Guaranteed Money For Lamar Too Much? (Hour 1)

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That's Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. And we're rocking and rolling all the way up until 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Pacific. And producing this fine extravaganza for the next four hours is the great Hot Take Hickey.

His dumb producer, Hot Take Hickey. Alrighty, we got to start the show off today with all the latest with Lamar Jackson coming off this Jeremy Fowler article that was released today. And I have a simple poll question for you. And the poll question reads as followed. Should the Ravens give Lamar Jackson a fully guaranteed deal that exceeds the five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed deal that Deshaun Watson received?

It's very simple. Yes, get the deal done or no, trade Lamar. I'm going to give you my answer first, but I want to preface my answer by saying I believe Lamar Jackson is a franchise quarterback. And I believe you can win a Super Bowl with Lamar Jackson.

But my answer on this is no. I do not think the Ravens should give a fully guaranteed contract to Lamar Jackson and they should trade Lamar Jackson this offseason. And it has nothing to do with my lack of belief in Lamar.

It has everything to do where this relationship is at. Because I read through that ESPN article today and it talks about how there's some in the organization that have mixed feelings about Lamar not playing in the playoff game. And they're wondering if he had the contract, would he have played or was he actually hurt? And when you have a player that, let me remind you, his mother is representing him.

He does not have a true traditional age and he's practically representing himself. When he is dealing with all these negotiations and there was multiple contracts that were offered, he denied every single one. One was actually a five-year, $250 million contract that was offered to in September.

That included $133 million guaranteed and he said no. And every counter that Lamar gave them is one that was a fully guaranteed contract. So if you had a traditional agent, I think there's a lot of offers that would be made that Lamar really didn't even know about. And there would be things going on behind the scenes that Lamar wouldn't be privy to. But once you are the direct point of contact, when it's either you or your mother, you know everything that's going on. And I think it's just natural that you take everything personally, like not comparing this directly to my contract, but if I knew every single thing that went on in my negotiations with the company last time I was up for a new contract, I probably maybe have been annoyed with the company on some things, but I let my agent take care of it. I let him figure out how you cross all the T's and dot all the I's and how they got to the number and the years that they did and all that. And if there was some things that were said behind the scenes, maybe critical, I don't know if they were. I got to start stooping around the office to try to get to the bottom of this. I didn't know about it because I didn't have to go through the nitty gritty of the negotiations.

I was just brought in at the end when they got to pretty close to the finish line, and they just needed me to carry the ball the final five yards over the finish line if I wanted the deal or not. But when Lamar is directly involved, you're going to get feelings in this situation that are going to be hurt. And there's going to be people that are annoyed because no contract negotiations are ever as smooth as what people make them out to be. And when you have some frustration, you're not getting what you want. Whenever a story comes out like this, it only intensifies those feelings because say what you want about Lamar. And I know he's a great quarterback and I know he's the only two unanimous MVP in the history of the NFL.

He's one of them. When you're dealing directly with those conversations, it has to change the way that you view the organization, because in some regards, you're not getting what you want. You view it as a direct slap in the face and how the organization doesn't believe in you. So when you have that being said, and then also a source saying a couple of months ago, I would have said no way that a trade will happen.

But now it was days after the playoff loss, it feels like anything is possible. That's showing you that there's a lot of doubt in the organization. And if we had to put Eric Dacosta and John Harbaugh and Steve Bishotti on a lie detector test and said, do you believe in Lamar Jackson?

And if they answered yes, I think that would be true. But just because they believe in him doesn't mean that the owner of the Ravens wants to follow something that the Cleveland Browns did in a move of desperation and something that clearly annoyed the rest of the owners in giving him a fully guaranteed contract into Sean Watson of five years and $250 million fully guaranteed. And all the other owners don't want that to be a precedent because even though the bar has done great things in this league, then you will get guys that are not deserving of that money or just good. But you know how much a dilemma that is when you just have a good quarterback.

Can you find something better? OK, we'll just give him the money. Then those good quarterbacks are going to start to ask for all of it. So this deal should have already been done.

