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Coming up. Latest news and more. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Hour number three, the Rich Rising Show is on the air. 844-204, Rich is the number to dial.
If you are on hold, stay on hold. We will find the time as best we can to speak to as many of you. I know that's. It's kind of a mealy-mouth way of saying I can't get to all of you. But We're going to.
Tom Pellisero is going to join us in about 20 minutes' time. What does the Stafford contract mean? What happened with Aaron Rodgers? Anything else going on? I've got a top five list of most burning questions remaining in the National Football League as we head into June.
But we're upon Memorial Day weekend tonight, game three of Spurs and Thunder. Love the coverage on NBC. Jamal Crawford is back here on the Rich Eisen Show. Good to see you, sir. Good to see you as well.
I'm good. How are you doing? Awesome to see you. Listen, I'm going to, again, just uh glow about your um your analysis, just listening to you, Reggie and Mike. sit back and call these games.
That I could not be enjoying anymore sitting at home. It's incredible the intensity, the action. Um the drama The flopping, the hair pulling, the maul, the mauling of Wembunyama. I mean, it's just, it's epic. What is it like from your seat?
Jamal. It's incredible because every single possession, there's something to look for. There's something off-ball, on ball. On the sidelines, you just see the adjustments from the coaches. You see the action of how things are going on.
You're seeing the highest level. And it's crazy, Rich, because you're looking at something, you're like, man, if everybody stays healthy on both sides. You could be seeing this for the next. 10 years because they're going to kind of have to go through each other. And to me, they're the two best teams.
And I know we can say there's 30 teams in the NBA, but when I say team, I mean like. By saying together, everyone achieves more. These are like two college teams, old school college teams, been together four years playing the pros. Like they have that kind of chemistry. Culture, and I think that's what makes these two teams special.
Yeah, and they're that young, right? I mean, yeah, and they're that young, right? Right. You know, if the NIL world was as potent, Then, even just a couple of years ago, as it is now, some of these guys might still be in college looking for a six-year eligibility. Literally.
They are that young.
So, let's, I guess, start with specifically game two and how you think it will manifest itself in game three now that it's in San Antonio. I imagine. The spurs point. great vision that the NBC uh crew is putting together of Hartensteins raped all over. Wembunyama.
And sent that to the league office, Jamal. Do you think that the idea of let's just put Hartenstein on Wembunyama for ninety percent of the minutes And have him defend him the same way. Do you think that would be successful in game three? Jimal. If I'm OKC side, I'm saying, Hardenstein, continue to do what you were doing.
Try to frustrate him. Hopefully, one of those grabs, pulls, something gets him out of character, and he gets frustrated. You know, and if he happens to get very frustrated and get tossed, that's a win for us.
So, Hardenstein is there to do a specific job, and it's very obvious. If I'm the Spurs, I'm saying, Wimby, don't get caught up in that. Let's get him his space. Let's get him moving laterally. Let's have him pick up a foul or two to get him out the game earlier.
There's always a counter to something, right? And it's always an adjustment. Even with OKC, you saw the adjustment for them getting Shea to get going was getting him off the ball. He let J. Dubb bring it.
AJ Mitchell, whoever those other guys, you bring it up. I'll get behind the defense.
So now when I get it, I'm very direct. They don't really have time to kind of bottle me up because I was in front of the defense. And now if you're the Spurs, you say, okay, you want to do that? No problem. Wherever he catches it, we're sending to.
And we still can go get them.
So there's adjustments and the chess match going on. I'm just interested to see how it plays out game three because I'm sure both those things for both sides would be on the table.
Well, and I'm just wondering again, how much of it is what I guess Greg Popovich and the rest of the Spurs. Organization told Wembanyama after the elbow throw got him ejected. or how much of it is just his nature to not complain. He doesn't he's not asking for calls. He's not screaming for calls.
He's not yelling, Hey, do you not see what's happening to me? And I'm wondering how that affects the whistles. Why not? I think part of it is kind of the Spurs way, the Spurs culture. Think about Tim Duncan.
Think about David Robinson. I'm sure Pop, you know, he's been very involved in the playoffs, being president, talking to those guys. I'm sure I heard of watching a film. Don't know for sure, but I heard that. You know, that's part of it.
But Rich, when you go hang with the monks in the sunrise, you can start to have a different level of discipline as well. For sure. That may be the infinity stone he's using right now. He's hanging with the monks in the summer, you know, leads him to just and he also raises his hand to say, I fouled I fouled somebody. Like he's never yelling at the refs.
