REShow: John Harbaugh & Tom Pelissero - Hour 2

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Hey! Earlier on the show, 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey. Coming up, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh. From the new film Fast X, actor Alan Richson. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

Number two, the Rich Eisen Show is on the air live on the Roku channel. We are free every single day if you want to see us. I'm wearing a terrific zip up blue, like light blue hoodie sweatshirt. I'm describing it. Would that be a good picture I'm painting for the radio audience?

Thank you. And in hour number one, great conversation with Christian McCaffrey. Paint the word picture for you. Chris Brockman was wearing a very smug face. As his Celtics down three games to two, feel like they've actually won the series.

Never really seen anything quite like it in the NBA playoff series. Where's the duck boat parade? Oh, that's good. It's our new drop. Boom! Okay, boom. A little too quick. We'll work on it.

Trigger finger. We'll work on it. But anyway, that was our number one. Great conversation with Christian McCaffrey. John Harbaugh is about to join us and yesterday we were talking, I think at this very moment, we just snapped 24 hours ago at this very moment. I was talking about how the kickoff is dead in the NFL with the new rule of a fair catch inside the 25 yard line. I don't know when you're going to return one.

Maybe if somebody tries to pop one up and somebody's catching it on their 10 or 15. I don't know. But John Harbaugh is a former special teams coach and Albert Breer was on the show yesterday saying he's one of the coaches, head coaches, that were put their full faith and credit and body of work behind the special teams coordinators who were fighting against this rule and were overruled by management.

John Harbaugh will come here on the program. Oh, you just said it well out. Did something just break? DeAndre Hopkins released by the Cardinals. Released?

Yeah. Flat out let go? Flat out let go. Are you sure? From the Arizona Cardinals one minute ago, we have released DeAndre Hopkins. Boom!

Still trying. Released him? Yeah.

Let him walk. Released. Let's make sure this is the right card. I mean it's got the gold check mark for organization. 1.1 million followers.

How sad that we have to do that in this with Twitter now. You got to make sure. You got to make sure. Yeah.

Whoa. What are they doing? They don't want to pay him 15 million dollars. But release him?

Like nobody, like you can't even. You could have gotten something for him. Well they're asking for a first round pitch.

How many times is this guy going to switch teams and you're wondering about the team that's just letting them go that you're saying you're not getting value for him? Same thing happened with the Texans. You remember that? They didn't even get a one for a man. I know. You can't even get a bag of footballs for him?

A fourth, a fifth, a sixth, a seventh. Seventh round picks turn into Brock Purdy and and Isaiah Pacheco and and get out of here. They didn't get a thing for him? They just let him walk? He is now a free agent?

Is that a yes? Yeah. I mean I'm sorry. Sorry. I'm still kind of a shock.

Talk about stuff happening while live on the air that we are reacting to. I mean I don't even know unless something happened behind this. But even if something happened behind the scenes I mean no one who's not behind the scenes would have to know. You could still like you said. Like the Lions got a fifth for or a pick for DeAndre Swift in in future drafts removed.

And he hasn't done nearly as much as what DeAndre just for nothing. Look I thought for sure, there it is. Do we need to call Pelissero? I thought for sure that he was going to be somewhere else. For sure. I know where I'd like to see him.

Yes me too. Well the fact that he can go anywhere right now. This is going to be interesting. You know I'm I'm I'm pleased John Harbaugh's still just going to call in. He might be just flying all the way. He might be on air, air boshadi to go get him.

He might be prepping for this interview you would not even know. Omar said hey I'll get me Odell, get me Dehi. And then and then you've got hold on no no no then there's Dallas. How about how about the Jets? You want to play with Rogers? Holy.

How about the Raiders? I mean honestly I can't imagine that they have released. There's got to be a story.

Like what is the story behind that? You're just going to let them walk? You get nothing for him. Nothing.

Except what he's already provided. Because I'm telling you man. I'll just say this.

This is clearly this is first blush. Something can come out later on and I'll have to amend what I'm about to say okay. But Kyler Murray better watch out.

Yeah. Because this team to just let him walk away. Just to let him walk away. And Murray's coming back from a knee injury. This team has and I know I say you can't tank in the NFL. I know you say I say that.

