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Now, on with the show. Bruh. My phone is buzzing like crazy. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Miles Garrett is in fact being traded to the Los Angeles Rams.
From the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. The Rams are not messing around. Today's guest, senior writer for the MMQB, Albert Breer. Six-time Pro Bowl safety, Eric Weddell, ESPN NFL analyst, Alex Smith. And now, it's your Rich Eisen.
All right, everybody, welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show here live on Disney Plus, the ESPN app, ESPN Radio Series XM Channel 80. Oh man, what were we gonna talk about in between games? Seven of the Western Conference final and one of the NBA finals, and it is basically the National Football League raising its hands and saying, hey. We're still here. And it has been non-stop.
And Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated's first up on this program in less than 20 minutes' time to tell us what in the heck happened yesterday. And then we've got Alex Smith of ESPN and one of our favorite. favorites when he uh pops his head up to uh Be up for joining shows like this one. In hour three, Eric Weddell's joining us because I called him when he basically said Bryce Underwood can't play quarterback. as he set the University of Michigan fandom world on fire.
And who knew that we would have Rams football to talk about with him by the time that he appears on this program in hour two? And then there's you at 844-204-RICH. Number to dial. Chris Brockman, good to see you, sir. Rich, good morning, my friend.
TJ Mike E.D. Good morning, Rich. Knuts, good to see you, T.J. Jefferson. The candle is lit.
What up, though? Ah, bots. Happy A.J. Brown Day.
Well, you know, it's kind of wild. June 1st, again, it. It's a date on the NFL calendar where you think, well, What's going to happen on June 1st? And June 1st is a date. That the NFL has put together with its collective bargaining and the Players Association and the Management Council of the National Football League to come up with a date by which.
Transactions can affect the salary cap in a better way for a team that's parting ways with a player. Is just a shorthanded way of putting it. It's far more complicated than the way I did it, but I'm trying to be as simplistic as possible: that it becomes beneficial to a team. Salary cap-wise, to trade a player away or designate that player as a June 1st cut, post-June 1st cut. And that's just a procedural thing that occurs.
Far earlier than than June 1st. Many of the players that got cut back in March for the New League year designated a post June first cut. They're allowed to go ahead and find a next place of business so they can continue their careers, and the teams can designate them in such a manner that's more beneficial to them, allowing them to cut them in an easier manner Monetarily. Which is why yesterday Was pegged as the day that the Eagles would finally trade A.J. Brown, causing Harry Roseman to eventually start tap dancing like crazy from March all the way to this day, where he comes on a show like this one.
Basically, I'll just tell you this: I'm not going to answer your questions.
So, let's talk about my answers to the questions I'll refused to answer. Remember how you did that when he came on the show? It was great. It was brilliant. A.J.
Brown's still an Eagle. A.J. Brown is an Eagle. Everything about Jalen Hurts is false. Yeah.
Yeah. So we were expecting that to happen yesterday. We didn't see the Miles Garrett stuff coming. I mean, we sensed that it was possible. when they made in Cleveland a contractual maneuver to push A bonus payment to him until later in the summer as opposed to the spring, basically saying, Hey, listen, if he's going to be paid this money.
Maybe it's for somebody else to do.
So Miles Garrett happens. And then we go off the air, A.J. Brown happens. And what you've been waiting for, Christopher? Christmas on June 1st did in fact happen.
Huzzah! And the trade is thus. The Patriots get A guy who's the a nonstop thousand yard per season machine. And all it costs them is in next year's draft a fifth But that first happens in 2028. Great.
I don't know why. That's just part of the reason why we'll have Albert Breer on the show. What's the thinking behind that from Philadelphia or Elliott Wolf of New England to say, yeah, not next year? Year after. And that might be again because next year's draft, quarterback heavy, clearly.
Patriots don't need to deal with that. But it is very Talent rich, and why would you give up a first-round pick in that if you don't have to? Got it.
So A. J. Brown now goes to New England. And Drake May has his beast of a receiver. He's got his clear cut.
