Payton's Places (Hour 4)

When we continue, this is that Gelb Show Coast to Coast on CBS Sports Radio. We're coming to you live from the Rocket Mortgage Studios. Whether you're looking to purchase a new home or refinance yours, Rocket Mortgage can help you get there for home loan solutions that fit your life well. Rocket Cam will channel the 49ers, go around the NFL with former 49ers defensive lineman Ian Williams coming up 20 minutes from now.

Now working with CBS Orlando, so excited to check in and tap on back in with one Ian Williams. But Hickey, before we get into the Sean Payton conversation, I just want to circle back into the AFC. When you look at the AFC, Bills are going to make the playoffs, Chiefs are going to make the playoffs, Tennessee's going to make the playoffs, Cincinnati's going to make the playoffs, and the Dolphins are going to make the playoffs.

I think those five teams without a doubt are going to make the playoffs. Now you're going to notice there's one team that I didn't put in there as a lock right there, and that's the Baltimore Ravens. I'm a little bit concerned now with Baltimore. I know that they pulled out the victory on Sunday against Denver.

Denver stinks. Now Lamar Jackson is injured. It's unlikely that he's going to play up against the Steelers. It looks like he could be sidelined from one to three weeks, so it's truly a week to week injury.

We don't know. It could be only one week he misses, it could be two, it could be three, maybe it's more than that. But if you recall last year, when Lamar Jackson got hurt, the Ravens were rolling, and then they didn't make the playoffs.

Is that on the verge of happening again? Now they're 8-4. They're in a pretty good spot, but you look at the five teams I gave you, and you got two spots, a team like the Jets at 7-5, the Patriots are 6-6, the Chargers are 6-6. Now it would take a lot for the Chargers or the Patriots to surpass the Ravens because they already have a two game lead in the win column. When they're 6-6, both the Pats and the Chargers and the Ravens are 8-4.

But the Jets are a team maybe you got a little bit worried about. Now when you look at schedule, you play the Steelers this weekend, after that you play the Browns with Deshaun Watson, you then get the Falcons, you then have the Steelers again, and then you play the Bengals. Are the Ravens in danger of missing the playoffs? If they get to 10 wins, not that it's a lock, but you should be able to get in.

When you have seven spots, not always a foregone conclusion that 10 gets you in. But how many more wins do you think the Ravens are going to get? And do you think they're in danger of missing the playoffs? Because I'm not ready to say that they're going to miss the playoffs, but I'm a little bit concerned because any time that team has a lead this year, or any time that team gets into a tight game in the fourth quarter, you don't feel great about them. Because they haven't been finishers this year, and they're still 8-4, which is crazy. I think they'll make it, I think it's going to be close. They'll be sweating.

Because that schedule, you should, bare minimum, split pitcher. By the hair of their... Skinny teeth teeth.

Skinny teeth teeth. I always want to say it the right way, but I have to go the Al Michaels way. Al Michaels.

The great Al Michaels. Would say. Alright, let's do this. Would you agree that they're going to split the Steelers?

Yes. Okay, so that's one win. I think even with Tyler Huntley, they could beat the Browns. Deshaun Watson looked like crap last week. He did, but you got to think he's going to knock off some rust. You think. You think.

And that would be then his third game in. We'll see how it looks this week. I'm not, I guess, all the way in that he'll be just like that kind of back. But if Lamar's not playing, and that's a major if, and Huntley has been fine when given an opportunity, don't you kind of just look at that Browns rushing attack and it jumps off the page to you in that game? Yes, but also the Browns defense is not very good. That is true. So I don't have a lot of faith that they'll be able to slow down the Ravens rushing attack.

I'll say this. They split the Steelers. I think they're going to lose to the Browns. They'll beat the Falcons. Bengals game last.

Got to think that's going to mean something. Probably lose that game. That's only two wins that I just gave them? That'll be the 10. That's a 10. Now you win a game that I'm not expecting you to win?

Little bit different. And you get to 11. I just think they're so far ahead right now at eight and four that they're going to have to be deserved. They're going to have to only lose, win two games and then not win any of the tiebreakers. I got to think that they're still going to make the playoffs, but it is something that's starting to get a little bit concerning.

And you also have to factor this. Is Lamar dying to get back to play? Doesn't have a contract right now. If that injury continues to annoy him and be a little bit of some complications. Does he maybe make a business decision?

And says, yeah. I'll let Huntley take the baton and run with it a little bit. You think that's on the table for Lamar?

