REShow: Nicole Auerbach/Peter King - Hour 2

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Oh, it looks good on you though. Earlier on the show, NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah. Coming up, from NBC Sports, Peter King. Senior writer for The Athletic, Nicole Auerbach.

Plus, Baseball Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez. And now, it's Rich Eyes Day. Our number two of the Rich Eyes show on the air. Great chat with Daniel Jeremiah and our number one. I came on the air and started this show saying it was going to be the best show ever because everybody on this program did their independent study last night as prescribed by Rich Eyes Productions Management.

The Rich Eyes Productions issued tablets. Have all of the information that everybody on this show needs to study to make sure you have the best show possible. And you guys nailed it with the exception of TJ missed out on the part of independent study to turn his phone off during the interview with Daniel Jeremiah. No, I'm sorry guys. I just need to point out when things happen. I always say my bad when things are my bad.

I raise my hand. You know, but later on in the program you'll hear Kyle Shanahan talk about this being Trey Lance's team as I told you, so that won't be a my bad. That'll be coming up in hour number three. Pedro Martinez in hour three as well. Peter King will be joining us shortly. He left Josh Allen hanging for about five seconds yesterday.

Left him on read, Rich. Bill Belichick has spoken today. A fascinating press conference.

A lot of tea leaves to read into there. All 32 teams in the National Football League have opened their training camps. Football is back, people, and college football has been back for a few weeks. And that's, you know, the beginning of professional football returning because that's what college football is these days. Name, image, and likeness deal, folks.

Name, image, and likeness deal. The latest to chime in on the subject matter is Kevin Warren of the Big Ten, which is holding its media week this week in Chicago, Illinois, home of the Northwestern Wildcats. You want to include Chicago? That's where I did my quarter for, that's where I did all my classes for Northwestern Graduate School in Chicago. Not in Medill, just off of Lakeshore Drive, not in Evanston. But any rate, I would say Chicago is the heart of Big Ten country, but we are too here in Los Angeles now.

El Segundo? And so Kevin Warren was asked about the name, image, and likeness deal and what he thinks of it and what can be done to rein it in, and this is what he said. I'm a big proponent of name, image, and likeness. I am so grateful that many of our student athletes have been blessed with the ability to monetize their name, image, and likeness. That said, I am disappointed that we still have to operate with these various patchwork of laws from a state level standpoint.

We need federal legislation to help put in some guardrails, to make it even more cleaner, to make sure these name, image, and likeness is not used as a recruiting inducement. So we have a lot of work to do even from a political standpoint. Yeah, you know what? What is he talking about? What he's saying is help us out, federal government, you know, where it's, hey, look, Congress agrees on hardly anything these days, as you all know, even the simple stuff, because they're all, half of them are trying to run to their podcast microphones to try and tell us what they think so they can get a soundbite on Fox News. You know what? I don't think we're going to see any consensus on this subject matter.

It's 105 degrees everywhere. There's a lot more important stuff for the federal government to figure out than how to figure out name, image, and likeness for a group of administrators who should, you know, quite frankly, just figure it out themselves. And I've been telling you over and over again, I think that's where it's going to go. And the Big Ten is one of the leaders, and best, of this subject matter with USC and UCLA together. Come up with your own rules in the Big Ten and say compete with us, SEC and ACC and everyone else. Come up with your own rules and see if it passes muster with the Supreme Court at some point where it might wind up.

Be the leader on that front. Come up with your own rules. This is the way we're going to do it in the Big Ten. And then we're going to do that for the Big Ten Plus when more teams come in at some point, and then the Superleagues begin. Come up with your own idea. Create your own Superleagues and your own national championship playoff system. Don't wait for the federal government.

Good Lord, that'll never happen. Joining us from the Big Ten Media Day in Chicago, Illinois, is somebody who was sitting there for that and is part of a big week for college athletics. From the athletic, Senior Writer Nicole Auerbach, back here on the Rich Eisen Show on the Mercedes-Benz Vans phone line. How you doing, Nicole?

I am doing great, but I do have some bad news. The media day is not in Chicago. Where is it? We're in Lucas Oil Stadium. I'm talking to you from the bowels of the stadium right now. I should have known that, Nicole. I should have known that because I did also see the shrimp cocktail on your Twitter feed.

Yes, exactly. I should have figured that out. My bad, they're not in Chicago. They're in Indianapolis.