Number one in the middle of his careers. Prime Seasons. They he's got this guy. And he is coming to New England. And apparently, the Patriots putting out him in a number one jersey.
So they'll offend Cam Newton more than Julian Edelman, I imagine. Because Jules is the got the stick. Yeah, can't give up all the time. And I can't imagine they're not going to give him Jules's sticks. Nah.
Um and AJ Brown is coming to New England to be wide receiver number one. And here he is showing up. On Tuesday for work for the first time. You are out of your mind happy, and I don't blame you because. I understand if Drake May is this generation's Tom Brady, the guy that, again, you put all your trust in and is arriving in year two for a Super Bowl season that you didn't see coming, and he is clearly, you know, When you're 196.
Picks higher in the draft expected to have that sort of result. But I'm only equating him to Brady in the fact that New England loves him, can't wait to see more from him. He's generationally talented. Guy's the limit. And you have to wonder: is this the Randy Moss in this equation?
The beast of a guy outside the numbers who goes across the middle. And I understand that I'm equating A.J. Brown to a first-ballot wide receiving Hall of Famer when those are unicorns. Larry Fitzgerald is the next one, and we send our condolences to him about his dad passing away as well. One of the nicest people I've gotten to meet.
Senior and junior. But you've got this guy in A.J. Brown coming to New England and. It's exactly what you want to do for somebody like Drake May. Give him.
A massive boost. After he gives himself a massive boost. Give this team A ton of excitement around it. After you know Three months of not that And you also can Compliment the run game. Give.
this kid a New BFF. And on top of it. Romeo Dobbs, Pop Douglas, And Arguably, maybe their best deep threat out of all of them, Keyshawn Booty. That is a quartet of receivers. that you can go to battle with.
and go into this season saying, Okay, Denver, The team that we beat. I understand Bo Nix wasn't. Around? But okay, Denver, you get Jalen Waddell? We see that, and we'll raise A.J.
Brown. Mm-hmm.
Okay. Chargers?
Okay. Chiefs getting your quarterback back, we expect an okay. Uh Buffalo. With DJ Moore?
Okay. You know, A.G. Brown. And um I say to you, Christopher, Congratulations, your team did exactly what it needed to do. No doubt.
A five this year and a one two years from now. Great. Yeah. Rip the knob off. You go back to the Super Bowl in the next couple years.
Maybe you win one. No one's going to remember what the compensation was. And now you throw Drake May, the best deep ball thrower in the league, with a receiver who's arguably the best deep ball receiver in the NFL. 50-50 catch. And now it's a guy that you know is going to get the ball on third down.
It's a guy, yes, maybe he left Philly unceremoniously. He's going to be on his best behavior. He is going to be the man and a leader of this wide receiver room that has been kind of revamped with Romeo Dobbs added into the mix. Like you said, throw in the talented backfield. They got two good running backs, add an exciting tight end in the draft, kind of a revamped offensive line.
And this is what good teams do: they don't sit back and say, hey, we went to the Super Bowl, we're good enough. No, stay on the attack, keep adding weapons, and very exciting day for Petsville. And he's now playing for a coach who, once upon a time, when he was with the Tennessee Titans, came on this program, phoned into this program, and Mike Vrabel said. Um If when I asked him rumors about A.J. Brown being traded, and he said, if.
This guy's not on the team. I'm paraphrasing. I don't want to be a coach of a team that doesn't have A.J. Brown. I don't want to be the coach.
Guess what? They traded him. Yada, yada, yada. We're back. Rabel's not there.
Now he's in New England. And um And A.J. Brown is there, and he was fired up. He'd already sat down for an interview. Maria Taylor got him on a podcast called Seventh.
Uh 7 p.m. in Brooklyn.
Okay. Cool. I've been in Brooklyn around 7 o'clock at night. It's a great place. Nice place to be.
And so. Yeah. Here he is sitting down. Uh and talking about being a patriot. Man, dream come true.
