REShow: Tom Curran - Hour 2

This, this, check this out. This is The Rich Eisen Show. When Odell takes the field, it will have been what?

Yeah, 500 plus days. Since he's played a football game. The Rich Eisen Show. Ravens gave him 15 million bucks. And the Giants are like, yeah, do we give Saquon Barkley 15 million a year?

That's what they figured. Earlier on the show, the Fire Pit Collective Golf Writer, Alan Shipnut. Coming up, NBC Sports Boston Patriots Insider, Tom Curran from FX's Justified City Primeval. Actor Timothy Oliphant. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

Yes, it is. Our number two of The Rich Eisen Show is on the air on this Monday show. Overreaction Monday is still to come. My top five quarterbacks in need of a bounce back season.

That's still to come. The actor Timothy Oliphant in studio with FX's Justified City Primeval. He is returning as Raylan Givens, one of my favorite TV characters that he plays.

It's always a delight when he's here in studio, as he will be in hour number three. Good chat with Alan Shipnut of the Fire Pit Collective with the latest on the Live Tour and the PGA Tour as the Open Championship week hits. It is, in fact, training camp week opening up in the National Football League. The Jets opening up training camp in the middle of this week.

Hard Knocks has been dated, set for a date, August 8th, that will debut with the Jets. Chris Brockman, you mentioned a couple of days ago a report from Ben Volen of the Boston Globe that Bill Belichick's friends are privately voicing concern that Belichick may be on the hot seat this year. And you've been talking about this for a while, that Belichick might be on the hot seat.

Did I start the hot seat talk? Sure, we'll just give you that. Thank you.

And then when DeAndre Hopkins has chosen the Titans and the Patriots were in that mix too, when that happened, it was time to call up The Signal, the caped crusader of NBC Sports Boston, Tom Caron back here on the Rich Eisen Show. How are you doing, Tom? Tremendous. How are you? I'm doing great.

I am doing great. You know how humbling it is? I got to tell you this real quick.

It's so humbling when I hear your list of guests and then you're coming to me. Hey, brother. I mean, Timothy Oliphant. I mean, geez. I've watched Deadwood front to back three times.

Oh, wow. Me too, Tom. And it's as great a TV show as any. I do love it. And I'm going to ask him about it when he comes in on hour number three.

It's going to be great. So I will send that clip to you later on today, Tom. It's right up your alley. Thanks, buddy.

Right up your alley. Let's jump into this here. I'll ask it with a Patriots lens. Why did Hopkins choose the Titans over the Patriots? Do you think, Tom?

Feels like the dough. It feels like the Patriots kind of drew a line in the sand on how much they were willing to spend on DeAndre Hopkins. And because that 15 million, 12 with incentives to bring him to 15 given by Tennessee is not exorbitant. And it's head scratching to me relative to the Patriots who just came off of a two year, $22 million deal for Nelson Aguilar, who wasn't nearly 50% of the player DeAndre Hopkins was when he came in.

And he wasn't even 20% of the player DeAndre Hopkins was in the two years he was here. Patriots spend eight, nine, $10 million annually on special teamers in a league that's trying to push away from the Patriots, have more cap space rich than anybody else in the league next year by about $60 million. And they have a ton right now. They had room to do it. And I just don't understand why in a highly leveraged season, they didn't say, let's just go in on this guy.

We need him. Is it something other than money then? Was it definitely not apples to apples?

Do you know first blush year, if the Patriots just were not as competitive on the money front as Tennessee? My feeling is it's certainly that's the case. There were reservations voiced to me from folks within the building of, okay, how's the culture fit going to be? Not in the way of, and this is important if this gets clipped, not in the way of he's a bad guy, not in the way of he's going to be an irritant, but more of he doesn't like to practice. He's not on all the details. He's not the most precise player. And that happens a lot with whether it's Terrell Reavis, who I should not say didn't like to practice, but you bring a player in who's so thoroughly established elsewhere and say, okay, you're going to hue to the rules and regulations we have here.

And they might be like, yeah, I'll do it that way. So there was concern about that. Maybe the Patriots didn't want to go that far, but he had a two day visit with them. It's, he's got the familiarity. I'm not saying that he would have been a panacea at all the things that ail them, but you're going to look at Mac Jones at the end of the year and make an evaluation as you head into the fourth year and decide whether or not he's going to be your quarterback to 2030, or are you going to say so long after 2024? What about this setup in New England that might not have, I guess, vibed with Hopkins?

Obviously, Bill O'Brien is his former head coach and the one who sent him to Arizona to begin with, and now he's the OC there. Is that all copacetic based on from what you were hearing and understanding, Tom? Yes, 100 percent.

Based on what I'm hearing and understanding, 100 percent. That was buried. Now, was that lip service paid over the course of time? And those are other reports that Greg Bedard from Boston Sports Journal had mentioned, as well as, you know, indications that O'Brien, I think, has given to that it was dead and buried. He wouldn't have taken a two day visit here if he wasn't the least bit.

