Steelers SHOULD Prioritize Rodgers over Cousins (Hour 2)

Alrighty, away we go. Hour number two of our radio program.

It is the Zach Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network. You know, I will say this. I'm kind of surprised, but I'm also kind of not, that there hasn't been more of a market this offseason for Kirk Cousins. Now, a big reason the Atlanta Falcons basically aren't tangoing right now, and it takes two to tango. They're saying, unless if we have an offer that we really like, we're going to hold Kirk Cousins kind of hostage here, and we're going to keep him because of the fact we're basically paying Michael Penix Jr. nothing. Where Michael Penix Jr. is going to be our starter. However, we already allocated all this money to Kirk Cousins. We don't need to move off of him just to move off of him.

And if you're not getting something that you like out of it, well, Michael Penix Jr., even the last few years, he's been healthy. His last two years at Washington before that, he was a walking injury at Indiana. So, there is a chance that you may need Kirk Cousins at some point this season if you're Atlanta. But the way that this did go down, you pay Kirk Cousins, you give him the four-year contract, and then you basically, not basically, you did draft his replacement shortly after that, where Kirk's probably thinking, okay, I'm going to Atlanta.

This is my last stop. And then two months into that relationship, if that, you have the Atlanta Falcons with the eighth overall pick, surprising everyone, and taking Michael Penix Jr. Now, Kirk didn't do himself any favors this year. But with being in his mid-30s, the injury that he's coming off of, other injuries that he sustained, I don't think Kirk Cousins, or I know Kirk Cousins, wasn't fully healthy last year. And even if there's added injuries, let's just talk about achilles and ACLs, right? Those two different injuries. How many times do we see a quarterback where they return, and then it takes them another year to really be back-back?

Like, you could be back, but are you back-back? And Kirk Cousins had some moments last year, you know, up against Philadelphia earlier on in the season, where he was god-awful to start that game. But he went on the big drive late, where it was like, okay, he's back. Played well up against Kansas City. You know, had a nice game up against Tampa Bay.

But then down the stretch, it got ugly. And I would just say Kirk Cousins, and maybe this is why it shouldn't be surprising, because forget about the contract, but why the market isn't so robust for him this offseason, isn't Kirk Cousins like the definition of just like the solid good quarterback? You know, Stu, the only other person I could think of that a guy has stuck around the league so long and is just solid is good, but you're never looking at him saying he's elite.

You're never looking at him and saying, you know, he's great. You're never looking at him and saying he's a top five, top six, top seven, top eight quarterback. You know, Kirk Cousins is kind of Derek Carr on steroids is the way that I would say it. Derek Carr is another one of those guys, Stu, that he's good.

You could do a lot worse, but you could also do a lot better. Now, the thing that Kirk Cousins has going for more than Derek Carr is at least he's been in a lot more winning teams. And he's been in the postseason more than Derek Carr. And he at least had that one postseason moment where it was up against the Saints and he had some big throws in that game to feel it. I want to say he found Rudolph, Kyle Rudolph in the back left end zone to go win that playoff game. Where Derek Carr hasn't been to the postseason enough and when he's there. Right. He had the way that that game ended up against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Sorry to bring up some some bad moments to you. So it's like, OK, you got a good quarterback. Could he still play in this league? Absolutely. Is Kirk Cousins, if he's available, is he probably better this year than he was last year?

I would think so. But you factor it in. Poor play at times last year coming off the injury. Also more wear and tear to the body.

You're not 100 percent healthy. And the price tag being so rich. You know, how many teams want to commit themselves to basically being in no man's land? Because that's what Kirk Cousins is now. You bring him in. You're not bringing him in with the goal of going to a Super Bowl. You're not bringing him in with the goal of going to a conference championship game. You're bringing in a guy that costs you a lot of money to basically be a placeholder and to basically be a guy where you could look at. You'd be like, we will have a solid good quarterback, but there's limitations that you have with that. It's like, Stu, your team, they went with Geno Smith, who's a similar type of quarterback. He's good.

Geno's fine. Could you do a lot better? Yes. Could you do a lot worse?

Yes. I understand you had the familiarity with Geno Smith, but if the Raiders said, you know what, we're not going with Geno. We're going to go with Kirk Cousins. Would you have been on board with that for your football team? Yes, for one year. I think so, especially. And then I think they could have still drafted Chidor at six.

Yeah, that's the only tricky part. You're now going to be in year two of the Kirk Cousins contract. If you're trading for him, you have him on the books for three years. Now, the Falcons owe him a ton of money.

