REShow: Mike Florio - Hour 1

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Try Dove Men Plus Care Dry Spray goes on dry, clean feel all day. You were early on the the two-a-train. This is the Rich Eisen Show.

Absolutely I'm on the two-a-train. We met him at Super Bowl, great kid. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles.

When I read Tyree Kill's comments, if he feels that way about Mahomes and Reed, how is he going to feel about this new situation when it doesn't invariably go very well? Today's guests ESPN NBA analyst Doris Burke, Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts, plus long-time sports columnist and author Rick Riley. And now it's Rich Eisen. Oh yes it is. Welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show right in the middle of the week, right in the middle of the month of June.

I mean we're just slicing this thing right down the middle. Welcome to this program. We are thrilled to have you here on NBC Sports on Peacock and NBC Sports Sirius XM Channel 85, NBC Sports Audio. We're thrilled to have you on this terrestrial radio network affiliate. Also we're thrilled to have you on Odyssey and those who are listening on the podcast later on, hello to you.

Please hit that subscribe button, rate us five stars, all that good stuff where all podcasts are required on the Cumulus Podcast Network. Good to see you where you are Christopher Brockman. How are you? What's up Rich?

Good to see you. Hey the Red Sox won. Hey they did. I know you were very concerned yesterday about how they were doing. Yes. And it being over 500 they won. Yes. Five games over now. They are. Good for you.

It's a high water mark. Thank you. I'm very proud. I'm going to give you a cookie. Good to see you Jason Feller. How are you? What's up Jay Felli? What's up Rich? What's going on? Nice little pinstriped cookie for you over there.

TJ Jefferson has already lit the candle. How are you sir? I'm tremendous Rich. How are you? I'm just great. Not as good as Minka Fitzpatrick who just moments ago signed the richest contract in the history of the National Football League for safety.

Oh yes. $18.4 million a year according to our friend Adam Schefter from the worldwide leader in sports. $36 million guaranteed at signing. That is a lot of cash. Pay that man his money. For a man in the back end of the defense of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

That's going to go a long way in Pittsburgh my guy. Let me tell you. You know it's kind of funny and let's let's start the show with this on this program. Let's start the show with this based off.

You guys have a lot in common. Oh I didn't know that. He plays pickleball.

Oh you didn't see that story? No. Oh my god.

All right we'll scramble the Jets and get that going. Minka plays pickleball? Oh not just Minka.

No not just Minka. We'll save it for you. We'll get it to you.

Well I mean because Minka's a man of a certain age. Yeah we'll surprise you with that. We'll surprise you. This is this is going to validate everything you've said about pickleball Rich. Well I will it?

Well the person who actually won with Minka was of a certain age. That's true. Definitely did not did not think we'd be going that direction. We have to talk about this later on. We'll get this later. Not to interrupt you.

Continue. It's all good man because the story about Minka kind of reminds you and it's kind of crazy because Steelers Nation is deep. It's vast. It's wide.

It's international. I like telling the story. You like telling the story Chris. You know the story. You want to know the story.

Folks might not know the story. Back when we were a little old podcast. Just a little old podcast. There wasn't even a media group.

It was just called NFL Network and I walked into Steve Bornstein's office in 2011. I'm like I'd like to do a podcast. How much is going to cost me? Nothing. Go ahead and do it Richie. Fine. Go play with your your podcast.

Don't worry about it. I just know you guys had a shower curtain. He did not know what a podcast was.

Yeah all of it. But we credentialed football players for the Rich Eisen podcast to appear at the red carpet at the Oscars. I'm going to pick up my credential at Hollywood and Highland and the people would literally look at me and go why is the NFL getting credentialed? Yeah right exactly.

Well it's the Rich Eisen podcast. I'm like just hand me my lanyard. The first player we ever credentialed. The first player we credentialed to ask questions of the stars of the stars in the red carpet of the academy awards in Los Angeles California was Heinz Ward and you turned around Chris as Heinz was setting up and who was at the top row? The fans in the in the bleachers set up to scream at Clooney and everyone else walking down the red carpet.

We're there so early and we're just kind of walking up and down taking the scene in me and Heinz. This is 2012. Yeah.

And literally there's a half dozen Steelers fans in the top row head to toe black and gold with terrible towels at the Oscars. Why? I have no idea. They did not know we were going to be there. Of course not. Nobody advertised.

No. And they're just going nuts when they saw Heinz. And Steelers fans are everywhere.

Everywhere. And which is the franchise whose team is being talked about the absolute least in the AFC North right now? Nobody's talking about the Steelers. Nobody is talking about the Pittsburgh Steelers. Nobody.

