Busy Quarterback Carousel (Hour 4)

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So get comfortable in your shoes. Get to know the wool runners, pipers, and loungers at Allbirds.com. That's A-L-L-B-I-R-D-S dot com. All right, our number four of our radio program. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. So we got a lot of quarterback news. Geno Smith, back with the Seahawks, three years, $105 million. The Derek Carr deal is four years, $150 million to the Saints. But Florio says it's really like a three-year, $100 million deal when you get into all the semantics of the contract. And Florio pointed that out last year on the car extension, where Hickey and I were sitting here saying, guys, yeah, they gave Carr an extension, but what do they really give him here? Because it looked like they could just move on from after one year. So this deal, it's pretty much, it seems like a three-year, $100 million deal, and there's multiple outs of the deal along that. If you want, give Florio is going to join us tomorrow.

Reed obviously does a great job of pro football talk, and he explained it a lot better than we can. And we're just waiting with the franchise tag deadline tomorrow. At 4 p.m. Eastern, what are the Giants going to do? Are they going to tag Barkley, or are they going to tag Daniel Jones? Will it be a non-exclusive franchise tag on Daniel Jones? I would think so if they don't get a deal done. And for Lamar Jackson, we know he's getting tagged.

There's not a chance by tomorrow, unless this was all a big negotiation ploy and a big bluff, and the Ravens finally just said, man, Lamar never did what we thought he was going to do, so we're just going to give him the fully guaranteed deal or close to it, and get that deal done, and this will be done with. I don't think there is any doubt that tomorrow, at some point, Lamar Jackson is getting the franchise tag. The question just becomes, is it exclusive or non-exclusive? And if it is exclusive, then that story just becomes, will you get a deal done with Lamar? And if you don't get a deal done, an extension with him, then you will trade him.

But if it's non-exclusive, Mickey, it's going to get really juicy. If we find out tomorrow, at 4 p.m. Eastern, or before that, that Lamar Jackson is on a non-exclusive franchise tag, that even gives you more ammunition, that the Ravens are pretty much close, or getting even closer than we thought to moving off Lamar, and both of us don't think Lamar is going to be a Raven for that much longer, and will ever sign a long-term deal in Baltimore. If he's on a non-exclusive franchise tag, and he can negotiate with other teams, and all that other team would have to do is give him what he wants from a contract standpoint, and then trade two first round picks, that is going to become a big story. And it's already a big story, but if he's on a non-exclusive tag, it becomes an even bigger story, because there is no justification that you could logically make if you're a fan of the Baltimore Ravens, or if you are the Baltimore Ravens. Pashadi, DaCosta, Newsom, who's still involved, Harbaugh, I don't care what you say at the podium, you will all look like a bunch of jackasses if you are saying, yeah, we're giving Lamar the non-exclusive tag.

Because if he goes and negotiates a deal with another team, and they give him 200 million guaranteed, or whatever it is, and they go back to you, and you say, yeah, we're going to pass on giving the contract, and all you get back is two first round picks for a man that is one of unanimous MVP, you would look foolish. There is no argument, no plausible argument that you can make if you are the Ravens, if you're going to franchise tag Lamar to give him the non-exclusive tag. If you franchise tag him tomorrow, you have to give him the exclusive tag.

The last two years the Ravens have been trying to sell you that they love Lamar, and trying to basically fend all the vultures off. You give him the non-exclusive tag tomorrow, you are throwing red meat on the ground, and you are inviting every single vulture in the NFL to circle and start picking and see what they can get. And two of those teams that you know, three, I'll give you three right away, I can guarantee you, if there is a non-exclusive tag that is placed on Lamar Jackson, which would just be stupid by the Ravens. Because as we already explained, if you're going to franchise tag him and trade him, put him on the exclusive tag, because then you'll get more than two first round picks.

If you put a non-exclusive tag, and some team gives him the deal that you won't be willing to give him, and then the next thing you know, he's ready to sign with that team and you elect to not match it, and all you get back is two first round picks. The Baltimore Ravens, and all the respect that they've gained for the last 20 years that will be given the benefit of the doubt, they'll be thrown right out the window, because I can guarantee you this. If he is on a non-exclusive tag, you will have the Falcons come calling, the Panthers will come calling, and the New York Jets absolutely will come calling, and there will be more teams that you could throw into the equation. And those three teams specifically, the Falcons tried their hardest with Deshaun Watson.

They're all desperate. The Panthers have David Tepper, period stop, and the Jets have not had a franchise core direction in show name. And they have a good roster finally. All through being inclined to acquiesce to Lamar's contract needs, and we would have no problem, wouldn't even blink, at giving up two first round picks to acquire a talent like Lamar Jackson. And I'm sure more teams would jump into the conversation, because there's no harm.