I don't think so. I think he's a competitor. I get the reasoning. And you know, if you're pissed at the organization, this would kind of be the ultimate leverage play.

I've kind of like, screw you. You don't believe in me now. Until Huntley goes and wins the playoff game.

True. I think he'll, he's going to try to be back. I think he will be back. Yeah, he seems like a leader.

He does. And I've never questioned the dedication of Lamar Jackson. I've always been a big Lamar Jackson supporter.

I just wonder how he's going to approach this offseason. Because now, you've seen the last two years, some suffer injuries. The team has just been injured as a whole. They still don't have a legit number one wide receiver. You have a great tight end in Mark Andrews. Now JK Dobbins is hurt again, back to back years. The defense has been fine. It's been up and down. At times, they've just been horrendous in closing games.

Now you can look at this two ways. Does Lamar this offseason say, okay, now we've got to get a deal done. Because now this has been two years in a row I've been hurt.

And let me get my money while I can. Or, does Lamar kind of look at it and say, it's time for a reset. Chiefs are really good. Bills are really good. Bengals are really good inside the division.

Watson will then get to play a full year next year for the Cleveland Browns. Who knows what Kenny Pickett turns out to be with the Steelers. Does he maybe look at the NFC and says, wow, the NFC is wide open.

Wide open. Like, the Eagles look like they're going to be good. Cowboys having a good season. Vikings having a good season.

But you never know how long the window is for these teams. Right, there's no Mahomes. There's no Josh Allen. There's no Joe Burrow in the NFC. You know, as much as I like what Jalen Hurts has done this year, he's still got to prove more. Dak Prescott, I think, is just really good.

I don't know if he's great. Kirk Cousins, I know he's going to be back next year because he's under contract. Kyler Murray has been not really living up to the contract a year into it. Giants, commanders both need quarterbacks. I wonder if Lamar, who is going to get franchise tag, so the Ravens could play that game right back.

Well, we'll just franchise tag you back to back years. But maybe the Ravens, who I don't think want to get rid of Lamar. Lamar has been a wonderful player for them.

He is their organization. He is their offense. But if Lamar comes to you this offseason and says, guys, trade me. I just wonder how the Ravens would approach that.

I wonder how the Ravens would then respond to Lamar on that front. How do you think, like, you're DaCosta, you're Harbaugh, I'm Lamar. Guys, I'm so grateful for the opportunity. You guys took a chance on me. Many people didn't believe in me. Many people didn't think I should be a quarterback.

I just think it's time for us to part ways. I want to get traded. How do you think the Ravens respond to him? I don't think they would do it. I don't think they'd want to do it. I still think they would, I would say take it year by year, not even try to give him a deal.

And then after that, maybe consider trading him? Yeah. They don't seem like ones that get bullied into a decision like the Cardinals. Because right now, does Sean Watson win for three first round picks? Right? Yes. And Russell Wilson won for two ones and two twos? Correct. Just the starting framework of those deals? You get three first round picks with Lamar Jackson.

Easily. I just wonder if the Ravens look to, now you're not, I don't know if you're going to find a better quarterback than Lamar. But if he doesn't want to be there, that's the thing. I just like wonder how, I wonder how Lamar is going to approach this all season.

I really do. And I don't know. Because in one breath, you would say, now he's hurt back to back years. Shouldn't there be more of an emphasis, get your money right now. And you would still get a ridiculous contract. But then part of it may be, is there any frustration there? We're now the organization, not that it's losing its luster. But it's now back to back years, the entire organization has been banged up. They still haven't got you a number one wide receiver.

The defense has blown a lot of games this year. I don't think it's out of the realm of possibilities that Lamar doesn't want to be there. Honestly, I don't know what Lamar wants. Because for the entire offseason, Ryan, we heard that it was Lamar who didn't want to get a deal done. And then he gets to training camp and he goes, oh no, now I want to get a deal done.

And they didn't get the deal done. How do you think he approaches this offseason? I would still say he's there in Baltimore next year. But how do you think he approaches this offseason? Do you think there's a chance he wants out after this year?

I think there's a chance, yeah, because again, it's been weird where not even just the fact he hasn't got a contract, how they've gotten about it or gone about it, where you have your GM and the owner basically kind of throwing him and calling him on the carpet of just, hey, look, we're here. He's not wanting to do so. And then him saying, well, look, I'm here to talk.

