REShow: Hour 1

This is the Rich Eisen Show.

Goats have home lives too. Live from the Rich Eisen Show Studio in Los Angeles. Rich Eisen. Hello Rich Eisen. Rich Eisen. Oh that's Susie Eisen's husband. The Rich Eisen Show. And now, sitting in for Rich, here's Dan Schwartzman.

That is correct. Day two of me filling in for Rich. It is the holiday week. 2022, about to be in the rearview mirror. 2023, hopefully going to be a much better year for all of us.

Unless you had a great 2022, although coming out of COVID, not sure that's the case. Art Martinez, he is back. I'm taking a day off yesterday. Welcome back, Art. Good to have you here. Yeah, I've been working a lot.

I needed to take it off. Yeah, it's good to have you work once in a while. Nice to have you here.

Really is. Hopefully you've had a nice holiday season, my friend, and Santa was good to you, was he? Do you get anything for, you know what, like you're not a kid obviously anymore. No. Do you still get any gifts? What I wanted was a GT500 Mustang parked in my garage, but I didn't get it. Santi didn't deliver, huh? No, no.

Well, I guess I wasn't a good boy. Well, you know, the problem is, it's hard to fit one of those on a sleigh, right? And today, those reindeer probably are part of a union and they have weight requirements of what they can and can't carry. So, it probably was a bit over what they are allocated to carry.

It's a little heavy. Yeah, so probably what happened is due to the fact that that is not written into the contract, they were not able to deliver your Mustang as much as you wanted one. Makes sense? I think that makes sense.

That makes sense. They could have dropped off a voucher and said come pick it up, right? That would have worked. Yeah, that would have worked, yeah.

Art Martinez flying to the North Pole to pick up his Mustang, that would have been something. Honestly, that would have been incredible. That would have been a fun trip, actually. Yeah, I would have been impressed. I would have taken you along.

Right? I would have gone. But then what do I get out of it? A trip to the North Pole to freeze? It's cold enough here on the East Coast. Do I really need to go to the North Pole?

There would have been a lot of alcohol involved, too, though. Well, you're paying for it if you get the Mustang, right? Because I get nothing out of it.

Although, I'll tell you what, the older I get, the lighter my beers get. That's kind of how life has become for me. Well, road trip, you know. Road tripping. I think it would be a fun road trip, man. I would have enjoyed that. I didn't enjoy it. Well, the phone was ringing. I had to get the phone there. 760 horsepower for the GT500s.

Excuse me? 760 horsepower? Yeah, they're supercharged. Why do you need that? Like, what are you going to do? I'm going to do with 760 horsepower.

Especially on the LA freeway. You know, you can't do it. It won't work.

Well, it's like this. My wife needs to buy a new laptop. Yeah, I guess to say you have it under the hood. My wife needed a new laptop and she insists on buying Apple products, right? She's shopping for a laptop and she uses her laptop for just basic work stuff. Email, she's not editing videos or audio, anything like that. She doesn't play video games. They're just basic computer usage.

Surfing the web, emails, things like that. And she's like, buying this really nice laptop. And I go to her, I go, hon, you do realize that for what you need a laptop for, you are way above what you actually need. Like, you don't need this.

So I was able to at least get her to curtail it a little bit downwards to something more reasonable. Because again, if you're not going to play video games while, you know, uploading, you know, audio files, whatever it might be, you don't need a supercharged computer. Same kind of concept here. You know what? 400 horsepower is a lot of horsepower.

760 is just overkill. But then again, if you had that art, I would probably go with this, you know, spin with you there because I'd like to see kind of how it feels. Because I'm sure it'd be a heck of a, heck of a ride. Zero to 60 in about five seconds. Or excuse me, like 2.5 seconds is probably more like it. Or 0.5 seconds with 760 horsepower under the hood.

All right, I do want to get into something yesterday. Luka Doncic is ridiculously good. We know that, right? Since day one, he comes into the league, he dominated the EuroLeague, put up numbers in a league where most people don't put up big numbers. And right then and there, we probably should have thought this guy's going to be a superstar.

And of course, there were the people that said, well, you know, it doesn't really translate. We don't know what he's going to be when he gets to the NBA. In fact, the Atlanta Hawks drafted Luka Doncic. We forget that. He was actually drafted by the Atlanta Hawks.

And then in a draft day trade, he was dealt to the Mavericks for Trae Young, who was drafted by the Mavericks originally, and I believe a draft pick was involved as well. Okay, so what is the word on all these European, even in the NBA and the NHL, what is the word on all these European players? They're soft. Yeah, he's not soft, though. You know, but you know what? No, he's not. But here's the problem with that, okay? It's such an outdated definition.

You're right, Art. That is what people say when you talk about Euro players. They're soft, they're finesse type of players.

But look at the guys that have come into the NBA from Europe, right? I mean, Dirk Nowitzki was not soft, okay? Alex Ovechkin's not soft.