It's not like any of those teams and other teams have a quarterback that's going to get offended that actually is worth a rat's ass. Or the price is not going to get driven up either. It's already set, so it's not going to be a bidding war.

Exactly. All you have to do is get Lamar say yes, and the Ravens say no, and you give up two first round picks, and you look like the biggest geniuses, while the Ravens would look like the biggest fools. The Ravens are a smart organization, even though they've been doing some dumb things on this Lamar Jackson contract. If they somehow, some way, think by tomorrow at 4 p.m. Eastern, the best course of action is to give him the non-exclusive franchise tag, they're just dopes. They're morons, if they give him the non-exclusive franchise tag tomorrow.

That just welcomes you up to a lot of criticism, and I don't see the upside there. Because even if he agrees to a deal with another team, and you match it, it's like you went through all of that to maybe save, I don't know, like $30 million, whatever it is? Because you would think Lamar is at least going to get, what, $200 million fully guaranteed for any of those other desperate teams? Because in a way, you have to negotiate that contract to make sure that the Ravens would say no. And I guarantee you this, they go fully guaranteed, which I bet you one of those three teams that we mentioned would, the Ravens would then say no. Just wait, let Lamar sign the exclusive tag, wait, and if you really don't want to get a deal done with him, then you go trade him after that.

And if you really do want to trade him, give him the exclusive tag so that way you can control the price and try to get more players, more picks, and not lose them for what would only be only two first round picks. By the way, I don't know why, this is really random. I rolled up my sweatpants, I guess it's a little hot in this studio even though it's 66 degrees in this studio. You like these socks that I'm wearing today? These look like Seattle Seahawks socks, right? Yeah, they're navy blue with a lime green ring on the top. They are Seahawks socks. They gave them to me on the flight last night.

Wait, what? I didn't wear them on the flight. They gave you socks on the flight?

What flight was this? Oh, it was an international flight, so it was like an eight hour flight, so they gave me a little package. They gave me a toothbrush, toothpaste.

What? They gave me socks. I was in first class too. They gave me a blanket, a pillow.

That's probably maybe the lie. Yeah. They gave you socks? Had some wine, had a beer, had a burger on the flight, a little ham and cheese sandwich too. Were you supposed to brush your teeth in the bathroom?

In the bathroom, I guess. No, I wasn't going to. I brought my teeth before the plane.

I was good to go. What's the point of socks? Who's taking off their shoes on the plane? Who's taking off their shoes on the plane?

I did not take off my shoes on the plane, but I did untie the laces for the eight hour flight. Why would they think, why are they promoting people taking off their shoes? I don't know, but they gave me socks, and I was getting ready to get to work today, and I go, eh, I'll throw these on. Probably the first and last time I'll wear them, but they're nice socks. They're very comfy.

I'm surprised they fit my big feet. So why would you throw them out then? Keep them. Yeah, I don't know.

Do I really want to walk around with these airline socks? I don't see a logo on them. Oh, that is a good point. Well, there has to be a logo here somewhere. Maybe it's on the bottom. That'd be stupid marketing. I don't see it. I don't think so.

So they just look like you're like, if I was walking down the street and I saw you in shorts. Hey, that's a Seahawks fan. A Seahawks fan, right? Yeah, I'm happy. Geno C. Geno, I wear the socks. Geno Smith gets the contract. Geno should send me a thank you note. And maybe a little bit of that contract, too. You know what? I'll write him a letter. He probably won't write back, though.

Probably not. That's his M.O. Are you surprised by the socks in the airline? I'm beyond surprised. I'm floored. Yeah, I've never seen that as well. That's absurd. I've never seen that as well.

Promoting people taking their shoes off is disgusting. I watched a few movies last night on the way back. Okay. Many Saints of Newark, which I've seen before.

Okay. The Sopranos prequel, right? Yeah, I watched this movie about the pandas. It was like a 40-minute thing. This guy, he raises black bears and then releases them into the wild and has a tracker on them. And then there's this lady that adopted that method with pandas. So I watched that.

Interesting. And then I watched a bunch of episodes of Two and a Half Men. Wow, that's... Now, no Charlie Sheen. They didn't have any of the Charlie Sheen episodes, only Ashton Kutcher.

Well, I've never seen any of the Two and a Half Men with Ashton Kutcher. I watched about five or six of them. Very good. Not as good as Charlie Sheen. How'd you settle on that show?

I feel like that's random as hell. I don't know. I watched two movies and I said I have to watch some TV shows. The panda movie is only like 40 minutes.