I'm willing to do so. I think that kind of rubs him the wrong way. But I still would be shocked if he makes something public and decides, hey, I'm requesting a trade and kind of has a whole charade like kind of Kyler Murray has made or even Russell Wilson has made. Ian Williams is going to join us coming up in about 10 minutes. But before we do that, Sean Paden was on the Let's Go podcast with Tom Brady. They've been linked together. Do you think the dolphin stuff, I didn't listen to this whole podcast.

There's no way the dolphin stuff came up. Who's going to bring it up? Jim Gray.

Oh, yeah. The mouthpiece for Tom Brady. Jim Gray definitely would ask Tom Brady a hard-hitting question.

No shot. Never. But Sean Paden on when he could return to coaching. Let's listen up via the Let's Go podcast. I think sooner than later. I really enjoy the current job I have, but I think relative to coaching, though, I know that I want to coach again, but I want to find the right spot because when it's all done and it's quiet, I don't think it's the money or the crowd cheers or the trophies or any of that other stuff. I think it's about the journey with the people that you really enjoy.

And so, you know, it's not this year, hopefully next year. Did you hear the laugh in that background, Hickey? Yes, it was kind of weird. Play that again and just listen, folks. It's like the first five seconds in, if not sooner than that, when he was talking about his job.

You could pause it there. Was that Jim Gray or was that Brady? It sounded like Brady. I have no idea, to be honest. It sounds like one of them. I don't know.

Okay. I don't know why they'd be laughing. I guess because he says he likes the job now. They just didn't really buy that he loves his job. Not like saying that he hates working for Fox, but compared to coaching, the guy's a coach. He wants to be a coach.

Oh, yeah. We all know why he left the Saints. He left the Saints because they don't have a quarterback.

You could say it's retirement. He quit on the Saints and he did great things for the Saints. But he said, I'm done with the Saints because they don't have a quarterback. And he went with one year without Drew Brees thinking, okay, Jameis Winston maybe could be the guy. And then Jameis Winston gets hurt. And there was even questions if Jameis Winston could be the guy. So why would you want to go with Jameis Winston coming off injury? I guess he was not interested in exploring Deshaun Watson.

And you're going to come back and not even know if you're going to get the guy anyway. So he kind of made a smart move where I'm a legend in New Orleans, always be a legend. I won a Super Bowl there.

I tried to bring another one. It didn't work out. Drew Brees wasn't healthy at the end of his career, unfortunately. So instead of trying to find a quarterback in the draft, instead of trying to find another free agent or make a trade, I thought it was time to move on. I thought it was a good move because now he's going to be extremely coveted. He's going to be the top coach on the market. And he could have the pick of the litter. And if he doesn't like any of the options this year, if he doesn't think there's a nice little cute puppy dog out there for him to go join, then he'll just wait till next year and he'll do this job for Fox for another season.

But I'm going to say I keep on going to the Chargers. Even if Brandon Staley makes the playoffs, if he wants to be there, how do you say no to Sean Payton? And also, as much as we think Justin Herbert likes Brandon Staley, and that can be genuine or not, doesn't Justin Herbert kind of have to flex his muscles a little bit? Where if the owner of the Spanos family wants to say, oh, yeah, we like Brandon Staley, if Justin Herbert gets wind that Sean wants the job, doesn't Herbert have to kind of go to ownership and say, guys, like, what are we doing here?

Or at least bare minimum, go to Tom Telusko and say, guys, like, you got to go get Sean Payton if he wants this job. Because he has the power in that organization. If Herbert leaves that organization, they're screwed.

Absolutely screwed if they leave that organization. Is he coaching in Los Angeles next year? Probably.

I think it's too easy of a landing spot, but probably. I'm stunned on this one. We got breaking John Heyman news. Actually? Hold on. Let's see. Let's make sure this is a real account. Yeah.

Now, this was not an appear. Holy smokes. Former Met pitcher Tawaun Walker. How much you think you got for your deal? 80 mil. Seventy one million dollars for Taiwan Walker.

Where? Philadelphia Phillies. Jeez, they're going all in. Yeah, they're clearly going all in. They signed Trey Turner to a 300 million dollar deal. Did you see Trey Turner left 40 million dollars? I think it was on the table where he could have went to the Padres.

Yeah. Well, I guess he didn't want to play as he wants to play shortstop. That's fair. You're not going to play shortstop. Well, even with the suspension, not playing shortstop in San Diego. Maybe he wanted to go back to Bryce. Him and Bryce are tight.