We know that. But Geno Smith's only on the he has one year left in that contract. And I don't know how much you're hearing in your Raider world because the trade happened and that was kind of it. There was an assumption because the Seahawks are trying to get a deal done. And I guess Geno Smith was like, OK, this isn't going to work. Maybe there's a little hush hush conversation with Pete Carroll and Geno Smith. Who knows?

I've seen crazier things happen. But there really hasn't been much on this potential new contract for Geno Smith, right? No, there's almost an assumption, though, it will get done, though. Yeah, this isn't just trade for him and have him for one year and let him go. Maybe they tack on two more years and really that second year they tack on is kind of like a dummy year or maybe it's an option. And it's really just one more year with the nice salary and some more guaranteed money.

That's what I would imagine. But I don't see why the Raiders, even though Pete's on a three year deal and it changes the way that you view the Raiders, because it's kind of like, OK, you got to go for it. You're not really going to go in a championship, but just restoring some respectability. I would be surprised if Geno Smith is playing three or four years for the Raiders, because he's already in his thirties. I think this could be like a two year marriage. I think two or three years, which is four years would be a lot. Isn't it what we said in Seattle?

Like, oh, I'll be there for two and then ended up being there more for two years. It's can you put yourself in a position to get that next guy? Now, the Seahawks just never sucked, right? The Raiders, we know, have the ability to be God awful. So even if they don't take shit over this year, if he's not available, you know, there's a good chance, even though the Raiders could be improved this year, that the Raiders are still picking the top ten next year. Maybe there's a deeper quarterback draft class and then they get their guy. But anyway, getting back to Kirk Cousins.

He is available, but no one's biting so far. And now you're kind of narrowing down the list because, right, like you go through all 32 teams, the Bills aren't moving for him. The Dolphins aren't moving for him. The Jets already made the move with Justin Fields.

The Patriots have Drake May. The Ravens don't need him. The Steelers could be of interest if they don't get Aaron Rodgers. The Bengals will not.

I think Cleveland's still a possibility. But can they financially afford that with the Watson and Kirk Cousins thing? It's almost like the Browns, if they're going to get Kirk Cousins, they're going to need him to get released. And if you're Atlanta, then you're already paying him.

Why wouldn't you just keep him around? Texans aren't making that move. The Colts have already identified their two guys.

Which, if you say you have two quarterbacks in your roster, you probably don't have a quarterback on the roster. The Jaguars aren't doing it. You know, if Tennessee somehow passes on a quarterback, do you bring in Kirk? I think they just roll with Will Levison for another year.

You know, one last-ditch effort. Kansas City doesn't need him. The Chargers don't need him. The Broncos don't need him.

And the Raiders don't need him. Then you get through the NFC. Eagles, no. Commanders, no. Cowboys, no. Giants? Well, they just have Jameis Winston and Russell Wilson, so no. Lions, no. Minnesota, I know that will be floated out there.

It's either J.J. McCarthy is going to be their starter, I hope. Green Bay, no. Chicago, no. Tampa Bay, no.

Carolina, no. The Saints? The Saints wouldn't be, well, you have Derek Carr, so it's like why would you then swap out Derek Carr for Kirk Cousins? I know Kirk Cousins better, but the Saints wouldn't be yet. You know, Rams, no. Seahawks just got, you know, I don't think they're bringing in Kirk Cousins.

You know, I don't think that's going to happen. But Seattle, you know, they brought in Sam Darnold, so yeah, that's not happening. Cardinals, only if Kyler Murray gets hurt. And the 49ers, they're going to roll with Brock Purdy. I know that Shanahan wanted to reunite with Kirk Cousins.

It's like, I just went through all 32 teams. And like the two realistic suitors, the Steelers, if they don't get Aaron Rodgers, and then maybe, maybe the Cleveland Browns. But that could change with the second overall pick at the Browns.

Go take Chidor Sanders. Because the NFL is now, you take a quarterback early, unless you have a proven starter. Like a legitimate, great starter. Like Rodgers when he was there, when Love went there, and I know it was later on when Love got drafted. It's very tough to keep a quarterback on a bench now, because of how useful that first year and beneficial that first rookie contract is.

So I'll ask you this question, and we can go around the room here. If you're the Steelers, you're waiting on Aaron Rodgers. Aaron Rodgers is just keeping you in the dust right now. Would you just pivot and then just go get a deal done for Kirk Cousins? Would you say, bleep you Rodgers, we're not waiting for you anymore. We're not being prisoners here of Aaron Rodgers. And go get Kirk Cousins.

What would you think on that one, Samter? Would you rather have Cousins or Rodgers? I honestly would rather have Cousins, because I'm so worried about what Rodgers could do to the locker room and the culture.