But just to let him walk away for nothing. It's this I can't believe it. But just again in my head you're seeing the way the Cardinals are currently constituted okay. Bringing in a defensive-minded head coach and I'm not saying he can't have anything to do with offense or know how to actually have a team to put points on the board. But this reeks of prune the tree. Kyler good luck coming back from your knee injury. If we're like one and seven, one and eight. Why are we doing this? Why are we doing this?

If we're like one and seven, one and eight. Why are we bringing him back? And then all of a sudden he turns into Josh Rosen as Caleb Williams is sitting here in Los Angeles, California.

Yep. Somebody told me that at the combine I didn't even clue that in the rumors. Coming back to the just watch out. If you're Kyler Murray and everything that went down with the iPad this and that and you hear what Patrick Peterson has to say and you know a lot of chatter and I know that they flew pre-draft with him at his statue reveal on the campus of Oklahoma.

Well I'd watch out if I were him and choose another destination because if the Cardinals play like we're expecting them to play and again you can't tank in the NFL because there are too many prideful guys that try to win and want to win and are desperate to win because they want to not only keep their jobs but show for other teams you can hire me. But that's my thought when you let DeAndre walk for nothing. Now the same thing would be applicable even if they got something for him. That's true. This just brings it up the fact that it was for nothing.

Really. Teams with the most cap space right now. Bears 27 and change. Panthers almost 20 million. Lions 17 million. Colts 16 million. Packers 12. Bengals 12. Saints 11.

Patriots 10. I don't even know if and I know you're mentioning that as maybe an idea for possible landing spots but hey man. Teams with cap space. You can move around dollar cents, reconfigure contracts that you currently have and people will be like I'm happy to do that. I will defer that money. You know and the teams will be like we'll put that stuff on the credit card to bring DeAndre Hopkins in. You know I mean good lord. Let's see if you recall that interview we had earlier this week. Now this quote kind of starts to make a little more sense.

I don't know if you heard this Rich. He said what I want is stable management upstairs. That's something I haven't really had the past couple of years of my career coming from Houston and then to Arizona and then he said a quarterback who loves the game. A quarterback who brings everybody on board with him.

Not just himself but everybody around him and a great defense. I know that's what he wants but I mean to let him go for nothing. Well I'm just maybe there was like you said there could be something internally judging from those remarks. Which is what to just but still though.

The hell going on. Yeah that that you get it you trade him for nothing. You could still you could still just say hey he's available and then take the calls from as many teams as you can and then create a bidding war but let him go. Well I mean they got smart people in the front office there.

I mean and remember Arizona flipped what a two and a four. Remember the Texans and Bill O'Brien was roasted for giving up DeAndre Hopkins for what he gave DeAndre Hopkins up for and the Cardinals have essentially held Bill O'Brien's beer. I don't get it. That's my first best thoughts. I don't get it and now DeAndre Hopkins can go ring shopping. He can go ring shopping on Memorial Day weekend. Where does he want to play? What team will offer him the spot for him to not only make what he is he feels commensurate but can give him that ring put it on his finger because I'll tell you what the way that he amasses yards put that ring on his finger and you're talking about a bust and a jacket. No doubt.

Stay by your phone man I may need you. That that guy right there. That guy right there.

I mean the possibilities are endless. That guy right there Mike Tomlin not a bad not a bad drop Jay. You're you're Raiders.

Yeah. You know Devante Adams could use DeAndre on the other side. But is Jimmy G a quarterback who loves the game and the quarterback who brings everybody on board with him. Tom Brady has you know. Tom get out of here with Brady with that all that nonsense. No I'm talking about current quarterbacks in the National Football League. Dak could be one of those guys.

I think we all know honestly I think we all know in our heart of hearts how this has ended. Yeah he's reunited with Bill O'Brien. No he's going to Kansas City. No they don't have the cap space. Doesn't please. Rich they really don't.

I need you to take the words cap space and and launch them into space. Unless he's literally playing for the veteran minimum they they can't afford him. Chris they will do whatever they need to do.

Brett Veitch isn't somebody who puts trophies in the case because he just fell off a truck with turnips on it. Okay they will teams will figure this out. They're in the red. They will turn to all the veterans and all the people on their team and say what you know we can get DeAndre what what what can we do.