Maybe that's what it was. But then Juan Soto's in San Diego. You have Nationals, former Nationals all over the place. Yeah. Alrighty, this is Zach Gelb showing CBS Sports Radio. If not the Chargers, where is Sean Payton coaching? Is there any chance Brady and Payton are together? I just don't see where the destination would be other than New Orleans if he wanted to go back to New Orleans.

And then Brady just goes right over there. But I don't really see them lining up together anywhere as a duo. Yeah, I don't think so.

I would say if it's not L.A., I would go Arizona. If you're Sean, though, do you view Kyler Murray as an attractive quarterback? He seems a little bit resistant to coaching. Just the way that it's played out with Cliff, who's his guy. And I don't know how great he is. He's good. I don't know how great he is. The only thing I guess we don't know is, is Cliff truly his guy?

I don't know. I don't know if he was right. Again, I think Sean Payton is a guy you respect. But if you could have the pick of the litter, are you hitching your wagon to Kyler Murray?

It's not the worst option in the world, but it's not the best. It's fair, but also... Do we even know if Kyler Murray is going to be a top 10 quarterback? Do we know if the Chargers job will be open? I don't know. I would think so.

Or if they're even interested. I don't know. I'm just saying.

Right now, there's six and six. And every game, the only reason they're in these games is because of Justin Herbert. And I hate to say it, to pull the money card, but the Chargers are not exactly a rich team.

Cheap organization? I don't know. Will Dean Spanos want to spend money on a big-time head coach?

I don't know. And then with the Herbert contract looming as well, I mean, money shouldn't be an option. But we've seen it dictate some other franchises. I just can't see Sean Payton in Arizona. I just can't see it. Good weather? Eh. NFC is easier than the AFC? Los Angeles don't have good weather?

It does, but they're in the AFC. Okay. Is that scare, Sean, you think? At all?

I don't think so. It's just me. Zach Gelb's show, CBS Sports Radio, Ian Williams joins us. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. Alright, let's check in with Ian Williams, former 49ers, defensive lineman, played there from 2011 to 2016.

Played his college ball at Notre Dame and now does a good job with CBS Orlando as an NFL analyst. Ian, been a while. How you been, my friend? Zach, man, I've been good. Been eating too much food. Gotta get back in shape, getting back in the gym. You know what?

These last two weeks, they're great, but they really suck. You're 100% right because you eat so much after Thanksgiving, during Thanksgiving, and then you have all these leftovers, so it kills you for another week. I know, man.

You eat, putting them back, and then you just add more weight. Trust me, I know how it is. I gotta get back. Ian Williams here with us. So the 49ers, Jimmy G is now not out for the season. There's an outside chance he could return as early as the divisional round. Just what's your thoughts here on the 49ers as they, for the interim, turn to Brock Purdy? Well, I thought Brock Purdy looked pretty good out there on Sunday. I mean, considering that they're playing against one of the top teams in the AFC, and then for him to be able to come into the situation that he came into and still look poised and look like a seasoned quarterback tells me a lot about himself, his film study, and then his preparation going into the game, and then also Kyle Shanahan's plan once Jimmy G did go down, because obviously you're not going to throw or call the same game plan with your third-string quarterback out there.

You're going to kind of call it more vanilla, but with how the defense played and showed up against one of the top performers in the AFC, I feel like with that performance on that side and then offensively Brock Purdy just doesn't mess it up. He has the weapons to be able to do what the 49ers think that he can do and get him to the playoffs. And if Jimmy G is ready by that time, you know, I've been on Twitter. You know, you've got fans saying they want him to play, and then you've got others, you know, we don't want him to play.

I'm kind of on the side. If Brock Purdy gets you to the divisional or the Super Bowl, I think you let the young kid roll and see how he does to start the game off. And then if there's any types of jitters, then you put Jimmy Garoppolo in.

But at this point, he's coming off a serious ankle injury, thankful that he doesn't have to have surgery or anything like that. But you're throwing them out there in the most crucial time of the season where you're playing best on best. You're not playing against the Houston Texans or a team that's won two games and they don't know what their identity is.

You're playing against the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC championship or one of the top AFC teams where you played the Chiefs a few weeks ago and it didn't look good out there. So you're throwing Jimmy G, a quarterback out there, coming off an ankle injury out there. So it could get hectic, but if they get to that point, I'll still be talking. I'll be excited that we at least got to that point. I feel like I've changed my answer 9,000 times when it comes to who's going to be the 49ers quarterback next year. Do you think there's a shot it's going to be Jimmy G next year even with the investment that they made on Trey Lance giving up all those picks to get him? I think Trey is going to need another year. This year was supposed to be his growth year and then if Jimmy G was going to play, he was going to be in certain instances where Kyle Shanahan feels at this point we need Jimmy G to go ahead and win because we can't waste the defense that we have.

