REShow: Jeremy Fowler - Hour 1

This is The Rich Eisen Show.

Get it together bud. Live from The Rich Eisen Show Studio in Los Angeles. It's Major League. It's a movie come to life.

Yes. And, you know, the movie Major League is a comedy and so are the open days. The Rich Eisen Show. Today's guests. ESPN Senior NFL Reporter Jeremy Fowler. ESPN NBA Analyst Brian Wintourst.

Spurs Television Analyst Michelle Beadle. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Yes it is. Welcome to this edition of The Rich Eisen Show.

The final Monday of June. We're almost halfway through 2023. My goodness. What a time. And we're on the air live here on the Roku Channel. And we're also live on this Rich Eisen Show terrestrial radio affiliate. Live on Sirius XM, Odyssey and more. We say hello to our podcast listeners.

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YouTube.com slash Rich Eisen Show. How are you Christopher Brockman? Hey Rich. It's a lavender day for you huh? You went lavender. I think this is just purple.

I like it. Lilac. You went lilac on us. I did a lot of yard work yesterday. I cleaned my gutters.

Look at you. Very sore. Very good. Very sore.

Weird muscles that I was using. It's like pickleball. How are you over there Jason Feller? How are you? What's up Rich?

I'm good. DJ Mikey D's coming back from something. He's doing the soccer thing pre we think.

I thought it was the USFL he was doing. That was his weekend. I'm talking about today.

Oh okay great. How are you TJ? What's going on over there sir? TJ Jefferson is here on the Rich Eisen Show once again.

It's all good. I want to know what Del Tuho's doing. Just go to his Instagram because he's going to give you in detail everything he's doing. Fantastic. With a lot of weird gifs and emojis. Because again. I don't have everything ready. We're in that time of year straight up.

Always shoot you straight. We're in that time of year where we're looking for stuff to talk about. For instance this sports weekend. Some of the big to do's that actually pop through on your Twitter feed.

You know when there's not a coup going on in Russia. What pops through on the old Twitter feed. Is Keegan Bradley. Right? He won the Travelers. Right?

He did. Course record. Course record. I have played on that course. TPC of Cromwell. Out there in beautiful central Connecticut. Back in my ESPN days. If they dragged one of the lakes. You find a lot of my pellets.

There's a big to do. It was called a hometown victory for him. He's not from Connecticut. He's from the New England area. People are freaking out about that.

For instance. That's the story. What Rory. He carped on the course. Right? Rory said it's a little too easy now. Or he crapped on the course and carped about the course.

Pretty well over the weekend. So there's that. Oh wait a minute. Here's the other thing. We told you about this young man in Cincinnati. 21 year old switch hitter.

He had a cycle on Friday night. As the Reds won their 12th game in a row but the Braves pushed back in a weekend series against Cincinnati that I can only hope. Didn't think I would be saying this. I'd love to see that one in October.

For sure. Fun games. Acuna and Elie De La Cruz in the same field at the same time. High scoring. All one run games. Very fun. Also another thing to talk about. Top story I think.

All weekend long. Victor Wembunyama making Tim Duncan and the Admiral David Robinson look like point cards. I don't know where this was in San Antonio. Look how small Ginobili is.

I don't know where it was. But you're just like Sean Elliott's on the left and Tim Duncan's on the right. And David Robinson is in the middle and Manu Ginobili looks like you know. Like kid put him in his pocket. Exactly. Like let's just get him.

Let's just get him. Honestly. I'll be very straight up. If you put up that photograph. He looks like the sommelier at the restaurant that they're at.

Ask Manu what wine would pair well with dinner. And honestly David Robinson looks like just the dude who's like hey would you mind taking a picture for my son? You know. My son Sean Elliott.

Oh my gosh. And by the way just where is Tony Parker in this? He's kind of like the only guy missing from this photograph right? He could be the one who took the photograph.

I don't know. But couldn't ask for better role models. Victor Wembunyama tweets out and by the way. He's so not wrong. That is completely spot on. Just reminding us all once again.

Reminding us all once again what an incredible landing spot he has found for himself. And how the hype that we are going to get once the season hits is already at a fever pitch. Because I'm seeing this photograph with Robinson and Duncan and Sean Elliott and Manu Ginobili. And these guys are all going to be there pitching in.

My gosh. Talk about an alumni association. Right? For him to have at his disposal and they already clearly making themselves available. To talk to him and welcome him.

And say this is the way it works here. Talk about a Spurs culture. How about those guys talking over dinner.

Telling pop stories right? For the kid. And if you look at that picture again just to put it in some type of reference for people. Sean Elliott is 6 feet 8 inches tall. David Robinson is 7'1". Manu is 6'6".

Okay? Manu Ginobili would by far be the biggest man in this whole campus if you start walking around. And look at that.

It's unbelievable. And that's also part of the hype that he's going to have to deal with because he's already being placed on par. He is. He's already like this is the next generation of Spurs star.

And when I see the feedback on the old Twitterverse there that sort of like an eye rolling response like okay now he's got to go do it. I don't have any doubts. Do you have doubts that he's going to do it? Do you have a single doubt that he's going to be as good as advertised?

Skill wise no. You kind of look at the body. But you know Brockman and I have been talking about this. I've been kind of reading a lot about Vic for like the last two years. And Rich the things that this kid has been doing to get himself ready for the NBA grind. Like he has a diet that they made for him which really concentrates on the strengthening of bones.