To more like a documentary. So you learned a little bit about nature. Alright. So that's what I did. Not bad.

Very fun trip though. Yeah. You added a lot of meat cones, I see. A lot of meat cones? Why, are you saying I look a little heavier today? No, I see it on social media. I see every picture posted.

There's some sort of meat in the background or in your hand or in a cone. Yeah. Well, Bill Reiter says Barcelona is his favorite city and Bill told me when he retires he wants to move to Barcelona. So Bill, when he found out I was going to Barcelona, started texting me and he's like, you will love this place. So we stayed next to the famous church there.

That was pretty cool. That's where Airbnb was. We had a balcony that looked right overlooked it. Oh, we had some great times.

There's no doubt about it. You went to all these markets. It's so cheap there. Like, we had a group of 15 people. I ordered like 15 shots. You know, everyone got a shot. Thirty euros. Like Hickey. New York City should take a page out of Barcelona's book. New York City, if I ordered 15 shots, I'd have to tell Spike I need to do like three extra shows to afford that.

Take out a mortgage on that one. But the meat cone, I think, is the greatest invention. I used to love ice cream. And like growing up as a kid, you hear the music and then you would go run out and get an ice cream cone like Mr. Softy Soft Servo.

Unbelievable. Having all the different kinds of meats just getting put basically in a grab bag and you pick a cone and it has some bread and some cheese in it. One of the great inventions ever. How do you eat a meat cone?

With your hands? Yeah. So the cone is just like, you know, when you go to a water fountain in an office and they sometimes have the the water paper cups that are that are in a cone shape. That's what the meat cone is in.

So it's paper. It's not an actual like waffle cone or. Yes, but then all the meats are inside of that cone. Now, if I was if I was running the meat cone, I would make the cone out of bread. And then open up the bread, kind of scoop the bread, and then like, you know, when you get a French onion soup in one of those bowls?

Something like that. Yeah, that's what I would do with the cone. But the meat cone was was A plus. How much meat they put in there? Good amount.

It was 250, two dollars and two point five zero euros, however you say that. So you're walking around just two euros and a cone filled with meat and you just walk around and enjoy the sights? Yeah. And they had all these markets. So you go in and you would just like walk around, get a bunch of meat cones, and then they have like oysters as well, like in the market, like other different things as well.

Aphrodisiac. Yeah. Like I got the equivalent of a of a Philly cheesesteak there.

Like. One euro and 50 cents. Any exotic meat? Anything you really would not get in the States or even in like a normal, you know, better quality.

OK. But no, I don't think we had anything that was too exotic. Like venison is not really exotic. I'm trying to think of what would be like no buffalo or I've had venison before I've had duck before.

No, I'm trying to think of what would be this not in like a normal. I think you would eat everything that was there. OK. And you're like the pickiest eater in the world. But you don't like charcuterie boards, actually.

So maybe you wouldn't. Yeah. Not a big, you know, cheese. Please.

Meat kind of smells. Not my thing. You're ridiculous. More for you, though.

More meat cones for you. So you're welcome. Oh, it was great. It was it was a phenomenal trip. A lot of fun. Great time in Barcelona.

Great sightseeing. I'll tell you, I did so much walking. Which is actually good with how much eating and drinking I did. I got a lot of wine. We did a winery or two and every meal just be like wine, wine, wine, wine, wine, wine, wine. It was ridiculous.

But. The where is that going with this? Oh, the walking was crazy. Like I looked down one day, the twenty three steps on a bachelor party. Twenty three steps, twenty three thousand. OK, I say twenty three steps would actually be impressive. And that's what I thought. That's what I thought I'd be doing. Like just sitting down and doing nothing. We walked a lot.

A lot of walking to burn off those meat cones. So are you now inspired? Are you going to have your eventual bachelor party in Barcelona, too? I don't know. Barcelona, as they say.

As the locals would say. I think we're many years away from that of happening. But I would be surprised if my bachelor party, it would be an option. But OK, so it's on the it's on the radar. When one friend does it in one place, I feel like you don't want to repeat it. How many bachelor parties have you been on?

I've actually never been on one. I have two coming up and I think they're both going to be in the same place. One is already locked in in Scottsdale.

That's fine. Probably the other one also is leaning towards Scottsdale. Same friend groups? No. OK. How many times are you going to go to Vegas? How many people go to Vegas? I've done Vegas. There's been one in Denver.

Barcelona. And then we're supposed to go to the Kentucky Derby. But Covid wiped that out and we ended up going to someplace in Pennsylvania just to do a quick weekend of golf and things like that.

Oh, in Atlantic City. That poor guy. That's tough. That was actually a very fun time. Played a lot of golf. Went to Fogo de Chao in the middle of the pandemic, which I didn't know the Brazilian steakhouse would work.

