Lamar Jackson Requests A Trade (Hour 1)

Live from the police show, yet not overly ostentatious, studios of CBS Sports Radio here in beautiful New York City, sitting on top of the 10th floor, 345 Hudson Street. Welcome on into another week, a Monday edition of the Zach Gelb show across all the 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. And you could 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. Coming up, in an hour 20 from now, Michael Forrest is going to stop by part of the FAU men's basketball team as the Owls, how about that, of Florida Atlantic are dancing to the final four as a nine seed. What a story, Michael. Over the weekend, up one, two separate times, knock down both free throws to make sure that FAU continue to have command to that game down the stretch up against Kansas State. So we'll chat it up with him coming up an hour 20 from now, and then at 8 20 p.m. Eastern, 5 20 p.m. Pacific, Seth Greenberg is going to stop by and we'll chat all about college basketball. And let me just say this right out of the gate, because we can't move past the biggest story of the day in Lamar Jackson, but I just want to be abundantly clear first about a college basketball point. If you're one of these bozos today that are just bitching and complaining, oh, I don't like this final four this year because it's FAU, it's San Diego State, it's a UConn in Miami, like shut up. Seriously, the last two weeks of the NCAA tournament have been the most exciting first two weeks of the NCAA tournament that I've ever seen.

You had a 16 beta one, you had a 15 beta two, you had a 13 beta four, and we have a final four where you feature a nine, a five, a five, and a four. That unpredictability of March Madness is wonderful. Last year we had four Blue Bloods in the final four.

It was tremendous. You know, I'm okay with big schools and big brands obviously getting to the final four, but this year it's been tremendous and no one, you never know, I'm sure there's some graphic out there, but no one in their right mind could have seriously predicted at any confidence that this would be the final four. So I don't want to hear that this is going to be the lowest rated final four semi-finals. I don't want to hear, oh, but this school's not there and that school's not there.

Tough luck, be better. Don't let Florida Atlantic, don't let San Diego State get to the final four if you have a problem with it. But seriously, these last two weeks have been absolutely phenomenal. So I don't have a problem regardless of how these games play out, FAU against San Diego State and Miami and UConn. I don't care if we see a blowout, it does not matter to me. The first two weeks have been incredible and it does not take away from what we're going to see or whatever happens in the three remaining games of the college basketball season. So I wanted to get that off my chest right out of the gate.

And by the way, producing the extravaganza for the next four hours is no other than hot take kicky. Let me get your thoughts on this hickey real quickly before we get into the biggest news of the day that Lamar Jackson finally told everyone, yes, I requested a trade, which is, I'm not going to say it's the worst kept secret. We didn't know that the official trade request was given to the Ravens by Lamar on March 2nd. But we have been all over this now for the last few months. Actually, heck, almost the entire year. When you go back to the draft last year with how we handled the whole Marquis Hollywood Brown situation, that it was the beginning of the end of Lamar's time in Baltimore.

And it wasn't a matter of when or if Lamar was going to leave the Ravens, just when was he going to leave the Ravens. So we'll get into that in just a second. But hickey, right out of the gate, I got to ask you, when it comes to this final four, and I see this all over Twitter and everyone becomes a ratings expert, all these ratings are going to suck for the FAU San Diego State game.

Like that doesn't matter to me. What we've seen the last two weeks, the take today should not be, oh, this final four doesn't have a lot of energy. Oh, this final four doesn't have a lot of juice. This final four doesn't have a lot of buzz. Like the last two weeks, am I crazy here saying that that's the most entertaining first two weeks of an NCAA tournament that I've ever seen? Yeah. Oh, absolutely. You know me and Mr. Perry, I think these upsets, not knowing what's happening, all these big time seeds, we thought we're not being invincible.

We thought we're at least going to win, get upset way before anyone thought. I love it. I think it's great for college basketball. I think it's great for ratings because it brings excitement. I don't want to hear, like you said about now it's FAU, SDSU.

But I don't know if it will be, but that doesn't matter to me. Like Florida Atlantic, San Diego State, the ratings may suck. But if people have a problem with that, then Purdue should have lost to Fairleigh Dickinson. Princeton, I guess they shouldn't have went out there and tried up against Arizona if it was all about the ratings.

