6,000. Justin Fields is a better MVP odd than Russell Wilson. So you're telling me Russell Wilson's at plus 15,000? And Justin Fields at plus 6,000. Justin Fields has better odds. That was not 1,500 for Russell Wilson, that was 15,000. So we'll do this.

I'm going to process that during the break and I'm going to react to it on the other side. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio in a wild world where Kenny Pickett, the return for Kenny Pickett to be a backup in Philadelphia was greater than Justin Fields, who is going to be the backup in Pittsburgh, but there is a path at least for Justin Fields to get on the football field this year. We're coming on back, 855-2124, CBS 855-212-4227, this is Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio.

Alrighty, Zach Gelb show, CBS Sports Radio. Steelers now have Russell Wilson, but not only him, they also have Justin Fields. And Samter pointed this out, that Russell Wilson's MVP odds this year are plus 15,000, Justin Fields' MVP odds for this year are plus 6,000. Now let me give you the hot take of the day.

I will not be placing a wager on either Justin Fields nor Russell Wilson to win the MVP, because this is why you tune into the show, where the takes are sizzling hot, because neither are going to win the NFL MVP. Ooh, scorching. I can't believe I just said those words on a national radio show. You're going to get reamed all over social media. It would not be the first time that the Steelers fans have wanted a piece out of your boy. And I will say, when Steelers fans come after me, I always find it funny, because it's always like a 60-year-old or a 70-year-old man or woman, when you look at their profile picture, you're like, oh, that's a sweet grandpa.

Or, oh, that's a sweet grandma. And then the next thing you know, they have a mouth like you have never seen or heard before, and they're just mother bleeping me up and down all forms of social media. I still have DMs from the time that I said Big Ben Roethlisberger should just zip his lip and shut his mouth when COVID was going on, and he was bitching about how they had their bye week taken away because of Tennessee not following protocols and things like that.

And I got the nastiest messages that maybe I have ever received. But what this does illustrate to me, Samter, is a very simple point here. This is Vegas saying that Justin Fields has a higher upside than Russell Wilson. And the ceiling for Justin Fields in the NFL in 2024 and moving on is in a higher point than it is for Russell Wilson. Because Russ' ceiling at this stage of his career is just being a good quarterback right now. Russ will never be elite again. Russ will never be a great quarterback again. But he is better than Kenny Pickett, and his ceiling is just being good. The intrigue with Justin Fields, whether you believe it or not, in him reaching that full potential, is there is a thought Justin Fields could still be a franchise quarterback for a team, but it was the Chicago Bears who messed it up more than Justin Fields who blew his opportunity.

So that's the way I basically, Samter, interpret this one. This is Vegas telling you, and this is something that I believe in, that for now and moving forward, even though Russell Wilson is going to be the starter, and he may never give the baton back to Justin Fields for this year, and he may take it to the playoffs and they lose in the first round like the Steelers have been accustomed to now, ever since the 2016 season did end. But this is Vegas saying a thought that I share, which is that for a higher ceiling in the NFL, it's now Fields over Wilson, but that doesn't mean Fields gets that opportunity this season. If you had to put a percentage on it, what are the odds that Justin Fields, I'm not saying week one, just at some point in the season, takes the job from Russell Wilson? There is a zero percent chance that Justin Fields is starting week one. The only caveat I put in there is if there is an injury. Like if Russell Wilson physically cannot perform, cannot play, that's the only way Justin Fields is on the field week one. But at some point this season, and let's take injury out of the equation here, I think there is a, I'll go 60 percent chance that Russell Wilson is the starter from start to end, and that opens up a 40 percent window for Justin Fields at some point this year to get on the field for the Pittsburgh Steelers. And I'm taking injuries out of the equation when I give you that number. The Steelers fully intend for Russell Wilson to be their starting quarterback from start to finish, but Russ needs to play well. And when Russ doesn't play well, or if he doesn't play well, for a two or three game stretch, it's just inevitable. Like we've seen this before, where there's a backup quarterback who is popular.

And just because you're popular, it doesn't mean that you're good at your job. But when you have a following, and there is a carrot that's dangling over you, and you're kind of saying, hmm, there's something intriguing there, people when you don't satisfy them say, okay, let's see the other option. Let's see what's behind door B.

And right now, what's behind door A, you know it's solid, you know it's good, you know it's fine, but there could be an expiration date. And Russell Wilson, as long as he plays solid football, good football, and doesn't go into stretches where there's back to back to back bad games, there will be no need to put Justin Fields on a football field in 2024. But the moment Russ stumbles, the moment he trips up, then yes, it opens up a door for Steelers fans to start waving their towels and saying, get Justin Fields to be QB 1.