Now part of it is because Lamar Jackson hasn't signed a contract and the team is offering him the opportunity to do so and he's saying no. Another day. Nine figures. Eh. You can win.

Don't want it. Sounds like Jon Rahm at the U.S. Open. Four hundred million dollars from the live tour will not appreciably change the life of me and my wife.

I'm not going to change my lifestyle. Too salud Jon Rahm. That's peanuts to you Don Jon Rahm. And we're talking about the Bengals because they're the defending AFC North champion.

By the way kudos to you Joey Burrow talking about common sense gun laws yesterday. And we're also talking about the Browns. Obviously. Because of who their quarterback is and how they have bestowed the contract of contracts of all-time contracts in the history of contracts in the national football league upon him. And you got the Steelers. Okay. And they dropped.

They were the only. By the way, when was the last team to be the only team to draft a first round quarterback and nobody's talking about him? Usually that's what absolutely is going to cause us to talk about you. Certainly when you haven't done that, you haven't chosen a quarterback in the first round of a draft since 2004. The Steelers went to a rookie quarterback in the first round and the football world shrugs. Did you see what happened with Russell Wilson? Did you see what happened with Tyreek Hill? Did you see what happened with Devontae Adams? You see what happened with the Kansas City Chiefs losing Tyreek Hill? You see what happened with the Colts getting Matt Ryan? Did you see what happened with everybody in the AFC West? Hey it's the Jacksonville Jaguars world that we're paying attention to more than the Steelers for various reasons.

That's definitely true. I mean my gosh what's happening in the world. And you know who doesn't mind it? Pittsburgh Steelers. I think they love this.

Absolutely love it. Lying in wait. Flying under the radar.

Flying under the radar. Signing Minka Fitzpatrick to the richest deal in the history of safeties and everybody's like yeah well what about the Sean Watson? What about the Buffalo Bills? They're the team everybody's paying attention to. What about the Tennessee Titans making that trade on a draft night? Honestly more teams being talked about in the Pittsburgh Steelers is really weird.

Now then you know I think Kenny Pickett's going to start the season for the Pittsburgh Steelers. You know that. You know I feel that way about it. Yeah I think you're wrong but it's okay.

I know. I feel like he's gonna get the gig. I feel like he's gonna get the gig and Tomlin has the juice to basically say we're starting a rookie and we'll go through the ups we'll go through the downs and we're gonna get through those bumps because the faster we do it the better it is. Or the Steelers just have the juice suddenly when it comes to rookie quarterbacks. You remember Ben Roethlisberger didn't lose a regular season game his first year as a quarterback.

Pretty good. Right but that's kind of what jarred me loose about the news that Minka Fitzpatrick is the richest safety in the history of the world. So congratulations to him and we'll see what the Pittsburgh Steelers look like when they open training camp. By the way ran into a bunch of folks from the Los Angeles Rams yesterday being at the NFL network for the annual symposium for the entire network getting together and that's later on today as well here in Southern California. And they're like yeah ring ceremonies in about three weeks and training camps about five.

It's right around the corner. Can we talk to some people to maybe get credentialed to like cover the ring ceremony? Yeah we can. We can talk to them.

I don't know if you're gonna get the credential. There's a pond in a pool you know. Yeah. I don't know if we get the pond.

Yeah got it. Great swag. It'd be fun to just event to be at. Right around the corner kiddos. So you know how we're going to also start the show today because Mike Flora is going to be first up. We're going to go Watson heavy with him. Let's do it. You were going to do this with me on Monday but John Salley was sitting here and we were going to do it yesterday but you know a lot went down. A lot happened yesterday. Let's do an overreaction Wednesday.

Overreaction Wednesday. Let's talk a little bit more football before Florio joins us. Oh by the way Doris Burke is on this program today as well. So we'll say hey to DB calling in from Boston. She's calling the NBA finals on ESPN radio and Rick Riley will be here in studio. The author.

He's got a new book called So Help Me Golf and lots to obviously to talk about with him with the live tour and the PG-8 tour on the eve of the U.S. Open in Boston, Massachusetts. Go ahead and hit it. Let's do it.

Right here on The Rick Riley Show. That was terrible. That was crap. That was garbage.

This place sucks. Overreaction Wednesday. Oh wow. Okay.

All right look at that. I feel like we're the NFL in the pandemic. We're going to do this every day of the week. This is going to be an overreaction day every day of the week. We could probably do overreaction every single day if you felt like it.

Go for it. Hey guys this is a story that only us and Mike Florio are really talking about but did you see the rumors that Sean Payton was going to get a hundred million dollars from the Dolphins? Yes I did. Before all of that got kind of blown up. Some rumors.