And you know Kirk Cousins is going to be out there trying his best to prove all the doubters wrong. Whereas Rodgers, it's one foot in, one foot out, podcast here, vice presidential run there, football practice maybe if I feel like it. So like maybe Rodgers is better, but you have the locker room issues and then you have the fact that he's not going to be all in. At least with Cousins you know you're going to get a guy who's dedicated and trying to win.

So I understand what you're saying. Rodgers with the Steelers though, is it really that much of a distraction? Like when he was with the Jets, he could basically do whatever he want to Robert Sala and Joe Douglas. Because they didn't have, I don't want to say the football acumen, but they didn't have the football clout to go toe to toe with Aaron Rodgers. Mike Tomlin kind of has that football respect and that football clout. And Mike Tomlin is done, remember when Antonio Brown was in Pittsburgh and he got traded to Stu's Raiders, we're all like, how do you only get that for Antonio Brown?

Because there were so many things that Mike Tomlin covered up in the Antonio Brown era in Pittsburgh. You know Rodgers not being there for the off season, you know at times, you know going to Egypt and going on some funky trip. Rodgers, like I don't think he'll be a malcontent in Pittsburgh because Rodgers kind of, I'm not saying he's walking in with his tail in between his legs because he would never do that.

But he's been rejected by the football world this off season. When your suitors are the Giants and the Steelers and that's basically it. And the team that you want to go to, the Minnesota Vikings, like I understand Aaron always has a leg to stand on.

But at this rate, how much of a deterrent could he be and how much of a problem could he actually be in Pittsburgh? I just don't, like I'm not expecting this to be Super Bowl worthy. I'm not expecting this to be AFC Championship game worthy. But if you ask me, Zach, who gives you the better chance? Is it Aaron with those distractions or Kirk Cousins with basically no baggage to go get Pittsburgh to the postseason and win a playoff game? I would say that it's Aaron Rodgers and that's why I still go Aaron right there, Mike. I mean, I get it. I don't mean Rodgers more as a malcontent, but Rodgers, just his mentality and the way he approaches things. There's a positivity to it and there's also a negativity. I don't give a bleep.

Who? Rodgers, don't give a bleep about anything. Exactly. And so when you bring this apathetic don't give a bleep mentality into a team, whether you're a malcontent or not, even if you're saying the right things, it wears on people. And guys like George Pickens, it might impact him. It might impact other players if they had a bad game.

Yeah, but you know what? George Pickens may be getting down on all knees and looking up and saying, thank you, Lord, for getting a player like Aaron Rodgers or some of the quarterbacks. And I know Russ is a fine quarterback and Justin Fields, but Aaron Rodgers would easily be the best, you know, apologies to Kenny Pickett. Aaron Rodgers would easily be the best quarterback George Pickens has had. And also Pickens grew up idolizing Aaron Rodgers, too. Well, I wonder how George Pickens would feel seeing the video of Aaron Rodgers throwing to DK Metcalf in workouts over the past couple of days and not to Mr. Pickens himself. Well, if George Pickens is annoyed by that, that's a George Pickens issue. But he can't go and throw a football.

Right? He was throwing a football to DK Metcalf. He can't go train with DK.

That's another thing. He can, but if you want to be part of the Steelers, maybe invite them both out. Why are you only inviting DK out?

Well, you don't know the logistics and everything. And also maybe George Pickens wasn't available or maybe George Pickens didn't like for half the practice. He wouldn't be getting the ball, so therefore he didn't want to go there.

All right. Like George. George Pickens is more of a George Pickens problem, right? I like even if you bring in Kirk Kudzer, Aaron Rodgers, it's not like George Pickens got to grow up. And I'm sure George Pickens isn't happy that they brought in DK Metcalf and gave him that contract.

But tough luck. The NFL now, you have to have two wide receivers to go win. Look what Philadelphia did. And AJ Brown could be a little bit of a pain in the ass. But when push came to shove, AJ Brown did what was in the best interest for the team with Devante Smith and they ended up winning a Super Bowl together. Here's a question I have for you going back to Rodgers or Cousins.

They did it with Fields and Ross. Couldn't they just trade for Cousins? No. Like a sixth round pick? No.

Have them. And then if Rodgers decides to come. All right. You know, you guys battle out. No, because Aaron's still going to command a pretty penny. And also, we talk about how Aaron maybe doesn't have a leg to stand on anymore. Well, then Russell Wilson's legs were cut off going to Pittsburgh.