Which I've never heard anyone doing before. An osteoporosis way of looking at things. Yeah like he's been working on strengthening ligaments and tendons in his body for the last few years. So you know barring like a Chet Holmgren situation where his body just implodes because a brick wall named LeBron hit him. I mean skill wise no I'm not going to say the guy is going to be the greatest player ever. But I think he's going to be special. And this year.

Chris do you have any doubts? Because the hype is going to only intensify. The hype has been huge and astronomical for the last six months anyway. When we first saw this kid play for the Mets. And it's just you know rookies rarely come into the league and make an immediate impact to translate the wins and losses. You know there's a grind.

It's twice as many games as you're used to playing. He is 220 but when stretched that out over 75 looks kind of rail thin. I don't know he's going to get dunked on a lot. Guys are going to go after him. Can the Spurs make the playoffs? I want to see what else they add in free agency.

Wouldn't shock me though if they're in the play-in next year. You guys have already hit on the one aspect that people are wondering if he's going to beef up or not and it's his body and it's his arms that only got accentuated by our third hour guest interviewing him over the weekend and posting on her Twitter handle her rocked out right arm. And Victor Wambunyama looking like Gumby damn it. Next to Michelle Beadle who clearly had arm days that earlier in the day. Also the fact that they're nine feet away from each other and it looks that close. Well I mean yeah she's definitely reaching out and leaning over.

He's leaning back. Is this a tug of war? I don't know.

There you go. Michelle will be joining us in hour three to talk about what's going on there. Her boots are on the ground in San Antonio and have been for quite some time. So as soon as I saw that photograph I'm like she actually interviewed Victor and she's right there. Maybe she took the phone. She will definitely know what restaurant that was right in San Antonio.

Yeah I got to imagine. Who picked up the check? Oh good question.

If it's not Wambunyama I don't know get out of here right? I mean there has to still be some sort of pecking order here where he's picking up the check. He hasn't signed yet. He has no money.

Get out of here. He's got Euro. He hasn't signed anything. He's got Euro bro. He's been a pro in Europe. Exactly. He's got Euro.

Not just a step either I mean. If this was the NFL he would definitely be playing because they like to do that with the rookies right? Oh yeah well actually they would have put on another bottle of Screaming Eagle on him if this was the NFL. They would have ordered him up. They would have taxed his pockets. Tim Duncan career earnings $242 million. Oh I'm not saying those guys couldn't.

I'm just saying. I know Delf Tufo's got the Geico alligator arm dropped somewhere there. I don't know if you have any chance of finding that in his system over there. Can he spell alligator?

No I don't. Look up Geico. I bet you that's his way of actually. I know if I had a guess about how he actually files his system.

How he identifies things. Geico. Pick up the check. Oh Hoskins might have it.

That's alright. 844-204-rich is the number to dial here about anything that's on your mind. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN is up first.

The conversation that I want to have with him is based on his reporting last week that the Vikings are going to take their time in signing Justin Jefferson to a new deal. And my two cents on seeing that was like playing with fire. Well me not playing with fire. I mean I don't think the guy is going to hold out because again this is his this is his going into his fourth year.

They have one year more of contractual control next year picking up a fifth year option for him. And so this is the way it used to be for all rookies. And again this is the way it used to be. I shouldn't say used to be because this is a system born in 2011. So we're only in our it's only this system hasn't even been bar mitzvahed yet. Okay. But it's coming up next year by the way.

Increments of 18. That's all I have to say. So was Honorman was Justin Jefferson the 18th overall selection in the draft?

I don't think so. I don't think he was the high draft for the Wilfs. But long story short is this system was set up so players like Justin Jefferson wouldn't have to get paid after just three years of electric work at the wide receiver position. 20 second pick.

Close enough. Mazel tov to his career so far. But this system was set up so these guys like Justin Jefferson did not have to get paid. And if I'm not mistaken it was the Eagles and Rams who signed Jared Goff and Carson Wentz to contracts their second contracts earlier than anybody expected. And I think that started the trend of after three years at the quarterback spot you got your second deal if you were somebody who was clearly generationally talented and going to cost a heck of a lot more money for the team if they waited. And Justin Jefferson I think is going to try and strike a blow for the wide receiver spot.

And the Vikings might be sitting here and saying we're not going to do it and the question is how does that affect this young man and why wouldn't the Vikings do it? Because he's only going to get more expensive. Odell signed one year 18 mil. You know DeAndre Hopkins is going to try and do something. The market's kind of pushing back a bit on the wide receiver spot. We all know the market's pushed back on the running back spot and tipped it over when you've got Dalvin Cook sitting out there now adding to the glut that has Zeke Leonard Fournette sitting ATC right now.

At the crib. So that's what kind of sparked our interest in getting Jeremy Fowler here to start this conversation. Also on this show overreaction Monday which always has an NFL tinge to it.

Also on this show we've got as the request of one of our callers last week. Did you write down who it was? I did not write down who it was. I wrote down the subject.

Our apology for not recalling the shows they all you know. I think it was a J. They come so fast. I think it was a J.

