Will the Vikings Pay Justin Jefferson? (Hour 3)

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Minimum $10 per order. Additional terms apply. All right, away we go. Our number three of our radio program. Appreciate Bobby Okereke from the Giants joining us in studio a few moments ago. We will be joined by Mark Madsen coming up 20 minutes from now as we will, of course, discuss the Minnesota Timberwolves going back to the conference finals. We're going to do onside offside here, guys, as we are streaming on YouTube.

As always, as you can find the show on one of our countless of affiliates, Sirius XM Channel 158 and on YouTube. Without further ado, I don't want to drop Freddie a do line twice in one show. That's a one show per limit line. So I know I messed that up. That's that's my fault there. That's on me. All right. I'm an accountability guy.

When I mess up, it's on me until I throw someone under the bus. Well, you actually still we actually have an easy out these two weeks. Any time something goes wrong, we could just blame it on the fact that Santa's not here. Yeah, I like that.

I think that's the right move. Santa got a little sick last week and now he's moving this week. So I guess we will see Michael Santer when the calendar flips to June. So let's just blame everything on Santer.

Maybe we should do that moving forward. So everything, whether he's here or not, it doesn't really matter. Can you imagine he comes back and we just start blaming him for everything? Oh, he would be very, very, very fresh. He would take that personally, I think. Anyway, the stew has cooked up some questions for us.

I will give you some answers. Let's get to a little onside, offside. Chris has hit it. 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.

Alrighty, Stu, what do we got cooking today? Alright, Zach, as you mentioned earlier in the show, the Boston Celtics, they reached the Eastern Conference Finals last week. But news surfaced over the weekend that the C's could be without injured big man Kristaps Porzingis, who will reportedly miss the first two games of the Conference Finals. However, there is optimism within the organization that he could return at some point in this series. So onsides, offsides, the Celtics need Kristaps Porzingis healthy in order to win a championship this season.

That's onsides. And it's because you said to win the championship. I'm not concerned if Kristaps Porzingis is playing or not for this round. And I know, right, you got Siakam, you got Turner, so he could be needed for this series up against the Pacers. But the Celtics, if you would have told them before the playoffs started that they would be going up against Indiana four games away from an NBA Finals, and it would come at the expense of Porzingis maybe until the Finals, they would sign for that in a second. And I know they beat Miami, but they played Miami without Jimmy Butler. You have no Milwaukee, as Milwaukee got eliminated early by the Pacers.

They weren't healthy. The Knicks out of it, and the Knicks were hurt. Sixers out of it got eliminated by the Knicks. Like, easily the Celtics would have loved, and they now are going up against the Indiana Pacers. And I do think that the Celtics are going to beat the Pacers, and then whoever prevails between Minnesota and obviously the Mavericks, you're going to need Porzingis to win that series, I think. And if it is Timberwolves and Celtics, like a lot of people expect it to, which means probably one of those teams won't get there, because that's usually how it goes when everyone expects one thing to happen, you will need Kristaps Porzingis in that series. So I think the Celtics, and I said this the moment he got hurt, they will coast to the NBA Finals, and you need Porzingis back by the time the NBA Finals get underway. You know, I was not concerned when you knew Porzingis was out, if it was the Knicks or the Pacers getting there, I was not concerned with them not having Kristaps Porzingis, but you will need him to win the last four games that you need to win in order to secure that Larry O'Brien trophy. So the Celtics need Kristaps Porzingis to win the championship this season, not to win this round, but to win next round, so that makes it an onside. Alright, according to the athletic, the Lakers would prioritize a trade for Donovan Mitchell over Trae Young this offseason if they seek to build a new big three surrounding both LeBron and Anthony Davis. Onsides to offsides, the Lakers will win a playoff series next season if they keep LeBron and trade for Donovan Mitchell. So two things here. You go get Donovan Mitchell, and you team him up with Anthony Davis and LeBron.

Will they be able to stay healthy? That's one. And then number two, what's the matchup going to be, and also, will you have a bench? Because the Lakers didn't have shooters this past year without Donovan Mitchell. So if you get Donovan Mitchell, you're giving away picks and reeves probably, right, Stu?

Is that what it probably is? Yeah, reeves, a bunch of picks, yeah, something like that. And probably just other players to match the salary, I would assume? Probably D'Angelo Russell involved maybe as well, yeah, because they're going to have to match that pretty hefty salary that he has, yeah. Thunder going nowhere, Nuggets are going nowhere, Timberwolves are going nowhere, Mavericks, as long as they're... You know what? That's already four or five teams.