There were schools that were embarrassing. You know, you look at it in the other day, if you want to see Texas there now, you get Miami in there, which is fine by me, tell Texas to show up in the final five minutes of the game. In the second half at one point, what the hell, I got 13 point lead? Show up and get the job done. But I just hate that today, that today has become, oh, what about the ratings coming up on Saturday?

I've got a product the last two weeks that has been really fun to watch. And if you don't like the way that the final four is, then don't watch. But it's not going to ruin my excitement. You're not going to rain on Hickey's parade as well, because this has been truly the most unpredictable final four of all time. Who had FAU and San Diego State just for starters? A lot of people had Miami losing to Drake in the first round of the NCAA tournament. You know, UConn was good, but you didn't know if they were going to come out of that part of the bracket. So I just wanted to say that I don't have a problem with this final four. And I actually hope, Hickey, that the ratings are sensational.

I don't know if they will be on that first game, but I hope that they are sensational. Not that I usually give a rat's ass about the TV ratings, but just because then it takes away any of the ammunition about people complaining, oh, it's FAU and it's San Diego State in the final four. Seriously, who had FAU in the final four before this started? That, to me, makes it so compelling. It really does.

Two quick things I'll say. No matter who was in the final four, I don't care. If you want to compare last year and this year, I think last year would have won no matter who was playing. You had Duke, North Carolina for the first time in the tournament with Coach K in his final year, and Kansas Villanova. There is nothing this year that could have happened final four. Any combination would have beat that. So you know the comparisons are going to come out.

It doesn't matter. It could have been all four number one seeds. I don't think it would have beat what happened last year. And then number two, it's just like, I think all people care about is a good game. If you have a good game and we are sitting here at FAUs in the national title games, they had a three at the buzzer. I think all of a sudden now if you miss it, it's your loss and you're the kind of the one who missed out on a great game instead of, oh, it was still FAU, San Diego State. Who cares?

There was a great game. Like there's no name brands there. Miami is not polarizing.

Yukon is not polarizing as well. But part of me, even though, let me be clear, I'd have zero problem if Miami won it all. I'd have zero problem if Danny Hurley wins it all with Yukon. But a part of me wants FAU and San Diego State to win it all just because I think if we put out a poll question today, is the winner of Yukon Miami going to be the national championship?

It would be a big time amount of people that would say yes. And also if a school like FAU or San Diego State wins it all, it does take away from people knocking and speaking down on this final four. Like I don't, when I say I don't dislike Miami, I love Lara Nega.

I love what Hurley is doing bringing Yukon back. But there is a part of me that is rooting for FAU and San Diego State, because even with them being half of the final four, I feel like a lot of people don't want them there. And I also feel like no one's giving them a chance to actually win it all. Like I get it, Miami and Yukon are the better teams on paper, but on paper, FAU shouldn't be here and San Diego State shouldn't be here. And look at that's turned out.

So what does paper actually mean in a large scheme of things? Nothing, nada, zilch, zero. All right, let's get to Lamar's story. So Lamar Jackson tweets out today. It may be, which is just the slickest move of all time, you have all the owners, you have all the GMs, right?

All the coaches, they're gathered for the meetings. And Lamar, as John Harbaugh is taking questions from members of the media and is at a round table and you have all the national media there, all the local media there, you have that become an event because Lamar tweets out that on March 2nd, he requested a trade from the Baltimore Ravens. Now, if you've been listening to this show, we've been telling you for almost a year that Lamar is eventually going to leave the Baltimore Ravens. And we were not optimistic that Lamar was going to come to an agreement with the Ravens long-term. And in an ambiguous way, he has been voicing his displeasure with the current state of the team and maybe the people running the team as well.

