Listen, the way you sleep is unique to you, and that's why having a sleep number smart bed is so crucial. Cause you can adapt to your changing needs for just right. Can't wait to nestle into bed, luxurious comfort.
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My wife's is 70. Just 10 numbers apart, but it means the world of difference because I can change my side of the bed to however firm or soft I want. And the same thing. For Suze.
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SleepNumber, official sleep and wellness partner of the NFL. See store or sleepnumber.com for details. This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Checking off the boxes on your to-do list is a great feeling. And when it comes to checking off coverage, a State Farm agent can help you choose an option that's right for you.
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Now, on with the show. They know how I feel. I want to play both sides, and there's nothing gonna change my mind. This is the Rich Eisen Show. What is your plan to play Travis Hunter on both sides of the football?
Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. That's what it happened to me. Picked off by Travis. Do you think he can be offensive and defensive rookie of the year? Hunter, he wanted to bowl the night.
That's why I do think it's possible. Earlier on the show, ESPN NFL analyst Lewis Riddick. Coming up. Senior writer for the MMQB, Albert Breer. Plus, your phone calls, latest news, and more.
And now. And Mr. Rich Eisen. That's right. Hour number two of the Rich Eisen show is on the air.
A fun chat with Lewis Riddick in our number one of the program and joining us right here in all of his. George Hamilton, NFL Media 10 Splendor from Sports Illustrated. I need like a grade on this. Like, what would you say? Right now, Albert Breer, I think you are a very good.
I mean, on a scale of the business. No, no, please. On a scale of one to raging. Um I think you're just, you're, you're, you're right there, man. You're like raging minus.
And we just had the conversation about that picture that you and I took. I think it was a selfie. We were watching the World Cup. I'm trying to find it. It's a gazebo in Nantucket.
Yep. And it was, I remember it was relatively empty in there. And that picture, like, I was wearing like an orange lacoste shirt. Yep. And it really, that was like the A.
Like, I don't think I'm an A right now.
Well, I mean, technically, as you're, you're, you're in your mid-40s now. You don't want to match an orange shirt, Albert. You know, that's true for a lot of the characters. The letters for you aren't just SI, they should be SPF, okay? Or MMQB and SPF.
But anyway, good to see you. Great to see you. Where are we on your tour? How many spots have you visited? I'll be with the Chargers.
That'll be 15. I'll go visit you. 15. Go visit your old buddy Jim across the way. Yeah.
So obviously. You just hang a right and the left and you're there. I know, I know. And they have a later practice today.
So I'll be out of town late. I'm on a later flight to Phoenix. But yeah, they practice from five to seven, I believe, tonight. That's right. That's.
Excellent. Yeah, and they've got a really nice facility over here. But I did the entire Midwest, so I did that whole swing, which I do, as you know, a bunch of that by car, and then came out here. And I'll be at 17 when I finally get home to my kids on Thursday night.
So do more than half the league. Who else have you seen here in Southern California? I've seen all of them now.
So I was with the Rams and Cowboys. All right.
So let's get started. And I'm not going to start with the Cowboys just because that's what I've been doing pretty much every day. What's up with Matthew Stafford's back?
So, like, my perception on it, like, so he's had scary injuries the last few years. And they're the types of injuries when a player gets older, when a quarterback gets older, you get concerned. Elbow. Rest. And now back.
And so he's thirty-seven. Didn't he have a neck to it? Yeah.
So there's like I think it's just the accumulation of damage over the course of his career. He played on some I mean, I think he would concede some Rough Fliance teams and took the damage for a lot of that. And so, I think for them, it's a realization: you know, his age, you only have so many bullets left in the gun. And do you really want to be firing them now? I think the other thing that gives them a nice advantage here is the presence of Jimmy Garoppolo, who they really like.
They think Jimmy is a starting-level quarterback. In fact, if they had traded Stafford in February or March, which was a possibility. They would have gone to Aaron Rodgers. If Aaron Rodgers had said no, Jimmy would have been the next choice.
So, Jimmy, they view Jimmy as like a viable starting option. The reason that's relevant now is because they can go out and have competent practices where their veterans get good work with Jimmy in there and with Matthew saving the bullets in his gun. And basically, you're saying here. We would rather you get the rest now than have to do maintenance work on you in November and December because you're worn out. And so I think really the idea is we're not going to put him back out there till he's 100%.
And when he's 100%, we'll roll with him. But for right now, they think they've got a really, really good team and they want. The full Matthew Stafford, and not just for week one, but a Matthew Stafford who's ready to sustain through February.
Okay, so you know, I understand maintenance and precaution, I get that. Yeah.
But. We we can't sit here and say you know, when the Stafford stuff was going down as the first Yep. Free agency pond, right? Tross in there and the ripple effects, and you know, and who was kicking tires on him? Giants, Steelers.
