Are roll batteries the same? Yeah. That's like asking if all soccer players are the same. Take Messi, the most decorated player ever. Is there any other player who has achieved that?
No, just him.
Now take Duracell. Is there any other battery with power boost ingredients inside? No, just Duracell. Remember, GOATs only trust GOATs because they're built different. And Messi only trusts Duracel.
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Now, on with the show. With the first pick, the Washington Wizards select The Rich Eisen Show with guest host Tom Pellisero. God, I love that guy. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Earlier on the show, ESPN senior NBA writer Vincent Goodwill.
Two-time major champion Colin Morikawa. Coming up, Super Bowl champion receiver Antonio Freeman. And now, sitting in for Rich, it's Tom Pellisero. Welcome back to the Rich Eisen Show. Tom Pellicero sitting in for Rich with my boys in the studio, Chris Brockman.
Yeah, yeah. Jason Fellows, TJ Jefferson. I believe we set a record. In the first two hours of the show, the longest. In my what probably 30 30 episodes of this show that I have hosted in this seat over the past several years.
Definitely the longest we ever went without talking about the NFL. Not even close. Great guests across the spectrum. Colin Morakawa and Antonio Freeman on to talk about the other football. If we talk about Vincent Goodwill, NBA draft, tons of that.
Uh well we'll flip the script a little bit here. Hour three of the show. I will get two. The power rankings of the biggest storylines in the offseason remaining between now and September ninth when the NFL season begins. Do that momentarily here.
But we stumbled on something. Yeah, Tom, we technically did. I want to close the loop on something that we brought up Briefly at the l end of the last hour, And I had to give a a slightly truncated version of a story to just give you a taste. We had been talking off air. And apparently, I had never told you guys on the show or off air, specifically TJ, the host of No Contest Wrestling, right here on the Rich Eisen Podcast Network.
New episode dropping this afternoon. I had never mentioned. that I was covering the Vikings when Brock Lesnar Tried out. In training camp. Back in 2004, this comes on the heels of Jake Paul saying I was in a podcast recently.
Yeah. YouTuber, turned fighter, turned promoter. That his next goal is to go to the NFL. Might walk on at Stanford first just to get his feet wet. He's 29 years old.
Uh wants to play slot receiver. Which maybe just body type wise, if I were scouting him, probably not the position I would recommend. But you guys said, like, you know, if Brock Lesnar couldn't make it in the NFL, why do other guys think that they can go Into the NFL and make it. LeBron's made comments about that in the past, too. That if he didn't play in the NBA, that he could have been a tight end.
Well, LeBron. He would have had a chance. That's a little different body type. But Brock Lesnar, okay, he was an all-American wrestler at the University of Minnesota. He was, of course, in, I believe it was WWE at that time.
He was a champion UFC heavyweight champion. Right. But before that, this is back when he was a WWE wrestler. He decided, I want to go back. and try out for the NFL.
The head coach at the time was Mike Tice. Who Tysi was like never afraid of something that he thought would be entertaining and might kind of give a rise out of the guys? And he's like, let's do it.
So they sign him in in the offseason. They sign him in like June. And so our first look at Brock Lesnar. the NFL player is when he arrives to training camp, which in those days was held at Minnesota State Mankato. I believe it's now just Minnesota State.
Brock Lesnar rolls up with Sable to the dorms. To check in. Uh for his first training camp. It's a scene, man. I mean, whatever you saw of like how Sable would have been dressed in the ring, exactly what she's wearing.
Okay. Brock is rolling in. I recall it in my mind's eye. I think he was wearing a sleeveless shirt, like all the muscles out. Of course.
And they're checking in. It's the biggest story. Mind you, this was not a pretty good Vikings team. They went to the playoffs that year. They beat the Packers in the Randy Moss mooning game.
Right. Uh, Dante Culpepper is the quarterback. They were a high-powered offense, and they had some pretty good players on defense.
So where it registered with me. Of exactly what you guys were talking about was the first day coming onto the practice field. Brock Lesnar, by the way, wearing number 69. Comes out on the practice field, and I remember seeing him. With the the horse, the the thing that you can hit, the sled.
I like horse. Let's go with that. I don't know why horse is what came up. The sled, the blocking sled. I mean, I just went a long day air.
That's what happens when we don't talk NFL for two hours.
So Lesnar comes up to the sled. And he's standing next to Kevin Williams, who was the first run pick the year before, perennial all-pro player. And Brock looked so small. He's wide because he's got just, you know, massive traps and massive arms, and he's just kind of like this under his pads, but he's short. I mean, Brock was, I don't know what he was listed at, but he was maybe 6'1.