We have never got a straight answer from really either side throughout this entire process. And while this is all going on, you have John Harbaugh sitting there and he knew of the trade requests, right? It happened three, four weeks ago, but he didn't know but he didn't know it was becoming public as he was sitting there. So John Harbaugh is sitting there saying, yeah, I'm approaching the season as Lamar will be the starting quarterback and all this will eventually blow over. Well, he may be your starting quarterback week one, but it's not going to be him signing a new five-year contract. Cause I don't see, unless he agrees to a deal with the new team and eventually one team or more do cave, then he agrees to an offer sheet and the Ravens either have to match it or they say, well, we'll let you go to that new team and we'll take the two first round picks back. The only way that is, you know, that he is there on a five-year deal next year is if you get one team to give him an offer and the Ravens just elect to match it. Now, I don't know if we're ever going to get to that point, but the more and more that this comes out, Hickey, where you have Lamar Jackson, who clearly does not want to be in Baltimore anymore. And then the Ravens having got a deal done and you get reports that it was a low ball offer. And then there's things that conflict that at all that they have not gone out of their way to make sure that Lamar is going to remain a Baltimore Raven for a guy that not that long ago, one of unanimous MVP, and really your entire offense's identity is surrounded around Lamar Jackson. So the way that I would operate this, if I'm the Ravens at this point, I think this relationship is fractured beyond repair. I don't think that Lamar wants to be in Baltimore anymore. So even if a team, let's say, offers him $210 million fully guaranteed, let's just say, or $210 million guaranteed out of like $230, $240, even if the Ravens think that's a good deal and they have the right to match it, if I was them at this rate, I would decline it. Now, that does not mean that I don't believe in Lamar Jackson, the player. That does not mean that I don't think Lamar Jackson could win a Super Bowl in this league because those are all things that I've said on this show that I believe can happen. I've been a big believer in Lamar Jackson, but when you have your leader, when you have the face of your franchise, when you have your quarterback who doesn't want to be there anymore, and he sends in and he says to the team and informs them, I want to get traded, I don't think you recover from that.

And that doesn't set up to have a healthy marriage moving forward. So it's a shame that we got to this point, right? But also the Ravens could have put an end to it a while ago. And I've said this from the jump, when it comes to Lamar, this is why I was not confident there's already a long-term deal done. There's been a lot of ugliness in these contract negotiations. And Lamar doesn't have an agent. So when you don't have an agent, and I've said this 9,000 times, so I'll say 9,001 times here, when you don't have an agent, you're dealing with all the conversations.

When you have an agent, he serves as that buffer where you don't have to hear or you don't hear the majority of the ugliness that goes on in these contract negotiations. And we know Lamar, what's made him great is he has a massive chip on his shoulder. Because even after winning a Heisman Trophy, he had morons that were saying, oh, he should be a running back. Oh, he should be a wide receiver. He should be anything but a quarterback.

So that's a dude that is driven based off people doubting him. And when you have your own team basically doubting you, going through contract negotiations, I think Lamar will carry that with him forever. And I do believe that he needs to now go to a new team. So we've for a while, and I flip-flop on this, is this going to be the final year upcoming for Lamar or is it going to be next year? I still don't know how this goes down because the magic of the contract makes it so unique. And then also, who's going to eventually cave and pursue those negotiations with Lamar Jackson? And I get it, you're probably on an open market, could get more if it's via trade for the two first round picks.

And I guess they could have different negotiations. But what really leverage do the Ravens have here when a team could just match him? And if you don't want him or assign him to a deal, and if you don't want him, you don't want him, then it's like you're not going to match that just to get more picks.

So this whole thing is sloppy. And there's still part of me that goes, I don't know if Lamar will play this year, if he will play, and then they'll trade him a year from now. But at this rate, I think it's best for both parties that Lamar finds a new team and that the Ravens, once he finds that new team, do not match the offer. And you kind of got to just suck it up and take the two first round picks.

And that's still two first round picks. But you look at that and you would think if Lamar was just available, like Russell Wilson was last year or Deshaun Watson was last year, that you would probably get a greater return than two first round picks. But the Ravens left this door open. And at this point, Hickey, I think the Ravens have showed you they're not fully invested in Lamar. And Lamar has clearly displayed that he wants to move on from the organization. I just think it's healthy for both sides if we get an end to this mess this year and the Ravens go their separate ways.

You have to retool. Maybe you get a good draft pick next year. You have ammunition to move up in the draft. And maybe you go draft to Caleb Williams or Drake May next year and you get them on a rookie deal and you let Lamar get paid and go somewhere else. So that's where I'm at on this one. It's time for both parties to move on.

I'm with you. I thought as soon as really the off season ended, this was going to be Lamar Jackson going to be traded this offseason. And finally, look, we just talked ironically enough on Friday about Lamar Jackson and this was a Ken Phillips. I don't remember his name and the business partner that's trying to basically act as Lamar's agent while he's right. He's Lamar's business partner selling portable gym equipment. He's the one contacted teams or allegedly trying to contact teams about, you know, drumming up a market here for Mark Jackson. Ken Francis, thank you. Thank you. Apologize to Ken Phillips out there. I didn't mean a slandier name.