I mean, that's a lot if you want to prime the pump for a bigger payday someplace else to spend two days in Boston in late June. So he did so. So I would imagine everything was copacetic. Well, our friend Breer saying that Hopkins was texting with Vrabel during his Patriots visit. Did you see that one, Tom? I didn't, but I fully trust Albert.

I mean, if you're one car dealership bidding on a similar car across the street, you go, hey, these people are giving me a deal on the on the formats. Can you guys do that? You're going to do it. The true coat. He wanted the true coat kicked in. Is that what you're saying? That's a little Fargo for you. Right. That's it. You got my reference. That's right. That's right.

Little, little Fargo for you right there. Again, you can see I'm just hunting and pecking because maybe also he, you know, figured he's going to be the man in Tennessee and then part of the Patriot way. And I don't know, did Devante Parker also say something that caused Hopkins essentially to tweet, you know, I'm a value add to any room, you know, my message to all receivers that might be on a team that I'm looking at. I'm a value add.

I'm not taking away food off your table essentially. Right. Did something happen there? I think when we look at the landscape of why is DeAndre Hopkins today going to be a Titan and not a Patriot, I think it might have more to do with the Titans and Hopkins, maybe more to do with the Titans. When you lose AJ Brown, I looked at this yesterday just to see how bad their offense was. They only scored in the final 12 games, Tennessee, more than 20 points, two times, they scored 22 and 27, the 27 with their season high. They were pretty pathetic on offense. I don't even know how many defensive or return touchdowns were involved in some of those games, but they were pathetic and you can absolutely trace it to the absence of AJ Brown. And you saw my Fable video after AJ Brown was traded, the news from that draft night where he kind of got up and looked a little disgusted.

So I would imagine Fable sitting there after a seven and 10 season saying, I know what went wrong. This is the only way available to us to try and rectify it. Let's do it. So I think that Tennessee was more motivated as far as the Patriots and Devante Parker, the Patriots should be able to, with a straight face, walk into training camp and say, if these guys play all at the potential level that they should, Parker, Bourne, Taequann Thornton as a second year player, Juju, Hunter Henry, Jusicki, Ramondre Stevenson, they should be an offense that should be able to figure its way to 24 points a week. So I get it. Yeah.

I mean, you're right. The Titans needed Hopkins more than the Patriots did. That's for sure. I saw that Vrabel was, until Hopkins agreed to terms, the Titan with the most career touchdown receptions in that building.

Like that's the truth. He was leading his own damn receiver room with his career, thanks to all those times that Brady targeted him. So they needed him.

I understand that. What about the Patriots needing one piece of piece of shiny material added in this late stage because the AFC East is so damn deep right now. What about that sense with Dalvin Cook sitting out there right now, Tom? My greater concerns for the Patriots right now are Trent Brown, their last tackle, who did not perform well last year, showed up way to the mandatory mini camp, was only able to make it through one drill, which looked like a conditioning issue, and adjourn to the lower practice field. What shape is he going to come back in in a week and a half?

A week, really? Which shape will he come back in? And can he protect Mac Jones? Because if he can't, and the rest of that line is okay, not great, okay, then you're going to have another season of kind of just treading water, unless Bill O'Brien can get this team to where it was with Brady and McDaniel's, where the ball's coming out so fast nobody can be bothered. Mac Jones can do that. He's just got the worst separating group of receivers in the National Football League. These guys create zero separation. Devante Parker has been last in the league in separation for the past three years, like 146 out of 146.

And if that's your quote unquote one, that's an issue for a young quarterback. So how has Mac Jones seemed to you? Any different?

What do you got? Yeah, I think that he's willing to, which I'm not sure Bill has been, but I think Mac is willing to acknowledge that, look, you know, I let my emotions get the better of me after holding them in check for a long time. I'm going to be a better leader this year. I think he's got great leadership skills, but he's also a great leader. I think he's got great skills, but he's also got a little bit of a tennis brat in him, which Brady did too. But it's different. I don't want to compare him to Brady all the time, but he can be a little bit more on his own when he's pissed off. Yeah, but Brady never had, Brady never had as his Sherpa two guys who had never done it before in some weird power structure. You know, like, honestly, like, I mean, you're so right. So people are like, go ahead. Sorry, Richard.

No, it's the, I, you know, that's, that's the ultimate question here. And that's what I think has placed Belichick in, in the conversation. Oddly enough, I'm stunned by it as, as, as need needing to win this year to avoid a hot seat scenario in New England. It's basically last year and what happened with Matt Jones and that offense can be placed in the bucket of the weird Matt, Patricia, Joe judge gambit that clearly didn't work. And everybody thought wasn't going to work and was pointing out while it was being formed. This isn't looking too great. So yeah, maybe that's why Matt Jones's tennis brat came out a little bit more than expected.

A hundred percent, a hundred percent. I mean, everyone knew in training camp, Matt Jones included, that it was head-scratchingly difficult to understand what the aim was. I mean, they were in, they were a train wreck in training camp, practice after practices, zero games or like some players walking through the line unblocked and just raising their hand to say, you guys forgot me instead of finishing off. It was just bizarre. And I thought it would get better.