Ovechkin's not. Well, he's also 6'5", 240. I mean, he's built like a linebacker. No one's messing with him. But he's not soft. You know, you look at guys like, you know, Joel Embiid.

He'll get in there and bang around, right? I mean, he's African, but still, I mean, the foreign international players kind of get a reputation of being soft players. You're right, finesse guys. And that's so not the case.

It's not. Yeah, back in the day, sure. But I think the European style of basketball today mirrors the NBA. Because if you're not willing to get somewhat physical, you're probably not going to succeed in the league. So everybody is adapted to the style of playing the NBA and they're playing like that. Although I'll tell you what, the European players can shoot better because they actually learn how to shoot in Europe, while in America, no one shoots the basketball anymore.

That's a true point. Yeah, no one shoots the basketball. Everybody, it's about fancy dunks and layups and things like that.

And in Europe, they're actually taking shots. So you still have this outdated definition of Euro players and it hurts these guys to a point. Luka Doncic is an absolute superstar. He's a top three player in this league.

There's no doubt about it. His career trajectory is heading to being the greatest European player to ever play the game in America, more than Dirk. Now, obviously Dirk has longevity and Luke has got to do it for a long time. But if he continues doing what he's doing, he will be the greatest player to come out of Europe. And he's going to be one of the greatest players in the history of the game.

Last night, he did something that's never been done before. He had a triple double and the first triple double in history where somebody scored 60 or more points. Doncic puts up 60 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists in an overtime game against the Knicks.

And by the way, misses a free throw on purpose and then scores on 11 foot putback with one second remaining to tie it up to send it to overtime where Dallas wins the game. The only people in history to do a 50 point 20 rebound triple double? Elgin Baylor and a guy named Wilt Chamberlain who did it twice. Chamberlain scored 53 once. He scored 51 the other time. Elgin Baylor scored 52. Luka put up 60. Magic or MJ never did it?

No. Well MJ didn't have the rebounding numbers. And what's funny is, you look at Luka Doncic and he's not exactly, you know, he's not a Greek god, right? He's kind of got a soft body. He's like Zion Williamson to a point, you know?

There's some extra meat on that body, you know? But somehow he carries his six, seven, 230 pound frame to where he's nimble. He can shoot.

Everybody knows he's getting the basketball, but yet he continues to dominate. And this is a guy that, you know, think about the luck, right? Like people look at the Green Bay Packers and say, wow, how lucky that they didn't have to go through a quarterback search when they went from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers. Although Aaron Rodgers sat for a long time.

He sat three years, yeah. But there was no guarantee that when Aaron Rodgers finally took over as a starting quarterback, he turned out to be one of the greatest quarterbacks in history and in fact be a better quarterback than Brett Favre. And have a bad attitude.

And have a bad attitude and terrible hair. But like the fact is, you're talking about a, what, a 30 year run of success at the quarterback position for the Green Bay Packers? Other teams like my Jets are still searching. The Chicago Bears, depending on what you think of Justin Fields, still searching.

For decades. The Las Vegas Raiders are still searching. Yeah, but teams would kill for Derek Carr, by the way, being a guy for 10 years. You know, that's how crazy this league is. And if you look at the Dallas Mavericks going from the greatest European player in history, Dirk Nowitzki, with really no break between to potentially the next greatest player in the history of Europe coming to the NBA, Luka Doncic. Right?

Think about that. I mean, it's unbelievable how good this guy is. And every night he just brings it. Honestly, it's incredible.

It is. The guy's putting up, what, almost 34 points a game this year. Almost 9 rebounds, 9 assists. He's shooting over 50% from the field. It's stunning. And I love watching him play.

This is year 5. Will you give him the trophy now? Give him the MVP trophy now?

Ah, you can't. You know, durability. Let's see his durability. Is he gonna play, you know, 75 games? He's never played over 62 games in a season.

And that was his rookie year. You look around the league right now, you got some incredible players. I mean, you know, Joel Embiid's putting up close to 34 points a game.

You talk about other guys. You know, Giannis is always gonna be in that discussion for MVP, right? He's already won two MVPs. He's in that discussion yet again. He's putting up ridiculous numbers. 31 points, 11 rebounds. Jason Tatum's having a great season. Duranzo is there. You know, it's hard to... Westbrook? Oh, man.

Oh, that's up to them. I'm a Laker fan. I know you're a Laker fan.

That's a tough one there. You know, Nikola Jokic has won two straight MVPs, right? And this year, what's he doing?

It's not like he's gotten any worse. He wins an MVP with 26.5 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists. Wins it again with 27 points, almost 14 rebounds and 8 assists. This year, 25 points, 11 rebounds and 9.5 assists a game. Oh, and he's shooting 62% from the field. So it's like Nikola Jokic is once again in the discussion for league MVP.