They're reports. My overreaction is this. Sean Payton and Tom Brady package deal for a team in 2023. Well I know I think a lot of people think the package deal is still could be in Miami which is nuts. That's kind of off the charts. I don't think they'll one and done Mike McDaniel but I think I don't think so they will either but crazy things have happened.

I don't know. Remember Jim Mora got one and done in Seattle? That's true. Remember that. Jim Mora's one and done in Seattle because Pete Carroll became available.

See you later. Who was in Arizona? Was it Steve Wilkes got one and done?

Well that's it. I think it's yeah but that was his first head coaching gig. I mean Jim Mora was the former coach of the Atlanta Falcons when he took that gig in Seattle.

That's true. You know what in honor of Mike Florio joining us here shortly on the program I'll say that that is not an overreaction. I think Sean Payton is going to go back to coaching next year. I think one year in the studio will be enough for him or is he calling games for Fox? I think he's studio.

Okay yeah I think that'll be enough for him. I think he'll have the batteries recharged and according to Florio and other reports and he's going to join us here shortly. He was he was about to go straight from the Saints to the Miami Dolphins. So I don't know about Brady. I have a feeling like this is going to be his last year. 375 million dollars waiting for him. He was on DP show earlier today here on Peacock, Sirius XM channel 85 and he was talking about how he looks around sometimes he thinks he's a crazy man. Like he's he's nuts for trying this. Sees Aaron Donald working out saying why am I coming back and doing this?

I'm a 45 year old man what's up with that? He also doesn't get hit. So no I know he gets rid of the football but I have a feeling that Brady this is his final year and he knows it too in the back of his head. 375 million dollars waiting for him too at the end of that rainbow for 10 years.

Holy crap. Future ownership. Yeah a pay cut a pay cut is he's taking to play football. What are you what else you got over there Chris? All right uh he's not on a team right now officially but he is a wedding crasher. Odell Beckham is going to be the missing piece on another Super Bowl run for someone. I'm not going to say who. I'll tell you who. But for someone. I'll tell you who.

I'll tell you who. He's come back to the Rams. He'll come back to the Rams. I think he's a ram by Thanksgiving. What if Godwin's not all the way healthy and Tom lobbies him a call?

I don't know about that. I mean if Brady calls and says hey Odell you want to win one more time with us? I think he likes it here. I think he likes it here a hell of a lot. I think he's at you know Sean McVeigh's wedding and hanging out with these guys. He loves it here and they love him.

I think they're they're absolutely going to make that happen. I feel it in my bones he will be back with the Los Angeles Rams here in Thanksgiving day. Feels like you have been cited. So not an overreaction. You're two for two. What's going on Chris?

I saw this the other day. I forget what the actual headline was but it's something about how Matt Ryan is basically awesome and is lighting it up at the Colts. So I'm going to say Matt Ryan is going to go for 40, 5,000 and win the division this year.

I don't think I think winning the division is entirely possible but I think 40 and 5,000 is a total overreaction. Who is he throwing it to? I know there's Pittman right? Yeah Pittman and they hit him with the Hines and... I don't know they run the football way too much for somebody. They got a quarterback now who can throw the ball confidently to the right team and they're just going to open it up. I think those numbers are too large for a team with Jonathan Taylor on it.

What else you got? Uh Broncos guys, Broncos. Melvin Gordon I saw this headline he's not going to give up the starting job lightly so I'm going to say why does he have to?

Melvin Gordon and Javonte Williams both thousand yards this year. Oh my gosh is Mike Shanahan coaching the team again? Is that what's happening? Mike Anderson going to come out of retirement?

And they scary? Is that what we're doing right here? I think by the way I would peg Javonte Williams for fantasy football right now. Out of all the the players that are there that I think are going to have the biggest season offensively I think he's going to be he's that one if I had to choose one if I had to choose like Jerry Judy or any of the receivers or Javonte Williams I'd choose that guy.

That's who I would choose. I think the run game is going to be the unheralded underrated portion of the Russell Wilson offense. Russ not a top 10 quarterback then for fantasy? I again I'm on the I need to see it to believe it train for the Denver Broncos. I'm there. I'm riding shotgun.

What else you got over there Chris? We talked a lot about Lamar Jackson no deal yet for him. I'm going to say he's going to play the whole year without a new contract. I agree with you there too.

I agree with you too that would be just exactly the way this thing plays out. Should I have added franchise tagged at the end of that? I don't know. I think yeah because I don't think it's going to get done so damn quick after the season. You know those franchise tags have to hit you.

You have to hit somebody with it. You have to slap it on somebody or place it before the new league year begins which is right after the year. That's something to ask Florio coming up next but I don't see anything happening. I could see him absolutely playing the entire season without a new deal. It seems par for this entire weird course. There is no frame of reference in the history uh recent history of the NFL.