Not too fast. But the caller said you know what I would like to get a top five request for a top five list. So rare. To get one top five juiciest Super Bowl matchups of the upcoming NFL season. I think he was a Seahawks fan. I will in fact deliver what was so appreciated from this caller that we forgot to write down the caller's name. Matt you should probably remember what it was.

Please. Really? Wasn't it like James? Really?

I think it was somebody from Seattle. What's wrong with you? Hold on a second. Chris. Why did Adam just take a stray?

He didn't take a stray. That was a full on headshot. Hold on a second. With all due respect.

John Wick headshot? Two things. Two things. Two things. One.

Do you think you'd remember? Yes. Two. I got it back Adam.

Two. Do you think he's even listening to the show right now? Screening calls.

50-50. Write him a note. He's on the phone with someone right now. Someone's calling him. Is he picking it out? He's not even picking it out. Hold on a second.

I'm listening and he wrote a-holes. Thanks Adam. I earned that. I earned it. That's on you. I earned it.

That's what's on me. He didn't answer the question. No he's doing his job. Someone's calling in. But he's listening.

Thanks for listening Adam. That's one. That was funny. I think this is the guy. Oh yes.

It's his way of saying he doesn't know the color. It's my first show as a 54-year-old Jets cheerleader. Oh. Yeah. Man. So I'll have a little bit of that for you.

The baby with the capnol in. Yeah and we send our best to Dickie Vee who apparently has another voice surgery that he said he's undertaking right now. Okay. Let's take a break.

Jeremy Fowler of the worldwide leader in sports. Is Brock Purdy going to be ready for the season? A lot of optimism coming out of San Francisco. And I know that because I read the papers. I hear what the coach is saying.

And I'm not getting direct information from the 49ers. Okay? Finally addressing that. Are you getting accused of being a- Have you not heard about that? No. Someone said you were a mole?

No that's funny. I got googled and talked about on Google so much. Xander before he went to camp came up to me.

I was like dad are you a 49er or a mole? He said something. Okay.

Oh wow. 844-204-rich. Number to tell. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.

When we come back right here on the Rich Eisen Show. The average on-farm income in the United States was a loss of $1100. 60% of US pork comes from one company wholly owned by the Chinese. And farmers are more likely to commit suicide than veterans.

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You mean besides saving the family farm and enjoying the highest quality meat on God's green earth? James want me to hang the moon for you too? I'd love to. Go to moinkbox.com slash yum right now and get a free gift in your first order. Get to getting while the getting is good. Go to moinkbox.com slash yum. Moinkbox.com slash yum. I guarantee you're fixing to say oink, oink, I'm just so happy I got moinked. Get an inside look at Hollywood with Michael Rosenbaum.

Actress Kristin Ritter. Your parents let you travel by yourself. It was a different time. They just put you on a train. As a 15 year old girl you went to New York.

I went on a bus and I did get picked up at Port Authority. They thought I was a runaway. What would they do?

They'd detain you and like get people on the phone and then they finally let you go to your modeling job. How many times did it happen? Once or twice.

It just seems like it wouldn't happen. It happens, yeah. Inside of you with Michael Rosenbaum, wherever you listen. Ah yes, we're back here on the program. I appreciate Adam for listening to the program while he screens the calls.

That's number one, Adam. I apologize for calling your dedication and professionalism into question. I also appreciate since I was the one who did it, you responded with I'm listening a holes, plural. I am just, I'll take the my bad on that. You're the, you're plural also. Oh okay. That's how big of one I am? Well I'm just saying like I'm excluding myself and TJ.

It's stipulated you are the, like if there's anybody who's the a-hole of the R.E.S. it's clearly you. I can feel it. I'll take that. Thank you.

I'll take that. And we found out through Mike Hoskins, our coordinating producer, Dane in Washington, because he went and called last week and said, hey, I'd like to request a top five list from you. The top five list being the top five juiciest Super Bowl matchups of 2023. And I came up with ones that I think are any, they're in the realm of possibility. The realm of juicy?

They're in the, well, they're all juicy. But you could, you know, they're actually, could I put like DeAndre Hopkins' future team against the Cardinals? Right. Like you didn't, like the Cardinals, I don't think we would all do respect making the Super Bowl.

You don't have Texans Cardinals on the list. Correct. Right. See what I'm saying?

That'd be a long shot. They are. I mean, so I kind of went back and forth on it. I understand. But since I was home alone all weekend, literally, like the Kevin of this situation here. Don't forget your dogs.

That's true. At any rate, long story short, I came up with that list because I'm a lead pipe wielding professional and I also knew there'd be very little to talk about of newsworthiness on the spot. Not much happening. So we're making it up as we go along here on the Rich Eisen Show. The Rich Eisen Show radio network back on the air. I'm sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.

Call clickrainger.com or just stop by. Jeremy Fowler of the worldwide leader in sports, NFL information man, and so much more back here on the Rich Eisen Show. How are you doing, Jeremy? I'm good, Rich.

Thanks for having me. One thing about that Super Bowl dream matchup, I got Jets, Cowboys. Jets, Cowboys. I'll be honest with you. It's not on my list.

It's not on my list, but what is that? That's Rogers versus Mike McCarthy in Dallas being in it would just be the juicy aspect of it. Dallas versus Jets. That'd make us happy. No doubt.

Well, it would be on and cracking. It would be 30 plus years, however long it's been for Dallas, I mean, yeah. There you go. Okay.