If you are listening, there's a Ken Phillips out there that's going to get a lot of hate mail. Oh yeah. Right. Underscore Hickey three on Twitter, folks. Send those hot.

Yeah. Send the hate mail. I'll take it for Ken Phillips. Apologize to you, Ken. But we were talking on Friday how dumb Lamar is for how he's going about trying to procure and get a contract that is literally life changing. And finally today for the first time, he's actually publicly at least taking control of his own future in a positive way, putting the pressure on the Ravens. And now for the first I'm having them kind of feel uncomfortable, them no longer in control of Lamar and kind of where he goes. It's long time coming. The divorce is here, but finally I'm glad Lamar has taken a proactive step in his future for the first time.

And it feels like three years. You have a rough weekend, by the way. Did I have a rough weekend?

No. I actually had a good weekend. Your voice sounds a little bit off today. Oh, I was outside a lot yesterday. I don't know if that was it.

Enjoying the 50 degrees and sunshine. I would think me coming off the wedding, having a good time on Saturday, I'd be sounding rough, but I think I sound like a million bucks compared to you today. Wait, really? Yeah. Now your voice isn't as raspy, but when you were talking about Lamar, maybe it's because your emotion here and everyone have your finger on the dump button because last time he showed a little emotion, he was like bleep that guy talking about Russell Westbrook. Wait until we talk about Kyrie Irving coming up later.

We're going to have hickey dropping f-bombs left and right. But yeah, I don't hear it now. But during your Lamar Jackson response, the voice sound a little raspy.

Wow. I don't know if you're playing her today. Hopefully that's me. That sounds better. My voice doesn't sound as high, so maybe I should try to, you know, somehow keep this going forward here to, you know, make myself sound as old as I am. As masculine as you are. I've gone through puberty, everybody.

You just went through radio puberty. Let's go. 616 to 618.

It's crazy. All right. This is Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. If you're the Ravens, would you want to move on from Lamar Jackson this off season?

8 5 5 2 1 2 4 CBS 8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27. I think this relationship is fractured beyond repair. I think it's time to move on. But the tricky part here is the whole matching of the contract. Do you do it?

Don't you do it? And what happens if some team signs into a deal that the number is reasonable and you're like, OK, yeah, we'll do it. I think both parties need to move on and we'll see how this one does end. We're coming on back in five minutes. Zach Gelb show CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show.

Zach Gelb show CBS Sports Radio. So Lamar has requested a trade and now we sit here and wait. And that was all the way back on March 2nd when he requested that trade. But Lamar is available right now to any team that wants to talk to him and they have to just make an offer. And the facts are the facts that right now I don't know if any teams had conversations with them, but none, to my knowledge, and no one has made Lamar Jackson an offer. And you go through it like all 32 teams right now and you go team by team. You know the Ravens will see if they end up getting a deal done or not, but it's not looking likely. Buffalo is their quarterback in Josh Allen. I know people are going to throw out Miami. The Dolphins just gave two a tongue of eye low, the 50 option.

So they're committed to two for now. I did see that Meek Mill. I did see that Meek Mill.

You see this, Hickey? Have a little conversation with Robert Kraft a few days ago saying that Lamar wants to be a Patriot. Wow, Meek Mill could be your best friend soon here if Lamar is in a Patriots uniform. Well, I do like Mac Jones, but if you gave me the option, Lamar Jackson or hoping that Mac Jones turns out to be this great quarterback, yeah, I would go with Lamar Jackson right now.

It's a known commodity. And Meek Mill is going to have two teams to root for now, Eagles and Patriots possibly if Lamar goes there? Well, I do think he polls for the Patriots anyway. I think he already has two teams.

He's like you with Penn State and Notre Dame because Robert Kraft with the relationship through Michael Rubin did visit him in prison and also has helped him since getting out of the slammer. And it was what, the Sixers owners? Was it Michael Rubin himself who was the first person to pick up Meek Mill from jail and take him to the Sixers game like that? Yeah.

Nassau, I mean, he has Philly in his heart. I was at the Wells Fargo Center that night and actually was in the elevator with Meek Mill. Wow. Which I didn't, I just got in the elevator and next thing you know, it goes, I think up before we were and the next thing you know, Meek Mill walks onto the elevator. I'm like, wow.

