REShow: Hour 3 (7-6-2022)

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That's 877-ASK-DELL to save up to 48% on our latest technology. Here's Brian Weber. Final hour of the program suddenly got far more intriguing if you weren't with us 20 minutes ago, just towards the tail end of the previous segment when I was running through different possibilities for Baker Mayfield, and I made the case. If DeSean Watson may only be suspended, and there's a degree of speculation, for 8 to 10 games, wouldn't it make the most sense for the Browns and Baker Mayfield to put their differences aside and work it out? Baker is the placeholder, the interim starter. Watson comes back, and Baker goes back to the bench. Baker has an opportunity to show his value for the next contract he's playing for.

And as I uttered all of that brilliant insight, everything changed when I stepped aside for commercial. Just towards the end of that monologue, the news broke, and now it's official. From both the Panthers and the Browns, Baker Mayfield has been traded from Cleveland to Carolina. Now, because it's effectively a rental, just the one-year deal, Cleveland didn't get anything in return.

They gave him away. A 2024 conditional fifth-round draft pick. So you go from going all in to take Baker with the number one overall pick, and you get a conditional fifth-round pick in return. But Cleveland was desperate.

And that's even more evident based on the financial details, all of these particulars coming from NFL Network. That's where Rich is the face of NFL media. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen.

You want to react to Baker Mayfield moving on from Cleveland to Carolina? You can give me a call, 1-844-204-Rich. Hit me up on Twitter, B.W.

Weber, Weber with two B's. Again, I wish I could claim to be some master architect, that when I created the format for today, I left the final hour guest-free for your reaction, but it's just me and you the rest of the way. So I would like to get your perspective. We took a phone call, first time I've ever had a phone call, as a fill-in host on The Rich Eisen Show in the last hour.

So if you want to chime in, you can give me a call. Otherwise, it's me breaking down this deal, also now what Cleveland does moving forward. And I won't abandon the NBA entirely, we'll wrap up the program with a little bit more Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving conversation. But, giving you the financial particulars, Baker was due $18.8 million, wrapping up the rookie contract as the number one overall pick. According to NFL Network, the Browns are going to eat $10.5 million. They're paying $10.5 million of Baker's salary. The Panthers are going to kick in $5 million, and Baker was so desperate and ready to get out of Cleveland, he opted to trim $3.5 million off his base salary, similar to what happened with Odell Beckham Jr. Remember, he agreed to leave some money on the table when he got out of Cleveland and wound up with the LA Rams.

So, let's start from the Carolina perspective. Now you have the number one overall pick from the 2018 draft in Baker Mayfield, and the number three pick in Sam Darnold, both of whom are on their second teams. Baker is an upgrade over Sam Darnold. I guess the spin from Carolina when we hear from Matt Ruhl and the folks that matter is, well, it'll be a competition to see who the starting quarterback is, but that should be Baker Mayfield. He is an upgrade over Sam Darnold, and I had a lot of questions about Sam, and now I can be a proud USC alum after I bashed my graduate school alma mater in the first hour of the show.

We were talking college football consolidation with Pete Futek from collegefootballnews.com. I had a lot of doubts about Darnold even when he put up giant numbers at USC because of his ball security issues. As we say in NFL Combine lingo, not only throw in too many interceptions, he just fumbled it away too much. Well, what does Baker Mayfield do?

He is a turnover machine, but I think he's better than Sam. Carolina's still in the rebuild, so much of it hinging on the health of Christian McCaffrey, another Pac-12, another Stanford guy, and all my academic prowess just coming together, not that you care. So, that's the question for Baker and his viability. Is he going to have a healthy Christian McCaffrey for the majority of the season?

Unfortunately, because Christian is slight, he's been banged up way too much. Think about the rest of the division now that Baker is going to be competing in the NFC South. You got Tom Brady. I've heard he's pretty good in Tampa Bay.