There is less pie. And then figure it out and figure it out. And the Jets are one of them. No doubt about it. New York Hopkins. DeAndre wants to go and put on green and have Rogers throw to him with Lazard and with Garrett Wilson and the rest of that offense and let's go.

Rogers is ring shopping in New York City and as we know a lot of great ring shops in New York City. Boom there it is. I mean keep on naming it. There isn't a single team out there in the NFL that wouldn't be wanting to add this guy. The Dolphins keep going.

Except for the Cardinals. And you can see the the Bills keep going and you could sit here and say well they already have these guys. They already have enough. Can't have enough.

And then the Cardinals clearly had enough. I don't I don't understand it. Wow okay let's make let's make some phone calls. Let's call around. This is going to get interesting man. You think? Man. Oh we were about to do what's more likely. Take phone calls ourselves. Get ready for John Harbaugh.

Whereas it needs one. What's more likely? Hopkins, Lansing, Casey. The Cardinals might have Caleb Williams and Marvin Harrison Jr. because they have the Houston Texans first round. That's what I'm saying is that that let's just let's just hold on a second and then we'll take a break and welcome in John Harbaugh. Let's give Arizona a full benefit of the doubt despite us wondering what are they thinking. This is a team that I think had a terrific draft. They moved around the draft board. They used the Houston Texans desire to go get CJ Stroud and Will Anderson.

Boom boom. They used that to their advantage. They had a smart draft.

This is not a team that is totally clueless. Okay 19 and a half million dollars off their books. Number one. Number two.

Number two. They have all those draft choices. You have to look around and go why are we having DeAndre Hopkins on this team? Makes sense to offload him. Makes no sense to get nothing for him. But makes sense to offload him and this team is not going to win the west this year.

They would have to have a herculean effort to make the playoffs certainly without their star quarterback who they may have evaluated over the last couple of years. The general manager who enriched him and the owner who I guess gave the green lights to Steve Kahn to do it might have evaluated this whole process and said he is hurt. There's that kid at USC. And let's go. And let's go. And there's you know is Buddha Baker he's already what he's removed the cardinals from his social media bios. I assume they were not going to just cut him. Get him somewhere else and turn to the great people of the valley of the sun and say 2023 is about the sunrise of 2024. And please show up. Please come in and Kyler Murray you take your time rehabbing and all of it will be about who wants Kyler Murray behind the scenes.

That will be a conversation throughout the fall and it's smart enough for the cardinals to undertake that as an option and lay the groundwork for it. I just don't understand DeAndre Hopkins being released for nothing. Boy do I love being on this show when something breaks. In the NFL especially.

844-204-rich number to dial. John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens coming up next. That's the Rich Eisen Show here on a wild Friday. Men do you get distracted during the day thinking about your underarms sweating itching or emitting an odor? Do those thoughts keep you from showing care when it counts? New and improved Dove Men Plus Care Antiperspirant with 72 hours sweat and odor protection and one quarter moisturizing cream helps you forget about your underarms so you can be present for the moments that matter.

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Grainger is the right product for you. Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by. All right DeAndre Hopkins an hour ago on his Instagram he tagged that he's in South Carolina right now at a farmer's market. I'm dead serious.

One hour ago. Oh buying fruits vegetables and a new ring. The Tiger Valley Market that's where he's at.

Yeah that's where you always want to have those life-changing phone calls. I'm so so DeAndre Hopkins is in a farmer's market. Okay lots going on in the world and you know one of the the biggest mysteries I thought going into the playing season coming out of the draft is what the Ravens new look offense is going to look like and hopefully we'll get some answers best we can right now at joining us on the Rich Eisen Show back again. We always appreciate him with his time. Super Bowl winning head coach John Harbaugh back here on the show. How you doing coach? Hey Rich doing great. Really happy to be with you man. I always enjoy being on your show.

And I feel the same way of you of you coming on here and man there is as always a lot going on. You got your quarterback. You got him signed.

You got him signed sealed and delivered. Where where were you when you heard that news? I know you're probably getting ready to draft. Yeah no I was actually I was actually in my closet in the morning. It was a couple days before the draft and I was getting dressed and it was really early. It was like 5 30 ish and yeah that's right that's the same time you get in right?