Because that was a big story. You say anything? Welcome back. I don't remember if I said anything.

Happy to see you, you know. Probably something like that. How was it?

It was a quick elevator ride, but I'll never forget that night. So you go to these teams, like seriously, let's go through all 32 teams. Take the Ravens out of it because that's the team he's on now. How many of these teams are realistic destinations like Patriots potentially? I know people are going to throw out the Jets, but the Jets have already committed to Rogers.

That's not going to happen. Bengals have Burrow. Steelers have Kenny Pickett right now. The Browns have traded for DeSean Watson. Jacksonville has Trevor Lawrence. Tennessee should definitely be a destination.

We'll see if that ends up happening though. The Colts absolutely should be a destination, and I'll get to heck he's taking just a second. You know the Texans are going to be drafting a quarterback at two, so you could throw them out. Chiefs have Mahomes. Chargers have Herbert. Raiders just in some dumb fashion just committed to Jimmy Garoppolo. You could have had Lamar Jackson.

What are you doing? The Broncos we know are all in on Russell Wilson. Eagles, Jalen Hurts. Cowboys have Dak. Giants just gave Daniel Jones a deal. The commanders keep on saying they aren't interested, but they should be.

So I'm still going to put the commanders on that list. The Vikings, I would do what it takes. I've been saying that for a year. Go get Lamar Jackson. You throw him in an offense with Justin Jefferson and Dalvin Cook.

Hello. That would be a whole lot of fun to watch. I wonder if the Lions end up thinking about it. You know, Goff had a good year, but do you think that's sustainable? And you have a win now kind of window and a weak NFC in a division that's not all that good. The Packers, they're going to Jordan Love. The Bears have Justin Fields. Tampa Bay, I don't know if they can make it work from a salary cap standpoint, but you can always find a way. It just gave a deal to Baker Mayfield. Who cares? The one year deal.

I would pick up the phone and try to pursue that. You know Carolina just moved the number one pick. They're out. The Saints just brought in Derek Carr, so they're out. I would not rule out Atlanta, even though people say that Atlanta is not going to pursue Lamar Jackson. 49ers, I said this a few weeks ago. I think the 49ers should get in, Hickey. But the 49ers today, if you hear John Lynch right now, Brock Purdie is in the driver's seat to win that starting QB job, which is crazy with how much they just gave up for Trey Lance. I know you laugh at the salary cap and say it's fake, and there's plenty of instances that would say you're right.

I just think you could maneuver it. I just don't. I honestly don't know how you can get Lamar Jackson under your salary cap.

I have no idea. They pay or they are literally paying everybody except the quarterback position. And they don't have first round pick this year, correct? They do not. So they would have to wait till after the draft.

That is correct. Seattle, I know they just gave a deal to Geno Smith, so they're out of it. You look at the Rams, they're right now committed for Stafford because no one's going to take that contract off their hands. And then Arizona, you know that they're going to be all in on Kyler Murray. So if we want to talk about teams that I think are realistic destinations, that's one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine teams I just gave you. Tennessee, New England, Indianapolis, the commanders, Minnesota, Detroit, Tampa Bay, Atlanta.

And you know what? I'll have to throw off the 49ers off that list, even though I think they should pursue. It seems like they're going to try to find a way to make Brock Purdy or Trey Lance work for this year.

But that's just for this year. Like you wait a year, you could have more teams that get to the table and want to get this deal done. If Lamar gets through an entire season healthy, maybe it changes the outlook or like that's another part of this hickey. I want to know if Lamar would be willing to sit out. I know you're a question of trade, but let's say no one agrees to terms with Lamar Jackson this this offseason. I think he would he would probably like I don't even know if he would set out a few games. I don't. And would there be some more ugliness in this?

Absolutely. But I do lean that Lamar would sign the tag and then he would end up playing. I don't think it's in his DNA to sit out, and it really doesn't benefit him.

Like we talked about, you mentioned it a few weeks ago. If he sits out, well, the tag then just goes to next year. It's like one last year, right? Yeah, so you still have two years of a realistic franchise tag. If the Ravens want to go that route, so you're really not doing anything in terms of getting yourself closer to getting a Baltimore. Like if this was the second tag and this was it, maybe it's a different conversation because it's very unlikely that you tag a player three times from just the price stamp.