And there were moments when it did, there was a period of time when they were fairly effective, but as the rest of the league improved offensively and defensively, they just got raced past. And, you know, you talk about avoiding the hot seat, rich, he's on the hot seat and he's been there at different levels of warmth since 2019. Really? And let me look at it. We'll get it this way in 2019, Tom Brady, one of the two year $50 million guaranteed, a contract, just like through Breeze head. He presumed he was going to get that in training camp. It still was not forthcoming. He's like, you know what?

If I don't get this thing, I'm walking out. It was explained to Belichick. That was the case.

They got something done. It was not a two year guaranteed contract. It was two years with the team option. So at that point, Brady, as we all know, said, okay, party's over.

I'm leaving at the end of the year. And he had dalliances with Miami and everything else. So as that progressed and the team gets to eight and help in that season, Brady's pissed craft is looking at it as okay, well, if we're moving on from this guy, I hope we have a good plan. Brady leaves. Belichick somehow convinces craft that not spending that money on Tom Brady was a great idea.

He went to the Super Bowl, the Patriots under King Newton because they don't have a plan or a train wreck offensively. They have a good 2021. They bounced back tremendously with McDaniel's doing a great job of orchestrating things with Jones. McDaniel's leaves, again, no plan for replacement. All those guys, they spent $172 million on in guaranteed money in 2022 are so bad. And the decision to have Patricia and judge running the offense caused a massive regression and dysfunction.

They were one of the worst teams in the league coach-wise in terms of penalties and situational football. And that just shouldn't happen. So craft has pointed out that I'm battling here a number of times. I'm anxious. I want results.

And he's not getting them. And I wonder if Belichick had already passed Shula or wasn't even within hailing distance of Shula, if we would really have this kind of a hand wringing, what do you do about Bill conversation? Because it's not just last year. It goes back to the midway point of 2019.

Man. So what does this year need to look like, Tom? Better. I mean, better, better means what? I mean, I mean, of all the years, of all the years for the Jets to get Rogers, the Dolphins, the Dolphins to add Vic Fangio, which is the one ad that I think few people are talking about with Dalvin Cook might be coming. The Bills are the Bills. You know, Burrow is Burrow.

Mahomes is Mahomes. I mean, this is, you know, better. What does better look like? They got to make the playoffs and win a game. I mean, I understand better is as, as a concept, but, but, you know, best you could tell him, what does it need to have an answer?

Okay. Craft has already started walking back the demand for a playoff win. You can sense it in him saying, you know, I expect us to be a good team this year, but our schedule is something else. So last year he indicated it's been three years since we want to play off game.

I expect to win one now. This year, they didn't come close to doing that. So now you're looking at a situation where you would expect craft to ratchet that up. He's kind of walking it back explaining how difficult the schedule is, but you can't be situationally stupid. You can't have a quarterback who is so disgusted on a regular basis that he's gesturing towards the sidelines and in discussed.

You can't seem as if you have no clue. You can't be one of the worst teams in the red zone or on third down, all of those things can happen. If you improve and you're in the top 10 and you're losing games where you just get outplayed instead of lateraling over your head, with a better shot, even if the team finishes eight and nine.

But if they look disorganized, dysfunctional, and the discipline's out the window, then they might say that was a great run. But can you go upstairs and just watch Jerrod coach next year? Is that who it is?

That's it? It would be Jerrod Mayo. It wouldn't be somebody on a list in the RKK top right-hand drawer in college.

He wouldn't go Yolo at Saban. I mean seriously. My sense is it's probably Jerrod Mayo.

Very important to the craft. They released a statement at the beginning of the offseason. The team was working towards an extension with him because his contract was up.

The team never releases any information about any extensions, much less an assistant coach. So I think it's important to the crafts and Mayo that it be out there that it's apparent that he is next in line to be a head coach in the NFL in the place that he played. And I think he's an extension of Bill too, Rich. He's a guy Bill drafted.

He's a guy that Bill has helped inspire and fill a vessel as a leader. And I think that maybe Bill would be okay with it, but how close does he get to Shula? Or does he just pass Shula and we don't have to have this?

What will be kind of a painful thing to cover? No, he's 20 behind Shula. That ain't happening this year. I mean actually he's 30. He's 30 wins behind Shula right now.

No, no, no, he's 19. Oh, we're talking about playoffs included. Yeah, they include the playoffs. All right, so then they're not getting 19. There's only 17 of them out there this year, unless I guess get to the AFC Championship game.

He's not passing Shula this year. So yeah, undefeated. You know what I mean? Like, so let's just brass tax it as I send you off onto your Monday, and I appreciate the time here, Tom Kern. So you're saying as we're sitting here on the day that we've learned, first full business day that DeAndre Hopkins is in coming, he's going to Vrabel's Titans, that going into this season where the Patriots, our plan is Bill O'Brien's here, offense is going to be better with some of the weapons that we've added, as well as O'Brien.