Yeah sure that's it pretty much yep. Sure yep and Eric who's he's normally more of a late night guy and all of a sudden I hear Harps you in there and it's Eric's voice I'm like oh man this is either really good or really bad. So I popped out and he said that Lamar had called him the night before and that he thought they were we were getting real close and something might happen and then it actually happened you know a couple days later right before the draft started so that was good news certainly. Obviously and and negotiations as you know in the NFL are rife with emotion and and rife with drama and obviously sometimes they go south. It just so remarkable to me how you and the rest of the organization throughout the entire process had just the same message about how much you love Lamar. You can't wait to get him back 200% I think you said at one point he's coming back and then you know things like you sitting down for an owner's meeting just as he tweets out that he's asked for a trade and things of that nature. Did you ever get frustrated throughout this entire process coach?

Yeah I mean it would probably be not it'd be disingenuous probably to say no. I mean of course yeah for sure you get you know frustrated and disappointed or kind of you you know pull your hair out sometimes but you know it's we have you know we'd already built relationships it wasn't like we're talking about people who didn't know each other hadn't been through a lot together so that was one plus and the other plus I think was just the mindset that that we kind of took was no matter well we were responsible to keep our powder dry here you know and not not not do something that's going to really jeopardize what's best for the team and and the organization and really for everybody involved you know it would have been really easy to to sabotage ourselves and we didn't want to do that so you know just kind of step back and say this is about business it's not personal even though it seems personal sometimes it's not and let's try to keep that in mind and make sure we keep our powder dry. I was saying so many times throughout this process he's sitting in this chair in this microphone that finds someone in your life the way that the the Ravens love Lamar Jackson like that's what you need in your life and and I can obviously see the on-field stuff but what what why why do you love Lamar Jackson why does this organization love Lamar Jackson the way you do coach? Yeah I mean you know it's like it's just you make a commitment we made a commitment you know and we decided that we were going to do something together you know and we've been through a lot and it's like any like any relationship there's lots of things that aren't perfect it's always like that things that that need to be better or talked through or whatever it might be and you know we try to do that as best we can all the time but we just were that's the direction we wanted to go we made a commitment and we want to see it through and and we do we like him we love him respect him and he feels the same way and you know I think just once you decide to go that way it's it's better to try to stick with it make it work and it is just a to bail at the first sign of trouble and I'm glad we did that and I'm looking forward to making it work and really trying to do some great things over the next few years. John Harbaugh coach of the Ravens here on the Rich Eisen Show and you mentioned the commitment that you made to Lamar from the get-go and it was apparent when when you did turn to him in his rookie season mid-season and then reconfigure an offense on the fly and the offense has been the way it is for for years and now and now you've got a new offensive coordinator in Todd Mockin coach and that to me is one of the greatest mysteries coming into the season and I don't know expect you to you know clear everything up but what what is this offense going to look like coach? Yeah well hope he looks good you know hope he looks like an offensive scoring some points. I guess I should have said differently I guess I should have said differently how will this offense look differently than the first few years of of Lamar's tenure there? Well it'll be different I mean you know different obviously different different coordinator is going to have a different spin on things in a different style and that's we were pretty well determined to just basically cast a wide net and really listen to all the different candidates and see what they had to say and what direction their their vision for this offense would be you know when when I started talking to Todd it really was right away it's almost love at first sight you know it's like you know I really understand what he's saying and I think this would be a good fit for Lamar just be with Lamar for five years and being with you know kind of you know just the offense that that I always kind of felt like the direction we would need to go when we had the players to do it he was that's just the way he thinks and so I'm excited for that part but I'm also excited for the players that we brought in because that makes those things possible I mean you know coordinators I mean Greg Rome was capable going different directions too but the fact that we're going to have some guys around him added some receivers building on the tight ends building on the running backs building on a really good offensive line that's going to give us an opportunity to do some things maybe that wouldn't have made as much sense in the past personnel wise too so all that you know being part of it I know Lamar does want to have more responsibility than he's ever had before at the line of scrimmage that's the way Todd's built that really got my attention Lamar is going to be very responsible for making decisions