Blame Game (Hour 1)

Live from the play show you're not overly ostentatious, studios of CBS Sports Radio, here in beautiful New York City, sitting on top of the 10th floor of 345 Hudson Street. Welcome on in to a Friday edition of the Zach Gelb show, across all of our great local CBS Sports Radio affiliates, Sirius XM, Channel 158, and that free Odyssey app. 855-212-4CBS number to jump on in. 855-212-4227. You can always get at me on Instagram where I'm straight flexing or via the good old cesspool of Twitter, at Zach Gelb.

That's Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. Former NFL offensive lineman with the Detroit Lions, Lomas Brown, going to stop by at 7 20 p.m. Eastern, 4 20 p.m. Pacific. Justin Termini from Sirius XM, NBA radio will join us at 8 p.m. Eastern, 5 p.m. Pacific, and then Mark Hochman will stop by in the final hour of the show, the very talented talk show host from the Miami area. But first up, producing the extravaganza for the next four hours is no other than Hate Kiki.

Hate Kiki. I gotta start off the show with something that we talked about in all the fighting that was going on, I guess the two years prior to this past football season between the Seattle Seahawks and Russell Wilson. We all know how it started right during the the COVID year at the Super Bowl. Russ was in attendance, sees Brady wins another championship, then goes and runs on the Dan Patrick show and goes, I'm sick and tired of watching everyone else win the Super Bowl but me win another one. I want to go down as one of the greatest players of all time, greatest quarterback of all time. Changes have to be made and then out of nowhere his agent, I think it was Adam Schefter, released four teams and he did the whole, I don't want to get traded but if you could find it in your hearts to trade me or you feel like you want to trade me, these are the only four teams I would accept to trade to. And I think we all logically looked at that at the time if you're recalling history and I remember I said it this way, Russ could want to get traded but there was no chance he was going to get traded that offseason because of what the dead cat number was but then you looked at where it was the following year, he was setting up his departure and then a year later we all know the trade gets done with the Denver Broncos and this year was an absolute disaster for not only the Denver Broncos but mainly Russell Wilson because he was the face of that terrible season and he just got clowned everywhere he went, local radio, national radio, local television, national television, it didn't matter. Russell Wilson was the punchline to almost every joke this year in the sporting world but when we went through that time period of how the Seahawks were going to try to save this relationship with Russell Wilson, I remember Hot Take Kiki and yours truly having a conversation, well if you're the Seahawks don't you maybe think about moving on from Pete Carroll? Like that was always the part to me that was inconceivable and also to Hickey because I remember we both had this conversation, if you're Seattle why is it even on the table that you wouldn't even entertain the thought of getting rid of either John Schneider, Pete Carroll or both because a lot of times right we talk about the quarterback position as it being not only the most important position in the NFL but the most important position in all of sports and if you have someone that we used to thought was like this great quarterback and could save an entire organization and you know Pete Carroll is up there in age even though he still looks like he's a young guy and he doesn't look like he's 70 years old, we know what the age is of Pete Carroll and it's like how much longer is he going to do this, don't you rather side with the player than the coach? So we kept on asking that question and every insider nationally based in Seattle would come on and if you recall many of the Seattle media was adamant that Russ wasn't going to get traded and like every single person from the Seattle media that we had on I pressed them and I was like I don't get what you're saying like how can you not look at what happened a year ago oh his agent, is Russ's agent I think a baseball agent or something like that as well? There was some reasoning with the agent oh he's a he's not a traditional agent so this is an unconventional matter I'm like dude they put the four teams out there so that never made sense to me and why people thought a year later it was going to totally be different but anytime I asked the Seattle based media member on the air on this show would they ever consider getting rid of Pete Carroll if that means keeping Russell Wilson it was a quick no shot there is no way they're getting rid of Pete Carroll so today and I can't say I'm stunned by this news and Hickey I don't know about you I'm kind of surprised how long it took for this news to come out but in the athletic detailing this past season for the Denver Broncos the trade and all that it was reported in the athletic that sources said that Russ tried to get Pete Carroll and John