He's clearly an old hand at this. He knows exactly the way that it worked with Brady, and that red ass that he is will be fine with Mac Jones in the same way, you know, he and Brady meshed. Obviously Mac Jones isn't Brady, but that's the plan there. And if it doesn't work out to a certain point, Belichick may, may be coaching his last season in New England with his successor on his staff. That's basically what you're saying going into the season for the Patriots.

Is that accurate? As someone who, as someone who covers the team as intimately as anyone, I look at Robert Kraft and knowing Robert Kraft and the Kraft family, there's a point in which the growling and the saber rattling has to amount to something, and he has growled and saber rattled for going on three years. He's dissatisfied with the results. He does not dislike Bill.

I'm sure he wouldn't want to move on from him, but he's intensely dissatisfied with the results and intensely dissatisfied with what happened last season. So my presumption is, as I sit here, that a man as successful and as urgent as Robert Kraft is going to make a decision on what does it look like if I just continue to bark on the porch? Don't I have to bite little doggy at some point?

Little reservoir dogs for you. I got it. Tom, thanks for the call, brother.

Let's do this in training camp. I'm on vacation, you know. Where are you? We were in Aruba last week, but we're back now. This is the staycation portion.

Oh, okay. When do you go? When does training camp start? When does the work start? Really, we kick it in, kick it in the beginning of next week, because training camp opens next Wednesday. Okay.

So once the week begins, it's always, you know, you know, we're into it. All right. Fresh back from Aruba. Do you tan, Tom, or you just burn? You burn or tan? No, I'll send you my corpse-like picture in a swim shirt. I fell asleep in the pool. My wife took a picture.

It looked like all you had to do was put some rosary beads over my hands and I was done. So if this was a gas gauge, you'd be E and Brear would be F, because you know he's tan right now. You know, he's probably like George Hamilton right now from his Nantucket getaway.

So that's basically what we got. You know, I've never been to Nantucket in my life. What the hell?

Wow. But you've been to Aruba. You know, there's a beautiful island, just, just, you know, a hop skip from you. Take a little ferry.

Go to New Bedford, you know, take a ferry. I know. Okay. You take care of yourself.

One of the things growing up here, would you just look at it and go, that's a hoity-toity joint. I ain't going. Okay. Hoity-toity. Okay. Thanks, Tom. Greatly appreciate it. That's Tom Curran.

Right back at you. Tom E. Curran. Always get the scoop from him. The best riches when we were in Arizona, me and Brockmer at the corner, and he turns, he goes, it's Tom Curran behind us. And it was Tom, and we had never met him before. So it was. He's good people, man. Good people.

It was cool to meet him. All right, we'll take a break. We'll come back and I'll get your two cents before we overreact to everything else. Overreaction Monday coming back. 844-204-RICH.

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Moinkbox.com slash yum. I guarantee you're fixing to say, oink, oink, I'm just so happy I got moinked. Back here on the program, Tom Curran. How many, by the way, that's a new thing is an NFL information individual telling us where they are and then sending a photograph or any interview, right?

We've had a series of these things, right? We've had Pellissero cutting his hair. And playing golf. And playing golf or sitting shotgun with Garofolo.

We had Jeff Passan in some weird, you know, ice room with tubes and whatever. Tom Curran and I said, you know, do you burn or do you tan? He said, neither. What'd he say? If he had rosary beads in his hands, he'd be a corpse.

Well, let's see if that backs it up. There it is. Look at the freckled hands. I mean, he's very Irish, so the Irish burn. I gotta be honest with you. I respect the shirt over top. By the way, this is our avatar of our new potential team name, Tom Curran's Thymie. Oh, wow. Is that a good fantasy name?

Those are still longer than most of the kids in college. Tom Curran's Thymie. Looks like the Pope on vacation. He is out. Look at the hat. He looks very comfortable. I'm on vacation.

I love how he just threw that out there. He was not in Aruba. He said he was in Aruba.

This is now the staycation portion. That's gotta be from Aruba or is that from today? That could be in his crib. Who knows? It could have been during our conversation. Lounging by the pool, talking to Rich Eisen.

He's lounging. Look at Tom. He's not wrong. If there are rosaries, we would be. Just don't.

See ya. Class rights. Oh, yellow. Look at the yellow. That's a choice of swimming trunks.

Rash guard, a little rash. This whole outfit is a choice. I mean, yellow and blue.

Yellow and blue, man. Yeah, I know. That was like the Red Sox City Connects.

I was gonna go. That does. Yeah, that's not maze. That's like bright yellow.

Yeah, that's like UCLA kind of, yeah. No, that's an eight clap. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show Radio Network. 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 clickgrainger.com or just stop by. Are you at the point where nine and eight means, let's see what Gerard Mayo's got? Let's try something else. Nine and eight?

No. If it's nine and eight, but the offense looks like it's really made improvements and there's something there to build on, you know, beyond 2023. No, I think we're good. We'd run it back.