He was on the veteran minimum to go to Pittsburgh. And I know it's because the aftermath of the contract in Denver. But teams weren't lining up, running to the services of Russell Wilson and Justin Fields was viewed as a project. Those two quarterbacks, even though Russ has had a better career than Kirk Cousins, but in their current state, they're more accomplished how you would view them entering a season than how people viewed Russell Wilson going into a season last year. I would just like the Steelers though to place a deadline.

I would. And I know the Steelers feel like they need Rodgers, but Rodgers also needs you. So let's set a deadline and get this thing over with. Now, here's the other thing.

Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson. So Shane Steichen was talking at the owners meetings and he's basically just talking about how, you know, there's a competition. There's going to be split reps.

It didn't really I didn't really think about it until now. And I heard it the way that he said it the other day. It's not a given that Anthony Richardson is going to be the starter.

Now, I know they're going to set it up for him to win the job. They want him to go earn it. But with how inconsistent he is and trust me, Daniel Jones is not this tremendous competition. But this this coaching staff is kind of already done with Anthony Richardson because they benched him last year. I know he checked himself out of the game.

He tapped out. He quit on his team. But he's the fourth overall pick of the draft. Now, I never thought he should have been the fourth overall pick of the draft. But he's at a point where I feel like Anthony Richardson sometime this year, his time in Indianapolis is going to come to an end. So if that's the case, does it even start this year? And can Daniel Jones, who is inconsistent as well and has injury problems as well?

That's the thing. They basically brought in a mirror image of one another. Both quarterbacks could run. Both quarterbacks are wildly inconsistent. Both quarterbacks are injured a ton.

It's almost like you have the same player on the roster and one is a bust and the other one's going to be a bust. So I think the bar is so low that I would think that the upside is still greater for Richardson, who's never able to put it together for a long enough time, that they'll still go to Anthony Richardson. But the Colts are basically and Shane Cykins basically looking for every reason to not give the job, I think, to Anthony Richardson. So I do believe Richardson will start. I'm still on that take that Richardson will start. But by November, this will be Daniel Jones's team, which means that he'll be the quarterback for the next two months of the season. And then both aren't going to be back in Indianapolis next year. But that's a scenario in Indy. I think a lot of people like myself just assume, oh, Richardson will be the guy to start week one.

I don't think it's as much of a slam dunk as I thought it was, even when they brought in Daniel Jones, thinking that one day Daniel Jones is going to take the baton over at some point next season by the end of November in Indianapolis. All right. Is that Gelb showing the Infinity Sports Network? Let's take a break when we come on back. Bruce Pearl punched another ticket to the Final Four yesterday. He is going to join us when we return, as you do have Auburn and Florida coming up on Saturday evening, as that's one of two Final Four matchups.

The other is being Duke and Houston. We connect with a friend of the show, Bruce Pearl, when the Zach Gelb show continues after these short. All right, welcome back in.

It is Zach Gelb show coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. The Final Four is set. So let's place a call to Auburn right now is welcoming the head men's basketball coach with the Auburn Tigers.

And that, of course, is Bruce Pearl. Coach, congratulations. Another Final Four. I would ask you how you're doing, but I think I know the answer to that. So thanks for coming on. It's good to be with you, Zach. Yeah, we're we're we're very excited. We feel tremendous gratitude and I feel like we've been blessed and we're excited about the opportunity. I think the four best teams in the country have made it to the Final Four with this group.

I know you always want to get to a Final Four, but to be able to punch that ticket, get the victory yesterday up against Michigan State, know that you have another game, maybe two more. Just what does it mean to do it with this group that you've been through the journey with all throughout the year? Well, it's been a great group. They've been battle tested from the very beginning. It's an incredibly competitive group of kids. You know, they've been they've been calling out the Lord all year long and gotten closer in their relationships and their Bible study.

And and they've got you know, they just they've gotten closer together to trust each other, rely on each other. You know, regardless of what happens in San Antonio, this is probably the best team that I've coached or certainly certainly one of them. And we all know how special of a player J'Nai Broom is not only for you guys, but what he means to the rest of the nation in college basketball. When he goes down, he leaves the game, then kind of has that Willis Reed moment and comes back and hits that three pointer.

Just how do you go through all those emotions that you were feeling, which was a moment of probably a lot of great uncertainty for you? Well, you know, this team has beaten 11 teams. We have 11 wins.

Excuse me, I guess. What was the Sweet 16 field? And so for J'Nai Broom to be our best player, the best player in the SEC to do it on both ends, offensively, defensively, rebounding our leader in blocks and assists and the whole gambit, you know, I really feel like that he should be the player of the year. He may not be the best player in college basketball. He may not be the best, highest draft pick.