That's why I have you on, to correct my mistakes and errors. So, what is Kevin Warren saying? What is he thinking with the NIL saying that the federal legislation is necessary? Really?

I don't get that. Well, so, you know, he has said this, Greg Fanke of the SEC has said this, a lot of leaders in college sports have said it, and it's asking someone to come solve your problems, but also you don't know exactly what they would even do. And I think, you know, obviously at this point everyone's waiting for the midterm to be, you know, which part of, you know, which party is in charge because with the different proposals that we've seen in the past about NIL, you know, the Republican side, they were more narrow and kind of more specific to just NIL, and there were some proposals from Democratic senators and representatives that were more wide-ranging than maybe healthcare, maybe, you know, the ability to collectively bargain for athletes. Like, there were other topics that got put into a bill that would also address NIL and those economic opportunities, but honestly, like, this hasn't really been a thing that has felt like it has had a sense of urgency since last summer when NIL was about to come down in a bunch of different states and everyone was really frantic, and you had Mark Emmert, the NCAA president, and you have these commissioners saying, we need a federal solution, we need something that is national so the rules are the same for everyone, and what ended up happening after the Supreme Court ruling last year was, you know, deferring to schools, deferring to state laws, deferring, and kind of the preview of what a deregulated, you know, NCAA space is going to look like because of legal issues, and you know what, the world still spins and the world still turns and things have existed and happened and you have different rules in different places, and so the urgency kind of went away.

I think once, you know, the world kept going. So I don't really know, you know, if there is going to be federal legislation, if there is going to be, you know, federal help here, or even if it's going to be what some of these leaders even want, but I think what they're really asking for is the ability to have rules and regulations around this stuff and not get sued, and we know that, you know, they're trying to get antitrust protections, and Mark Emmert has asked about that, has talked about that, but really, again, in a world after last summer's Supreme Court ruling, like, the NCAA has to be really careful, and that's why I just think this is all going to be deregulated, like, to your earlier point about, you know, the Big Ten could set their own rules and see what happens from that. Like, that is more likely to happen because that is a better strategy in this legal environment. You can't collude with all of these other conferences and all of these other schools to set restrictions on this for athletes. We're just not going to go in that direction, and we're only moving in an area where athletes are going to be able to earn and to have opportunities. You're not going to be moving towards a way where people are going to restrict that. Absolutely, and, you know, Michigan's got a top-notch law school.

I know that for a fact. I mean, I'm sure there are other Big Ten legal minds that can all get together and come up with something that Kevin Warren can present to athletic directors and school presidents, and the Big Ten just leads on that front. But maybe they'd be concerned that if the NIL rules that they play by are not where other people are played by, then suddenly they lose in the recruiting, and suddenly they can't compete when there's a college football playoff scenario that's actually codified, that's new. Maybe that's it, Nicole. I don't know.

What do you think? I mean, I think a lot of this just kind of feels like we're in this period of transition and flux, that this stuff is going to change. I mean, I even think about it when I think about, like, all the hand-wringing about NIL and boosters and collectives.

Like, it doesn't feel like this is the end destination of any of this stuff. I mean, it certainly, you know, people are more and more talking about, you know, what happens if you get to an employee-employer model, you have collective bargaining or a union or something like that, and there's revenue sharing, right? Like, it feels like you're moving more towards that direction, where there could be a lot cleaner of a system where you don't have third parties, you don't have to, like, part of the reason everyone's freaking out or asking for guardrails is because, you know, if you're dealing with boosters and third parties, like, you can't control them. It would be actually quite a bit simpler if a school could just pay the athlete directly or set up the deal directly, right?

But that wasn't something anyone wanted to do or felt comfortable with. But, like, it's possible that we are going to move in directions that almost simplify some of this stuff, or, again, you get into a revenue-sharing model at some point, and it's just negotiated on behalf of the athletes or whatever that is. So it's hard for me to make sweeping comments, because it just doesn't feel like this is where we're going to live five years from now. It feels like we're going to be in a different environment, in a different financial reality. And I think that, you know, again, when you think about, like, oh, why are some of these conferences moving, or why do we talk about the Big Ten and the SEC in a different stratosphere than everybody else? Well, it's like if some of those outside factors come in, if the courts or Congress or people are asking the collegiate model to change and to pay athletes directly in certain ways, you're going to need to have money for that. And so I think it's obviously stability and financial security being able to offer sports. But I do think everyone's kind of got their eye down the road wondering and waiting to see, you know, what's going to be the next major domino to fall that could, again, change, like, the economic reality of how college sports work. Nicole Auerbach of the athletic here on the Rich Eisen Show.