The dream come true. Um uh Truly a kid in the cannon store, you know. You know, last night was like Christmas. You know, I still have another 24 hours or so to go, but uh Yeah, I'm uh I'm just I'm excited man. I'm uh The ketemius is Aesthetic right now.
Yeah, and he was uh Talking in his house where apparently he's got a Patriot man cave. Oh, really? Like a rug. Apparently, he's been a Patriot fan a long time. He was saying he posted pictures last night of him in a Tom Brady jersey when he was a toddler?
So that's there it is. Man cave. I think I need to get that, TJ.
Okay. You definitely need to get that. Oh, you just keep it at your house.
Okay. Not in here, though. We got lots of space. Listen. dogs in here.
It's it fitting that he joins the Patriots too. Why is that? Because the Patriots Right. involved either by themselves or In the sidecar. of some of the more Mysterious potentially never to be answered Questions?
of 21st century football. Yeah. Okay. Like Why didn't Marshawn Lynch get the ball? against the Patriots.
Why didn't the Patriots Keep active. In a Super Bowl against a red hot offensive machine in Philadelphia. The guy who picked the ball off. Against Seattle, because Seattle didn't give Marshawn the ball. Why didn't Malcolm Butler play in that Super Bowl?
What the hell's up with that? And now. I think you can add to the list of 21st century potentially never-to-be-answered questions. That happened with A.J. Brown in Philadelphia with Jalen Hurts.
What's going on? Why did there have to be a code red? Why did AJ Brown. Leave Philadelphia. Why did that have to happen?
Even with the Miles Garrett stuff, you can see it. It's just like, okay, Miles is 30. By the time that you're going to get better, I mean, is Miles going to be 32, 33, 34? I mean, Miles Garrett did ask for a treat. Ask for a treat.
A.J. Brown never came out and said to leave.
So. What the hell happened there? And so Maria did ask A.J. Brown about his relationship with Jalen Hurts. Not as close as we once were.
And uh I believe that's fine. It's like there's no bad blood. Um There's actually still a lot of love. I love him. I love him the devil.
I want him to.
Okay. succeed and accomplish all the things that you want to accomplish. Uh I didn't truly understand why our friendship became The public of the center of everybody's attention when it came to football because. you know, looking back on it, you know, we haven't been as explosive as we were. couple years now, but that is that didn't stop anything.
You know, um we still competed, we still push each other. We still led the team, so Bone. It was just kind of strange, you know. People just got so fixated on the relationship and wanted to talk about maybe from the history of this place, but you know, that wasn't what this was. You know, and I'm gonna say it, I'm gonna say it to you.
I say it on camera, I got nothing but love from. You know, I want him to to do well and um accomplish everything that his heart desires, so.
Okay. Great. So Jalen Hurts is scheduling a press conference in Philadelphia today specifically to talk about his relationship with A.J. Brown. Wait a minute.
Hold a minute. Yeah. I'm being told that's. I wrote it down here. Never going to happen.
Okay, there it is. Never going to happen.
We'll never know the answer to this question.
Now we might see Some former Eagles Throw stuff out there as Brandon Graham talks to me as Brandon Graham said it. The OGPG wants. Let in that these two guys don't like each other.
So I wonder why. Here's the deal. Like, you can go on and speculate and tongue-in-cheek it and be cheeky about it. I'm not here too. We hear too.
It's this guy, it's that guy. They're pulling out about this or that guy. We will never. No, this is we could not from Hertz at least. Because he's going to get up there when he's available next time and be asked about this and just go.
I loved him. He's a brother. We try to win. We did win together. I'll never forget it.
We'll have that forever. I mean, it's going to, and then he'll give some sort of. you know statement that sounds like it comes from Either A chapter in the good book or a fortune cookie, and we'll get nothing from him on that. And then all that will be placed on this situation is a lid. That will either percolate and boil Because the new offense will miss A.J.
Brown, and it will then become a Jalen Hurts issue. It'll be hurts. Because this is the guy who is now left there in an offense that does have different receivers, including Mikhail Lemon. Who's in the offensive rookie of the year launching pad. Certainly, in the mind's eye of a lot of Eagles fans, excited to have had him drop to Howard Roseman.