We all know that there was a lot of teams interested in him. And then the Rams kept him. That you couldn't sit here and say the plan for him in late July and August was for him to be week to week with a back that has him see a specialist over the weekend so Jimmy Garoppolo could get time. Like, that definitely wasn't the plan, though. No, it wasn't.
No, it wasn't. So, that's what I'm trying to find. Where do we land on the level of concern? You're saying that there's not much concerns. I would say What I would what I would say is it's at the normal level of concern.
With a 37-year-old who has a back issue.
Okay. Like, it's not something that, like, where I think. It's an alarm bell situation where, like, wow, if he gets out of bed the wrong way, his season might be over. You know what I mean? Like, I think it's a normal, he's an older player.
When these things p pop up, you have to deal with them and you have to deal with them aggressively, and that's what they're doing.
Okay. So in the meantime, Kyron Williams just got some, got a new deal. Yeah, 33 over 3. I mean, that's a nice pop. Is this possibly something that could help the Bills with James Cook?
I would think so. I mean, there was a point earlier in the offseason where they were pretty far apart. The Bills and Cook were, and there was a lot of ground to make up. And I think. It didn't get I hesitate to say personal, but I don't think it was in a great place in the spring.
And there were some talks over the course of the months to follow that I think got them a little bit closer. I think this will help. I think one of the things with Cook that was really important for them is he's been such a good soldier in Sean McDermott's program. And so, how is he going to show up? And he's been a leader.
During training camp, he's been everything they wanted as a player. He's been fully engaged in everything. And so the sense the bills are getting, at least, is this is a guy who, again, looks like he wants to be here long term and is motivated to be here long term.
Now, that said, it's tricky at that position, you know, because if this guy goes out there and gets hurt, it could kill his value altogether. We've seen it happen with other players that take that risk and play into a contract year. You know, even like Saquon, like Saquon got hurt a lot when he was younger, which is why he didn't get paid until he got a little bit older. And so it's a tricky thing. And I think, you know, for James Cook, what you do is you push every button from a leverage standpoint and in the negotiation to try to get the best deal you can.
And then when you get close to the season, when the real deadlines come, you do a deal. Although you could make the case Kyron Williams is on the field a heck of a lot more than James Cook. I mean, that's a three-pound back right here in Los Angeles. They're different. And so, you know, him being paid 11 per original.
I saw an act like Josh Jacobs. Versus Alvin Kamara, sort of, you know, like where Kyron Williams would be more of the Josh Jacobs type of back, not saying he's the same level, but that type of back, where James Cook, you know, in the Joe Brady offense, which is the Old Saints offense, is the Alvin Kamara.
So, you know, Cook brings different types of value because of what he can do for you in the passing game. All right.
No, I think I've held off long enough. What is going on in Oxnard with. Micah Parsons, what do you got for me? This is the first one where. I didn't want to believe that this is for show.
Right, like I didn't want to believe that this is about being on in the A-block on first take, but I'm starting to think. Like that, there is an element of that here where you either take a team-friendly deal at the beginning of the offseason. Or we're not taking a dollar out of our pocket until we need to, and we're going to have the benefit of it being a story for the entire. breadth of training camp. And the reason I say that is because I go back at the last few, and I did some digging over the weekend on Zach Martin's situation two years ago, and then CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott last year.
And what I found was that the pace of negotiations was not much different. Once the Cowboys got out here for training camp, there was not a lot in the way of talks between the sides in those previous three situations.
So, in a lot of ways, I think what's happening here, including the piece of Jerry going directly to the player, lines up with the Cowboys' normal MO. It's just now you have a player who's willing to. Put all the laundry out there, you know?
So I think this gets done. The week before the season. And I think it's probably $45 million per year. And I think everybody walks away from this happy.
Now, I think the question becomes. Does it affect his season? And we saw what happened with CD last year, which, how long did it take before he pulled a hamstring? It was pretty, it was like a couple weeks in, right? Like, so that's, I think, the question is: are you putting at risk his season by not putting him out there?
Now, the good news is he is there. You know, so and from what I understand, he's taking part in the walkthroughs, fully engaged in the meetings. They've got a young defensive end they really like, and Donovan Azaraku from Boston College, who Mike has really taken under his wing.
So, everything the coaches have asked of him, he's done this summer. It's just obviously there's the business to take care of.
So, I guess you want to put any more meat on the bones as to what made you feel that this is performative so we can all be talking about it and get the Dallas Cowboys buzz. Up. I mean, what was it? You know, it's on Netflix in two weeks.
Okay. I got it. All right.