You're there in Indianapolis in the state of Indiana. So is Notre Dame. This just in. I've got Marcus Freeman on tomorrow's program. How much is Notre Dame being talked about there? I know USC and UCLA is something that Kevin Warren talked about today, and why not? The Big Ten's the only conference that touches both oceans. What about Notre Dame?

Where does it fit in? Yeah, I mean, it's the big question. It's really I don't think I've gone a single day since the Big Ten added USC and UCLA, where I've not been asked about Notre Dame. And, you know, I think the Big Ten has probably never been more appealing to Notre Dame because, as you mentioned, they go coast to coast. They're national.

They're in L.A. They're in New York and they're in all these places that Notre Dame likes to play and believes that it is a national brand and should be moving around to. Plus, it has USC now. Plus, it has other rivals like Michigan and other schools that Notre Dame likes to play. But the thing is Notre Dame will not feel like it has to join a conference unless one of two things happens.

One, it can't schedule the way that it wants to. So that's the traditional game, but that's also just having teams willing to play you in different parts of the year to fill out your schedule, to fill out that national schedule. The other thing is playoff access. You know, if the playoff gets expanded and there's a lot of at-large spots and opportunities for Notre Dame and they're going to have easy access when they have good teams to make the playoffs, that's not an issue. And if you don't, like if the SEC and the Big Ten stay at 16 for a bit, people are still going to schedule you.

I think the fear is more like it's just a mega conference. If we're talking like 2014 or whatever that is, and you're going to be playing basically only conference games or almost only conference games, like Notre Dame wouldn't have anyone to play. Like that would be something that would put a squeeze on Notre Dame.

But they have less money at the table to have that independence and what they value related to that. So the question then just becomes about the two major factors, the schedule and playoff access. And if they think that they can still exist and have their independence and do what they want, schedule who they want, make the playoff when they're good, they don't feel that impetus to do it. But again, I mean, they carry so many cards, every conference would take a call from them, any conference would add them, but it's really going to come down to when Notre Dame feels like they need to. And I think right now with the Big Ten at 16 and the SEC at 16, they still believe they can schedule how they want. And the model that they were looking at for playoff expansion last year and anticipated models that are going to come this year that they're going to look at, we know where Greg Sankey stands on this, the commissioner of the SEC, he wants a lot about large spots. That's very aligned with what Notre Dame wants. So if those factors are there, there is not a pressing need for them to move, at least right now. But again, if they're worried about the mega conferences, if they're worried about playoff access, that changes things. Nicole Auerbach of the Athletic Senior Writer and Big Ten Network Analyst joining us from the Big Ten meetings and media week in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Last one for you. What's the talk there about scheduling? Because who gets to, you know, who gets UCLA and USC in their house when the weather's awful?

I'm serious. Like, how do you decide who plays USC and UCLA every year? I mean, does USC get added to the Michigan schedule? I know this is, I got a lot of crap for saying that every, you know, major national Big Ten rivalry involves Michigan. USC is another one. How do you decide who gets to go west, who comes east, and who plays UCLA and USC every year?

Yeah, I think those are going to be the questions that, you know, everyone's going to have to figure out here in the next two years. Because I think with football, you know, you don't necessarily have to be as tied to geography, right? Like, these are already schools that are crossing the country to play non-conference games. You know, there's three Big Ten schools that are playing week zero.

Two of them are playing each other in Ireland this year, right? Like, so I think you can be creative and be flexible there and create some new rivalries or have some of those iconic brands clash and not necessarily have to do like an east and a west because it's football. I think some of the other sports, there's going to need to be some creativity, especially for USC and UCLA athletes who are going to have to keep coming east.

But I think you could have a lot of fun with it. I mean, again, I obviously would love to see Michigan get to play USC. I'd love to see Ohio State play USC. I mean, you don't want to load up and only give the good teams to USC. You know, we want to have a balanced schedule. But I think you're going to be able to play around with that.

And I think, too, you're absolutely right about like the geography and the advantages there. I mean, I was thinking back a couple years ago in USC. The Pac-12 didn't do them any favors, and they played 12 straight weeks, and they didn't have a bye until the end of the season where they had it like week one or something like that.