It'd be perfect. Yes. And I know exactly how long it's been for the Jets since it was the year I was born and I just turned 54 two days ago, Jeremy, so I don't have to do too much math on that. 54 years now.

So let me just jump in. What is your reporting on Justin Jefferson and what's going on with him and the Vikings for a new contract despite him being only three years into the league? Well, it's my understanding that Minnesota is open to doing it. They're committed to signing him long-term at some point. I know it's going to be a massive windfall for Jefferson, that he's going to probably have to be close to the highest non-quarterback, highest paid that's not a passer in the league.

We're talking Aaron Dollar-type money potentially, but I don't think they're there yet. I think they've gotten the ball rolling on some preliminary talks and, you know, look, Jefferson wasn't at OTAs. I was told it wasn't a direct reflection of the contract situation, but who knows of these type of things.

He could be upset that the ball's not further along here. So we could see this heat up closer to training camp or well into training camp. It's just tough because the track record recently for guys that aren't quarterbacks to get a deal after three years on a first-round player contract because the team has two years left for that fifth-year option.

So it just makes it tough. Nick Bosa and guys like that had to wait a year. So that could be, I was told it's going to be tough to do because of the sheer money that would have to be involved, but the Vikings are going to sort of chip away at this. How many wide receivers have gotten a contract first year draft, a first-round drafted wide receiver, gotten a new contract after three years? Would Jefferson be the first? Is this a groundbreaker right here, Jeremy?

So I haven't looked back, I don't remember offhand. And there had to have been one, but it's so beneficial for guys who are not picked in the first round. I mean, just this last year, he had Terry McLaurin, A.J. Brown, Deebo Samuel, D.K.

Metcalf. And Jefferson is higher in the receiver pantheon than those guys, but yet all very good players who got deals there for three years because they weren't beholden to that fifth-year option of first-round picks. So it's rare. There's got to be one out there, but I just, yeah, I don't know of one offhand. That's why I'm kind of bringing it up is just wondering if there is a pressurized situation where the Vikings know this is what they need to do for a player of his stature. They know this is what they have to do for a player of his stature to let everyone in the locker room know if you ball out, we are going to give you what you feel you deserve. They know they've got to do it sooner rather than later because the price is only going to go up, but there's definitely 31 other teams that might be looking at him saying, what are you doing? Right?

Yeah. I mean, it's certainly, if they want to justify the contract now, they can do it, you know, because of the caliber of the player, really probably the best player's position right now. So if you're going to reward anybody who's not a quarterback, he would be that guy, but this is the game, right?

You start probably lower than you need to be with the money. The player gets upset, you posture a little bit, maybe you can bridge the gap before the season, but if you don't, you can do it next summer and it's going to cost the team a little bit more because they waited. But a lot of times teams are willing to do that. The Vikings are a really interesting place because of the new GM and head coach, they had a lot of success last year, but they won a lot of close games. Who knows if they can replicate it, but they're kind of rebuilding on the fly while they stay competitive because they know they have Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson and those guys and the offense is going to be pretty good, but they moved on from a lot of players. You've got Daniel Hunter, who my understanding is if he's not getting a new deal from them, he'd like to go somewhere else where they will give him a new deal, so they're kind of slow playing that.

You know, Jefferson, they haven't got to the finish line on, so Kirk Cousins is pretty much, this is maybe the most underrated, underplayed story in the league is that he's going under free agency. This is a top 12 quarterback with no contract and it looks like he's going to play it out and has bet on himself time and time again, so the Vikings are trying to, I think, saddle themselves from some of those older contracts that were bloated on the back end to try to reset their books, but in the meantime you have some players that could be frustrated as a result. Certainly if they lose Dalvin Cook, right, they're like, so we're not paying Dalvin, so the money that you're saving, doesn't that come to some of us who are waiting for it?

That's the way I sometimes see how NFL locker rooms work and to the detriment if something doesn't happen before playing season. Certainly with the division no longer having Aaron Rodgers in it, I'm sure everybody kind of feels like the wicked witch is dead, let's go try and win, as the Vikings did last year, to try and repeat. Right, so they're, yes, and you would think so, but they're kind of trying to stay competitive while, scale back some money, like Dalvin Cook, I think they would have brought him back on a reduced salary, which he was never going to go for, it's just some of those sort of machinations are in play where there's going to be a little bit of player frustration, but they know with what they have in play for the offense, they're going to be able to put up points. And yes, the division is wide open, you almost sense a little more urgency from Detroit than you do Minnesota. Talking to people around the league, Detroit feels like, hey, this is our division to lose right now.

They're like, we're going to go get it. And they have some cap space that they want to make an additional move for a leftover free agent out there. I don't sense that they're going to go after Hopkins or anything like that, but I can see them adding a veteran receiver, maybe like a Jarvis Landry type, you know. So two different franchises that are in different places, you know, funny enough, Detroit was probably in the same place a year ago that Minnesota is now, even though Minnesota's coming off a 13-win season, but same sort of rebuild functions, trying to sort of stockpile a little bit of money and draft picks. Jeremy Fowler, NFL insider from ESPN here on the Rich Eisen Show. And the timing of everything, you know, pretty much everyone's on vacation right now. This is when general managers and everyone else in front offices look to their families and reintroduce themselves and say, this is our time before training camp starts. And I'm just wondering, because again, this new league year, as all new league years in March did have a lot going on, Jeremy, but Dalvin Cook, DeAndre Hopkins, you just mentioned Jarvis Landry, there's Zeke Elliott, there's Leonard Fournette. I mean, I could go on and on and on here and contracts for Herbert and Burrow, not to mention what we just discussed with Justin Jefferson. What's the timing on all of this, do you think, here? Well, like you said, I think we're at a lull right now and closer to mid-July training camp.