Kevin Williams is 6'5. He's definitely bigger than 6'1. All right, 6'2, whatever he is. Kevin Williams is like 6'5, bordering on 6'6. Every other defensive lineman is 6'4, 6'5.
And he just. looked Small.
Now That was not the end of him, okay? He went through it. To Brock's credit, he worked really hard during training camp. Like, he did everything. This was not like a gag.
This was not a joke. This was Brock. As a wrestler, who you know, wrestlers a lot of times make good offensive or defensive linemen. Yeah, he was 27 at the time, 27 years old. How tall is he?
How tall is Brock Lesnar listening? He's 6'2.
Well, I'm 6'3. He's tall, and I've taken a picture with him, he's taller than I am. He's listed at 6'2.
So he's probably 6'1, TJ. Maybe he had some lifts in the shoes for that photo. Or maybe, maybe you've grown since the photo. I'm just telling you. But anyway, he was much smaller, but he worked really hard.
And actually, I eventually got into a preseason game and made a play in the backfield in his final game.
Now it's third stringers, it's the end of the game. Everyone's fired up. But so the players got it, got a rise out of Lesnar being there. Like a lot of them are wrestling fans, so it was just cool for him to be there. But they also liked, like, he had this attitude.
He carried himself. Yes, he worked hard like he was trying to make the rush, but he still carried himself like I'm the baddest dude on this planet.
So they were having joint practice with the Chiefs in Mankata, which is where the Vikings' training camp was. The year before, there had been an incident when they went over and visited the Chiefs in River Falls where a guy named, I think his name was Russian Jones, hit one of the Chiefs' quarterbacks. And like Dick Vermeal said, I wanted to get a gun and shoot that guy in the head. And they called off practice. It was a whole thing, but they still had the joint practice the following year.
So Once again, like everyone comes in and like the emotions are already high. And we still see this in joint practices today. But you just knew it was kind of, there was gonna be an issue at some point. And so things are kind of escalating, escalating.
Well, all of a sudden, I think it was Trent Green who was the Chiefs' quarterback, and he gets hit down around the knee, and a brawl breaks out. Like, it's a football brawl, okay? It's not like, you know, they punch each other in the face, but like one of these where everybody comes together. And all of a sudden, Brock Lesnar comes together. comes out of nowhere and suplexes a guy.
You just see, and I still have a grainy video somewhere of it because it was 2004 and you've got like, you know, the original digital cameras. But he comes and just grabs the guy and throws him down. He took him to Suplex City? He city, baby. Wow.
He comes out. Then everybody jumps in.
Now it's a brawl. Brock comes out of the hapile, no helmet on, and is just strutting around like this, is like showing off. The crowd is going bananas. That's where it took over. That was, it was one of the wildest things I ever saw in the NFL.
He didn't make the team. He didn't, I don't think he really wanted to do like the practice squad. He took his best shot. There he is, right there. Uh, But he, that fight.
Is one of my most vivid memories. I'm 23 years old. This is totally wild. When you find this video, you got to send it to me. It's so grainy and bad, but it does show Brock coming out of the pile and strutting around with his helmet off.
And again, everybody is like, guys are patting him on the shoulder pads. Couldn't have been happier about this. Oh, that's amazing. That is amazing. The one and 21 and one.
It was a moment. There were a lot of a very interesting moment in Vikings' history. Chock full of many interesting moments and still zero chance. We've had hundreds of conversations, you and I, and I can't believe this is the first time that this. Has been brought up.
This is wild. I'll dig deep.
Some things get buried deep down in the subconscious. That was 22 years ago in my defense. 2026 NFL season, right around the corner, 77 days away, 11 weeks from tonight. It's the kickoff game on a Wednesday. It's the Super Bowl rematch.
The Seahawks going up against the Patriots. And I have here in my hand. A rarity for me. In my times on this show. Or you're going to do some power rankings.
Hey yo. Hit it. Yeah. Ha ha ha ha ha. Mission.
Power rankings. Power rankings presented by SoFi. Here we go. Top 10 storylines remaining to resolve in the NFL. Between now, June 24th, And the kickoff game on September 9th, which is how many days away, Brockman?
76 and a half. 77 days away. You can't even count. You can't even take off the half. The game's like six hours.
I'm playing till this day. 77 days and change. Number 10. Does Brandon Ayuk play this season? Oh gosh, this guy.
There's so much to unpack with him and the Instagram posts. He has not played an NFL snap. In close to two years now since he went down with that injury. And that, of course, was preceded by the off-season standoff back in 2024. Leads to him signing a contract less than a week later.
He's in an argument with Kyle Shannon on the practice field because he refuses to wear the right colored shorts. It's been downhill since then. He's posting messages: Go, Commander, Saden Daniels rules, like all this stuff, and posting direct shots at the 49ers. I don't anticipate this a trade here. I don't know how in the world you can trade for him.