For him to go Up one spot and snipe him from the Steelers while they were talking to him on the phone. Why is Philly Cole? One of my favorite draft moments ever. And 100%. It's now on.
This has been a narrative, I'm sure. That has been prepped. For the long-time listeners and first-time callers and columnists and opiners. And it's been prepped. In anticipation of A.J.
Brown being shipped to New England. That Jalen Hurts, new offense, they're going to put him under center more. Is he going to be more comfortable? Who's his go-to guy? Devontae Smith, you're now on the clock.
You're now wide receiver one. Who is wide receiver one? Are they going to name it and that sort of thing? I mean, just keep going on and on. Saquon can run to the rescue.
Where is that going to be? Offensive line. Is that going to be up to speed? Can they all put it together? And now be the Philadelphia Eagles.
In the every other year situation where they're Dynamite. unbeatable, winning the division again. And Going on a Super Bowl run. 'Cause Jalen Hurts When the Chips are down in a Super Bowl run, Every other year, it seems, he has He plays the best. He's ever played, and certainly in the biggest games.
You can't say that he's under the most pressure in the National Football League because he doesn't feel it, or at least doesn't show that he feels it. Because when the chips are down and the Super Bowl is going down, he plays so well. You could consider him for MVP when he loses. To Patrick, Freaking Mahomes. Correct.
So let's see. But A.J. Brown being gone, 11 being gone, means it's now. Hurts. But he's used to it.
It's Philadelphia. Every quarterback that plays here better be used to it. You know? And you know Siri Audi will shine it off. And it'll all be shined off.
And then if you put the Eagles schedule up. before we throw it a break and get Albert Breer here to talk about all of this. You put the Eagles schedule up and you see. It's going to be on against Washington and then at Tennessee. Whole country'll just let everybody else Take the center stages on a Wednesday or I mean a Thursday and then a Friday and then a Sunday and then a Monday and then the next week on a Thursday and on a Sunday and then a Monday and then the next week on a Thursday and a Sunday and then Let's go.
Monday Night Football Week Three. At Chicago. All right. The team that came in and punked A.J. Brown and Jalen Hurts and Saquon and everybody else the day after Thanksgiving last year with everybody looking at them as the ascending team.
And then the week after that, In comes Miles Garrett in his fresh new horns. I can't believe that's a real sentence. At Jalen Hurts in week four. That's the way it'll start for the Philadelphia Eagles. Call me interested.
Yeah. Now that A.J. Brown is a patriot. Let's take a break. Phone lines are all it.
I love that. That means you like us. Or you don't, and you just want to yell at us. Either way, we're happy for the engagement. Albert Breer's next.
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Albert Breer here on the Rich Eisen Show. Our radio audience has just returned.
Okay, so you said just moments ago on our TV only, just to. Recap that the Rams and Browns started talking with each other. In March, right?
So, first things first, were the Rams the only ones talking? To the Browns, this wasn't like a Luca pocket listing, right? Like, this was what was it here? Yeah, here's what I would say: is like, I think teams check in on these things, and that certainly existed. Um I think the relationship between the Rams' front office and the Browns' front office really helped here.
In that, like, the first answer the Rams got was, no, we're not doing that. And then the Rams come back and sort of stick with it. And I think, you know, what they were willing to do when it was, you know, purely a draft pick situation and not a player involved. And sorry about my phone ringing there. Rich.
When it was purely just a draft pick situation, that showed the Browns, like, yeah. the Rams are really serious about doing this. And no, we're not going to do it for just draft picks. But I think they showed like that this was something they were going to stick with and that they were going to kind of try to keep working through. And I think like by the time they got to the draft, the Rams were pretty freaking confident that they were going to be able to find a way to get this done.
At the same time, I think at that point, the Browns were probably thinking, we're still not trading Miles Garrett, you know?