I understand that. But that's buzzy enough. Like, you don't need to be playing a game of chicken and pissing off your player to make him put all the laundry out there. Was the laundry accurate? Do you think?
Yeah, I know. I think it was accurate. And Micah's point of view. I think Micah was being honest. And I don't think, and look, I think he's got a really competent agent, too, and David Mulagetta, who I don't think is going to put himself on center stage, but he's the most powerful agent in the NFL.
And. Is that why Jerry doesn't want to talk about it? And I think when you have that piece of it, like where Jerry said the stuff he said, David's not going to come out and. David's not going to come out and blow Jerry up publicly for it, but he's going to file it away. And so, I think this thing is in a really weird spot from that perspective, but.
I also think there's a deal to be done here, and the market's very well defined. Like, you can't claim, if you're the Cowboys, that Miles Garrett's an outlier because TJ Watt got done. And I think Trey Hendrickson's not going to be too far off from where those two land if he gets done.
So, you know, Aiden Hutchinson, if that somehow winds up getting done over the next few weeks, what does that do to the whole thing?
So, um, I didn't even think about that. Yeah, so I mean, that could just, and that's the whole point of this: you want to talk about how does it affect wins and losses. I know you just mentioned, yeah, Albert, about you know, soft tissue injuries that happen, you know, uh, more often than not when somebody's not working out during training camp, right? Um, also, you know, when you're like one and two. Two and four, three and five.
Does this sort of bad blood manifest itself by coming back out again? Because Um if um Uh Jerry says something on his local radio hit that might rankle Michael, who then says something, and then it's now Brian Schottenheimer having to put something out in the locker room, and he's in the coach and might not again. But the one thing that I um come back to is the waiting to sign somebody. Right. That the waiting to sign somebody gets more expensive, we all know.
And does that remove the cowboy's ability? to add depth. to a roster. Like is there is there a real connecting of a dot? That there could be a thinning of a roster because you're not having that extra millions of dollars to go to this player or that player that could also play special teams and make you a deeper team.
Is there some of that? I mean, well, I mean, if you want, let's look at the cumulative cost of it, right?
So let's say Micah gets done at 45, okay?
So now you're talking about 45 for Micah, 34 for Miles Garrett, man. And then 60. For Dak. Yes.
So that's three players taking up, I believe. Like by fuzzy Ohio State math, a hundred, it's a I think it's a hundred and forty million. Per year.
Now, that's there's obviously existing years and the numbers are spread out, but that's money, that's real money that you're going to have to account for, which is, I mean, over half the salary cap for this year if you just count that number.
So, like, that's the cost of it: is that like when you keep doing this over and over again, you do it once, like, all right, like, well, then we'll do these other guys early. You keep doing it over and over again. Then I think you wind up in that situation where those things can start to happen and it can thin out your roster. I mean, ask the Niners about it now. Like, the Niners had to go through a cap reset because they went all in a few times in a row, right?
I mean, the Niners might start like five or six rookies on defense as a result of it.
So eventually it does catch up with you. Albert Breer here on The Rich Eisen Show. Speaking of fuzzy Ohio State math, what is Terry McLauring? asking for that best you can tell that might be holding this up or is it the commanders not wanting to meet potentially a demand to put him in the Mixed with DK and IUC and that range. What's going on here?
The guarantee structure is the main thing. And I think that it's.
Well, I'm not going to get hammered out, right? I think so. I think so. I mean, the command, I don't think Terry wants to. Mm my discussions with Terry over the last couple of years, I I got I know how much pride he takes in what they were able to accomplish there.
Heck yeah. In large part because of what he got through to get there, you know, like and what he had to go and going through the ownership change in the name. What equity, man. All this stuff. Like, I mean, I know he took a ton of pride in the fact that, like, I'm the one who stuck it out.
I was here since 2019. I saw it from Jay Gruden to Ron Rivera to Dan Quinn. I saw the ownership change. And I was the one who, I was sort of the bellwether through the storm. And so, like, I think he's motivated to stay there.
I think he wants to stay there. You know, I think the commanders, if you ask Dan Quinn, Dan Quinn will tell you, hell yeah, like, that's the guy I want my team. Of course. They've also become more data-driven under new ownership, which I think is part of the equation here, where it's like, okay, like, so this is this age of receiver. This is what happens with the separate receiver.
And there's like that sort of stuff that I think seeps in.
Now, I would argue. By the way, where do the Derrick Henrys land on that scale? I know. You know what I mean? There are outliers.
There are people. No, but I'm just pointing out what I'm assuming you're driving at here is: well, he turns 30 in the middle of September. And so, if we sign him to a deal where he's making DK27, who cares? You got Jaden Daniels right now who needs him, and you need Jaden Daniels to keep going this way. And and I I d I don't I don't care how many you know McCaffreys they they they can say is Coming on strong like apparently Luke is there, but I mean, what are we talking about?