Atlanta is a muddled mess. So, when Baker takes on the Falcons, he'll be head-to-head with Marcus Mariota, and the Saints opted not to get involved in the Baker-Mayfield sweepstakes. They're going with Jameis Winston, hoping he can stay healthier. If we're just doing the power rankings within that division, I'm a bigger Jameis Winston fan than a lot of people, still coming off the injury, and we know his penchant for turnovers. Remember the 30 for 30 he had his last year in Tampa before they got the GOAT and Tom Brady?

30 touchdowns and 30 picks. You can make an argument if you're a Baker fanboy, or if you believe in Baker more than I do, he's now the second-best quarterback in that division. Now, there's a massive drop-off, obviously, between Tom Brady and everybody else, but now we need to see more out of Baker. We need to see him stay healthy, and we need to see him clean up all the errors in his game, because a lot of the problems for Baker-Mayfield are self-inflicted, that he's just too reckless. He takes too many chances. And I know if you're a Baker fan, and there's a lot of them out there who are very passionate, you're going to tell me, no, no, no, no, he's got that Farveian quality. Ah, the gunslinger. Throw it into tight windows, and I would say that is a massive reach, but you can believe whatever you want to, and I am not overlooking just in the moment.

I'm going back and trying to do this in real time. I didn't script out 19 pages on my thoughts about Baker-Mayfield leaving, because I didn't think he would leave until after there was clarity about Deshaun Watson's availability with the league suspension looming, but Baker-Mayfield had a terrific year a couple seasons ago. I didn't forget that. It didn't work in Cleveland because he got hurt. Clearly, there were personality issues within that locker room. So, can he modify his approach and will connect it to the NBA? He's got a second chance. I have my doubts, because just as Kyrie Irving has been problematic since he decided he no longer wanted to play in the shadow of LeBron James in Cleveland, forced his way out of Boston, now trying to force his way out of Brooklyn, people can change.

They can make revisions. They can alter their mindset and their decision-making, but you are what you consistently do, and for Baker, so much of his success, because he's limited physically, has been a byproduct of his belief that he and he alone can get it done with the force of his personality. And if that means he's prickly to people in the locker room, so be it. I'm Baker-Mayfield, and I got here largely on my own because I'm not as fast as you, certainly not as tall as you.

Fast run away from the cops in that grainy black-and-white video back on campus with Oklahoma. So, can Baker be more accommodating? Is he going to wear out Carolina the way he wore out Cleveland? Well, he's got a lot of motivation to fit in, because he's playing for the next contract, and he's showing flexibility by leaving $3.5 million on the table. Here, 18.8 is the number, and Cleveland is showing how much they want to get rid of him by eating 10.5 million. So, for Carolina, you're getting the former number one overall pick for $5 million, and you gave up a conditional fifth-round pick.

That's not a lot of assets in return, and it tells you what we knew to be true. Sam Darnold, unfortunately, because I've met Sam in a couple settings, it shouldn't color my analysis, and it doesn't. I just told you I didn't think he'd be that good coming out of USC. He's a nice dude.

He's a team-oriented guy, very low-key, but it didn't work out with the Jets, and it was a mixed bag, as you think about the Carolina experience. So, that's the Baker side of the ledger, and don't you know, it's almost like the NFL had an inkling this was coming. I realize the schedule is based on the rotation of divisions, taking on divisions, but if you don't have the schedule in front of me, and that's very fortuitous, very unlucky. On a big word Wednesday, I printed out the schedule because I was going through the potential slate of games if Deshaun Watson misses the first eight contests. Week one, Sunday, September 11th, at Carolina, here come your Cleveland Browns.

Now, that game just got far more interesting on CBS. Maybe Nancy Romo will show up. Jim, look at him!

He looks so quick in that Carolina white! I'm not a Romo fan as much as you are. I like Tony, and look, I'd love to have his agent or his bank account.

He's just a little bit too chatty for me, but the public is never wrong. So that now becomes must-see TV, Carolina and Cleveland, week one in North Carolina, the Baker-Mayfield Bowl. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen.