And the moment that happens, sooner rather than later, that's when Justin Fields usurps Russell Wilson. 8-5-5-2-1-2-4 CBS, 8-5-5-2-1-2, 42-27. So, a lot of reaction to get to from the March Madness bracket being revealed. So, we'll get into my biggest takeaways later on in the show, but the biggest conversation piece, and I tweeted this out even before the brackets were revealed, because I had a feeling with how many bids were stolen, there was going to be a lot of frustration, because there was going to be deserving schools that didn't get into the NCAA tournament. I will make myself perfectly clear on this show if you missed it on social media.

I think you're a loser today. If you are sitting in front of a TV screen, you're sitting in front of a microphone, you are on social media, and you are imploring the NCAA to expand the NCAA tournament. 68 teams is enough. It doesn't mean that in some years, and this could be a year where you're saying, hmm, there's a few teams that should have been put in that weren't put in. But we don't need more than, you know, 68 teams. And right now, I get people that have tweeted me and interacted with me in the last 48, 72 hours, whatever it is, leading up to the tourney, and then once the brackets get revealed that go, oh, well who wouldn't want to see another week or two of March Madness?

I'm sorry. When the tourney starts, I'm excited. When the tourney ends, I've seen enough basketball.

I have. And we don't need to now make this a participation trophy tournament. Like people are furious when they went from 64 to 68, for crying out loud. Now we're going to expand it from 68 potentially, and ultimately the NCAA will do that, because the NCAA are a bunch of greedy pigs and if there's more ways for them to make money and to help out some of the bigger conferences and get in more bigger conferences and more teams from those bigger conferences, then they'll do it.

But it doesn't mean it's necessary, and it doesn't mean it's right. It's the same damn thing as the college football playoff. Most years, there's not a need to see more than four teams in the college football playoff. Then they go to 12, and we don't even get to enjoy one installment of 12 before there's already reports that a 14-team playoff is getting finalized two years from now. There's just no need for it. But what there is a need for is a ton of greed in making more money.

And whenever you can offer someone more money, they take it. But I look at the biggest takeaway in the snubs, and you could say Pitt, you could say Indiana State, when you have UConn, though, as the number one overall seed, you have Marquette as a two-seed, you have Creighton in the Big East as a three-seed, I didn't think that was where you were going to draw the line with Creighton for the Big East teams getting in. And I'm not going to sit here and tell you St. John's, Providence, and Seton Hall all needed to be in. On Friday, before a lot of these bids were sold and we see maybe the craziest Saturday that we've ever seen, I thought that at least two of them would get in.

Then when selection Sunday rolled around, I thought at most one of them would get in. But it doesn't make sense when you have a team like Seton Hall who's like lower in the Ken Palm and then also the net rankings, than St. John's and also Providence, depending on what you look at. But Seton Hall had 13 wins in the Big East this year. Like, you win 13 games in the Big East, you think that should be enough?

I would think so. But to only put three teams in from a great basketball conference and not just give them a fourth, that was my biggest gripe with the committee. And I know if you're an Indiana State fan, where you're ranked 28th in the net, and then in Ken Palm you're ranked 45th, you're like, oh, well, what about us? And if you're a Pitt fan where you're 40th in the net and 40th in Ken Palm, you're like, oh, what about us?

Totally got you. You have a gripe. And Virginia's the most controversial one. They were 54th in the net and they were 69th in Ken Palm. So there are arguments to be had. But I thought with the name of a Rick Pitino, by the way, who's 32nd in the net and then in Ken Palm he was 25th, I thought for sure, whether they were deserving or not, St. John's is going to get in, also because of the name presence of a Rick Pitino.

But that just doesn't add up to me. Use whatever analytics, use whatever explanation you want and argue teams that beat this, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But when you have the number one overall seed in UConn, you have the number two seed in Marquette, and you have the number three seed in Creighton, I wouldn't think when you go to fill out the rest of the 68 teams that not at least one more Big East team would get in. You could debate if you thought it was St. John's, Providence, Seton Hall until you blew in the face. I don't care.

I just thought one of those teams would have found a way to get in to four, even with all these bids that were being stolen. It is Zach Gelb's show on CBS Sports Radio. Sam's just got some questions for me. He doesn't got any burgers for me. He doesn't got any chicken for me as well. I didn't know that I was going to eat it, but it's just the principle where this is another moment where Sam has been offered food here and he deflects.

He doesn't look after me. And the person that offered Sam food said, he will put the food or she will put the food in the newsroom. And she put what? Five minutes before I took a break, like 10 burgers? At least 10. I mean, I would say five or six burgers and five or six chicken sandwiches, at least 10.

Okay, so there was 10 sandwiches. I take the break and I know that you put things in the newsroom. It's like throwing meat to sharks that are in the ocean that haven't maybe had anything to eat for a day. You know, I understand.

It's like throwing meat to a hungry pack of wolves and that thing goes quickly. But we are now a little bit later in the day. It's a Monday.

