Desperate Dallas (Hour 2)

Alright, it's that Gelb show, Coast to Coast on CBS Sports Radio. Let's hear from Jerry Jones. He says Dak Prescott needs to be healthy.

Listen up. What we're trying to do is make Dak more available, which if you look at the last three years he needs to be more available. And for everything we're doing and feel good about in this offensive line should make him more available. And let's also hear Mike McCarthy who emphasizes that Dak Prescott needs to play a full season.

We'll be different in some things, but it'll be about protecting him better. My goal is for Dak to play 20 games next year. And if he plays 20 games next year, obviously we'll be right where we want to be. Now, 20 games for Dak Prescott next year. That's kind of comical because I get it you're the coach and you're going to say, all right, you have the 17 regular season games and then you have a bye and then you have the three games and you win the division round, the NFC title game and the Super Bowl.

Like what world, though, do we live in, Hickey? And that's my biggest takeaway from that. I'll get to my biggest takeaway in a second.

And what else are you going to say? I get it when you're the coach of the football team. But this idea that the Cowboys are going to the Super Bowl this year, like, can we just stop there? I know you should dream big.

I know you should think big. But how about you find a way to not embarrass yourself in back to back years in the postseason? You practically threw a parade because you beat the pathetic Tampa Bay Buccaneers and it was Party City USA. And now all of a sudden or the next week, you don't have your quarterback play well in Dak Prescott.

It's like. I know each and every year the Cowboys do this. We're two years ago, right? Jerry Jones was in Oxnard and he was holding up the trophy and they gave him like some award or something. And he's like, oh, I'm practicing the Super Bowl trophy. And now we don't even have training camp start yet.

We don't even have organized team activities. And we have Mike McCarthy. My goal is to have Dak Prescott play 20 games that year. Like, come on. Just stop with this Super Bowl stuff.

Stop. I know it's your goal. I know it's your dreams. I know it's your aspirations.

How about we just see you guys at NFC title game first? OK, because since 1995, this organization keeps on telling you how great they are and how awesome they are and how unbelievable they are. And time and time again, when the moment is the brightest hickey. They just projectile vomit and they pee down their leg in the biggest spot.

Yes, they do. But it's like, again, what else is like to say, like, oh, you know, I hope we make the playoffs. Geez, I hope we win a playoff game. Well, then, Mike, you're fired.

You don't believe this team and boom, you're fired. So you always, especially now in March, hope springs eternal. You're talking about Super Bowl. You live. McCarthy's living where I am. You know McCarthy's fantasy world.

McCarthy. It's it's pretty much like January 1st. Right. And it's like, all right, my New Year's resolution is I'm going to the gym six out of the seven days of the week. And then and then a month later, like maybe you participate that or maybe not for McCarthy, if you see this photo of him the other day, but like maybe the first two weeks you participate that way and then afterwards, whatever your New Year's resolution was just goes right out the window. I'd argue it's even like November, December. Oh, OK. Come the new year. I'll work out.

So you push it off because, you know, it gets down the road. It's March right now. And I got to worry about training camp. So, of course, we're talking Super Bowl. Then when the season comes, it's I'm sure those home of moral victories and how winning one playoff game is a success, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

But yeah, now on March 29th, why the hell? Why not talk about the Super Bowl? But also I'm confused a little bit because remember when Jerry Jones said he doesn't go all in in one off season, it's about the long term building of the Dallas Cowboys. Well, if they're long term building just at this Super Bowl, are they even ready to go win a Super Bowl yet? Or is that even a realistic goal right now if they are long term building for the Dallas Cowboys?

This is a big building process that's been going on since 1995. You know, are they even equipped to go to a Super Bowl? You know, Jerry Jones, he hated the way the Eagles built their roster. They did it in a very, very poor way. They went all in in 2022, and now they're going to go right down to the dredges after their one and done, quote, unquote, year that they went all in on, according to Jerry Jones.

And here's the funny part of this. I actually think the Cowboys made some good moves this offseason. I like them bringing in Brandon Cooks.

I thought that was a really sharp move for that team after I didn't love it. I know they did it for salary reasons, them getting rid of Amari Cooper and basically getting nothing back. So I thought bringing in Brandon Cooks will help that team. I know they lose Dalton Schultz and we'll see what happens at the tight end spot. And you're able to bring back Tony Pollard. Now, when is he going to get back on the field?