This is Terry McLaurin. We saw what he did last year. Yeah, and here's the other thing that I point out on that. Like, I. Like the type of receiver he is, like we all saw Larry Fitzgerald reinvent himself, right?
Larry Fitzgerald played to what, 36, 37? He didn't want to go in the slot at all. Right. Like, and he reinvented himself as a football player. You look at Terry McLaurin, is he overly reliant on his physical ability?
No. Like, he's a great athlete, but he's not the type of receiver, he's a craftsman. He's not the type of receiver who, when he loses a step, he's going to fall off a cliff.
So, even if he is 90% of what he is now in two years, because of the person he is, because of the leader he is. I just, I have a hard time seeing a scenario where if the commander signed him to the DK Metcalf deal, which is the comp here that his side has tried to use. I have a really hard time seeing where the commanders are going to regret doing it. You know what I mean? Like, that's the way I've started to look at some of these deals for older players.
Like, okay, are the Steelers going to regret in two years that they paid TJ Watt? Does it matter? Probably not. Does it matter if you've got Aaron Rodgers, you're putting all your eggs in a 41, soon-to-be 42-year-old quarterback basket? You've got to do it now.
What TJ Watt means to the franchise and the city, you have to, like, and kudos to the Steelers for not dragging it out, making them hold in, making Rodgers and Cam Hayward and Mike Tommy answer questions about why isn't Watt signed? You don't do it. Just go ahead and make the deal. And, you know, on Terry, I think there is. It's easy for me to say.
And I think there's that element with Terry where, and I think Josh Harris and Adam Peters and Dan Quinn have done a phenomenal job. They know what they're doing. Yeah, like there's no question. But I think on Terry's side, there's a little bit of like a. What the hell else do I have to do?
Yeah, right. Like, I'm not asking for Justin Jefferson's deal. What else do I have to do? And I think it gets done. I think cooler heads will wind up prevailing.
But you can see his frustration in the way that he's, I mean, it's interesting if you really look at it. First, it was a holdout, then it was a hold in.
Now it's a trade request.
So you can see where he's like, I just want to get back out there. What do we need to do? What lever do I need to pull to get this done? I wish I knew. For his sake, because just real quick, best Ohio State receiver since Chris Carter?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Michael Thomas was pretty good.
Okay. Michael Thomas, I think he had the catches record. Doesn't McLaurin have more longevity than him right now? Since Chris Carter, I mean, you know, you know, might be the best one in like short sample size was Terry Glenn. Terry Glenn was phenomenal.
Terry Glenn was good. Yeah, Terry Glenn, like, to me, but he just didn't have the longevity because he had all the injuries. And I know they're different ages. Isn't it kind of crazy Garrett Wilson's contract might be messing with the McLaurin conversation? I know.
It is. It is. But they're different ages. I understand. There's different ages and everything else.
I think DK Metcalf's the comp because DK is two years younger because McLaurin was a five-year college guy. Metcalf was a three-year college guy. But like. To me, it's I I look at the two receivers, I'm like, I actually think Terry might age better too, just because of the type of receiver he is than DK, because DK is reliant on his physical ability.
Well, DK's next quarterback might be next year. And Terry McLaurin stays put. He's attached to the hip of some kid that's on a launching pad and going nowhere. Right. I just don't even know.
Can Terry McLaurin say at some point, you know, like. You pay people for past performances. How about the fact that I said nothing with Dan Snyder? I don't know if that means anything with the current ownership structure, but I mean, that's got to count for something. Albert Breer here on the Rich Eisen show: 844-204-rich, number to dial.
Other training camps that you hit, I want to hit on that. Last time we spoke with you, we were at the Browns.
So there's lots to talk about with Albert Breer. 844-204-Rich is the number to dial. Mr. MMQB from Sports Illustrated is here. We're back with more on this Tuesday show.
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Because you can adapt to your changing needs for just right. Can't wait to nestle into bed, luxurious comfort.
So whether your needs are softer or firmer, cooler or warmer, you are never stuck. You can adjust your comfort whenever you like. And it gives you your best night's sleep night after night, year after year. I love my smart bed. My sleep number setting is 60.
My wife's is 70. Just 10 numbers apart, but it means the world of difference because I can change my side of the bed to however firm or soft I want. And the same thing. For Suze.
So, why choose a sleep number smart bed? Again, so you can sleep just the way you like. The only bed that lets you make each side firmer or softer whenever you like, your sleep number setting. Get early access to Sleep Number's biggest sale of the year. 25% off the I-8 bed, the most popular, plus free home delivery, limited time, exclusively at a Sleep Number store near you.