So Trey, we're going to start the game off with you. We're going to use you in certain packages, but Jimmy G is going to be our guy to really lead us to the Super Bowl, and I feel like it would have turned into that kind of thing by mid-season, but as of right now, Jimmy G is the best quarterback for this team to be able to get to the Super Bowl. Yes, you would have loved to have Trey out there and learn and get to roll with the punches, with the defense, and the offensive weapons, but Trey might not be where he needs to be by year three.

It may be another year or two before he gets back, feels comfortable off the ankle, and then gets back into the offense and gets more involved. But if Jimmy G is back next year, I think that's the best thing for the Niners. Obviously, having a backup quarterback is very crucial because you never know when a quarterback is going to go down. If you can have a backup veteran who has played time and time again and got you to the playoffs, got you to big moments, it would be good to have that guy on the bench too. So it's going to be an interesting decision to see what they do with all three quarterbacks, especially if Brock Pretty does get them deep into the postseason.

I'll give you my prediction. I think Jimmy Garoppolo is going to leave at the end of this year. I don't know how sold they are on Trey Lance. If you need a guy to come in for a year or two, a Tom Brady guy is going to be available, and you know he wants to play for the 49ers. I think Brady is going to be playing for the Niners next year.

It's very possible. I feel like, because I'm covering Tampa and Miami and Jacksonville out here in CBS Orlando, but with the type of offense and team that Tom Brady has, I think he kind of jumps and he left the Patriots right when they were starting to have their decline on playmakers. I feel like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could be on that decline also because they haven't looked well these past few months playing under him. Then the type of weapons that he has out there, Julio Jones and Mike Evans, great players, but they are on the back end of their careers where coming to San Francisco, Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Naive, George Kittle, Trent Williams, the best left tackle in the game, you have all these guys pretty much in their prime.

You can definitely see TB12 out here in San Francisco Bay Area sometime next year. Ian Williams here with us. Let's get to some of the teams that you're also covering these days.

Miami Dolphins, I know they've had a wonderful season so far up until last week. Every game two has started and completed. They have won, but last week it was a little bit of a discouraging effort. I know Tua got banged up as well. Just what have you been seeing out of Tua Tungavailoa this year?

Well, I've been seeing a lot. Just coming from last year and his development from Alabama to where he's been with the Dolphins and just trying to get better every year with the consistency, not turning the football over. I feel like this year, especially with the playmakers, you add Tyreek Hill, you have Jalen Waddle, and you add other playmakers, and then you add Coach McDaniel with his type of system trying to get the ball down the field and threaten the defense.

It's working his favor. I feel like we've seen that week in and week out, which is why we expected this game to be such a high-scoring game on Sunday. We didn't expect for Tua to go out there and look timid and overthrow the football or have errant plays, where he hasn't shown that in these previous weeks. This is why the Miami Dolphins are one of the top teams in the AFC. It was really uncommon for him to look that way, but this is what the top defense in the NFL can make you do. You're talking about Fred Warner, where he gets an interception. Is it any other linebacker that drops that far in a cover-two or a cover-three?

No. Maybe it's the pressure of the Niners' front four getting to him and him having to fit the ball into smaller windows. This is what happens when you play against a top defense and you're not playing against the Houston Texans the week before. Do you think the Eagles are going to the Super Bowl in the NFC?

I think it's a possibility. I think the two best teams in the NFL, in the NFC right now, are the Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers. The only thing that worries me is San Francisco having to go to Philly and having to play Jalen Hurton, that defensive line, in Philly.

I feel like if Purdy is playing, having to go on the road, it's going to vote really bad for us. But I feel like if we can get Philly at home, we can definitely be. You've got to remember, this is the same team that got to the NFC championship last year.

The only reason we lost was because you dropped the pick. It's the same team that went to the Super Bowl and won it. So give the team some respect.

They can definitely give back. Yeah, just with the uncertainty at the quarterback, Ian, it concerns me. It makes me feel like that window has now kind of closed just for this year. Because even if Jimmy G comes back, what can you expect out of him? And there's been some questions still if Jimmy G can win the big one. Well, yeah, that's the thing where the questions are going to be there where you're going to have an immobile quarterback out there against Fletcher Cox and some of the pass rush of the Philadelphia Eagles. So throwing a quarterback out there who hasn't played in nearly two months, coming off an ankle injury where we all saw the pictures of how it was twisted.

