Hour 1: Burrow to the Jets?

Summary

Don, Hahn & Rosenberg

Episode: Hour 1: Burrow to the Jets?

Date: December 11, 2025

Hosts: Don La Greca, Alan Hahn, Peter Rosenberg

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on explosive speculation about Joe Burrow’s future with the Cincinnati Bengals and the tantalizing possibility that the New York Jets could make a move for the star quarterback. The hosts break down Joe Burrow’s recent comments about his state of mind and motivation, analyze Bengals organization dysfunction, and assess the Jets’ draft capital and appeal as a destination. The show is peppered with humor, candid personal stories, and listener calls that further the lively debate—but ultimately, the centerpiece is: Is Joe Burrow on his way out of Cincinnati? And are the Jets truly in play?

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Vibe Check and Joking Start (00:32–07:17)

• The episode opens with light banter as Don soldiers through illness, which leads to jokes about the hardships of sports broadcasting compared to athletes playing through pain.

  • Don: “I'm gonna turn the mic off while I can. But no, I woke up a little something.” (02:12)
  • Alan & Peter: Draw parallels to NFL players playing hurt, but raise the stakes for Don as his task spans more hours than a football game.

• The team reminisces about a pre-COVID live show and the awkwardness of not shaking hands, foreshadowing today’s theme of adapting to tough circumstances.

2. Reindeer Games: Launching the Joe Burrow Conversation (07:22–08:15)

• Peter introduces "Reindeer Games"—their tradition of playful, at times improbable, sports speculation.
• Joe Burrow’s interview is played, highlighting his desire to “have fun” playing football amidst a difficult Bengals season:
  • Burrow: “If I want to keep doing this, I have to have fun doing it… been through more than most.” (07:40)

Key Quote:

“If I want to keep doing it, really caught my attention.”
— Don La Greca, on Burrow sounding uncertain about his football future. (08:15)

3. Burrow’s Comments—Personal, Organizational, and Existential (08:15–13:00)

• Alan deep dives into Cincinnati’s notorious cheapness and poor player treatment, comparing the franchise's infrastructure and support unfavorably to NFL norms.
• The hosts connect Burrow’s tone to other former star QBs who left or retired early (Carson Palmer, Andrew Luck) from similarly dysfunctional franchises.
• Issue is more than just injuries—Burrow’s frustration appears deeply systemic and existential, not just circumstantial.

Notable Discussion:

• The “Andrew Luck Parallel”: Is Burrow flirting with an early walk-away, or just subtly pushing for a move?
  • Don: “He also made it sound like he was wondering about his future in football… Andrew Luck walked away from the sport because it was beaten out of him.” (11:52)
  • Peter: “That’s why he has to do it… you’re just not trying to throw the organization under the bus.” (11:52)

4. Could the Jets Actually Trade for Burrow? (13:00–22:18)

• Alan proposes the Jets are in a uniquely strong position due to their haul of draft picks.
  • Alan: “Good organizations, good general managers, see what happened yesterday ahead of time. I think there's a possibility he's going to be made available. If he is, I want to be in a position to trade for him.” (16:20)
• Don and Peter question whether the Jets are seen as a sufficiently attractive destination, given their own history.
• The group debates if Burrow is truly preparing an exit, if this is a negotiation ploy, and if Cincinnati’s hand could eventually be forced.
  • Alan: “The Jets have more draft capital than anybody in the NFL… No one is going to be able to match what the Jets can give.” (17:53)

5. Skepticism vs. Possibility—Is This Just 'Reindeer Games'? (18:50–20:50)

• Peter expresses skepticism, branding the whole scenario as “Reindeer Games”—fun but far-fetched.
  • Peter: “I believe this is Reindeer Games. And I like Reindeer Games... but I don't think there's any chance he's moving.” (18:50)
• Don and Alan push back, referencing other QB shock moves (“Never say never”) and Burrow's unusual public statements.

6. Statistical Comparison: Burrow's Physical Toll (15:22–15:36)

• Don references a stat comparing Andrew Luck’s and Burrow’s sack numbers to show the severity of punishment and underscore why Burrow could be thinking of leaving or retiring.
  • Don: “Luck played 86 games till he was 29, sacked 174 times. Burrow’s played 73—sacked 203 times.” (15:22)

7. Jets' Leverage, Bengals' Motives, and the 'Hell for Hell' Debate (22:18–25:08)

• How would a Burrow trade work? Jets are uniquely positioned to offer picks—not big contracts.
• The hosts critically ask: Does Burrow want to swap one dire situation for another? The “Hell to More Hell” dynamic.
  • Don: “Going from the Bengals to the Jets is like going from hell to more hell. And why would Joe Burrow want [that]?” (18:02)
  • Alan: “But you’re talking like the old Jets. If it’s the new Jets…” (18:16)

Audience Engagement:

• Listeners are invited to weigh in, some callers support the idea, while others reiterate doubts about the Jets’ appeal.

8. Front Office Chess & Due Diligence (28:09–34:24)

• Alan and Don stress that the front office must be proactive—not reactive—on this issue. Jets' GM must be aggressive, in constant touch with agents and back-channels.
  • Don: “If he ends up traded somewhere else, that’s devastating for the Jets.” (40:20)

9. Meta-Discussion: Are Quarterbacks ‘Divas’? (51:36–52:32)

• Before break, Peter raises a meta-question about quarterback “privilege”—whether Burrow’s fatigue is somewhat “diva-ish” given Bengals’ relative competitiveness when he’s healthy.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• Don La Greca (on Burrow's weariness):

  “If I want to keep doing it, really caught my attention.” (08:15)

• Joe Burrow (on his motivation):

  “If I want to keep doing this, I have to have fun doing it… been through a lot, and if it’s not fun, then what am I doing it for?” (07:40, 47:14)

• Alan Hahn (on Bengals’ dysfunction):

  “Cincinnati is the Tampa Bay Rays of football… notoriously cheap. How many holdouts have they had?... That's all good when you’re winning… but if you’re in the midst of a possible rebuild… that's not a pleasant place.” (08:18)

• Don La Greca (on the hell-to-hell comparison):

  “Going from the Bengals to the jets is like going from hell to more hell. And why would Joe Burrow want…” (18:02)

• Peter Rosenberg (on the speculative fun):

  “I believe this is Reindeer Games. And I like Reindeer Games... but I don't think there's any chance he's moving.” (18:50)

• Caller Gilbert (on Jets’ upside):

  “A quarterback who plays like Joe Burrow, who looks like Joe Burrow, handsome kid, Cool... He’d be very popular. That part is not what concerns me.” (36:12)

• Alan Hahn (on agency and opportunity):

  “You never say never… You just had a guy go public, basically telling the world, I don’t want to be here anymore. He’s one of the best quarterbacks in football. The jets need a quarterback. The jets have more draft capital than anybody.” (19:13)

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Segment Timestamps

• 00:32–07:17 — Banter on illness, work ethic, COVID-era socializing, show setup.
• 07:22–08:15 — Joe Burrow’s comments on fun and football—first reactions.
• 08:15–13:00 — Bengals’ organizational issues, Burrow’s existential attitude, comparison to Luck/Palmer.
• 13:00–22:18 — Possibility of a Jets trade for Burrow, cap/draft logistics.
• 22:18–25:08 — The “hell for hell” dynamic; evaluating New York as a destination.
• 28:09–34:24 — Due diligence and front office strategy.
• 51:36–52:32 — Are quarterbacks "divas" for speaking out?