He's not complaining. He's just He's Zen, I guess. And yeah, since when I spent time with him, Oh, away from the court. I saw how zen he was then. I'm like, this isn't normal.
This is not normal. I'll tell you, he read 50 books that summer, and he didn't even tell me that stat. It just came back to me.
So that's a book a week. Think about that. It's over a book, a new book a week he's reading. Like he's a totally different thinker.
So, so you're right, that is Zen. He lives in that Zen place for sure, but he may have to get out of there and tap into that KG badge when he went to work with him and give some a couple of, you know, like, hey, I'm not going for that as well.
Well, we did see a lot of that in game one, and that might have been brought out of him because he watched SGA win the MVP award. Where were you when that was happening? Getting ready, settling for the broadcast? Yeah, we were at the table, and Reggie and Mike and myself talked about it. We saw his like laser focus.
He looked up one time and didn't look up anymore. And then like during the anthem Mm. Correction I saw. He was like clenching his teeth the whole time, like, he was like. It shouldn't be.
The whole time, we were like, oh my God, okay, this is going to be an epic one. We had no idea it was going to go out like it did and where he shot it from and just that masterpiece, that master class that he put on. But we could see the venom inside him just kind of like brewing like he was going to go crazy. I want him to be more aggressive tonight earlier. Last game, you know, I know, knowing Vic, I knew he wasn't going to come out and try to repeat that performance in game two because he's all about team and all about his teammates and just winning however, whatever it takes that day.
But I thought he waited a little bit too long to. kind of assert himself he had three shots going in the second quarter like You got to not fire it up. You don't have to be me and just chuck, but you have to come out and kind of establish: hey, you know, I'm still rolling. And then the teammates kind of follow that. Yeah, I want to put a pin in Wembanyama and come back to that in a second and linger on Castle a little bit here.
Jamal, I'm listening, those high ankle sprains, I know in the NFL. Um that that's a that's a a several weaker Uh in the NFL To come back from, and let's just say D'Aaron Fox is able to, in any way, shape, or form, show up here. And, you know, obviously Harper We'll take keep an eye on that for later on. It's not looking good. And 20.
Turnovers from Castle. And it's this, you know, like this is. He can do it and he's really good. My God. He's a star in waiting for sure.
What's your advice? To him. Just value every single possession. Just be solid. And you can see, Rich, if you're like really close to it, you can see every single turnover bothers him.
He's not like, oh, I threw that one last hit. He's like, oh my God, I can't believe. Because he knows OKC feasts off turnovers. They want to be aggressive. They want to, but some of these turnovers aren't even like, it's weird because some of the turnovers aren't due to their pressure.
It's due to just being casual. And sometimes that's where inexperience comes in at this level because every stage, every round gets tougher. Every round, they let you be more aggressive. And I think he's making that adjustment. He will not have 10 turnovers tonight.
There's no way. I do not see it happening. I think he's watched film. I think he's beat himself up enough about it. And he knows.
For them to have a chance to win the series, he can't turn the ball over, especially with no Fox there because you're the primary uh ball handler, you have to take care of the rock. And then this moment, just pop it up on the screen. I mean. Right here. Oh my goodness.
Just threw it down on Hart. Rich, I knew something bad was going to happen. If you go back and replay it, before when he starts. Heading towards the bed, I said, uh-oh. Oh, I could see it.
I could see it coming. I could see it coming because I saw when he got to his launching pad, he's a left-right jumper. When he jumps left, right, which is awkward for defenders, most right-handed guys at dunk, like even Jordan, he was right-left. He would take off. Anthony Edwards, right left takeoff, but Kobe was a left-right dunker, too.
So he put his left foot first, right foot, and then he exploded up. And when he did that, he kind of caught the defender off guard. But I could just see it, see it coming because once he hit that launching pad, it was over with. And then you mentioned Kobe and Jordan. I want to unpin the Wembunyama conversation.
Listen, the analogy I made sitting here is based off of, again, what he did in game one. You said, you know, he's gritting his teeth through the national anthem. And he he's he's just pissed and and then he's using it and he balls it up and drops a 40-20 piece. In game one, right? With that pull-up three from from the logo and all that stuff.