Some people now with all this working from home nonsense, they get to extend their weekends and stuff and they don't come into the office on Monday. I go out in the newsroom and I say, let me peruse. I wasn't going to have any. You know, I'm going to be disciplined. I'm not going to eat like a pig this week. But I walked over. I said, Sam, where's all this food? And the box was already in the trash can because all the vultures here, they already took down all the burgers and the chicken sandwiches. To my defense, I've been here long enough to know how often and how quickly things go and typically at this time of the day, there's only a few people in the newsroom. So for 10 things to go, A, people took two or B, people came from all around who normally aren't here to take because there's like three people back there.

So unless all three people took three burgers, how all of it went away, I have no idea. Well, you know what? There's a certain analytic that we probably haven't been using like Ken Palm, Net.

We don't even know what any of that stuff means anymore. There's the Marash analytics now. Marash now works in the afternoons.

Used to work in the mornings. I bet you Marash, he was looking a little bit slim these days, looking slimmer. I bet you he has a chicken and a burger on his plate.

There's no doubt about it as well. So the NCAA may need to change what rankings they use and what analytics they use and maybe we have to do when it comes to food here at CBS Sports Radio. Zach's taking on the most polarizing issues in sports. Which side of the line of scrimmage will he end up on?

Offside, defense number 69. It's Onsides, Offsides with Zach Gelb on CBS Sports Radio. Alrighty, it's time to ask the pros, where you the listener gets asked us a question. It's brought to you by O'Reilly Auto Parts. Simply tweet your question at CBS Sports Radio or at Zach Gelb using the hashtag askthepros. We'll be listening later in the show when we might answer your question. Think O'Reilly Auto Parts for all your car care needs.

Get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. Alrighty, Samster, what do we got cooking today? Alright, well we've talked a lot about Justin Fields and the Bears and their trade. Obviously he was sent to the Steelers.

Reports surfaced that at least three or four other teams were interested in Fields. However, Fields only wanted to play for the Steelers, so the Bears honored his request and dealt him to Pittsburgh. Onside, offside, teams should never sacrifice a better trade to make an outgoing player happy. With a younger player who really has done nothing for your franchise, I would say, yeah, you were right, Samster. That team should never sacrifice a better trade to make an outgoing player happy. So in this case, if they truly did have a better deal, then you should have taken it instead of making Justin Fields happy.

But with that being said, here's my exception to the rule. Let's say you have a franchise legend. Like let's say you have a J.J. Watt and you're trying to trade him and you want to get something back. And you could ship him off to, I don't know, a team that has no chance for a fourth round pick or a team that has a chance for a fifth round pick.

Then maybe sometimes previous history should matter. So you ask me, teams should never sacrifice a better trade to make an outgoing player happy? I am going to say offside because the one exception is when you have a veteran franchise legend and if it's not a drastic difference and you want to keep that relationship in a good spot with them when you bring them back in a few years to honor them by that team, that's the only time I'm okay with it. Now all year long it appeared that Marvin Harrison Jr. was going to be the clear-cut first wide receiver off the board, but a new report from The Athletic says that many teams have LSU's Malik Nabors as their number one wideout. So onside, offside, you're okay with a team taking Nabors over Harrison. This is offside for me.

This is an easy offside. I am not saying anything poorly about Malik Nabors or Roma Dunze. I think these three wide receivers are all going to be excellent and we're going to look back and be like, wow, playmaker after playmaker after playmaker went with the first three wide receivers off the board. Not only that, it's not just those three, this is a loaded, and I mean a loaded wide receiver draft class. But I believe Marvin Harrison Jr. is the best wide receiver in this draft class. And I think, quite frankly, he's the best player, period, in this draft class.

So the question you're okay with the team taking Nabors over Harrison Jr., it's not for me. And I think you're going to see three quarterbacks go one, two, three. Caleb Williams will go one to the Bears.

We'll see the commanders take it. It's either going to be Drake, Mayer, Jayden Daniels, and the Patriots will take whatever quarterback that the commanders don't take. The Cardinals at four become really intriguing. Because you can say Marvin Harrison Jr. is better, can you fall back a few spots and get a Nabors, can you fall back a few spots and get a Dunze, still get future draft capital, and have someone else move up to four, even if it takes Harrison off the board, because that fourth team is maybe looking for a quarterback and then the team fifth ends up taking Marvin Harrison Jr. That's a possibility and that's something you've got to weigh. I'm not saying it's that big of a drop off from Harrison to Nabors, but Harrison to me is still the best player in the draft and the best wide receiver in the draft, so I'm going offside when I'm asked, you're okay with the team taking Nabors over Harrison.