I know how bad an ankle injury can be because I've gone through it. Obviously it's not that significant as mine, but I know how difficult it is to come off of that, especially if it's being in a divisional or a Super Bowl. Playing against the best team in the opposite division or opposite conference is going to be difficult. But I feel like the playmaker that he has right now, if he does or whoever the quarterback is for the Niners, they can definitely win this thing. And if Jimmy is there, obviously Kyle is going to be able to develop a game plan to be able to protect him and not leave him on seven-step drops or having to go through multiple progressions to be able to get the football down the field.

So expect a game plan that's tailored toward however Jimmy G is feeling or whoever the quarterback is at that time. The Vikings got blown out by the Eagles and then also the Dallas Cowboys. But in terms of Dallas, how do you think they could possibly fare this year in the playoffs? Man, Dallas, it's been remarkable to see how Prescott and that defense has really kind of formed themselves as one of the top teams in the NFC where year after year after year they have the best offensive line or best certain guys at certain positions, but they can never get over the hump of getting out of the wild card or the first game in the playoffs where obviously something goes wrong. But I feel like Micah Parsons, that defense, man, I don't know what's going on with them, Zach, but they've been playing lights out. They've been shutting out teams, and they've been putting up points.

C.D. Lamb is looking like the star receiver from Oklahoma that we all expected. And I feel like this team, even though I say the two teams in the NFC that are the best are Philly and the Niners, the Cowboys are right there knocking it. They can continue to stay healthy and get healthier with Zeke and have the two tandem back with Zeke and football.

I mean, they'll be one of the top teams in the conference. Okay, AFC, who do you trust the most between Kansas City, Cincinnati, and Buffalo? I trust Buffalo. Buffalo and KC. I've seen KC up front and up close when I was out there for the alumni game when the 49ers played them.

So I saw them on my own home turf. So it's them and Buffalo. Josh Allen, you know, he's lights out this year. You know, it's just all about his injury. And is he going to be able to come back from that elbow injury that he had during the game? And is he going to be able to not turn the football over and try to do too much? Yes, we know you're a great player, Josh Allen, but don't try to be Superman and take the game over all the time. You know, you have a great cast of characters around you.

Make sure you don't mess it up. I think those two teams are the two teams that keep an eye out for an AFC. Ian Williams, before we let you run, your former head coach in Jim Harbaugh doing a heck of a job at Michigan. You think he's coming back to the NFL this offseason? No, he is not coming back to the NFL. We saw him out there for the alumni game where we had the 2012 reunion when we played the Ravens.

So I was able to talk to him for a little bit. He's loving Michigan. He's loving everything that he's doing. He's doing a lot for those kids. And obviously, you know, I'm going to be rooting for him for the college football playoffs.

So we'll see what happens. But no, he's not going to be playing in the NFL or coaching the NFL next year. So he made that clear to you that he has no plan on coming on back?

We didn't talk about that, but I can just tell you he's not coming back. You got it. Ian Williams, great to catch up with you. Congratulations on the new gig in CBS Orlando.

We'll be chatting with you. Appreciate you, Zach. Niners all the way, baby. There you go. You always got to get your Niners stuff in. Hate to burst your bubble, Ian Williams.

Not happening with Jimmy G going down. Now I got to get Marco Belletti's thoughts on one thing here. So you being a Yankee fan. And I know you've talked about how the passion isn't there as it was in like your younger years. Well, no. I mean, as you get older, yeah, it always dissipates a little bit. You have more responsibility. Yeah, it doesn't mean that. You don't care, but it's not as if you're living and dying off of each and every news report. Things change when you're not 16 or 22. Yeah, I mean, there's other things that go on. Well, I mean, it doesn't mean that you don't care, but other things, you know, start to take precedent. When the John Heyman tweet comes out tonight, that it appears that he's going to the Giants, and then six minutes later it's, oh, you know, I jumped the gun on that.

Right. As a Yankee fan, you probably felt in those six minutes that he was gone. He was going to San Francisco. Big time baseball insider. Then when the other tweet comes out six minutes later, just take me through your range of emotions or all that.

And this is going to sound a little bit like a cop out, but it's really not. I want Judge to come back, but if he's gone, so be it. That's basically my attitude. Because you guys haven't won with him. I'm always very leery about spending that kind of money on one player, simply because it does hamstring you from doing other things. As much as we want to live in this world that, oh, well, you got money, so you're going to spend it everywhere. No, you're not. And that's going to be the idea of you're bringing back Judge, do nothing else, and run the same team back again.