So they're probably on the road in the first round. You know it'd be fun if we get to see Lakers and Clippers. If we get to see them in the first round of the playoffs, that would be a whole lot of fun next year. Now you have no clue who would be healthy, and Stu, that series would annoy you a lot. I don't think you could handle the Clippers beating the Lakers in the playoffs. I would not be happy about that at all.

That would... I'm not going to say it's my worst nightmare as a sports fan, but it's pretty close. Well, your worst nightmare as a sports fan so far in your life, and Stu, for people that don't know, is a Raider fan, a Yankee fan, a Lakers fan, a Notre Dame fan, and you're a Devils fan. Yes, Devils, yes.

It's like, which one does not belong there? I know the Devils have won three championships in your life. Yeah, and Raiders. Yeah, but the Raiders at least are like a historic brand.

That doesn't mean no good. You kind of are the stereotypical Cowboys fan. Just not the Cowboys. Yeah, I know you're not the Cowboys. The Cowboys are just the one that's not included in that. I would have said you're a Lakers fan, a Yankee fan, a Notre Dame fan. Let's forget the hockey team.

And I said, who's the football team? People think you're a Cowboys fan. So I guess that applies for like the Yankees and the Lakers too, because people go, oh, if you're a Lakers fan, aren't you a Cowboy and a Yankee fan, right? And you know, Yankee fan, aren't you a Laker and a Cowboy fan? So maybe you should root for the Cowboys.

You already root for one drama team. At least the other team gets the playoffs. I was going to say, at least I have some playoff appearances.

Not much more in my lifetime, but they do have some playoff appearances. So the worst loss probably of your life, talking about on the field, is the Yankees being up 3-0 and choking away that series in 0-4. Number one, by far, yes. Let's say the Lakers lose to the Clippers in the first round of the playoffs. Would that be the second?

I think so. So I'll put, I would say the... The Bush push, that has to be up there.

USA Notre Dame. That's not great either. I was going to say the Diamondbacks game seven was tough.

I was pretty young then. The Raiders don't really have that. Astros have called you your daddy? Nah. Yeah. I would say the Clippers would probably be third after the two Yankee ones. Okay.

For me. When we go through that exercise, I'm really going to answer that onside, just because on the surface, oh, you get Donovan Mitchell, you get LeBron, you get, ah, you win a playoff series. And then you look at the teams in front of them, I think it's tough.

And they got to be healthy. So I will go offsides on that one when you ask me if the Lakers win a playoff series next season and they keep LeBron and trade for Donovan Mitchell. Offside. Maybe Bronny's the X Factor.

Maybe he is. Next question. Let's get it. According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, the Jaguars are, quote, all in on getting a long-term deal done with quarterback Trevor Lawrence, and that he could get over $50 million per season. The former number one overall pick had 21 touchdowns and 14 interceptions last season, following a 2022 campaign where he had 25 touchdowns to just eight interceptions. Onsides offsides, the Jaguars should give Lawrence a deal with an average annual value of $50 million.

So I want to be fair here. I thought the Lions had to pay Jared Goff the contract they gave him last week. Now, when that happened, the other two quarterbacks that we talked about right away were Dak Prescott and Tuatunga Bailoa. And I said the Dolphins should not pay Tua yet because I need to see more consistency out of them.

The Cowboys, I think it's more of a Dak decision right now than a Dallas decision because Dak has the power with the right to go to free agency if he wants because you can't tag him. You could still tag Trevor Lawrence. He's only in year four right now. He has the fifth-year option next year, and then he could be an unrestricted free agent 2026, but you could tag him in two years. As much as I think Trevor could be a good quarterback, year one was ruined by Urban Meyer.

Year two took a good step, and then year three was injured and took a step back. Ultimately, the Jaguars will have to pay him because he's their organization right now, and if you take that away, what hope do you have at the quarterback position? But I need to see more consistency, and I need to see a big year four out of Trevor Lawrence before I'm giving him $50 million. So I don't think you have to give him that deal right now. So the Jaguars should give Lawrence a deal with an average annual value of $50 million. Right now, I would say offside.

Offside. The Steelers have a brand-new look at quarterback this season as they brought in both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields this offseason. Now, according to ESPN's Phil Yates, he believes that Justin Fields could win the Steelers' starting quarterback job over Russell Wilson.