So I think it's It's just sort of been a process of one team really wanting the player and the Rams really wanting Miles Garrett. And then also, you know, on the flip side, the Browns. Um You know, sensing the seriousness and how the Rams were approaching this. And then internally, sort of setting parameters for what they would be looking for, which there were three principles that they were working off of there. And then, you know, once the Rams met those parameters or those principles, going forward and finding a way to hammer a deal out.
All right. So then just taking a look at between March and You know, the draft. Yeah. There are a couple of moments that now look potentially like Big fat breadcrumbs, Albert. I want to get you on.
Because, if I'm not mistaken, the Rams were interested in the proposal where you could get. Far more leeway in offering a certain number of first-round picks for. Anyone in a draft that suddenly the Browns went ahead and proposed. To the league that got shot down, that you could use first-round picks from here to Kingdom Com. Um was that born out of this Conversation, do you think, where the Rams are just offering draft choices and they wanted to just keep going up and up?
Albert. The timing's interesting for sure. Um And I do think the contract adjustment gave them flexibility to move them. There's no question about that. Um At the same time, I don't think the Browns were ever going to move Miles Garrett.
Just purely for picks. I told you about like there were three principles, right? Like the three principles that Andrew Berry and his team were working off of. The three principles were: number one, if we're going to do this, it has to serve both our short-term and long-term best interests.
So that's number one. Number two, As part of the short-term equation, we need to get a player back. That is a premium player at a premium position on a cost-controlled contract.
So it has to be a pass rusher or a corner or an offensive tackle, somebody at a premium position who is still on his rookie contract, right? And then the third piece was we need to get premium draft capital on top of that. And so I know it looks interesting, at least, and it would promote the conversation if you could go to four or five first-round picks or whatever that would be. But just as the Rams became more serious about this and showed their seriousness in what they were trying to do, the Browns really settled into a place where it was like, we need to get a known commodity in here, and we want to get somebody who can help us right now. And we need that somebody who can help us right now to also be part of our long-term future, which very clearly Jared Burst will be.
Yeah, he checks those boxes. No question about that. And then another breadcrumb, potentially. The whole Ty Simpson drafting and how. I think I told you.
Well, you did. You dropped this breadcrumb when we were here the last time talking. That you know, hey, Simpson's getting drafted now.
So because they're an They're less just sitting there confident about Um Not needing any first-round picks in the immediate future for a quarterback, you check that box and it clears the path. A little bit. More. to go get Miles Garrett, is that? You drop that breadcrumb, pick it up, man.
Right.
So, yeah, I mean, and I said it at the time, and I had some, I think I had some knowledge of some things. And I would say. Mm-hmm.
You know, I remember everybody that back then saying. Like, what are they doing? They were Four points shy of making the Super Bowl. In Seattle's house against the Seattle team that crushed the Patriots in the Super Bowl. And that game would have been held in Los Angeles if it weren't for the funky two-point thing with Zach Charbonnet, right?
During the regular season, you're that close. Why are you doing this? Why are you spending the 13th overall pick on a guy who isn't going to help Matthew Stafford win a championship right now? That was never the way the Rams were thinking about it. The Rams were looking at it and saying to themselves, If we take care of this now and we really like this quarterback, they like the quarterback more than just about anybody else.
If we take care of this now, that gives us flexibility to use our future draft picks in any way we want. And if they don't get their quarterback there, Rich. That thing is going to be hanging over their head because remember, those picks are probably not going to be very high in the order, right?
So. You know, it's not like a bad team saying we got to hang on to this pick because it'll be the fifth overall pick. The Rams had to look at it: like, if we don't do this now, we might need a combination of all of these different picks to go and get our quarterback of the future.
So, we got to be really careful about what we spend. But if you get your quarterback now at 13 overall, now you're freed up to do whatever you want with all of those picks. And it was a huge part of the equation for the Rams, and it set the stage. You know, I've talked a bunch over the last, you know, couple weeks about Howie Roseman using June 1st to his advantage, right? Like, and that wasn't a fortunate situation for the Eagles, but it did at least allow for them to sit there and wait to see if somebody's situation somewhere other than New England materially changed and that and where somebody would offer something over the top for A.J.