at the line and I love the way it's being taught right now the way the system is being organized and you know like I said we'll see what it looks like when we see it but I'm excited about it well more verbiage is what Lamar said when he spoke on Wednesday he also said something along the lines of running less that he's going to be asked to run it less is that what your expectation is too yeah I mean I think there's certain types of plays that will probably will be less in the offense you know they're still in there he's probably talking mostly about the counter quarterback keep plays the inside gap scheme runs that we really relied on the last two years down the stretches when we didn't you know quite have you know some of the some of the you know stuff we wanted to do on the outside throwing the ball I'm sure that that'll be called less that's probably what he's talking about mainly but it'll still be on our offense as a threat and there'll be a little bit more at the last scrimmage you know verbiage I think what he's talking about there is you know what he can do at the last scrimmage in terms of you know using his voice to make certain changes and make certain decisions on plays it won't be quite as much locked in maybe in terms of the play call so he'll be asked to read react more pre-snap and then and then that's that's the decision that to be made on offense yeah right I mean yeah put it in his hands when we get up there and you know we we'll see what the defense has given us and make make some decisions at the line and Odell in the mix now what was your first impression of him when you first saw him John you know when I started talking to him actually in November of the season and we first started talking on the phone and I had never talked to him before in my life you know and you know and he's kind of a star you know he's got the big persona and all but when you talk to him you realize how down to earth he is rich and and what a football guy he is and he really hit stage of his life with his son and the things he's gone through what his priorities are right now I was I was pretty fired up to hear the things he was saying and then and then through the whole process until he decided to come here just what a month ago or so he never wavered from that I mean he was very consistent with that everything he said was very honest and you know he's he's thinking the way we're thinking I mean he wants to go win football games so that makes me happy as a coach and then in terms of a role that he's already played I kind of got the sense that him coming in when he did it was just another voice that wasn't either yours or DaCosta's or or obviously Steve Beshad if he was talking to Lamar just a different voice at one point in his press conference he even directed the camera hey Lamar if you're out there you know I'm here now do you think he played an important role on that front yeah I think he did you know I think they had known each other before and that they were talking and you know I don't know what they were saying specifically but I'm pretty sure that Odell wanted Lamar to come back and I'm I'm pretty darn sure that Lamar was excited when when Odell signed with us you know so that that had to be a factor definitely had to be a positive factor so I'm looking forward to see him together on the field very soon it's going to be fun to see what it looks like and then what about the sense again you because you mentioned how the offense was and now you've got a different personnel group to run a different offense the sense that the Ravens are a place where receivers aren't aren't set up to burn it up and succeed that essentially receivers go to die in Baltimore the fact that Odell says you know what I'm going to do is I'm going to do this and I'm going to do you know what I'm going there is that a is that a narrative that's real or it's not coach I don't know I don't know that's like I get it yes good good to talk about but I don't live in that world you know I don't really care about that I don't feel like I have to respond to everything every opinion that gets written out there everybody's got them you know that's what they say and I will not quote the rest of that quote there but I'm not I don't care what people think I don't care what the narratives are you know we're going to try to win football games you know we got good people that love being here one thing we do like rich is we do appreciate players and coaches that want to be here we understand who we are we understand what we stand for how we play what it means to play like a raven I think that people who watch the game have a good sense of that and respect it so you know guys that want to play here those kind of guys we want guys that don't want to play here I figure they don't want to play here because they don't want to play that way you know the way we play and I'd rather not have them in that case so you know we're pretty comfortable on our own skin so then I while I'm already opening that that door about other people's opinions do you read anything into the schedule coach the fact that there is one nationally televised appearance a thursday night game in week 11 you do have a game in london in week six but there's there's very few under the lights that were handed to the ravens this year is there anything to be read into that at all coach well let's see we got we got the titans in london then we have the chargers on sunday night yep and a thursday before that we have the jaguars on sunday night we got the niners on christmas eve and then we've got the thursday night prime time game at the bangles so that's like five four or just five games yeah right okay yeah throwing out the first 11 weeks do we do we do are we like are we are we are we like are we