But I did say this to you, and I don't think I'd be thrilled about it, but I don't think it's the worst thing in the world. I did say this to you the day that Ezeke Elliott got cut. Don't be surprised if Zeke winds up back in the Dallas Cowboys and Jerry Jones even kind of floated that idea in a very vague way out there the other day when he was speaking.

And I'll give credit to you when that report came out last week that it was from Schefter that Zeke is down to three teams. It was the Bengals, the Jets and was it Buffalo? I think it was Buffalo. The Bengals, Jets, Eagles. Oh, Eagles.

Thank you. Bengals, Jets and Eagles. Those are the three teams that came out. The Bengals coach, Zach Taylor, basically said, yeah, that's not happening. And didn't one other team, I think, deny that as well?

Robert Sala basically echoed the same message. We're good with what we got. So maybe it is Philadelphia, but then if you're Jerry, do you want to go see him play in Philly? If it's a cheap one year deal, don't you then just say, okay, we'll give you like $500,000 more and you come back to Dallas. Jerry wants to pay. Jerry is like friends with these players. He's friends with Dak Prescott, and that's why there's not as much pressure on Dak as other court or we perceive he likes Dak. He loves Zeke. When they got that contract done, there's no one on the planet happier than Jerry Jones. It's almost like he lets his heart get in the way of his head. Yeah, he got the salt shaker out and he was throwing on the McDonald's sandwich that he eats in the morning, which was, that was just repulsive. Maybe that's the key to longevity.

I mean, I always thought it'd be the opposite of like oatmeal, kale in the morning, you know, something, a smoothie, maybe not a McDonald's breakfast sandwich, but... Or the key to a lot of gas. Well, that's true, too. You never know. Maybe that's why the owner's box is usually empty. You never know.

Or it attracts Chris Christie there. You never know when it comes to that type of things, because there's some people, like I have one friend who is the most unhealthy person I've ever encountered. Like just does not take care of his body, just drink so much, eat so much. Like he has even said to me, I only think I'm living at 50, so I'm going to live this life as it is. And there is no doubt that that guy in my mind is going to live till he's 90.

There's no doubt in my mind. And then it's like, OK, you have someone that is in healthy shape and that person, unfortunately, like pass away at 65. Like that happens all the time. We kind of talk about this in my family, where my mom, she is like an exercise nut, where she will go on all these walks, these bike rides, she'll go to the gym. And my dad does nothing physical, like for physical activity. And we like kind of joke all the time, like mom should outlive dad, but watch dad will outlive mom. Like a morbid conversation. But I'm sure people will have to have morbid conversations with families. That they do. And yes, you're right. Jerry Jones is probably not living the exact ideal pinnacle of health. That's working so far. But he's what, 82?

Something like that and functioning very well. Jerry Jones is 80. 80. Turns 81 in October. So I don't think after the segment we're going to get invited, by the way, to his 81st birthday.

I would agree. Do you have an 81st birthday? You can't have an 81st.

Why not? At that point, you just got to go the milestones. 80. I disagree with you. You want to go 85? Okay.

100% disagree with you. You know, every five years when you get, I would say past 65. You want to do it every five years? No, you're wrong.

It's the reverse of that. When you're younger, I think it's less important. Yes, because you don't know how many more birthdays you're going to have. So I think it's important to celebrate that. Like, for example, are you telling me this weekend I shouldn't celebrate my grandfather's 96th birthday? You can celebrate. I'm not saying not celebrate. To have a big blowout, you're saying we're not going to get invited to Jerry Jones' 81st birthday. When you're rich and you have that much money? For your 81st birthday. I think you go... You blow out at 80 to 85.

Stop. Get a celebration between. So you're fine if you had like a 27th big birthday party, but at 81.

Oh, yeah, that's disgrace. No, I think after 25. Or really, 21. It's the milestones every other five years. We're actually our age. It's really every 10 years. So when you're spitting on yourself and you're 92, I'm not throwing you a party.

That's okay. I'm not saying not celebrate. I'm saying a big blowout. Like you're going to have people over. Oh, this is grandpa's 85th birthday.

You know, that's a nice round number. So you don't get the entire Jerry Jones family together for that? You can get the Jerry Jones family around.