I mean, think about that. You win it two years in a row and it's not like you have a drop off this year. Pretty hard to not give it to a guy for a third year in a row, though he's probably not going to win it for a third year in a row, but you never know. He's almost averaging a triple-double a game. He's 6'11", about 300 pounds, and he's almost at 10 assists per game. And by the way, another Euro player. It's amazing, right, how when you look at the NBA today, you know, between Joel Embiid, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, I mean, Pascal Siakam, a lot of talent from overseas playing in the NBA today. Lori Marken is putting up 23 points a game.

You got a lot of talent. Giannis Antetokounmpo, right? Well, you could tell in the Olympics, I mean, they caught up to us. They have caught up to us. Yeah, yeah. Three out of the top five scores in the NBA today, foreign players.

Embiid 1, Doncic 2, Shea Gilgus Alexander, he's American, he's at number 3, Giannis is at 4, and Jason Tatum is at 5. It's incredible. It really is. It's fun to watch. I like it.

To be honest, I like it. I like to have the international flavor because I like to see a league that truly has the best players in the world, right? Like, I remember the NBA was still somewhat closed. You had that guy out of Brazil, and we're about the same age, and they had a guy named Oscar Schmidt, and he would dominate in the Olympics, and everybody would always say he's the best player not playing in America. And he played in the Brazilian league for years upon years, and I guess he was happy there, but today, if you're that good, you come to the NBA, showcase your talents, and clearly the European players and foreign-born players aren't suffering playing in the best league in the world.

Not at all. And then leagues, the EuroLeague and teams playing in Spain, Madrid and Barcelona, Israel, places like that, I'll tell you what, those are great training grounds for what you're seeing today in the NBA. And the NBA has scouts in all of these leagues.

Absolutely, yeah. Teams have scouts who live overseas, and they scout. And look, guys are drafted very high now coming out of Europe and other countries. Now, most of these guys, though, also don't forget, a lot of these guys do play either a year of high school or they play some college ball in America.

They come over and play, right? We've had that happen as well. Like Joel Embiid, of course, is not from America, but he did play at Kansas before being drafted. But I'll tell you what, man, it's awesome, but what we saw from Lukadonkic yesterday was just epic. 60 points, 21 rebounds, 10 assists, and if you thought he was a top player in the league before this, well, clearly he continues to be a top player getting actually better. As hard as it is to think that a guy could get better, he gets better. There's the proof last night. There's the proof last night. I mean, it is unbelievable.

Think about this, right? He's a three-time All-NBA First Team player. The only time he was not an All-NBA First Team player was his rookie year. I'm going to step out on a limb here, Art, and say that he's probably going to get it for a fourth year in a row. How many guys have a resume of being the Rookie of the Year and then being, in their first five years in the league, four straight All-NBA First Team selections?

I mean, that is unbelievable and unheard of. And you look at that draft today, right? Coming out in 2018, DeAndre Ayton goes number one. Decent player. Marvin Bagley III goes number two.

Come on! Luka goes number three. Jaron Jackson for Trae Young goes number five. Unbelievable. Really is incredible if you think about it.

DeAndre Ayton and Marvin Bagley are going to go down as the two guys drafted ahead of Luka Doncic. Not a great place to be, but that's what it's going to be. Alright, make sure to find the latest and greatest audio entertainment on Audible. It's got everything you want to hear, including the Rich Eisen Show. Along with podcasts, you'll also find audiobooks and exclusive originals. We're talking comedy, sports stories, deep dives with athletes and entertainers, business, and anything else you're into. With Audible, you get access to thousands of included titles with more added every week. Listen on the road at the gym or anywhere you want to fuel up your imagination.

Join and get 30 days free at the home of storytelling, audible.com. Alright, we're going to get into that little NFL talk. Why not? It's what? Week 16 of the season coming up. That's unbelievable. Mike Pritchard joins us next.

We are just underway on a Wednesday. I'm Dan Schwartzman in for Rich. It is, of course, the Rich Eisen Show. What's Right with Nick Wright is a rapidly growing podcast from the Fox Sports Podcast Network. You may know Nick Wright from co-hosting FS1's First Things First. This podcast gives Nick a chance to develop, deep dive, and defend his sharpest opinions. During the show, Nick faces off against a ticking clock, a team of producers, and even his own family to try and get his points across.

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Paid for by NHTSA. On a Tuesday, NFL week 16 of the season. Yes, right? Week 16? Why are we week 17 right now? I can't keep track. It just keeps rolling along. It's week 17.

Amazing, right? Over four months in the NFL season. A lot of teams alive for the playoffs. AFC playoff picture is somewhat crazy right now. My jets, who I thought were dead after losing four in a row, have a legit shot of actually still making the playoffs as crazy as it is.

The Raiders making a move, as have the Washington commanders. Let's bring on Mike Pritchard, former NFL player, now the lead analyst, NFL analyst at Vison, joining us. Mike, first off, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to you and your family. Happy Holidays, Dan. Great to be with you. Thank you, Mike.