But I I'm like, it's so rare in this day and age, certainly for somebody this young to have that burning desire where game 35 as much as it means as much to him as game five in a in a playoff series. Don't want to lose, wants to just rip your heart out and show it to your pumping. I said that did remind me of Jordan and Kobe and Tiger, young Tiger. And I don't know if I'm just over my skis here. No.
But I'm wondering if we're witnessing something, not just watching something. You're absolutely right. He has that fire that they have. like knowing him. I'll give you a story, Rich.
But he we played when I was there working him out. or working with him. I don't even say working. I was working with him. And we played a quick game with like.
Video guys and a couple assistant coaches and just people around the facility. You know, I just jumped in there. And we lost. And he was so mad. It was a meaningless half-court game.
He was the only other person I've seen get that mad in the meaningless. No, doesn't matter, no effect on anything, no effect on the outcome game was Michael Jordan when I was working with him in Hoops back in Chicago.
So he has that burning desire. He has that, and that's why he will be one of the greatest. There's no other way. There's no other way to say it. He works too hard.
He's too focused. He's too locked in. He's too extraterrestrial. He's too everything. Like, there's no way to say it.
He will be one of the greatest players. He he's doing things we've never seen before. I'm talking to T-Mac, Mello, Vance. We were on the plane yesterday. These are the Hall of Famers, right?
So, some of the best players ever play. And we're just shaking our head, Reggie. We're like, How? How? It doesn't even make proper sense.
So we're seeing something, witnessing something, as you said, that we've never witnessed. And by the way, when he did that game, that was his first wherever. Western Conference Finals game ever. What 22 year old could do that? Yeah, exactly.
All of that. Jamal Crawford here on the Rich Eisen Show. SGA is pretty damn special in his own right. Um so what do you think here for game three? He's so good at, you know, obviously.
um taking games over and and also facilitating. He's really a savant when it comes to that. I'm wondering what you think his approach is here. I just love how he's telling everyone to calm down, you know? Calm down.
Calm F Down. Come F Down. I don't know if you were there, if you could hear it, because obviously it's so loud. Did he tell us that McCain to stop yelling at him while he's shooting? Yeah.
You know, like, stop yelling.
Well, Shay lives in a flow state. He doesn't want anything to be like, hey, hey, hey, relax. We got this. I got this tonight.
So he was like, calm down, but to your point. I watched in the series against Phoenix because I was on the call a couple games there and he made the right decision every single time downcourt. Like he was playing perfection basketball. Most guys from my era, when they ISO, they were ISO in the shoot. He ISOs for the team.
So okay, you want to double? I'll kick it. You want to play me man to man? I'll go get a bucket. But the difference was what I saw in game one and game two was Shea does everything on his terms.
Everything. Game one. He was reacting to what the Spurs were doing. It wasn't on his terms. Game two, it got back to more on his terms.
And I think the adjustment, like I said, was getting off the ball, getting him behind the defense and letting him strike. Then they're in drop coverage. Then he's going direct. Then he's just keeping you off balance and got to his spots.
So for me, he's going to try to do more of that. He just has to do it for three more wins if it's possible. And then there's the fact that he's on the floor. I was having fun the other day saying he's on the floor so many times, falling down to the floor. That even Joel Embiid's sitting at home saying, Damn, that's all.
You have any opinion on this, Reggie? You just mentioned you're there with Vince Mellow. I mean, you talk about this part of his game as well. We do. I mean, obviously.
This is two sides of that, right? Like, yes, he's trying to fall on the floor or not trying. He's falling on the floor at times. At times, he's rewarded for it, at times, he's not. A player at this level is going to try to.
Do what he can to win. If he thinks that's going to draw attention to his shot or getting fouled, he's going to do it. But what people don't mention on the other side of that is, let's say they don't call a foul.
Now it's a disadvantage because you guys got the defense has numbers going back.
So he has to be selective with that as well, because if you're on the floor, we have a five on four going back.
So he must be thinking he's getting fouled. If the refs call it, they call it. They don't, they don't. But Chauncey Billips told me a long time ago it's gangsmanship at that level. You're a championship point guard.
You're trying to manage the game. You know, I was never that. I never made it past the second round.
So I'm getting as much information as possible. But. It works two ways, right? He can get rewarded for it or it can hurt his team.
So he's going to keep doing it if they're going to keep calling it. All right, I got to ask being a fly on the wall when you're having a conversation with those guys, who's the most alpha? Who's dominant in that conversation when you're on the plane? I will say I won't say the most alpha, but the most outspoken, like he's saying it whatever he feels and he'll figure it out later is definitely T-Mac. We all laugh at T-Mac.