I'm saying like a big blowout party where the team's invited, where you're renting out a thing. You're not going to do it for 81. You have no fun. You have no fun. I have fun.

I'm just talking about from the people that have fun. It's like, OK, 81. It's still a nice number, but that's an impressive round number where it's like 85. Wow. Okay. Eighty five. That's a nice number. Okay. Seventy five. Nice number.

So this summer we should not celebrate your birthday at all. I am. Yeah. 27. That were twenty nine turning twenty nine. You're twenty nine.

Not that big of a deal. Okay. So our age, it's 30, 40, 50, 60.

So we don't have to celebrate your birthday or even acknowledge your birthday till you're 30. That's fine. I'm not saying that. I'm not saying acknowledge.

You can acknowledge it. But I'm not having a big celebration. I'm not having a big party. I'm not inviting everyone I know for, you know, this big gathering for, oh, it's a big twenty nine. Because you're not social. I'm social. I like to have a good time. I don't have to be the center of attention because, oh, it's my twenty ninth birthday.

That's a milestone birthday. I'm not saying you have to be the center of attention. But if you wanted to go rent a bar out in New York City and invite like 40, 50 people, I think that's fine. I think that's a good excuse to go have a big night out in the town in New York City instead of just sitting on your couch and sending out these hot takes about the Indianapolis Colts. Well, you can drink at a bar and rent at a bar any time, any weekend you want.

Thanks. Just to go to if I was invited so much. Do you have that money to do that? Man, I got to start hanging out with Hickey more. And also when you're Jerry Jones, you have all the money in the world.

You get out of bed and you talk to someone. Oh, all right, let's throw a party. That'd be my lifestyle, especially when you have that yacht. I'd be throwing parties on that all the time. Maybe that's why the Cowboys can't get over the hump and get to the Super Bowl or win more than one playoff game. I don't have anything to do with it because all those owners party. All that.

You have no clue what you're talking about. John Mara is not partying. Jim Mercy at this point in his life. Oh, yeah, because he's already partied enough.

That's well, yeah. He ran out of parties, but you don't think Jim Mercy loves going to some of these parties? He absolutely does. Is Arthur Blank partying every single weekend? I don't think so.

He shows up to the party way too early and he goes right down there and he's the center of attention. Absolutely. Is Woody Johnson throwing parties left and right?

I don't think so. You have no clue what you're doing. I think I'm so right on this. You've never been more wrong on something in your life.

I think I'm spot on. I've actually been it at an owner's party before the commissioners party at the Super Bowl. That's an event. All these owners love to party. They all love to party because they're rich and they and they have a lot of money to spend. So they love to outdo one another in terms of the party scene.

Who's it? Robert Kraft's what, 82? How that guy does his party? I think your definition of party then is off. They don't have the stamina to be partying every weekend.

Robert Kraft's married to like a 50 year old and he hangs out with Michael Rubin all the time. They. You have no clue what you're talking about. I am so right on this.

You just say. I guarantee you most Saturdays. You're so wrong. Robert Kraft is at home chilling. He's not parties out of the clubs. He's not getting drunk.

He's not needing to get dragged out of there every single weekend. Waking up on Sunday, hungover, doing it all over again the following weekend. You have rich people parties. There's different party once a year.

The Super Bowl. Absolutely. OK. Is John there tearing it up every single weekend? No shot. OK, so Stephen Ross, who literally was at a party trying to get Tom Brady on a boat.

Yeah. That guy doesn't party. He doesn't usually do that every weekend. I don't think so. I think it's a special case.

You get Tom Brady. But then you spin that argument to every weekend. No, he's not doing every weekend. You said they're partying all the time.

They do. They party all the time. That's not every weekend.

All the time is at least twice a month. I guarantee you they're at a social function that is extravagant and elegant at least at least twice a month. Do you know how many big events these guys get invited to all the time just because they're rich? Is that partying? That's not really partying. Your definition is you don't know rich people partying. That's not really partying. Your definition is going to some club and going to like a hookah bar, a karaoke bar. We're talking about these rich people. They love to go to these events. They love to be the center of attention.

Everyone has parties with the same definition of going out there, having a good time, having some few drinks, socializing, maybe dancing a little bit. You're embarrassing yourself. You're telling me Mark Davis doesn't go out with that disgusting hairdo that he has? Who's he going out with? All the time the guy goes out. You see that hair? Santa ran into him at the draft like he checked into the party on a Wednesday at like three in the morning.