It was just bizarre. But you're going to have to have some strategic scheduling on behalf of the Big Ten. You want to put your best team in positions to have success. So how does that incorporate with new members that are going to be full members? They're going to get the full revenue share right away as well, by the way, for USC and UCLA.

That was something Kevin Warren said, which is a big deal. But how do you balance that and then also give Fox and your TV partners and everyone the mattress that they want to see? And part of the reason you're adding these iconic brands is so that they do clash with your iconic brand. So I think they have two years to figure all of that out and to figure out how they're going to schedule in general because obviously now no one has to have division.

So I think hopefully there's some balance. Hopefully there's a couple protected rivalries and you could just assign some for some of the new members. But I don't think you have to be tied to geography in the football sense because these programs are already traveling across the country all the time. I know. Somebody sitting in Ann Arbor, Columbus, Happy Valley might have to, at some point, State College a midnight kickoff, right, out here in the Rose Bowl or the Coliseum.

Somebody sitting there, staying up till three in the morning watching their team play. I mean, the Big Ten's going to have a ton of windows that they haven't normally had. And that's coming down the pike. So in the meantime, I look forward to the North Face deal with USC, the first ever such a thing, you know, Patagonia, UCLA deal that might be coming that never existed, you know.

There was a really good, it was that meme of Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in their Barbie outfits. And it was like, oh, here's USC and UCLA coming to Columbus in November. And I was like, oh, this is great. Yeah, I mean, there's going to be, that stuff's going to be fun and interesting. I mean, you know, we always joke, like, you know, wouldn't it be fun if, like, Alabama came and played Ohio State or something, you know, for a home game in the playoff or something, right? But I think adding the elements is going to be a nice wrinkle. And Kevin Warren did emphasize the fact that they'll be in four time zones. He did talk about those late night kickoffs on the West Coast.

So, yeah, all of that stuff that you just talked about, absolutely factored. It is amazing. The world is changing. Nicole, thanks for the time. We'll chat during the season.

Look for my call. Thanks again. You got it.

That's Nicole Auerbach, our follower on Twitter. You should as well. Great information, as always, from the athletic senior writer. We'll take a break. Hall of Famer Peter King will be joining us next on the Rich Eisen Show. It'll be awesome. Don't you miss it.

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Try Dove Men PlusCare Dry Spray, goes on dry, clean feel all day. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, the great Peter King joining us here on the Mercedes-Benz Vans phone line as training camp season is open. He is one of the all-time greats, pro football, Hall of Famer, and NBC Sports compadre, Peter King, on the Rich Eisen Show. How you doing, PK? Rich, I'm not so great today. I'm kind of an ignoramus. Why? After that thing.

No! You didn't notice? Josh Allen, you've got to work on your peripheral vision, basically, is what I'm saying, Peter.

Yeah, I really do. That was really one of the most bizarre things because at first, when I finally did see his hand and I shook it, he was like, instead of being like, dude, he left me hanging, he thought it was the funniest thing in the world because he asked my camera person, Kelsey Bartles, he said, did you get that? He wanted to make sure that the embarrassment would be there for all to see. And it is. Well, I mean, so you were just laser-locked down the barrel of the camera and one of the most famous right hands in the NFL just hanging there. Yeah, yeah.

And so here's what I will do, Peter. What we always do in the media is take something fun and try and read into it that's something serious for the season. I'm serious. It does appear that none of the expectations that are heaped upon the Bills and this kid has at all affected a single thing about him. It looks like that is how he showed up to camp. I don't think so either. But one of the things, I wrote a little bit about this in my column, is that I was talking to Sean McDermott about Allen and also about some of the stuff that had happened in Buffalo this offseason, the Topps grocery store shooting and all that, and Sean McDermott just volunteered this. You know, it's like when David Ortiz took the microphone after the, you know, the marathon bombing in Boston and he said, this is our bleeping city. And, I mean, obviously Josh Allen is not in Buffalo yet, what Ortiz became in Boston.

Yes. But his whole thing was athletes are really important in cities. And in this particular case, I don't know if you remember Rich, because this was probably two months ago, when Josh Allen went down to the site of that shooting and how eloquent he was sort of in his comforting words and all that stuff, that I think he started to become more than just the quarterback of the Buffalo Bills. He really became almost like a civic leader in many ways. And you talk to the people around the Bills and his advancement in those kind of things, with those kind of things, really has been impressive to the people who run that organization. I just love the kid.