Maybe try to get another playmaker in the draft. So you're not ready to give Bill the shove because by the way. Not at nine and eight, but if it's six, eleven, seven and ten and it just doesn't look good. I find that hard to believe. They're too good to go six and eleven. That would have to be injuries. That would have to be.

I agree with that. The defense is too good to go six and eleven or seven and ten next year. They are in that eight, nine, nine and eight, depending how the ball bounces.

Ten, maybe eleven if they kind of play above their skis a little bit. Again, we keep bringing this up because it's the semi-finals of the NBA in-season tournament. That's a huge week. Patriots, Steelers, week fourteen, Thursday night, it's in Pittsburgh. Belichick on one sideline, Tomlin on the other. That just reeks of both teams fighting for spots five, six or seven. Yeah, yeah. I think the loser of that game is out.

I don't know about that. Because they're going to have the tiebreaker on the other. That will be a crucial game. I just feel it in my bones. I feel it. Yeah, I agree with you.

You know, that is definitely one to put a pin in. I can feel it. But the bottom line is Belichick coaching for his tenure still just doesn't ring right to me.

But you heard Karen say that the Crafts have been barking around the porch for a few years now. I'll just say this. If Belichick didn't want to pay Brady, couldn't craft a base. If Kraft was the one who ordered the code red to get Jimmy Garoppolo out. Why couldn't Kraft have said, we're paying Tom what he wants? Why is that left at Belichick's doorstep?

Like current just opined. That's a fair question. You know, if he's the owner of the property and I'll be all right. You can't pick and choose if you're him when it well, Bill has decisions over the roster. You can't pick and choose that if you were the one that and even if traded, Jimmy, even if Belichick does have that contractual right.

Of all the players that you can come in and say, yeah, there's a new fine print in town and it's called me making the decision instead of you. It's for Tom Brady, don't you think? The roster also wasn't good in 2020. You know, obviously the Bucks won the Super Bowl that year. They had much more talent on the team top to bottom. 2019 ended with Brady throwing that pick six out of desperation. They were kind of fortunate to make the playoffs that year. Anyway, make it out that Mark Vrabel's team. Was the one who ended Brady's reign in New England. Can't make that stuff up, brother. I just find it hard to believe that Belichick's coaching for his job and has his successor on the staff.

You want to talk about self-confidence. You know, and I know I mentioned this Yolo Saban, and I know that that's ridiculous to say that, that Saban's not his. You know, he's the same age as Bill to go out and with everything sitting there in Alabama.

But don't you think they would, I don't know, look to the college ranks to get somebody there or just stick with their own guy? 844-204 Rich, number to dial. Okay, it's a Monday. Let's do it. It's one of our favorite segments here on the Rich Eisen Show. It's time to overreact to stuff even though, you know, the football season's a while away.

It doesn't matter. You can overreact on any Monday and this is one of them. Hit it. That was terrible. That was crap. That was garbage. This place sucks.

Overreaction. Mondays. All right, Christopher, how about it, sir? Hey, everybody.

Oh, God. Hey. Hey.

Thanks, Jay. Hi, Chris. Hey. Hey, TJ. What up, though?

I don't understand why you start segments that way when it's the middle of the show. We've said hello to each other literally for an hour and a half. It's his name. What's up? That's how he does it.

Hi. Winning came secondary for D-Hop signing with the Titans. Well, you're saying that as a Patriot fan, or you're just saying that... I'm saying is they're not going to win a lot of games. Which... Where does he have a better shot to win the division?

Kansas City. Where does he have... Oh, I see what you're saying. Like... Yeah, he chose dollars over wins. Well, DeAndre Hopkins is a free agent. And so why would he go ahead and say, I'll take five, six million a year? Because I've made a lot of money. And I have money in one hand, and I have zero rings in the other.

What would balance this out? Oh, if I got a ring in one hand. Yeah, he could have taken the Odell route without the knee getting blown out. I'll go win a ring and then become one of the hottest commodities on a free agent market next year.

He could have done that. He could have gone one year, what, six, seven million, been up there in western New York or being introduced in Kansas City and having a better shot to win it all. And Patrick Mahone's been like, hey, I'll put you in a couple Coors Light commercials and we'll offset some of the cash that way. Or he's just, screw it, I'm sick and tired of seeing all these guys make money.

It's time for me too. And I also go to a spot where, you know, the coach of the year from a year ago resides. And I also know the offensive coordinator and Derrick Henry's there and Ryan Tanneall needs to win this year.

And this team was winning the division until everything went completely haywire, not their own fault. I mean, there are ways to to spin this. And it's a place where only four wide receivers have had thousand yard seasons in the last 10 years.

Interesting. But here's the deal. I take that back. Not four wide receivers, Rich, four thousand yard seasons because AJ had two or three of them.

Yeah. So look, I can't sit here and say the Titans are, you know, they're not going to win this for one of the top 10 teams to win the Super Bowl right now, but they're one of two teams with a great shot to win their division. And that's what he chose. But you're right.