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Tone & Style

The episode is classic DHR: knowledgeable, irreverent, occasionally self-deprecating, and driven by New York sports urgency. The hosts mix deep-dive football analysis with banter and audience engagement, calling out the “reindeer games” aspect but also signaling there’s real smoke behind the Burrow drama. The tone sways from skeptical to genuinely excited as the scope of the rumor unfolds, always reflecting a New Yorker’s blend of hope and hard-nosed realism.

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Conclusion

Takeaway: The episode tees up a new, spicy offseason storyline as the media, NFL front offices, and fans watch Joe Burrow’s state of mind—and the Bengals’ next move. Are the Jets amassing draft picks for exactly this kind of historic play, or is it all just holiday “reindeer games”? The debate is on, and if Burrow truly wants out, New York will be waiting.

Last Words:

“If this guy, if this is more Carson Palmer, you Jets better get on this thing. But if it's not, you better know that too. That's… why I feel like this is a page one, back page story.”
— Don La Greca (50:30)

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For listeners who missed the show: This hour delivers must-hear breakdowns on the Burrow saga, a crash course in NFL franchise ambition, and all the manic emotion of New York sports talk at its best.

Transcript

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[Peter Rosenberg]

I gotta divorce my wife and have.

[Alan Hahn]

My kids bleed out.

[Don La Greca]

No.

[Alan Hahn]

Because the Giant game's on.

[Don La Greca]

No.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Otherwise, I'm not a real fan.

[Don La Greca]

What kind of fan are you? Not a good one.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And Rosenberg, the Peter haters who call stupid. The Peter fans who call very bright. This isn't North Dakota, this is New York.

[Don La Greca]

This is Don, Han and Rosenberg.

[Caller/Listener]

The best threesome I've ever heard on.

[Don La Greca]

ESPN New York and streaming live on YouTube.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You bet your ace is what you do. Sure. Right out of you. And you know what they say about a show when you say bet your ace pre 301, what that says about the kind of program that's on the way.

[Alan Hahn]

That means that we're. All the chips are on the table.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's all out there. Full, full frontal yet again.

[Alan Hahn]

So you're saying Jim Fossil instead of saying, I'm putting all my chips in the middle of the table. He should have had, I bet my.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Ace on this one. Can you imagine how much impact that would have? That would have had.

[Alan Hahn]

They went to the super bowl, maybe they would have won it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Now Donald is in New Jersey at the Rock getting ready for some devil action. And by the way, I have a hockey combo to have with you both in a moment.

[Alan Hahn]

Interesting. In a moment.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, it's important.

[Alan Hahn]

Okay.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And then Alan is going to be with us the whole four hours, but he's making sure he gets himself in physically the right form for tomorrow. The big holiday program, Right?

[Don La Greca]

Yeah. Not feeling great today.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But you're doing what the pros do. You're strapping up and playing.

[Don La Greca]

Yeah, it just, you know, doing the best we can.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You're just.

[Don La Greca]

We want to be there. We want to be there tomorrow for sure.

[Alan Hahn]

But you sound good, though, like during the meeting, because you had said that you felt like nasally.

[Don La Greca]

I got. I got the box of tissues right here. You're going to hear me sneeze a few hundred times throughout the show. I'm going to turn the mic off while I can. But no, I woke up a little something.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But look at you, you're fighting through that.

[Don La Greca]

I don't love.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's Herbert with the broken hand, but he's still there winning games on Monday Night Football. You Know what I mean?

[Don La Greca]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

No, I think this is worse.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You did.

[Don La Greca]

But I'll tell you one thing, it's a lot harder. I gotta tell you what I'm going through.

[Alan Hahn]

This is longer than a football game. It's longer than a football game.

[Don La Greca]

That's right.

[Alan Hahn]

And Herbert, it wasn't his throwing hand.

[Don La Greca]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

This doesn't sound.

[Don La Greca]

I'm using. I gotta. I gotta. I gotta breathe through this today. I gotta.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Come on.

[Don La Greca]

You know. Yeah, this is. You know, you guys saw me yesterday. Yesterday I got a Charlie horse during the show when the hell. Yeah, Charlie horse.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's true. I did that.

[Don La Greca]

I was dehydrated yesterday, fellas.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's what it was.

[Don La Greca]

I didn't know this and I found. That's what it is. Dehydrating. You're getting sick. I'm on the train, you know. Almost missed my stop yesterday.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Because you were that out of it.

[Don La Greca]

I was sleeping. When do you. When do I sleep on a train? Yeah. Almost missed the stop. So we're talking about a tragedy yesterday.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, listen, you're fighting through, though, you know, You're a great man. You could have been in an iron lung, but you're here with us.

[Alan Hahn]

I had a buddy, used to always sleep on the subway and he'd wake up with change on his la.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Excuse me.

[Alan Hahn]

Really?

[Don La Greca]

That.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, that means your friend didn't look good.

[Alan Hahn]

No.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, that means he looked like Rapug. Don.

[Alan Hahn]

Listen, I wouldn't be where I am today without the great Tim Reed. But he.

[Don La Greca]

Tim Reed. We love Tim.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, it wasn't Tim Reed from WKRP in Cincinnati, but my buddy Tim.

[Don La Greca]

Oh, okay.

[Alan Hahn]

Who got me into his business. But, you know, depending on the day, he could look a tad homeless. And if he's sleeping on the subway, well, then that's just gonna add to the whole theory. See, that's why you needed one. A Tad Homeless.

[Don La Greca]

Movie. I'll watch that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Name of my 14th book.

[Don La Greca]

I would watch that movie.

[Peter Rosenberg]

A Tad Homeless. By the way, that's how I've recently.

[Don La Greca]

By the way, that main character's name is Ted.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, Tad Homeless. That's his name.

[Alan Hahn]

Listen, he'll be the first to admit this. He wore clothes for comfort, not style.

[Don La Greca]

Who doesn't?

[Alan Hahn]

And it was like a two year period where he was just growing his hair out and said, I'm eventually going to go to my barber. We're going to figure out what exactly we're going to do with this.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You can't do that over two years. That's. Well, listen, we're all gonna pull it together so tomorrow we can be with you. Now, what you're gonna have to make a decision on, Alan, is something I've been through before. And, Don, you may remember this because it was an interesting moment. Do you remember, Don, we had a live show in Jersey City, like, weeks before COVID Do you remember weeks before COVID It was. Maybe. It might have been a Buffalo Wild Wings. It was in Jersey City or Hoboken, one of the two. I confused them, let's be honest.

[Don La Greca]

And I don't know how well. Okay.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And it was.

[Alan Hahn]

It was.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Maybe it was Hoboken, and we had. We.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, I remember.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah. I came out. This is what was interesting, and I was coming down with something and hadn't felt good. And I made an announcement at the beginning. I'm like, guys, just so everybody knows, I'm not going to shake hands today. Like, we can take pictures. Fist bump. I don't feel comfortable touching all of your hands. I just don't feel great.