Alright, next one, let's go. Now after winning another Super Bowl, the Chiefs are looking for a tax extension to renovate Arrowhead, but team president Mark Donovan made a not-so-veiled threat if the extension gets voted down. These are not new taxes and you keep both teams. I just know that for us, the Chiefs, we would have to look at all of our options. The options include leaving Kansas City, Missouri. I think they would have to include leaving Kansas City, but our goal here is that we want to stay here and we're willing to accept a deal which is actually better for the county to stay here. You know what that is? That's him knowing I have the Chiefs.

I have the crown jewel right now, not only in his own city, but in the NFL, the crown jewel. So I could use that as leverage to maybe get some money where I wouldn't maybe get it in other years. It would be a disgrace, a disservice, if the Kansas City Chiefs have to move somewhere. Be stupid. Well, so here's the question, onside, offside, the NFL should punish teams that threaten their fans of relocating to a new city. No, because it would be hypocritical of me.

I'm not saying I like it, but it would be hypocritical of me. Because if I had leverage in that situation, I would use the leverage as well. So you asked me if the NFL should punish teams that threaten to relocate to a new city, offside, and plus the NFL would never do it because they're never going to punish teams if they think moving can make them more money or they think moving could get them a place to save more money from maybe getting those resources elsewhere.

It's not happening now. Now the Jets, my old team, the Jets, their main priority this offseason was obviously upgrading the offensive line to protect Aaron Rodgers, and so far they've landed two of PFF's top-rated tackles, adding Morgan Mojizis, who's number 10, and then number two on that list, Tyron Smith, former Cowboy, signed with the Jets for a one-year deal. Now onside, offside, the Jets obviously got their two bookend tackles, but the Jets should still look to draft an offensive tackle with that 10th pick in the draft. So bringing in Smith, he's phenomenal when he's healthy. So the logical thought here should be, oh well, you go still draft a tackle, develop that tackle in front of a good veteran body.

But I'm not going to use logic here. This opens up the door for the Jets to get another playmaker for Aaron Rodgers, and they still need a second playmaker. Like, I'm talking about a pass catcher.

I'm not including Breece Hall in that. Right now on their offense, they have Garrett Wilson. They really don't have that much else to throw the football to. Could you get a Brock Bowers at 10? Possibility. Does maybe one of these wide receivers fall? Does that fourth wide receiver emerge, then you go take it at 10?

Possibility. So the Jets should still look to draft an offensive tackle with 10th pick in the draft. Nah, I'm going for the stars.

I'm going for flashiness. I'm going for offense, high-octane offense, and usually an offensive line enables you to do that, but I want to go see them now get a playmaker. So when you ask me that question, I'm going to go offside.

Offside! The last one, the Dodgers' huge free agent acquisition, Shohei Ohtani, is coming off of Tommy John's surgery, his second in his career, and obviously won't pitch in 2024, despite 700 million reasons why he should be out there as much as possible. Someone took Ohtani as a pitcher in my fantasy baseball draft last night.

It's a keeper league. They took him later, and they're going to store him for a year, and then get a great keeper pick for Ohtani being a pitcher the following year. It's actually a brilliant draft strategy. Well, it could be brilliant.

It also could backfire if what we're hearing could actually be true. Apparently, the two-time AL MVP will apparently start a throwing program with the Dodgers that will allow him to possibly play the field this season. Onside, offside, the Dodgers should not allow Ohtani to play the field and risk re-injuring his arm. 1,000% onsides with the contract they just gave him.

I don't get it! It's not only that, but it would be one thing if the team sucked, right? This is an all-star team. This team is loaded, absolutely loaded with talent, and this is a long-term play, and it's not as if he's coming back to pitch this year.

It's him coming back to play the outfield. Just keep him as the DH the entire year. There is no need to have him throwing at all this year. Wait.

You protect your investment. I'm okay with him doing some throwing on the side, but there is no need for him to return this year to throw. It's not going to be on the mound, but in the outfield.

Just makes no sense whatsoever. Could you imagine if he's trying to throw a runner out at third or at home from like right field, and he ends up re-injuring his arm on like some meaningless throw at a base to try to like nail a runner? And that then ends because there is going to eventually be a time where they say, okay, only pitch or only hit and it's going to be hitting, or maybe they move him into like the closer or something.

That would expedite that process, and that would be the worst thing for baseball, and it would be a bad thing for the Dodgers because this unique ability of having Otani be one of one, great pitcher, and then great at the dish is so fun, I'm okay delaying the pitching part or any of the throwing part for another season. Coming on back. Enjoy wherever you go with the peace of mind that comes with America's best warranty and three years or 36,000 miles of complimentary maintenance. But hurry in. These deals won't last. Add more joy to your journey at the Hyundai Getaway Sales Event. Now get 0% APR or up to $1500 bonus cash on the Hyundai Tucson. Now during the Hyundai Getaway Sales Event. Offers end soon. Call 562-314-4603 for details.

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