Appreciate it. Now let's get into the quarterback situation, the carousel. The Las Vegas Raiders, looks like they are now going to be benching Derek Carr. I guess if he gets hurt in the last two games, it kind of guarantees money or something. Is this signaling the end of his tenure at the Raiders? I think so. That's the talk in Las Vegas right now, whether or not that decision should be made in terms of, do you play Derek Carr in the final two games and risk injury because then you trigger the guarantees of his contract.

Especially if you're exploring, making the change or going in a different direction. The Raiders feel like they're not in the playoffs at this point. They're sitting down. Paraman is a good line back and forth.

They're sitting down. Chandler Jones as well. It's just like that turnover, right? When you get a new coach and maybe you want to go in a different direction. But the key decision is going to come down to Derek Carr at quarterback position. Derek Carr has not elevated himself to a position in which it looks viable for the Raiders to proceed with him at quarterback. So that discussion is ongoing and I'm curious to see what happens at the end of the week against San Francisco. Is he a guy that will be highly sought after this offseason if the Raiders decide to let him go?

You know what? And I think so because he's a more than capable quarterback. He really is. Uh, and especially if you look at the landscape, I mean the NFC is littered with backup quarterbacks right now, uh, because of injuries and just lack of play, like lack of great play. But Derek Carr is better than a significant number of quarterbacks in the league. It's just to be determined because he hasn't won a playoff game in terms of what his feeling is.

I personally think he's hit a ceiling, uh, watching him out here in Las Vegas over the last three years and previous to that in Oakland. Uh, it just seems like he's hit a ceiling and it doesn't matter the coordinator, right? Uh, it doesn't matter John Gruden.

It doesn't matter, uh, uh, Joshua Daniels. I mean, these are offensive gurus, but the quarterback still is the same type of player. So, but in the answer to your question directly, yeah, I think there's going to be a number of teams that are going to be interested in Derek Carr, but I don't know at a $40 million numbers though. And that's what we're looking at with Derek Carr and his guaranteed contracts. No, absolutely.

That's a lot of money. You're absolutely right. But if you're like the New York Jets, for instance, and listen, Mike, I've been a suffering jet fan for 35 years and I have some gray hairs because of it. And Zach Wilson clearly is not the answer there. Maybe he's the answer somewhere else. Change of scenery, less pressure might do it for him because he does have ability, but think about what they have talent wise, right? They're going to add probably some pieces to the offensive line.

Makai Becton may be back next year. It's actually, New York has become a destination, I think, if you're a veteran quarterback looking to potentially win. Because I think the Jets may be a quarterback away and maybe one draft, one free agency away from truly being a team that could be good enough to, dare I say it, get to a Super Bowl. Does a Derek Carr change their fortunes? It's possible.

It's possible, but I don't know what the expectations would be. Like I talked about how Derek Carr has hit a ceiling, right? If the expectations are for Derek Carr to be better or be different than he has been, then I think that fans are going to be disappointed by that. If they're just looking for a gay manager type of quarterback and somebody who's not going to make a ton of mistakes, going to be playing the position at a conservative level, if that's what the Jets want, then yeah, I think Derek Carr could be that guy. I think he could handle the scrutiny. I think he could handle the market.

And that's really been the question. Hell, I lost to Testa Verde back in the day when I was with the Seattle Seahawks, right? And I know about the quarterback situation there in New York, the history of it anyway. So I just wonder what expectations would be like for Derek Carr, and therefore I would pump the brakes a little bit. If I'm the Jets, I'm looking for the best quarterback they can find. It's hard to do that for a free agency. It's going to be tough to go back into the draft as well. But if you're thinking about availability, if you think about a number of quarterbacks, Jimmy G is going to be out there as well. I mean, Tom Brady is going to be out there, right? Why cut yourself off at the kneecaps there? Why don't you go to the top and go after Tom Brady?

I mean, especially if you want to change things out there in New York. Well, there's another name out there as well, Mike, and that is, of course, Lamar Jackson. He hasn't agreed to a new contract.

And I'll be honest with you, like, this is how I read the situation, Mike. You can agree or disagree with me, but I think when you look at his style of play, longevity may not be in his future, right? I mean, he is obviously a quarterback that, you know, it opens up his passing abilities because of the fact that he's such a threat to run.

He's one of the greatest running quarterbacks we've ever seen. If you're Baltimore, are you nervous to give him five years, 250 plus million dollars, when he has been more banged up recently than he has earlier in his career? Do you think that's the debate that's going on behind closed doors to say, do we really want to give him that type of contract? We're not sure in terms of health, how long he's going to stay healthy.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think it's the style of play, like you mentioned, but then also the upside. Like, I thought Lamar Jackson was evolving into a pocket passer and the irony of the situation is he gets hurt, his knee, avoiding a sack situation as opposed to being a runner, right? I think if you, Lamar Jackson, he's an incredible athlete. You know, he throws to a lesser athlete when he's passing the ball, he hands the ball to a lesser athlete as well.