It's not. And now I think you're going to see it get really ugly and really contentious. They'll try to get this deal done again. But really, what are you closer to succeeding and accomplishing in these negotiations? If it's just every time, hey, we're going to give you this not fully guaranteed and Lamar just and his mom says back, we want a fully guaranteed deal. So where I'm moving at right now, and this is why I don't think they should get a deal done and the Ravens should move on, is because I think now the Ravens in some capacity are starting to question Lamar Jackson in terms of, well, how injured were you actually at the end of the year? And then Lamar is probably doubting the Ravens because he feels like they're doubting him.

And where is the trust now between these two parties? And if you can't trust one another and I know money can wipe away everything, some people argue, but that's not always the case. And if there's a lack of trust here between Lamar and the organization, even if you pay him, you don't know everyone's truly feeling that organization.

And you also don't know. How quickly, even when you get the money that both sides can move on from what appeared to be a very contentious relationship where Lamar directly knows everything that's being said about him because he doesn't have a traditional agent. So I'm really at the point where if I'm the Ravens, you got to make a decision.

Do you want to give a fully guaranteed deal or not? Like, that's what it comes down to. And if the answer is no, which it clearly is, I don't think you keep on going back to the well a year from now expecting something else to change.

And I think at this point we have really gone down a road where we've met a dead end. And I think the only solution here, as stupid as this could be, because if I was running the Ravens, I would have already got this deal done. I probably would have gave him the fully guaranteed deal a year ago. But clearly the Ravens don't want to do that. And since the Ravens don't want to do that and how people have been going back and forth here and it's starting to get ugly, I think it's in the best interest of Lamar. And if the Ravens don't believe in giving him a fully guaranteed contract for whatever the reasons are, then probably them as well to move on. And they may regret for the foreseeable future trading Lamar Jackson, but if you really don't believe in giving a fully guaranteed deal, it makes no sense at this point to continue this relationship. And you may as well start fielding calls, right? We're going to slap the franchise tag on you and we're going to start fielding calls and we're going to work to get a deal done and get back a bevy of first round picks or maybe a quarterback that could be available as well.

And then some picks, too. But I think we have reached the point just by that reporting, by the feel of this the last few months, the feel of it going back to the draft that emotions are getting played with here. Emotions are running high.

People are upset on both sides. And I would absolutely be stunned at one point this offseason if we wake up. And you know what? I'll even take it a step further because I think I said earlier, I would be surprised if a deal gets done. But I think I've said in the past, oh, nothing ever shocks me anymore in sports. I would be shocked, absolutely shocked if a deal gets done because we really have had no positivity on this front that indicates to us that a deal is getting anywhere close to getting done. So the simple poll question today is, should the Ravens give Lamar Jackson a fully guaranteed deal that exceeds the five year, two hundred and thirty million dollar guaranteed contract that Deshaun Watson did receive?

And my answer is no. It's time to trade Lamar. It's not a lack of belief in Lamar.

It's just simply based off the lack of trust between two sides. And look at the Cardinals. Like I think the Cardinals, to a lesser extent here, are an example where the Cardinals question the work ethic of Kyler Murray and how much study time and game prep time he was putting in during the week where they said, we're going to put a clause.

You have to watch this amount of film throughout the week. And then that got exposed. And it's like, well, why would you give that guy the money if you can't even trust him to prepare for what you're paying him to do? And look how that ended. We know Cliff Kingsbury and and Kyler Murray did not get along this year. Steve Keim out of the job now. And that was just after extending the coach, the GM and the quarterback, two guys, because I guess they didn't necessarily trust Kyler Murray all the way.

They ended up losing their job because that was a dysfunctional relationship this year between the coach and between the quarterback. And in this case, with how emotions are running high and Lamar is directly involved in most of these conversations and knows almost everything that's going on. Hickey, I think this relationship is fractured beyond repair. And if you're just going to write a check and cave and hope it solves all the problems, does it make some of those feelings go away?

But I still think the gist of those feelings would stay the same. And if you're trying to have a relationship with an owner, a coach, a general manager and a quarterback, it's got to be healthy. There's some dysfunction in all marriages. There's some hiccups in all marriages. But it seems like that if they get this deal done, it's a husband that knows he messed up and then just bought a big fancy diamond ring to try to fix all the problems.