Certainly in the the era of the NFL with the new collective bargaining agreement where people are paid 100 million dollars a year for play quarterback 30 30 where where somebody who's making in the mid-20s is a bargain. I don't have any frame of reference on it. You got one more so we're on time for Florio? I do have one more. Thank you. All right we'll get one more.

Thank you. Actually now that I'm looking at the numbers from last year I guess it's not all that overreaction. So Tyreek Hill said that Tua is a more accurate passer than Patrick Mahomes. I think he's talking up his quarterback who's getting hit from different angles.

That's the way I have to guess. I was going to say that Tua is going to finish this year with a higher completion percentage than Patrick Mahomes but he actually did it last year. Now that I'm looking it up Tua was 67.8 in 2021 and Mahomes was 66.3. Yeah but how many more attempts did Mahomes have than Tua? So Mahomes had 658 attempts. Yeah and Tua's got to have on the 400s.

And Tua had 388. That's what I'm saying. I mean Mahomes had twice as many attempts. That's true. You know what every single time you ask me this and I go and I take Mahomes over Tua I get accused of being off the Tuanon train.

I know. I think the world of Tua and I hope he does well but if we're going to start comparing him to Mahomes I think he loses 10 times out of 10. All right I'll pass the rating. Mahomes is 98.5 and Tua is 90.1.

Okay so I'll take Mahomes having a better accuracy rating than Tua. I'll do it. I'll say that. Well I'm sorry this is overreaction Monday. It's not a what's more likely. That's an overreaction. I'll just rule that an overreaction and move forward.

Okay there you go. That would have been overreaction Monday but we did it here on a Wednesday. It would have been Tuesday too. Because you know what we're going to talk NBA finals later with Doris Burke and we're going to talk about the live tour in the U.S. Open and how everything's going down on the PGA Tour. The Rick Riley in studio on hour number three. We've also got our old friend Kyle Pitts who was ill the last time he was booked and could not make his appearance. We're told he's feeling better and he will be on the show on hour number three and there's you at 844-204-rich.

Number to double. Let's take a break and when we come back I thought this was quite a dichotomy as yesterday. That Deshaun Watson appeared and took questions for the first time since his introductory press conference on March 25th and attempted to turn pages right. Like we're moving forward here. You know we're talking football here best we can. If you have any questions talk to my lawyers.

I never did anything wrong. I still stand by that and that was honestly the gist of what yesterday was with a whole bunch of word salad dressed around it. So that was one aspect of it. The other aspect of the day was Charles Robinson of Yahoo acquiring a 230 page document that was the interview conducted by the lawyer of Deshaun Watson in a proceeding for the civil lawsuit of a Houston Police Department detective that looked into whether there were criminal charges worthy of Deshaun Watson. And that's an eye-opener. Another eye-opener.

230 page document. So when we come back we'll talk to our friend Mike Florio about all of this. The man who kicks things off on peacock every day.

Don't go anywhere. We'll talk to him about Lamar and Baker and so many other NFL items coming up next. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show 844204 Rich number to dial on our terrestrial radio outfit. One Big Happy Family with Peacock Sirius XM.

Channel 85. The man kicks us off every day on NBC Sports on Peacock with PFT Live and his book Playmakers still available where all books are acquired. The author and creator of Pro Football Talk Mike Florio back here on the program. How you doing Mike? Rich I'm doing great buddy. How are you? I am fine. You were as I texted you this morning when I when I asked if you were free and you were kindly free and willing to call in.

I said you know what you're the first person I thought of. What a a dichotomy on on Tuesday that Deshaun Watson appears for the first time since March 25th. He's standing in front of the old brown step and repeat. He's doing what all quarterbacks do at mandatory mini camps which is make himself available for questioning.

This one however as we all know is completely different. He did his best to if you will move on turn a page keep things moving forward and then on the same day Charles Robinson our colleague from Yahoo acquires a 230 page deposition taken by the attorney for all of the civil lawsuit folks who are suing Deshaun Watson and there is so much in and there is so much in there. The 230 page deposition was an interview conducted by Busby of a member of the Houston police detective department that was looking into Deshaun Watson. I will now be quiet and ask you what you make of all this.