How expensive of it, yes. So if this was the second one, I think it would be a little bit more of a difficult and in-depth conversation. But because they could just do the same thing again next year. And if he sits out this year, you could forget any slim chance that there may be that these two sides find a way to make amends and get a deal done.

That would then totally be out the window. But when your franchise quarterback says that he officially wants out, I don't think you recover from that. And at this point, if you're the Ravens, you want him to agree to a new deal and then you'll just take the two first round picks.

That's what I think they're really at. And it means nothing to me that John Harbaugh said, oh yeah, I'm still approaching as Lamar is going to be the starter. Of course, he's going to say he's the coach. He's not the GM. He's not the owner.

Those are two different conversations there, Hickey. And I'm sure John Harbaugh, the coach, while frustrated, looks at the reality of if we don't have Lamar Jackson invested most part, we're not going to get a good quarterback back. Maybe get a Kirk Cousins guy. You know, if it's a Vikings that you make the trade with or Jared Goff, it's a Lions. But if you do trade Lamar Jackson, realistically, you're not going to get a quarterback that's ready to win right now and get you to the playoffs. And again, for John Harbaugh, you think the goal is every year playoffs, you know, if you trade Lamar Jackson, there's no real plan right now going forward.

You have a win now team with no quarterback. He obviously wants Lamar Jackson. Yes, but I think what's best for that organization, since they're not going to give this deal to Lamar and I'm someone that's pro pay Lamar, pay Lamar, pay Lamar. I think you got to hope that he agrees to a new deal at this point of the team just doesn't match it, because even if the team does match, is Mark going to be happy? Is he going to be happy with the Ravens?

I would say no, because of all the ugliness that has gone on and he's directly involved in all those conversations. I think money would change it. If if let's say whatever, I don't know, 220 million, you know, 220 million dollars, that's a deal and the Ravens match it. I think Lamar made for a few weeks to be upset and then you're getting your money.

I think that's where the main motivation is more than disdain towards John Harbaugh, the organization itself. But he would want that deal. Like, let's say the commanders agree to him. He would want that deal with the commanders. I don't know if he'd want that deal with the Ravens anymore just because of what has transpired the last two years. Now, could money heal all wounds?

I guess, but I don't think he'd be thrilled about it from the start if he went through all this and it's part of the CBS, you could do it. And the Ravens end up matching the deal that he negotiated with another team out of those teams right now. Tennessee, New England, Indianapolis, the commanders, Minnesota, Detroit, Tampa and then Atlanta.

Is there anyone else that you think needs to be on that list? I still think the Jets. I still think the Dolphins. Which neither will happen for this year because the Jets are so they're going to get the deal done with Aaron Rodgers.

You're not looking back now. The Dolphins are compelling, but I think the Dolphins have made it clear, even though they gave him the fifth year option for next year, that they're giving to another shot at it this year. I'm not saying in terms of should you're wrong on that. I just don't think it will happen with either of those teams for this year. What I'll say from Miami's case is circumstances change. You could have gone into the offseason thinking, OK, the Ravens are going to match a deal. Now you see Lamar's trade request. Maybe say maybe that door is more open than we thought.

I just think, look, I'll say this. The fifth year option for two, I think is going to be the biggest reason why they don't get a trade done. Maybe they actually believe that two is going to be healthy and all the judo and jujitsu fall training is going to work. I think they're committed to it for this year, but I would say if they don't go after Lamar, it's not going to be because of that fifth year option tag and given to a guaranteed money. Well, it's because they believe in him for this year. Now, if he gets hurt again and then he's stolen the Ravens and doesn't have a long term deal, the next year it's a totally different conversation. But by the way, I know you have been very hesitant about Lamar Jackson. Your team should absolutely give him the money and go get him. And then you draft one of the better non quarterbacks available at four. You put him, Jonathan Taylor together with Michael Pittman, if that defense can play well too. That's a decent team in Indianapolis. If Lamar wants a three year 150 kind of deal, I'm in. So picky.

No, here's I'm not picky. I am a quarterback since since Manning. Since Andrew Luck and guess what? Andrew Luck got hurt. Luck wasn't able to be as successful as we thought because he got banged up.