Schneider fired and ultimately the Seattle Seahawks elected to stick with their head football coach and also their general manager and imagine if it went the other way where they got rid of Pete Carroll they got rid of John Schneider then Russ got all the power like that's what basically happened Russ got all the power in Denver Nathaniel Hackett was just the head coach in title you read that article we all know who the face of that organization was who the the leader is of that organization who's the guy calling all the shots it's Russell Wilson Russell Wilson Russell Wilson and I get you could argue in Seattle you have Tyler Lockett you have DK Metcalf but it's not like you have scrubs in Denver like you have a better defense in Denver no doubt compared to Seattle Seattle has a better offense but it's not like the Denver offense is something that should have been as bad at where at where it was like imagine if you're Seattle Hickey and Jody Allen right basically said to Russ we'll get rid of John Schneider Pete Carroll and let's say they didn't get Sean Payton right away and that's the guy that Russ wants and now they're obviously together in Denver but let's say they Nathaniel Hackett let's just say ended up in Seattle whoever it was ended up in Seattle like a first-time head coach and not only did you run John Schneider is a highly respected executive in the sport not only would you have run Pete Carroll out of town right who is going to be a hall of fame football coach and then Russ didn't get to the playoffs in a week NFC imagine how bad that would have looked for the Seattle Seahawks so I actually commend the Seahawks because what they did was something that if we probably would have put up a poll question about a year year and a half ago would you rather keep if you're the Seahawks Russell Wilson or Pete Carroll I would probably think like 80 percent and that may be benevolent if not more than that 80 percent would probably say they would side with the quarterback in Russell Wilson over Pete Carroll and you look a year later we I know that Sean Payton is going to Denver and is in Denver and maybe he could resurrect Russ's career but Russ is a major major question mark so I commend the Seahawks and it is actually very telling of what the Seahawks actually think of Russell Wilson where Pete was his biggest believer and then I think really Russell Wilson thought too highly of himself and thought he was a whole lot better than what he is and Pete goes I know you better than anyone you want to go somewhere else you know we'll be fine because you're not as great as what you think you are and remember all those insecurities of Russell Wilson when he won that Super Bowl oh was it the defense oh you know um you know talking about Marshawn Lynch and Pete Carroll all three of those areas getting more praise than Russell Wilson I think Pete kind of knew down deep like don't get me wrong I'm not saying Russ is some bum I'm not saying Russ is some bad player but when he doesn't have a lot of things going right for him like a lot of quarterbacks and when you're not in the right system and when you're not in the right organization he probably knew that Russ wasn't going to be as great and remember right we we've had Trey Wingo on this show and this must have been like what three years ago by now where Trey Wingo said and I forget which draft class it was but Trey Wingo was talking about how they were really in love with a certain quarterback oh I remember who it was it was the um it was the uh the the draft class was it the Daniel Jones draft class I think it was it may have been I'll figure out what year it was but anyway the the whole line and the whole point by by Trey Wingo was that they were interested in a quarterback in the draft and Russ got wind of that and this was a while ago and Russ said oh no no no no no no no I need to get this deal done we need to get an extension done right now based off that that the latest and last extension that he did wind up getting with the uh with the Seattle Seahawks so even then Hickey I think a few years ago they started to doubt Russell Wilson a little bit and yeah it was it was the draft class that had Kyler Murray Daniel Jones and then also Drew Locke they fell in love with one quarterback and I guess they were trying to make a play for one of those quarterbacks I want to say that the name was Drew Locke from what Trey Wingo was saying on this show but you go back and you even think about then that was kind of Pete to tipping his hand a little bit saying yeah Russ you're good but you're not all that and if you want to go play a system where it's let Russ cook and you're going to throw the ball like 40 something times a game there's also going to be a lot of interceptions with that so I give credit to the Seahawks because it's not easy when everyone and we did it we slammed Seattle like how dare you run Russell Wilson out of town and a year later they look like geniuses now I'm not going to sit here and tell you that Geno Smith is the long-term answer in Seattle I would not be surprised whatsoever if there is some