[Alan Hahn]

Right? He had the sanitizer with him when. That wasn't in pre Covid.

[Don La Greca]

It wasn't in.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And this is like a month before. And I remember it being a big deal because some people were awkward about the fact. And I came off, like, pompous when I'm like, no, I just don't want to touch you with my gross, sick hands.

[Alan Hahn]

You know, I'm thinking about it. It probably was a Super bowl show. It might have been a remote pre. The Friday before the Super Bowl. So this is, like, early February 2020.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's what it was.

[Don La Greca]

Before you finish your story, I just want Everybody in the YouTube that's watching on YouTube. And we appreciate you because at home, I get to see it on the big screen with the comments that slide up and down the right side. Oh, yeah, it's hysterical with all the different remedies I'm being offered here. This is great. But somebody said, and. And eat a damn pizza.

[Peter Rosenberg]

What does that mean?

[Don La Greca]

I don't know. Do I look emaciated?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, I guess they think he's very thick. No, listen, you don't know Alan Hahn. Alan Hahn only eats tuna salad and peanuts from Trader Joe's and crackers. But anyways, so it was just funny, though, Don. It was a big deal. And then in the end, of course, a month later, no one's shaking hands. But, Alan, you'll have to make a decision tomorrow about whether you feel comfortable about shaking hands or it's like, hey, everybody, let's just fist bump it up. You know, What?

[Don La Greca]

I mean, I was thinking about maybe I just go, Covid mask. Would that be jarring? Throwback, Right?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Bring it back.

[Don La Greca]

Why not?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Okay.

[Don La Greca]

Christmas one. I know I have one somewhere.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Don La Greca]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I had so many different looks.

[Don La Greca]

A holiday Covid mess.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And now if I had to find one, it would remember what it was.

[Don La Greca]

Remember the number, remember, like, it had, like, a code. The right one. The one that was the right one.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh. Oh, yeah. On the mask. You mean.

[Don La Greca]

You mean N95, something like that, right?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, N95s were, like the medical ones. Those were like the intensive. No one had them.

[Don La Greca]

Yeah, no, yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

We just had, like, cloth over our face. But anyways, guys, that's not going to happen tomorrow. We're going to try our best. We're going to have a great time. We're looking forward to everyone coming out to your mother's house. And we're in the mood today because it's that type of day on a Thursday for something we like to call Reindeer Games 2.

[Alan Hahn]

Reindeer Games 2.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Great.

[Don La Greca]

Well, we got two today.

[Peter Rosenberg]

How's your belly for a sleigh ride, Don?

[Don La Greca]

Let's.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Let's play right here.

[Alan Hahn]

That's a great. That we should call the segment Back of your belly.

[Peter Rosenberg]

How's the back of your belly for a sleigh ride? Because we're going to have some Joe Burrow talk.

[Don La Greca]

Oh, we are.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Here's Joe Burrow on why he's trying to have more fun playing.

[Joe Burrow (Interviewee)]

No, it certainly doesn't change my desire to win. You know, if I want to keep doing this, I have to have fun doing it. You know, I've been through a lot, and if it's not fun, then what am I doing it for? So that's the mindset I'm trying to bring to the table. I'm not sure there was a singular moment or time of time. It's just a reflection. Reflection on a lot of things that I've done and been through in my career. I think I've been through more than most and certainly not easy on the. The brain or the body. So just trying to have fun doing it again.

[Don La Greca]

If I want to keep doing it, really caught my attention.

[Alan Hahn]

It's. And then people need to know the backstory. It's not just the injuries. It's not just a lost season for pretty much the second consecutive year. They salvaged it last year, but. And they were eliminated on the last day, but they were. They were three and eight to start the year. Cincinnati is the. The Tampa Bay Rays of football. All right, now they're worth billions of dollars because they're in the NFL, but they're notoriously cheap. How many holdouts have they had with their star players? They literally dress and have to cross a highway to their practice facility, which I believe is the only practice facility that doesn't have an indoor field. All right? And that's all good when you're winning and you're going to the super bowl and you're beating the Chiefs in Kansas City. But if you're in the midst of a possible rebuild or a year in which it's lost and you feel like you're a million miles away from the super bowl that you lost a couple of years ago, all of a sudden that's not a pleasant place to be, and it's not fun, and it sounds.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Like a guy that's looking to get out now. Also, we spent a lot of time on this in the off season. You guys remember Jamar Chase when he was breaking down Josh Allen vs. Joe Burrow? If you missed it, this is Jamar Chase talking about what you thought was his quarterback. But no, no, he was talking about Josh Allen.

[Don La Greca]

Honestly, I feel like he has it all. The timing, the accuracy, the placement, the speed, the awareness. He has it all.

[Caller/Listener]

The field recognition. I mean, what else he audibles in the backfield?

[Peter Rosenberg]

I don't know.

[Don La Greca]

I mean, well, I get this idea.

[Caller/Listener]

Is different from Josh Allen's tape.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Completely different.

[Caller/Listener]

You know what I'm saying? So I don't know. People, people game playing against Josh Allen.

[Don La Greca]

Not against Joe Burrow.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They play against his game, weapons, you.

[Caller/Listener]

Know what I'm saying?

[Mike Tannenbaum]

So that's the difference.

[Don La Greca]

Now he's talking about himself. Obviously.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They worry about me, me and T. They don't worry about Joe.

[Don La Greca]

Now, remember, this was a time for T to get paid, which is happening.

[Alan Hahn]

Every year with somebody on their team.

[Don La Greca]

Hendrickson, right. He just went through it. But. But what, what? First of all, let's remember that, that, that Joe and, and, and Jamar Chase, they have history. They've been together for years. They played together in college, right? So, like, there's something there that I, I, I don't want to go too crazy with that statement, but you don't know what's going on behind the scenes. Listening to Burrow yesterday sounded like somebody. It was his birthday, by the way. It sounded like somebody that was kind deep thought about my life kind of thing. He's 29. So you hit 29. Anybody that might remember it, you realize, like, damn, I'm gonna be out of my 20s. Next year. Like that. You do come to this moment of. It's like, I'm getting older.

[Alan Hahn]

You can play kid into your 20s. Once there's a three in front.

[Don La Greca]

That three changes your whole perspective on life. So I don't know if he went into, you know, went into it and had like this kind of moment of what am I doing and why do I be here? Let's not forget too that Carson Palmer, who once was there in his place, famously hinted to him, get out. Yeah, get out of there while you can before. I think it might have been before he signed the contract extension. And so there's enough reason for him to wonder about his future in Cincinnati. But I didn't like that. He also made it sound like he was wondering about his future in football. And, and then the connection that everybody made to Andrew Luck and how at the same age Andrew Luck walked away from the sport because it was beaten out of him. The love for it was.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But that's why, but that's why he has to do it. Because if you, if you do it any other way, you seem like a selfish, anti team guy. But if you make it seem like you've just lost love of the game and you might have to walk away when people really know what you mean is you still mean there. You're just not trying to throw the organization under the bus.