And most of the times that ring only fix things in the short term and you get back to the root of the problem. So I really think since this has now played out over two years and it's going into year number three, that these two sides can't get a deal done. And at this rate, I don't think they should give him the guaranteed money because I don't think they actually are comfortable with this relationship moving forward.

And if you have doubts on both sides and if both sides are arguing and bickering, I think you just got to basically start getting the divorce papers written up and find a way to execute a deal. Timing is everything, right? And you just mentioned the last 13 minutes here about the reasons why they have not gotten along and how money is just not going to cure everything. If you're the Ravens and Lamar Jackson is not moving off of his stance of $230, $240, $250 million guaranteed, if you're the Ravens, forget just emotions. Why would you pay Lamar that?

What do you mean by that? Like, why would you pay Lamar Jackson just by what he's done? Oh, the guaranteed deal. The $250 million guaranteed, emotions aside and everything else, it's like... You don't think he's deserving of that money? $250,000 guaranteed?

No. If I was any team in the NFL, I would not pay him. $250,000 guaranteed. So the Watson deal was what, five years, $230,000, I think? Five years, $230,000, all guaranteed. Would you give him that deal? No.

Okay. Why is that, just wondering? Health, playoff performance. Last two years, we've seen him miss 11 games, 11 most important games of the season. He's not been able to stay healthy the last month, month and a half. Of each of the last two years, that's concerning. Number two, he's not played well in the playoffs at all.

He's had multiple chances. He's played poorly. Even in the one win over Tennessee a few years ago, it was kind of shaky.

Yeah. Look at the Chargers game. Look at the Titans game. Bills game he got knocked out, but threw a bad pick.

He was bad. That's concerning. So here's what I'm saying about the playoff thing, and this is where I just think we differentiate. For the playoff part of it, I don't think the sample size is big enough. Remember, we're talking about his first contract extension. I need to see more, and I think we sometimes forget how tough it is to win in this league and how many times guys go through years and years of failure before actually getting that ring. But the health part I thought was the best part of that argument that you did make, because that's a legit concern that he hasn't been on the field the last two years. But here's just what I'll simply ask you this.

You know, not arguing, just simply asking you the question. Where do you go from there? If you're getting rid of Lamar, who a few years ago won a unanimous MVP, what do you do in the interim with the defense that you think is championship caliber on offense that is entirely, entirely catered around Lamar Jackson? What do you do right in this offseason to get a piece on the field this year that you could go win with?

Because you know how quickly we pounce on people, like the playoff narrative. If you trade Lamar and then this team significantly regresses because they don't have Lamar, who is their entire offense, you're going to have a lot of egg on your face if you're Eric DaCosta, Steve Basciotti, and John Harbaugh. And that's an organization, the Ravens, that always get the benefit of the doubt because they've been such a great organization. I think you would lose a big majority or a big portion of the fan base if you don't right away find a way to have some immediate success to kind of diminish the importance of Lamar Jackson, because there's a lot of people that believe he should be the quarterback for the next decade with the Baltimore Ravens. Well, I think one thing's clear, no matter, probably no matter who you get, right, there's not going to be an upgrade. You're going to have, you're going to take a step back next year just because there's really no quarterback we could see right now that is realistic that you could acquire that's better than Lamar or right on his level. But I would say if you're the Ravens, okay, this is more of a long-term play, right? If you're saying it's either $250 million guaranteed or trading Lamar Jackson, you get those two, three first-round picks, maybe you can get a quarterback depending on what teams are interested in the short term that, you know, you could try to develop or maybe it's a project if, I don't know, like we'll see whatever quarterbacks are out there.

Let's just say, for argument's sake, if Trey Lance is on the chopping block or the trading block and you are able to acquire him, maybe you can have him develop into your guy. But look, maybe you take those picks, you either move up in the draft to try to get someone or you go Derek Carr, Jimmy G. There's no answer next year, I would say, that's going to make any better, but it's a long-term play. The Ravens have devised a game plan of showing you that they really have no leverage. And I actually commend Lamar Jackson for calling it out pretty much and acknowledging that the Ravens have no leverage.