getting sniffly because we don't we didn't think we got enough fruit night games no I I'd like to have more home games I mean when's the last time we had a monday night home game we've had 20 of them since 2008 five of them have been at home and we've won most of our monday night games so yeah yeah I get a little prickly about that one but that's about the only one all right john harbaugh here on the rich eisen show before I let you go I have to ask you about this new rule with a touchback inside the 25 yard line fair catch on a kickoff as well now and I know you come from the world of special teams I give you the floor and what you think of this new rule that a fair catch on kickoffs gets placed on a 25 if it's caught within your own 25 yard line coach you must have already read my quote on that I mean I said something about that so you're trying to give me a call from Roger Goodell no no I I have a head coach of notes you've got a ring you've been around a long time you're a special teams guy I would be remiss if I didn't give the floor to you on that coach well I think there's always the law of unintended consequences and just to assume that that because the ball's popped up and somebody fair catches it there's going to be less helmet to helmet fist speed collisions I think you know is very wishful thinking and the coaches that understand how the play is really played out I think uh expressed pretty pretty clearly that we think it's not going to be a safer play you know in terms of that and we're not even sure the play is as unsafe as they want to say it is but because we're not exactly sure all those concussions are documented actually happened on kickoff plays but you know that's for the league to decide so that's what they did and we'll support it and all that but like like they know come when I'm talking or whatever you say what you think and you put it out there and have an honest conversation about it you're not playing politics with it or anything like that that's that's how you have an open decision so you know if it ends up being good for the game great if it doesn't end up being good for the game I'm sure it won't get voted back in next year and we'll see how it goes and just continue to try to teach football you know the the most effective way possible the safest way possible like we always do as coaches and and we'll see how it works out what do you think we'll see more squibs more line drive kicks like how do you what do you think first blush will be the the way fans will see kickoffs now I think you'll see more variety of kicks you'll see more squibs you'll see more short high pop-ups try to pop the ball up and they're short and see if they can create havoc around the ball there'll be a lot of collisions in front of the ball for that reason you will see the ball on the ground more you know slopping around the difference between the college game and the pro game is the kick the kickers can kick it higher and the players can run faster so those balls can be hit high and the players are going to get down there underneath it and then when a fair catch happens late nobody's going to stop playing because the fair catch is going to be late in the play there's going to be there's going to be a lot of contact going to happen those fair catches so we think plus I think people will return those short balls too you do absolutely so like like right around where like the 20 15 you think they'll take it out is that the way you think honestly if they kick if they kick it to 10 all I got to do is go 15 yards to get it past the 25 if they kick it to the 15 all I got to do is go 10 yards to get it past the 25 I you know good special teams group is going to be confident their ability to do that okay coach I appreciate the time as always how how's your how's your brother doing how's Jim how's he doing yeah they you know they're they're he's excited they're going to be good aren't they what do you think what's your prediction oh boy I am let me just just tell you something John and I I might be putting your brother in a tough spot here but by my mouth has been writing a ton of checks it has been there I have been talking with my chest for two years now and it has been uh it's been awesome it's just been nothing but great I'm very bullish on this upcoming season very because we we got the quarterback from last you're also humble right you're confident but you're humble I understand I'm a Michigan man I understand what I'm supposed to do but when I show up in Canton Ohio for the uh for the uh the annual uh jacket dinner that I host and when they start screaming oh at me I get very mouthy and uh that's when I write the checks that's when I write the the largest checks but it's I'm excited I'm excited I'm glad to hear that uh Jim is too glad to hear that do you feel like that's kind of your do after all those years of having to listen and door what you had to for all those years by the way great use of the word endure that is a perfect word yes correct all of it but it's just I also just like seeing everything go in the the proper trajectory I'm I'm I'm liking it immensely um and I just I I'm all of it is great and I'm just glad to hear that you you you're just as bullish or your brother is as well sir I'm looking forward to awesome thanks for the call thanks right back at you John Harbaugh let's uh let's do this during training camp if you don't mind looking for my call at that point appreciate it sounds good you bet a great weekend a great week right back at you that's John Harbaugh the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens back here on the Rich Eisen show I was very close to getting Telesco right there all right rich thanks for having me on bordering on okay uh let's take a break Tom Pelissero is gonna