[Alan Hahn]

But it's not a bad thing to float out there, Peter. If Cincinnati wants to be stubborn and say, no, you're not going anywhere. Oh, well, I'm not going anywhere. You know, I'm just going to retire. And it's not that unprecedented. You met, you mentioned Andrew Locke, you mentioned Barry Sanders, and what do those players have in common, you know, playing for, you know, especially Barry, where it's like it's not working out here, you know, and, and Luck was getting beat up and they weren't playing in any Super Bowls either. Again, Cincinnati's fine when you're winning. And I also think the timing of it, guys came after what was a really tough loss against Buffalo in which they were, you know, still mathematically alive. They still are now, but certainly that took a hit with the loss. He plays his ass off, they lose the game. And now the reality is I'm going to have to play the rest of this year where I came back, where people were saying, why are you coming back? Because he wants to play. He wants to play for his team. But now, you know, the realization is that he's probably going to play the final month of the, the season of Meaningless football in a place that he doesn't want to be, in a place that's notoriously cheap and. And, you know, floating out the idea that, do I want to continue to.

[Don La Greca]

Do this now, does he follow the Carson Palmer playbook, though? Because that is was an ugly ending with him making the trade demand. Like, it's so funny. Is this not the Giannis situation in a way, Right. It's like, I don't want to be here anymore, but I don't want to say it right. Like, it really feels like we're right now in New York dealing with two situations that are very similar in Giannis and Joe Burrow. Right.

[Alan Hahn]

You know how you make it. You know, you make it more attractive. You do it the way that Stafford did in Detroit. Now, maybe he shouldn't have said what he said today, because then it wouldn't be a conversation, but have the conversation behind closed doors. Listen, I don't want this to get ugly, but at the end of the day, send me someplace who says that.

[Don La Greca]

He hasn't already in the bank.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, maybe that's the reason it kindly bubbled over, because maybe it is a conversation that they've had, and maybe his motivation to come back and play was to let the rest of the NFL know I'm healthy, I'm ready, I'm good. So if this does come to a head in the off season, I want you to be interested in me and.

[Don La Greca]

What we know about the Bengals. Anybody that like. Because, look, we'll have fun with this and do the trade machine stuff, because it's still. It's very much still a hypothetical. Right. Even. Even Adam Schefter this morning on get up was saying that already today.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You want to hear it?

[Don La Greca]

Oh, yeah. Perfect.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Here's Shefte this morning.

[Mike Tannenbaum]

That's a contemplative, reflective, thoughtful Joe Burrow who still is processing where he's at this season and how he wants to proceed. The court is, if I want to keep doing this, I have to have fun doing that. If you're raising that question at the end of the year, then there is a major issue going on in his mind and with that organization. And if we look at the punishment that he's taken over the years, it rivals that of just about any quarterback. He's been pummeled. I would think he probably hasn't felt supported. The offensive line has not protected him. The defense has failed him. The personnel has not been good around him, and it is within Joe Burrow's right to say and do whatever he wants. He will have a huge say in whether he wants to keep playing, whether he wants to keep playing in Cincinnati. I can tell you this. There are other teams around the league that took notice of that yesterday. So we're talking about all the sharks circling around the Michigan football players. I can tell you this.

[Alan Hahn]

All.

[Mike Tannenbaum]

All these teams around the league are paying attention to what Joe Burrow said yesterday.

[Don La Greca]

And look, the luck combination, by the way, 86 games he played until he was 29, he was sacked 174 times, which is insane. Joe Burrow has played 73 games, so 13 less. Sacked 203 times.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, it's crazy.

[Don La Greca]

Good Lord.

[Joe Burrow (Interviewee)]

So that's.

[Don La Greca]

That's the.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's a troubling number.

[Don La Greca]

But what Shefte's saying is exactly why Darren Muji, who is probably more locked and loaded than any other gm, if you consider how many draft picks that he now has collected, that he's among those who must be, if he wasn't already kind of feeling, hey, let's be in position, right? You gotta feel like now he knows who's got more than us to offer, because we know the Bengals don't want to take your big. Like, you know, they're not taking Kyler Murray, they're not taking a big contract back. They're a cheap organization. When Palmer left, they had Andy Dalton in a rookie deal. That's what. So that's what they'll want. So. So Fernando Mendoza, come on down.

[Alan Hahn]

They were not going to go for what Indianapolis did with the Jets. They didn't want Sauce Gardner. They didn't want. They want guys, they're going to have to pay. They want picks. And if you think Muji's the guy, and we'll see, but good organizations, good general managers, see what happened yesterday ahead of time. And so I think there's something going on in Cincinnati. I think there's a possibility he's going to be made available. If he is, I want to be in a position to trade for him. If he doesn't want to come here, I can't do anything about that. But what I could do is put myself in a position that if Cincinnati wants to deal, they have to deal with us. Because nobody has what we have to give up. And we need a quarterback more than anybody. And that's why it's also now important. Going back to the conversation we had a month ago, Allen, these games for the jets are important because if you want to convince Burrow to come here, you want to be able to convince him that they've Got the coaching staff and they've got the skills that you could take advantage of, not lose out for the draft pick and go, why would I want to go to New York where they lost their last, you know, five games to close out the season look like an embarrassment. I'm trying to leave an embarrassment, not join another one where if you play hard, you win a few games and they believe in Glenn and they believe in Muji, that you become an attractive place to say, hey, that's a step up from Cincinnati. I want to go there. I'll. I'll. I'll approve a deal. And if that happens, guys, then this reindeer game that Peter was talking about becomes a reality because a Burrow becomes available and he doesn't mind playing for the Jets. No one is going to be able to match where the jets can give. No one. No one's got the kind of draft capital the jets do. And Cincinnati doesn't want established players that are being paid. So you. You tell me another team that could put together all these picks for Burrow.

[Don La Greca]

If I'm.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It was. Go ahead, Alan.

[Don La Greca]

All I was going to say was the only thing to say is that going from the Bengals to the jets is like going from hell to more hell. And why would Joe Burrow want.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I think that's disrespectful. To hell.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, but you're. You're talking like the old jets. If it's the new jets, if Muji and Glenn are the guys.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But. But how.

[Alan Hahn]

How.

[Peter Rosenberg]

There's not going to be enough tangible proof of that in the next four weeks.

[Don La Greca]

I don't know.

[Alan Hahn]

Aaron Rodgers thought it was okay to come here.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Aaron Rodgers did not have a lot of options.

[Alan Hahn]

He didn't mind. I understand. And. And if. And Burrows only other option might be retirement because, you know, Cincinnati, I'm not just going to send you to wherever, you know, I want to send you someplace where we can. We can get something back in return.

[Peter Rosenberg]

The. The only. If I'm the Bengals. The only way I look at this, and by the way, I want to be clear, I believe this is Reindeer Games. And I. And I like Reindeer Games. I think they're fun. But I don't think there's any chance he's moving.

[Caller/Listener]

No, I don't.

[Alan Hahn]

I don't. I don't agree with that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Okay. You. There's a chance.

[Alan Hahn]

Hey, listen, I saw. I saw Brett Favre go to the Jets.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They were both. Those are guys who are eight years past where we are. It's just not.