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Last time, Albert Brewer, you were on this program. You were with the Cleveland Browns way back when they only had four quarterbacks. Why are we adding now five and six? What's happening? What's going on?
Well, the guys are hurt.
Okay, so Pickett's, but I thought Pickett's back. Pickett's back, but he dealt with the hamstring. Shadur was nicked up. I think Dylan was dealing with something so. Right.
I mean, like. Snoop Pontley's there, I think, as just an arm for right now.
Okay. And the 40-year-old Flacco, he's the guy, right? He's the guy. I think so, yeah. I mean, I think like they're in a weird transition spot where.
I think Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski were really honest with themselves about where they are, and that maybe that window of the group that they made the playoffs with. twice over the last five years. Is up. And I think that sort of informs the trade of the second overall pick where they felt like we need to get younger and we need volume of young players. It can't like Travis Hunter's great and they would have taken him if they had sat there too.
But we really just need volume. And part of it was the loss of the draft picks in the Deshaun Watson trade. And so they've got like these older players in Miles Garrett and Joel Battonio and Denzel Ward. But on the other end, they're trying to get younger. They're trying to balance their roster out.
And I think that's sort of why. They're kind of in that weird spot at quarterback where it's like, we'll make it work this year. I think the one thing that people don't pay attention to, because I know there's been a lot of noise in Cleveland about playing the rookies, and why would you even bother with the older guys? Is For a team in transition, you have to give, and you know this, Rich, you have to give the locker room the best chance. Like, there are 10 other guys in that huddle trying to make a living that have careers where you can't just turn it into an experiment with rookies out there.
So, I think Joe probably gives them the best answer. I think the two veterans are still ahead of the two rookies. Is Shido making the team? I think he'll make the team. But when he got there, he was way behind.
And he's made up some ground, but I think part of it, like his ability to operate the offense, is part of what. He needs to take that to a higher level. To get first team reps. Because if you're a football team looking and this is the simplest thing in the world, if you're a football team looking to get ready for the season and you got veteran players, again, like your Joel Battonios or your Jerry Judys in that huddle that are trying to prepare for a season, You can't fiddle around with a young quarterback who can't operate the offense. Are you saying like Carla plays in the huddle?
Yeah, stuff like that. The operational stuff is the stuff he was behind on that he had to catch up on. And so, like, and look, like, by all accounts, he's worked really hard at that, but there was a lot of ground for him to make up. You know, and Dylan Gabriel, because he played at he started at three different colleges, was in college for six years at Oregon and UCF and Oklahoma, was just way ahead of him when they came in, which is why Gabriel's gotten the first team reps and Shador hasn't.
Okay, let's move on to some other stops for you. Um The number of times Guys, you can back me up on this. That we have asked folks from our business about the team that other people are talking about. and the team that is ready to take a big leap. What the Denver Broncos are the team that's been in the world.
Every single person says the Broncos. I mean, it's been remarkable. I was going to say that. We don't even bring it up. It popped in my head.
Every single person says that. You were about to say that too, right? Why? They the number one defense in the league last year. Mm-hmm.
They add Drake Rainlaw and Talanoa Hafunga from the Niners. Two of the Niners did not want to lose those guys. The reality is the salary cap of the reason they lost those guys. Right. Um And then I think Bonix was a lot better than people think.
And I, I had a, people can read it. I, I had a. Like unbelievable of a conversation with Sean Payton on Saturday about identifying quarterbacks and what he thinks people do wrong. And I remember talking to the Broncos a year ago, and this is not with the benefit of having seen how the season played out. Right.
I was told last summer the Broncos top two quarterbacks in last year's quarterback class. were Bonex and Jaden Daniels. That's again without the benefit of knowing how the season is going to play out. And so I had a good conversation with Sean about ID and quarterbacks. And he gave me all these different numbers that they look at that are a little bit different.
And then he said. And the biggest stat we looked at was sacks. Saks is a quarterback stat. And he said, like, when you see a high stack number, what do you do? You blame the line.
It's like, it's not the line's fault. Like in most cases, it's not. It's the quarterback's fault. And he dove into how Bo Nix had historically low sack numbers. Jaden Daniels had very low sack numbers at LSU.
He's like, it informs you on. His ability to process, his ability to see the field, his instincts, his ability to move and then get the ball out on time. It tests all of those at once. And he had one of his guys, one of his analytics guys, go back and do a study over the last 30 years, right? Said, can you find a college quarterback who was sacked a lot who then.
went to the pros and wasn't sacked very much in the pros and they couldn't find one.
So like there's just this stuff with Bo where Sean thinks everybody missed the vote on him. And I think they think And this is me talking. I think they think he's. Got a chance to be a top five quarterback. And if you're injecting a top five quarterback, and let's just say, like, I know I saw your face.