You don't want to give me the fully guaranteed deal on my terms? All right, go enjoy life without me when you have constructed your entire offense around me and I know there will be a team out there that will give me what I want because there's a lot of desperate teams in the NFL that are dying to have a quarterback that's even close to a Lamar Jackson and will take the risk even with the injury, will pay the fully guaranteed deal even if it annoys all the other owners in the NFL. There's a team out there that would definitely do it and multiple teams out there that I think would definitely do it. So I actually commend the approach of Lamar Jackson. Ravens, John Harbaugh, Eric DaCosta, Steve Bishotti, you really don't have any leverage. You either do this my way or I then demand a trade and you trade me and good luck trying to find someone that could do what I've done so far, which is one of unanimous MVP, and go try to find someone at the quarterback position that is going to replace me.

It's one of the few times in the NFL that the player has the leverage and that's something that is so fascinating here and not every player could have leverage, but the Ravens have literally built this offense all around Lamar. And you're right, it's not something they could just fix in one offseason if they trade them this year. And they will take an absolute beating locally and nationally as they should if they regress this year, if they trade Lamar Jackson, their QB position just looks like absolute dog bleep. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio.

We will take a time out. When we come on back, we'll talk about another quarterback who potentially could be making a return. And there is one listener, Hickey, that has called you out and has a question to ask you about Lamar Jackson. And I think it's a fascinating question that just maybe, not 100%, but just maybe is going to contradict your stance about giving the fully guaranteed money to Lamar Jackson. We'll get to that question on the other side. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio.

It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. So I don't think the Ravens and Lamar Jackson will get a deal done. And that's why I'm basing my argument off of, with the way that these negotiations have gone about and the way that feelings have been hurt and how both sides know what the truth is and Lamar is directly involved in everything.

I'm at the point where since they haven't done it the first two years, now you're here on the third year. We know it keeps on, well, we'll give you this with this amount of guaranteed money. Lamar, I want the fully guaranteed deal. It seems like this relationship is fractured beyond repair and emotions have already been played with enough that even if the deal does get done, that both sides will have some sort of trust issue or some sort of fallout that will affect them moving into the future.

So that's where I currently sit. Not that I don't believe in Lamar. Like if this was up to me, I would have just given the fully guaranteed contract last year, but it's not my money. So it's not up to me. But since this has been such a drawn out process and there is some doubt by the Ravens here, I would then start to look to trade Lamar Jackson. With that being said, though, Hickey is of the stance that the Ravens are actually right in not giving him the fully guaranteed deal and you don't think he's worth it? Is that really the crux of your argument? For 250 guaranteed, no. I would not pay if I was any team. And that's also for 230 as well?

Right, 230 guaranteed, 250 guaranteed, no thank you. So Slick Reynolds tweets the show. And I like Slick Reynolds. Good dude tweets the show a bunch every day. So we shout out Mr. Slick Reynolds.

He goes, stop it, Hickey. You would salivate if the Indianapolis Colts could somehow, some way, get Lamar Jackson on their team. Don't pretend like you wouldn't.

Now don't shoot the messenger. I'm just relaying the message from our main man, Slick Reynolds. You're telling me if, let's just say Lamar got to free agency. I'm not even talking about all the picks.

If he somehow got to free agency two years from now and Jim Erce is sitting there and all he has to do is write a check and the Colts still don't have their quarterback, of five years, 230 million dollars fully guaranteed, you wouldn't even do that for your football team? No, I mean, has anything changed? Has he won a Super Bowl? Has he played better in the playoffs? Has he been on the field, you know, longer than 10 games? Has he played, you know, has he been healthy in December?

The answer's no, then my answer's no. What happens if he's healthy? What happens if he's healthy, he goes to an AFC championship game and loses? Then would you give him the fully guaranteed deal? I gotta see how I feel about it. Two years from now, Bryce Young's a bust.

T.J. Stroud doesn't work out. I still probably know. You could be bought. You could be bought. All right, fine, let's just do this offseason. Let's say you didn't have the number four overall pick. Let's say in some world the Colts were, like, about a.500 football team. I know you can't be.500. Well, actually, you guys could have because you had a tie in there this year.