If he wanted to take less money, there would have been a whole host of teams from the Cowboys to I imagine the Bills and the Chiefs, teams that have a better shot in the fans mind's eye. But we'll see. When Titan training camp hits, they're not sitting there thinking we have no shot. They're thinking we've got new. Let's go. Yeah, that's true. What else you got over there, Chris?

All right. A team we're not really talking much about, but is another one of those who has a chance to win their division. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Lavonte David recently praised Baker Mayfield's impact on the locker room. We assume he's going to be the starter.

He probably put up a good season with some of the weapons they have down there. So Baker Mayfield redemption season. Oh, yeah, man. Sure. Yeah, man. Oh, yeah. You know, of course. And that's the thing I kind of don't understand, you know, about the whole Kyle Trask aspect of this in a competition. But that's the way Todd Bowles wants to run it. And then, of course, is also somebody who's out there that's just going to loom over this whole thing. And I know you're saying, Rich, why do you stir up Tom Brady?

Why do you do it? You know, I read the quotes. Excuse me. I'm not stirring up Tom Brady. You're just reporting Antoine Winfield Jr. Did you see this?

I did. Yeah, he plays on the Buccaneers. He is on the Buccaneers player. He was on Richard Sherman's podcast. I've heard of Richard Sherman. Hey, he's good.

He was good. I'm sure we're still reaching out to him. Him being Brady, I'm being Antoine Winfield Jr. who plays on the Buccaneers.

I'm sure we're still reaching out to him, trying to see if he's trying to come back to the team. Hey, it could happen. Anything's possible. Sherman said he doesn't put anything past Brady and Winfield said it's up in the air, man. Oh, really? Where's the up?

Where's the air? Tampa. So the Gulf Coast. That looms until toe meets ball and we'll see Baker Mayfield who, you know, came on this program after signing with the Bucks and he is totally got his head screwed on perfectly right about this situation. But you know, there's a chip and it's on his shoulder and he's going to want to treat the rest of the National Football League. You know, the manner in which he's seemingly always done it, you know, my Kevin's still there.

Chris Godwin's still there. Yeah, he's gonna he wants to. I think he wants to treat the rest of the National Football League like Hugh Jackson looking for a handshake.

What else you got over there? Chris Jackson. Hey, he also has a good podcast.

Tyreek Hill. Did you hear what he said? Play it. This is hilarious. Go.

We've got sound. Wow. Roll it.

Impressive. I will break 2000 yards next year, bro. Y'all heard of me just taking stuff off his bucket list. And all I'm gonna say is 2000 yards was on my bucket list to get, bro, before I leave this league.

And y'all think the cheater gonna leave without doing something he promised himself he gonna do as a as a G? I got y'all, baby. 2000 yards and another Super Bowl. We getting that. Believe that. Believe that. 2000 yards and a Super Bowl.

How about this? Tyreek Hill is gonna hit on one of his two crazy predictions this year. That's not an overreaction, right? I mean, he's supremely talented. What he just did, though, if you just heard that. This is incredibly impressive. He went triple crown on talking in the first, second and third person. He used the word I, he and Cheetah. Okay, see, he went third person in Cheetah and then referred to Cheetah as he second person and then said I first person. Impressive. It's not easy to do that in one single sound bite. And if he can do that, I think he can pull everything off. However, to get 2000 yards, you know, two has got to throw for what? Five thousand? By the way, it's never been done before.

Ever. I get it. There's an extra game now, as we know, we're going to have to stop referring to it as an extra game because it exists and a yearly basis now forevermore. But Jalen Waddle is still on that team and he's going to get his because he's Jalen Waddle. And that's not that's not a denigrating Tyreek Hill, a.k.a.

I, he, Cheetah. Props to you for picking up on that, by the way. Oh, come on. My third person alert is it's it's keen.

It's it's it's a pungent sense to me that I have. So two is going to have to throw for be healthy and throw for five thousand yards for Tyreek Hill to get two thousand in an offense where the ball needs to be shared and will. Certainly if Dalvin Cook gets there. Can you put it past him?

What else you got over there? All right. Last week, Justin Jefferson was asked his top five quarterbacks and he said Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers and Joe Burrow. He did not say Kirk Cousins, Jalen Hurts and Josh Allen. And it's weird because he doesn't play with any of those guys.

How about this? Kirk Cousins can be a top five quarterback this year. Remember, Michael Irvin said he was the MVP of the season going into the year last year. And he about two thirds of the season in Kirk was in that conversation. And by the way, we're all talking about the behind the scenes, miked up stuff about Mahomes in the quarterback series on Netflix. Kirk Cousins is got. It's been a dog in him, right, to use that phrase.

Sure, I can't. I'm not going to sit here and say Kirk Cousins is garbage and he can't be a top five quarterback. He has the second most wins last year with 13 and four. Hey, man, if again, I keep saying I keep returning this running back market. I know it's not a running back league, but if Alexander Madison does not do Dalvin Cook things, then Kirk Cousins is going to have problems fading back to pass period into story. I mean, it's a team game, folks. So, you know, by the way, no one in the NFL is garbage. Let's put that. No, I you know, I understand that. I'm referring to what how fans think of the fans. And so, sure. Can he be a top five quarterback?