I think there'll be more action. But if you're Dalvin Cook, and I do think this is a factor, you're going to see probably what happens with those franchise tag guys. You've got three running backs on the franchise tag. Not that you're necessarily guaranteed to make $10 million from a team, which is what the tag is right now for Barkley and those guys, but those are three more comps that you can sort of wait on and see what happens. You know, Hopkins, I continue to hear he just hasn't been in a major rush, he knows the Titans and the Patriots want him. I believe there's, from what I've heard, there's mutual interest and respect between the Patriots and Hopkins.

There was a good vibe when he was on the visit that he would be interested in playing there, so we'll see what that means as far as a potential contract. But yeah, you have a player like Yannick and Gokhway, too, where teams feel like, okay, we might be a piece or two away now, we've gotten better. Like if you're Chicago, you know, you need probably a pass rusher, maybe Carolina. These are things where you'd love to sign a guy like that for $5 or $6 million, but he probably won't take that. So you're gonna wait it out and see what happens closer to July, or some players will wait till there's an injury. Like all these running backs are in a tough spot because of the money that's dried up at that position, except for the exception of Dalvin Cook, because he's still only 27, still some prime years left, still a top 10 running back. But you know, if you're a 4-net or a cream hunter, some of these guys, I could see them waiting into camp to see if somebody gets hurt potentially. Yeah, and then camp hits and we're gonna get some answers soon.

I mean, a lot of questions we've been having for weeks and months get answered in short order. Who do you think the starting quarterback for the 49ers is going to be this year, Jeremy? Well, I think if Brock Purdy is healthy, like if he clears all the tests he needs to and can throw the ball the way he needs to, I do believe he'll be the starter. I will say this, and this has persisted for a while, when the 49ers signed Sam Donald early in pre-agency, gave him decent money, and considering like people have always just sort of been enamored with him around the league, for better or worse, despite the struggles, there are a lot of people around the league that think that he'll play meaningful snaps for San Francisco this year based on why they signed him, when they signed him, just some of the ability and that he's a perfect fit for Kyle Shanahan's offense, that that might actually bring out the best in him for once.

And so I'm curious to see how that plays out. It's like a choose your own adventure with them, too, because Trey Lance, you know, the issue really seemed to be accuracy in the limited time that he played, but they still really do not know what they have. Like when you talk to people over there, they're like, he just has not played enough football to evaluate him, and he is a hard worker, and you know, like he does a lot of good things that we still liked when we drafted him two years ago, they're just in a tough spot with it. So it's really like if any of those three guys played snaps, it wouldn't shock me, but I would put Purdy as the one if he's healthy. That seems to be the case over there, but like there's a feeling that Donald could be out on the field at some point and playing for that team and meaningful snaps.

So I'm going to ask you a sports talk radio question, Jeremy Fowler, you got to you got to answer it. That's what I mean. OK, so Darnold was signed as Purdy insurance or Lance insurance.

Oh, I think both probably. No, no, no, no, no, no. You're not allowed. Purdy insurance. Purdy insurance at the time, just in case he couldn't be ready, because that's the whole point with Lance. You mentioned again that some people they're saying we don't even know what we have in him, you got to play him in order to find out what you have in him. That's why finally the Packers decided to go with Jordan Love. They had to see what they have in him, despite who they had.

And it's amazing that Mr. Irrelevant, which obviously we still refer to Brock Purdy being the last pick in a draft as being, is is going to be the guy. And I don't blame them, because if you got a guy on a seventh round contract playing elite quarterback play, you got to go with that guy. So what happens to Lance if Purdy's healthy and they're like, we're going to go with him and Darnold is somebody that they think is perfect for the system. Do they just go with Lance sitting there as the third guy because they needed somebody who was the third guy last year? Well, it's tough to even imagine that, because like you got a number three overall pick, you gave up three first round pick for as your emergency quarterback in that case, which you can have now. You got three guys under active roster, new NFL rules, so you can have an emergency third quarterback.

And in this scenario, that would be Trey Lance. I keep going back to this, but the most important pallet in San Francisco is Kyle Shanahan. It's really his baby for the most part. And from what I heard when I asked about Brock Purdy and Kyle Shanahan, it's just Brock is in tune with Kyle. He does what Kyle wants. He runs the offense how he wants. But he's got a feeling. He doesn't have that huge arm and the big time ability. Will Kyle tire of that eventually?

I don't know. But they have so many weapons and a good offensive line and so many play makers, it probably doesn't matter. So when Purdy's out there, you know what to expect, you know what he's going to do, and Kyle likes that. I mean, that's just my sense.

Because of that, I put in this QB one when he's helping. But that's a serious injury. He's got some hurdles to clear here between now and, say, late August, and then you got Lance sitting there. I just don't think there was a lot of trade movement. There wasn't any sort of significant offer where they could justify it. And so he's got two years left under his contract. They don't necessarily have to panic on it.