T-Mac is definitely saying what he feels. Mello is very intentional, Vince as well. Reggie as well. But Reggie's going to show the most emotion.
Okay. But Mac is like, hey, this is what's going on. This is, that's T-Mac. And that's why we love him.
Okay. I don't know if I'd have, guys, would you if you had ranked him these five or four, would you have said Tracy McGrady would be the one? Mm-hmm. I don't know I would have gone Reggie Maybe, but I don't know. I don't know these guys as well as I'm doing.
Yeah, yeah. No, just personality. We're talking strictly personality and opinions on something. It's definitely going to be. I think Mac and Reggie are the top two, for sure.
There's no doubt about it. Reggie would be no surprise. Before I let you go, I'll give you the floor on what you're seeing in the Eastern Conference finals. What are you seeing? Knicks up 2-0?
Last night, another massive run, albeit not 44 to 11. to come from 20 Two down in the fourth quarter, but the Knicks did have a dominant run on Cleveland again that the Cavs could not make up. What's your opinion on what you're seeing in that series? The next Belief right now is like something I haven't seen from them, especially with this group, right? They've had different variations of this group.
It's been changes. You had the Julius Randall group, you have now the Kat and Jayla Brunson-led group. It's, it's, different now because they believe they can go on this type of run every game. Right, it's they just believe it. Like, you can get up, no problem, we'll come back.
And that's what the championship-level teams do, they believe they'll find a way to win. But the Knicks believe we can go on this kind of explosion. With the pace we're playing, with the way we're shooting it. It could be a different guy, it could be OG, it could be cat. It could be, of course, Jalen Brunson, but then a guy like Josh Harder and Mikhail Bridges can go off, right?
Deuce can come in and hit a couple of big threes. Jordan Clarkson can go on a run. They believe they have a. Chance against anybody with the style they're playing. And they're so connected right now.
You're not seeing, I'm looking at little things. I thought personally during the course of the season, Kat was kind of. Like, well, I don't really feel a part of this. And he was making adjustments to his game.
Now I feel like he's everybody is like on one page, on one accord, with that belief. They feel like they can be anybody.
So that's what I'm seeing watching the Knicks now. And, you know, watching this, being a Knicks fan, and, you know, obviously talking to a Nick for a while that you were there from 04 to 08. It's a pleasure to chat with you on this front here. Um Looking at how would they match up against the Spurs and the Thunder, with all due respect to the Cavs, who were down 2-0 to Detroit and made this series here. But I look at Josh Hart and I'm like, that's the guy.
who could be Sort of, you know, because I know you guys are all marveling, rightfully so, about what Caruso's doing off the bench, how he's doing everything. He can shoot a three, he can lead a break, he can be an emotional leader, he can do everything. Hart does everything for the Knicks. You know, he's one of those guys that could do everything, and he's also a guy that I think can keep things loose. Did you see this exchange with Carl Anthony Towns post-game last night, Jamal?
When they're talking about analytics, yeah. Let's just play it here. Go ahead and play it for Jamal, if you don't mind here on the program. I'm never a huge analytics guy. You know, at a certain point.
They're they're a lamppost to a drunk person. You can lean on them, but it won't get you home.
So um at a certain point you gotta have a good feel for for the game. Char bread. I'm not gonna lie, that was Gerald Wright, his quote, man.
So, shout out Jay Wright. That's good. Wait, hold up, no, we're not moving on from that. That's a great quote. Oh my god.
Analytics drunk, laying pose to a drunk person? It ain't gonna get you home. You can lean on it, though. I was with Cal, so I didn't hear that. You ain't even go to college.
As he's chewing on a slice of pizza, Jamal, right? Yes, Josh was in full podcast mode right there. But I have to agree with him. I'm glad you played it because I saw the actual quote, but I didn't watch the actual interaction. But I agree with that because I think analytics are like.
or like they're so. All right. relied on heavy in the regular season. But in the playoffs, you just want to move the scoreboard. I don't care what it is.
Like, imagine saying a guy like SGA or Cass or whoever can't take a mid-range shot, since that's the one we kind of frown upon. It would hurt the rest of their game. Like, that shot keeps you in rhythm, it keeps the defense honest.
So, I have to agree with him with that. But a lamp pole for a drunk is that's that's a new one. That's a Jay Wright ism, apparently, from the Nova Knicks there. But just he learned something there. He learned something at Nova Knicks.