No, I meant this year. That was going to be my first year. This year, but like soon.
Okay, sure. And if he can be that guy, right? Like, because that's just from me hearing the way that people in that building are talking about him, not just Sean. If you add that to like a defense that's playing at that level, and I don't think we give Bo enough credit for how he played last year because he did not have like Tyreek Hill when Patrick Mahomes was young, Steph Diggs when Josh Allen was young. He did not have like a superstar.
Gary McLaurin when Jaden Darros was there last year. We don't give, for one reason or another, I don't think we give him enough credit for how well he played last year, especially when you consider it was like a good, not great offense around him.
So I just look at the combination of things there. The division is very difficult, and that's the X factor. And I think there's a chance that the top three teams in that division cannibalize each other. And maybe that costs you a home playoff game if you're Denver, and maybe that costs you in the long run. But I think they're going to be a very good team.
And it really is amazing that at this point last year, we're wondering, you know. About Bo Nicks, and then after dead capping Russell Wilson, like that, you're like, well, they're cooked, they're cooked because you also want to win. You know, playoff games or go to the playoffs or go on a Super Bowl run in the first iteration of a contract. And boy, that ship's going to sail with Bo Knicks because if you add. What Russell was costing to this, then they're clearly going to be capped out.
And instead, look at what. George Payton's put together for Sean Payton, and Bo Nix is doing what he's doing, and they signed Cortland Sutton, and they draft very well. Right. You know what I mean? And, and.
It's beyond impressive, man. And Sean Payton thinks he flat out said we can win the Super Bowl. This year. I mean, he's talking about him. Yeah.
And everybody keeps mentioning them, which obviously would scare me off. You know, and everybody believes the same. It's so rare that it's true. I mean, there can come to fruition. Let's talk about it.
I would just say this: there are like. When you go around and Like you can sort of tell the way teams, like, you do this for long enough, you can kind of tell when, like, a team is very confident with where they're at. And, um, I would say, like, the two teams that really stuck out in that regard for me over the last two weeks. That Mm-hmm. Like, maybe people wouldn't expect as much of the Broncos and the Rams.
Like, I think those two teams are very, very confident where they're at. What a Super Bowl that would be, by the way. Sean versus Sean. Sean versus the Sean's going out at, I mean, that would have been there in San Francisco. Albert Breer here on the Rich Eisen Show.
When you think Seahawks and Raiders, you know, you think, what, Bo Jackson running over the Boz and going up the door, you know, back in the kingdom. It's a Monday Night Game, I think, right? But we're now, these two are attached. Right now, obviously, Pete Carroll's now in Vegas with the Raiders, Geno Smith. With him.
Sam Darnold up in Seattle. You stopped in those two spots. Give me your impressions about your takeaways in those two places.
So Seattle is interesting because I do think there's still some marks of the Pete Carroll era there, but it's really become Mike McDonald's team. Right. And I think, you know, bringing in guys like Cooper Cup and DeMarcus Lawrence from Dallas, and then obviously Sam Darnold, I think only further makes it his team. He's kind of bringing in his own leaders. And then those guys haven't played for him, but those guys are not Pete Carroll in his image.
And so I think when I look at the Seahawks, I see a team I had a couple conversations with people in Green Bay, and I think the Packers and Seahawks are in a similar spot where they've drafted really well the last couple of years. Yes.
And they've got a bunch of good players. And the question now becomes: can those good players become great players? And so, you know, in Green Bay, it's the young receivers, Wicks and Reed, and Matthew Golden, who they drafted in the first round. You know, what happens at left tackle there? What happens with the four first-round picks on the defensive line, you know, with Rashawn Gary and Lucas Van Ness and Devontae Wyatt?
And, you know, obviously Kenny Clark's been a great pro for them. And Seattle, it's the same thing. Seattle, it's like Jackson Smith and Digba, Devin Witherspoon, Charles Cross, Kenneth Walker, Boyer Mafe. Like they've got a lot of really good young players, and now those guys are on the verge of getting paid. Can those guys become great players?
Like, to me, I look at Seattle, I see that's a 9-10 win team, but if those guys can elevate, could have become a little bit more. I think that's where Seattle is. Yeah, and then the Raiders. Um I'm excited to see what that looks like. Me too.
Because I think. I mean I mean first of all we should all Be moving around like Pete Carroll is when we're 73 years old. He hates the number, though. He doesn't want to be judged by this number. He does not want to be termed as the oldest guy in the league, you know, at the position.
He just doesn't. And again, because he does relate to young folks in a way, it's not like he's. He's playing golden oldies, you know, in a locker room where everyone wants to listen to hip-hop. He does relate. You would talk about a deep end of the pool, the AFC West.