They can wait. Maybe somebody makes a great offer. Maybe he plays in the preseason and does great, and then there's an offer in late October from a team that just got heard of the trade deadline. There's a lot of potential opportunities they can break for if they do want to move on. But if you talk to other teams, they think they'll probably move on eventually because there's no 50-year option, like they don't see San Francisco picking up that option for him. And so really you're looking at two more years under contract when you can try to get some value for him. But yeah, it's a fascinating situation because I don't necessarily think he's done a bunch wrong where they're so down on him, but they just don't know what to expect, and Kertie is the better option right now. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, a few more minutes left with the NFL Insider.

I'll ask you the question I've been asking everyone from our world coming on this program. Last week, what happened in Buffalo when Diggs was either sent pack-in or he left of his own volition or nothing really happened? He just left.

I mean, what do you got for me there, Jeremy? Well, it's a situation where you're trying to piece it together. Nobody will spell it out, but what I know is that that last game against Cincinnati, he walked out uneasy, was unhappy, that was clear to everybody there. And it seems like what happened on the field was certainly a part of that with him not getting the ball in a crucial situation. And then I was told in the off-season, hey, Josh Allen and Stephon Diggs have to have a conversation, a meaningful conversation. I think that happened when they were all there for minicamp. What was it last week?

I don't know. The weeks blend together now, but whenever they were there for minicamp, Diggs was there and then he wasn't that first Tuesday. And I believe they talked under the bills at closed-door meetings with important people there, with Diggs.

When Sean McDermott went to the podium, things were still unresolved. And I think that's part of why the answers came out the way they did. And I was told pretty adamantly, though, that Diggs would not have been there for that minicamp practice on the field had he not felt they were in a little bit better of a place than they were before that Tuesday.

So I do sense that things were positive, and I'm told the bill is fully expected for training camp. They don't necessarily expect any sort of funny business here. They believe they do have this result. To what extent? I don't know. I'll be honest with you, Jeremy, I'm a little bit flabbergasted that, again, piecing it all together from what you said, our colleague, our friend Robert Griffin III last week and everyone else who's come on this program, piecing it all together, it does appear that whatever happened in that playoff game against Cincinnati, the conversation required to put it to bed between Diggs and Allen sat on undiscussed for months.

Really? Like no phone call, no FaceTime in, no like literally what needed to be said between two guys who have both on this program talked about how much they love each other. It went months without being resolved for real? Well, what I don't know is whether they had any sort of contact this offseason.

I don't know that for sure. That was the sentiment that I kept hearing, like, hey, these two, you just need to get in the room and talk. In the offseason, they were away and Diggs wasn't at OTA, so if they talked, it was over the phone. Text messaging, I'm not privy to that, but there was a feeling like, okay, hey, when many games come, these two need to get together. That was for sure. To clear some things up, and Josh Allen hinted at that, saying that there was some, really what did he say, some non-football related matters they had to discuss, so I don't know what the off-field dynamic is at all.

Certainly there could be something there, I don't want to speculate, but yeah, it does seem like there was some progress made. And last one for you, Jeremy, what does a burrow contract look like? Give it to me or Herbert, do we have percentage of the cap? Can you do something like that?

What do you got for me here, Jeremy? You can't do that. Well, I guess you could, yes, but I know the league back in the CBA negotiations before, they were hoping for a separate salary cap for the top paid player. I think they'd still like that to get done maybe in 2030 when they negotiate again, for this very reason, because the salaries are crazy. So the Bengals have gotten the ball rolling on talks.

I believe they probably made some sort of preliminary offer. They are committed to doing it and made that clear, but I don't think they're close at all because of the dynamic of something like this. I just think it's going to take some time to get to where he's probably going to have to be the highest paid player in the league.

I don't think there's much doubt about that unless he's just willing to be the team player and take a haircut on it. But I think from what I've seen, the number of years will be an issue they've got to hash out. The Bengals would like to do a longer contract, maybe not in the Holmes long, like 10 years, but they'd like to be able to stretch this out and do a longer deal. Would burrow go for that? I think right now they're probably in a deal that's too long, where he probably wants something more reasonable. So those are things they have to hash out. And really burrow, you know, talking to other teams, they think burrow could wait on Herbert in LA.

Like if Herbert can get his deal done first, then burrow can just say, okay, well that's the benchmark and give me a little bit more than that and then we'll all be happy. All right. You can.

I love it. Of course you talk to other teams. You've mentioned that many times.

So I guess I'm mandated to sneak one more in here. Talking to other teams. What's the one team we're not talking about enough this year? What do you got for me?

The quality of team? Yes, sir. And who are we not talking about enough that others are saying, look out for this one? Sleeper.

What do you got for me? Jeremy Fowler. Hold on. I got a Google list of NFL teams, just so I can sift through it.

Let's see. Dolphins? Dolphins? Dolphins. Why?

Why is that? They won nine games with like a gazillion different quarterbacks last year. And then, oh, by the way, they had Jalen Ramsey, Linebacker, David Long, and Vic Fangio. So I just, there's a sense that they could win that division, even though Buffalo's got all the hype and wins 12 games a year and all that, and hey, the Jets, look at the Jets are back. But the Dolphins, they might be the best team in that division. You know, Pittsburgh? Nobody's talking about them. What are people saying about Pittsburgh? Just that it's- Nobody's talking about Pittsburgh. Right. Well, just- Yeah. I mean, you know the defense is going to be good.