Yeah, I don't buy that. Despite many believing Russ has the leg up. Now, onsides, offsides, you believe that Fields will be the starting quarterback for the Steelers at some point before week five. So they're scheduled to start the in-Atlanta good team at Denver. Denver stinks, but that's a big game for Russ. So you know as long as he's healthy, he's the starter for the first two games of the season. I don't think Fields is going to win this job. Then you play the Chargers. You play the Colts. Are they going to be one and three after those four games? Probably not.

That feels like two and two. So are you going to bench before the Cowboy games, Sunday Night Football on NBC? Yeah. Are you going to bench him?

No, I don't think so. So Fields will be starting for the Steelers before week five offsides. Now, Tigers starting pitcher Tarek Scubel isn't a household name yet, but that could be changing very soon. The Southpaw pitched six scoreless innings of one-hit baseball against the Diamondbacks on Friday, which lowered his ERA on the season to just 1.80. Over his last 14 starts dating back to last season, Scubel is 10-0 with 109 strikeouts and 85 innings pitched with a 1.48 ERA. Onsides-onsides, Tarek Scubel is the most underrated player in Major League Baseball right now.

And they say we don't talk baseball on this show. Now, he's on my fantasy baseball team. A few years ago, I traded for him.

I was wheeling and dealing. Then he got hurt, so I didn't keep him, but I took him late in the draft. And then he came back, had a good finish the last season, and now has been a stud like Stu has said.

But he's expected to be great. You know, I would say someone that is more underrated than him is the Phillies pitcher, Ranger Suarez. You think of the Phillies, it's Nolan Wheeler. Ranger Suarez right now could win the Cy Young. He's the first half Cy Young, and it's only May 20th.

It's still a long ways to go. He's 8-0 with a 137 ERA. Now, I did take him late in a fantasy draft this year, and I was not expecting him to do this. I just thought it was a good value pick. But I would say offside, when you ask me if Schoobol is the most underrated player in Major League Baseball right now, Ranger Suarez has to be in front of him.

Offside. Now, sticking with baseball, the Dodgers, they gave away Shohei Ohitani bobbleheads to the first 40,000 fans ahead of Thursday's game, with 1,700 of them being a rare chase version, which was in the Dodgers' gray uniform. Well, following the game, some of the special version bobbleheads ended up on eBay, and were going for upwards of $1,500. Was that to pay off the gambling debts of eBay and Mezuhara?

Maybe. Onsides, offsides, there is a piece of sports memorabilia that you would spend four figures on. When I was a kid, I loved sports memorabilia. But I grew up in sports, so I was able to, you know, naturally get that stuff for free. But when I take a look in terms of spending four figures on sports memorabilia, no. You know, sports memorabilia doesn't do it for me anymore.

It really doesn't. And maybe it's because of the business that I'm in, where you get to meet a lot of these athletes and talk to a lot of these athletes. So I care more about the interviews, but four figures for sports memorabilia? No, I'm not doing that, offsides.

Offside. What's your favorite sports memorabilia item, Stu, that you own? So I have like a lot of baseball cards, and I have a Tom Brady rookie card that's like out of 200 and something. Oh, wow. And it's graded.

It's like a nine. So that is something I'm holding onto. And at some point, I'll probably try to make some money off of it. I would say my three favorite sports memorabilia items that I have. I have a Tom Brady signed football. I have a Marc Messier signed jersey. Oh, wow. And then my father back in the day, when he was working in Philly, he took a fight poster of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. And he, through his connections, he met Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali and got them both to sign it, and that has been passed down to me. So I would say those are my three favorite items.

Pretty damn good. And I have a pretty cool shadow box framed Jason Kidd jersey and Vince Carter jersey together, which I do like. So those are my favorite items. But no, I'm not buying items. I'm not. I should probably sell some of those.

They come with you. Final one. During the NASCAR All-Star race yesterday, Kyle Busch wrecked Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on the second lap. Ricky Bobby?

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. He wrecked him on the second lap of the race, where the winner of that race would net $1 million. Now, following the race, the two got into a heated altercation, which led to punches being thrown in a brawl then between the drivers and pit crews. Onsides, allsides, fighting between athletes and non-combat sports is a good thing. And everyone's safe, right? There's no, like, big-time injuries from this fight? No major injuries. Just, you know, some fists. That's all. Would we really be talking about this race if it wasn't for this fight? We would not be.