Yeah, I've seen that. And that's not getting the Yankees over the top. So as much as I would love to see him stay in pinstripes and going to the Hall of Fame as a Yankee and all that stuff. To me, it's still more about winning. I'm not as attached to individual players as I was when I was younger. If you would have told me when I was a kid that Don Mattingly was leaving, it would have broke my heart. As you get older, it's not the same. I'm attached to the laundry. I'm not attached to the player that's in it anymore. I know that's the stuff that changes. Partly too, but being in this business.

Name on the front, not on the back. But it's the truth. It really is. So if Judge leaves, the first thing I'm thinking of is where is that $400 million now going to be dispersed everywhere else? And I feel like the Yankees do have some holes and have some knees elsewhere. As much as I want him back, if he's gone, I'm going to be quick to pivot to something else.

And that's the thing. You kind of hope the decision comes sooner rather than later. Because you've already seen some guys off the market now with Verlander signing with the Mets. You had Trey Turner yesterday going to Philadelphia.

You want to be able to pounce as quick as possible. And you really can't pounce in too many different ways until you find out what happens with Mr. Judge. Now, what happens if an arson judge elects to come to the Yankees? Is that good? You want arson over Aaron?

Yeah, I'm going to pass on arson. And also, too, I'm also going to say for the Yankees, this reminds me of when Robinson Cano was a free agent. I wanted Cano back. I saw what the Mariners offered and I said, good luck to you in Seattle.

I had no interest in doing that contract. Here's where the Yankees screwed up then and I hope they don't make the same mistake now if Judge bolts. They turned around and gave ridiculous money to Jacoby Ellsberry.

Simply because they had money burning a hole in their pocket. Don't make that mistake. So as much as, again, the idea of pouncing in free agency, you do not have to make a giant splash in free agency to win. Like don't overpay Brandon Nimmo. I could see Nimmo then go to the Yankees.

Right. That would be a total mistake. Know what your team needs and know that if it's not this offseason in free agency, so be it. You save that money for next year and maybe you make a big play for Otani. Maybe you make a big play for Rafael Devers if he hits the market.

Those are the things that you need to have a little bit of foresight. Don't just assume, all right, well, I've got $40 million that I thought I was going to give Judge. Where am I giving it to now? If it's not there, don't buy it. Save it.

Use it somewhere else. Picky, let me just bring you into the conversation real quickly because I know you can only relate to this being a Mets fan. If let's say that Judge news today was the Grom last week where Heyman wrote, it appears Judge is going to the Rangers. And then six minutes later, it's like, oh, I jumped the gun on that one. How would you have reacted to that?

Because you were as white as a ghost when you found out that the Grom was going to the Rangers. I thought you were going to be done for the rest of the show. Well, I mean, I'd be happy that the report was wrong.

So, yeah, I'd be pretty pumped. But Marco, doesn't it make you... Now, Heyman, I've given him a lot of crap the last two years because I feel like Twitter just ruins him because he just puts things out there for the sake of putting things out there. But he was rushing to just be first today and clearly didn't have it checked with multiple people.

And you could tell how quickly he was rushing. Everyone spells things wrong on Twitter. When you go arson, when it's Aaron, it's the biggest reagent news.

You got to get it right. Does that one way or another make you feel, OK, now he's more gone than coming back just because that was already floated out there? Maybe there's smoke, there's fire. Could you read into it?

Yes. It's not reading into it, oh, he's trying to put more pressure on the Yankees to say that this giant thing's a real possibility. That's definitely... Look, all that stuff is out there. And he's probably getting his information from agents, so you never know what that is and what they're trying to do. But I will say the one thing that yesterday that had nothing to do with this that did kind of make me go, huh, that's a little odd. Was Judge is going to the winter meetings and the Yankees had no idea.

That's a little strange. So Brian Cashman was kind of like, I didn't know that. So if he's here, maybe we'll sit down and talk. But I didn't know he's coming. So after being at the Bucks game and the Mike Evans jersey and all that, the talk was Judge was going to hit a plane and go out to San Diego and go to the winter meetings.

Now, if the Yankees did not know that and Brian Cashman said last night, yeah, I saw those reports, but I don't know that. That's an odd little... That's a development where it's kind of like, whoa, you don't know where the guy is and where he's going. That's a little strange. That's like if you are married to someone and you're having a little bit of a rocky relationship and it could be going to divorce. And then your buddy goes, hey, did you know your wife was out with another guy at some restaurant at 8 p.m. on a Saturday? That's what that seems like. Yeah, I mean, it could be even as simple as just she's going on vacation without you. You don't know that his plans are to be where you are. That seems strange to me.