I was very happy that they didn't really care. They thought the salad buffet and then everyone walking out the meats and just chop up the meats. That's all guys love steak. And then pretty much what Barcelona is, is a walking charcuterie board. I don't see how you get a bad time in Barcelona. And the women are unbelievable.

They're like, let's not bury the league. I could imagine. Yeah. But you are a taken man, so maybe it's good that you're not going to Barcelona. I got no game, so I'm good either way.

You have enough game to score a lolly, I would say. AK has the hots for your girlfriend. I love her.

She has no game either. So we were both made for each other. How did you guys meet? Mutual friends.

Oh, they were just like, you have no game, you have no game. You guys are a big, good couple. And we clicked right away. I wonder why. All right. We will take a break. We will do more Derek Carr coming up next with the man that covered Derek Carr for a long time. And pretty much my opinion on this Derek Carr deal with the Saints. Yeah, it improves the Saints. But in a weak NFC, I don't look at them still as a Super Bowl contender.

The only expectations I have right now for the Saints is to go win the NFC South this year. So Vic Taffer will join us on the other side. The Super Bowl is over, but the NFL quarterback carousel is just beginning.

All right, let's go out to a man that covers the Raiders for the athletic, and that is Vic Taffer. Vic, appreciate you doing this. How are you? Doing good, man. How are you doing? I'm doing fantastic. So I got to start you off with, obviously, the Raiders' old quarterback in Derek Carr signing a new contract with the Saints today.

What was your first reaction when you saw that one? I thought it was a good fit for him. I think it's probably better than going to the Jets. I think it's much easier to be in the NFC, especially the NFC South. He's definitely the best quarterback in that division going in now. And I think the AFC is tough, man. AFC is the best quarterback in the league in the AFC.

So if you have a chance to go to the NFC, you should probably do it. How do you describe Carr? I feel like he's so tough to describe just because there's so many different ways that people feel about him. You covered him for a while. What are the Saints getting? Yeah, it's tough to describe him because he kind of gets blamed for a lot of the Raiders' problems the last nine years. But they've had so many issues that he didn't have any control over. They've always had bad defenses. They had some horrible draft picks and free agent moves. So he's kind of become, escape goes the wrong word, but just because of the weight of all that, you know, failed expectations over the years. But he's still a top 12, top 15 quarterback, he has a great arm, smart guy, can make plays at the last scrimmage, make plays, you know, change the play at the last scrimmage and kind of get your team in the right spot.

So I think he'll do well there. We know in 2021, there were so many horrible circumstances that were just so indescribable when you look at what happened with the Raiders. And Carr was probably at his best with the way that he led that team and got them to the playoffs. This past year, I know there were a lot of injuries, but what else do you chalk it up to on why the play on the field regressed so much? Yeah, sometimes things just don't click when you have a new, a new regime, new coach and the old quarterback. And I think that's what happened this year.

I think they brought in the Monty Adams, thought they should be a top five offense, didn't quite work out that way. I just think he's probably needed a fresh start for a while. I think, you know, the new regime wanted to give him a year, see how it worked out. And they came to the decision that he wasn't really worth, you know, 35 or a million dollars a year. That's just kind of going right now for those kinds of quarterbacks. So they're going to find somebody else.

And I think for him, it worked out well also, so I think all teams, all sides should be okay with where things are at right now. One more on Carr. I know that Dennis Allen was a part of the group that drafted him, and then Allen only lasted four games as the coach in Carr's rookie season, Vic Tafer. A lot of people are talking about their relationship.

What's your understanding of what that relationship is? Because I kind of look at him like, all right, yeah, he drafted him, but he was only there for four games. Yeah, they weren't really that close. Like you said, it's hard to say because that was, Dennis will tell you, that was a really bad roster.

So I think the expectations at Europe were pretty low. And I think in hindsight, he may have just gone with Matt Schaub, gone with the veteran, got Derek Ware a little bit watching, but he kind of got impressed with Derek. The preseason made the switch and it didn't work out.

They lost their first four games and he was fired. So I'm not saying there's a huge, you know, relationship there, but they both, they kind of need each other at this point. They both kind of are in a spot where, you know, they kind of need each other. So I think it could look out from that aspect. How likely is it, do you think Rogers winds up with the Raiders? Because right now it seems like we all thought the Raiders were interested. And I think a lot of people assume that he'll wind up on the Jets if he's traded.