Three in the morning and he runs into Mark Davis in the lobby. In those instances, absolutely I could see that. And the owners meetings this week, are they going out all the time? Absolutely.

I don't think all the time. Stop. Not at all. Stop. You have no clue what you're talking about. You're embarrassing yourself with each and every second you continue to spew this nonsense on this show.

I will not make the listening audience continue to just hear your ridiculousness and your jackassery. So let me just say one final thing before we get to Glenn Mack now, going back to Dak Prescott. The Cowboys keep on saying he needs to be healthy, needs to be healthy.

Not wrong. Like you want your quarterback to be healthy. You don't want him to keep on piling up injuries because then you wonder how much longer his body can hold up. But Dak's been there healthy for the playoffs. They've been fine in the regular season with and without Dak Prescott. I think the biggest thing, Hickey, for the Cowboys is they need Dak Prescott to earn his contract in the postseason. Because two years ago, Dak Prescott was horrible on that final drive up against the 49ers.

They couldn't get the ball snapped. And then last year, throwing big interceptions in big spots when the defense did the job. I need Dak to rise to the occasion in the big moment. That to me is the biggest issue with the Dallas Cowboys. Their quarterback's not doing that right now.

Yeah, for Hickey, I'd say healthy. Who cares if he misses a few games in September? If he's not playing well in the playoffs, which he's really never played well at any point in his career.

Outside of Tampa. Maybe the one game against Tampa, which again is a team that's below 500 that barely made the playoffs for the benefit of a terrible division. Then yeah, there's nothing really to celebrate and that's not a quarterback that you feel good about. Jerry Jones, again, and Mike McCarthy seem to be infatuated with Dak and overlook that. They were more worried about his health in September than they are about his play in January, which again is the reason why the Cowboys are where they are. Nowhere close to a Super Bowl. All right, QB Carousel time next.

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That's Indochino.com promo code PODCAST. We'll give you an opportunity to spin this wheel right here. Let's spin the wheel and find out which teams we hit today. The Philadelphia Eagles. Glenn Macknow has been at Sports Radio 94 WIP forever.

He does a great job on the official Eagles post pregame show and he joins us right now. Glenn, when we look at the Eagles quarterback in Jalen Hurts, he made a huge statement this year, one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL. How do you look back about a month or two removed from the Super Bowl about what he was able to accomplish this year?

Well, Zach, it was absolutely tremendous. You know, going into last year, there was a lot of uncertainty as to what he would be. The Eagles committed to him for last year. But if you recall, they made those trades for future draft picks basically as insurance if he wasn't going to work. They got that pick from the Saints. Turns out to be the 10th pick this year. The thinking, hey, if we've got to go get a quarterback next year, let's have the resources to do it. Well, the good news is the kid was phenomenal, exceeded all expectations, and the Eagles can now use those picks elsewhere. And you hope you think that they have their next quarterback for the next five, seven, nine years. We've been wrong on that issue before, but I think they got the right guy. Is there still some concern just because of there was a moment like you were alluding to where Wentz was the talk of the town, would have won the MVP?

Or is this just different? Because I really do think the most impressive part about Hertz is his leadership and the way he conducts himself. Yeah, I absolutely agree with you. It's his mental makeup. He's a really smart kid.

He's an amazingly driven, hard worker. Unlike Carson Wentz, he is very popular with his teammates and he has shown the sign of being a real leader. Now, I was kind of being flippant in making the reference to Wentz. I said Hertz, didn't I?

Excuse me. He's an entirely different human being than Carson Wentz. And there is the only potential doubt you have about Jalen Hertz is whether his playing style gets him injured.

That's really the only thing you could say you're a little bit worried about. Glenn Macknow here with us. When you look back at the Super Bowl, what still stands out to you from that game? Because up by 10, I'm in the building and I know it's Mahomes and we've seen all these comebacks by the Chiefs.

I'm thinking, wow, they're really going to do this. Oh, you had to go there, right? You had to stick me with that. So there's a couple of things that still occur to me. One is when the Eagles had the opportunity to go for a touchdown and settle for a field goal.