So there's the answer to your question. Fighting between athletes and non-combat sports is a good thing. Onsides. All righty, it is the Zach Gelb Show on the Infinity Sports Network. We will chat some playoff basketball when we return. He's the coach at Cal.

Mark Madsen will join us on the other side. Your summer and shop in store or online at Whole Foods Market today. That's not just the sound of that first sip of Morning Joe. It's the sound of someone shopping for a car on Carvana from the comfort of home.

That's a good blend. It's time to take it easy, like answering some easy questions to get pre-qualified for a car in minutes. Talk about starting the morning right. Just like customizing your terms so your car fits your budget. Visit Carvana.com or download the app to experience car shopping the way it should be.

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Minimum $10 per order, additional terms apply. All right, it is the Infinity Sports Network and it is the Zach Gelb show. Mark Madsen is going to join us right now with the Timberwolves back in the conference finals. Last time the Timberwolves were in the conference finals. Mark, of course, played in Minnesota as he was there from 2003 to 2009. You know what he's also able to do with the Lakers before that. From 2000 to 2003 winning two NBA championships. Spent a few years as an assistant with the Lakers.

A bunch of college stops and then head coach at Utah Valley and now with Cal. And he's kind enough to join us once again on the Zach Gelb show. Mark, I know it's been a while but always enjoy when we get to connect with you.

How you been? Been great, thanks for having me on the show. Tell you what, I'm fired up about what happened with the Timberwolves going.

It's phenomenal, it's exciting and it's great to be back on the show. Yeah, thanks so much for coming on and what a wild game that was last night. Like, Edwards didn't play great offensively, only had 16 points.

He was a dog in the second half of the defensive end. Everyone else did step up but to be down 20 points in the defending champs building and to outscore them combined in the second half, 60 to 37. That was really something special last night, Mark.

Well, it was amazing. I mean, it's just amazing to see obviously Glenn Taylor, you know, the ownership group. They've stayed the course. There were a lot of lean years there. There were a lot of tough years but the organization stuck with it. The fans stuck with it. I'll say this, when you win in Minnesota, it's not the Minneapolis Timberwolves.

I mean, it's truly the state of Minnesota and then it pulls in a lot of people from neighboring states and so the interest there is phenomenal. Talking to Mark Madsen right now, from a basketball standpoint, to see what Anthony Edwards has been able to do at such a young age and the way that he's been able to captivate a team and a city and really starting to become the face of the NBA, what stands out to you with the play of Anthony Edwards, coach? He's fearless.

Edwards is fearless. He's got an unbelievable personality. He has a great sense of humor and is on court, does all the talking. You know, I remember in the early 2000s, the league was talking, hey, you know, Michael Jordan is at the end. Who's going to carry the torch for the NBA? And the guy stepped up, Kobe LeBron and others.

And I think right now we're going to have a similar conversation with LeBron retiring. I think Anthony Edwards is someone that can carry the torch and be really one of the standard bearers for the entire NBA, not only nationally but across the world. And a big part about it is, obviously, on the court, you have to be dominant.

But this dude, we saw the acting in the movie with Adam Sandler and the personality. You know, some guys are stars, but they don't feel like stars off the court. Anthony Edwards has everything you really want on and off the court with the star, Mark. He has it all. Because it starts with him being on the court, able to do other things. You know, offensively, when he locks in defensively, he's a problem.

And it's just great to see a young player like that coming into his own. Mark Madsen here with us. Take me back to your team 20 years ago.

You were coming over from Los Angeles, right? You get set to go up against them in the conference finals. But what do you remember from that season in Minnesota when 20 years ago you guys were able to get to a conference finals? Well, we had a lot of great players. We had great leadership. Kevin Garnett was really one of the best leaders probably in any sport. Sam Cassell, Latrell Sprewell, these guys were winners. And then you had a whole crew of role players.

A Gary Trent, an Irvin Johnson, a Fred Hoiberg. Guys that just embraced their role and were really good at coming in and doing what they do best. And so from that standpoint, it was just probably one of the most fun teams I've ever had the privilege of playing on. You know, you got to play against and with so many great players. When you look at stars and guys that had larger than life personalities, you look at a Shaquille O'Neal.