But I say as far as what kind of year he's had and the impact he's had on winning. And then, of course, he's had now three, you know, injuries. He separated shoulder about five days before the Purdue game came back and put a harness on and played. He had a bad ankle sprain when we were down nine in the second half at South Carolina, second game of conference play. We scrambled back and managed to win without him, have to play a couple games without him. He comes back in about a week and a half, two weeks from something that shouldn't have kept him out a month. And then, of course, last night he goes down with a bit of a hyperextension in his elbow. We think he's done for the game with 10 minutes off to go in the game and a 10-point game.

And he pulls a Willis Reed on us and he comes back out of locker room and is able to play three or four last minutes. Yeah, how's he feeling now, just wondering, a day removed from it? I don't know. I haven't seen him yet. He had an MRI here late morning. We're still waiting for results.

We don't think there's any injury, but we just don't know how he's going to feel. Coach Bruce Pearl here with us has the Auburn Tigers back in the Final Four. They'll go up against Florida on Saturday evening in San Antonio. Heading into the tournament, we know that you guys have been one of the best teams and not the best team in college basketball. But you lost three out of four heading into the NCAA tournament. You were getting doubted. Maybe a little extra motivation was potentially provided to your team. But to see them fight through that and get to this stage, is it fair to say that when they got doubted, we saw how tough this team actually could be?

Yeah. Late in the year, we went to Rupp Arena and we clinched the SEC Championship with two games left to play. Then we come and we lose at Texas A&M, who was a three seed, and we lose at the buzzer to Alabama, who was a two seed. Then we beat Ole Miss, who got to the Sweet 16 in the first round of the SEC tournament. Then we lose to Tennessee, who was an Elite Eight team. So we really didn't slump. We just lost to three really good teams. But we did lose three games when, prior to that, we'd only lost, I think, two all year.

But I do think we got our edge back a little bit with having to beat Creighton. Yeah. I thought that was a huge one.

The Creighton one especially. Yeah. No.

There's no question. We did get a bit of our edge back on the defensive end. With the exception of the first half against Michigan, I thought we executed pretty well offensively. We've got to see if we can be healthy getting to the Final Four. But right now, we're back to playing some of our best basketball. When I look at the matchups for this weekend, the individual matchup that I'm really excited about is Walter Clayton Jr. You know how special of a player he is. And then we also know how underrated, nationally, Denver Jones is. Have at it, coach. That's going to be a fun one coming up on Saturday between those two. It is.

It is. Clayton clearly outplayed our backcourt in Auburn when they had the victory. And we will definitely have to play better. And then our front line. Florida's got the deepest and one of the most talented front lines in all of college basketball.

They have five big guys out there that wrote you in. Right now, we're playing three. And so our front line will be challenged. But they've been delivering so far.

And if they can continue to play well, we've got a fighting chance. Now, I knew that you hired Todd Golden to your initial staff at Auburn back in 2014 coming over from Columbia. I didn't know you coached him in the Maccabi games back in 2009. Just how about that relationship? I know you want to beat him coming up on Saturday and go to the national championship.

But it's got to be surreal that maybe someone you saw something in when no one else was seeing it. And now you guys are going up against one another in the biggest stage. No, I'm so happy for him and proud of him. And he's a great family friend. My host and head coach, Steven Pearl, my son, is very best friends with Todd.

So they speak on a weekly basis. And so this is absolutely family. You know, when you have to put that aside, there's only one time I'd like to ever have to play against Todd.

And that would be for a championship. And so, you know, I'm happy that he's there. He's happy that I'm there.

And one of us is going to advance and have a chance to play for a national championship. What did you see in him back in 2014? Well, he was just really smart, really tough.

He was a terrific player, high character, great mind and loyal, hardworking, great family man. He checks every box. Coach, you're not afraid to speak your mind. I know you're a very proud Jewish man. And also we've heard you speak a lot about Israel. And that's greatly appreciated to have three out of the four coaches in the final four be Jewish.

Yourself, John Shire and Todd Golden. Just what does that mean to you? All it says is that we live in the greatest country in the world. That anybody in this country can become anything. Now you've got to work hard and you've got to have some breaks along the way.

But it just tells you what's possible. And so I know John and Todd are equally as grateful to all the people and all the institutions and the support that they received growing up and developing and then getting the opportunities that they've gotten. Because that's how I feel. Just grateful for every opportunity they've gotten. I tell my players all the time, whether it's the color of your skin or your faith or whatever it might be that maybe some people are uncomfortable with. All those things are obstacles.