You're going to have to adjust the contract anyway. This is a complete by low shot in the dark. He is close with Jaden Daniels. They were at Arizona State together. If there's one place he's going to go, it is Washington.
If I'm the commanders, there's no way I'm trading for him. If I'm the 49ers, I'm willing to let this ride until he shows up. The thing Brandon Ayuk has to do. And I guarantee you he's been advised this and has not done it, is show up. 49ers, they're quarterbacks.
A lot of times that includes injured players. One of the first groups to show up. That's on like July 17th, I think. Brandon Ayuk should be waiting there with his key card. If he gets denied from the building, he's got a grievance on his hand.
If he comes in, They're going to go, all right, let's cut them. And that'll be the end of it. Because he's still on the books. His salary will go back on the books. If he shows up, says, I'm coming off the did not report, I'm back.
You at least set up the confrontation. He hasn't done it. Does he even play in 2026? Step one, show up. Imagine if they had just traded him to Pittsburgh two years ago for a lot.
He could have gone to New England, but then he decided he didn't want to go there. Right, there were several different iterations of the Ayuk trade. Instead, they paid him because he finally came back in and he's like, you know what? I want to be here. Kyle needs good receivers.
John Lynch didn't really want to let him go. Signs the deal for I think it was $28 million a year. And within a week, It's, dude, everyone else is wearing red shorts. Why are you in black shorts, or whatever it was, vice versa? Stupid.
Never was the same. gets his guarantees voided, never completes his rehab. We don't even know how healthy he is. Go in. Pacific physical.
Get yourself cut, and then you can go play in Washington, probably for the minimum plus incentives. That's where we are right now in the IUC story. Number nine. Do any more big quarterback deals get done? We saw Patrick Mahomes.
That was a unique one. Adding two years on to what is already the longest contract in NFL history. Matthew Stafford got a one-year, $60 million extension. That really, when you break down that contract, it was giving him a little bump that hits next March. It gave him some upside in terms of incentives.
Then it locks him in. It. Gives everybody breathing room after this season to decide what the future actually is going to be. It's not a guarantee even plays in 2027, but it was a little bump, a little upside, and it removes a situation where. They'd have to cut them because of all this acceleration, or they'd have to make a move very early in the offseason.
I'm talking about real quarterback deals. Lamar Jackson. The Ravens have publicly said for two years they're trying to get something done with Lamar. His last deal got done when he just basically responded to an email: Yeah, I'll take that offer. On draft day, no less.
With Lamar, he doesn't have an agent. He marches to the beat of his own drummer. He's a really, really good player. If I'm Lamar, If he had an agent, if I were his agent? I'd say just wait, dude.
Next offseason, you got Caleb Williams. You got Jaden Daniels, you got Drake May, you got Bonix. They're all coming up for new deals. The $60 million market is going to be $70 million in terms of, again, the legit multi-year extensions. You're making, I think he's making $52 million, Lamar is this year.
It's around that number. You don't need to rush. You're not like making. He played for the minimum his fourth year in the league. You're making good coin right now.
Just wait. The money's behind door number two. Yeah, 52 million cash for Lamar. 52 million cash, and he's due 50 plus in the next couple of years as well. There's no rush.
The Ravens would like to get something done. Baker Mayfield. He's got one year left on his deal. It sounds like right now, Baker, who, if you break down the tiers of quarterbacks, of the 16 guys who have actual franchise deals, Baker's number 16. Then he got this huge drop off into like the Geno Smiths and Justin Fields of the world.
So Baker's got a case. The Bucs obviously don't really want to pay him what's near or at the top of the market. Statistically, he's been as good as anybody. They got decisions to make. Everybody wants Baker in Tampa.
He's already said the cutoff is start a training camp. We don't have a deal. I'm not negotiating. I'll play out the season. Then you either tag me or I hit free agency.
That's a big one. Then you got some of the young guys, CJ Stroud, Bryce Young. That's a big question to answer here. Does anybody try to move the market now, or do you look at what could happen a year from now and say, I'm just going to play this thing out. Let's see where we are next offseason.
Number eight, biggest storyline before the start of the NFL season: where do the former Pro Bowl receivers end up? There are a lot of them. Stefan Diggs is still out there. Tyree Kill, we don't know how healthy he is at this point. But a really good player.
I don't know if he plays all in 2026. We'll see. Debo is still a free agent. Keenan Allen is still a free agent. You want to go deeper?
DeAndre Hopkins is a free agent. Brandon Cooks. A lot of these guys now are at a different stage in their career where they were making 20, 25, 30 million. They're now probably. $5 million type players.