I think a lot of people, including A.J. Brown on the team, by the way, who said it afterwards, thought we might have lost the game right here. That was one. And the other one, and I sure don't mean to make this sound like sour grapes or complaining about the referees, but the holding call late in the game on Bradbury ended any chance the Eagles had to win that game. It was a call the refs had let go all day. They decided, much like the NCAA game last weekend, they decided to call it right at the end. I'm not one to complain about refs, but my basic philosophy is if you're going to call it one way, you call it that way the whole game.

You don't change it at the end, for good or bad. It's the consistency, and that was the frustrating part, like you just said, because you look back at that game for San Diego State up against Creighton, that wasn't a foul throughout the entire game, and then in 10 seconds left, okay, you call it. Yeah, sure, Bradbury, it was a hold, but it wasn't being called that way all throughout the game. Yeah, and we'll remember that.

I mean, we'll remember. Hertz was terrific, but his fumble that was returned for a touchdown, that was also a bit of a dagger. And the defense just didn't show up. Say what you want about the turf, but the defense was horrendous. Yeah, the turf was bad, and the turf hurt the Eagles, it hurt both teams, and the defense was terrible. The Eagles defense was very good all year.

Fans didn't like Jonathan Gannon, the defensive coordinator, throughout because he played kind of a soft shell, and in that particular game it really hurt him. So, Jonathan Gannon is gone, we have a new defensive coordinator, we'll see how that works. When you take a glance at the running back room, I know Miles Sanders had a really good year last year, the best year of his career. They bring in Rashad Penny, still have Kenneth Gainewell and Boston Scott. Are there any expectations from this running back room this year? I think the biggest expectation is the Eagles are going to add another running back in the draft. Now, I don't think it's going to be in the first round, although a lot of people are saying, hey, you got that number 10 pick, you get the best running back in the draft.

I don't think they're going to do that. But I would expect them to do what they have done a lot in the past, which is use a pick third, fourth round, get somebody. Gainewell was a middle round pick, they've done it a lot.

I'm pretty certain they're going to add at least one more running back. I love Rashad Penny when he can play, and last year it was five games, and the year before that it might have been seven games. Behind this offensive line, jeez, what did he average last year? Six yards of carry, behind this offensive line he could average eight.

But you got to be healthy or it doesn't really work. What did you learn about Nick Sirianni last year at Glenn Macknell? I learned that he was better at adjusting than I thought he would be. One of the things that he did that I really respect is he decided late season before to hand over play calling to his offensive coordinator. By the way, the Eagles will have a different offensive coordinator this year. The quarterback's coach has gotten promoted. But when he did that, I think a lot of people saw it as a sign of weakness. I did not. I actually saw it as a sign of a guy confident in himself that he can say, I trust my offensive coordinator to call the plays.

I want to be the guy who's always there looking at the big picture. I don't want to have my nose stuck in a play chart. I'm not ripping Andy Reid, he just won another Super Bowl, but a la Andy Reid. I think Nick is a guy who showed this last season that throughout games he's on top of it all the time. And I've known a lot of coaches get lost in the middle of the game.

He didn't. I don't think the Eagles got a call for a delay a game all season. That's pretty damn impressive and that's what the coach is doing. Is there concern with Steichen and Gannon no longer being there just because of the change on both sides of the ball?

Sure, because change can work and it cannot. I think Steichen is more popular than Gannon, more respected than Gannon. But Brian Johnson, who was the quarterback's coach, who's known Jalen Hurts since college, who's got a great reputation, who I imagine the Eagles would have lost if they didn't promote him. There's a lot of reason to believe he's going to be good. Defense with the size, it's an unknown. And the Eagles lost a lot of talent on defense in the offseason. When you win the Super Bowl and you have a lot of guys on short-term contracts, that happens. Starting with Jevon Hargrave, the defense of the great defensive tackle, who they lost. Troncie Gardner-Johnson, they lost.

DJ Edwards, they lost. So the concern with the defensive coordinator is that he's just not going to have as much talent to work with. He's going to have to make things happen and the young kids who they drafted last year are going to have to step up and play well. I just look at this conference, Glenn Mack, now.

I think we can maybe help you navigate through some of that change. I know the division is getting better and better, but this conference, there's not a lot to really look at and be worried about. The 49ers, sure. Great roster, but I don't even know who's going to play quarterback for them. I don't think they know who's going to play quarterback, Zach.