It's the Rich Eisen Show. You can give me your thoughts on Baker now taking his talents to the NFC South by picking up the phone, 1844204 Rich, or hit me up on Twitter, B.W. Weber, Weber with two B's. That's the Carolina point of view. Now, let's focus on Cleveland, and it's hard to give you a firm analysis because I don't know how long Deshaun Watson is going to have to sit. And I mentioned it's a modified now, suspension policy, the discipline being handled a little bit differently in the NFL. They wanted to create the appearance of more fairness in their agreement with the NFLPA, so it went to a third party. And in this case, the Watson situation is being handled by a former federal judge in Judge Sue L. Robinson.

I don't think it's a coincidence from a standpoint of optics that a woman was chosen, and a woman should be in that room given the severity of the allegations against Deshaun Watson. But unfortunately, Sports Talk Radio asked me to opine on things that we don't know how are going to play out, right? If I'm filling in on a football Friday, I'm giving you my predictions.

Who's winning by how much? That's a game. Now, to you it might be sports investing. You might have a few bucks on the line, but we're talking about a legal situation in a football setting, but we're talking about due process. We're talking about an NFL investigation. There's a lot going on here that does not lend itself to even, I think I'm a semi-intelligent Sports Talk Radio host, trying to predict what this federal judge is going to do.

But I can give you potential outcomes, and I did it in the last hour. There's a growing notion that there might be a less severe penalty, and this is informed speculation, into the Deshaun Watson case based on how the NFL framed their evidence. They limited their investigation not to the entire pool, over 20 people with the accusations. I remember the New York Times had the report that Watson sought out better than 60 different massage therapists. They're talking about a smaller group of people here, so limited evidence, and there are reports that none of the accusers allege physical violence or coercion by Deshaun Watson. What he did was, in their view, abhorrent, and no person should be subjected to it, but it wasn't physical violence.

And some of this is important based on the details of the personal conduct policy. So I'm giving you the one path, and I don't think it's the likely outcome, but it's viable that Watson's out for 8 to 10 games. Well, it seems the Browns now are very comfortable in going with Jacoby Brissette. And we know who Jacoby is, I'd say middle-of-the-road body of work. You get points for hanging around the league this long, and we know what he did in New England and with the Colts. In a word, he's fine. He is a pedestrian quarterback.

He's not going to muck it up too much. There's not much of an upside, but game manager is not always a negative criticism, but Brissette is more athletic than that, but he does not radically transform a game. If you want Brissette to be effective, it is have a high completion rate, minimize the turnovers, and command the offense.

And he has done all those things in the past. So there's no question that he could be a viable placeholder, but now what if Watson is out for the entire year? Is Brissette really going to be the guy for the entire season?

I'm not sure. And as we expand the focus, what about Jimmy Garoppolo? Now, Jimmy Garoppolo, there's a wait-and-see component to his situation because, remember, he elected to have the shoulder procedure.

Saying shoulder surgery is challenging for me, and I have a wonderful Callaway read to get to, so I'm trying to pace myself. But Garoppolo right now is not 100%. According to reports, he's trending in the right direction until he's throwing on a practice field or, better yet, maybe in a cameo in a preseason game or in a real football setting. Nobody's making a trade for him. So as we continue with our live analysis of the Baker Mayfield situation, would Cleveland be in the market for Jimmy Garoppolo? Because it's clear San Francisco is ready to start the Trey Lance era. I'm Brian Weber, and for Rich Eisen, you can give me your thoughts on everything going on now with Carolina and Cleveland.

If you're just joining us, it's official. Baker Mayfield has been traded from the Cleveland Browns to the Carolina Panthers. In return, the Browns get a 2024 conditional fifth-round pick. That's it for the former number-one overall pick, although heading into the final year of his contract. And Cleveland was so ready to say goodbye to Baker, they're going to eat $10.5 million of a contract originally scheduled to pay, Mayfield $18.8 million. Mayfield, so ready to get out of Cleveland, he's agreed to waive $3.5 million off the base salary.