They all have something left. Let's see where some of those dominoes fall. A lot of times it comes down to coaches and teams. Putting their rookies out there the first couple weeks, and you're thinking this third-round pick can help me. Then you watch them in live contact drills, and you're like, We might need a little help.
We might need a little competition at this spot. Those first couple of weeks of camp will be really telling of where things go with some of those. Those big name receivers and big name edge players who are still sitting out there as well. Number seven, I will just say this: it's still an NFL storyline until every option is exhausted. What happens with Brandon Sorseby?
He has gone from Treatment for a gambling addiction to getting his eligibility stripped by the NCAA to suing the NCAA to getting an injunction to play to having the Big 12 and the other Big 12 schools rise up against Texas Tech, to Texas Tech backing away, to him pulling the lawsuit because he's running out of time for the supplemental draft, to the NFL saying, just kidding, we're not even going to hold a supplemental draft. We're only like nine steps in to this. He put himself in this situation, obviously, with the behavior, regardless of at what point it became. a compulsion or an addiction. He's not a victim in this case, but he is a really talented quarterback who currently has no place to play.
There is still the possibility, and his representatives have talked with the NFL Players Association in the last 24 hours. Could they potentially file a lawsuit against the NFL? Could they try? To defeat a league that, under the CBA, has in writing, the league can choose whether to hold a supplemental draft. Can their patterns and practices, what they've done in the past, the things that they said in the letter, could any of that be used against them?
We'll see. Right now, Brendan Sorzby is still training as if there's a possibility this happens. The pro day is still scheduled. It will become an NFL story, it will stop being an NFL storyline. Once this actually gets resolved.
One way or another. He right now is eligible for the 2027 draft, which between him Archmanning. Dante Moore. Julian's saying I mean, go down the list. There's a ton of guys who are either potential first-round picks, or at some point, were regarded as first-round picks, who are going to be a part of this process.
Number six. Are the bears moving to Indiana? We still don't know. What we know is in the past month. The board of directors, which is all the McCaskies plus Kevin Warren, and one other person.
They took a vote, which they don't do often, that said, Hey, our plan. is to move to Northwest Indiana. That's our focus. But there's still a bunch of steps in that process in terms of getting all the permits. having a construction plan, finalizing deals on the land.
NFL approval, all these things still need to take place. And at the same time, the state of Illinois, which has moved, just quite honestly, at a glacial pace on this, and there's been years and years of politicians in Chicago making very clear they have no interest in putting any public money toward a stadium. There is still Arlington Heights as a possibility. There's always that long-shot possibility of something coming up in Chicago. Until it's done, signed, sealed, and approved by the other NFL owners.
They are still the Chicago Bears. They're still the monsters of the Midway, not the monsters of the Midwest. They're not the Chicago Land Bears. They're still the Chicago Bears, as they will be, even if they do ultimately move. But that's a pretty big.
Storyline here, there's always stadium issues going on. That's a pretty substantial one. Number five. Biggest storylines. Before the NFL season begins on September 9th.
Nixon 5. Who's the Brown starting quarterback? Oh.
Now you could argue Jake Paul. Stop it. He might be playing the slot. Bronze. Maybe catching his asses from.
Or maybe LeBron. Bring it all full circle. LeBron's a NBA career. He decides he's done. Cool.
Let's go to Cleveland. Bring it all home. But just kidding, not playing for the Cavs. Might help. Playing for the Browns.
Yeah. Uh. Listen, they went through the entire spring and my understanding has been like the things that you may have read a little bit in terms of the growth of Shadur Sanders is real. The pocket presence, decision making, how he's reading things out, he's improved. He has a new scheme.
Todd Monkins there. He's worked with a bunch of different styles of quarterbacks through his NFL and college career. Shadur has grown. Anything out there about like they're looking to trade them? I would put zero stock into that.
If I were sitting here right now. June 24th, and had to make an educated guess. I'd say he and Deshaun Watson both on the team in September, and quite possibly both play. But Deshaun, he's a very He's looked really good through the spring. He's also a guy who's played, I believe, 19 games over the past five seasons combined.
You don't know when he gets back on the field, even setting aside, does he have yet another freak injury? He had had two Achilles, he had the shoulder all busted up, he's had an ACL. Obviously, he missed time because of a suspension and a soft suspension when he was in Houston back in 2021. But before that, the guy was a pretty good football player. What they don't know, and they really won't know even until they get into the preseason games, is.
when it's actually live. And when you've got, frankly, the opposing crowd yelling at you and all that different stuff, what Deshaun Watson shows up. We know he's played winning football in the NFL. The Browns are sitting in a position right now. where they're really in year two of a five-year roster reset.