regression next year in Seattle especially at that quarterback position but I look back at this you see the respect in the way that the perception of the Seahawks organization has changed the last 10 years and a lot of different people right get the credit you look at Pete Carroll and then also John Schneider it speaks volumes to what people think about them in that organization that they elected to side with those two compared to the quarterback and Hickey you know this in our sports society now I would say probably like eight or nine times out of ten the player usually wins out compared to the coach or compared to the general manager or the the front office executive so I look at this this report today it's not surprising that Russ tried that Russ tried to do it because we're all saying like why wouldn't Russ try to go get Pete Carroll and John Schneider fired and say guys keep me and we'll go bring in someone else but I think the bigger part of this is just a further reflection a year later and maybe things change in the next two three years that Seattle knew what they were doing from the start and even they have doubted Russell Wilson multiple times and at the end of the day so far Seattle got it right and I give them a lot of credit because they made a decision that most of us listening right now would have even if we're going to say oh yeah I would have made that decision now just with the way that it played out but a year ago there's no chance and you know what that you would have ever made that decision Hickey right no one saw this drop off from Russ and the Broncos in 2022 then you know this time last year when the traders made like oh wow Broncos won Denver you idiots like what are you thinking I mean I was one of the first people to say fire Pete Carroll fire John Schneider keep Russ and for one year so far it has worked out in Seattle's favorite they made a decision that is extremely hard that I think not a lot of teams would have made to be honest even with all that Pete Carroll's accomplished the quarterback is the most important position all sports it's so hard to find a great quarterback to where if you get one if it was me at least as an owner I would say I'm gonna do whatever it takes to keep them if that means firing a coach who's won a Super Bowl so be it and Seattle made a at the time unpopular decision one year in so far so good but Russell Wilson still has a chance to kind of turn the narrative around here and still the chance to make them look bad in the next three or four years well the only way that he can make them look bad is if he goes out there and wins a Super Bowl yeah like if he just makes the playoffs next year all right you rebounded but the reason why you drove yourself out of town is you thought you had to be the guy the star and the offense had to go through your arm and mainly your arm and you had to throw the ball at this ridiculous rate let Russ cook at all of that you want a Super Bowl in Pete's way if you don't win a Super Bowl in Denver it does change the way that we're gonna view Russell Wilson where we always get into that those debates like is it the system like how great is an actual player all that and I think a lot of it is intertwined like you need good coaching you need good players to win but Russ got insecure about that perception about him that it was more the legion of boom it was more Marshawn it was more Pete and he was like bleep that I gotta be the star and the more and more and I know a lot of this is just things that we all thought were happening and it just like rehashes it and just makes it I guess you could say fact I know Russ is gonna deny it but I don't think Russ gets the benefit of the doubt so Russ coming out today and saying yeah I didn't try to get those guys fired like I don't believe you for a single second all right you're also the same guy that walked up to Pete Cowell was like oh our relationship even after pretty much requesting a trade it's wonderful when they did that press conference leading into his final season of the year we all knew it was cringe-worthy we all knew it was wrong but when you get more of these articles that come out and it paints through sourcing what was really going on not only in Denver but also in the in the demise in Seattle it just continues to make me question Russell Wilson and I know they brought in Sean Payton and I know that he's gonna hold Russ accountable but you could bring in someone I don't want to say that Sean's a drill sergeant but he does have a lot of clout and he is someone that his voice carries a lot of weight but is is Russ even going to be willing to listen like in the interim he may yeah this is the guy that I wanted in Seattle now I get him in Denver but if you don't win right away or if you don't like how something is going how long are you gonna believe in this coach and Hickey the more and more you read and you hear and you you've you've seen what has unfolded the last year the more and more that I move away from trusting Russell Wilson and I'm not expecting this to wind up with the happy ending in Denver we're like we're