I mean, they are kind of like the hanging Chad when everybody mentions the three teams that did make the playoffs last year. I think they're going to be the team that's a pain in the ass to play. Mm. At the end of the year, like, I think if you're a contender, and I don't know how their schedule sets up, but if you're one of those teams in that division, and you're a coach, it's going to make you uncomfortable to see them. It's like, oh, crap.
You know, like now, you know, our guys, the record might not be great, but our, you know, our guys could take their eye off the ball here and the Raiders could pop us. Yeah, they do, they do finish with the Chiefs and they play the Chargers here in LA the last Sunday of November, then the Broncos at home. The Eagles, Texans, and the Giants, those are the last six opponents right there.
So, those are the ones that you think will be a pain for them. A pain to play against them. I think Ashton Genty is like. I'd put money on him to win Rookie of the Year. You would.
I think it's. And I don't bet, and I'm not allowed to bet, but I look at him as someone who. What I hear from his coaches is The part that's the hardest for the running back to pick up, which like a lot of these guys, because they're such big stars in college, aren't asked to pass protect very much. In a lot of cases, don't catch the ball a ton. Like, that's the stood, that was the question with Ashton Genti, and he's picked that up seamlessly.
So, I think Ashton Genty is going to have a massive year. They have a very unique young weapon in Brock Bowers, but they have holes in the roster. What is Brady's role there? I mean, were you there the day when he showed up in the silver and black? Yeah.
Did you see that? Yeah.
I did. Was it jarring for you, Chris? No. No, I think it's fine. And played with a different team.
So seeing him with the different colors is fine. And by the way, Super Bowl. Super Bowl. I know. Of course.
So I would say Brady's impact on that place. A. It's going to help keep Mark Davis at bay a little bit. And we've all heard the stories, you know, like. They have big money ownership there now.
And I do think to some degree the stories you heard, like I remember hearing a story of Josh McDaniels getting screamed at after they won a game, right? Like in the coach's office in a visiting stadium. I think they were playing Green Bay.
So like that part of it, like I think it at least kind of keeps that at bay a little bit. I think it's, you know, obviously in his ability to attract other big money guys. Like not a lot of people talk about this, but they brought in Egan Durbin and Mike Meldman and Tom Wagner as his business partner. And those are huge money guys, right? Which is part of why they go pay $6 million to get Chip Kelly out of Ohio State, right?
Like I think part of that was symbolic, was like this is not the same Raiders organization. And I've got a ton of stories from the coaching search where it was like, we're not the same team anymore.
So there's that impact. But if you're talking about on the field with Brady in particular, I think the impact is the type of player they're bringing in. I think the guys in that organization. Pete Carroll. The new general manager, John Spytek, are in lockstep with him anyway.
But I think that there's a certain type of player that Tom wants in the building. And I think those guys know, like. When we go to talk to Tom about who we're acquiring, who we're drafting, who we're signing, who we're trading for, we want to be able to tell him: this is your type of guy. And that means a guy who loves football. I think the overarching term is football character.
Tough, loves football, all about the team. Like all of that stuff. is now going to become paramount. And I think you know Even if he's not in there every day, and he's very sensitive about that. Like Story I heard, he helped with their quarterback evaluation, right?
Like, because obviously, who wouldn't want to be involved yet, right? You would welcome his input, yes, sir. Who wouldn't want him involved?
So, he flew in like incognito for a day to sit down with the front office and the coaches to go through quarterbacks and look at quarterbacks on tape and left, and no one knew about it. And my understanding is the reason why is because he knows if he shows up, he takes all the oxygen out of the room. You know, so like he knows if he shows up, well, well, there's Tom. You know, he doesn't want the perception out there that he's, because he's going to let those guys do their job. You know what I mean?
He doesn't want the perception out there that he's lording over everything, but he certainly has an influence on the types of players they're bringing in. How does Brady fly in incognito? I know Vegas, what happens there stays there. Do you have his tail number? I don't know.
I haven't forbidden Buckeye colors on his plane. That can't be Brady. My guess is he didn't take the 7 o'clock on Delta. I don't think. Flying middle seat in the back.
No, you can stick out there, too. Do you have one more segment for me? Yes, sir. Great. Let's finish the hour with Albert Breer here on the Rich Eisen Show.
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I'm sort of excited, like, okay, like, what is Chip holding? What is Chip going to pull out on everybody at week one?
Now, maybe it doesn't sustain. We'll see, but like, I think he's going to have something exciting week one.
So you have a lot of those. If I'm not mistaken, by the way, Albert Brewer here on the Rich Disney show, Chip has a New England connection, right? New Hampshire? Wasn't that his? Yeah.
Yep. Yep. This is. Yep. But of course, Manchester, New Hampshire.