So the Panthers only on the hook for $5 million and a fifth-round draft pick, and now they have Mayfield, an upgrade over Sam Darnold to be sure, but I'm not sure how much better and how much further that gets Carolina in the NFC South. If you want to share your thoughts on Twitter, that's B.W. Weber, Weber with two B's. I mention it is my pleasure to tell you about our friends at Callaway Golf. When Callaway engineered ChromeSoft to be the best tour ball, it didn't just make the best players better, it made everyone better. Men, women, first-time major winners, repeat major winners, club champions, business golfers, the ChromeSoft family has the best tour performance for every type of performance starting with regular ChromeSoft, which is designed for the widest range of golfers who want better feel, more distance, and incredible forgiveness. But for better players looking for more workability, ChromeSoft X provides excellent spin consistency and tour-level short game control. Finally, ChromeSoft XLS gives you a lower spin golf ball on longer shots, firmer feel, still though with the high spin you need around the greens. And now every ChromeSoft is enhanced with precision technology, which uses design techniques and manufacturing specifications up to one one-thousandth of an inch. That's miniscule.

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Find out which ChromeSoft is right for you at CallawayGolf.com slash ChromeSoft. I'm Brian Weber. Much more Baker Mayfield to Sean Watson. Conversation on the way as we continue. It's the Rich Eisen Show.

Clean feel all day. I'm Brian Weber. And for Rich Eisen. Wednesday installment of the Rich Eisen Show. 1-844-204-Rich. 1-844-204-7424.

The number to call. We have less than 40 minutes to go if you want to tweet at me after the program. Keep the conversation going.

I appreciate all the kind words and your interest. B.W. Weber. Weber with two B's. I just spell it out in case you might think it's Weber States. Plus, if you say something over and over and over again, it might just register. So that is one of my radio fallbacks.

Weber with two B's. And occasionally, if I can be self-promotional, I get lucky. And the sports talk radio gods hand me a gift. Now, I did not want to do, necessarily, an hour and 15 minutes on Baker Mayfield. Had I been, say, my pal Dan Schwartzman, who's in tomorrow, I would have led each hour with it. But, when you're in breaking news mode, and I realize the audience is always changing in and out of the cards. So I can't hammer the details too frequently.

It happened within the last 50 minutes, just as I was wrapping up an eloquent monologue. Stating all the obvious reasons that the Browns should hang on to Baker Mayfield and use him as the interim starter. With the hope that Deshaun Watson might only be suspended, only, quote unquote, eight to ten games. And it is interesting, the Browns are deciding to make this move now. I'll give you my explanation for the reasoning coming up. But if you don't know the details, Baker's run in Cleveland ends today.

Liberated just a couple days after Independence Day. Former number one overall pick on his way to Carolina. In return, Browns are getting a 2024 conditional fifth round pick. That's virtually nothing. Baker's going to show up as soon as tomorrow to pass the physical.

Remember, he has been banged up, but presumably he's okay physically. And the financial part is fascinating. He was due 18.8 million bucks wrapping up the rookie deal. That's the former number one overall pick. Browns are going to assume, they're just going to eat 10.5 million bucks this season.

Think about the money that owner Jimmy Haslam is doling out. In the process, though, I did a little more research. NFL Network pointing out that by paying the 10.5 million bucks this year to Baker directly, they also pick up eight million dollars in salary cap space, because the Panthers are paying Mayfield five million dollars, and Mayfield is so desperate to find a new team to play for, he's agreed to knock off three and a half million bucks off his salary. So it works out for Baker in terms of places he could have gone, and I've had this conversation with you on a variety of platforms.

I talked about it on Memorial Day. Carolina always made the most sense to me. I don't know what Seattle is doing in all candor, and now it's very clear they're tanking. You cannot tell me under any logical explanation that heading into training camp with the, quote unquote, quarterback competition between Geno Smith and Drew Locke is getting this team anywhere.