looking at Russell Wilson and he's on the on the the the the trophy stage and a few years from now or next year holding up Lombardi Trophy I don't trust Russell Wilson I can't trust him fair I mean there's no reason to trust him but I think that's part of the reason for my optimism or renewed optimism is that I don't think you have to trust Russell Wilson because it's not really in his hands anymore it's in Sean Payton's hands and I think he was embarrassed enough for now yeah nationally where I think he kind of realized his lane and I think he realizes if I want if I don't want that happen again I kind of got to listen to Sean I can't run the ship the way I wanted to happen because we kind of saw when he was a driver uh he crashed the car extremely bad he crashed the car extremely bad or the ship I guess I should say crashed ship terribly but that's in the interim right now that old Russ could eventually creep back up if he doesn't like the way that things are going like just because you bring in Sean and I think it's for everyone like right like let's say you have an embarrassing moment Hickey and you realize you messed something up and then I don't know Spike comes over to you and he goes okay we're gonna set you up with this person to try to restore the image eventually those inner demons and those personal demons that you have and those voices in your head are gonna pop back up and that insecurity is still there of I gotta win and I gotta do it my way and if you don't see the results right away I do wonder how patient Russell Wilson's gonna be with Sean and I I think Sean's a tremendous hire it's a move that they had to make I trust Sean and I know Russell Wilson was a really good quarterback for a long time but I can't sit here and confidently say that Russell Wilson after having all the power last year and now a lot of the power be taken away especially knowing what that contract is and how many draft picks that they gave up for him is gonna necessarily listen to every single word that Sean says and even if he does and even if he has a positive attitude let's just look at that conference oh how about just a division Mahomes ain't going anywhere Herbert you think is only going to continue to get better and better who knows what the Raiders do this offseason and then you're in an AFC when you look at the other teams that right now has Trevor Lawrence you have Joe Burrow you have Josh Allen you know we'll see what happens with like a DeSean Watson and a Tuatunga Vailoa you know Lamar Jackson if he stays in Baltimore if he stays in the AFC there's a lot working against you where even if you're receptive to everything you're getting I don't know if it will still lead to what is the ultimate goal of a championship or how about just say bare minimum a division title which I think is going to be tough just on its own because Mahomes is in that division you wonder you're questioning if Russell Wilson I guess will lose patience will lose belief in Sean Payton and kind of revert and revert back to doing what he wants this is what I'll say I think he has lost the benefit of the doubt and rightfully so if he wants to pull those shenanigans naturally Broncos are saying see you later like they would pick Sean Payton over Russell Wilson do you want to do that a lot of day cap where you're going to go like if you're some team will eventually some team will eventually take him some team some team will but you know the arrogance of these coaches then you're going down not you know not a similar career path exactly but you are kind of venturing into Carson Wentz territory of just like you can't be trusted man and like you keep thinking it's someone else and not you you're going to find out pretty soon you're going to derail your entire career you're thinking it from a logical sane standpoint you're thinking it from an angle of you're not an athlete where ego always plays a role I don't know this Russell Wilson the Russell that we used to think we know is long gone and I don't know if he's going to be able to find that old Russ because that ego is just so out of control and he's in this alpha male sport and I don't know what to expect the rest of the way and just even if he's all bought in once again that division with Mahomes and Herbert is an absolute monster and also the entire AFC so even if you get Mahomes even if you get Wilson back to a good spot I don't even know if it's going to be good enough because Pete Carroll the last coach basically just told you we don't even think he's that great and they were with them for a decade so that to me I just think there's a lot of factors here where they brought in the right coach and it will be better than what it was last year but what does better really mean like it was so bad last year and that standard for Ross fair or not for the foreseeable future you know you're going to be held if you want to go down as one of the old-time greats you better go win another Super Bowl because this is the way that you wanted to do it and so far one year in it was a disaster it is the Zach Gelb show right here on CBS Sports Radio.