They're not roadblocks. And so yeah, I think it's pretty cool and I bet you there are a lot of other Jewish coaches out there around the country that this obviously continues to give them hope as well. Last thing I'll ask you, Bruce Pearl, before we let you run. I remember when you came on last time we talked about DeHaad Pettiford and how he was overlooked, undersized. And man, what a player he's been for you, especially in that Sweet 16 matchup against Michigan. And we talked about that confidence and you said he's had that confidence since day one. It's kind of crazy that he's only a freshman.

What do you think his ceiling can be and what he's shown you so far through this year? Well, you know, his dad always played him up. He's always played against older players. So playing against older players is not that big a deal for him.

I think in a couple of things. First of all, being a Jersey City guard, you know, he's got some, there's great history there of confidence, skill, toughness. But I also think what's happened to DeHaad is he's been, his dad wanted to be coached hard. His dad wanted to be held accountable.

His dad wanted him on time for class. And, you know, so there's some real discipline there. And then I think the last thing is he's developed a great friendship with his team. And because we've got really good kids on the team, that's the one thing I always promise prospects. I'm going to bring in guys that you're going to want to be around.

That you're going to want to be friends with. And so they've got a brotherhood. And, you know, the little doesn't want to let his big brothers down. How did they come up with that nickname, by the way? Because I heard you say that in a press conference. That's awesome.

That's what they call him. Well, coach, I enjoy this. I know you're back at the Final Four. We can't wait to see what happens on Saturday and appreciate you.

I know you're going 9 million miles an hour. We appreciate you jumping on board with us today. Happy to be with you, Zach.

Thank you. There he is. Bruce Pearl, The Zach Gelb Show of the Infinity Sports Network. The day after punching another ticket to the Final Four. They will do battle up against Florida on Saturday evening. You also have Duke and Houston. We'll see who prevails in play for the national championship on Monday night. That could be my favorite nickname maybe in the history of sports. Just little bleep.

And they were, they were referred to Todd Pettiford as little less. Hey, a little bleep over there on the other side of the glass. How you doing? Give him a little poop.

I guess it's better than big bleep, if we're being honest. But, alrighty. Good stuff there, Bruce Pearl. Appreciate you jumping on board with us. We'll do a little onside offside when we return.

Update time first. Here's Zach. 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, it's onside offside time. Stu Pach, what do we got cooking today? Alright. I can't hear you. Alright, so you got me? I really can't hear you. I can hear everything you're saying. For those that don't know, Stu got an ear infection.

I can't hear myself, so I might not be saying anything. I was supposed to maybe see Stu down at the shore as I was there for a wedding. And I said to Stu, because we didn't link up, I go, oh, how was AC? Stu goes, never made it.

I go, what do you mean? He goes, had an ear infection. Have you ever had an ear infection? Like, when I was a kid, I remember getting an ear infection.

Not as an adult, though. Yeah, it's probably been like 20 years. It's been a long time. You know what this means? You get on that plane to go to San Antonio? I know, it's gonna be rough.

What is, like, the producers I work with? Like, Hickey once got food poisoning on a trip. Right before the trip. You have an ear infection. You know, Santa knows more doctors than I've ever known. If you need a doctor, just talk to Santa.

He'll have a list of recommendations. He's like the Daniel Jeremiah, what it is to the draft world, Santa is with doctors. But geez Louise, Stu, you were down for the count? Ear infection? Yeah, it was pretty bad. I did basically nothing Friday, Saturday, Sunday. A lot of pain, headaches, all that stuff? Yeah, especially Friday.

Friday, it was just a throbbing, my ear felt like I wanted to cut it off, basically. Now, you guys were just going down there for the day, anyway? Yeah, it was just for the day. Oh, okay, so not like you had an Airbnb or anything like that.

No, no. Or hotels that you got screwed out of and all that stuff. I did make my way to White House Subs, by the way. I saw that. Jealous. It was a hangover helper, I'll tell you, on Sunday morning. You get a nice fat cheesesteak, only $12.50. Priced perfectly. Very good, with a little crushed red peppers, too.

Delicious. But anyway, let's get to a little on-site off-site. What do you got for me, Stu? All right, so the 49ers unloaded multiple starters this offseason, including Deebo Samuel, Jordan Mason, Dre Greenlaw, and Shavarius Ward. The question does remain, however, about the future of Brandon Ayuk. And Adam Schefter reports that San Fran will owe their star wideout a $22 million bonus if he's on the roster by tomorrow, making any trade after today basically impossible. So on-site to all-sides, the 49ers would be making a mistake if they kept Ayuk.