Yeah, it's pretty low. I think the only way it works is, I mean, I think at this point you feel the Raiders, you have enough holes where, you know, I mean, if you find Tom Brady, it's one thing he's a free agent, but trading picks for a guy like Rogers at 39 years old doesn't make a lot of sense. Like, and then one way it might work out is if a Packers are given away, but I think the Jets clearly are just, it's they'll probably pay the price that it will take to get Aaron Rogers. So I can't see the Raiders getting him in that regard. Do you think it's going to be Jimmy G?

No, I think it's, I mean, it could be, I mean, you know, obviously I'm not really sure. The problem with Jimmy G is it's hard to gauge what his, what he wants money wise because of his history, you know, with injuries and stuff. And I think he's on the list, he's a guy they know well, and he's definitely a guy they'll consider. But I think ideally they draft, you know, a guy at seven and move up to five and get all these top four quarterbacks, and then maybe signed the rest of them as the top cap guy. Well, when you hear about a potential trade up, is there any understanding of who their preference right now is at quarterback, or is it just, they'll try to figure that out through this process with the four big names that everyone's been talking about? They're doing a good job being a goalie.

I mean, there's definitely a lot of smoke about Anthony Richardson, and he had a great combine this week. I'm not sure he'll be there at seven. So I can see they have a strategy of a ball for himself. So I think at this point, if you want one of these top four guys, you got to get to probably six in the draft. And again, I'm not really saying who they like, but I think if they go the route and they move to five, they'll know they want one of those four guys. This regime, when you look at the coach and the general manager, what do they have to show this year in year number two, because a lot of people were done with them after year one?

Well, that's the beauty of drafting a quarterback, because he can buy for some more time. You can say you have a longer rope, and I think that is the thing, there's not really a lot of pressure this year. If you've got Tom Brady or Ed Rogers, all of a sudden there is some pressure, there is some expectations, there is some money spending on the old quarterbacks you have to win now. So I think that not being the case, I think these guys are in build it the right way mode.

They do the whole, you know, peaches, yada, yada, yada. So I think Mark Davis is cool with that, so I'm not sure there is a huge mandate to win this year. Was there shock inside the Raiders organization, or at least someone like you covering the team when Brady walked away? Because from a lot of what people were speculating, it seemed like that's where Brady was probably heading to this offseason. Yeah, I wouldn't say shock, I think that was always a plan, but you know, the guy was possibly retired last year, I think he maybe had some regret. Who knows, he could always come back here, rumors the combine about Miami still in play, so he's such a, both he and Rogers, it's hard to predict what they're going to do, they're definitely a unique character. So I wouldn't surprise anything that Tom Brady does, but I do think that I wasn't a big fan of that plan. I'd say again, I think it's putting a lot of eggs in the guy who was 45, and that's a lot to ask for a guy to come in and take over your offense and win now as a team that has a lot of holes on the roster. And then also, there's been a lot of reports out there, Vic Taffer, about maybe McDaniels being interested in Mac Jones, the two worked together when Jones was a rookie in New England two years ago, but it doesn't seem like the Patriots are interested in trading him, just what are you hearing on that front? Yeah, the reason you hear those things is because, I mean, it's clear when you talk to Dan about Mac Jones, he loves the guy, he gets all, his eyes get all kind of soft and he kind of gets that little smile going, and he clearly has feelings for the guy, so that's why everyone thinks it's a logical jump, but I do think the Patriots bringing in Bill O'Brien, they kind of decide that they want to go with Mac Jones, so I can't imagine they trade him, and I'm not sure what it would take to refer to the draft doc, but I don't think that's going to happen. Vic Taffer covers the Raiders for the athletic, we appreciate the time, thank you.

All right, bud. There you go, Vic Taffer joining us through a little QB carousel visiting with the Raiders. Marco Belletti is here before we get to his latest CBS Sports Radio update, we were talking earlier about Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley, franchise tag deadline is tomorrow at 4 p.m. Eastern.

What do you think ends up happening here? Is the tag going to Jones, do you think they got a long-term deal done, or does the tag go to Saquon? I think Jones gets done between now and 4 o'clock Eastern, yep, I think it gets done. Whether or not the Giants then use the tag on Saquon, I would imagine they would, and try to see if they can build with this in Dable in year two. I think that would be ideal for the Giants if what you just said happens tomorrow, that they get the deal done with Daniel Jones and they tag Saquon.

I know that this is now in the 11th hour, and deadlines, right, do make deals. I think that this is going to a tag tomorrow, I would probably say it's the non-exclusive tag, where he could go negotiate a deal somewhere else, and if you don't match it then you get the two first-round picks. For the Giants there's no harm because if you were going to trade Daniel Jones' offseason you're not getting two first-round picks, so that's what I think is going to happen, and then eventually at some point in the summer, before the deadline, they get a deal done. The problem with that though, and this is what I'm starting to come to realization, if Saquon hits the open market, I don't think Saquon Barkley will be back with the Giants. No, they're not, look, they tried from all the reports, and Joe Shane even said it, like hey, we talked during November, we tried to get something done, and from the reports are saying around $12 million, $12.5 million for Saquon, and he turned it down, the Giants aren't going there.