That's right, 8-8-1. What could have been? So let's say you were 8-8-1, but it was clear Matt Ryan stinks. It was clear Sam Ellinger isn't the guy. If it was just Lamar Jackson giving him a five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed deal this offseason, if you couldn't draft a quarterback, let's say there was no good quarterbacks in the draft, you wouldn't do that this offseason?

No. I'm surprised by that. But, like, why, though? Because you don't have a quarterback.

He's very talented. But, again, what are you talking about? You talked about earlier in the week with Daniel Jones. If you don't have the guy, if you're a team in the NFL without the guy, which, obviously, the Colts are right now. Well, Lamar's a much better quarterback than Daniel Jones.

No, I know. I'm not saying he's Daniel Jones. I'm saying if you are a team like the Giants, when you're talking about Daniel Jones and should they give him $45 million or not, the thing is, obviously, everyone prioritizes getting the guy first and foremost. But the thing is, if you are a team that does not have the guy quarterback, the thing you have to prioritize the most is flexibility to get the guy.

And I just don't think... You don't think Lamar's the guy? I have questions right now about can he win a Super Bowl? Because from what we've seen him be a great regular season quarterback, playoff time, it's been bad. We've seen four games.

Alex hits it off of a sample size. Also, too, again, the last two years, he's been hurt. What's the point of having a guy that's great if he can't stay healthy in the biggest games of the season?

Fair point. Don't get this twisted because we all know how great Peyton Manning was. Peyton Manning was a terrible postseason quarterback, and I know he ended up winning two rings, but early on in his career, there were some ugly, ugly, ugly moments with Peyton Manning. I think at that time, if I said to you, would you have given him a fully guaranteed contract, you would have done it.

You could get over those early struggles. John Elway didn't win a Super Bowl, ended up winning two until the back end of his career. It always just doesn't happen right away that you win a Super Bowl. Let me ask you this. Is Josh Allen the guy? Let's do it this way. Colts could get any of these quarterbacks this offseason. Five years, $230 million fully guaranteed. Would you give it to Josh Allen if you're the Colts?

I probably would, but I don't feel great about it. Wow. Stunned. Joe Burrow. Yes, I would definitely do it. Justin Herbert.

Probably yes. I'm surprised the skepticism here by you. Like you have had nothing really at quarterback, and those are guys that could project to be great quarterbacks. It is so much money where if it's like Russell Wilson, that's how you're going to pay. But it's just like you are so hamstring if things flail and go south. That's like you just can't pivot.

That's the thing. You're putting yourself in a five-year. Yeah, the upside could be great. It absolutely could work out.

I'm fascinated by this. So Trevor Lawrence. Right now, would I give Trevor Lawrence a five-year, $230 guaranteed deal? You're a Colts fan. Probably.

Okay, probably. Surprised by this. So how about Jalen Hurts? Played well. I mean, similar style as Lamar. Played well. He's an MVP.

I mean, Lamar was an MVP. Yeah. Here's where we're going to decipher. Probably.

Wow, I'm surprised like how you're saying probably, but like you don't really feel good about it. All those guys that I just mentioned, put it this way. My team, I don't know what Mac Jones is going to be right now. If any of those guys were available, Josh Allen, Will Burrow, Justin Herbert. We're talking guys that haven't won a Super Bowl yet. Lamar Jackson, Trevor Lawrence.

If all he had to do this off season was give him five years, $230 million fully guaranteed. Come on. Sorry, Mac.

Love you. But come on over to One Patriot Place. Be my guest. You could be my quarterback.

Five years, $230 million guaranteed for some of those guys that already showed you how high of a level they could play. I'll take the risk. I'll take the journey. I'll travel on the journey of trying to see if they could get to a Super Bowl or not, because the alternative is so bad. Like look at if the Ravens trade Lamar Jackson, good luck find the next quarterback.

Good luck, because I don't think it's going to work out for you. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Hey, by the way, there's something I thought about today. So I was perusing Instagram. And when I was perusing Instagram, I saw Tom Brady's Instagram.