Brown. It was the same sort of thing here. It's not fortunate that you got to wait till June 1st to get Miles Garrett on your team if you're the Rams, but. The fact that they were going to have to wait for June 1st meant they couldn't use a 2026 pick as part of the deal.
So why not use that pick now to get your quarterback? You weren't going to touch it as part of the Miles-Garrett trade anyway. And then you've got all those picks in the future to include as part of the deal. And, you know, obviously it worked out for them that way. Albert Breer here on the Rich Eisen Show.
And then, how much did Garrett play into this? And again, I use it. uh his name, just the last name, because that was the way it was His name was thrown to Todd Muncen a couple weeks ago after an OTA saying, Hey, still haven't had a face-to-face with Garrett. And he's like, Who, Miles? As if we were just like, Yeah, no, Leif, Brad, you know, Jason, like, no, there's other Garretts that we're trying to talk about here.
And he wasn't there. Did the Browns basically, because if this thing's been percolating, stay home. Did they tell him to stay home? Was this a trade demand that was far more silent than his last one that was in play year? What's up with this album?
So today is June 2nd, right? Can't confirm.
So. Miles Garrett got back from Japan and Korea, I believe, on May 26th, and that was all. Like preordained, right? And By then, the Rams, the Browns were ready to communicate to Miles what was going on, right? And so at that point, it's basically like, well, if this is moving down, if this train is moving down the tracks, there's no sense in you showing up to this week of OTAs, you know?
And so he was on a pre-scheduled trip, which was what he was planning on doing. And that train is coming down the tracks. They communicated with him. Miles flew to Cleveland on Friday and sat down with Andrew Berry and Jimmy Haslam on Saturday, where they informed him of, they didn't inform him of the trade. They'd already informed him of what was going on, but they had, you know, one last meeting and it was very amicable.
Look, I mean, I think the people inside the Browns organization, Rich, they view this as trading a Jim Brown or an Otto Graham. They should. We were talking about Reggie White yesterday, Albert. And I know that's what upsets Browns fans too. But they also had to get Miles's approval.
I imagine, you know, the That he knew it was the Rams, he probably just gave a pre-approval, right? You're pre-approved, just like you're trying to buy a house. You're pre-approved. You know, I mean, you get the best rate, whatever, you know? Yeah.
But the point is, you don't do this without talking to a player like that. You know what I mean? Like, so you have your early talks, and those are conceptual talks. And when it becomes real, and when you have the opportunity to talk to a guy, and when the time is right, you have that discussion with him, you know? And so I can tell you this: to Andrew Berry, to Todd Munkin, who, by the way, I think people forget was with Miles Garrett in Cleveland in 2019.
So it's not like they've never crossed paths before. He was the offensive coordinator under Freddie Kitchens that year. To Jimmy Haslam and his family, it was all incredibly important that this was handled the right way. Right way with an all-time great player who they hope will retire a Brown. You know, we'll go into Canton.
I know you don't wear a hat the way you do in baseball, but we'll go into Canton as a Brown and we'll have his name up in the stadium someday. You know, all that was really, really important to the Browns. All right. So. I'm already in advance.
I'm looking at the clock right here. Can I get you to the end of the hour, Albert? Or you got something you got to do?
Okay, good. Sure. Because we're going to take a break and talk to A.J. Brown. You got it.
conversation here. Why did this happen? Brown's friends are kind of like, really? But I understand you read the writing on the wall, if you're Andrew Berry. Personally, I thought they should have done this the first time he asked for a trade, but I understand when he's so open like that, it could potentially kneecap you in terms of what you can get in response.
Although, if you throw Miles Garrett out there for everyone to go, You know, wow you. I don't know if that really would have kneecapped them, but at the end of the day, Why did this happen? I think Browns fans are still kind of a little bit turned around on this result. Um So, I think number one, the Rams' persistence is like a huge part of it. Like, they actually initially.
They initially called the Browns. This is going to sound crazy at the trade deadline in 2022. That was the first conversation the Rams had with the Browns. 2022, did you see the right year there? Wow.