You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. I got a simple question and Hickey I've asked you this before but I'm going to ask it again do you think Russell Wilson at all regrets forcing his way out of Seattle like with everything that has gone on the last year than the article today which basically just details it all do you think down deep even though he'll never admit it publicly do you think part of him goes hmm maybe I messed up maybe I shouldn't have requested a trade from Seattle I'm still gonna say no see that to me is a problem and here's why because we talk about him being receptive right to Sean Payton and him realizing that he has to change his approach or the idea that maybe he realizes he needs to change his approach for this to work in Denver at one point Pete Carroll and him were as close as close could be where they gave Matt Flynn that ridiculous contract off one game Russ comes in in training camp and they go okay we're going to trust this this late round draft pick or what third or fourth round draft pick whatever Russell Wilson was and we're going to give him the the keys to the franchise and no matter when you're going to give him the keys to the franchise no matter whenever a teammate in that locker room had a problem with how the standard was different for Russ and how the kitty gloves are on for Russ and other guys were treated much differently than Pete Carroll that relationship between those two got so bad where Russ wasn't willing to at all compromise with Pete Carroll because if you keep on this show at the impetus of this all I said to Jake heaps there's got to be a compromise like Russ has to realize that yes when you're when you're getting the opportunity to be the guy that's saying that that is cooking let's just say right let Russ cook and you're throwing all these touchdown passes you're throwing the ball a lot more than what you normally are Pete Cowell is basically saying your interceptions are also going up and I don't think Pete was saying hey we got to go run the ball 45 times a game and only pass the ball 15 he just wanted to lower and decrease a little bit the passing attempts so you could also take away some of the interceptions and the fact that Russell Wilson with how loyal Pete Carroll was to Russell Wilson how close they were was not even willing to compromise to him it just makes me wonder even though he's all on board with Sean reportedly wanted to bring Sean into Seattle and now has Sean with them in Denver I'm just willing when there are some tough times or wondering when there are some tough times in Denver because it's not going to be an easy fix they got a lot of work to do and there's a lot working it already against them just because of the vision they're in if he wasn't willing to compromise with Pete like what makes me believe that he's going to be willing ultimately at the end of the day to be uh to be able to compromise with Sean Payton like that's the that's the tough that's part for me uh tough uh the tough part for me to wrap my head around I mean there is a difference Sean Payton's an offensive mind so he's someone who's had a lot of success already with guys like Drew Brees winning Super Bowls get him to the Hall of Fame so if you're Russell Wilson going from a defensive minded conservative head coach and Pete Carroll it worked albeit don't get me wrong I think it's a lot easier to buy into Sean Payton when you've seen the success he's had for a long time being an offensive minded coaching it's easy for Russell Wilson to buy into the offensive skiing that he is pushing Sean Payton that is but no one trusted no one trusted Russell Wilson more no one was a backer more of Russell Wilson when no one was a backer of Russell Wilson than Pete Carroll like those guys had a tight bond I don't care if it's offensive side of the ball defensive side of the ball whatever it is those guys were as tight as tight could be and even then Russ wasn't even willing to budge like that just kind of shows me yes I get believing in yourself and wanting to do things your way but Russ is a bad listener so what makes me think that now all of a sudden even though Sean is also like a Hall of Fame going to be a Hall of Fame coach just like Pete and they both won a Super Bowl and they both done things in places that never happened before like in New Orleans and Seattle what makes me think that it's going to be this much different this time around just because Sean's background is the offensive side of the ball if they don't win like put it this way if they don't win the playoff if they don't get to the playoffs this year Hickey do you think Russ after if he caters an entire year to Sean if they don't make the playoffs which I think is a tough ass to do this year if they don't make the playoffs because Russ gonna that quickly say up not that he's gonna ask for Sean Payton to be fired because I don't think he has much leverage there but is part of him gonna say I don't really trust Sean that much because I listened to him entire year and what really changed what we had two extra wins or something like that like that's that's the tough part for me is Russ gonna be willing to listen and