I love him. I just think he is a face of the league now, which, by the way, the Bills fans have been dying for a quarterback to be called as such for decades. Last year was not a fluke at all. It was a step forward.

And now everybody believes the next step is winning it all. Rich, I don't think any quarterback has ever played that I have covered. I don't think any quarterback has played a better game than the game he played against New England in the playoffs. And, I mean, there have been guys, I'm sure, we could all figure out games where quarterbacks were unbelievable and perfect and all that stuff. But on that night, with the weather being absolutely horrendous, being zero degrees, whatever it was, I don't know. I don't know how you play a game any better, particularly against your archrivals, in that weather than they did that night, than he did that night. And then, hey, the next week in Kansas City where, you know, he was fantastic in that game as well. Look, I don't know who I'm going to pick to be MVP this year.

I think I know who I'm going to pick. But I will not be surprised if he goes on an incredible run right now because the other thing is, Rich, they really have a good supporting cast. You know, they're better in the backfield now. Gabriel Davis is a legit 1-B to Stephon Diggs 1-A. They've got a really good tight end in Dawson Knox. I don't know.

I think this team is really pretty good. Peter King here on the Rich Eisen Show. So where are you heading next? Are you still in western New York or have you already moved on? No, I came home.

I came home to Brooklyn for three days. And then Thursday I'm going to Foxborough to see the Patriots and then just continue on. I guess I might miss Joe Burrow, though, in a week.

Yeah, right. I know he's having his appendix removed, but everybody expects him to be ready for the beginning of the season. Jerry Jones today, Peter, saying, giving a vote of confidence to Mike McCarthy sitting there and saying how McCarthy wouldn't be sitting where he was if he was not somebody who Jerry Jones believed to take his team to the Super Bowl and win it.

And then he added at the end, and I have choices, is what he was pointing out. What I want to make of all this, because Mike McCarthy is saying that this is a media-driven narrative, but I leave it to you. Look, there's only one thing that matters in this particular story right now, and that is winning games. If they go 7-10 this year, Mike McCarthy is getting fired. If they go 10-7 and win a playoff game, he's not. And so, I don't know, any time Jerry Jones opens his mouth about Mike McCarthy and says anything, it's a story for three days, when in reality the only thing that matters now and that will matter going into the future is how well the Cowboys play. I understand that everybody on God's green earth thinks that a year from now it'll be Sean Payton leading the Dallas Cowboys into Oxnard. And you know what?

It might be. It's clear that Sean Payton very likely is, I shouldn't say very likely, but likely is getting back into coaching, and it's clear that the Cowboys love Sean Payton, but he's not firing Mike McCarthy if the Cowboys play well. So, there's that storyline. What do you make of the Kyler Murray contract clause requiring him to study independently? You know, when Ian Rappaport wrote that, I guess it was Ian who broke that yesterday, right? I think Florio was in on that as well.

Pardon me? I think Florio was in on that as well. Yeah, I was asleep when it happened. So was Kyler, I think.

So was Kyler. I think he was listening to the meditation on his iPad as well. I don't know. That's what we do with our kids. Yeah, I immediately thought, that's not a small story. That is not just a little tweet, because what it said immediately to me is that, hey, we just want some assurance that you're going to work at this job. Can you imagine somebody ever approaching Tom Brady or Peyton Manning and saying, hey, we're putting in a homework clause in your contract?

It is, I don't know what to say other than it says to me that this organization might be a little bit concerned about the kind of work Kyler Murray does away from the facility. And clearly, they're going to deny that. But why then did you put it in the contract?

Yes, I mean, to put it in black and white like that in the language that also appears to be unenforceable. I mean, unless there's an actual babysitter. There is a way to do it, Rich. With a monitor? There is a way.

How do you do it? Here's exactly what it is. Players take tablets home. Yes. Okay? These tablets, which used to be playbooks. You know, 20 years ago, this would have been impossible to enforce. Okay.

Okay? But today, it's not impossible because when you turn your tablet, your team-issued tablet on, you know, there is a record of that. You know, there basically is an E record of that inside the server at the team's, you know, inside the team server. And so when that thing is turned on, the team can know that it's turned on.

Yeah, but by who, Peter? They can't tell by who, or instead of watching the film on the Bears, if Kyler's not watching The Bear on streaming it at the same time, you know? Like, they can't tell that. I don't know if they... Rich, I think they probably would be able to tell...

Okay. ...what he's watching on that. I think they can.