Yeah, and so it's wild, right? Like, but that was the first time that conversation happened. And then, you know, this time around, they just kind of kept chipping away at it.
So that's a huge part of it, right? Like, that this was very real the whole time. You know, and then I think this, I think, you know, from the Browns' perspective, as I see it anyway, I mean, look, like, I think there was a pivot there. 13 months ago with the Travis Hunter trade. And the core that Miles Garrett.
Like, came up with, you know, and the guys that he went to the playoffs with in 2020 and 2023, that core had aged out and they needed to get younger. And the Deshaun Watson trade had taken such a chunk out of their ability to build youth into the roster. That they just needed to get volume of picks to get to get younger across the board.
So they trade the pick that became Travis Hunter. And last year, they put together what I think is a really good rookie class. And Carson Swessinger is defensive rookie of the year. Mason Graham, you're aware of how good he is. Harold Fannin, good young move tight end, two running backs, Dylan Sampson.
And of course, Quenchon Judkins, and then the two young quarterbacks. And then as a result of the trade, they have three top 40 picks this year. They turn those into Spencer Fano at Tackleton, two receivers in Casey Concepcion and Denzel Boston.
Well done. They've now set this up. Where you've got like this group of 22, 23-year-olds. And I think you have to ask the question: is like, Where's Miles Garrett going to be at? What's his trade value going to be when these guys all come of age?
And when we have our young quarterback, whoever that winds up being, whether it's Shadur or somebody else in place, and you got to do that. If that doesn't happen till 28, say, or 27.
Now, like, is are we in the back end with Miles? They don't believe that. They think he's Bruce Smith or Reggie White from a longevity standpoint or will be. But. It's just a lot to.
It's a lot to consider. And for them, it was. We can really supercharge the rebuild. If we add a young player like Verse, And now we have two firsts in 27, two seconds in 28, two thirds in 29. They effectively have 12 top 100 picks before we even get into the comp pick formula over the next three years now, in addition to adding Jared Furris, who from an age standpoint lines up with all the young guys that they have on board.
Well done. Thank you, Albert. Let's take a break. We'll come back. We'll talk to A.J.
Brown. Who says the NFL gives you nothing to talk about on June 2nd? That's next. This is the Rich Eisenstone. The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.
Albert Breer back here on the Rich Eisen show. All right, Dell's not trying to ruin the Cowboys season or anything. He's trying to keep the sideline clean there, keep his guys out of trouble. All right, so in the minutes I have remaining with you, let's talk about the A.J. Brown trade.
Why 2028 first-round pick? In the fifth round this year, what's with the compensation?
Well, interestingly enough, it wasn't the Patriots and Eagles that came up with that concept. It was the Eagles and Rams. And this was sort of, I think, part of the trigger for the Miles Garrett trade: the Eagles and Rams went way down the line on an A.J. Brown trade. The Rams had some concerns over the knee, but I think the bigger piece of this was they would have had to do a corresponding trade of Devontae Adams out of Los Angeles.
They couldn't thread the needle on pulling off that double.
So they pull out, but. You know, Howie really wanted a one. And so the compromise that they had come to was to include a 2028 first-round pick as part of that.
Now, Howie's done this before. Two years ago, he traded Hassana Reddick, and this would have been in March of 2024 for a 2026 third-round pick. That was the Jets' third-round pick, which wound up becoming Markel Bell, an offensive tackle from Miami. And that freed the Eagles up to move their third, one of their third, one of their other third-round picks for Jalen Phillips. And then Jalen Phillips leaves, and they use another third-round pick that they got as a comp pick for Milton Williams to replace him with Jonathan Gernard.
So, this is sort of like one of those sliding doors things with the Eagles and Howie. And I think it's an advantage that Howie has because of his job security, in that there are a lot of general managers that won't trade. For a pick two years out, because they don't know if they're going to be making that pick, right? And I think this is one of the inherent advantages the stability gives you. And there is a cost to it, of course.