Yeah, you're right. It's an easier conference than the AFC. I think the Cowboys might be better, but I... But they'll be frauds come postseason time. Yeah, I was going to say, I can always count on them to fall apart. Washington, who knows what they're going to be, whether they're sold. They're going to probably be a mess. Giants will be better, but the Eagles certainly have the most talent in the division and probably again in the conference.

So, yes. I don't know that the Eagles are going to go 14-3 again. The over-under on the Eagles is 10.5. I would take the over on that right now. That's why I love Glenn Makda.

You already have the over-under on the Eagles as we're sitting here on March 29th. Do you have a plate of bacon and a beer sitting next to you as well, Glenn? Well, the beer, yes.

I am heavily invested in beer. The bacon, I've given up. I'm trying, Zach, since you've known me, going back to your days at Temple, I'm trying to eat a little bit healthier than I used to.

Just a little bit. What was that, like 45 straight days of bacon you had? We did a who-made-the-best-bacon creation in Philadelphia, and I think you got it exactly right. We did 45 bacon things in 45 days from bacon milkshakes to bacon wrapped around scallops. It was pretty good.

Those were fun days. I may sue you because I think you clogged a few of my arteries when you gave me all that bacon. Hey, you did well, man.

You held up your end. Last thing that I'll ask you. How many quarterbacks in football right now would you rather have over Jalen Hartz?

Ooh, that's a great question. All right, so Mahomes. Maybe Josh Allen, but you know what? I wouldn't trade him for Allen only because I know that Jalen works really well here.

So I would say definitely two. Mahomes and Burrow. Allen is a pick'em. Again, if I'm the Bills, I'm not training Allen for Hertz, and if I'm the Eagles, I'm not training Hertz for Allen.

That's probably bad. The kid on the Chargers is good, but hasn't shown it yet. I don't know. Am I leaving anybody out? I think that's my list, unless I forget somebody. The only one I think you could also bring up potentially is Trevor Lawrence, but Hertz has showed more in the league than Trevor Lawrence. Yeah, Trevor Lawrence maybe, but not yet. Not yet. How about Lamar?

No, no, no, no. And by the way, boy, Lamar needs better advice than what he's doing. He is costing himself money week in, week out, year in, year out. I know he's his own agent, and it's like being your own lawyer. Sometimes it's not a good idea. Well, the tricky part there, and like as someone that has an agent, and I'm not comparing myself to Lamar, when you get in contract negotiations, I don't hear all the crap my employer is saying to my agent, because they just bring me in in the 11th hour.

And the part here, it's personal for Lamar, because he's getting told all the reasons why he shouldn't get this money. And that's why you always have somebody who's a buffer. You gotta have a buffer. Good work by you. Well, I learned from the best.

Glenn Mack now. Appreciate the time. Thank you. Zach, it's my pleasure. Love listening to you. Be well, my friend. You got it.

Thanks so much. There is Glenn Mack now, been doing radio in Philadelphia before Hickey and I were even born. Maybe even since Zach has been born as well, potentially. No, actually, I'm old. All right, maybe when Ack was in high school. Diapers maybe, yes.

When you were at Diaper Dandy, how about that? You're listening to The Zach Gelb Show. All right, Zach Gelb Show, CBS Sports Radio.

You can think of O'Reilly Auto Parts where car care needs get guaranteed low, low, low, low, low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. I will tell you who the publication is in just a second because it would potentially or definitely give away the answer. But the Baltimore Ravens, Hickey, actually had an offer out there to another quarterback this offseason. Do you have any idea who that quarterback could be?

Who the Ravens had a conversation with? Ben Roethlisberger. No. Phil Rivers. No.

Going too old school here. Josh Rosen. Josh Rosen.

No, I just thought, sorry, I wasn't expecting A for you to mention that name and B, I thought it was funny that you go from Big Ben, legendary quarterback, Philip Rivers, arguably a Hall of Fame quarterback, and then Josh Rosen, who if the Hall of Fame was based off how many teams you could play for or at least get signed by, then Josh Rosen would have a chance for a Hall of Fame. I don't even, where the heck is Josh Rosen now? I think he's available, which is why he kind of popped in my head. I don't believe he's under contract anymore. Just last year, Josh Rosen was on the Browns and the Vikings.

Just last year. So, no, he was on the Browns. He was signed to a one-year contract and he got cut in August and then he signed to their practice squad and then was released in October and then in late in December, he signed with Minnesota. So he's available, but not the guy you're talking about.