Like where? Like he's he's up there with Mahomes and Burrow and Allen and and Rogers. So what are you measuring that by? Chris wins touchdown passes all of it. Cousins has 4000 yards passing in seven of the last eight years. So if he goes what say they're twelve and five, five thousand yards, thirty eight touchdowns and ten picks, that's a top five year. He's going to make the Pro Bowl. Yeah, I mean, all discussion.

I got you again. I can't sit here and say no chance, but I'll give that I'll give that an overreaction. What are we overreacting to his last few years or whatever? But no, just the idea that you don't even have him better than Dak Prescott.

So when the stats definitely say otherwise, that means Dak is top two. I like that guy. Wow. No, I mean, we're going to have to see Jordan Addison. How does he do?

KJ Osbourne? I mean, does Jalen Rager step it up finally? I mean, TJ Hawkinson is there.

You know, like this is an Alexander Madison. Like this is going to be their division. I don't know why everyone's on the lion bandwagon, but this won 13 games. How many people can you put on Justin Jefferson? I mean, that's it. You can safely I'll let everyone else beat me. Let everyone else beat me. You got one more over there, Chris?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, Tony went yard over the weekend. I'm going to say he's not going to get traded, but he will hit 60 home runs.

That's not an overreaction at all. He's on pace to hit in the high 50s right now. And and, you know, the Angels are are close enough, I guess, in hailing distance for them to still look at their fan base and say, we're not trading. Oh, Tony, Yankees pull into town.

That's a big, huge ass series here in Southern California with the Yankees having lost two of three to the Rockies. You going? I am not right now. No, I am not.

So last year at this time, Aaron Judge had 33 home runs. Yeah. And he's one. I get it. I get it. But he's the MVP. I've got some thoughts on this subject matter.

MVP of what? They're not in the playoffs. I understand that, pal. I get it. I get it.

Dallas Garcia and the Rangers are blowing everybody out. Numbers are just as good. I got it. Would this make everyone feel better if we changed MVP to MOP? Most outstanding players. Or just give out two awards like the NFL.

Offensive Player of the Year and MVP. There's two different things. We can do that. There we go.

I mean, they could. Isn't that interesting? We just got nuanced and smart in an overreaction segment.

That's rare. Arias Consulting. Sorry, I'll go back to my other one. Again, if one person can go first, second, and third person in a single soundbite, we can be more nuanced on an overreaction Monday segment.

And that's where we're taking our cue from Tyreek Hill. All right. When we come back, I backtrack. I rescind. Your remarks about Dallas? An error in an omission.

I rescind. What am I referring to? That's next. This is The Rich Eisen Show. Follow this show there.

Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen. That he's returning for a 21st season in the NBA that we all assumed was an unnecessary announcement because we assumed it was happening. So the Lakers. He's going back. Well, he's switching his jersey. He was wearing number six the last two years. Oh, 23 years back because six has been retired by the entire week. So if you're wearing six, you kind of get it graced. Now I get it.

I thought this was just like them trying to perpetuate. I don't want to wear six anymore. Okay. Yeah, because everyone, no one else is wearing six. But guess what? Also, players get a share of jersey sales. So this is a money grab by LeBron. Stop it. But here I thought it was the Lakers just back in his play.

Nah, it was the Bill Russell. I see. Okay, I'm learning. I don't think that's enough. I mean, LeBron's got money, bro. So what?

Rich people want more money. Well, then you answered your DeAndre Hopkins question. You said, yes. Well, LeBron has rings already. 23 is back. 23 is back, guys. Hasn't Anthony Davis been wearing 23?

No, has he? That's why LeBron gave it up in the first place. Wait a second.

I remember that wasn't. Yeah, hold up. I'm not in tune on the Lakers. Oh, yeah. No, Anthony Davis wears three. Yeah.

Yeah. Anthony Davis wears three. They should give it to the real goat on that team. Austin Reeves gave Vincent is a sneaky great signing by the Lakers, by the way. I love that sign.

The Lakers have the same cap as the rest of the NBA, because when you say cap, blue cap salary cap, no cap back here in the Rich Eisen show. All right. I've been doing a lot of thinking, guys.

All right. This is great about. About life. No, well, I mean, when I say something on the air, I mean it. And I sometimes ruminate. Am I right?

Am I wrong? I sometimes spend too much time on that. Like your can.

You know, yeah. Or I just say it and move on and hope you click on it. And then, you know, never.

Predict yourself for the hours later. Exactly. Never forget it. You don't do that. No, I don't. I don't. So I've I've been doing a lot of thinking. And this weekend's events have definitely helped me gain a little bit more clarity on this opinion that I had last week. OK.

I am now officially believing I can not get a point off of Carlos Alvarez. Thank you. I've come around. Thank you for sitting on that and thinking and ruminating.