I think there's enough of whatever, a digital fingerprint about what you're watching. And look, is it possible that he can hire John Doe, here, I'll pay you 50 bucks an hour to watch this tape on my, you know, on my tablet. Could he do that?

I suppose he could. But the bottom line in this is, this raised eyebrows when I read about it. Well, because again, Peter, it's just...

Here's the deal, okay? The Cardinals are not going to walk away from Kyler Murray because they think he's not a hard worker when he's out of the building. Because he's so generationally remarkable when he does play, and it's not as if he skips team meetings, right?

I mean, he does do the work when it's required of him in the building. If they think the extra stuff is the difference between them winning and losing, and maybe that has been a cause for the last couple of years with the post-Thanksgiving Day swoon that appears to befall this team every year. Right. The question is, though, all right, is how will Murray take this?

Maybe, just maybe, he's got to be infuriated that this is the conversation today and that we all feel that he needs to be babysat and he doesn't have the same work ethic as, say, every single other quarterback in the NFL in his position, one would think. Right, right. Right? Rich, I understand. I think you're right about this.

And I think it's notable, and it'll be interesting to see how all parties handle it from here on out. Peter King here on the Rich Eisen Show. So I'll ask you this question that I asked Daniel Jeremiah earlier and Mark Schlereth yesterday, the team that intrigues you the most, 2022 entering the season, Peter King is which? Detroit Lions. Okay. All right. You had me at Detroit.

What do you have? What are you thinking? Not that I think they're, I mean, they're not beating the Packers, and I don't even know that they're going to finish ahead of the Vikings.

I doubt they will. But I just like a lot of the things that I see happening in Detroit. I think that Dan Campbell has a very, very good feel of the pulse of this team. I think that Aaron Glenn has been jonesing as the defensive coordinator for a playmaker up front, which they simply did not have.

And I think now they think they might have one in Aiden Hutchinson. There's going to be a lot of pressure on him, obviously. And then I believe that the way, I often look, Rich, for how a team played later in the year, or late in the year when looking toward next season. And, you know, Jared Goff was three and one down the stretch. This team was three and three down the stretch. And I think when I look at how a team plays, when the games are absolutely meaningless, that is significant to me. These guys play really hard for this coach.

And I just, I like a lot of what I see. There was one thing, I was there in May. It was the end of an OTA practice. And coming off the field, I was standing there talking to Brad Holmes, their general manager. Coming off the field, I bet there were 20 guys who came up and either fist-bumped the general manager or hugged him and had a little 30-second little thing with him. And when he fenced, I said, man, these guys not only like you, they look like they really like being here. You know, you just kind of get the impression that things are changing there.

And I think they get a decent chance to win seven or eight games. How about that? When do we, who's the next quarterback to sign? What do you think? Is it Lamar? Does he actually sign training camps? I guess this isn't really about the only one left. Like, obviously Burrow and Herbert are going to sign this offseason, you would think.

But I don't know who's left. I mean, it's entirely possible either one of them, Peter, it's entirely possible either one of them does sign before Lamar. I mean, Lamar could go into this year with no contract and they'll have to franchise tag him. Rick, let me ask you a question. Let me just, I want to ask you this question about Lamar.

Okay. And it's that, you know, I think the Ravens are sitting here right now thinking that, and again, I have no idea what they're thinking, but this is what I'd be thinking if I was them, if I were them. We can either sign Lamar Jackson right now for somewhere in the vicinity of $47 million a year, something like that. Or we can wait, and if he has a Flaco-type year that he had a decade ago when he bet on himself, if he has a year like that, then we've got to pay him $55 million.

So maybe they say, we know we're going to sign him anyway, so maybe we ought to just bite the bullet and do it now. But there's one thing that makes me a little bit uneasy about Lamar. He's played four playoff games. He has not played well in a single one of them, I don't think. And so that's four games, one and three record.

I think he's averaged 13 points a game or something like that. And that makes me uneasy. You're not drafting or you're not paying Lamar Jackson whatever they're going to pay him, $40 or $50 million a year, to beat the Browns in October. You're paying them to beat the Bills in January.

No doubt about that, Peter. And so my answer to that is my kids go to a summer camp that has a very Baltimore-centric base within it. They're all wearing eight jerseys, man. And Lamar is the Ravens organization.

And to their credit, they changed everything about what they do for him when they turn to him. And I know he hasn't played, as you say, well in a playoff game, but part of that may also be, where's the game breaker out wide? Let me see somebody of Jamar Chase's status drafted for him. Let's see one of those guys. Let's see somebody who's going to take the top of the defense off.