And then I actually saw, I forget, I think this popped up on my feed because I unfollowed Gisele Bündchen. I had to show my loyalties to Tom Brady. You think that's funny? I'm not kidding around that. I find that amusing. I'm sorry. Out of spite. I used to love Gisele, but I had to unfollow her.

But I did see a video of Gisele. You made it clear where your loyalties lie. I love that. Tom Brady, absolutely. I've said it before in the show. Brady could come to my family barbecue, punch my father in the face, and I would say, Tom, sit down, we're serving you up some steak and some lamb chops. What if Gisele slid in your DMs right now and said, Zach, I'm very fond of you.

I would like to go on a date. Oh, that's a different story. Oh, wow. I mean, there goes your allegiance.

Tom, thanks for the memories. Did you see her dancing the other day? Well, she can't slide into your DMs if you're not following her.

Well, no, she could. It would go to my request messages. Okay. Oh, she's got to request a message. So you unfollowed her to stand with Tom. Yes.

And as soon as she reached out to go on a date, which would be even ten times worse than just following her. I could be bought. You throw Tom Brady to the side. I say, Tom, thanks, but what have you done for you lately? Spineless.

Every man has a price, okay? That's the bottom line. But I saw this video of Gisele dancing. I don't know where it was. She looked like she was living her best life, so good for her. And then I saw a video of Tom Brady with the kids. I guess they're at some mountain in probably one of their 7,000 houses that they have. And, you know, they were skiing. I think snowmobiling as well, tubing, things like that. And a thought just registered in my mind.

Not that you ever get tired of spending time with your kids, but when do you look to try to do something like outside of just family time? And I look at the 49ers with the uncertainty of when Brock Purdy is going to get this surgery with the delay in it. I don't think the 49ers love Trey Lance as much as they did a few years ago. And I really do believe that Kyle Shanahan was talked into selecting Trey Lance after the trade-up was made. And I think his preference was Mac Jones.

That's just what my gut tells me. If Brady gets a phone call this offseason, Hickey, and you be the role of Tom Brady, and I'm John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan, a place that you've wanted to go to for a long time. And I said, hey, Tom, we want you to play quarterback for us this year. We want you for one year to be the piece that takes us to the promised land and wins the Super Bowl. Are you interested after retiring for the second time in making a second return and going to your hometown team, the team that you grew up rooting for in the San Francisco 49ers? Mr. Brady, go ahead.

Where do I sign? Right? Like it's tough to turn down.

Act. Do you think he could turn that down? I don't think he'll reach out to the Niners, but the Niners call him. I think he's done. You think he's done playing? Okay.

Interesting. I think, I think he would take the phone call and I think he would say yes. And even though people would say, oh, it's a bad look, I think it's different when the 49ers call you because that's a place that did not want you two years ago when you were in your free agency tour, now three years ago. And I think that would be too tough for him to pass up. So I think there's one way, one way that Brady returns this year.

And that's if Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch have had enough of the Trey Lance experiment, Brock Purdy as well, if they're not confident, if he could continue to be what he was at the end of the year and they pick up the phone and call TB12. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. We'll take a break when we come on back.

A player that I've been advocating for a year to request a trade, maybe it's time for him to start listening. I'll tell you who that player is when we come on back. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show. Alrighty, this is Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio.

So I'll never forget where we were. We were broadcasting live in Las Vegas at the NFL draft, and we got the announcement that the Tennessee Titans found a way to pull off a deal with the Philadelphia Eagles, where A.J. Brown was going to Philadelphia and eventually, right, Traylon Burks ended up getting drafted by Tennessee. And I said in that moment that Tennessee was going to regress as a football team.

And that was going to be the beginning of the end to Tennessee with the Titans. And I also went on to say, if I was Derrick Henry, I would force a trade because that team got cheap. They didn't want to pay A.J. Brown.

It was a reasonable deal. And without having A.J. Brown there.

What are you guys going to accomplish? Like you took away a legit weapon for a quarterback that we all question and don't believe in, in Ryan Tannehill. And if I'm Derrick Henry, I go, the only other playmaker explosive playmaker that we had on the offensive side of the ball was A.J.