Not the guy. The Ravens reportedly tried to sign this quarterback, but the quarterback declined the offer and joined another team. Jacoby Brissett. Good guess. No.

Marcus Mariota. No. Good guess. It's a bigger name. Gardner Minshew.

No. It's a big name. That's not a big name.

The only reason Gardner Minshew is a big name is because he has a mustache. I have no idea. No idea? I think you're going to be shocked by this one. Jimmy G. No. Derek Carr. No. I'm out. I don't know.

Nothing. You basically went through every quarterback but one. Matt Ryan.

No. Does he even classify as a quarterback anymore? Is he trying to play?

Colts killed him. Is he trying to play? I don't know.

I don't think so. I mean, he's out there. He's free if anyone wants to sign him, but I think he may be more focused on broadcasting.

I'll try to give you a clue. This guy, when it comes this fall, I just want to make sure this is right, will have played for four teams come this fall. He's on a team now.

Sam Donald. No. Baker Mayfield.

Yes. The Baltimore Ravens, according to joebucksfan.com. They made an offer to new Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield and Mayfield declined the offer.

How about that? Imagine if you're the Ravens and you gave an offer to Baker Mayfield this offseason and currently Anthony Brown and Tyler Huntley are under contract. And let's just say you get to a point where you realize you have to trade Lamar, whether that you just get back to two first round picks or you work out your own deal. But let's just say that they don't get a quarterback right away back in the deal. Not that I think you're you would be thrilled about having Baker, but you could have a lot of worse options when it comes to basically your quarterback getting hurt and then having to play your backup quarterback. That would be the equivalence if you had to lose Lamar Jackson at some point this offseason. Plenty, plenty of worse backups, that's for sure. How do you think Lamar would have taken that?

Not well. Yeah, I would probably say you're right just because it's like another distraction or it's another sign for Lamar. You're bringing in Baker. Like, why do you have to bring in Baker if you're really committed to me? Why would you bring in a backup quarterback that it's at in some way, whether it's him or not would be viewed as a distraction. Also, he's totally different than the offense you run. So Anthony Brown and Tyler Huntley are in the Lamar Jackson mold. Baker Mayfield is not. So why are you going to bring in a quarterback, a backup quarterback? They have to drastically change the offense for if Lamar gets hurt.

But it's just, it's yeah, if I was Lamar, I would read that as, okay, I'm on my way out of here. It's kind of funny though, that they made an offer to him. Now, like, who knows what the offer was? He got in Tampa like a one year deal, what for 8 million? I think it was. Is that with incentives?

Is that that eight outright? I think base, I believe with more incentives to come if he plays well. Which for a backup quarterback is, I know he's their starting quarterback this year, but for a guy that is perceived now as a backup quarterback, that's really nothing.

That's not a lot of money. So I don't know, like, was the Ravens offer one year, 5 million? But from Baker's side of it, you're not guaranteed to be the starter in Baltimore.

And he made a smart move in betting that some other team would sign him where there's a much better chance of him being a starter. Like, I would venture to say that he's going to be the starting quarterback in Tampa Bay. I would be surprised that if Kyle Trask is a starting quarterback.

And also, what is a make or break year for Todd Bowles? Not that I think there's any expectations for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but if you're Todd Bowles, would you rather go down swinging with Baker Mayfield or Kyle Trask? The odds are that probably both quarterbacks will end up playing at some point, but you got to start the season with Baker Mayfield.

Without a doubt. If you're Baker, you can't assume Lamar's going to be traded or hurt. So you're signing a backup deal in Baltimore, and maybe knowing Baker's luck has not been the best. You go to Baltimore expecting Lamar to be traded or hurt. He's back in Baltimore on a long-term deal, and he plays all 17 games, and now you're sitting there collecting a paycheck, not playing, getting further from people's minds. No, you may be able to expect him to be hurt.

Right? That's in your line of thinking that you can't trust him to stay healthy. Yeah, I wouldn't, but I'm just saying Baker's luck has not been very good. Knowing Baker, you're sitting there banking on an injury, and it doesn't happen. Has Baker's luck really been that bad? He's in Cleveland, had a really good year, and then he got hurt, and the team wanted to go for Deshaun Watson, and also really the end of Baker Mayfield in Cleveland was him not being able to get along with Odell Beckham. And then he goes to Carolina late in the process, and that wasn't a great situation. And then you go to the Rams, okay, you got Sean McVay, you look competent at times. I wouldn't say that Baker Mayfield's had bad luck in the NFL, he just hasn't been able to be consistent.