So if they can keep them at $10 million for one year and not have to invest anything long-term, I think they're willing to do that. That's part of the reason why I think that the Jones thing gets done. More importantly, with all the reports today, is the representatives are in New Jersey meeting face-to-face with the Giants, and they met face-to-face in the scouting combine in Indy. So if you've got that much going, and you're willing to do this, and Daniel Jones doesn't want to get it done, he doesn't want to do the tag either, because as much as you could say, well, they'll get it done after another month, once they tag them, I could see the Giants moving on, go look, we didn't do this, we're tagging you, we're moving on, let's figure out the rest of our roster, let's see what we're going to do, we'll have this discussion next year. If we can come up with it, great, but we need to get this done now, because once it changes, and once Barkley's out the window, they've got to basically readjust on the fly. And I don't know if they really want to deal with, then, the Jones contract.

That doesn't become pressing to them anymore. The other thing I'll say is if you're the Giants, would you do this? Let's say the deal doesn't get done for Jones. Let's say tonight they know the deal's not getting done, they're just too far apart, let's just say. Would you then tag Barkley and let Daniel Jones hit the open market and run that risk? I think there would be teams that would be interested, but run the risk that you would match whatever that deal is. Absolutely not.

No chance. To be honest, look, being a Giants fan, I could see bringing Barkley back on the tag at 10 million, I could see the value in that. I can also say, you know what, Saquon, it's been fun.

You know what? I've been healthy enough, though. No, I mean, we'll go into the draft and find one in the fifth round. I mean, look, I hate to say- Or you can trade for Derrick Henry, potentially. Yeah, see, that's the thing, though, but I don't think the Giants need one of the best five running backs in all of the NFL.

They don't need to do that, plus they've got some room in their cap, they don't have to go and sign anybody, they can find one. I don't want to dismiss how good some of these running backs are, but there's a reason why everybody talks about you can find a running back off a tree, it feels like, because there's guys that have tread on the tires at 23, 24 that you don't pay, and you can use them with three other guys and get it done. Look at the running backs that have gone in the first round. McCaffrey has been a stud, but he's struggled with injuries to stay healthy. Zeke Elliott, it looks like the Cowboys are either going to say, reconstruct your contract or we're just going to get rid of you, and Josh Jacobs went in the first round up until this past year. He looked like he was leaning more in the bus category, and I like Jacobs a lot, and he had a tremendous year this year, but they declined his fifth year option with the Raiders before the start of the season, and you see how many running backs have gone second round or later.

Dalvin Cook, Derrick Henry, Joe Mixon, Nick Chubb, and also you look at teams that win Super Bowls, like let's just look in the last 10 years, Chiefs running back by committee, Patriots running back by committee, Eagles when they won it, Corey Clement, and LeGarrette Blount, and Jay Ajayi, they got in the middle of the season, so you don't need a bell cow back anymore, you just need people that can pound the rock, and even if that's three guys that are just serviceable and they just rotate, hot potato, whoever has the hot hand, that's fine. And I think that, for me, I can see the Giants going that route, they can do, if Jones gets done, this is all about Daniel Jones, they've put all the eggs in there, so it's either get a long-term contract done and we move on from there and we figure out if we're gonna tag Saquon because they're not gonna get a long-term deal done with Saquon. So they tag him or he moves on. If they don't get the deal done with Jones, they're not gonna mess around, they want Jones, so they'll tag him, once they do that, then there is no avenue for Barkley to come back unless he says, you know what, I just really wanna be a Giant, I'll take 8 million, which is never gonna happen. Not gonna happen. And that's smart on Barkley's part. If this was 1980 and, right, the marketing power of New York and all that stuff, that would be fine.

Stop. But in the year of 2023, you take the most money and you get the same amount of marketing deals. And you're also a running back, where we're talking about, you know, running back by committee and they could follow up with you. Could be your last big contract. This is gonna be his only big contract. I mean, let's be fair, and you'd be lucky if you saw the end of it with the guaranteed money and whatever he's gonna wind up getting. So for the Giants, it makes sense if they tag him for one more year. Barkley doesn't wanna play on the tag. He obviously, the longer you go, the harder it is to get paid. Well, look at Le'Veon Bell.