And then he tells, You're one and done. You didn't even go to college. Yeah, you didn't go to college. That's a laugh-out loud line. Jamal, I look forward again to listening to you guys and watching game three on NBC tonight.
And this series. You know, it has seven games written all over it. Last possession written all over it. I hope that happens because that means I get to watch some great basketball and listen to you guys.
So have a great cast. Appreciate it. Thanks so much, Rich. You bet. That's Jamal Crawford, right here from ANBC on The Rich Island Show.
Yes, sir. All right, let's take a break. Tom Pellisera, kind enough to spend a couple of minutes with us getting ready for his weekend, the Stafford contract, what does it mean, and so much more. That's next right here on The Rich Eisen Show. When it comes to your home, Pello Windows and Doors are the experts at taking care.
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Tom Pellisero is here.
So hit me on the Stafford contract. What does it mean? Is that a this means Ty Simpson waits two years? Walk me through it. What are the what's the fine print in the dollars and cents tell you?
Well, back after the Rams won the Super Bowl in February 2022, they did a four-year extension with Matthew Stafford. That went through 2026. But with a lot of older players, Matthew Stafford, who's 38, certainly falls into that category, you're going year to year at this point. In 2024, they gave Stafford a raise. In 2025, they gave him a bigger raise.
Now we're in 2026, which would be the final year of the contract. And so, what they did was they tacked on one more year to the deal. It gives Stafford some level of protections based upon how they've structured it. I have not seen the full contract at this point. My understanding is this is not a deal that gives Stafford a significant raise in 2026.
It does add some incentives in both years of the deal tied to performance. And again, when you tack on a year, it also gives you a fallback. There's ways you can structure guarantees in the event that something would happen to Stafford. For the Rams, it removes a lot of those questions, which you'd be having through the course of this year: what's going to happen. Is Stafford going to leave in free agency?
Do you need to tag him? It takes away all those different things. It extends the window for them to give Stafford time after this season. If he, once again, contemplates, does he even want to continue to play? There's cap consequences if his contract were simply going to expire.
All these future numbers that they've pushed out based on prior negotiations would all accelerate on to 2027. Having that year sitting there allows you to extend that. And so I wouldn't say this is a sea change by any stretch, Rich. Matthew Stafford, as a admittedly grumpy Sean McVay, said over and over on the night they drafted Ty Simpson, Stafford's our guy. This is Matthew's team.
He was always going to be the quarterback for 2026. This deal, and it's one year, $55 million in new money can earn up to $60 million with incentives. It does not necessarily mean Stafford is playing in 2027 or playing in 2027 for the Rams, but it does avoid this kind of doomsday scenario where all of a sudden the Rams would have this pressure point after the season. To do something by the start of the league year, or else all the cap acceleration happens. You would need a decision by Stafford at that point.
And it also keeps this year from becoming a storyline about what is Stafford's future. It made sense for everybody involved. Just get this done. All options still on the table as we look into 2027. But if the money that is guaranteed is only paid on the beginning of a new league year in 2027, that does mean that the Rams and Stafford could go their separate ways, right?
That the Rams. Don't keep them for 2027. That is, 2026 isn't worth 55 to some odd million bucks. Or His year is so significant. Again, the trophy's in the case, and they all want to run it back again.
Um, you'll be right back in the same spot again, and you're negotiating a new deal. But the way that those cap hits work, when they keep restructuring it to free up cap space, they're rolling the unamortized bonus proration, which is a long way of saying the part of the signing bonus that doesn't count now counts later.
Well, if the deal expires, if the player's not on the team, that all accelerates and would hit the cap next March. It would just create a challenging situation and a time crunch where the Rams would need an answer for Matthew Stafford. This eliminates that possibility here. Again, we got to see the final structure of the contract, but from what I am told, they were working off a structure where Stafford, who was due $40 million in the last year of his deal, is probably making roughly $40 million still. There are incentives that can pay him more than that based upon performance here.
And we'll see in terms of they've used March roster bonuses in the past to kind of create artificial triggers. I would not surprise me if they've done those things. But again, all options still on the table for 2027. This just is beneficial for everybody involved based upon the multitude of ways this can go with a player. Players pushing for you.
All right. And then before I let you go, you were in the chair here when Rogers showed up in Pittsburgh, as you were pegging as the date.