And they got weapons. You know, if Kenny Pickett can just sort of manage it and keep playing well in the fourth quarter, that'd be good. What about an NFC team? What about an NFC team? Well, let's see. Let's see. Anybody talking about the Rams?

Anybody? They get healthy? The Rams are actually really interesting because they have, somebody told me they're dead in 40 rookies on their 90-man roster, something like that.

Like a crazy number of rookies. It's clearly, at least on defense, a rebuild. But I was told, like, coming out of the offense and the OTAs, like, in minicamp, they feel like they're going to put a point. Like, I don't think there's any doubt about that. Okay. They're healthy now, Cupp's healthy, Van Jefferson's healthy, they got some young receivers they really like that nobody knows about. I don't know, they're in a weird spot and they're kind of rebuilding, but I don't think it's going to be a tank situation.

I think they're going to put a point and McVeigh likes that they got humbled a little bit. I sense that. Okay. Jeremy Fowler, thanks for the time. I really appreciate it.

Let's do this more often, if you're willing. Thanks for the call. Thank you. Yeah, any time, Rich. I appreciate it. Appreciate you, sir. On the Rich Eisen Show, 40 rookies in Los Angeles, look out.

That's a lot. Can they just stay in Thousand Oaks and have a curfew? Seriously, they're not allowed to come south of Santa Clarita. That's it, that's the line.

They have to go over the mountain just to get to wherever they want to go, send them north and say, you can't come south of Santa Clarita, 40 rookies in Los Angeles. No, thank you. Wow.

No, thank you. They have to turn on their cell phones at 10 o'clock each night. Right.

Right. They got to learn how to be a doula, one for McVeigh's new kid, just to keep him locked in. Yeah, that's a free babysitting, I mean, that's a plus. Dude, I don't think you want any NFL players babysitting a newborn.

Why some of them have newborns? I'll just tell you this, man, I told you. Look out for those Rams. You better hold on to your tickets, Chris. I don't know what you're doing. Hold on to your tickets. I disagree. We're talking playoffs all night.

I don't know about that. I mean, the NFC is wide open. We'll take a break, 844204rich, number to dial. Hour number two, guess what, we've got overreaction Monday coming up.

We also have my top five most juicy Super Bowl matchups of the year, 844204rich, number to dial. For decades, Rolling Stone has set the bar for entertainment publications. Today, Rolling Stone music now takes over in podcast form. Songwriter and producer Jamie Hartman reacts to the Ed Sheeran verdict.

You need to create something new, and of course, you're going to use traditional paths to get there. Are you going to sue the Rolling Stones for making a samba out of sympathy for the devil? Are you going to sue Elvis Presley for writing Bar Sonora?

It's like saying, you're not allowed to use a pencil to create a piece of art. Rolling Stone music now, wherever you listen. The caller there right now here on the Rich Eisen Show, who is this person? Hello? Hello, Rich. This is a guy that's not all that keen on fresh guys, but I want to tell you happy birthday.

Oh my God. Is this- Happy birthday to you. No, I'm going to sing a happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, old Richie. Happy birthday to you.

And a whole lot more. It is your old pal, Joe Willy, for old time and go just name. Joe, this is the greatest thing of all time.

Thank you for doing this. How are you doing? Well, I just, I'm a fan. I've known you for a long time and all of a sudden you've lived a long time and I hope you live a whole lot longer too.

Oh my God, Joe. You don't have no idea what this means to me right now to get a call from you on my birthday. You know, I mean, thank you so much.

I can't, I don't even know how to say it. As one of your fans, you've got millions of fans out there these days, man, so keep up the good work. I love listening to you and seeing you on a case. And I appreciate that, you know, cause you know, I was born the year you won the Super Bowl, Joe. That's the year I was born. That was a good year.

You see that? That was a very good year. It was a good year and a day in the life.

It was a good year and a day in the life for sure. But you know, I'd love to be able to not have to say that, right? I'd love to be able to talk about some, some other championship other than that, Joe, you know what I'm saying?

Yeah. Well, that may come about, so once again, I don't want to take your time up here much. I know you're talking about some important things, but I love you and I look forward to seeing you around campus. And now I get Ray Lucas calling me on my birthday.

What's going on in my life? Everybody back here on the Rich Eisen Show. Better than Rich Coates, right?

That's right. Jimmy in San Antonio back here on the Rich Eisen Show. How are you, Jimmy? Ah, todo bien.

Que pasó hermanos. We're hanging in there. What's going on with you? I just got back from a destination wedding in Cancun. Oh. Oh, that's... Did you get a gift? Did you get a gift? It was one of the worst groomsmen gifts ever. And I've been friends with him for 40 years, third marriage, but only a second wife. So we did the first wife twice by marrying her, divorced. Okay. So two things here, Jimmy.

First of all, I know there's an I in Jimmy. I didn't mean did you get a gift, but now that you've mentioned that, what was the groomsmen gift? What was it? Monogrammed leather suspenders for the outfit. We didn't wear suspenders.

That's terrible. When am I gonna wear suspenders again? Yeah, literally something you're only wearing once.

What is that? You're not like Larry King, are you? Who else is a famous suspenders wearer? Ronald McDonald? Who else?