They've got terrific tight ends and a terrific running game. But they really haven't had a game-changing receiver with him. And I know that might be sounding like making an excuse for Lamar. But let's see one of them.

Let's get him one of those type guys who can change the game from outside the numbers. I'm not arguing with you about that. Before we make that decision on Lamar. About that aspect.

Well, now you don't have the ability to do that. You can't wait for it because they don't have one now. The earliest they could have one is next offseason. And you've got to do something with them before the 23 season.

So, look, I just know this. I'd be a little bit uneasy paying him a jillion. I might have to.

But I'd be a little bit uneasy paying him a jillion dollars before I saw him play well in January. Peter King, thanks for the time. Appreciate it.

Let's talk before the season again. Always appreciate it, Peter. Okay, Rich. All the best to you. Thank you. At Peter underscore King. The great Peter King. I keep going back to that drop that we have asked you to create over the last couple weeks.

It seems to be a theme here. This is the business we've chosen. And the business we've chosen is somebody who has already won an MVP.

And somebody who has absolutely woven his game into the DNA of the city and the fan base and the team. It's his turn. It's his time.

Are you going to let him walk? Because he hasn't shown up in a playoff game in the manner that Josh Allen has. He's game changing, man. And when the Ravens are up on you and they're doing all of this mesh point craziness with Lamar and running backs and full backs and tight ends and wide receivers. And they can dictate the pace and they can dictate on offense, creating confusion for your defense. You have no idea who's got the ball and who's going to get it.

They're real tough to beat. You get up on them and now it's Lamar's got to beat you. And there's a defensive coordinator in the Mike Sandow piece that says, I don't care. He's never going to be number one as a quarterback.

He's number one as a football player. That's them saying Lamar can't beat you with his arm. My point is, when Lamar tries to beat you with his arm, who are you afraid of? Who are you afraid of? Mark Andrews, right? Name me another guy who you're afraid of on that team. Rashard Bateman, Devin DuVernay and James Proche II.

This is it. Give me a Jamar Chase, a Justin Jefferson, a Jalen Waddle. Which he's never had. Give me one of them for him.

Give me one of them. Hollywood Brown was that guy and, you know, he made some plays. There's also, I've seen it on social media, number of times Lamar hit him in hands and the hands dropped the ball. Big time plays. Game changing plays.

Including in that Detroit game that they needed Justin Tucker to bail him out with a 60 million yard field goal. Hit the outbreak. So, let's take a break when we come back here on the Rich Eisen Show. Bill Belichick, some fascinating things coming out of his mouth today that you really never hear from him.

That's next. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show 844204 Rich number 2 dial. New England Patriots have opened their training camp writ large. Everybody there. Everybody there. In the gathered media, one of the many questions asked of Bill Belichick is who is calling the plays on offense now that Josh McDaniels is gone? He's now the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. My Las Vegas Raiders.

They are your ones. So, Belichick has not named any coordinators. And by the way, the New England media has been hammering at this issue.

They're just bored. For weeks if not months. Who is calling the plays and why will you not name an offensive coordinator? As a matter of fact, the titles for his coaching staff came out just last week. Joe Judge got the title of offensive assistant slash quarterbacks.

He's going to be the one in Matt Jones' ear. And Matt Patricia is senior football advisor slash offensive line. Who's calling the plays? Bill Belichick asks exactly that today. Is there a point this summer where you want to make it clear to your players who is calling the plays on that end? Yeah. Look, I'm the head coach.

Ultimately I'm responsible for everything. So, just leave it at that. That's what it is. And that's his answer there is Kurt.

And very short and to the point. And by the way, there's no question every single offensive player knows right now who's calling the plays. Because that person is most likely calling the plays in training camp. Remember when he was asked about that in OTA, what do we call it? OTA plays? Minicam plays? Is that what we're talking about?

Minicam plays? Everybody knows. And apparently it's Matt Patricia. Tom Curran, who covers the Patriots for NBC Sports Boston, says I'm nearing IDGAF territory.

Look it up. On the play caller slash OC slash DC talk, Patricia's going to call the plays and be acting OC. But not naming him allows the Patriots to let Detroit keep paying him through the end of his lines contract.

Which is this year. And means Patricia doesn't have to do weekly coordinator calls. Alright, so there's your answer.