You also look at a Kevin Garnett. How do you compare and contrast when you were able to play with and also play up against Shaq and then also KJ? Well, let's go back in time to my very first meeting. You know, the first team meeting I ever had at the Lakers. It was unbelievable because Phil Jackson had everybody go around the circle and basically say what they were going to do that year to help the team. And so everyone shared something. And one of the things I'll never forget Phil saying to Shaq was, he told Shaq, he said, Shaq, I've challenged you to share your personality more with the fans and with the media and with the public as a whole.

This is in 2000. And Shaq always kind of shared his personality, but it took off. I mean, whether it was Phil telling Shaq or Shaq just doing it on his own, you know, Shaq's personality became bigger than life. Kobe, I mean, you talk about someone that cares about the game of basketball, that cares about winning, that put his craft above anything else, above business endeavors, above personal fame, above, you know, off the court distractions.

It was awesome to be a part of that group. From KG, what do you take away with your time with Kevin Garnett? The ultimate leader, the ultimate leader. KG is someone that put the work in every single day. You hear this expression a lot in basketball.

We're going to chop wood, meaning you're going to do all the little things every day to better yourself as a player and to help the team. Kevin Garnett had his routine, and he stuck with it every single day. Even KG had a couple of bad games. But when he did, he was consistent.

And he stayed the course, and something good always happened with him. Mark Madsen here with us at the Zach Gelb Show on the Infinity Sports Network. So this matchup, you got the Mavericks, right? A phenomenal duo with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Their other players are stepping up, right? Just in Minnesota, even when Anthony Edwards doesn't play great, you see the team effort last night. When you take a glance at this series, and you know that your Timberwolves are four games away from going to the NBA Finals, how do you kind of think this series will play on out and what stands out to you using your basketball mind? It's going to be an unbelievable series. I mean, two teams are both playing really well.

I mean, Dallas is playing phenomenally well right now. They're getting great contributions across the board, and Minnesota with all the swagger. You know, I think it was game two, Minnesota-Denver, when Minnesota absolutely dismantled the Nuggets. It was one of the most fun basketball games I've ever seen. And so I'm just excited because you have two teams playing their best basketball right now.

Yeah, it's going to be fun to see how it plays out. If Minnesota is able to get the job done, and you played in a few NBA Finals, right, with the Lakers and won some championships, what would that mean to you if in a few weeks you see the Timberwolves in the Finals? I think it would mean a lot to me personally and to really all of us that, you know, gave blood, sweat, and tears to the Timberwolves organization. I love the area.

Minneapolis, St. Paul, what a great area, what a great chapter of life. And so it's going to be really meaningful on a personal level if the Timberwolves can play well and get that done. I know you got a new job taking over Cal a year ago. How have things been going out there on the West Coast in this crazy changing landscape of college sports these days? We had a phenomenal first year. You know, we quadrupled, I think, the wins from the previous year. So that's huge success. And now, look, it's conference realignment is a reality.

You know, I could probably look out my office window and throw a rock and hit the Pacific Ocean. We're in the ACC. But what I'm proud of is the ACC is probably the premier basketball conference in the country.

And it's already paying huge dividends in terms of recruiting. When your kids are asking you that you coach about your career, is Kobe still the first person that they bring up when they ask you about the teammates that you played with? Kobe always comes up. You know, just I think about Kobe a lot because Kobe was somebody similar to Kevin Garnett who pushed his teammates so hard. I mean, Kobe was always pushing people. He was hard on us at times in a good way, in a good way. But he was hardest on himself. He held himself to the highest standard.

And that's really what demands respect. I think we lost coach there. But he's Mark Batson joining us on the Zach Gelb Show on the Infinity Sports Network. I think we got coach back. Coach, can you hear us? Yes, yes, I can hear you.

Sorry, you got cut off. So Kobe is just, you know, someone that obviously, you know, it's awful what happened. We've talked about it throughout the years.

Unfortunately, we've had to. But Kobe's just still the one that everyone asks you about, right? Your players. Kobe has such a place in the game of basketball. The players at Cal have asked me a lot about Kobe.

And I tell them, I say, look, Kobe was, he pushed you. He was hard on his teammates in a good way. But he was hardest on himself. And he pushed himself the hardest.

And that is something that really demands respect, in my opinion. He's coach Mark Batson. Coach, thanks so much. Good luck at Cal. We appreciate you jumping on board with us today for a few minutes. Thanks for having me today. Appreciate it.