So I'll just now that you've you heard him basically say I'm I'm one and done for Pittsburgh this year. What's your opinion on everything? What do I need to know more that I don't know? Aaron Rodgers never says anything accidentally. Whether he is, you know, a decade ago telling people to R-E-L-A-X, when it is calling out teammates, when it is making certain points about or not about football, everything that he says has a reason behind it, which leads me to believe that, yes, it's certainly possible this is Aaron Rodgers' last year.
We got a caller the other day, or maybe it was Brockman in What's More Likely, talking about this is Rogers' final year. And I said, yeah, I would lean toward it is, but it's Aaron Rodgers. He can always change his mind. He'll be 43 by next offseason. It seems like this is it.
But even if there's a 1%, 5%, 10% chance in Rogers' head, it makes sense for him to deliver this message right now. Aaron Rodgers has spoken many times in the past about the value of older players. And when you're going into a final year and you feel like this is it, you've got the motivation. Maybe you wring that last bit out of yourself. For him, That's certainly the way that he's going into this and kind of this beautiful reunion with Mike McCarthy.
But by saying, yeah, this is it, this also puts the rest of that locker room on notice. I need everything out of all of you because this is it, this is the last run. Aaron, again, he thinks through these things before he says them. I believe that, and maybe he is just absolutely telling the truth, and there's not more to it than that. But I would not be surprised at all if Aaron, in his mind, is thinking, I want to make clear to everybody, this is it.
Not because I need a Derek Jeters style farewell tour, and every team's giving me a gift. That doesn't happen in football. There's not time like there is in baseball anyway. This is much more in my mind about him delivering the message. Yes, he says it publicly, but he means it so that everybody in that locker room hears it.
This is it, guys. 2026 is my final year. I am not back for money. I'm not back for publicity. I'm back to win it all right now.
So, whatever you got, leave it all on the field. Do it for yourselves, but know that I'm doing the same for you. To me, this is all about Rogers trying to create this beautiful ending. He didn't feel like he got in New York. He didn't feel like he got it his first year in Pittsburgh.
He's back with a coach he knows well, in a scheme he knows well. On a team that's got a lot of talent and veteran players, it's going to be a Relevant football team, Rich, this fall in Pittsburgh. It only makes sense for Rodgers to make sure everybody knows: hey, I don't have three years, five years, two years left. This is it for me. We got to do this right now.
You're the man, Tom. Have a great weekend. Really appreciate the couple quick hits right here. Thanks, Rich. That's Tom Pillicer, everybody.
All right, brother. Tommy. See you, buddy. Enjoy the weekend. All right.
Before we finish up and throw the break for a couple of win-loss games, I've got a top five for you. Top five NFL questions still burning. Odd that I would ask these. uh when uh I just had a guy who would give us answers. But the whole point is just to ask the questions.
Yeah. Because the answers are still burning. I'm going to ruminate. All right. Presented by Hyundai.
High five. One, two, three, four, and five. Riches, top five. All right, my top five NFL questions still burning, presented by Hyundai. Here we are on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend, and I'm still wondering: number five, why is Brandon Ayuk still a 49er?
Right? And will he be a commander by the summer? What's going on? I mean, you're just holding cards, just waiting. This could be a June 1 thing, too.
Maybe. I don't know. But why is he still 49? What's going on? He doesn't want to play there, they don't want to.
Odd. And obviously, him being a commander makes things a little bit more interesting. That's number five. Number four, which quarterback will be ready for training camp? Mahomes?
Michael Pennix. Daniel Jones, just to name three. See, we got some photos up there just to support. That's called production value. That's indeed it is.
Which quarterback's going to be ready for training camp? Don't know. We're going to go through the OTAs and the mini camps. It'll be like, ah, they do a little bit of this, a little bit of that. Let's see it.
Mahomes will be like, I'm working on it. Daniel Jones will just speak. What? Because he doesn't answer questions. Number three, here we go.
And this is going to be a question as well, certainly with Atlanta if Penix is ready or not. Do we have a quarterback competition here or no? Or now? Nah. Quarterback competition or now?
Or now? Minnesota. Oh. Is that a quarterback competition? Or is it really.
It's. Thank you for your participation last year, nine. Right. We got Kyler Murray at $1.3 million. Thank you for your rehab, Michael Pennix.
Beautiful wedding you had. But two is here for $1.3 million. And then Cleveland. This is for you. I think it's Deshaun Watson's gig, but you heard Todd Muncin yesterday talk about how.