Their draft class last year might have been the best in the entire NFL. They make a bold move this year to trade Miles Garrett, a Hall of Fame caliber pass rusher. You get Jared Verse? You get draft picks. My feeling was that was very good value in that trade.
You can't immediately replace Miles Garrett, but First Walks In is a really good player. New coaching staff in that there's a lot of moving parts, but they feel like they've got a foundation. What they have to spend this year figuring out is. Do we have a quarterback? Is there any chance, whether it's Deshaun or Shadur, one of these guys can be the quarterback moving forward?
It'd be very surprising given the entire history. If Deshaun ends up being that guy and gets another contract in Cleveland, it's hard to fathom. But he might be the starter, depending what happens in training camp. And if it's Shadur. He's year two on a cheap fifth round rookie contract.
you've got all kinds of flexibility to build around it. They got two first-round picks in next year's draft. Thanks to the Garrett trade, they got additional capital in 28 and 29. A very good quarterback class of all those guys I just mentioned in 2027. Let's see what direction this goes.
It may not be the difference between the Browns being a playoff team or not in 2026, but it will shape a lot of things in terms of next year's draft. Number four. biggest storylines before NFL season. Who's the Vikings starting quarterback? I think the entire world, the moment they signed Kyler Murray, assumed it's Kyler Murray.
If I were sitting here right now and had to take a guess, I'd still say it's Kyler Murray. In part because for all the reports on he's throwing an interception and OTAs and things like that, he's not doing the thing that's made Kyler Burry special his whole career in a seven-on-seven period, which is taking off running. Once you get into the camp situation, He'll be able to cut that part loose. And if I'm Kevin O'Connell, I want him sitting in the pocket. He's being coached differently.
It's a different offense.
Meanwhile, J.J. McCarthy has come back, he played well down the stretch. I know JJ has become a meme for a lot of people. It's all about 9 and locker room images and things like that. I was at that game in Detroit.
That guy on the field that day, beating the Lions in their home building, he can play. The guy who, despite some injuries, was playing well down the stretch, that guy can play. This is going to be a fascinating competition. Kevin O'Connell was very. Deliberate about splitting the reps 50-50 throughout the course of the spring.
I think that the coaches know what direction this is going to go. I think they got a very good idea at minimum. But they intend to keep that 50-50 thing going. In the training camp. Let's see how it shakes.
Number three, storyline: who's the Falcons starting quarterback? This is the last one. I swear, I'm not just cheating and solely doing those. We really haven't seen the competition there yet. That's the difference with this one.
Tuatunga Valoa, by virtue of being healthy, has been able to get the reps, probably give himself a leg up in this competition. Michael Pettix Jr. at some point, maybe even at the start of training camps, going to be clear. and going to be able to be out there and actually competing for the job. I know that Tua, in his own right, there have been all kinds of questions.
A lot of it goes back to the injury history, the predates, the concussions, goes back to the hip dislocation in Alabama. He's dealt with a lot, but he also has shown when he is at his best and he's healthy, he can be a very, very efficient quarterback in the NFL. Uh I think that for the style that Kevin Stavansky wants to play, Tua is probably a very good fit. I would also say Michael Panix Jr., remember, was drafted by a prior regime. All the people involved in that decision, other than the owner, they're all gone.
So nobody is tied to Michael Penix Jr. is coming back from yet another major knee injury. I'm not saying that Tua is the frontrunner at this point, but certainly Tua was able to leave the impression in coaches' minds.
Now it's on Michael Pennix Jr. to try to play a little catch-up here. Number two, store a lot until cam. And I will admit, this one is out there. This isn't.
based on information that this is likely. This is just saying It's something that sounds crazy.
Okay. And nobody has shot it down. Yes, I love these. I love these. Hold on.
Let me get ready.
Alright, what do we got? Does Aaron Donald come back? Nah! Mm. Aaron Donald, her here first, has not said no.
The Rams have said if he wanted to, he could. He hasn't played in two years. We all know what he looks like in his private workouts in the gym. On his Aaron Donald still looks like he is not a human being. Just casually throwing up 140s.
Big leap. Between Working out hard and having crazy workouts makes everybody else vomit, and actually going in and playing in the NFL. He's got to come to terms himself. A guy who's already said, like, I only wanted to play 10 years in the league. He's got to come to terms with his family and his wife.
We surely are under the impression he's done. But if Aaron Donald calls Sean McVay. in let's say the middle of August. Sean McVay's not saying no. James Bay said, let's have this conversation.
Same, let's. I'm just, all I'm telling you is. Nobody has shot it down. I wouldn't sit here and say it's likely. I would just say if anyone can do it after two years out of the game, It's this guy AD.
And the number one storyline. between now and camp, and again, Let me be abundantly clear. I'm not saying something is happening. I'm not saying it's coming. I'm not saying I'm sitting on it.