That's what I mean. You get another year. The Le'Veon Bell thing, it changed everything because it made a message to running backs, go get your deal early. And then on the second part of that, like, what did Le'Veon Bell really accomplish? He sat out a year.

And... He got paid. Yeah, but it would have just been better off kicking the franchise tag and then walking the next year. He was never the same player ever again.

He wasn't. I mean, part of that was Adam Gase, but he was never the same player. Who's to say he would have been the same player if he'd have played that year? You know, is the year off really what took everything off of Le'Veon Bell? Or was it just to stand the test of time? Like, we'll never know that answer. But who's to say he took another 250 carries, he would have been better the next year?

Like, I find that a little difficult to believe too. So it just could have been the end for Le'Veon Bell. Probably could have got more money on the open market because he would have had success still in Pittsburgh that final year. Again, we don't know that, but he did get big money from the Jets. He never saw the end of that contract because he got cut before it ends. But that's for the NFL.

If you don't produce early, and even if you do, good chance you don't see the back end of that money because that's how they're constructed. And then the other thing I'll ask you, tomorrow Lamar Jackson, if they give him the non-exclusive franchise tag, I think that's the dumbest thing the Ravens can do. If they're gonna, you know they're gonna tag him, I'm not gonna get a deal done. It has to be exclusive because if you give them the non-exclusive tag and he gets that guaranteed deal or a deal with someone else and you don't match it, you're just losing for two first round picks. You got a lot more for Lamar.

Yeah, but you just said it and they don't match it. Maybe they're looking at it and going, you know what, Lamar? This is what we think it's worth. Go out there.

Go see what it is. Bring back the highest contract you can bring to us. Then we'll figure it out. Good chance the Ravens look at it and go, you know what? We'll match most likely whatever contract he gets and then he'll know he got the highest he could possibly get.

Maybe then he'll be happy. But the one thing is, if you're one of those teams, like let's say you're Atlanta, Carolina, the Jets, and you have to make that offer. You have to make that offer even higher, I think, higher than what you would even give him originally to try to incentivize the Ravens not to take the deal. And according to, I think it was Fowler, the last contract they gave him was $130 million guaranteed. That was the lie, only $130 million guaranteed. If I'm a Jets, the Panthers, or a team like the Falcons, you got to start with $200 million guaranteed. But at that rate, I would just give him the fully guaranteed deal, $230 million over five years, $250 million over five years, and say Ravens, all I have to give him is two first round picks for this guy because I don't think they would match that. Again, but if you're the Ravens, I wouldn't want to lose Lamar Jackson if I was Baltimore.

But it seems like they do. If you're telling me that someone's going to blow him out of the water to the point where you can't even match the contract, you now get two first round picks for it. But you get more if you just trade him. Where? For when?

Now? I don't believe that. You don't think if the Ravens said, we're going to work, we're going to franchise tag Lamar and... And then move him and then they got to figure out... And Lamar's going to, you sign the tag and then you go trade him. You don't think there, when you get a bidding war of teams, there's not going to be a team that exceeds two first round picks? Is that a contract done?

No. They would work and get the deal done before they trade. Again, I think you're kind of playing with fire. Jalen Ramsey and Adams got two first round picks. They didn't have contracts? You know what?

Maybe that's the case. I don't know. I feel like the Ravens, I almost are somewhat playing chicken with Lamar Jackson. Go out there and see if you can get, because I think they look at it and go, how many teams are really going to be willing to give him $230 million guaranteed and that we're not willing to give him that. I don't know if the Ravens are not willing to do that.

That's what I mean. What is Lamar Jackson asking for? What are the Ravens willing to do?

No, we don't know the answer to either one of those questions. I feel like the Ravens have, I mean, again, unless they're just flat out lying to us, which is definitely possible. Nothing shots anyone in the NFL. They might be looking at it and going, we want this deal, but you're being ridiculous if you think you're going to get $300 million guaranteed. So you know what? Go out there and get the highest you can get. If it's really something that we feel we can't swallow, we'll move on with the two first round picks and we'll go from there. If not, we'll sign that deal and you come on back and you get the money that you wanted. We'll get to the closing bell when we come on back. 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. It is early. I don't have high expectations moving forward into the future for the Saints and Derek Carr, but you look at that division, Kyle Trask could be starting right now for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, maybe Matt Corral with the Carolina Panthers and Desmond Ritter with the Falcons. That will change by the start of the season, but right now, the Saints are definitely the leader in the clubhouse for the NFC South. Stock up. Sounds more like a stock down to be honest with you, Hanky.

Sounds a little depressing, geez. Congratulations Saints fans. Remember I used to call the NFC East the NFC lease?

Yes. What's the NFC South? The NFC sucks? I don't know what the heck you would do with that one.