Shador has come miles. Miles. Speaking of miles, number two ones, miles. Number two on the list. Miles?
Mm. Let's just we'll play the sound button if you take the the music down for a moment here, Jay.
So Todd Bunkin is doing his press conference in Cleveland and gets asked this question if he's had a face-to-face meeting with Miles Garrett yet. Have you had any face-to-face with Garrett yet? Miles? Yeah. No.
So, okay. First of all, Miles, like, what are, like, Miles? What are we talking about? Like, playoffs. Brad Garrett.
Also, we're talking about, you know, Raymond. You know what I mean? Lafe. Remember, Lafe Garrett? Lafe Garrett.
He was big enough. Oh, yeah. Is that the Garrett? That? Jason Garrett?
Garrett Morris.
Well, they get that. And then he says, like, miles? No. Great. Like, sort of, like, why would you even ask me that?
You know the answer I haven't spoken of. Like. We need Colin Hanks back. What type of stepfather is Todd Monken? I don't.
It passed the clicker. Number two of the NFL burning question still remaining is: what is up with Miles Garrett in Cleveland?
Okay, we pushed we pushed a uh um you know, a a payment to him into the s deep into the summer. Like restructure. Oh, it's uh if there's nothing to see here. But he still hasn't met with the new head coach yet. Who's been the head coach for like four months?
Who? What? Todd? Todd? What?
Bridges? Todd. What are the Todd? Todd, Todd, Todd, Todd. Yeah.
Todd, Todd. Jay? Jay? Huh? What Todd?
Todd? Richard? Richard. What? Miles?
Number one, the most burning NFL question remaining in the NFL is a simple one: is A.J. Brown going to be a patriot in the next few days or what? Like, okay. Bronckman has to. Today's Edelman's birthday, by the way.
Happy birthday, John. You know what I mean? 11. Jewel, give him the blessing. Wear 11.
Let's go. Oh, I don't know about that. That's a tall order. Go number one? I don't know.
Why not? What about two?
Okay. That's the number one burning question that's remaining. That one could be answered the soonest out of all of them.
Okay, one more. Oh, that one more. This may not be burning. There may be no. You go there and you're like, do you smell anything burning?
I don't. TJ's candle. Nope. It does smell good. Is anything burning in Vegas with Max Crosby?
I'm going to keep banging this drum until we see week one hit and Max Crosby's out there for the Vegas Raiders. That's it.
Okay. The Vegas Raiders, week one, home for Miami. Are we seeing Max Crosby trying to track down Malik Willis in his Raiders uniform or not? Or are we going to just hear, like, you know what? He's still a little pissed.
He's still not happy. That happened. He's just. Happy to have been back. He's now, it's June, he's healthy.
He hasn't spoken yet into a you know No pockets.
So Those are the burning questions still remaining presented by Hyundai. As a matter of fact, the top five is brought to you by the all-new Hyundai Palisade Hybrid. Learn how it makes every day epic at Hyundai USA. Dot com We'll sneak in a win-loss game or two as we go out the door of Memorial Day weekend. This is the Rich Eisen Show, everybody.
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six eight nine one. Chris, no matter how bad your Otani take is currently, no matter how bad my Don't Trade for Giannis take was years ago. It can't be worse than calling into the Rich Eisen show to play a win loss game and say your team's going 0 in 17 and they go to the Super Bowl. I do believe Dustin in Arkansas was the one who called into the program and said the Pats are going 0 in 17 and he's on line two right now. Justin, is this true?
Rich, I'm not here to discuss the past. I'm here to be positive. Oh, let me ask you: this is on behalf of my son, Cooper, who is a die-hard Patriot fan. He wants to know: are you really a Patriot fan? He's been dying to talk to you for like a year.
Yes. You really are. Probably the biggest gut punch of my life. Yeah, the biggest gut punch of my life was 0-7, that helmet catch. I've never seen the highlights of that.
I refuse to watch that. 0-17 last year, for real? Really? I thought we would suck. I thought we were going to be terrible.
I'm sorry. Spoil it! I'm sorry. Dustin, are you ready to do this again though? Yeah, absolutely.
Dustin in Arkansas is back. You have a chance to do something legendary here, Dustin. You know what to do. Honestly, you know what to do, Dustin. Do something legendary.
You know what you have to do? What happens opening night in Seattle? That's a loss.
Well done. Outta boy. No, I wanted 17. No, I want the other way again. Oh, instead of it.