listen constantly and habitually and when I look at the end with his relationship with Pete someone that trusted him a lot and they had a relationship and people lived in Russ when no one really believed in Russ if he wasn't even willing to listen to to Pete at the end what makes me think that he's gonna constantly listen to Sean Payton well again I think it's just the different offensive beliefs Sean Payton is more aggressive he is someone who again does play to a quarterback and a quarterback strengths where Pete Carroll is basically saying no no no mr conservative you talk about you know Pete loving Russ at the end he didn't trust him whatsoever that offense is very bland very conservative well he didn't trust him 40 times a game the offense they reigned it back in that's the reason why Russell Wilson did not like Pete Carroll well if Sean is this brilliant offensive minded coach which you all think he is do you think he's gonna do you think Sean will believe the best way to win with Russ is to now go throw the football 40 times a game and I know how aggressive Sean likes to be but if Pete Cowell's basically telling you that didn't work I think Sean has a lot of respect for Pete and we basically just saw when you let Russ cook the last two three years it's not really conducive to winning Sean's got to think about the other 52 guys and that could hurt the feelings a little bit of Russell Wilson I mean there's different ways to skin a cat so I mean you look at their offense in New Orleans they threw the ball by 40 times a game didn't have much of a run game and won a lot of games so yeah I do think they could throw the ball 40 times a game in a dome and win a lot in a dome okay I think Denver's I mean it's not really that much of a cold weather climate compared to you know other cities I think it's a little overblown weather wise but also Russell Wilson's arm strength I don't think is decreasing so that still is not an issue I don't know what Russell Wilson is anymore I really don't I'm not telling you he's a bad player but I'm not telling you he's a great player and that ego is really becoming insufferable the lack of accountability is insufferable and I understand right in an alpha male sport you got to kind of mark your territory but you also have to listen and I don't know how well anymore Russell Wilson takes the coaching win this year and I get it Nathaniel Hackett was a bad head coach he was basically the coach of the football team and look how poorly it went so I would have major major trust issues with Russell Wilson I don't know how long he's going to be willing to buy in to this new way and if it doesn't work immediately then it would not surprise me in the slightest if he is a problem a year or two from now so I just by the way going to the Russell Wilson tweet I love Pete and he was a father figure to me and John believed in me and drafted me as well I never wanted them fired all any of us wanted was to win I'll always have respect for them and love for Seattle if we have Russell Wilson in studio right now and we hooked him up to a lie detector test Hickey and I said to him did you want John Schneider and Pete Carroll fired at the end in Seattle he would say no that would 100% come back as a lie that tweet today Russ also doesn't know when to sit one out he doesn't know when to sit one out on social media they don't know when to sit one out this year he constantly did that stupid Broncos country let's ride even when they had these bad performances like today is there any need to respond to this story is there like what is what do you gain from we all know you tried to get these guys fired what is there to gain to say oh I never got them fired let's just sit one out it's the off season you don't have to comment today I have no problem with it just believe that weed out no absolutely not but I think if you're Russell Wilson it's just if I think the more you're silent the more the story controls you instead of the other way I don't believe this to you what's the point of lying but at least you can just on the record say I didn't do it that's a that's a lie save yourself how does this save himself he knows it's not true and everyone realized it isn't true he would have been better off saying nothing or he would have been better off just saying yeah I did try to get them fired and I was wrong something like that I mean I know it would never happen but to just tweet out oh yeah I love these guys I never tried to get them fired that's a bunch of baloney you're better off just saying nothing it is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio we'll take a break when we come on back we got some odds out for the next team of Lamar Jackson and there's one team that I wasn't thinking about that could pursue Lamar Jackson and now I am I'll tell you that team is on the other side what if you could make fresh delicious meals at home without the stress of planning prepping or cleaning up introducing tavala tavala is a first of its kind meal service that makes eating well effortless by combining a countertop smart oven with delivered meals just scan a QR code to cook dinner first choose from a variety of chef crafted meals delivered