I am just saying. in a league where We have seen a lot of bananas things happen. Even last year in training camp, we saw Micah Parsons traded at the end of August. My question is. Do we have one more big trade coming before the start of the regular season?
Let's go. The biggest ones, I mean, in this offseason, obviously, Miles Garrett getting traded. Hard to be a bigger blockbuster than that. Possible. A.J.
Brown trade that we talked about every day for four months. It was completely overshadowed because it came a few hours later. That's a pretty big trade. We had some quarterback movement, albeit at the lower end of the spectrum, the Geno Smiths of the world being moved in a trade. The question is, who would that be?
You still have, listen, you still have some unresolved quarterback situations. Mac Jones got a little salary bump from the 49ers. If somebody goes down in cam. Is there a call for Mac Jones? If, let's say, The Raiders come to the conclusion that actually Fernando Mendoza is ready.
Doesn't sound like that's Clint Kubiak's mindset, but does somebody call? on Kirk Cousins. Any of these quarterbacks who lose a battle, potentially, could they. be in that trade mix. What about Max Crosby?
That was the biggest trade of the offseason until it wasn't. He was Fully on board. He was literally in Baltimore, went through his physical, and then was told we got a problem. I don't get the sense at all. I know this.
Max Crosby does not want to be traded anymore. He always wanted to be a Raider. He was frustrated with the way things were going.
Now it's like he got the sign from God. This is where you're meant to be. But does somebody come up? Once he's fully healthy. This might be after week one.
What if he just looks really good out of the gate? What if he plays some in the preseason? What if he plays in September? People are like. Yeah, we would have done that deal.
I mean, other teams were down the road on Max Crossbow. Dallas was heavily in on Max Crosby. The Rams would have been interested in Max Crosby until they pivoted to Miles Garrett. That's a name to watch. Again, I don't believe anything happens before the season.
Let's say some top pass rusher tears an ACL. What's your first call? Mine's on Max Crosby. Hey, d is he healthy? Would you guys be willing to trade them?
What would it cost? And if I'm John Spyte, the Raiders GM, I'd say still two first-rounders. Still what we were getting before. That's what I would want. I don't know that he gets that.
I don't even know that John Svytek wants to trade Max Crosby. But that is one name that's still hovering out there. But again, They're not making calls. They're not trying to trade them. They never were, but they were getting calls.
Do those calls start up again? Once Max Crosby is healthy again, And once injuries start impacting the entire landscape of the NFL. Those are the power rankings, top 10 storylines before NFL. Season kicks off. Very, very soon.
Power rankings brought to you by SoFi. Get your money right. A lot more to come. Tom Pellicero in for rich. 844-20404 Ritz.
That is the phone number. Let's give you uh another read.
SoFi? A SoFi personal loan. Oh, Hyundai. How about that? That one.
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Because Next doesn't wait for an invitation, and neither do we. Hyundai has always moved the future within reach. We did it when we made advanced safety standard on every vehicle and engineered EVs with ultra-fast charging capability. And we're still doing it every day because the future isn't some far-off concept. It's already here.
Next starts now. Hyundai, an event. Official partner of FIFA. Yeah. Need parts fast?
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You can always tell when something big is happening in a city. I know what it's like when I'm traveling for big games and events. I remember being in Pittsburgh earlier this year and experiencing the beautiful architecture and passion those fans have for their home teams. That was so infectious.
Now it was a great trip. but you know what it's like dealing with the travel. The airport is packed, hotels are booked up, restaurants all busy. And when you have that kind of influx of visitors in your city, a lot of them are searching for a place that feels a little bit more like home during their trip. That's why this can be a smart time to think about listing your own space on Airbnb.
If you've got plans to be away this summer, consider listing your space on Airbnb while you're gone and earn some extra cash. It's simple, you're already traveling, so your place doesn't just sit empty while your city is busy. And from my experience on the road, having a comfortable home base can change the whole experience of a trip.
So whether it's a big sports weekend, a concert series, or a major event coming to your area, this could be the right time to list your space on Airbnb. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.com/slash host. Welcome back to the Rich Eisen Show. Tom Pellisero sitting in for Rich.
Phone lines open, 844-204-Rich. And I believe we haven't done this today. I believe we have somebody wanting to do the win-loss game, Lucas in Colorado. You ready to do Raiders? Win loss right now, Luke.
Yes, sir. How are we doing? Lucas. Doing fantastic. Let's get this thing rolling.
Raiders schedule kicking off week one, home against the Dolphins. Win or loss. Oh, that's a wind all day. Week two at the Chargers. At the Chargers, that's going to be a little bit of a rough one, but I still think that we pull that out.