I'm actually going off-site on this one. I think it is a mistake if they get rid of him right now. I know that there was some skepticism to pay him a year ago, but they did. You don't have Deebo Samuel anymore. Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle have had their fair share of injuries as well. You're going to need to see what Brandon Ayuk can be this upcoming season, even if it means, let's say, if he gets hurt or if he does not resemble the wide receiver that he was a few years ago and he basically had 1,400 yards.

Even that means you shoot yourself in the foot here with the contract. They need him, though. That team has lost a lot this offseason. If they want to get back to the postseason, they're going to need Brandon Ayuk to be the Brandon Ayuk that they paid him to be. So the 49ers would make a mistake if they kept Ayuk. I think it's a mistake to get rid of him. So I think that's offside right now for where this team is at. Offside.

Next question. So last week, new Stanford GM Andrew Luck fired head coach Troy Taylor after repeated harassing behavior. Now, Luck has brought on his former Colts coach Frank Reich to take over as the interim head coach for the 2025 season. Onsides, offsides, you're OK with Stanford hiring Reich on a one-year interim basis rather than finding their next full-time coach.

Well, here's how late in the game you are with it being the end of March when this stuff came out. Who are you getting? So do I want to find a full-time coach and give him a four- or five-year contract that you don't have the best pool of candidates? No.

So I think this is fine, right? Andrew Luck using his NFL resources, you get a respectable name. Now, let's be real. If I'm Frank Reich, I know you know Andrew Luck, why the heck would you want to do this? Why would you want to go coach in college at Stanford? You made enough money. You got a huge contract from the Carolina Panthers.

They got rid of you after one year. And it just shows you these coaches, they're addicted to coaching. Look at Belichick. He's not coaching at UNC. Ron Rivera is like what the general manager is some role at Cal.

These guys, these lifers just can't get away from it. But I have no problem. You know, Stanford says, hey, let's give it a roll of the dice here for a year. You know, it's the understatement that this is a year agreement, and then you'll have a larger pool of candidates to pick from when you get into the offseason. So you're okay with Stanford hiring Reich on a one-year interim basis rather than find their next full-time coach? Yeah, I just don't think that there was anything else that they could have done.

And I wouldn't want to go sign a guy to a four- or five-year contract now when you don't have the most ideal candidates in the world this late in the game. So I'll go onsides on that one. Last night we had a melee in Minneapolis as the Timberwolves and Pistons got into a wild brawl that saw punches fly and led to ejections of five players and two coaches. A young fan was even called into melee and soon-to-be owner and guest on last week's show, Alex Rodriguez, gave the kid a jersey. Onsides, offsides, each of the players involved should be suspended at least two games. Yeah, see, I'm actually happy that there was some sort of a fight in the NBA because usually it's a hold me back, bro, situation. At least this moved into the stands. But whenever you have, you know, players in the stands interacting with fans that way and getting that close, you got to do the prudent thing here and you got to suspend people that were involved in this. So I'm fine with each player getting suspended at least two games. I don't think it was the worst thing in the world. I don't think it was like the biggest brawl I've ever seen.

But you have to do something from a punitive action standpoint. That's what I think onsides. Hey, by the way, Stu, because you sound worse today than you did last week. I know, yeah. Do you think, what did you, you had a little cold last week? That's something, yeah, it had to be a cold or something. Do you think that was the appetizer to the ear infection? That that was like the warning sign that this was going to happen?

Yeah, and probably sitting in 45 degree weather for four hours watching a baseball game. The day before it didn't help. Oh, yeah, that's right, you were off Thursday. Probably didn't help.

When did you get this ear infection? Like Thursday night. No, it was like, yeah, so it was like right after the game basically. So that Friday that you took, Sam and I were very, we thought your off day schedule was a very big boss move. I'm taking off on Thursday and then if there's a rain out, the game will be moved to Friday and then you already took Friday off as a precautionary day and you kept it anyway. So your Friday that was an off day was basically a sick day.

Yes, that's what it turned into. You should have called up, said I'm ready to work up. I'm calling out.

That's what I would have done. But anyway, let's keep it moving already up. So the Grizzlies surprised us all by firing head coach Taylor Jenkins with less than ten games remaining in the season. Now reports say that John Moran didn't like the offense. Oh, and it's upset with the move because Jenkins was updating the scheme to use more plays that John likes. Now the interim head coach, Tumas Iasola. Say that ten times.

Did you say Frank Iasola? He is the architect of the offense that Ja did not like, leading many to believe that the Grizzlies are fed up with Ja and are ready to move on. Onsides offsides, the Grizzlies should trade Ja in the offseason. So why do you, this is true, but I have no reason to believe that it's not true. Why wouldn't you then just keep Taylor Jenkins and tell Ja tough bleep, deal with it.