So that was kind of the first part that I was kind of like, oh, wow, maybe there is a lot of smoke to this that Aaron Judge really does want to go home. There's those reports about, you know, to me, I'm not buying into the high school yearbook that he said 10 years from now I'm going to be a... You know, a lot of things I said, I'm sure I said in the high school yearbook that makes no sense. You know, like that stuff I can... What was your high school yearbook quote?

I have no idea. You want to know what mine was? Mine was something I opened the show up with, live from the palatial yet not overly ostentatious studios. My one friend was, remember the McDonald's commercial sweet dollar tea from McDonald's I drank? That's one of my friends put in his yearbook. Well, I mean, that's what I'm saying.

Like, it wouldn't shock me. I was big into reservoir dogs at the time. I probably put not to be stuck in the middle.

Great moments are born from great opportunities, Marco Baletti. No, I took it as a joke then and I took it now. So I'm sure I wrote something that made no sense because I was being a wise ass. Shocker. Right.

That's what I mean. So like, I'm not buying into that, but if you're going to San Diego and you're going to sit down and talk with teams and the Yankees don't know that, that's strange to me. You're listening to The Zach Gelb Show. Another day is in the books and we're taking stock of the sports world. It's time to find out who's up and who's down. Let's end the day right and hit the closing bell.

Only on The Zach Gelb Show. Tom Brady, you are Tom Terrific. That was insane last night. That was a great Gil Santos call. Tom Brady, you are Tom Terrific.

That was just insane. A little over three minutes to go. 16 to 3. Bucks look dead. And Brady, two passing touchdowns. Bucks win 17 to 16.

Give a stock up to the GOAT. Tom Brady. Kyle Whittingham who joined us earlier. Back to back Pac-12 champs. He's been the head football coach at Utah since 2004.

I think he's been at the university on the staff since 1994. And now he's back to back Pac-12 champs. I think he's one of the more underrated coaches in college football. He is easily to me a top 10 coach in the sport. Give Kyle Whittingham a stock up taking down USC to win the Pac-12 back to back years. Sean Paden.

I like it. Talking with Tom Brady. Sooner rather than later coming back to the NFL.

I think he's going to wind up with the Chargers. Give him a stock up. Baker Mayfield. Hickey, him wearing 17 just does not look right. Can't play good if you don't look good. Bad number for him. He can't play good for a lot of different reasons.

But anyway. Mostly because of the number. I'm not going to get into a debate here so give a stock down to Baker Mayfield. Defensive Play of the Week is sponsored by the Navy Federal Credit Union. Proudly serves the armed forces, DoD veterans and their families. Their members are on the mission.

Learn more at navyfederal.org. 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw iced the win for the 49ers as he scooped up into a tongue of eye little fumble and took it 23 yards to the house. As the NFC West leaders beat the Dolphins 33 to 17 Greenlaw led the team with 8 tackles and recorded a pass deflection as the Niners moved to 8 and 4 in the season.

Give him a stock up. A chance Jimmy G is also going to be coming back. Maybe as early as the divisional round. So it's better than definitively being out for the season. So give the Niners another stock up. And finally Lamar Jackson now expected to miss 1 to 3 weeks as he's dealing with a sprain PCL. Unfortunate news there. They're 8 and 4.

I don't know. It just seems like it's not their year the Baltimore Ravens give them a stock down. And finally John Heyman. What are you doing? Heyman. Boo. It appears that judge is going to the Giants and then 6 minutes later after calling him arson judge and Aaron judge you then go I jumped the gun a little bit.

And delete the tweets. Come on Heyman. What are you doing? Boo. Stock down John Heyman.

Now the baseball writer got to tweet something just to tweet something and looking like a fool. Looking like a fool with your pants on the ground. Pants on the ground. Pants on the ground. Remember that song Iggy? Pants on the ground. Yeah.

I honestly couldn't tell you where it's from but as soon as you started singing it went right in my head. Looking like a fool with your pants on the ground. Like Keenan and Kellerson like that. Fun show today. Big thanks to Ian Williams for joining us and also Kyle Whittingham the head football coach of the Utah Utes. Be back Mignon at 6 p.m. Eastern 3 Pacific. JR Sportbrief coming up next. Zach Gelb's show. We out. Bye bye. Peace.