[Alan Hahn]

But you never. You Never say never.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, never.

[Alan Hahn]

You just had a guy go public, basically telling the world, I don't want to be here anymore. He's one of the best quarterbacks in football. The jets need a quarterback. The jets have more draft capital than anybody in the NFL. I'm not predicting it to happen, Peter, but looking at the evidence, I don't think it's a reindeer game. What?

[Don La Greca]

What? You know, you got to be in the game on this one.

[Peter Rosenberg]

If you're the Bengals, if you're the Bengals, the only way that you can look at this is what do we want? Like, what do we want? What's out there that we want? How many picks is it? Do we want someone this year? Do we really. Do they care about getting a top three pick overall this year? Will that do anything? Is there someone they're dreaming about next year that really could make them think this is. You're talking about replacing a world class quarterback. That's what people dream of in drafts. So you could get all the picks you want. Is there a way to getting someone to replace the talent of Joe Burrow? I don't know that there is.

[Don La Greca]

No.

[Alan Hahn]

But, but if Burrow goes to them and says, listen, I'm going to be 30 years old, I'm getting killed here, I'm going to retire, unless you trade me someplace, I'm going to retire and you're going to get nothing and the jets can maybe offer him all those first round picks. You're not turning that down if you're.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Cincinnati or you just don't you call his bluff. Well, and they say we don't think.

[Alan Hahn]

You'Re retired, but we've seen Andrew Locke, we've seen Barry Sanders, we've seen guys just walk away and we go, why the hell did you do that for? I still can't believe Andrew Luck retired. I still thought he was going to come back at some point. And at the same age he walked away with a more functional organization that Burrow would be walking away from. I'll tell you that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I mean, I feel like, I feel like Luck's injuries were different than Burroughs. I mean, Burroughs had bad injuries, but was it with Luck, the. Some of the issues they couldn't like it didn't seem like they could quite get a handle on things. He was always dealing with something.

[Don La Greca]

Yeah. But the biggest thing that he talked about, and that's the phrase that Burrow used to was, you know how much I want to do it. Like, Luck said that I just like you because of the recovery. And that's what Burrow was talking about. He was using a lot of the same language that Luck was using. Love of the game or losing the love of the game. That's the stuff he was talking about, like the game was beaten out of Andrew Luck. Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

It's not apples to apples, I'll give you that, Peter. I'm just saying that a player walking away early, he's made his money, he's played in the super bowl, knows he's probably never going to do that again in the current situation. It's not a great again. I'm not predicting it. You're definitely on the right side of 50 50, I'll give you that. I'm not saying the odds are in its favor, but the more you talk about this, it. It's not. It's not just crazy. Hey, the guys in New York are just pulling a story out of thin air. Burrow didn't have to go public with this, so obviously there's a modus operandi there, why he did what he did.

[Don La Greca]

Yep.

[Alan Hahn]

Cincinnati probably wouldn't mind getting out of his contract, probably wouldn't mind getting a bunch of picks and starting over.

[Don La Greca]

Now, the first thing I think you got to know, again, this is why if you're a general manager, if you're Darren Muji, you got yourself everything you need as far as what it would cost to get a player like this. This, you have all the picks. Right. Like this sets you up to be in the game for something like this if it's to happen. But the first thing I need to know is, you know, does he still want to play? That's like I said, the way he sounded was alarming.

[Alan Hahn]

Right.

[Don La Greca]

Because he didn't sound like, I'm tired of this organization. I'm not happy. I want to win. He wasn't using.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Am I the only one not buying it?

[Alan Hahn]

I'm not.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I'm not.

[Don La Greca]

You really feel like this was just. This was him firing the first shot?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, I do think. Not only that. Not only that. I know.

[Don La Greca]

I hate hearing an athlete talk this way.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I know. I hear you. I hear you. Not only that, guys, if they end up not blowing the lead and winning last Sunday against Buffalo, we're not even having this conversation.

[Don La Greca]

You think so? That's all I'm saying. All right, I'll just say it. I don't want to give up five first round picks for a guy that in another year says, you know what? I still don't love the game. I'm going to.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, well, that would certainly be something you have to do your due diligence.

[Alan Hahn]

But if you find out this is a ploy for him to get out of Cincinnati and he'll be revigorated some. Someplace else, anyplace else. Because the one thing I'm not going to sit here and defend, Woody Johnson, he's been awful, he's been an awful owner, but he's not cheap. All right? He spends money, just doesn't know what he's doing. But you look at that facility in Florham park, you look at the money that he's dished out for players. I mean, he's not cheap, he's not Cincinnati. So you don't have to worry about that. If he's coming here, hey, they don't have a history. I can't do anything about that. But I, I hear Peter, I hear you. If I had to bet right now, is it going to happen? No. Yeah, there's something there. There's smoke.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, there is me.

[Alan Hahn]

There's smoke.

[Don La Greca]

No, there's.

[Peter Rosenberg]

There is smoke.

[Don La Greca]

And the jets were in New York. The jets have enough draft capital to make something like this happen. And Joe Burrow can control where he wants to go with a no trade clause. Like, there's a lot of things here is if New York is a destination, the jets have what the Bengals want. If Joe wants New York, if he wants a fresh start. All I was saying is A, I want to make sure he still wants to play and B, does Joe Burrow really want to go from a Bengal situation to a Jet situation? Well, those are the things I think have to be. We, as much as we want to put a lot of enthusiasm into this, as a Jets fan, of course I would love. I was talking with Greeny about it this morning, but we both kind of like said the same thing to each other. Why would he want to come here? And I hate saying it, but they're not in a place like that that they would be an attractive destination. A franchise that if you're leaving a miserable place, you'd want to go to someplace that you feel like they've got a history of getting it right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And that's not exactly here. 1-800-919-3776 we will take your calls on this. And then we have a lot more to get into, including some potential reindeer games with regards to the Mets and the Padres, which will be fun as well. Oh yeah, there's a whole lot happening here. On a Thursday on dhr, if I.

[Don La Greca]

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[Alan Hahn]

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[Peter Rosenberg]

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[Don La Greca]

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[Peter Rosenberg]

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[Alan Hahn]

So that means a half day.

[Peter Rosenberg]

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[Peter Rosenberg]

Let's drive.

[Don La Greca]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Don La Greca]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

[Peter Rosenberg]

We are going on a sleigh ride. You're not feeling it?

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, I'm not.

[Don La Greca]

I'm not.

[Alan Hahn]

I'm. I'm not ready. It's. It's December 11th, man. It's getting. It's close, man. It's two weeks away.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Two weeks from today.

[Alan Hahn]

Two weeks from today. I've gotten very little done shopping wise because it just. It just so busy. I don't know how I would have done it pre, you know, Internet, you know, where you can order stuff on. If I had to, like, go to the mall. I don't think anybody gave me.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, I feel you don't. I gotta tell you, I. We're gonna. We're gonna get Maya some Hanukkah presents for fun little things. Things she needs, obviously, or like, you know, but man, like, over the last many years where I didn't have kids, as I got older, the wintertime present thing, like, has faded away and I just haven't missed it at all.