What else we got? Mr. Peanut. Mr. Urkel.

Mr. Urkel. Good one. I mean, they're sharp. They're really nice. No, I'm wondering.

We're not gonna wear them again. Did you get a gift for them? Because you know the way I feel about destination weddings, right? You know that? Yeah. Correct? No, I did not.

That was a $2,000 vacation I did not ask for. Yes, exactly. Your presence is your present. That's it. Oh, yeah. Correct.

Didn't bring a damn thing for them. We can go home now. Thank you very much.

So you're our San Antonio expert. What restaurant was that photograph of Lemby and everyone else from Spurs, Mount Rushmore taken? I believe it was Bliss. And Beatle, Michelle, should be able to confirm this. I've seen her dine there before.

Her and I have mutual friends through Media Connections. But I believe it was Bliss and that pop organized the whole dinner and called Manu and Sean and everybody to dine. So he's just declined to be in the photograph? Or he took it? Did he take it?

I think so. And guess who paid for it? You know, Pop paid for it. Those are like his sons.

He's not going to let them buy the dinner. I think Pop paid for it. Okay. These are all questions. Thank you, Jimmy. Greatly appreciate it.

Always love when Jimmy calls. There you go. By the way, this place is nice. I bet.

Holy smokes. That may be one of my favorite top five segments in the history of this program was Larry David being asked about destination weddings and his thoughts to try and confirm my belief that you do not get a gift for a destination wedding couple. If you're flying somewhere and you're putting yourself up. He was like, don't even go. Well, he said he doesn't even go. And I asked him, how far must the wedding be from your house to decide 90 minute drive? He said 90 minutes by car was as far as he would go for a wedding period. He said, don't even send him the invitation because he made it even funnier because I think most of us when deciding if we're going to go anywhere, it has a lot of financial consideration. Larry does not have that problem. I think it's a principle matter. It's just a little principle, but no financial ramification. Like if I go to a destination wedding, I got to worry, well, man, I'm going to go pay rent.

Can I do this or that? Larry does not have these long time Seinfeld writer and now curb your enthusiasm. Data producer, director and writer and Jeff Shafer had a destination wedding and I don't recall Larry being there. Were you there? I was.

Oh, that's how I would know. They had a wedding in Mexico and I didn't, I didn't see Larry there. Was Seinfeld there? No, no. Alec Berg, who is a also curb and Seinfeld alum now what?

Silicon Valley and Barry, just everything. I'll never forget. We played golf. He used a range finder from the fringe of the green. Yes. Hey, this is on the fringe ready to chip towards, you know, it was a large green, but he looks in and it says 12. It was for yards. Yes.

Because now you're measuring in feet. I've never seen another human being do that. Oh, did I give him grief spot rest of the weekend at the affair? At the wet?

The whole thing. That's psychotic. I've never, it was, and he turns to me, he goes, it's far away. He needs to know how many, you know, feed he would do the math in his head from feet to yards.

And I'm like, dude, that's insane. Like is there a jacket on the line today? Is there a claret jug on the, I felt like I was Seinfeld. Is there a jug?

Is there a jacket? Did you give a gift? A gift? Yeah. Of course we did.

We have to give a gift and the entire time I'm like, this is our gift. We're here. We flew here. I know. Yeah. Of course we gave a gift.

Well, I'm saying you said you wouldn't give a gift and I, you know. Come on. Yeah.

I'm still pissed and I love Jeff, you know, and his wife, Jackie and whatever. It was a beautiful affair. I'm still digging out. Man oh man. I don't know. I'm just joking.

Hour two coming up. I'm looking at this bliss private dining option. Yeah, they had to have gone private dining, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

You need those. Oh yeah. Beetle's going to give us the whole scoop.

You know. She's going to give us the whole scoop. She might have even been there. Wouldn't surprise me. Well, she's tight with the Spurs organization.

She's part of their broadcast team now. It's awesome. I know. So. All right.

No. I was just like. All right. Oh. I see what you're saying. He was trying to put a button on it.

I was like. That's the end. Of what? Something else.

He was ready to move on is what he said. We can't be. We're still on the air. What do you. What can you get? There. Oh.

A nice $200 bottle of red. Oh. That's nothing for pop. No. I understand. But. We're good. Okay. At any rate.

Coming up next hour. We've got overreaction Monday. Jeremy Fowler just said something about the burrow contract that kind of leaps out at me.

That's something that needs to get done by the way in the next few weeks. Can you imagine they go into the season and Joe Burrow hasn't gotten a new contract yet? I don't think he'd be worried about it though. He's not mentioning hold in like some other guy.

That's because it's a different scenario. He's a different cat. He's a winner.

But he also wants to get paid, pal. This is time. Hey.

When Kyla Murray gets paid. By the way, look what I have. Hoskins found this relic. Including Susie's makeup. Lipstick. She used it. She used it to blot her lipstick sitting in for me one time.

It's not my lipstick. Conspiracy theories. Paranormal. UFOs. Science teacher Andrew Greenwood stated that a child ran into his classroom and was hysterically screaming and talking about the flying saucer outside. Hundreds of children ran out of their classrooms to go outside and see this unidentified flying object that was just above the school. Just imagine a bunch of kids running out of school. Most of them probably just ran home. Race of the Third Kind on YouTube or wherever you listen.