That's what I would have done because this is a tale that is so old. Coach, player. Coach is liked, player is liked. Player doesn't like the coach.

Team eventually chooses the coach and then they'll see if the new coach that they bring in can put up with the player and then you go from there. But this idea that the Grizzlies are going to trade Ja Moran after the season, they're having a good season. I know Ja Moran could be immature and could be a pain in the ass. He's proven that in recent years and he got hurt too last year. But he's such a special player still. And it's not as if you're, you know, this great franchise.

You're the Memphis freaking Grizzlies. I don't think you're in a position where you could get rid of Ja Moran. Now, you want to still be able to hold on to your organization a little bit and have some control of your organization, but you should have never fired Taylor Jenkins to begin with. So if they get rid of a good coach, not a great coach, but a good coach in Taylor Jenkins and then move Ja Moran this offseason, why don't you just keep Taylor Jenkins and then just still move Ja Moran this offseason anyway? So I don't think the Grizzlies should trade Ja Moran this offseason. So the Grizzlies trade Ja in the offseason?

Absolutely not. Offside. You made your bet, now line it and see if Ja is worth it. So I would go offside on that one. Offside. Now, the Red Sox signed Alex Bregman this offseason, leading to some awkwardness with Boston star third baseman Rafael Devers. After Devers expressed that he wanted to stay at third, he was ultimately moved to DH to allow Bregman to play third. Well, now Devers is off to a historically bad start. He had 12 strikeouts and 16 at bats in the team's first four games and has three more today. Onside's offside, you attribute Devers' bad start to his move to DH.

I'll go yes onsides because I think it's a mental game with how much of a distraction this whole thing has been. But this is also the typical overreaction to just the start of the baseball season. We are three, four, five games into a season at most.

Do you know how many asinine and dumb and idiotic takes I've heard? Like, the Yankee fan thinks they've already won the World Series. It's over, 162-0. And the Mets fans are like, oh, season's over after one and two.

Rafael Devers goes from being a top 10 player in baseball to now to be some bum. It's like, it's ridiculous. I just can't do this. The overreaction and the free—we're treating this like this is football, for crying out loud. There's 162 regular season games, all right, folks? Settle down. A player could slump early.

It was an awkward situation. Rafael Devers obviously doesn't want to DH. All right. So will he break out in a few weeks? Can he break out, you know, at the end of this week? Absolutely. But I do think that there was a lot going on mentally for Rafael Devers, and baseball's a big mental sport, too. So I do attribute Devers' bad start to his move to DH. I will go onsides.

But hit better. Come on. I know you have a field problem.

You have a hitting problem. All right. Last one here. As expected, former Maryland coach Kevin Willard. He bolted College Park and heads to Philly as the next head coach of Villanova. Now, the Cats won two national titles under Jay Wright and went to a final four in Wright's final season, but failed to reach 20 wins and missed the NCAA tournament in each of Kyle Neptune's three years at the helm. Onsides, offsides, Kevin Willard will bring Villanova back to being a perennial top 10 and title contender. He's a good coach.

I think he can do so. I could argue that Porter Moser, maybe Nick Cronin would have been a better fit. But I think this is a fine hire, and obviously he wanted to go.

I just didn't like the things that he said on the way out when he knew he was leaving. But hey, that just happens in college athletics, and it's a crappy situation when a coach is departing. But Kevin Willard, the guy could win basketball games. Villanova has a bunch of tremendous resources.

Neptune just wasn't ready for the position. Kevin Willard, it's weird to call him a professional the way that he acted out the door in Maryland. But in the coaching world, he is a professional, and he's ready for the opportunity. So yes, I do think Kevin Willard will have Villanova vastly improved.

I think they could be a top 10 team, and they could be in the title-contending conversation under his tutelage. So I will go onsides. All righty, that will do it for a little Onside, Offside on the Zach Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network. Two hours in the books, one more to play. We're going to shuffle the deck a little bit. John Fanta is going to join us 25 minutes from now.

So that will be at 5.20 p.m. Eastern, 2.20 p.m. Pacific. But when we come on back, we are going to torpedo. We are going to talk about the torpedo bats, because this is a big conversation. This is how you know baseball's back. There's controversy. When we're talking baseball on the radio, there has to be some controversy.

That's 9.9 times out of 10. So when we return, we will get into a ridiculous conversation about the torpedo bats. You got a lot of Indianapolis cult energy with the footballs, with the people bitching and complaining about the torpedo bats. I am for the torpedo bats, and I will tell you why after I take a syringe and come on back on the Zach Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network.