At the same time, maybe they're waiting for Jimmy Garoppolo, and that's the other moving piece here. But the first step is we have to get clarity about the status of Deshaun Watson, and much like the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving conversation that dominated our program together on July 4th, and I spent the majority of the show prior to the Baker-Mayfield news chopping up, I don't know that we're going to get quick resolution in the Deshaun Watson matter because now it's up to the judge who's handling the league discipline to come up with her finding. Presumably, she's going to be meticulous.

I'm talking about Judge Sue L. Robinson. So nothing says she has to give any definitive word Monday, next Thursday, just because we want it. Now the league, I'm sure, behind the scenes said, as part of you agreeing to be our, for lack of a better term, football magistrate, we need your finding before training camp. We have to come up with a resolution.

And this speaks to the point I made not too long ago on this show. Felling in for Rich, I'm Brian Weber, in for Rich Eisen. Conversation heating up on Twitter, that's B.W.

Weber, Weber with two Bs. Should the NFL have acted sooner in the Deshaun Watson case, taking him away from the microphone, because everything he has said has made the situation even more muddled, I know he's got a balancing act because he claims he did nothing wrong, but he doesn't want to come across as unempathetic. There are better than 20 people who accuse him of very serious wrongdoing.

And he doesn't want to push them aside at the same time, doesn't want to say anything that would be an admission of guilt. So I don't know why Watson was ever permitted to be at an NFL facility. The answer to all of this would have been using the commissioner exemplis. And I know Roger Goodell said that is only for players facing criminal charges.

And this is all civil. And remember, two grand juries in Texas declined to hand up charges against Deshaun Watson. So he's not accused, at least for now, unless something changes, of any crimes. This is NFL justice. But remember, Ben Roethlisberger was never charged nor indicted with anything.

He got six games, knocked down to four. You know about the Ezekiel Elliott case, similar precedent for Watson. But because of the sheer enormity, the overall total of the accusations, the league has been leaking to reporters in the know that they are looking for a year-long suspension or indefinite suspension. Until there is resolution of all these civil cases, there are some people within the power structure of the NFL that don't want to see Deshaun Watson play until we get to the end of that process. And civil litigation takes a long time.

There are still courts that are backed up from all the COVID pausing that went on. So that's why this Watson topic is so multi-layered. And I'm doing my best to take you through it in real time because I did not think we'd be talking about Baker Mayfield today. I had it as my general thought, but I didn't think that we would have the breaking news. Now, Watson suspended for the entire season. Whenever we find that out, that I think changes the dynamic of the Cleveland Browns. And it is also coupled with the timetable for Jimmy Garoppolo because he's coming back from a significant procedure. Don't mess around with shoulders in the National Football League. So until he is demonstrably healthy, nobody's going to step in and make that deal for Garoppolo.

And Cleveland may have the view. They don't have to do anything until they find out how long Watson's got to sit. So I think if we're going to come up with the rational explanation, clearly the Baker Mayfield deal came down to this. Cleveland was tired of Baker and he was tired of the organization. It was time for a divorce.

Because when I went through that schedule for the first eight games, if there was any confidence within the Brown organization that Watson's not going to deal with a suspension lengthier than the first two big chunks of the regular season, they might have been inclined to make up with Baker and have him there just to hold the offense together. Instead, it was irreconcilable, like my dear parents after 25 years. I thought that was wonderful. You're married 25 years and you just wake up one day and say, huh, not anymore? Well, the marriage did not last as long between Baker and Cleveland.

So we can say that with certainty. That was the catalyst to get this deal done today. And both sides walk away with a degree of unhappiness.

They're happy not to be together anymore. But Baker was so motivated to get out of Ohio. He's given up three and a half million of his salary that's due. And the Browns are eating ten and a half million.