You got it. There he is, Mark Batson, joining us on the Zach Gelb Show on the Infinity Sports Network. We will take a break here when we come on back. There's an enormous amount of pressure the rest of the way on the Boston Celtics. We'll discuss a little bit about the C's as they are now eight wins away from hoisting another Larry O'Brien trophy as we had the Final Four set in the association with the Celtics going up against the Indiana Pacers and then out in the Western Conference Finals as we were just talking about Mark Batson's Minnesota Timberwolves. You got the Timberwolves going up against the Dallas Mavericks. So another day that we do not have Justin Jefferson on a new extension and a new contract. So Act has been saying this in his updates.

I'll get to the Ask the Pros question in just a second. But Act has been talking about this in his updates how according to Adam Schefter, Justin Jefferson has been in talks with the Vikings regarding a contract extension was not spotted at the team's training facility today for the start of organized team activities per sources. I don't want to freak out about this because it's like one of those things where you know he's going to be there to start the season. But I'm thoroughly disappointed with the Minnesota Vikings that they have not got a new deal to Justin Jefferson yet. Justin Jefferson has had an unbelievable start to his career. Justin Jefferson is one of, if not the best wide receivers in the NFL. And what I fear here is this, when it's so obvious that a deal should get done and it's already been done. It should have been done last year.

The fact that it's now bled into this year doesn't give me a lot of optimism because this is such a slam dunk. Should you pay Justin Jefferson? Like if Stu asked me that today on on-site, off-site, I would look at Stu and say, what are you, stupid?

And I would say that like respectfully. Of course you should pay Justin Jefferson. But here's what I fear with the Vikings, that they have Jordan Addison now. And Jordan Addison is a good wide receiver, don't get me wrong. He has potential to be a number one wide receiver. But Jordan Addison's on year two. Justin Jefferson is about to enter year five.

So here's what I fear. That the Vikings go, we'll let Justin Jefferson play out this season. And then we'll readdress this a year from now. And sure, the Vikings could give him a deal a year from now. They could also franchise tag him. And if it goes the route of a franchise tag and they don't give him a deal this time next year, by this time next year, if he doesn't have a long-term extension and we're talking about Justin Jefferson a year from now in a franchise tag, that relationship's over.

It is over. Justin Jefferson absolutely deserves a new deal. And I just fear this is the Vikings who know they're going to have to pay him $30 million north of $30 million a season. I just fear them trying to cut corners and say, oh, we'll get two first-round picks and then some for Justin Jefferson. We're not going to pay him. We'll have Jordan Addison, who's going to be year two, going into this year.

I'm talking about like a year from now, so it'd be going into year three. And then we'll use that capital to build the rest of the team. And I think not only would that be a dumb approach, but it would be a big-time disservice to the young quarterback you just drafted in J.J. McCarthy. I sat here on this show for two months, and we discussed J.J. McCarthy. We discussed what is J.J. McCarthy and his pro prospect.

And I said, out of all these quarterbacks in the draft where J.J. McCarthy lands, that's the biggest one out of all the quarterbacks. Caleb Williams, I think he'd go anywhere and be successful. Jayden Daniels, I think he'd go anywhere and be successful. Drake May, fit does matter.

Michael Penix Jr., I do think the fit matters. But for J.J. McCarthy, who I don't think has a ceiling of greatness, I think his ceiling's just good in the NFL, you saw what he did at Michigan. And he managed the game, had a great offensive line, and two great running backs in Blake Corman down at the Edwards.

And when needed to, made the big throw. You put J.J. McCarthy in New England with Drake Mayes, J.J. McCarthy, who's ready to start now, would be a disaster in New England. You put J.J. McCarthy in, let's say, Denver, where Bo Nix is going, J.J. McCarthy would be a disaster in Denver. But I said it from the start, J.J. McCarthy needed to get drafted by the Vikings. Kevin O'Connell, great offensive line. Justin Jefferson, one of the best, not the best wide receivers in football. You have Jordan Addison, you have T.J. Hopkinson, you have Aaron Jones.

That's a damn good team. So if you're telling me J.J. McCarthy's going to be great, because he had a lot of untapped potential at Michigan, even though he won three Big Ten championships and won a national championship, but they didn't make him throw the ball as much as you would expect in the year of 2023, 2024, right? Offenses are run now.