[Alan Hahn]

I looked forward to it back, you know, pre, Kids, you know, shopping for Nancy. Go get a little trinkets here and there for friends and different people. And I still like. I like the concept. It's just. I don't have the time.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I just. I already have too much junk. I'm dumb. I'm a hoarder. I don't need more time.

[Alan Hahn]

I need to make that. I need to make the arrangement. I just haven't been able to broach it with Nancy. Well, of just having that. Listen, let's just. Let's just get one each for us. Let's just focus on the kids and all that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, so wait, so what do you do right now? Are you guys still getting multiple things?

[Don La Greca]

I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know how you guys handle it, but I let Santa do all the buying the presents for the kids.

[Alan Hahn]

No, no, no. I'm talking about Nancy. Like, you know, and just like getting the kids. Getting ready with the tree and the decorations. But Alan, hold on. If it wasn't for Santa, forget.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, you'd be no chance. But you're missing the headline here.

[Don La Greca]

What's the headline?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Unless. How many gifts are you and Nancy still doing for each other?

[Alan Hahn]

Multiple.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Really nice. Good for you, man. Good for you. You know, me and Natalie only been together five years and twice this last week she's asked me, so are we doing gifts for Hanukkah and Christmas? Are you doing that? And I was like, yeah, sure, if you want to.

[Alan Hahn]

I wish it was just about the kids and just enjoying the gifts.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Why don't you do it? Why don't you just say, hey, we have enough stuff, you know, you should do. Don, based on what you've said on the air, so I don't think I'm speaking out of school based on what you've spoken about on the air about like the things in your house, in the garage that you can't get into. You should start just digging through the garage of stuff you already have and re gifting it to Nancy again. Bring it right back. I guarantee you there's a gift you've given her that's sitting right there untouched. Box it right up.

[Alan Hahn]

I think she would know what a.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Gag it would be though, if she didn't. Wouldn't it be unreal? Alan, how many gifts are you guys exchanging? Just the two of you? I don't mean the kids. Although Sam is done with some of your kids. They're adults.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, he's moved on.

[Don La Greca]

Well, no, no, no, not at all.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Santa continues to go for all the adults. I thought it's the little boys and girls that Santa's worried about.

[Don La Greca]

It is as long as you're living in the house.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Really? I. I did.

[Don La Greca]

I mean, the elf shows up every Thanksgiving night, okay. And keeps an eye on everybody and keeps his tabs and then he leaves and he tells Santa everything that's going on.

[Alan Hahn]

I understand, but. But in the world in which there are 40 year old college graduates living at home, even Santa's like, you know what?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Enough is enough.

[Alan Hahn]

Although I guess I'm just saying, in the world, right?

[Don La Greca]

Emma has her own. Has her own apartment now, so.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's the thing. That's my point. Santa's not. He's not dropping off stuff at your house if she has her own apartment.

[Alan Hahn]

Marco and Jalen are still living with us at 40 and it's not basically to physically take care of two people near dead. Santa's not stopping.

[Don La Greca]

Guys, do me a favor, say hi to Cali because she's listening right now in the car with Stephanie.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So Callie's.

[Alan Hahn]

Guys, she better be good to come.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Wait, now Don, real quick. The kids are. Did just turn nine?

[Alan Hahn]

Eight.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They just turned eight. So you're saying 32 years from now. And how old are you, Don?

[Alan Hahn]

I'm 57.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I'm going to do some quick math here. So if they're living in the house 32 years from now and you're 89. Although, you know, honestly, at that point, Don could be in, like, full Vin Scully of the Devils mode, You know what I mean?

[Alan Hahn]

But what I said is, if they're still living at home and it's for any other reason butt taking care of them, Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Then that's a problem.

[Alan Hahn]

If I'm still taking care of them. If he's like, yeah, mom meatloaf.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah. No, you don't want a mom meatloaf. All right, so real quick, we're gonna get to these calls, but Natalie and I decided we are going to go on a little trip, and we're not going to fly anywhere. It's too much. The babies at the age right now, that just seems more challenging than we need. So we're going to go on a little driving trip.

[Don La Greca]

Okay.

[Peter Rosenberg]

We're gonna go to Vermont.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, my.

[Peter Rosenberg]

We're gonna stay in, like, a little resorty type place in Vermont. That looks nice. And we're gonna pick some other random places to stop because the place in Vermont's like, six hours away.

[Don La Greca]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And then by the time we're in Vermont, we said, well, how far are we from Montreal right there?

[Don La Greca]

Far.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Not far.

[Joe Burrow (Interviewee)]

Not far at all.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So we're going to Montreal for a few days. So you know what I did, Don?

[Alan Hahn]

Is that Lake Champlain? Isn't that the divide right there?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah. So maybe we'll swim across.

[Alan Hahn]

I don't know.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So I. I went on the old interweb to see what's going on at the Bell center when I'm there.

[Alan Hahn]

Okay.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And on the Saturday night that we're gonna be there, Sid Crosby.

[Alan Hahn]

And the.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Penguins are in town.

[Alan Hahn]

It's too perfect, because there was a time you took my advice when caps I did it and you loved it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You brought something back for the kids.

[Alan Hahn]

If I don't.

[Peter Rosenberg]

If I believe that sounds lovely. Did I. I did do that look.

[Alan Hahn]

Like a little, like, foam finger or something.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, what a great guy I am. But. But as you. As you mentioned there, by how long ago it was and mentioning that it was the capitals, it implies that this was a different version of my life.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So I need to do this again.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. I'm saying every version needs this.

[Don La Greca]

Exactly.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So I told Matt, I said, listen, we need to do this. Trust me, this is a good time. We're going to bring Maya. Put the little headphones on her ears. She's of the age, she can handle it, right, with the headphones on. Yeah, we'll put the headphones on her and we're going to go to the Bell Center. I'm going to tell you right now, tickets, not exactly cheap for a Canadian vehicle.

[Alan Hahn]

Go for a nice dinner at Da Vinci's before I'm telling you, it would be great.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So that's. I thought you'd be excited about that. And by the way, if you have any good friends, anybody at the Montreal Canadiens, go ahead and Let me know. 1-800-919-3776. Let's go to let our friend Gilbert in the truck start things off about the Jets. What do you got, Gilbert?

[Caller/Listener]

What's up, my guys?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Gilbert.

[Caller/Listener]

Yeah. What's up, my guy? Yeah. Donnie. How's it going?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Good.

[Alan Hahn]

What's up, baby?

[Caller/Listener]

I'm good, I'm good. Listen, two things. I don't understand why people are getting bent out of shape. The jets are in the perfect position. Han, I apologize for not saying hello. You're my homie. I love your interviews with the Nick Speedy. You're my homie as well, you know that. Keep up the good work. You're keeping everything fluid, just like Stephen Ab Sing fluid.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Thank you.

[Caller/Listener]

What I don't understand is this. You got, what, six number one draft picks? You got a couple of number twos and God knows what else, you know what I'm saying? Like you said, Woody is not a football man, but he's a money man. So if he gets traded to Burrow, gets traded to New York, I'm pretty sure Woody would go, how about if I stack up maybe another 50 million on there?

[Alan Hahn]

Would you?