And Carolina's only given them five million bucks and a conditional fifth round pick. So the Baker side of this matter is more straightforward. But the Cleveland situation remains very hazy. And I can't tell you, I know I'm supposed to have all the answers.

I have a microphone and you will listen to me. I can't tell you when there's going to be resolution when it comes to Deshaun Watson. Because the league doesn't know, the Browns don't know, nobody knows. Now back to Jimmy Haslam, who certainly did not win many friends in the most exclusive club in all of sports.

The 31 ownership groups, minus the Packers of course, publicly held in the National Football League. When Haslam spent that truck stop money to change the entire financial landscape of the NFL. When he gave Deshaun Watson a fully guaranteed contract.

And a lot of owners beyond saying, Jimmy what did you do, because now I have to deal with these negotiations. Had a wonder, okay if you're going to write that check and you're going to fully guarantee it, a la Kirk Cousins got paid by the Minnesota Vikings, every dollar guaranteed. Because while he is nothing more than a middle of the road quarterback, Kirk Cousins is going to land in the financial hall of fame. But there was, and I keep in touch with people connected to the league, I'm not pretending to be an NFL insider, but I did have a stint at NFL Network, didn't last as long as Baker did in Cleveland. There was a view, if the Browns were going to do this, why are they doing it with Deshaun Watson?

In no way criticizing him as a quarterback, but because of the legal jeopardy at the time, that got clarified. But more to the point, just from a football perspective, all of the complexity and ambiguity as to when he would play again. A reminder, he didn't play all of last year. And there's a real possibility he ain't playing this year. And then we're talking about two full seasons without Deshaun Watson. So as we wrap up the program, I'm going to call an audible. You've had enough of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

Dan Schwartzman is talented. He'll get you back to the NBA tomorrow. I'm now reveling in the fact that we can do breaking news. I had to do a live obituary in real time. Speaking of Cleveland Browns fans, when we got the sad news in 2012 that Art Modell had passed away. I know some Cleveland fans were not that disappointed, considering he moved the franchise to Baltimore. But I'm reminded of that day. I'm on NFL Network and I'm riffing about Art Modell.

What a complicated legacy and one of the driving forces behind Monday Night Football. I enjoy coming up with this kind of content because it helps me also clarify my thoughts. So thank you for hanging with me. I know that we're taking a twisting road together.

But I'm trying to check all the boxes here. So straight ahead, we'll make it 60 minutes of nothing but football. Talking more about what are reasonable expectations if Jacoby Brissette is the starter. Eight games the entire season. And what about Jimmy Garoppolo? Could he be the answer if Watson has to sit the entire season? Could Jimmy G make his way from the San Francisco Bay Area to Cleveland, Ohio?

Much more to get to. Thanks for sharing part of your Wednesday with us. I am Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen. It's The Rich Eisen Show. Brian Weber back with you in for Rich Eisen.

What suddenly became a dynamic, evolving, nimble edition of The Rich Eisen Show. Jot down the phone number. My buddy Dan Schwartzman will be with you tomorrow and Friday. Dan's kinder than me. More open to phone calls.

Although we did make history today. First time I've ever fielded a call on The Rich Eisen Show. 1-844-204-rich.

1-844-204-7424. You want to tweet at me after the program. I've got a big day coming up. I complained about my sciatica, although this makeshift solution really worked. Just drilling, yes, my limp leg.

Oh, the imagery is getting very colorful here. Into a plastic trash can, but I'm getting just enough resistance from it. And when I woke up this morning, I did not get myself a gun, Tony Soprano. My car wouldn't start. So I'm going to go get a rental car. Fabulous to be a sports talk radio host. So I walked in today a bit flustered, but hopefully you can tell I have a plan.

Work the plan that works for you. So I had a whole final hour mapped out. You know what you missed? More thoughts on the destruction of tradition in college football. I had a great take comparing baseball needing to be open-minded and finally go to electronic balls and strikes based on how well that same technology works at Wimbledon. Oh, by the way, if you care about American tennis, the American No. 1 Taylor Fritz gave Rafael Nadal all he could remember, if you briefly know anything about tennis now at the slams. No more Isner Mahou, 70-68 in the final set, a 10-point match tiebreaker.