Brown. And you don't extend him. That did not appear to me to be a team that was all in. And it also was not reflective of what their coach wanted to have happen. And that's a big reason why John Robinson is now out of a job. And Ron Catheron is the new general manager there in Tennessee, because that was a stupid decision in the moment.

It was proven to be stupid. And if I'm Derrick Henry, I would have requested a trade last offseason, but he didn't. And now he has one year left on the deal.

And if I'm Derrick Henry, I'm looking at this roster this year. I think we all assume Ryan Tannehill won't be back, but he's still under contract with the team. They just got rid of Taylor Lewan.

I get it. He's been banged up. Robert Woods didn't work out there.

Now he's off the team. Like I'm looking around even in that division that is not good. Like the Texans are far away. The Colts are far away. But the Jaguars are clearly a better team than you. And Tennessee was like seven and three. And they didn't win another game the rest of the way. Like, Hickey, if your Colts were actually decent this year, you would have been insufferable with the amount of trash talking that you would have been doing.

But you couldn't even celebrate in Tennessee's incompetence because of your own football team's incompetence. So like if I'm Henry, other than he just loves the Nashville area, other than he just loves the organization, and I don't want to say like he doesn't care about winning, but I think sometimes fans were like, oh, you got to go to a place that you could win. If a player is happy in his personal life and he likes his job professionally where he's currently at, sometimes that's enough for a player to stay put. But like other than that, Hickey, can you come up with one explanation on if you're Derrick Henry, why you should want to stay in Tennessee this offseason and not forced to trade with a year left on your contract? The only thing I could say is if they trade for Lamar Jackson or Aaron Rodgers.

Obviously that changes the calculus, and obviously now you're a contender in either the favorite or co-favorite of Jackson to win the division and a very interesting team going to the playoffs going forward here. Otherwise, if you're talking about Tannehill, talking about, I don't know, Jimmy G. Derrick Carr even. Malik Willis. Well, they don't believe in Malik Willis.

That ship has already sailed. Josh Dobbs then, I should say. How about the farce that was Malik Willis?

Like if we look back at that. We all thought this guy was going in the first round. He ends up falling to the third round. He wasn't even the second quarterback selected in this past draft class. And at the end of the year, Tennessee quickly said, oh, Joshua Dobbs, who came off the practice squad or waiver somewhere.

I forget where he was. Yeah, he was signed like two weeks before off a practice squad. We're going to throw you in at the end of the year. We're going to play you.

And oh yeah, we're going to start you in the playoff game as well. Like, if anything, wouldn't you, if you actually believed in Malik Willis, wouldn't you have just started Malik Willis to see what he's made out of? But clearly once again, and I know John Robinson at that point was already fired. That was a disconnect in the organization where, you know, Vrabel definitely did not want AJ Brown to get traded. I even wonder if Mike Vrabel was okay with the drafting of Malik Willis. And I know he's a defensive minded coach, Mike Vrabel, but if that quickly they're pulling, they're willing to pull the plug on the Malik Willis experiment. That means whatever we saw on the field, it was a lot worse behind the scenes.

That or he's like Brian Flores. But I would tend to agree with you that it's the former where it's just, it was so bad that it's just like, we got to rely on a guy who's been here for two weeks to play on the road in a game that basically is an effective playoff game is bad. And let's be realistic to your two suggestions. I don't think Rogers would go to Tennessee. You look at the other suggestion that you made, which was Lamar Jackson with the Ravens. First off trade Lamar in division or in, in conference. And not only that, those teams have bad blood, the dancing on the field, bad blood there. Now for Lamar, I think it would be, yeah, bleep, the Ravens were on the bleep, you tour with the Baltimore Ravens.

And thankfully they don't simulcast this show anywhere or have us on YouTube or any TV show will gladly take it if they want to. Cause I was just giving middle fingers everywhere, pretending to be Lamar Jackson. Wouldn't that be the ultimate bleep you move in Lamar who has all the leverage here, either give me the fully guaranteed deal or you make the bed. You lie in the bed that you made and I'll go somewhere else.