This is legendary. Steelers are in New England. You know what happens. Do it. That's a loss.
Roger's going to be good this year. 0-2 at Jacksonville. That's a win. I can't pretend otherwise. To quote Michael Cole, the streak is over.
It's over. He had the Patriots losing 19 straight. Oh, my God. At Buffalo. Uh that's uh that's a loss.
One and three, home for the Raiders. The Raiders.
Alright, then two and three, home for the Jets. That's a very close loss. I think the Jets are going to be really good this year.
So the Jets? Yeah. Yeah, own it, Justin. You own it. Two and four at the Bears on a Thursday night.
Alphabet's a loss.
Sorry. Yeah. Stop. Two and five of the dolphins. That's a win.
Oh, yeah. I mean, you could act three and five home for the Packers. That's a win. Four and five. taking on the lions in Germany.
That's a loss.
I thought it was springtime for Dustin in Germany. At the Chargers. That's a win. Okay. You're one, two, three, four, five, and...
Five and six. Home for the Bills. Uh that's another loss. Five and seven. Home for the Vikings on a Thursday night.
That's a loss.
Carl is coming in to make a five at eight. Go to the chips. Go to cheese. Oh, that's a loss. Five and nine.
At the Jets. What are we doing? That's another loss. That's Dustin. This is how legends are made, Dustin Chip.
Five or ten. Home for the Broncos. That's a win, and it's going to make the Denver people mad. All right, Cooper will be happy because his friend Ryan would lose to the now six and ten Patriots. Dolphins at Pats.
That's a win. Miami's not getting anywhere close to doing anything productive this year.
So, hey. Dustin in Arkansas has the Patriots plus seven, according to him. Right. Seven and ten. Seven and ten.
So again, you are really a Patriot fan. You're not trolling us two years in a row now. Yeah, but you know that teams when they lose the Super Bowl, like they don't usually get back the next year.
So I don't think they're going to make the playoffs this year. All right, Dustin in Arkansas dropping the Super Bowl hangover on us. I cannot wait to show that video to Cooper later. Patriots win total 9.5. 9.5 on the win total.
I would take the over on that right now. I would, too. Come on now. They're not. Did he have the jets sweeping him?
Oh, my God When was the last time that happened? You know what's not happening? That is not happening. That's a real Patriot fan, Chris? Last time the Jets swept the Patriots was 2000.
Control. Ergo, the year Tom Brady was drafted. I know, I find this so funny. Yeah. I mean we're we're a pessimistic people by nature.
Dude. Bold strategy, Cotton.
Well, Owen seventeen met Super Bowl, so Do you the oh Do you think they lose week the opening night in Seattle? I would assume they would. That's going to be a tough assignment. One, yeah, that's tough. But then they come home and they're going to be.
Although, you know, the the Patriots lifted a banner one year and the Chiefs waxed them. No, it it d it can't happen. Yeah. Dude. That's just not.
The thing is, it's a tough start. Got to come out of that 2-800. They're over 500 at the very least. On the season? Yes.
Yeah, I mean, I would be 10 and 7, I would expect to be the. They don't just fall completely off. No, Drake May is going to be better. I think better. When A.J.
Brown comes, A.J. Brown and Romeo Dobbs is a vast improvement over the wide receiver room last year. And if he, correct. And if he just cuts down on the turnovers, just a little bit. Yeah, a little less fumbles maybe this year.
A little bit. I might vote for him for MVP. I hate you. Oh, do ya? Hmm.
That's a shot at not only me, but your son. Be careful. He's got he can handle it. BOOM! He can handle it.
Passionate Rams fan of him. Passionate Rams fan is what he calls me. And he's way off on that, and he knows that. He absolutely knows that. All right, does he?
Yes, he does. I mean, he lives with you and he thinks so.
Okay, that's a good idea. All right, TJ. Have a great Memorial Day weekend, everybody. Yes, sir. And I just want to say again, I am so.
And I didn't know him and I I'm I'm not locked in on that On motorsports. But Kyle Bush. That was a punch yesterday. Oh, my gosh. I just want to send my condolences to the entire family, the Bush family, and obviously his wife, his family.
May he rest in peace and they find some peace this weekend. Thanks for listening to the Rich Eisen Show Podcast. You can watch and listen to The Rich Eisen Show live weekdays from noon to 3 Eastern on ESPN Radio, Disney Plus, and on the ESPN app, The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.