Well I want to go back to yesterday right about this time Deshaun Watson meets with reporters as you mentioned first time since March 25. I don't think he was required to do it and he's definitely not required to answer substantive questions about these cases. I think it would have been better for him if he simply would have said on the advice of my lawyers because there are cases pending I have been told to not say anything about this. That's better than reciting the same old talking points and we know that they're talking points. You can see as he's delivering it he is striving to remember exactly what he's supposed to say. I never assaulted anyone ever harassed anyone. I never did anything that I wasn't supposed to do and I'm innocent of all these claims and they asked him about settling the case I want to just clear my name I want to focus on clear my name well that's the case he should embrace the possibility of a paid leave so he can focus on getting these cases tried and winning them one after another after another after another if that determined that he's innocent of all of these civil charges so I just don't know what was gained and it felt like and really the first domino with the HBO real sports feature that has begun this three weeks and and one day of one bad development after another some people who previously hadn't sued are now suing and more could come out of the woodwork that was the tony buzzby statement from yesterday many have sued many others haven't yet I think yet about nine more months to wait and see until the statutes of limitations run on these claims assuming that once he was sued the first time he decided no more of these instagram private massages I'm done as of march 15 2021 so you got until march 15 of 2023 to sweat out the possibility of more cases and it sounds like there will be more I I just think it's been a very bad 22 days for Deshaun Watson for the Browns and I don't see it getting any better especially if more lawsuits being filed will result in more of these women deciding that they are going to stand up and do what they think they need to do as well to get their specific form of justice so what what was in this 230 page deposition that that again Charles Robinson of yahoo acquired it was the interview of a police detective in Houston that was looking into 10 of the cases I guess yeah she was one of the detectives on the case and rich she testified she believed Deshaun Watson committed multiple crimes she didn't testify to the grand jury that took up nine of the complaints she did testify to the Brazoria county grand jury that took up the one it was an incident that didn't happen in Harris county there was no indictment in that one either we still don't know and we never well know specifically why there was no indictment because there's so much power there's so much discretion and latitude that a prosecutor has in trying to seek an indictment or not seek an indictment my big takeaway from the new york times article the excellent item from jenny rentals last week was maybe the prosecutor just didn't want to deal with a dream team led by rusty hardin for two years going through a quitto after a quittle after a quittle because a reasonable doubt is everywhere in cases like this so this detective now a witness now called to test by at least for discovery purposes in the civil cases believe that crimes were committed and there are all sorts of things that came up in different conceptual ideas one of the big things that rusty hardin and the rest of the legal team representing Watson is pushing is this notion of a presumption of innocence that that the accused is entitled to in the investigative faith and that just bastardizes the entire concept of presumption of innocence that applies once you're charged in facing trial that doesn't apply during the investigation every cops walking around with a presumption of innocence nobody's ever getting charged with anything somebody walked in to make an accusation sorry we're presuming you're innocent you better have something more than your story well sometimes all you have is your story when it's two people in a room at the sean watson's best no witnesses no one else there the person who believes something happened that shouldn't happen goes in and tell the police this is what happened and if the people who were traded experienced in spotting credibility or lack thereof they get the credible story you go forward and if the defendant isn't going to cooperate what do you do do you drop it or do you take it to a grand jury and see what the grand jury does so i i don't i don't understand that argument i think it's disingenuous but i think this is just part of the broader effort by rusty harden to on behalf of to sean watson find a silver bullet that ultimately prevents him not just from losing these cases but from getting suspended by the nfl i i just i can't imagine at this point how he doesn't get suspended and i'm back in the camp where i think he should just be put on paid leave until these cases are over well i i i don't i don't i don't know how this is going to play out mike obviously none of us do and i don't know really what what to make of of all of this where let's put it this way i didn't see the current state of affairs playing out i always thought maybe i'm just naive that if watson was gonna play in the nfl after last year's debacle really is what it was and that that it would all be handled and settled and done and that would be done and in a rearview mirror and we would all have to sit here and wonder what was that all about and is he somebody worthy of of rooting for now he's playing he's been bestowed the greatest contract in the history of player contracts the nfl's ever get seen and this is an open sore that daily can be opened even wider every single day right i mean there's this document is here how many more depositions are yet to be taken or have been taken or is going to be put out there how is this sustainable in any way shape or form for a player to be out there every day rich you're absolutely right and look i think the browns went into this with a very simple plan we're going to take some short-term hits pr we're not going to have them available for some period of time long term we have a franchise quarterback for the next 10 years at some point this is going to be no different than it was for ben roxberger who got suspended six games reduced to four he had two complaints against him they went to the super bowl that year that he served the suspension within a year or two it was completely forgotten like it had never even happened by the time he retires you're an ass if you