Rafa won, effectively on one leg, moving on to the semis in a juicy match against Nick Kyrgios. But all this is going on, and then the Baker-Mayfield news broke about an hour ago. Just as I had spent 15 minutes talking about Baker and why the Browns should come to some sort of compromise, put their differences aside, and have them hang around for another year because they need an insurance policy with all of the uncertainty connected to Deshaun Watson. But like many things, I was wrong. Let me say that slowly so my terrific technical producer Art Martinez can come up with a drop. I'm Brian Weber.

I was wrong. Clearly, Cleveland said, Baker, we've had enough. And in fact, we are so ready to get rid of you. We're going to eat $10.5 million of your salary, and we're going to take a conditional fifth-round pick in return for the former No. 1 overall pick.

Let's mix sports. Do I have to go through the haul that Danny Ainge in Utah got for Rudy Gobert? If memory serves, Rudy Gobert was not the No. 1 overall pick.

I know it's different sports, but do you get the point I'm making here? Cleveland said adios, and Baker was ready for it. In fact, he backed it up financially. He's agreeing to say goodbye to $3.5 million of the base salary, meaning Carolina gets him for $5 million and a conditional fifth-round pick. Panthers will take a step in the right direction at the quarterback position. However you view Baker Mayfield, let's assume he's healthy. He is a better player than Sam Dardle. Now, this is not Joe Montana against Steve Young, a different prism of analysis. But I made the case you can certainly come up with a convincing argument that in that division now, with Tom Brady leading the way and Marcus Mariota, the starter in Atlanta, I think Baker, when healthy and engaged, these are big ifs, dot, dot, dot, is a superior quarterback to Jameis Winston. Just go back and look at his numbers a couple years ago.

He had a brilliant season in Cleveland. So Carolina now can make the case they have the second-best quarterback in that division. What does it mean? I don't think too much, but remember with the expanded playoff field and the additional wildcard out there, maybe Carolina sniffs a wildcard. That seems like a bit of a stretch to me, but at least they have hope. And for Baker, it makes loads of sense because he's been playing for the next contract for the last few years, and the Browns just said, we're not interested. This was before they went all in on the wrong guy based on his potential liabilities with the suspension into Sean Watson, taking nothing away from the clear fact he is a franchise quarterback. But never forget, in Cleveland, the regime that was fully invested in Baker is gone. This is not Freddie Kitchen's, his hand-picked head coach, or Hugh Jackson. Kevin Stavanski is a bright guy. Not that your academic resume matters, but he's Ivy League educated and a new front office. So it was clear the divorce was coming.

The terms are interesting. But just like if you know a couple and they're ready to go and they're arguing, in fact, I'll drag my poor sister into this. She's not listening to sports talk radio. I was never a fan of my brother-in-law. I hope he's listening because he's now my former brother-in-law. It came down to the brass tacks. My sister, the breadwinner, because she married a deadbeat.

I'll do this quickly. And she wrote a slightly bigger check to say goodbye. Now, he's a wonderful father to my nieces. But at that point, since I wasn't financially involved, I said, we'll stay away from the figure. What would X mean to you? Can you still pay the mortgage?

What would you pay to be happy? Pay the extra dough. And that expedited the divorce.

Same thing, in my opinion, here. Cleveland stepped up. Remember, there were all the reports that they weren't going to move past midway in the 18-8, which is not the number anymore because Baker knocked it down by three and a half million bucks. So let's do the arithmetic together.

Move the 5 by 15-3. Of the 15-3 million in salary, Cleveland's eating 10.5. And they're only getting a conditional fifth-round pick and return.

That tells you everything you need to know about the terms of that divorce. So Baker Mayfield gets his freedom. He gets a second chance. He gets the opportunity to start over. Can he change his personality?