But of course, the Jets. And the Steelers being put on the same field together in week one with Rodgers being back in a quarterback and the quarterback switch, right? That's awesome. I can't wait for that.
Okay. Lions, the Hackers, Niners, Seahawks. Come on, man. You know, Bengals, Browns, Bucs, and Falcons right off the bat. I think the Rams is really good, too.
I think the Texans have a chance. What do you mean by that? I think I think CJ got unfairly beat up for last year. to some degree.
Well, he came through. I mean, he won a playoff game. I know, and that's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. It's like everybody talks about him like he had a horrible year.
They were against the Chiefs and Arrowhead in the divisional round. Like into the fourth quarter, you know what I mean? Like, right.
So, like, and I think their defense is going to be filthy. Like, I think their defense is going to be off the charts good. And to have pieces like Will Anderson and Daniil Hunter and Derek Stingley, and then offensively, I think it's all there except for the line. And so, like, can they stabilize the offensive line? To me, like, that's one of the biggest swing factors any team has in the entire league.
Because I think if they isn't Mixon hurt, though, Mixon's hurt. They have Chubb there. Mm-hmm. Damian Pierce, we'll see. They're still there.
Yeah, they've got some guys there. I think they'll be able to manage that. I think their new offensive coordinator. Who is here? Last year is a star in the making in Nick Cayley.
I think he's going to fix a lot of what was wrong with their offense last year. Again, I think so much of it comes down to that tackle situation, and specifically the situation at Tackle. Can they fix the tackle situation? They signed a bunch of different guys. Trent Brown's there now, Cam Robinson.
They drafted the kid out of Minnesota in the second round. Can they find two valuable answers at Tackle? If they can, I think. They've got a chance to elevate too, and seeing them against the Rams in week one will be great. Where are you watching Texas, Ohio State?
On Labor Day weekend. Are you going? You're going to be there? I think we are looking at the idea of going. That might be my.
But that might be Mike. That might be probable, questionable. I would say I'm probable. I don't know for sure yet, but it might wind up being my kid's first game in that stadium. Oh, so okay.
And yeah, so are we going to have it's Lee Corso's last game?
Okay. Right. Lee Corso's last game.
Okay, fine. But I mean, this is this is it. I heard you talking about Urban before, which I mean, he's going to play straight down the middle as he always does, like Foxy. Yep. Pretty much.
Yeah, I don't know. Do people notice? Like, people notice he still doesn't say the word Michigan. Whatever. It's so childish.
I don't know if people notice that. Like, he calls him the Wolverine. That was his way around. I worked the draft with Urban.
Okay. He had me on ice for the first day. Uh Okay, and then we warmed up with each other. And as a matter of fact, he kindly Called into the program Michigan Ohio State Week once. Yeah, he did.
But, you know, I understand. It's going to be a wild atmosphere there. I mean, Arch, the Arch conversation to me. is Is what? Uh You know, I see all these stuff, all this stuff about like this team's lining itself up and that team's lining itself up together.
Does anyone think he's declaring? I don't think so. If the Saints have the number one pick, he gone. Hold on a second. Let me just put it this way.
Let's get into this here. Yep. Because I said the day that Jimmy Haslam was asked about it. I would have counseled. Mr.
Haslam to have answered the question not by like, well, I know the Mannings and I think he's going to stay in there. It's like, no, we've got a great quarterback room. We're happy with what we're going to do. And we're not going to have the first overall pick, which is what he's worthy of. Right.
Like, that would have been my answer if I were him. I am not. But They have to win a national championship for him to to leave. There has to be a season where it is so obvious that he's a man among boys, and there's nothing else for him to learn there because. And also they will buy the time.
He declares the Manning family was the We'll look at the draft. Who's the first pick and make a decision? Right. And if you say it's the Saints. There's no better perfect storyline than him being the Saints quarterback.
But he has to have a season where it is without question. Done. Like, he doesn't need another year with Sarkeesian and college football. There are a couple of things here. I mean, obviously, Peyton and Eli exhausted their college eligibility.
That's the obvious thing that the Manning family has never run from college football. But I guess that's a different. Eric as well, right? You know, there's no question about it. By the way, we're at the end of the hour for our radio audience.
Before you finish your answer, I want to say thank you in front of the radio audience for being here. And for those who want to hear Albert's final thoughts on all this. That'll be on our YouTube stream later on youtube.com slash rich eisen show. I am Michael Rosenbaum. I am Tom Welling.
Welcome to Talkville, where it's fun to talk about smallville. We're going to be talking to sometimes guest stars. Are you liking the direction Flois is going in? Yeah, because I'm getting more screen time. That's good.
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See what we remember. See what we remember. I had never been around anything like that before. I mean, it was so fun. Talkville.
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