That was a run-first offense. If you're going to tell me that one day he's going to get to that point, he needed to go to a place where there was a lot of weapons, especially in the pass-catching game. And J.J. McCarthy, for all the teams that were quarterback-needy, he landed an ideal spot. Like, you look at all the places these quarterbacks went, six quarterbacks in the first round. Williams to the Bears, Daniels to the Commanders, May to the Pats, Michael Penix Jr. to the Falcons, Bo Nix to the Broncos, and J.J. to the Vikings. J.J. going to the Bears would have been a great landing spot, right? You got DJ Moore, you got Roma Dunze, and Keenan Allen.

You could make it work there. The Commanders, you got Terry McLaurin, but that roster's not ready to go. The Patriots, they don't have a number one wide receiver. The Broncos, not a good offensive roster. The Falcons got some pieces there with Bijan and Drake London, Kyle Pitts.

You could make it work. So the only other destination out of the six that were available from a quarterback standpoint that you could argue is better than Minnesota and probably is better right now is Chicago. So that fit of him going to Minnesota was enormous. Can you imagine, though, a year from now, when you're optimistic maybe about the hope of J.J. McCarthy in Minnesota? It's a solid rookie season. Like, let's say he starts from week one, they go nine and eight.

Him and Jefferson show that synergy and that connection. And then an offseason from now, because of a contract dispute, Justin Jefferson gets traded. That's my fear with the Vikings organization, is that the Vikings are going to get cheap. The Vikings are going to try to do what Tennessee did, where they go, oh, we're not going to pay A.J.

Brown. We'll get a first-round pick. Vikings obviously get more than just a first-round pick back for Justin Jefferson. We'll draft another receiver to complement him with Addison. We won't pay Jefferson, and then we'll get more draft capital, too.

That's not a smart approach. Guys like Justin Jefferson don't just walk into your organization every day. And I know, right, number one wide receivers, not like you look at the teams that have won Super Bowls over the last 10, 15 years, not a lot of number one wide receivers. But you want to get into a spot where the Vikings can one day be a contender again, you need a Justin Jefferson. And the thing that doesn't make sense, and I get it, sometimes contract negotiations, they play on out, they get ugly, and then eventually a deal gets done.

But if they don't get a deal done by week one with Justin Jefferson, that's then two offseasons where they have tried to get a deal done and a deal hasn't got done. So I know we say that saying, right, third time's a charm. So maybe the third time would be a charm. But why would I expect the third time to be a charm?

Why would I anticipate that it will work the third time? That doesn't make sense to me. Like, Stu, are you legitimately concerned as they enter the final year of the contract, and those are franchise tag stuff, and we don't have a deal done yet with Justin Jefferson, does that start to become concerning to you? Because this seems like I know it's a lot of money, right? Like wide receivers, like quarterbacks, offensive tackle wide receivers, those are three rich, rich, rich, rich, rich price tags.

And I'm not saying this negotiation is supposed to be easy. And I know it's a lot of money, but this is now two offseasons. We're sitting here, it's May 20th, it's practically about to be June. Offseason programs are underway, and still no deal done yet for Justin Jefferson.

I'm not saying you press the panic button, but I am concerned. I am concerned that this, like I thought it should have been done last year. The fact that it may not get done this year, that's making me raise an eyebrow and saying, is it because Jefferson's not being reasonable?

Or is it because this organization is trying to play this out, eventually say, oh, the price was too rich, we're going to get a bunch of assets for him, and still try to squeeze another year out for him. That's a concern that I have still. It's a big concern. Yeah, it's not nothing.

I'll say that. I'm not saying, kind of like what you said, I'm not saying, okay, he's definitely not going to be out of Vikings, okay? He's definitely going to be somewhere else eventually, but it's not nothing. If it was nothing, he would be signed, sealed, delivered, long-term contract, which he should be, but the fact that he isn't, it's not great.

McCarthy, that's the thing. If things don't go well, it's a rookie quarterback. It could be a good rookie quarterback, it could be a rookie quarterback that isn't good. Put it this way, what are the two draft picks that you get back for Justin Jefferson mean? If, let's say, when you trade Justin Jefferson, that quarterback doesn't end up working out. Because let's say, you think three years probably McCarthy gets?

So this is one of them. So if you're trading him next offseason, you're getting draft capital for 2025 and 2026. So you could get other players that maybe won't be quarterbacks, and then a year later, you may build up the roster a little bit, but are any of those draft picks going to even be close to Justin Jefferson?

Probably not. Look at all the receivers that get drafted in the first round that don't pan out. Jefferson's actually one of them that has panned out.