That might be the best one, honestly. South does not really rhyme with a lot of good words. NFC South sucks. That's it. Boom. John Jones made his heavyweight debut.

The legendary fighter in the UFC wins his heavyweight title in two minutes and four seconds the other night. Give a stock up to John Jones. Calvin Ridley reinstated, dark course to maybe reach the AFC title game, the Jacksonville Jaguars.

How about that for a March 6th take? I don't think it's even that bold, but the Jaguars should win 10 plus games this year and they can do some damage in the postseason. So I really like that roster a lot, anchored by the quarterback in Trevor Lawrence, the head football coach in Doug Peterson. And I'll give Trent Bulky a lot of credit.

People wanted him out. He did a great job getting Calvin Ridley. Give the Jaguars a stock up. Derrick Henry, the Titans are exploring trades for you.

You should be happy. You should have requested a trade last year when they traded AJ Brown. Give a stock up to King Henry. Out of bed, night for one Kevin Durant. They beat the Mavericks a buck 30 to 126, KD 12 of 17 from the field, 3 of 5 from behind the arc, had 37 points, made a big shot late, had 7 rebounds as well. Give KD a stock up. We will keep it in the NBA. LeBron out, Anthony Davis snaps the five game winning streak for the Golden State Warriors at 39 points. Lakers win, buck 13 to 105, give Anthony Davis a stock up. We will then go to the New York Knicks. Go New York, go New York, go!

Very catchy. Hopefully we'll survive the voice crack next time. They were down 17, no Jaylen Brunson in the game, and they find the way to beat the Boston Celtics 131 to 129 in double overtime. Give a stock up to the New York Knicks. The Baltimore Ravens, I don't get what you're doing with Lamar Jackson. If you slap the non-exclusive franchise tag on him, that's something I truly won't get.

This deal should already be done, but it's been a three year song and dance that looks like there is no finish line in sight that would be a positive one, so give the Ravens a stock down. Let's hear the Grizzlies head coach in Taylor Jenkins, John Marantz suspended for two games, probably will be more to that, and he reacts to, actually discusses how John Marantz, let's play cut nine, responded to his recent actions. He understands, you know, he's made some difficult decisions and poor choices in the past that he's got to account for, and that's why, you know, you see in his statement it speaks for itself that he understands he's got to get help to get into a better place, not just for himself, but also for his team, and, you know, he's definitely embracing, you know, the mistakes that he's made, but only time will tell, we're going to support him, as I said, and we're going to hold him accountable to make those changes.

So I saw a lot of this when I was in Barcelona, just reading it from afar, and it just kept on getting worse and worse by the day. He was accused of getting in a fight with a teenager during a pickup game, now this was a while ago, and flashing a gun at him, supposedly the teenager threw a basketball at him, and Marantz was also accused of threatening a security guard at a Memphis mall during an altercation in the parking lot. The guard filed an incident report saying one person in Marantz's group shoved him in the head, the report alleges that Marantz told the security guard, let me find out what time he gets off, and then, I'm just reading this a few moments ago from Shams, that the Grizzlies had a player-only meeting to discuss the off-the-court discipline, road discipline, with Steven Adams leading the charge per Shams Harani, and then after the meeting, that's when John Marantz still went out to party at the club, which led to the gun incident where he's flashing a gun on Instagram Live. And that even leads now into this investigation by the Colorado police, ESPN says Colorado is an open carry state, although there are exceptions to the law, including the carrying of a firearm on federal property, it is illegal in Colorado to possess a firearm under the influence of alcohol, and he was at a gentleman's club, so you could use your imagination of what was going on there, but it's in the NBA CBA, you can't bring a firearm on any NBA, what is it, sanctioned, like, kind of property, playing, and also at the practice facility, is that the right way to say it, yep, he gives me the thumbs up. So this is an ugly, ugly situation for John Marantz, even Taylor Jenkins, the coach of the Grizzlies, pretty much alluded to, it's probably more than two games, so give a stock down to John Marantz. And finally, Jackson Mahomes, I saw according to the Kansas City Star, and I did see this video and it was very cringe-worthy, Jackson Mahomes allegedly shoved a 19-year-old male waiter multiple times and forcibly kissed the 40-year-old female owner of the Aspen restaurant and lounge, so Jackson Mahomes kind of all wish he would go away, but this was really, really, really bad look for him, give him a stock down. Patrick Mahomes probably calls his brother and says, what are you doing? Alright, good show today, good to be back from Barcelona, big thanks to Vic Tafer, Mraz as well, Hickey, great job as always, we'll talk to you tomorrow, Gloria will join us 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific, we out, bye-bye, peace!