[Caller/Listener]

You know what I'm saying? Make you happy.

[Don La Greca]

Yeah.

[Caller/Listener]

You know what I'm saying? And then I'm pretty sure having a star like that on Broadway, he could make. Peter, he could make more money here on Broadway than he can make in Cincinnati.

[Alan Hahn]

Like Joe revisited.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah. Listen, thank you.

[Caller/Listener]

There you go, honey. I leave you with that man. Take it along, Petey. Love you guys.

[Peter Rosenberg]

All right, thanks.

[Alan Hahn]

All right.

[Caller/Listener]

Love you, John.

[Peter Rosenberg]

All right. Other love for you, baby. There you go. Thank you. Listen, it's a good point that even though, you know, the shortcomings of the jets are plentiful, a quarterback who plays like Joe Burrow, who looks like Joe Burrow, handsome kid, Cool. Joe Cool, he's got the brand. He'd make a ton of money. He'd be very popular. That part is not what concerns me. Yes, I don't think Joe Burrow dreams about being a New York Jet at night, but I could certainly see you convincing him.

[Alan Hahn]

Why?

[Peter Rosenberg]

It could work. To me, this whole thing is about the Bengals. It's just about, can you possibly get what the player is worth, or would you rather deal with the malcontent who's that talented because you just don't feel like sending him off to get a bunch of picks that are not going to amount to something as close? Because we all know, guys, the only thing that allows you to have a team in this league is having the quarterback now.

[Alan Hahn]

All right? So if he goes into the office and it's like, I want to get the heck out of here. Get me out of here. I demand a trade, then maybe it just becomes hostile and you're like, no, why should I do him any favors? But what if he just came to you, hat in hand and said, listen, I just need a change. It's not working here for me. I'm really contemplating retirement because in that what Stafford did, hey, listen, I gave you all that I could. It's not working here. Let's make a deal. And it worked out like, if he handles it well, if indeed that's what he wants to do. You think they're just gonna. No, no, you're staying. You're playing with us. Why would I want somebody to play for me that doesn't want to be there? As good as he is, Peter, is that worth it? Forcing him to play or say, you know what history said here?

[Don La Greca]

Donnie, there's history there because of Carson Palmer.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right?

[Don La Greca]

So it all starts with the fact that there is history there. There's a precedent. But I'm not looking at it from that perspective. Joe said what he said yesterday, and it turned into something that is everywhere. We're not. This is not us coming up with some crazy story to talk about to start the show. This was all over the place this morning, everywhere. Okay, so they talked about it on the ESPN shows, on other networks. This has been talked about. What I'm talking about from a New York perspective is because if the jets didn't have draft picks or other, they're not going to get involved because why would the jets be a destination over anyone else? What do they have? But they have a boatload of picks that UGM was able to come up with at the trade deadline. And we all said, wow, what a big win. Look at all these picks. Then you real. And what I tell you at the time, those Picks aren't worth anything until you use them.

[Alan Hahn]

And who's the best? Who do you use as an example? Alan, as a possible get.

[Don La Greca]

I said Joe Burrow.

[Alan Hahn]

Right.

[Don La Greca]

Because now everybody knows he's not happy there to begin with.

[Alan Hahn]

But I'm saying is at that time when you threw that name out, that was a reindeer game. And now all of a sudden, that reindeer game, you know, just drop something very interesting that makes it like less of a reindeer.

[Don La Greca]

But what I'm. Right, right. And what I'm saying is from a New York perspective, there's almost like you must, if you're Darren Muji, do all the work you can, which I imagine he already is. You have to do everything you can to find out is this guy going to be available. There's back channel ways to find out. There's agents to talk to. There's. There's ways to know and start the conversation and then make the Bengals know. Listen, this is burning a hole in my pocket. I got. I got all these picks and then burning a hole. I'm less neat f them picks. I need a quarterback. Like, that's where you are right now. And that's what we're saying. What we're saying is that that organization doesn't get a lot of things right, but you got to be in on everything. You got to be the one team that is all in if this is going to be a thing. But you can't do it after he says, I want to be traded, you got to be already ahead of the game. And that's when you. That's to me, what we're doing. You apply the pressure now on the jets to make sure that you guys do whatever it takes. Because if he ends up traded somewhere.

[Mike Tannenbaum]

Else.

[Don La Greca]

That'S devastating for the Jets. Devastating.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Let's go to Ira. Who better to talk to? Iron Staten Island. What's up, Ira?

[Caller/Listener]

Hey, gentlemen.

[Alan Hahn]

How are you? Happy holidays.

[Caller/Listener]

You guys, you know this. You guys have been in this business too long. You know the way it is where this smoke, this fire and you know that previous caller, you know, Joe Cool in New York. It makes all the sense in the world. The only problem that I have with this, and I would welcome what open norms is that everything that they've done, supposedly building a foundation. And it seems like there's some cracks right now. Hopefully they're going to get them fixed. It's just now they're going to pivot and bring in a guy like Burrow. I mean, Rogers is what he is. He shot, but is Burrow's ego going to be too much for Aaron Glenn to handle also. That's, that's the question that I have to be concerned about. And for Woody Johnson, okay, I've spoken to so many season ticket holders and at the stadium people, I know 90% of the people, okay, 25, 35, 40 year season ticket holders, they're giving up their tickets. So if borough is a realistic thing, whether movie or Glenn, even if they don't want to go in that direction, Woody's going to have to step in and force it because he's not going to sell tickets.

[Don La Greca]

No, I was right though. I see Iris, right. They the business is struggling right now and so. And Woody John, nobody's more sensitive to criticism and losing money and losing the business, losing fans than Woody Johnson. He pays attention to all this stuff. Don't pretend like he doesn't. Why do you think they paired up the former coach with some with a talk radio guy? Why do you think they do this stuff? Cuz they're aware of all of it. And if this is now something that's out there and I promise you the tabloids gonna have all this stuff tomorrow too. Hundred percent tabloid is going to have all this. There's a reason for it. He's going to pay attention to all of it and he's going to make sure that his guys are on this story. But they have to be.

[Alan Hahn]

But the one thing I disagree with, Ira, he's saying pivot. You've been saying it all along, Alan. Getting those picks was all about was not necessarily getting a quarterback in the draft. It was if a quarterback shake loose, I want to be able to jump him. I'm not saying this was the sole plan, but I believe Muji just said I think Burrows unhappy in Cincinnati. We probably have no chance of getting them. But all I know is if he shakes loose in Cincinnati, I don't want to be. It's because I don't have enough to get him.

[Don La Greca]

Otherwise what are we doing right? Otherwise what are we doing?

[Alan Hahn]

Pivot. Ira, there's no, I'll collect a bunch of draft picks so we can, you know, trade up for Mendozer or hope that, you know, next year Arch Manning comes out? No, I think the plan was let's get some picks because we might trade for a bet.

[Don La Greca]

Trade up for Mendoza. Can you imagine as field Yates has that. Imagine a trade between the jets and the Giants where the jets offer multiple firsts to move up to take the Giants pick so they could take Fernando Mendoza. Imagine that world. That's a field D.H. wrote. It's good. It's very interesting to say that's like a proposal he came up with. But no like, like what are the like what we're saying about Joe Burrow? The chances of that happening are single digits. The chances of a Jets Giants trade up situation are even lower than that.