They didn't surround right. And now I'm afraid of having history repeat itself with Lamar Jackson and giving Lamar Jackson a five year deal, nearly almost the entire thing fully guaranteed. And if he can't say healthy, you're screwed like that hurt.

Like if he gets a healthy this year and next year. Now, if you're looking at a deal of five years with fully guaranteed money, kind of like with the I know it's not fully guaranteed, but the Broncos, Russell Wilson are already looking at the eject button last year and you can't do it. You are screwed.

Like you are not moving off of that. Your future is then crippled. I right now, with a player of as many questions as Lamar Jackson and the steep price of draft picks and salary, want to keep myself flexible for the future. Yeah, but here's why you're screwed either way. Like even if Lamar doesn't work. OK, I get it.

You wasted three, four years. But does anyone have this belief that Anthony Richardson and Will Levis, who are going to be the guys available at four because Young and Stroud are going to go in one order, one or two? If you draft one of those players at four, I think you're swinging and missing anyway because I don't believe long term in Will Levis and Anthony Richardson. It's going to be the same time because they're going to be on a rookie deal. I would agree through here. The difference is number one.

They're cheaper, so it's easy to move off. So this team stinks next year. They get the number one over a pick. OK, Richardson. See you later.

Levis. See you later. Here comes Caleb Williams. Whoever wants to talk about being the next Patrick Holmes 2.0. I'll take him very easily. You can't move off of Lamar Jackson. You get the number one overall pick. You can dump Anthony Richardson or Will Levis after one year, two years, three years, whoever it is, because the rookie contract is so much cheaper, you're not married to them. And also, Shane Siken is a guy who has developed quarterbacks very well. So maybe they work out.

I don't know. I don't have many high hopes, but what if he's next? Jalen Hurts, Anthony Richardson. OK, but I know how great Lamar Jackson can be. That's why for a team that has not done well in evaluating quarterbacks the last few years, I would just go bring in Lamar Jackson, then relying on Anthony Richardson or Will Levis to ever to develop into even a half of what Lamar Jackson can be in this league.

So I'm a little bit confused here. I think I know what the motivation was, but I can't say I'm totally sold on it. So, Hickey, we all know Lamar Jackson made it known today, crystal clear, that he requested a trade back on March 2nd from the Baltimore Ravens. So far, no one has jumped at that opportunity to go pursue Lamar Jackson, and maybe that's trying to drive down the price. But if you drive down the price where the Ravens think, oh, we should probably match that, you basically just did the homework for the Baltimore Ravens and not that probably you have a quarterback on the roster that should carry any clout. But that locker room then could be a little bit awkward if you have a quarterback there or they flirted with Lamar Jackson and they didn't end up getting him because the Ravens just match it.

So I don't know what the motives are. Part of me does think it's the owners not wanting to have to give a fully guaranteed contract in back to back years because a lot of owners believe that, you know, the Browns should not have given a fully guaranteed deal. The Haslam family shouldn't give a fully guaranteed deal to the Sean Watson a year ago. But I did find it peculiar today that Robert Kraft made it known that Meek Mill reached out to him to say that Lamar Jackson wanted to become a patriot.

Now, here's the thing. Why would Robert Kraft make that public today? Why would Robert Kraft want that out there today, Hickey?

And I wonder what your answer is. I think he's sending a message to Bill Belichick. I 100% agree with you, because if you hear or if you read what Robert Kraft said, he also went on to say, but that's a Bill Belichick decision.

And today, Bill Belichick was talking and you really can't read into anything Belichick says a because he says nothing. But people freaking out today saying that Bill didn't announce Mac is just starting quarterback. Bill Belichick said every player competes for their starting job. So that does not make me think that Bailey Zappi is going to beat out Mac Jones for the starting quarterback job. If the Patriots don't get Lamar Jackson, Mac Jones will be the quarterback. But then you also hear Robert Kraft say today that he believes Mac Jones has been put in a position to succeed this offseason, and we know they went out and got Bill O'Brien. I don't think they have done enough at the wide receiving position, but they did improve the room when you bring in someone like Juju Smith-Schuster, but that's not a number one wide receiver. I still think they have to go get a genuine number one wide receiver. But yeah, of course, the quarterbacks are going to be in a better position this year because you don't have Matt Patricia and Joe Judge calling the plays of the offensive side of the ball, but it's not like this is a wonderful situation on the offensive side of the ball in New England. So I'm not ready to say that Robert Kraft wants Lamar Jackson, like he 100% wants him.