I've really thought a lot about it. Yeah. Yeah, you know, and I'm I saw him I saw him against Jokovic. Yeah.

And I saw what he did, you know, caused the greatest player, arguably, in the history of the game to abuse his racket and come back and get through a a classic Jokovic. Bathroom break. That was such by the way, yes, man, you have reading material in there. What's he doing? Scrolling Instagram.

What is happening doing, by the way, of all the things? I mean, if I'm ever at like a dinner party or something, I got to go to the bathroom and I'm timing it like if it's longer than 90 seconds, people are wondering. I don't want them thinking like I like there's there's something going on here. Nine minutes. Could you imagine? Leaving the King of England waiting bond, Brad Pitt. I mean, you're just like, hey, is he coming out?

It's not like it was almost a five hour match anyway. Does he need, you know, the latest car and driver in there? Whatever he's reading. What is he doing? Lou, pardon me, Lou. The water closet or Lou.

But Alcaraz survived at all. She's this kid's amazing. And I don't think I could get a point off of that. I thought like the ninths by the again, the ninth service game.

Second set, I'd be able to time one of them up enough and boom. But I spoke about this with the poker crew last week. I threw that out there. They to a man largely agreed with you, Chris, that I would not be able to get a point off him. They brought up the point. Like, would he know what my goal was? Like, would he know he could not give up a point? Yeah, I think you got it.

Oh, I see. Like that made a difference that they all thought the point I would get would be him just goofing around and hitting one out like it would be an unforced error by him because he just didn't know that he could not lose a single point. But if he's aware, but if he is aware that my goal was to get one single point off of him in three sets of action. That he would not give up a single point, like he would focus enough. Yeah, just love, love, love. Of course, I push back to say, well, what if it is six love, six love, five love, less like last set? Can he can he close? Whether he had the nerve to finish you off without losing a point.

You know, what do you what is what do you tighten up? And then I saw what he did, you know, on center court at Wimbledon against Novak Jokovic. And who hadn't lost on center court in nearly 10 years. Four time defending champion.

Which is why I'm now moonwalking a bit. I'm backtracking. I do not believe now I would get a single point off of Carlos Alcaraz. Well, you know, Steve Weissman, who sits with us, he's over in Wimbledon and we were texting. He's a tennis man.

We were texting each other during that 27 minute game that those guys had. And he backed up what he tweeted. He goes, he barely says, I still think Rich gets a point off of Carlos. And I replied something that I can't read on air. And he goes, it's just one point.

Somehow it happens. I know that's again, it would not be a winner off of my racket. It would be his error. It would be an unforced error off of his due to him not knowing what my goal was to get one single point off of him. That if he again, that's what the poker guys were saying. If he knew, I'd have no chance. If he didn't know and he was just screwing around, he didn't care about losing a point.

He might hit one wide, long. So I am recanting. Thank you. You know, I ruminate a lot about what I say. At least I don't just forget it. Don't recant.

You have people out there like Wiseman who believe in you, man. Now, Steve, I hate to tell you, I have some new opinions of my own. How funny was that? My tennis coach, Kelly, coming on, just like, yeah, no chance, no chance.

Well, better shot than Del Tufo still. Oh, my God. Him scoring a goal on an angel goalie.

Get out of here, triple for the blue line. It was a Zamboni. It's not my fault.

It wasn't. They were ice chips. You know what I love? You know what I love most about Wimbledon, though? Everyone gets so dressed up and they just drink champagne and it's the strawberries and cream. Oh, dude, I want to go to that in the worst way. Do you have the proper attire? Yeah, you get it.

You'd have to go shopping. I mean, you've seen me dressed up for the Emmys. Yeah, but that's not center court Wimbledon. That's not like running into royalty.

And by royalty, I mean James Bond. You're right. I mean, I would go shopping. Okay. You didn't have a tie on for the Emmys. You had sneakers on. Yeah, come on. You can't wear your new pink tie or Air Jordans.

You can't. You got to come. You got to come correct.

But I want to do it. How great is that? It's so awesome. Right.

It's great. Everyone's just like, even Prince William and Kate's son. That kid is so dapper.

Dude. Well, he's rich. He better be dapper. He's going to be the king. I get it.

I'm just saying. He's super dapper. He's going to be the king. You better look like a million dollars. This little kid is like, man, he's so good looking.

This little, he's all buttoned up and he's politely clapping. Yeah. Yeah. You're not, I don't even know if you're in line in any succession. Not even my own house.

In your own house. That is the center court. It's great.

I love it. But by the way, to that match, what a great set up. Al Karaz, Djokovic, young, young guy who just lost to him in the French. He's trying to get the Grand Slam for the year, which hasn't been done since 1969. He was close, man. You're hoping to watch this match one versus two. Yeah. And it totally lived up to the hype. It was great. And I can't get a point of Al Karaz. And I think I'm being proven right every minute of the day. 83 weeks on YouTube or wherever you listen.