give us the the latest uh my colleague from the NFL network will be calling in what is up with DeAndre Hopkins just being flat out released that's next um right here on the Rich Eisen show Alan Richson of Fast X is in our green room as well back here on the Rich Eisen show 844-204 Rich number to dial joining us here from the NFL media group my colleague Tom Pelissero back here on the Rich Eisen show in light of the breaking news that hit about 40 something minutes ago how are you Tom Rich I was joking to a variety of different people yesterday checking it out there's always something that happens Memorial Day weekend it ends up being DeAndre Hopkins becoming a free agent and we'll see if he makes it to Monday without something well if I'm not if I'm not mistaken Odell dropped on uh on Easter weekend just like you know Donovan Knabb did years ago um or some other big news hit our Easter weekend let's just jump into this one right here what happened where Arizona would just release DeAndre Hopkins with no strings attached what happened Rich Arizona had had trade talks surrounding DeAndre Hopkins for months they were not able to move that contract which would have paid him 19.45 million dollars in 2023 nor was Hopkins willing to rework that contract to the degree that he would have had to to facilitate a trade now there was a point he mentioned Odell a couple of months ago where there was momentum toward a Hopkins deal potentially getting done then what happens is DeAndre Hopkins sees that Odell Beckham Jr signs for 15 million dollars fully guaranteed upside to 18 million after not playing all of last season Hopkins then begins to say well I can't possibly take less than that and with that decision went away any chance that they had to move the contract so at this point Arizona decided to release him in part because doing it before June 1st allows them just to take the entire bullet now they eat 22.6 million dollars in dead money they actually save a little over seven million dollars in 2023 cap space because Hopkins cap number was close to 30 million dollars they also obviously saved that 19.45 million dollars in cash that comes off the books right now you go back to the draft you look at everything the cardinals did Monte Austin Fort and Jonathan Gannon in their first year together in Arizona they were a matching draft capital for 2024 they were trading back in the draft they obviously got the guy they wanted the first round Paris Johnson even after making some of those maneuvers but once again here you'll be Hopkins will be completely off their books in 2024 they got all kinds of draft capital no one is ever going to say that it's a total rebuild or anything like that but it's pretty clear especially with Tyler Murray being injured and all likelihood not playing a good chunk of this season that Arizona very much is putting all their eggs into the basket of being ready to make big moves for 2024 but to to not not get a single ounce of draft capital back for him and it's because the contract was something that Hopkins refused to rework um and and thus get him the free agency that he currently has and teams read that writing on the wall and weren't going to uh you know allow the cardinals to get off the hook uh by is that why he gets released I still can't believe they couldn't even get a single draft choice for him even a seventh sixth fifth really nothing he would still need to think he would still need to take on the contract or else have Hopkins willing to rework it once that Odell deal got done it changed the entire headspace for the Andre Hopkins and the landscape of trying to get a trade done you know that's not to say a lot of it's rich as you know it's driven by the economic it's driven by you know what teams are willing to do in terms of their cap space their commitment to a player who let's be honest over the last couple of years has missed a substantial amount of time due to injuries again so is Odell Odell had a couple of ACLs and you know but we saw down the stretch of the 2021 season you know what he could still do he got a contract that I think surprised a lot of people in and around the NFL but the Ravens were willing to pay a premium at a time that they were trying and eventually did get a deal done with LeVar Jackson you know whatever took place here and again there were teams interested there was at least one trade that was I never want to say close because until something is done I like that there really is a close but there was certainly momentum to getting something done once Hopkins decided he wasn't going to take less money than what Odell got it just made it impossible to pull off a trade and now what happens is the Cardinals have announced this which means that immediately teams can call the Andre Hopkins directly he does not have an agent he does have a business advisor that he works with and helps him on contracts something could happen quickly here or the Andre Hopkins could find out that nobody's willing to pay up to that same level of 15 million dollars hard and if that's the case then let's see how long he potentially waits here before choosing his destination all right so so the Andre Hopkins Tom tweeted out that he was walking through a farmer's market in South Carolina when he received this news so I guess as he's choosing out a nice head of broccoli and his phone's ringing who's calling him in the farmer's market tell me them tell me the the market that he's currently in football wise Tom well I think it's easy to put together the pieces here in terms of teams that would want to make a move for the Andre into regardless of how much money he ends up getting he's not going to come chief it's going to be a team that's a contender it's going to be a team with a good quarterback the