He's that incredible. Yeah, I think Baltimore is uncomfortable guaranteeing that type of money to anybody. And I think the entire league is uncomfortable with that. You know, Deshaun Watson and what Cleveland did was unprecedented and certainly it made a lot of people uncomfortable in that regard. So they don't want to go down that road.

They don't want to go further down that road, if you will. And that's what has been holding up this Lamar Jackson thing. Now, the injury does not help Lamar Jackson in his, I guess, his, you know, when you're trying to negotiate a contract and certainly his leverage that way. But, you know, what Baltimore is going to do, I believe they're going to try to get a contract. They're also going to try to franchise a guy and you wonder if the chance comes through in which another team will say, you know what, it's great you're going to franchise them, but, you know, we're going to go after Lamar Jackson anyway.

That possibly could happen. Chat with Mike Pritchard, lead NFL analyst at Vison here on the Rich Eisen Show. Dan Schwartzman in for Rich on this Tuesday. Is it a panic move by the Washington commanders? They are in that playoff hunt in the NFC. They're switching from Taylor Heinecky back to Carson Wentz.

Is that a move you would have made? Yeah, I mean, Heinecky goes so far, right? Heinecky, he does have a clutch gene. I can respect that. And he's a gunslinger.

I can respect that too. But, you know, the pressure is mounting and Washington's up against it in terms of trying to make the playoffs and Heinecky stepped in and did a great job. But to be honest with you, the commanders started to run the ball well.

They started getting after you defensively. But the turnovers have really held them back. You watch that game against 49ers, the back to back turnovers that did them in. Carson Wentz in this role gives them a chance because he's been under pressure. He's been under pressure too if you think about his career right now.

And he's a guy that you would think could handle it better than Heinecky at this point. He might give a lift to the guys in the locker room too. And I think when you make that change, that's what you're looking for as a head coach.

You want that energy, you want that lift, you want that confidence level higher with everybody in that locker room. And I think Carson Wentz will give you the best chance to do that. But what is it about Carson Wentz? He seemed to be the guy that Philadelphia was searching for to be the quarterback of the future. He got off to a great start there, beloved by the fans. And then things just kind of went south, right? And then he goes to Indianapolis. Everybody thought that's the perfect situation.

He's back with Frank Reich, who of course was part of his success in Philadelphia. That didn't work out. And really the exit from there was not pretty.

And a lot of things were said. Goes to Washington, they give up what a second round pick for him to bring him in. And that hasn't worked out as well. Maybe this is the change. Is it him? Is it something he's doing on the field? Why is it that Carson Wentz seemingly is bouncing around the league when he clearly does have talent? Yeah, you know, it's tough, Dan, to be that leader, to be that alpha when you are jumping around the league.

I think he had a great opportunity and envy. But what happened with training camp and the foot injury and the surgery and the lack of time at training camp, the lack of cohesion, the lack of the ability to be that leader in that locker room. And then it didn't play out well on the field, too.

And then you have Ursay. Let's just say to the guy, the guy, I don't know what he's looking for, to be honest with you, right? A quarterback. And that was just an unfortunate situation. But we've seen the Colts just crumble after that. So I wouldn't put it all on Carson Wentz now at Washington when you are on your next team, your third team, if you will.

And do you have a chance to win over that locker room? It didn't seem like he did. Then he had the injury. His style of play, too, presents more opportunities for him to get injured. He's not as mobile as we thought he was. He's a great athlete. But for whatever reason, his mobility is compromised at times.

And he takes on hits, right? He doesn't have a clutch team either because we haven't seen him really make those important passes late in games and come from behind victories and things like that. So there's just been a pause button often on Carson Wentz.

But here's a great opportunity to race all that, right? I mean, go out there and play a great game. And then win over the locker room like I think he can play that alpha and maybe he finds a home, finally, with Washington.

But again, go back to the beginning. The Washington franchise has not really been a stable franchise either. So a lot of times from a player's perspective, and that's what I'm giving here, you have other layers to go through on top of the fact that you have to play at a high level on the field. Can you win back a locker room? And I say that because it looks like Zach Wilson's another guy that lost the locker room in New York. He lost the wide receiver room. Mike White, who doesn't have the talent level, no question about that, but seemingly has more heart, has won that locker room. If you're Zach Wilson, are you at the point where it's probably over in New York once you lose the locker room?

You know, I don't know if he realizes it or not, and that's scary because I thought at the podium he didn't handle himself well. Obviously, a smug nature, if you will, from Zach Wilson, and that's never a good thing. If one thing, yeah, you can be an All-Star, you can be this great player in college, but when you get to the National Football League, that situation will humble you. And you have to evolve, you have to get better, you have to have the willingness to get better, and to realize you need to get better, and that's where the respect will come from. Right now, Zach has zero respect, and that's a detriment. That will hold him back.