I'm not sure. Because it seems like that's who he is. That's how he was able to maximize his limited physical skill set to be the overall number one pick, which he never should have been. That was Cleveland reaching. But he didn't draft himself.

Number one overall pick to get the words in order. Now he's got to show either Carolina to retain him or the rest of the league. He's auditioning for everybody else. Somebody out there, if he can stay healthy and doesn't throw 28 interceptions, is going to pay Baker Mayfield because look around the NFL. That's why I was surprised to say the Texans weren't that interested. And we know that Davis Mills was the number one high school quarterback in the country, had a cameo at Stanford, but looked OK last year. But are you telling me that Baker Mayfield's not in the top 15 starters in the league? He was certainly always, in my mind, going to be a starter. And Carolina can say whatever they want about a competition between Baker and Sam Dardold. I've not seen any official reaction from the Panthers. That'll come out later.

Baker's going to start. And now it's up to him. And if you view him to be prickly, I keep using that term with intent. And I have a little bit of that in my personality.

No, shocking. None of that comes through the show. Prickly people can be motivated. Tell them they can't do something.

They're going to try to prove you wrong. So Baker has all the motivation he needs and all the financial incentive, especially because, and no need for a bake sale with all the commercials that he's on. He's leaving three and a half million bucks unrealized, waiving that to get out of Cleveland. I think of all the potential outcomes, this is the best for Baker. Seattle could have been even more challenging because I have no earthly idea what the Seahawks are doing. And then lastly, what do we do with Jimmy Garoppolo? So Cross, if you have your list of landing spots for Garoppolo, Cross Carolina off the list. There is a school of thought that the Niners don't think Garoppolo is worthy of worrying about trading him in the division. That they might be open to sending him to Seattle because they know him better than anybody and they think they can beat him twice within the division. Because we know it is Trey Lance's team. And it's Trey Lance's team all the more, obviously, because Garoppolo is still banged up coming back from the shoulder procedure.

So the questions, questions to be answered. Moving forward, and I think it goes in this order, what is the league discipline for Deshaun Watson? If it's less than 10 games, I think the Browns ride with Jacoby Brissett. If it is a season long suspension or indefinite, I think Cleveland's then open to finding somebody else. And that somebody else could be Jimmy Garoppolo. Once we know he's medically cleared and he shows he still has a functioning arm. So much like the Kevin Durant conversation, the Kyrie Irving conversation that we went through all of the machinations and possibilities early in the program.

I don't think we're going to have any clarity on the other things, namely Garoppolo and what Cleveland's going to do to fill in the blank for Deshaun Watson for quite some time. Step one, getting the ruling from the federal judge. What she decides is appropriate discipline for Deshaun Watson. And remember, if the league's not happy, they have the right to appeal either to someone designated by Roger Goodell or Roger Goodell himself. I don't think they want to overrule this judge. I think they want to prove their system has been refined. It's more fair to the players. I don't think Roger Goodell wants the optics of overruling a female judge just to be completely transparent with you. Still, I'm the guy who told you an hour ago that Baker Mayfield was going to stay in Cleveland because it made the most sense.

So in the words of the phenomenal screenwriter William Goldman, summing up Hollywood, nobody knows anything. And the longer I do this, the more applicable it seems to the world of sports as well. Had a great time with you. Thanks for hanging with me.

I know I was spinning a lot of plates. That was a poor man's impersonation of Brian Winters. I'm the other B-Dub. As I go third person, I'm Brian Weber. I want to thank our guest, Pete Futek, talking college football consolidation from collegefootballnews.com. We focused on the NBA with Eric Pincus of Bleacher for thanks to Rich Eisen. Always a pleasure to be in for Rich. The great people at Westwood One, led by Bruce Gilbert, our terrific technical producer Art Martinez. My name is Brian Weber. I'll talk to you down the road. Dan Schwartzman with you tomorrow.

So keep it where it is on The Rich Eisen Show. 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. Because even going back before 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.