mention it that's how deeply it faded into the rearview mirror well that's not happening it's getting worse not better he says he wants to clear his name i think his name is ever getting cleared even if he goes 26 for 26 or 30 for 30 or more as the case may be there's too much out there it's lingered too long and it's spreading and i think that's where the browns miscalculate i think you're you're right on the money on this there are too many of these and that's what i keep coming back to rich they want to accuse tony buzzbee who represents all of these plaintiffs of being basically the pied piper the ringleader who's pulling together a bunch of maryllis if not frivolous claims and and holding it together for his own personal fame and notoriety and a big payday ultimately a third of every dollar that changes hands but here's the practical reality last october november november time frame when the dolphins were going to trade for watson they offered each of these 22 planets at the time a hundred thousand dollars 18 of them said yes i'll take it four held out watson said it's all or nothing well let's think about this if this really is tony buzzbee charlton holding together 24 and counting frivolous lawsuit how is there not any evidence being developed of these folks being indignant impatient i want my money i thought all i had to do was sign this paper and i'm going to get my money where's my money you don't have any of that nobody is stepping out of line nobody is talking out of school that's the kind of evidence that would be very persuasive to cut against the idea that we can't disregard the stories from 26 different people and until i see something like that in my mind there are too many of these accusations for there not to be fire at the bottom of all that smoke and he does such a terrible job of explaining himself to mike i mean his his quote yesterday when asked about regrets did he regret saying in the press conference in march 25th that there were you know that that he didn't disrespect any of the women right and he basically said that um his does have regrets uh as far as the impact that it's had on the community and people outside of myself and then he went on eventually to talk about who that includes and he says that includes males females everyone across the world what what does that mean right i mean so so again the reason why i keep bringing this up is because i've never seen anything like it in the 20 years that i've covered this and where does it go where does it go right i mean how how how how does he take the field in week one without something happening right that the league is good something's gonna happen between now and week week one of some sort would you agree oh it has to okay it has to the only question is is it uh an unpaid suspension that goes through the three-step process where the league proposes the suspension the disciplinary officer makes a decision on whether to what extent they'll be disciplined and then the commissioner has final say over an appeal if the outcome of the disciplinary officers proceeding is any discipline at all the only way dish dish the commissioners appeal jurisdiction is short-circuited is it the finding by retired judge sue l robinson is no discipline at all so that's one path the other path is to put paid leave back on the table i know in late march the commissioner said i probably wouldn't put him on the commissioner example let's put him on paid leave i would just suspend him at this point when i was three months ago a lot happened since then right and i've asked the league multiple times does what the commissioner said at the press conference at the league meetings in florida still stand and they they say no comment and i don't know how to interpret that but it would be very easy to say he said what he said and there's no reason for what he said did not still apply but i think paid leave makes the most sense because rich what do you do if you're the league you suspend him x number of games and then all of this other evidence comes out there's more lawsuits and it looks like you were too lenient on him do you do you do a preliminary suspension based on what we know now and you hold the door open for more later but then it still continues to hover over the nfl they don't want that the whole reason for paid leave they don't want during the broadcast of the nfl games there to be conversation about this kind of stuff they want these guys who have been involved in incidents that have resulted in serious allegations to be out of sight and out of mind and out of the mouths of the people who are broadcasting the games so paid paid leave makes the most sense by far especially since rich i believe this you put them on paid leave all of a sudden those cases move towards settlement because he's going to understand the only way i'm going to play is to get these behind me so he's going to embark on the process of getting them behind him although it's probably going to be a lot more expensive than it would have been last october well he's got the cash he's got the haslam dollars that's for sure mike florio here on the rich isin show um one other item for you i thought of you right away late last week um a report out of south uh out of south florida south florida sun sentinel dave hide says um that the dolphins had a five-year deal all ready to give to sean payton at 20 million bucks a year albert breer our friend from sports illustrated said actually it was a hundred over four and i thought of you because you were talking you've been banging the drum quite a bit about the brady uh sean payton package deal to miami are we you know certainly since brady was asked about it at his press availability last week and about any contact with miami and he didn't deny it he said you know there's i talked to a lot of people um so what do you make of all of this right now i was surprised by the reporting rich because i can tell you with one hundred percent certainty i'm not even going to leave any wiggle room in here based upon the people i've talked to over the past three months plus it was a done deal and this is how the sausage gets made in the nfl it's all pre-made and then the process plays out right the deals are in place everything's done and then the dominoes are going to fall in a very orchestrated way week of the super boat tom brady is announced as a minority owner of the dolphins thereafter sean payton is acquired by the dolphins to culminate their coaching search trade with the saints first-round pick goes to the faith sean payton goes to the dolphin at some point thereafter after the buccaneers have found a quarterback to replace tom