He's got a long road, in my opinion, to earn that back. And once he does, the talent is there. You can see the talent. It's everything else around the talent, though. He reminds me so much of like a Jeff George earlier on in his career, right? But at some point, I hope for Zach, and I hope for a lot of young quarterbacks, they start to realize you're the best thing since sliced bread in college, but in the National Football League, you're just another piece of bread, right? And you have to prove yourself to be that good.

So I hope he gets it, and again, a lot of other younger players, mentally, they need to get it on that level as well. Mike, you've been around this league for pretty much your entire life. Have you seen anything more bizarre than what has happened with Russell Wilson this year in Denver?

I have not. I think the league, a lot of owners have come up to this notion, Dan, that free agent quarterbacks, or you can trade for a franchise quarterback, and it's supposed to work out. Peyton Manning was a unique situation.

Like, go back to Ursa. He cut the guy because of all the surgeries and the Star Wars numbers, right? But Peyton Manning still had football to go. You think about Tom Brady, that contract situation, they parted ways. He still wanted to play.

Belichick thought, okay, it's time to cut ties with Tom Brady. That's a unique situation, though. Same thing with Matt Stafford, trading him to the Rams.

I mean, that is a unique situation. Look at Matt Stafford now in terms of his career in the future. The notion that you can trade for a quarterback, a franchise quarterback, that a team no longer works and all of a sudden is going to get better for you, I think owners need to wake up to that.

You know, those guys I mentioned before are outliers. Russell Wilson, the new coach, the fairly new GM, that was a recipe for disaster anyway, in my opinion. I thought the Broncos were highly overrated, but, you know, the Broncos went for it.

They bought into it, and unfortunately for them, this year they suffered for it. But you know what, Mike? When you watch him play, you know, he had 10 years of a Hall of Fame career in Seattle, and now you hear the whispers that Seattle did see a decline, and Pete Carroll, you know, proved to be a Hall of Fame coach by masking that decline. Is it something with him? When you watch him, right, is it physical? Do you see something where you're like, yeah, that's just not the same guy? Or is it a scheme situation where he just doesn't fit? It's all the above.

It's all the above. Yeah, it really is. I watched it and certainly covered Russell in college. I had the fortunate opportunity to broadcast a game that was UNLV versus Wisconsin, and I saw Russell Wilson in college. And, you know, a dynamic player, and you thought of him as a baseball player with the delivery, but he was a great athlete.

He would run with the football and scamper and score touchdowns and use his legs. When he got to Seattle, he fit in. He fit in with the culture, the competition, and he won over people because he had to earn it. You know, he wasn't a first round draft choice and certainly wasn't anointed to starting quarterback, but he earned it. But that was Pete Carroll's culture back in the day.

The Legion of Boom was birthed from that in terms of you got to compete each and every Wednesday for your job, let alone playing at a high level on Sundays when we go out there on game day. But for some reason, and I know the reasons, I mean, you get the notoriety, you get the fame, you get the money, and then you change. You know, you start surrounding your people that tell you the right things, the things that you want to hear.

You don't hear the criticism. You don't listen to coaching anymore because you're no longer coachable. And to me, that's Russell Wilson in a nutshell. And that went to Denver. And unfortunately for Denver, they had a head coach in which he wanted to buddy up to Russell as opposed to say, look, no, it doesn't work that way.

That's a great point. I think, yeah, I think Denver acquiesced so much to Russell and fed his ego. So you got a massive ego and a quarterback that doesn't know how to get back to what we saw earlier on in his career.

And I hope that is not true. I hope that he can find that path back to being that fantastic player. But a lot of times when you get skewed the way it is with Russell and you're surrounded with handlers and people that tell you, you are great and don't give you criticism, then I don't know how you repair that, to be honest with you. Former NFL player, lead NFL analyst at Visa now, Mike Pritchard, joining us here on the Rich Eisen Show. Dan Schwartzman in for Rich. Two attack by Lowe, another concussion.

He is at this point, I would say, indefinitely out. Scary situation, Mike. Has this been mishandled by not just the Dolphins, but the league in your mind? Mostly the Dolphins. I mean, you know, the Dolphins and the doctors surrounding that organization, you have to keep a close eye on Tua for him to land on the back of his head again. And for you guys to not identify that or the Dolphins to identify that, I don't know what's going on out there.

I don't. I mean, it's beyond belief what's going on down there with that franchise. I mean, the league needs to involve themselves a little bit more, obviously. I know some of the rules and some of the rough and the passive penalties that we've seen this year was a result of what we saw with Tua and the aftermath of that. But for him to suffer another concussion, I mean, obviously, I mean, I've been knocked out before and I had to spend the night in the hospital and I wasn't right for three to four weeks.

And I was playing wide receiver. But as a quarterback, and he landed on the back of your head, one, is he putting air in his helmet? Two, is he wearing a mouthpiece? And then, okay, is he subjected to being on the field when he's not supposed to be? I mean, to me, that's negligence from the part of the Dolphins franchise.