Basically a home game. Yep, week three at the Saints. That's the Saints, not the Dove. All right, week four: home against the Chiefs. Only gets the Chiefs is a rough one, unfortunately, until We change history.
They keep beating us at home.
So that's going to be a win for the Chiefs, unfortunately. All right, 3-1 right now, so far, for the Raiders at the quarter poll. Week five at New England. At New England, we always play pretty good in New England, so I'm going to take a dub on that one. Except that one time.
Week six, home against the Bills. Home against Bills, I think that's going to be an L.
Alright, 4-2, week 7, home against the Rams. Ah, man, that's a really rough one. I don't. Honestly, I don't see them losing the game, so that'll probably be an L for us. All right.
By the way, these are all Sunday games. There are no prime time, no off-brand games here, no national TV for the Raiders. Week eight at the Jets. At the Jets, we're gonna beat the Jets.
Alright, week nine at San Francisco. That's a rough one, but I actually think that we're going to beat San Francisco. That would be 6-3 for the Raiders right there. Week 10, home against the Seahawks. That's probably gonna be an L.
They're ferocious. Week 11 at Denver. At Denver, I think we're going to beat him in mile high, baby. All right, week 12 at Cleveland. Back Cleveland, what?
I'm sorry, Tommy Pee, but we're gonna beat Cleveland.
So that's eight and four. Eight and four at the bye for the Raiders. In it. To win it right here down the stretch. Week 13 by week 14, home against the Chargers.
Up against the Chargers. I think we're going to sweep them. Week 15, home against the Broncos. I think that we probably unfortunately take an L there.
Alright, week 16 home against the Titans. Oh, we're beating the Titans. Week 17 at Arizona. We're beating Arizona. All right, 11-5.
Right now, you're kind of on the precipice here. Might be in it for the division. Might, you know, could have seeding still at stake.
So let's assume Raiders and Chiefs both play in their starters week 18 at Kansas City. Do it, Lucas. Uh I think we can do it, baby. There you go. That's a dub.
12 and 5 for the Raiders. Lucas, thank you very much for the call. Brock, what would you be willing to do if the Raiders win 12 games this season? Probably get Lucas' face tattooed on J. Felly.
I'll do it. Cocaine's a heavy blood. His face on Jay Felli's face. Jeffers' face on Jay Fellie. Or Jay Felli gets to pick the body part that the face goes on.
I'm running out of room. Yeah, Jay Felli's out of room. Vegas win total five and a half, according to Las Vegas. You know what's funny? We've been playing this win-loss game.
I think this is the third year we've been doing. Oh, more than that, but yeah. But I mean, like, as a solid bit. Yeah. I can't remember one time in at least three years that anyone has ever said their team will lose to the Tennessee Titans.
Oh, yeah, no dou no doubt about that. There is not no one has ever said their team will lose to the Titans. What would be a successful season? What's the win total for the Titans right now? For the Titans?
Got to be in that six and a half, maybe? It's got to be in that same Raider range, six and a half. Six and a half. What is a successful season? If you're a Titans fan.
What would you constitute a success? If you go seven and ten, based on where you've been, is that a successful season? Do you need to go nine and eight? I think you're optimistically looking at seven or eight wins. Yeah, I'd think I'd won eight, maybe nine.
Cam Ward, year two. I mean, I think if you're being overly optimistic, maybe you're like, oh, we can go nine and eight and be in the mix. They spent a lot in free agency. I registered. They signed like every corner.
That was able to walk there and sign the papers. They brought in John Franklin Myers on a big money type of a deal. They retain Calvin Ridley. They use the number four pick on Carnell Tate.
So there are a bunch of additions. To me, it's just a matter of in Tennessee. How quickly does this thing come together? Just because you've got established coaches.
Okay, Robert Saul has been a head coach before. We know what his defenses have done. Brian Dable is now the offensive coordinator there and brought some of his staff members along as well. It's not that different than the Raiders. The Raiders spent big in free agency.
They basically rebuilt their defense through free agency. They draft Fernando Mendoza, but they also bring in Kirk Cousins, who for Kirk. as a part of the deal that brings him there. It seems based on all the public comments, like he's probably the starter out of the gate. And so, you know, the same question would arise: all right, five and a half is the Raiders' win total.
Like, what is a successful season? And In that case, too, really for both these owners who have made so many changes, when you look at the number of changes in Tennessee. And Las Vegas. They are probably the two leaders. If you just look at head coach, general manager, forget coordinators, but just front office people in general, they have had unbelievable amounts of turnover.
And so, what would realistically be a success for some teams in year one, like, hey, you got back to eight and nine, meaningful football in December, you're in it. Is that a success to ownership? Is that the progress that you want to see? It's not just results based. It's about looking at the process that goes into it.