[Alan Hahn]

Dude. If you want typical jets, that's typical Jets. You trade up for Mendoza, he becomes Ryan Leach. True. And you single handedly rebuilt the Giants with all those picks that play in your stadium.

[Don La Greca]

That's typical Jets.

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[Don La Greca]

Thanks for listening to the Don Han and Rosenberg podcast.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Don La Greca]

Catch this show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. I gotta say I I look when I'm home I get to see the the chat going on YouTube. It's like the same like five people really, but like they they very active. Which is great. We love that because it's all reaction, interaction and stuff. We got a lot of Billy Big Balls out there too, by the way. Don't think I don't see it, but the one thing that Anthony everybody wants to produce the show because they feel like this is a waste of time topic. So it's all Pusick's fault. I agree that it's all my fault. Not that it's waste time topic. It is. It is not your fault. But thank you Peter. It's it's funny to me though that there really is a lot of pushback about the topic. So I actually encourage people this instead of being keyboard warriors, 800-919377 show us something.

[Alan Hahn]

And I think Peter's kind of in that same camp. You know, he called it a rain. Damn right.

[Don La Greca]

Yeah, that's. But we said that from the start that we know this is on the surface.

[Alan Hahn]

You know, when you say, oh, you just make it up a story because it's a slow day.

[Don La Greca]

Not really.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's right.

[Alan Hahn]

Okay. All that could be true. Listen, it's not the first time that you've had to kind of create something, but what do we create? One of the biggest names in the sport just expressed his dissatisfaction where he's at in his NFL career. It's a name that we've brought up on this show before we have about the possibility of becoming available. And that's becoming even more clear that he might become available after what he said today. And the jets are in a better position than any other team in the NFL to trade for now. You might believe it's not going to happen because he might not want to go to the jets or maybe this just deploy to try to get Cincinnati to start spending more money and to care more about winning or whatever. But you can't say there isn't something there. There's something there. And the jets are a big enough franchise and football is a big enough sport where it's worth the conversation. I'm sorry. It is.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I agree with you. I'm enjoying the conversation. By the way, if you missed it, let's play one more time. Here's Joe Burrow.

[Joe Burrow (Interviewee)]

No, it certainly doesn't change my desire to win. You know, if I want to. If I want to keep doing this, I have to have fun doing it. You know, I've been through a lot, and if it's not fun, then what am I doing it for? So that's the mindset I'm trying to bring to the table. I'm not sure there was a singular moment or time. It's just a reflection. Reflection on a lot of things that I've done and been through in my career. I think I've been through more than most and certainly not easy on the. The brain or the body. So just trying to have fun doing it again.

[Alan Hahn]

And the other thing, too, because Alan, you brought up Muji doing his due diligence and trying to get through back channels to find out if. If Joe would come here, that there's something real.

[Don La Greca]

Right.

[Alan Hahn]

I'll take it a step further from their side. I'm sure Joe ran it by his agent. Listen, I'm thinking about bringing this up and his agent's going to go, okay, what's your end game? Well, maybe if I bring this up, it'll. It'll get some conversation about an exit strategy and then his agent's going to go, well, you do realize that team that's going to be the best position to trade for you is the New York jets because they just picked up a bunch of first round picks. You know, Cincinnati is not going to want any roster players, guys that are already under contract. So there's a chance you can get traded to the Jets. And if that conversation was had, he still went out and said it.

[Don La Greca]

Yep.

[Peter Rosenberg]

There. The end of it is very key though that he said he just wants it to be fun again.

[Alan Hahn]

Mm. That's Cincinnati do to make it fun.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But I just know in terms of.

[Don La Greca]

The is he making his ass? That's how you make it fun.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But in terms of the is he really serious about not playing? I think that shows. No, that's not a thing. That's gamesmanship. There's no part of him that's actually considering not playing.

[Alan Hahn]

But he wants told you. But he has just said to you in public that the game's not fun for him and he. So if he is forced to stay in Cincinnati, he's told the fan base, he's told his teammates, I'm not having fun here anymore. Is that good for everyone? So what is what do the Bengals do holding on to a guy that is admitted to the world? It's not fun playing in Cincinnati. It's not fun playing for this team. All right, so you win the hole. I didn't cave. I kept him. But what did you keep a guy that doesn't want to be there.

[Don La Greca]

Peter. Grab, grab Chauncey, because he's actually watching on YouTube and he said he called in and he wants to chime in. So let's.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Here we go.

[Don La Greca]

Let's take care of our people.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Chauncey and Westwood. What's up, man?

[Caller/Listener]

So the jets probably could give Cincinnati the best haul. But as far as Burrow, if it's his decision, if he's a guy who gets hurt a lot, if he wants to play at MetLife eight times a year, I don't know if he'd be interested in that. But what I take from that sound bite that possibly leads me to think that he leading to an early retirement, you know, after all these games that the defense blows for him. He doesn't say anything of this sort. But after the game where he essentially spotted Buffalo 14 points in the fourth quarter, you know, now he's saying it after the games on him. So why do you think that is?

[Don La Greca]

You know, it's a great. It's John Cell. And that's why I just keep going back to that part is I need to know that this is not as much about his situation in Cincinnati and more about his just situation. And whether or not it is about it is more Andrew Luck than it is Carson Palmer. That, that to me is the greatest question here, which is why, again, putting energy behind this story, guys, is not to alarm the alert the Jets. They're well aware of this. It's just like everybody's aware. Like if this guy, if this is about this is more Carson Palmer, you Jets better get on this thing. But if it's not, you better know that too. That's. That's kind of what I'm saying. Why I feel like this is a page one back page story. It's. This is a real thing and the jets in the position they're in, not if the jets didn't have the extra draft picks. This is not a conversation because they don't have anything to offer, by the way, is there. Because they do is what makes this a story. I think I'm trying to make that point over and over again.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Is there, is there a conversation also to be had? Maybe next hour we can get into it. We're gonna talk to Mike Tannenbaum in just a second. Is there something to be discussed about too? About like the quarterback privilege that exists and like the way that we talk about them being this way. Because there's an argument to be made. We can talk about the sacks that he's taken and I get that. But there is a diva ishness to this whole thing of like this team, when he stays healthy, has been pretty competitive. I mean, it's not like even last year they fought till the end, they were nine and eight. He's led the league in yard. He's through for 5,000 yards. They went to a Super Bowl a couple of years ago. Like, I understand he gets sacked too much and that's something that they need to prioritize. Obviously for him, the money focus was wide receivers and having a pair of the best in the league and that's where they spent their money. But I don't know, we can talk about it more. It's a little diva ish, though, to act like it's been so miserable in Cincinnati and it's a little bit unfair, frankly, relative to what they've done when he's been available.

[Don La Greca]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I don't want to know how the.

[Don La Greca]

Sausage is made, man. I just want to know it's good. Hear more of Don Allen and Peter.

[Mike Tannenbaum]

Weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8.

[Don La Greca]

80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app, and your smart speakers.