brady tom brady decides he's not just gonna partially on the dolphins he's gonna play for the dolphin that was all in place it was all happening brian flores filed his lawsuit february 1 the same day tom brady announces retirement and the plug gets pulled but it was happening and the league have to be nervous about this story because it shows that multiple rules and policies get disregarded all the time whether it's tampering whether it's the runy rule you're gonna make your decisions and come up with your plan and then everything else is done for show to create the impression that there was compliance with these rules and look hey rich we speculated yesterday on why espn and nfl network didn't jump on this thing it's very difficult for the legal network and i don't talk to a guy who is one of the primary voices of the legal network let's face it you can't have the enrapt report on nfl network saying hey by the way the saints and the dolphins had a deal that violates follow six or seven different policies and uh and the only reason it didn't happen is because brian flores filed a lawsuit against the league and it wouldn't be good for the league's defense of that lawsuit if they went forward with it it's probably not very good for the league's defense of the lawsuit for me to be even talking about it well i mean how did so flores's lawsuit blew it up because um because they couldn't hire another coach right away is that like what why would flores's loss like what is the connective tissues to flores's lawsuit boy we got to press the panic button on this we can't do this because flores's lawsuit talks about tampering with a high-profile quarterback who was brady obviously uh bruce biel the right-hand man to steven ross is the connection back to tom brady bruce biel was going to facilitate the meeting between brady and brian flores when steven ross wanted flores to meet with him and that's in the lawsuit you've got allegations of racial bias in the lawsuit so we're going to trade for a prominent white coach and pay him twenty to twenty five million a year can't do that either everything just got rolled up into a ball at that point and thrown aside it was happening but for that lawsuit and next level cynicism is brian flores maybe filed that lawsuit when he did to keep it from happening because i remember thinking why are you why are you filing the lawsuit before the texans make their higher and before the dolphins make their higher the texans i think would hire josh mccown makes your case stronger the dolphins go forward with this sean payton trade and there's a paper trail that it was all done in advance in violation of the spirit of the renewal that makes your case stronger too i don't know maybe maybe he gave the green light to go ahead and file the lawsuit just to keep steven ross from getting the guys he wanted well and is it what before i let you go um it's in your book i believe um sean payton was going to be the next coach of the dallas cowboys as far back as 2019 uh deal but why is anthony davis the basketball player the the star anthony davis involved in this where do he how does he play into that mickey lumis was the vp of basketball operations for the pelicans at the time mickey lumis has been the gm of the saints for years the deal was done all set up ahead of time you get you get the ducks in a row ahead of time and then jerry jones fires jason garrett then jerry jones engages in a search for a coach that complies with the letter in the spirit of the running rule and then at the end of the day well let's just trade for sean payton that was how i was going to play out but just as they're getting ready to implement the plan anthony davis says i want out of new orleans and mickey lumis tell sean payton at that point i can't be the common thread between two of these new orleans icons leaving i can't be responsible for that so we just can't do it and that ended it in 2019 and that's why everybody's watching the cowboys now going forward payton's going to be the hottest name on the coaching carousel next year and he's already been talking to panthers i think the cowboys will be in play and you know there's a way that the the planet's lined up where it's a team that needs a quarterback and a coach and maybe this brittany and payton thing happens after all somewhere else do it do it do i at least get florio credit for bringing the story up on the rich isin show even though i am the face and voice of the nfl network do i at least get something where i'm coming from the news gathering standpoint pushing that for that story forward working on that story it potentially creates all sorts of problems for 345 you can't do it you just can't do it well the news gathering people can't do it well we'll see we'll see how uh if i've got a red light on my uh on my voicemail when i hang up from you no it's funny i had a phone call yesterday from the main switchboard at 345 park avenue i missed the call i've never gotten that call before i had no idea who was on the other end of that call because anybody else in the league office who wants to find me to have like cell phones and email sure i'm still very curious i don't know um 345 maybe the main switchboard was trying to track me down maybe that's why roger asked me for your phone number i don't know check check it out thanks for the call mike you're talking about okay there's mike florio pro football talk right here on the rich isin show i know we got to get the break but i have so many so many questions so that's why we that's why we have a segment after the break that's coming up next right here on the rich isin show you got many questions we'll try and answer them i've got a question for you too back when we come back calloway just didn't create their longest irons ever with the new rogue st they made their longest irons ever perform at the highest level for every player the rogue st irons i've been telling you about and that you should go check out right now at calloway golf.com go rogue they come in four different offerings each model uses artificial intelligence on high strength 450 still it's the only irons ever to do so bottom line though is there is a style of rogue st irons built for your game the rogue st max is the most popular iron of the bunch because of its ability to fit the games of the widest range of players combination of speed forgiveness all-around performance low to mid single digit handicappers there's a rogue st pro for you the max os is calloway's best game improvement model and the max os light is their most forgiving high launch iron it's for players with slower swings swing speed so no other irons perform like the