You want to make or break a year after you go to the second round of the playoffs in 2020 and win a playoff game for the first time in our lifetime. You get hurt. You know, you get hurt week two after playing, I would say pretty well, week one against the Chiefs. It's tough, that's injury luck is part of it, but it's unfortunate. If he didn't get hurt that year, what do you think his career is?

Do you think he's still in Cleveland if he didn't get hurt that year? I do. You do? Yes.

Here's the thing, though. If that's the case, and I admire someone playing, he played almost every game, right? I think the only game missed was that Thursday night when he re-injured against the Cardinals when J.J. Watt landed on his left shoulder, and then that Thursday night game a few days later, he did not play.

Lamar's on to something. If you don't have 100 percent PCL or close to it, I know it's a different injury here, doing a little bit of a disservice to the team and then also yourself at times, too. Now, I do think there's a difference in knowing you're not always going to be 100 percent, but clearly to some level it was affecting his play. That's the great mystery in Cleveland because we haven't seen him really do much else since then, knowing how much of it was the injury and how much was it him just not being as good as he was the year before.

Offense based off a good offensive line and being a run first team, too. I mean, for everything you hear and watching him, I would say a lot of it in 2021 was the injury. I don't know.

I genuinely do not know. And again, it goes back to he fought through it and hurt him. Lamar didn't play.

He's getting criticized for it. You can't win either way. That's what it comes down to.

Either way, you can't win. 100 percent. By the way, I know he said this a few days ago, but when Luka Doncic basically said he's not having like any fun anymore playing basketball. I look at that situation. In Dallas, where they're on the verge of not even making the playing tournament, and this is a team that was in the Western Conference finals last year. I think that's a message, and I do believe that Mark Cuban is a good owner, but that's a message, I think, to Mark Cuban. Remember, I know you signed me to one deal. If you want me to stick around after that deal, or if you don't want me to request a trade, you got to go fix this situation this offseason. And it's kind of crazy that Jalen Brunson, them not giving him that contract, really did screw over that team. Because Kristaps didn't work out, and now he's with the Wizards.

You had Jalen, who was really strong last year in the playoffs. He had a chance multiple times to get a deal done. He ends up exploding in the postseason, getting a bigger deal with the familiarity of the Rose family as well. They were definitely going to bank on him with how close the Rose family and the Brunson families are.

It's kind of wild, though. Like if I were to say this three years ago, you'd never believe me. That eventually getting Kyrie into Dallas, and I know it was before the year, Jalen Brunson leaving, may be the reason why a few years from now, Luca's like, yeah, I'm just done with this organization. Because this team has really fallen, and I know they're playing right now up against the Sixers in Philadelphia. And it's really a shame, because Luca should be a Maverick for his entire career, but he is a mega star. If they don't fix this next year, like if they're not vastly improved next year, I think that's the beginning of the end of Luca Doncic's time with the Dallas Mavericks.

Potentially. I mean, look, Mark Cuban, he's tried at least. I think that could help keep Luca in Dallas, because at least it's not one of those things where your owner is not all in and trying to win a championship. Mark Cuban is definitely all in and trying to win a championship. The issue is Mark Cuban, in terms of player selection, and making trades has been awful and swung and missed in every single one he's made so far, and it's hurting them still. To this day where it hurts your ability to make more trades, hurts your ability to draft the next guy next to Luca, they've dug themselves deep in a hole of aggressiveness, and it's not good right now. Well, you could try to pass the test, and I think we all appreciate people trying to pass the test.

You're not going to get the diploma if you don't pass the test. And that's what's happening right now in wanting to keep Luca Doncic there. And remember, he has a player option. I think it's for that 2026-2027 season. But just because that seems that far away does not mean that you can't request a trade sooner.

And I'm usually someone that advocates. I know Dallas is a big market, but you don't think of them as like a legendary basketball team. That I would prefer Luca to stay where he is. But if you don't end up being like the Bucks where Middleton develops, and then also you go get your holiday, then it's going to be tough to keep Luca.