There's your answer. And Belichick's not going to spell it out like that. So it's Patricia and his number two pencil who will be calling the plays this year. And you can have your own questions about whether that's going to be the same as McDaniels or not. Questions about how effective that's going to be or not, but that's the way it's going to be.

And the players already know it. Now then, what is Bill willing to talk about? Usually it's the past, right? You've got to ask him questions about the past. Instead of asking about his tight ends right now, ask him about his tight ends right now through the prism of Zeke Moat and you'll get a long answer.

Okay? What about his quarterback? Mac Jones, how's he going to look? Normally you'll get like, yeah well we'll see when we see.

Nuh-uh. Here was his answer today. Yeah, I think Mac's done a great job. He's worked extremely hard. He's got a tremendous work ethic in all areas.

I think there's a dramatic improvement. His physical work and conditioning. Working on his mechanics, working on his footwork, working on his understanding of our offense, of opponent defenses, of situations, all those things. We've talked about all those things in varying degrees.

Some more emphasis than others and the emphasis on maybe some other things will come later on. We can't do it all at once, but he's worked hard. He's made tremendous strides. He did a great job last year, but he's starting from a much, much higher point this year than where he started last year. His offseason work has been significant and I think everyone recognizes how well he prepares and how much further along he was than he was a year ago. I mean, that is just babbling on about it.

Just non-stop. Ask Brady. That's a manhole cover he just threw around right there. He didn't have to do that for Tom, though. Well, I mean, early on in his career maybe.

I don't know. Look, we always look about forevermore Belichick talking about Mac Jones in the same way as how he handled Brady. It's 2022 and he was that is just you can't even call that high praise. That is the ultimate from Belichick. You've got to be fired up, man. He wouldn't be doing that unless Mac Jones can, A, handle it or B, deserve it. You had a great year last year. But but to say that he's done all of that and the remarkable thing is he's clearly taken to his independent study time.

Clearly taken to independent study time. Wow. Top 10 QB. Let's go.

Pedro Martinez coming up as well. I'm picking them in the AFC East. You're out of your mind. What can we get for odds on that, Mikey?

I'm taking a look right now. Are you really going to do that? I swear I'm putting one hundred.

I'm definitely because at some point you just give me the hundred then. No. Just like I had it with the Patriots making the playoffs last year and I made it. You guys win the NFC.

How are they doing the playoffs last year? It doesn't matter. I just had to make it. I want a little cash. Five to one right now. Five to one. Here's how it goes.

Here's the amazing thing. Buffalo doesn't play New England until week 13. That is the way that is the week after that is the week after Thanksgiving. A Thursday night game. Again, two teams are playing on Thanksgiving.

So it's a full complement of rest. That is your week 13 post Thanksgiving Thursday night game. And then the final game of the year is at Buffalo.

So I will just say this that would give me pause for your statement there. Mikey is Josh Allen. What he did last year. I love him. This is why he's so beloved in this town of western New York, Buffalo and everybody else there as well as for the obvious reasons. He snatched New England's soul in the playoffs.

No, I know. And that doesn't make up for 20 years of Brady ass kicking. But it turned the page. It turned the page and New England is now David because this quarterback is a Goliath.

He is a as I said, I called this two years ago. I said, Josh Allen is coming for your souls. He comes for your soul.

And he has when he has the ball in his hand and you're going to see it this year. A a sense of inevitability. That when you're going against somebody like him, trust me as a jet fan, going against Brady and Marino, when those guys had the ball in their hands and Jim Kelly for those K gun years, they had a ball in their hands.

Like, OK, how is he going to hurt me now? I have to steal myself for that moment. Allen showed that face to New England last year. So, Matt Jones, I'm glad for your sake, Chris, and for every New England fan that I know, including those in my household, to hear that major step of improvement, because that's what's going to be necessary and to a better be the most accurate quarterback in the league. And the Jets better have made the right moves in the draft because Buffalo is here to stay and missed that parade they had.

I got you. For the real story behind some of wrestling's biggest moments, it's something to wrestle with Bruce Prichard and Conrad Thompson, too. All-time Hogan opponents, Macho Man's got to be in the conversation. Where's Andre for you? I've always said Andre was number one. Wow. Because even going back before, you know, Hulk Hogan was a babyface, Hulk and Andre were able to go in and headline at the New Orleans Superdome at Shea Stadium in Japan. Wherever they went, that was an attraction. Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.