You can't, the chances of landing in there, Justin Jefferson's like one out of 300. And don't get me wrong, there's a lot of receivers that have come into the league, Jamar Chase, instant success. AJ Brown has turned into, like there's been a lot of first round picks that end up being stars. But, there's also guys that are like, yeah, in the fifth round, like or whatever he was, sixth round, puka nakua. But just because that happens in other places doesn't mean the first round pick that you use is going to end up being super duper successful. There's a lot of busts that happen in the first round, wide receiver or not. So I think if they end up trading Justin Jefferson, that's going to set that franchise back a long time.

A long time. Because it's going to screw the development of JJ McCarthy. It would be one of the dumbest things I've ever seen. It would really be stupid stuff.

It'd be bad, I mean you can't do it. That's stuff the Raiders do. As a Raiders fan, like that's a move the Raiders, kind of like with Khalil Mack, right?

Like you have this generational guy, and I know there are other reasons for it. Maybe he didn't want to be there, maybe they, I mean there was rumors that they didn't have the money to actually pay him after they paid Derek Carr. But, you have a guy that good, you cannot let him leave the building.

There's just no way they can let that happen. So, I'm looking at the average annual value for wide receivers right now. A.J. Brown, 32 million. Amunras Saint Brown, 30. Tyreek Hill, 30.

Devontae Adams, 28 million. Cooper Cup, 26. Devontae Smith, 25. DK Metcalf, 24. Deebo, 23.8.

So, bare minimum, A.J. Brown is looking, is 32. So, you got to think Jefferson's at least asking for 33, right? It's a lot of money, but 33 over 4, 132 million dollars, right? I don't know what the guarantees would be. If he's asking for 35, you're looking at one, like, don't get me wrong. I am not saying that the contract is going to, you know, basically be a freebie.

I get that. It's going to be a big price tag. But you really want to trade him for two picks to save money? And then maybe stunt the development of your own quarterback? That's a bad move. That would be a dumb move if you ask me. It would be a move I can't get on board with.

I would pay that player, and you could have outs in it, things like that. But as long as it's, like, still 33, 34, 35 million dollars a year, he's resetting the market. St. Brown did so at 30. Brown then did so at 32. So you know he's going to reset the market.

How far apart are they? Like, is he asking for 36 and you're at 32? Get me in the middle? You know, I don't think he's asking for 40.

Then, okay, maybe he'll take a hike. But I think there's a way to get this done. I would say, hmm, 33.5 times 4, 134 million over four years gets it done. I don't know what the guarantees would be, to be fair. Because Agent Brown got 84 million guaranteed, total guaranteed.

So maybe you've got to give him 90, 95 of that guaranteed. All right, it's time to answer Ask the Pros' Question of the Day. It's brought to you by O'Reilly Auto Parts. Madden Framingham says, Zach, who's the team remaining in the NBA postseason that's under the most pressure. You can submit a question by tweeting at INF Sports Net, or at Zach Gelb using the hashtag Ask the Pros.

Take O'Reilly Auto Parts while your car care needs to get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. It's a Celtics. There's no pressure on the Pacers.

Mavericks because you don't know if you're going to be back there because you don't know how long Kyrie is going to be a good soldier like he has been this year. And the Timberwolves, hey, you could go win a championship. You started to realize that when they were up 2-0, but it's a Celtics. You told the Celtics before the postseason starts that the final four is going to be Minnesota, Dallas, and the Pacers with you guys in it.

They would sign for that in a second. And Boston hasn't even had their postseason start yet. They didn't even break a sweat in the first two rounds for being on. It's outside of the game two losses, which they were going to drop one eventually.

That just always happens. I don't even think the Pacers... I don't think there's a chance the Pacers beat them.

I really don't. I would be stunned if the Pacers find a way to take care of Boston. So you can make the case the Celtics' postseason doesn't really start until the NBA Finals up against either Minnesota or Dallas.

So it's by far and away this Celtics team is the team with the most pressure on them this postseason. All right, a good show today. Big thanks to Chris Hess. Big thanks to Stuart Kovac. Steve Stantz for joining us for the Golf Channel. Bobby Okereke for coming in Studio Giants captain.

And Mark Mattson who joined us about 25 minutes ago. We'll be back tomorrow on a very busy Tuesday. We will connect with you once again at 3 p.m. Eastern, noon Pacific. Bye-bye. Peace. Call from Mom. Answer it.

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