Last question. J.J. Watt calling it quits at the end of this year. When you think about his career, what comes to mind? Phenomenal player. A big guy playing on the edge reminded me of my days watching Reggie White. As a big guy dominating from the edge, right? Run or pass, it didn't matter. In fact, you think about the Aaron Donalds of the world, the bigger guys that are playing interior D-line and the movement that they have.

You can attribute that to J.J. Watt because in a 3-4 defensive end or whether or not he played in a 4-3 and even a defensive tackle at times, the guy was just a phenomenal force on that side of the ball. So a great, great career. He's only 33. He's got so much fun in front of him.

Unbelievable, yeah. So happy for him, but certainly five years from now, we're going to be watching him going to Kent. Absolutely. No question about it. All-time great. Injuries did rob a little bit of just enjoying it even longer, but what a comeback year for him. Half a sack away from double digits this season. Really incredible.

Mike Pritchard, former NFL player, currently a lead NFL analyst at Visa. Mike, again, happy New Year to you and your family and appreciate the time. Happy New Year to you and your family. Make it a great one and thanks so much for the invite. It was awesome. Thank you, Mike.

Appreciate it, man. Great stuff there, Mike Pritchard. And he's right. I mean, dominating player. J.J. Watt, healthy. Dominating.

That four-year stretch where he won, what, three NFL Defensive Player of the Year, twice had 20-and-a-half sacks in a season. Unbelievable. Unstoppable. Unstoppable player. Not a single weakness.

And the only thing that robbed him was injuries, really, for a good portion of the last, like, six years or so. Don't forget, you can listen to the NFL and the NFL app on westwoodonesports.com via Westwood One Station streams or by asking Alexa to open Westwood One Sports. If it's the NFL, it's on Westwood One.

A lot of NFL talk coming up next. Dan Schwartz has been in for Rich Eisen on a Tuesday. It's the Rich Eisen Show.

46 past the hour it is. Dan Schwartz has been in for Rich Eisen, the Rich Eisen Show, on a Tuesday holiday week for most people leading into 2023. You can always be a part of the show, 844204rich.

That's 8442047424. Give us a ring, maybe we'll get a couple of good comments from you out there. Talking to NFL, great job from Mike Pritchard, lead NFL analyst at VISA. Also, I remember watching him as a wide receiver in the league for a long time as well. But a lot of quarterback situations out there. And we could have another big carousel of quarterbacks coming up this offseason. I mean, well, Russell Wilson can't go anywhere because he obviously has a contract that prohibits that. But who knows about Tua Tagovailoa's health next year? Is he going to be able to play next year? The Dolphins are going to be in the market for a quarterback. I know the Raiders are. How about Lamar Jackson in silver and black? But that brings up an interesting point. And it's a point that Mike and I talked about. Do you feel comfortable giving Lamar Jackson a massive contract?

Yes. Why? Because he's Lamar Jackson. Yeah, but Lamar Jackson... It's a dynamic that the Raiders have never seen before. And what's going to happen is he's going to give you 12 games a year and then he's going to be banged up for the playoffs. That's what's going to happen. You're telling me you're going to trust Lamar Jackson with his style of play to stay upright?

Well, somebody will. Why not the Raiders? I think it's very telling that it's clearly obvious that the Baltimore Ravens are afraid to give them a long-term contract. I think it's obvious they are afraid to give them a long-term contract, right?

Yeah, absolutely. So if they're afraid to give them a long-term contract, why are you confident enough to give him that contract? Like, shouldn't you be nervous that Baltimore doesn't seemingly want to give him a long-term contract because they worry about his long-term health? No. So you're that desperate at quarterback for your team?

Yes. I'm telling you, because I read all the Jets message boards and things like that, everybody's like, oh my goodness, make a run at Lamar Jackson, and honestly, I'd be scared, you know what-less, to make a run at Lamar Jackson. Look, Lamar Jackson is a heck of a quarterback.

No one doubts that. But if you're going to give a guy five years, $250-plus million, don't you want to somewhat make sure that he can stay healthy for a decent amount of that contract, considering he's a young guy? And that's the scary part here, is if the team that has him in their building every day seemingly is afraid to give him that contract, I don't know why anybody else would want to give him that contract. That's what worries me. When the team that sees him every single day seemingly doesn't want to do a long-term deal, that should raise more than one red flag guard.

That's the problem I have. That's why I'm not a GM. Right, you're the reactionary fan who says, oh yeah, Lamar Jackson, but the Lamar Jackson you're thinking about, you believe he's going to be there for 16 weeks, 17 weeks, 18 weeks, and the problem is there's no guarantee he can stay that healthy because of the style of play that he gives you. I mean, the guy can run. He's an incredible quarterback, and especially an incredible running quarterback. But that's the point here.