weekly to your door when you're ready to eat just do one minute of easy prep next scan your meals QR code with the tavala smart oven while the oven automatically switches between modes and temperatures for the perfect cook just sit back and relax your food's ready in 25 minutes or less no shopping no chopping no cleanup simplify meal time today with tavala go to tavala.com now to save 150 on a tavala smart oven when you agree to order meals six times that's tovala.com promo applied automatically at checkout tavala eat well effortlessly tavala.com you're listening to the Zach Gelb show we talk about Russell Wilson and how life away from Pete Carroll and the Seahawks has not been better or easier for Russell Wilson it makes you wonder will life away from the Baltimore Ravens and John Harbaugh if Lamar Jackson goes down this road which I think he will will it end up hurting him and even though the Ravens are a tremendous organization I think the answer is no and here's probably why because any other team he's going to go to he's going to have better weapons around him you would think like you look at the wide receiving group in Baltimore it's abysmal and you know that Lamar Jackson wants a number one wide receiver and I get the entire offenses in Baltimore is really catered around Russ is catered around Lamar Jackson and how great Lamar Jackson can be but you look at then the future of the Ravens if they get rid of Lamar like what does that team become on the offensive side of the ball they need to go through a major identity shift so I look at the odds for Lamar Jackson and you just see some of the teams that are mentioned like he goes to the Falcons you're going to have Kyle Pitts as as a tight end I know you have Mark Andrews right now you know you will have improved receivers as well when you look at someone like a Drake London and what he was able to do the jets you have Garrett Wilson that's better than anything the Ravens have the Raiders who are right now at plus 450 you have Devante Adams and probably Josh Jacobs coming back if he goes to Tampa you have Mike Evans and Chris Godwin you know the Patriots are the one where they don't have a lot of offensive weapons so maybe that's one but then you're getting to play for Bill Belichick the Panthers you got DJ Moore if you go to San Francisco you got Christian McCaffrey and also Deebo Samuel and the commanders you got Terry Mclaurin as well so I go through all those potential destinations and and all the the odds that are out there right now for the next home of Lamar Jackson like Hickey I don't know about you but I don't think there's a spot really that Lamar gets traded to that didn't reason like I know the Patriots are plus 750 I don't think that's likely that that's gonna happen but all those other teams that I mentioned the Falcons the Jets the Raiders Tampa Carolina the 49ers the commanders if that's the field if those are the teams that are pursuing Lamar Jackson you know maybe the Lions get into the mix they have Amah Ross St. Brown right away he's walking into a place that there's better weapons I would say especially in the wide receiving game like I know that Mark Andrews and JK Dobbins should be a good back but he's he's been hurt the first two years of his career I think there's just gonna be an upgrade of weapons for for Lamar Jackson wherever he goes. I would say outside of Atlanta just because still I'm a little I think that's the worst roster of any team that you mentioned so far with the Falcons otherwise I would agree yeah you go to the Jets you go to the commanders you go to the Raiders it's an upgrade over what he's had so far in Baltimore the last few years especially skill position wise. Yeah and you look at at the Falcons like I think Drake London's gonna be a good player Tyler Ogeo had a good rookie year you still have Cordell Patterson there Kyle Pitt so it's not like the greatest weapons in the world but is it that much different than Baltimore? Like just for starters if let's say he goes to Atlanta is it that I know Mark Andrews is a stud but is it really that much different? Not terrible I'd still give it you know Baltimore the edge but that's also part of it like if we're talking about you know a slim difference well if he's going to get an upgrade I would not say to Atlanta right now. And then also at least Atlanta has shown in the last what 15-20 years that they're willing to go get that big wide receiver whether it was having Julio Jones there I know they had Calvin Ridley who was well on his way to being a number one wide receiver in the league you know they eventually did go out there and they got the tight end in Tony Gonzalez later on in his career Roddy White was there so they've done a good job with receivers in Atlanta so I would think if you're bringing in Lamar they would even though they just drafted Drake London they would try to probably go out and get another big wide receiver as well but anyway when you go through all those teams I've never really considered the 49ers making a play for Lamar Jackson their odds right now are at plus 1200 the 49ers absolutely should go on out and try to do as much as they can that's possible to land