new rogue st irons find your rogue st irons at calloway golf.com go rogue talking a lot of golf in hour number three rick riley is going to be here in studio his new book so help me golf where all books can be acquired you said you had questions chris brockman um about mike florio's appearance what do you got on that do you think that this brady dolphins sean payton thing is not a big time national story it feels like the only people really talking about it are us and the people of south florida is because no one at espn has really ran with it well um i think you know and i know florio was saying no one at nfl networks uh touched it either because of how touchy a subject it is for an owner and a team or what have you and you know obviously i'll always push back on that sentiment i've never been ever since honestly we talk about everything here on this show i've never gotten a single call saying we might want to stop with that one of course but adam shafter and jeff darlington i think part of the reason why and part of the reason why people aren't running is it's brady's involved it's brady who's involved and so they weren't afraid to falsely report that he's retiring well they didn't falsely report it they was they actually reported it and it happened so that's the accurate he didn't actually say the word retirement he said he was stepping away from the game that's not a retirement well as it turned out it was somebody didn't retire look i i mean part of it also is is um the fact that two very powerful players in this league in brady and payton have moved on they've done they've gone on to other different things but only because of the brian flores lawsuit like you heard mike say this is this was a done deal he was going to be the dolphins quarterback and part owner and sean payton was going to be paid probably more than bill belicheck to be the head coach which is crazy that would have been wild man it would have been it would have been part and parcel of the whole hell going on month of march if brady unretired and and said you know what the minute the minute the buccaneers went and filled that role he'd say you know what i want to play again so the bucks would be more inclined to make a deal and strike a deal and then a first round pick because they would have had to have traded for sean payton it's it's it's bananas well i mean brady could wind up still in ownership of the miami dolphins anyway do you think fox would have a problem with him being an owner of a team and and being in the booth of course not that nice of course not right i mean i i they'll still be happy to have brady in the booth i don't think i think brady could absolute the only thing that brady can't do uh when he's the lead analyst for fox on the nfl on foxes also play quarterback that he can't do right but he can absolutely still be the uh a minority owner of the miami dolphins i don't think the fox would have a problem with that would you would you listen to brady less call the games of a miami dolphin game i mean everybody knows i don't think he would be put on dolphins games but maybe not maybe not i think brady becoming an owner seems incredibly likely i i think he can afford it i think he can absolutely afford it yeah it was just kind of struck me it's like espn really hasn't been covering this at all and i think that's why it's not well it's also i think very difficult to confirm it because nobody is probably talking about it and you know bottom line is the reason why things aren't reported completely out is because folks don't have the information nailed down but florio sure does that's why he likes talking about it he's pinned it to the top of pro football talk doris burke coming up hour number two db i got a question for you what do you got i've noticed today you've come dressed in his shirt that i only see the letters as oh i know what that okay cash okay i see as and that could go in any direction okay why what's with cash what is that that's actually i bought this when we were in nashville at the johnny cash museum oh very good so you just walk around with a shirt that says cash and we could read into it i like to wear it in las vegas feels like it's cash it feels like it's good that'd be good very good so what were you guessing um i i thought there could be another s i could have been another ass should i just open this up i don't know man it just says as people can see it could be something as you know anything else that could have gone in any direction and i was very very you know normally i only ask questions i already know the answer yeah i don't want to uh i didn't want to very fearful what fun is that what asking questions only asking questions you know the answer well i mean it's it's it is still fun i mean i can still get the question out see knowing the answer is compelling and you've never heard the answer this is why i could not tell you guys about the price is right because i needed those reactions to be authentic i didn't want you to know and then have to guess or pretend like you didn't know well let me just say this the reason why i say those things is i only ask questions i already know the answer to um clearly you know when i'm asking mike florio questions i don't know the answer to them i want to know the answer to them but when i ask a question like say of mariuchi hey that one time that you called a time out in a game you were blowing somebody out i already know the answer to the question he did it because he wanted to take a take a photograph with steve young and i got that story out and steve had never heard that story and then he came on this show you know so sometimes i ask questions i already know the answer to on purpose because a lot of folks may not know the answer to it and i think it's very compelling i understand that i do that a lot from this seat rich what do you do sometimes i will ask something that i already know the answer to just because i figure someone out there might not but i want you guys to elaborate you got an example of that uh the shotgun thing with golf remember or the step up yesterday chris you were like you didn't know what a step-up ceremony is i mean you do i well it's not hard to figure it out i don't think you said you said your children had a step-up ceremony for school you literally thought it involved a uh a movie that i had no tatum no i said the chaining tatum movie that i had no idea why that i believe it was magic mike that's the step up 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 shay stadium in japan wherever they went that was an attraction something to wrestle with bruce prichard listen wherever you get your podcasts