Someone will give me the money. They'll give you all the draft picks and good luck trying to find someone that could go out there and win unanimous MVP and consistently lead you to the playoffs. Like I think Lamar has all the leverage and that would actually be a, I would love, that would be a heel move if you're Lamar Jackson where it was like, Oh, we hate Tennessee for the last like two, three years.

And the next thing you know, you're their starting quarterback. That would be fascinating because there's been, that was a bad moment for, for you know, for the Ravens from time to time. John Harbaugh was not happy.

Yeah. He was not happy with Mike Vrabo. Now thankfully it didn't get physical because as we know between a fight between Mike Vrabo and John Harbaugh, who's winning that one, but yeah, well, it's gone both ways because remember that was the Derek Henry jump pass against the Ravens with the Ravens loss. And then the Ravens beat them in that comeback before losing to, to the bills in the playoffs. Only only platform from Lamar Jackson against said, said Titans.

That would actually be pretty damn cool. Lamar on Tennessee, but I don't think the Ravens would A trade him to Tennessee or B trade him in the, in the conference. I guess when it comes to trading, if they are going to trade them, like you got, you get the past package back, right?

Is that first and foremost? Well, we would think that that same thing would be said for Aaron Rogers and the Packers pretty much have already made it clear to reporters, you know, through, through reports that they wouldn't even consider trading Rogers in the NFC. Like I, if you're maybe you say that to drive the price up with the commanders.

Now I agree with you on that. And I said that about Rogers, like if the commanders call you up and give you a King's ransom, I remember we had this conversation, if the commanders offer you like three first round picks and other teams are only offering you two, I don't care that it's in, in conference. If it's in division, I could understand the skepticism cause you see the person twice a year, but I don't think that it's that big of a deal if you trade someone in conference. Especially except if it's, you get the best, like I think you owe it to your team to get the best possible return back for a guy of Lamar Jackson's or any quarterback stature, especially if you have skepticism about him in some regards, you won't give him the fully guaranteed deal. So you're in, it's, I actually think it'd be better if they trade him inside the AFC than the NFC. Cause if he goes to the NFC, the only guy he really rivals him for the face of the NFC, assuming Rogers gets dealt is Jalen Hurts right now, you know, he goes into the AFC. He's still behind Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen for right now. And then you could argue where you want on Justin Herbert and Trevor Lawrence, but you can make a case that even as great as I think Lamar is that he's not a top five quarterback right now in the AFC. If he goes to the NFC, he's either one or two, assuming Rogers does get dealt. So it's weird because I think teams get stuck in their ways like, Oh, we're not going to trade this guy inside the conference.

If you really don't believe in him, or if you want to see him kind of fail and you're still looking for that guy anyway, you may as well just trade him inside the AFC. I'm with him. I agree. But absolutely. Derek Henry should request a trade this off season.

And I got some destinations Buffalo. They need, they need a running back. Oh, do they, Oh, do you know Philadelphia is never afraid to improve their football team? I would say goodbye to Miles Sanders in a second and get Derek Henry, the strongest backfield in the NFL, Jalen Hurts and Derek Henry.

I'd probably say it'd be pretty bad ass. There's no doubt about that. Um, I don't think I guess could rival it would be Deebo Samuel and Christian McCaffrey, but they don't have a quarterback, you know? Well if you want to count in the NFC title game, Chris McCaffrey was a quarterback for two plays.

There you go. Dolphins. They could improve their run game. How about Russell Wilson with Derek Henry, especially with Javante Williams, been missing multiple games into the 2023 season get Russ cooking. If the Cowboys somehow lose Tony Pollard or if they cut Ezekiel Elliott, go welcome Derek Henry to Jerry's world. And then the lions and bears lions are right there making a run. Bears could use some help around Justin. Imagine Justin Fields with Derek Henry.

Hello. That would be something. So if I'm Derek Henry, there's enough destinations out there. I'll get a new contract extension. But ultimately, if you're moving on from Tennessee, I think you got to go to a place that's ready to win. I think that has to be a big reason for it. So a team like the Bills, the Eagles would be extremely attractive to me and maybe end up being that missing piece for those two teams.