the services of Lamar Jackson at first and this is probably why I didn't think about I'm like oh well what's their draft capital you know they gave up so many picks for Trey Lance they also gave up so many picks to go get Christian McCaffrey I know they don't have a first round pick this year but they have two first round picks upcoming one in 2024 and then one in 2025 and you could also offer to the Ravens Trey Lance now I don't know how the Ravens view Trey Lance so that could be a mute point but if you offer Trey Lance and then two first round picks as just the basic framework of that deal I do think that is enticing if you're the Baltimore Ravens like if you're Eric DeCosta and John Harbaugh and you realize that this relationship with with Lamar Jackson is fractured beyond repair and if you're the 49ers it's a move that you should definitely pounce I know Lamar hasn't had a lot of playoff success yet I know he has not won a Super Bowl yet but this guy's been a unanimous MVP he's a great player and if you could plug that quarterback into an offense that has Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel from a speed standpoint good luck stopping that and the NFC outside of Philadelphia is really wide open and you look at the 49ers like they've had success with Brock Purdy Jimmy Garoppolo like those guys clearly pale in comparison to the type of quarterback and the elite type of quarterback that Lamar Jackson has been and can continue to be in this league so I really have not thought about the Niners making a play for Lamar Jackson but if I'm John Lynch if I'm Kyle Shanahan I'm in constant contact with the Baltimore Ravens and just seeing how close they are into entertaining those phone calls about potentially trading Lamar Jackson because that risk and I know you're giving up a lot more draft capital and I know you're giving up a lot of draft capital that risk is worth that potential reward of being Super Bowl champions and we all know the 49ers have been so close the last three or four years and maybe it's the best of both worlds you get the best quarterback that you've had in a while and then for Lamar you get put in a better situation and you would think that would translate to postseason success that unfortunately Lamar's never really had in his career so far in his short young career in the NFL I guess the thing that gives you pause for the Niner specifically is Lamar's injury history the last two years where we've seen for the 49ers their biggest derailment has been injuries at the quarterback position whether it's Jimmy Garoppolo whether it's Trey Lance even Brock Purdy we saw like they have lost a lot of games because their quarterbacks not been healthy I just wonder would you have all that draft capital pay Lamar whatever he wants to 40 to 50 million dollars and then risk him not you know basically having the same problem next year in the future that you had the last few years now I could also argue this and this is me not saying that Lamar intentionally sat out games at the end of the season but there was that thought in the article the other day from people inside the Ravens organization that they wondered if Lamar got that contract in the offseason if he would have missed that postseason game I know there was still an injury but people were wondering hmm seems like he should have been back sooner how much of that was the contract that's just something I would argue the other way and for me that's a problem that's a big problem if you're missing games because you're upset with your contract let's say it's not gonna happen again he can get paid three years you get a fully guaranteed deal or whatever it is if you get paid we've seen other you know we've seen plenty of quarterback salaries age out fast where you could look at Patrick Holmes and where he ranks right now it's like wow chief's got a bargain so if Lamar realizes three years from now he goes to San Francisco wins a Super Bowl maybe we get some of that MVP goes I'm you know there's still five other guys now because he has the quarterback salaries reset they're getting paid higher than me what if all of a sudden now you know an ankle injury turns into an issue where he's missing games because he wants to be number one instead of number five now I have no reason to believe though just off the basis that this is what did happen but if that's the case and you win a Super Bowl with Lamar I don't care what happens in the fighting of the the contract negotiations it would be worth and the NFC is right there for the taking and it would also benefit Lamar if he went to the NFC as well because that would put him in there as right now he's like the fifth or sixth best quarterback in the AFC he goes right to the NFC you can make the case he's one or two I just think it sets him up better just if you don't want to say it's a 49ers just to go to the NFC but if you're going to go to the NFC if I'm like Lamar I do everything trying to go to San Francisco because they're begging for a quarterback to come in there also with the creativity of Kyle Shanahan imagine what they could do like what they just did with with Brock Purdy and Jimmy J. Zach Gelb's show CBS Sports Radio.