Like, if they were to use that first-round pick, if the Eagles wind up using that first-round pick, you're talking about there's two years in there now where neither that player nor A.J. Brown is on your team. But it was a creative way for him to get the value that he wanted in the A.J. Brown trade. All right.
And, you know, I know this could fill an hour, let alone the four and a half minutes I have left with you here before we have to say goodbye to the radio audience. Um why? What what You know, I know that this is one of the greatest mysteries. What in the heck happened? With A.
J. Brown. in Philadelphia. to cause this to happen. Howard, I think A.J.
Brown's personal frustration. Personal frustration with the quarterback, personal frustration with the offense. And I think, you know, what happens in a lot of cases like this is sometimes we expect guys to be the ultimate competitor when it comes to team performance, but think they can shut it off when it comes to individual performance. The reality is, all these guys are concerned about their legacies and how they're going to be remembered and all of that different stuff. And, you know, I think back to Tom Brady at one point saying that he was the most miserable 8-0 quarterback of all time because he didn't think he was playing very well, right?
So, like, these guys are competitive in that way, too. And I think over the last year, A.J. Brown felt like he was being held back, felt like his numbers were suffering because of how Jalen Hurts plays the game and how the offense is built around Jalen Hurts and all that different stuff. And so I think. That frustration, which has existed for a couple of years now and boiled over last year, had kind of reached the point where the Eagles just said we can still get good value for them.
Now's the time to do it. And I mean, they telegraphed it the entire offseason. Oh my gosh, yeah. There's no doubt. I mean, and it's just interesting that the Rams were the ones to potentially be aggressive enough to prevent the inevitable.
What we've. Conversation with the Patriots. But again, so you just, again, I know it's an hour conversation, not now, two minutes. He and Hurts just had a falling out. Like, what's the scoop?
Yeah, I mean, I think it was just frustration. I don't think it's personal frustration. I think it's professional frustration. And maybe the way their games once matched up didn't match up anymore. And, you know, I think from that perspective, it was time, you know, and again, like the trade-off for Ontavian Wicks, the signing of Hollywood Brown, trading up for Mikhail Lemon in the draft.
They've been preparing for this for some time. And I think, you know, like, here's the other piece of it, Rich, is. When a player is unhappy, like A.J. Brown was unhappy. Other teams know it.
And when a player is as accomplished as A.J. Brown is, you really don't even have to shop him. You know, like teams will come to you.
So that had happened over the course of the last year. There were a list of four teams initially that A.J. Brown was interested in going to. And the Eagles asked for teams in the AFC. And those four were the Patriots, the Bills, the Chiefs, and the Chargers.
The Bills pulled out of it almost immediately because they traded for DJ Moore. The Chiefs said no. The Chargers said no. They were left with the Patriots, which wound up leading to the Eagles talking to teams in the conference, most notably the Rams. And here we are with A.J.
Brown reunited with Mike Frable in New England. You're the man, Albert. Thanks again for the time. This was awesome. This is just dynamic.
I didn't expect it to be this deep a conversation on June 2nd, but here we are. But it's great, though. I mean, it is, it is, it's great. I guess the NFL can't plan to eventize this. Like, now suddenly we'll have a June 1st broadcast on NFL Network that's planned every year.
But these were two massive names. A.J. Brown expected the Miles Garrett stuff And again, one last breadcrumb in the minute I have left here: the pushing of the bonus to the summer. As opposed to paying it out to Miles Garrett this spring, that was another breadcrumb? Yeah, I think it just gave the team more flexibility, but I would say this.
I I would I would not mistake that for the turn of events being the Rams call and then the Browns move the trigger date on that bonus. It was actually the reverse. The Browns moved the trigger date on the option bonus, and the Rams were like, oh, wait, what is this? And that caused them to pick up the phone.
So that was the way that that all went down. This is outstanding. Outstanding. We have questions, you have answers. Albert Breer, you're the man.
Thank you for the time. That's the way we wrap up our number. one of this edition of the Rich Eisen Show on a very busy Tuesday. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with a message for everyone paying big wireless way too much.
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