But there is part of me that says if it was up to him, he would go get him and he's giving Bill the OK. If you want him, we'll pay whatever we need to pay him to make sure that the Ravens won't match it. And like, if that's the case, it shows you that even though Robert Kraft speaks glowingly about Mac Jones, that he doesn't really believe in Mac Jones. And you look at that division, and it's a remarkable part about Robert Kraft, the guy that took over a franchise that was in a terrible position and all he's done is won. Like the 20 year run that the Patriots went on will never happen again in this sport. But Robert Kraft, a few years after seeing Brady go, is already hungry for more.

And he's looking around his division. Buffalo has their quarterback in Josh Allen. The Jets are about to get Aaron Rodgers for two, three years.

Miami, there's uncertainty just because of the health of Tua Tunga Vailoa. I do think Robert Kraft has annoyed the last three years, and he said this before, that they missed the playoffs, Brady left, they made the playoffs, and then this past year they regressed. I think this is him once again saying, I'm giving Bill like I've always had, every resource to go win and do whatever he wants, and if Bill doesn't want Lamar Jackson, it's not because I wouldn't pay him.

It's because Bill Belichick doesn't want Lamar, who by the way, Bill, we talked about this two weeks ago, has spoke extremely positively before about Lamar Jackson, but then yet again, find me a player that Bill Belichick rips publicly because he always makes like, and Lamar's not a bad player, but how many times you're a bad quarterback and he makes him out to be like he's Dan Marino or something like that. I think you're spot on where it's also not only Robert Kraft letting Bill Belichick know, hey, I'll do whatever it takes to win. I think it's also, in a way, Robert Kraft saying it's time to get back to winning. Just making the playoffs after missing last year is not an accomplishment. Just winning a playoff game is not an accomplishment. When you talk about acquiring a guy like Lamar Jackson or being willing to acquire a guy like Lamar Jackson, you're doing so with Super Bowl in mind again. So I think this is in weighing, resetting expectations of just because you missed the playoffs last year does not mean the goal is, oh, playoffs this year, it's a successful season, or winning a playoff game this year is a successful season. It's still the bar of Super Bowl or bust, and I think you're also right. It's also a shot at Mac Jones basically saying, look, you've been okay so far.

It's kind of a, you know, this is a make or break year for you. And I think if you can't get it done this year, we're going to be searching whether it's Lamar Jackson this time next year or another upgrade because we again are in the business of winning and patience is no more anymore. I can't tell you right now that Mac Jones is not the answer, but I can't sit here and tell you that he definitely will succeed in the NFL. I look at it fair or not that Mac Jones is really, I know he's played two years, but he's really only played one year in this league. Because last year was such a joke and I have zero way to evaluate Mac Jones last year when he had Judge and Patricia calling the plays and he had no number one wide receiver. Like even if you didn't have a number one wide receiver last year, but you just had a competent offensive play caller, then okay, I could evaluate him. But they really punted on his second year after what was a very positive first year.

So normally I wouldn't want to give up and say, oh, go to the next guy. But I know what Lamar Jackson can be in this league and you're right. Going into this year of Mac Jones, a quarterback at best, I don't think they're a playoff team right now, but at best apex, you could say wild card round and they lose the wild card round. You bring in Lamar Jackson, it brings excitement back where I'm not going to then call them a Super Bowl contender, but you at least think, okay, then the Patriots should be able to go make the playoffs. And that's what makes it intriguing because the last three years outside of Mac's rookie year, and I had no expectations when Cam came in that this team is going to make the playoffs.

I had no expectations last year they were going to make the playoffs. And it's kind of funny how much hunger even at an older age and doing all the winning he could possibly do in Robert Kraft, that that hunger, that drive is still there for him. And that's why I love Robert Kraft as an owner, because you respect that. If there's any guy that should not be hungry, it's Robert Kraft.

But he is still as hungry and as motivated and as driven as ever, which is kind of the quality that we all want out of ownership. Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio will break. When we come on back, we will draft Lamar Jackson's next destination. Hickey will pick five spots. I'll pick five spots as well. We'll see who wins the coin toss as well to go first. I think I have an idea of who's going to win it, but it's a genuine coin toss. 50-50 chance, right?