That's what's scary. You know, I have a friend of mine who's a big Chicago Bears fan, and he loves Justin Fields. And I said to him, yeah, he's seemingly a nice player right now, but I don't think he's going to stay upright very long because he's taken more hits than anybody out there. Literally, he has taken the most hits of any quarterback in the NFL this year. And that's not one of those stats that's a good stat. You know, that's not one of those stats that you want to put on the resume and say, yeah, I took the most hits of any quarterback in the league.

What that means to me is, A, you are going to probably not have as long a career as others because of the fact you are taking massive hits. Let's go out to the phone lines. Ben in Philly joining us here on the Rich Eisen Show. What's up, Ben? Yo, what's up, guys? How you doing? Good, man. How are you? I'm good. My name is Ben Hartranz.

I'm actually 24 years old. I'm actually on the autism spectrum, and I'm a huge Eagles fan. Nice. Big season for them.

It is a huge season. I actually work for the Eagles. I do game day staff, and they do a lot of stuff for the autism. I was a guest on the Ellen Show.

I even carried the trophy for the Eagles. Very nice. Congratulations. And one of the reasons I'm calling is when I was first diagnosed with autism, when I was three years old, I was stimming on the lights on the chandelier. And my mom said, oh boy, if I ever write a book, that's named my title. And my mom just published a book called Swinging from the Chandelier, and it's a great book.

It's about my wife's story with autism. Yeah, yeah, so it's pretty cool. It's only on our website, Benergy1.com. Hey, really, Ben. Listen, I appreciate the call, man. I appreciate the call. Thank you for calling in. Good to be an Eagles fan today.

Let's put it that way. I mean, you think about the fact that that is a team right now that is rolling 13-2. I know they're coming off that loss to the Cowboys, but let's not forget, Jalen Hurts did not play in that game. That was Gardner Minshew, by the way, did a pretty nice job. That's another quarterback who's going to be available, isn't he? Gardner Minshew?

Yeah, yeah, he will be available. And he's going to get some love out there. You know, Gardner Minshew's a guy that, to me, career-wise, you know, his career numbers are like, you know, he's 26 years old. He's been in this league now four years. The guy has thrown 43 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. You know, you'd think that's good enough to at least give you a chance to be a starting quarterback in this league. His two years in Jacksonville, he threw 38 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. That's not bad in 25 games.

That's really good. He's been a backup in Philadelphia the last two years, including this year. I think somebody's going to give him an opportunity to be a starting quarterback again in this league, and why not? He can run, by the way, as well.

You know, he's not exactly a statue back there. So I wonder if Gardner Minshew gets that opportunity to, you know, to be a starter again in this league. And he should. He's in the same boat as Baker Mayfield. No, I think he's better than Baker Mayfield. You think he's better than Baker Mayfield? Wow. I don't know what's up with Baker Mayfield.

Honestly, that's one I cannot figure out. I don't know what's happened to that guy. I mean, yeah, I guess to a point he's resurrecting himself right now with the Rams. Because he lit up the Broncos. And Broncos are a good defense. But something is going on with Baker Mayfield, right?

It's just something is not correct there. For some reason, he's a guy that has turned teams off. I know there's an attitude situation with him. You kind of wonder.

He seems to be kind of a curmudgeon type of guy. I get that. But that shouldn't hold you back from being a starting quarterback in this league. Didn't do much in Carolina, right?

That wasn't a pretty picture in Carolina. No, I know. I picked him up. Spot started him on my fantasy team. He got my minus three points. Yeah, he lost you a couple of weeks, didn't he? Yes.

Yeah, okay. So he lost you a couple of weeks, no question about that. And the reason for that is he just wasn't very good. And he couldn't beat out, what, Sam Darnold? And it was a mess there. It was a bad situation. Now, I think Carolina as a whole is a bad situation with Matt Ruhle.

It wasn't good. But I think overall Baker Mayfield will have one more opportunity to do something. And that's going to be it for him. If he can't shape up and change his career trajectory, he's done. He's going to be a backup. Now, you can be a backup in this league and make a lot of money. I mean, Colt McCoy is still in this league.

You know, people forget that he's still actually playing in this league. And Colt McCoy continues to get a very nice paycheck to be a backup quarterback. And why not? That's a great job. I think it's an awesome job. I would do it. Pay me, you know, $7 million a year to not play and hold a clipboard? Bam. Sign me up.

You don't get hit. That's called longevity for your career. Maybe Minshew and Baker Mayfield are destined for that.

I don't know. But Gardner Minshew will have an opportunity once again to be a starting quarterback in this league. College football playoffs, the semifinal matchups coming up this weekend. That's right.

TCU, Michigan, Georgia, Ohio State, the two games. We'll get to that. Coming up, I am Dan Schwartzman in for Rich Eisen on a holiday Wednesday now, right here on the Rich Eisen Show. 83 weeks on YouTube or wherever you listen.