But those types of teams this time of year are always interesting to me because there is something to be said for Expectations getting too high. There are many times where a team, especially in a coach's first year, they go on a run, they win more games than they should because there's a little bit of a placebo effect. There's a little juice that comes with: hey, the old guy's gone, the new guy's in, it's different. That must mean it's good. And you maybe overachieve a little bit.
But the most dangerous thing, I always say this that can happen is you overachieve in year one because all that sets you up is in year two, you could do a better coaching job, you could improve the roster. But based upon the regression to the mean, you still might not achieve the same results that you did in year two. And then everyone wants to know what happened. Why wasn't it as good? It's like, well.
Last year, We won a bunch of close games and we found it.
Now, this is probably what we were a year ago. We just overachieved. This year, we played to what we actually are. And I think both these teams, I mean, I could see just because. Saul is a really good coach.
Clint Kubiak, as an offensive coordinator, has shown what he can do and be really good. I could see both these teams coming out of the gate and having a little bit more success. I could also see them kind of having to go through those growing pains in the early portion of the season. It's just kind of a matter of what exactly are you rooting for. Are you rooting for this to be the slow build?
Or you're in for, hey, let's vault this thing right back into the playoffs and set yourself up in a position where now. Not that there's nowhere to go but down, but you really are going to have to work to go up. from a first-year team. They did a little bit better than they should have. A SoFi personal loan is here to help you achieve something once thought impossible, overcoming high-interest credit card debt.
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The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. While the world watches the stars at the FIFA World Cup this summer, Hyundai has its eyes on the next generation of talent, the future stars who are already turning heads at age 14. Because Next doesn't wait for an invitation, and neither do we. Hyundai has always moved the future within reach. We did it when we made advanced safety standard on every vehicle and engineered EVs with ultra-fast charging capability.
Because the future isn't some far-off concept, it's already here.
Next starts now. Hyundai, an official partner of FIFA. Welcome back to the Rich Eyes and Show. Tom Pellicero here in for Rich. Matthew in Seattle has put in the hard time.
On hold throughout the course of this show. Matthew, what question or what what do you want me to tell me that was that was worth the past two and a half hours of your life, sir?
Well, I've been watching my 15-month-old the whole morning, so it's actually been a nice result, except for the part where I was watching Seth make sure you had them count, and then had it to listen to you also count.
So it was kind of a weird warning. Really want to understand what's going on with Makai Bechten and the Eagles. I know Lander Dickerson and Jurgens is both coming also back from injuries. It seems like that's just kind of flooding out there. Say has said openly that he's interested in any coming back, but what kind of seems to be the hangout there?
I I'm wondering if Mackay Beckton has spent two and a half hours thinking about his future. It's an impressive ratio, Matthew. I would say this: with Bechton, he's into that area where guys who aren't signed at this point are unsigned for various reasons. Part of it is the amount of money. It did not go as well.
Obviously, the best season of his career was in Philly. It didn't go as well when he went to the Chargers. It certainly would seem like if they haven't made a move at this point to fortify that position, what that would tell you is either the money they're willing to offer is not right, or they simply want to see how some of their younger depth might be able to develop in training camp before going in that direction. Matthew, anything else? You got 30 more seconds.
I'm going to give you a little more time. Anything else you got? First of all, I am team you when it comes to the counting. I am on your side, so counting with Terzo. I'm also on your side.
And second of all, for a little bit while today, it's almost been like I thought Larry David was the guest host. I feel like you should have a spin-off on Get Off My Lawn, where you and Brockman just complain about the new generation that's coming up now. I think, you know, we needed some ideas for tomorrow, Brockman, and appreciate the call, Matthew. I think we could that could be arranged. Easily do a top 50 things.
It's not about the generation, it's about how the world is shaping humans in general. There are plenty of people my age as well who walk around all day with their head directly in their phones and walk into walls. There are plenty of people my age who make cringy TikTok videos. It's not as pervasive as it is with middle schoolers and high schoolers. And there's something that a psychologist could probably come on and explain to us about how that is mushing your brain when you sit on the couch all day watching YouTube videos and it's wacky dog videos and people tearing apart squishies.
Yeah, I think that's probably doing some actual damage. Is it a therapy? Do you want to get off your chest about what's going on in your house, Tom? I don't know. That's just all stuff I've seen my kids doing recently.
They got me to do like a video on whatever their app is. It's not TikTok. It's some internal thing, but like some video on Father's Day. And I just was like, I'm sucking it up because I'm such a good dad. And I'm not going to have today be the day that they're like, he sucks.
He's not good as a dad.
Well, I did it. There was no dancing, just to be clear. No dance sheet at all. 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.