bills have certainly been the team that people are talking about as a pick for the Andre Hopkins it does make a lot of sense and now that you're not in a space where you're having to give up a pick on top of it maybe there's more financial flexibility the chiefs are another team that's a logical type of a destination given their receiver movement over the last couple of years here and I would certainly anticipate there's going to be some other teams that are going to pop up you know as the seniors forward here potentially get in the mix as well you know it's fascinating to think backwards too you go back to 2020 when the Texans traded the Andre Hopkins and at that time I think it's fair to say that there was shock among people within the NFL there was a ton of criticism leveled at Houston for how you could you know give up the Andre Hopkins well you know if you go back and again this is all revisionist history we have the benefit of hindsight here but three years later the Cardinals gave up 57 million dollars for the Andre Hopkins he was banged up each of the past two seasons missed a lot of time Texans got a second round pick out of that deal and they used the money they saved on Brandon Cooks who believe it or not had more catches for the Texans over those three years than the Andre Hopkins did in Arizona and that's not to say that the Andre Hopkins is not a phenomenal talent but you know there are reasons that GMs are reluctant in many cases to make you know certain types of deals especially when you have a superstar player who becomes available you always have to ask yourself why and there were a variety of reasons that the Andre Hopkins became available Arizona took a big swing to bring him in and even though he did have some productivity there I think it's fair to say that it didn't work out how anybody would have anticipated so would looking at teams cap space give us an indication of of you know the market or or that means nothing teams can just rework deals to make sure Hopkins gets in the fold and a bunch of veterans or players might be willing to talk turkey with general managers on that front right now well teams increasingly rich over the last couple of years have been really aggressive adding void years so you could do something like let's use 15 million just as the baseline here you do a 15 million dollar signing bonus plus 1 million base salary for DeAndre Hopkins he had four void years on top of it he's on a one year 16 million dollar deal that counts about 4 million dollars on your cap this year there's different ways you can get around this and I don't think the cap space is the driving force I think as much as anything it's opportunity DeAndre Hopkins is a high volume type of a player he is a strong personality too even though he you know comes across as very laid back you're going to feel DeAndre Hopkins when he's in the room he again he's very talented he's been backing up the last couple of years and he's frankly not as young as he was a few years ago either so I think it's going to be a fairly short list obviously a lot of teams will poke around on it and see what the market is here but I would anticipate this is pretty targeted in terms of who's going to be in the DeAndre Hopkins mix who's going to be willing to pay that type of money to bring in that specific player not up in kind of the overall dynamic and chemistry of your offense and have a chance to win right now at a time that he's going to want to make sure that he's you know getting money up front I got 90 seconds left what can you tell me about Jimmy G and his foot and when we can expect him back in Vegas what do you got for me there so if you remember back rich Jimmy Garoppolo agreed to terms very quickly on the first day of the negotiating window but he didn't actually sign the contract I believe his press conference got delayed at one point there was a week or two there where there was at least some questions and then it kind of died down because he ended up signing had the press conference everything was well well part of what was happening there was he was coming off of that uh foot injury which you remember Kyle Shanahan in a way that only Kyle Shanahan can describe the injury as there's a bunch of stuff broken in there it was a significant type of an injury uh the sideline Garoppolo for the remainder of the season there what they determined was he needed an additional procedure it was described to me yesterday as a cleanup I was told by somebody close to him that everything is progressing well at this point Josh McDaniels was non-specific about when Jimmy will be back on the field which you know Josh frankly him is not a criticism but he's going to be non-specific about pretty much anything in the injury area particularly in May I did an opening possibility that maybe Jimmy's not back on the field until training camp we'll see whether or not that's the case but I have not seen or heard any real about Jimmy not being ready to roll by the time the regular season rolls you're the man thanks Tom appreciate you uh hopping on real quick short notice appreciate it thanks Richard you bet that's Tom Poser I remember that remember Jimmy G was he didn't it took him a bit to sign it and then his press conference got delayed oh my goodness gracious wow and everybody's wondering what's the NFL up to the Friday before Memorial Day the answer a lot you love Lala Kent on Vanderpump Rules now get to know her on Give Them Lala with her assistant Jess what you did not see is when Raquel arrives and she wants to talk to me I made her sit in a corner explain sat in a corner booth all by herself in the dark waiting for to talk to you waiting for me to finish dancing to 50 cent it's my birthday sit in the corner give them Lala wherever you listen