REShow: Albert Breer - Hour 2

This is the Rich Eisen Show. The world's biggest stars are here. Timothy Oliphant back here on the show.

How you doing? By the way, uh, Oliphant. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. And by the way, just drop the Timothy. Just go with Tim and maybe it makes it easier. Tim. The Rich Eisen Show. Oliphant.

We're not that close. Go back to Timothy. Earlier on the show, pro football hall of famer Marshall Fong. Coming up, Senior Writer for the MMQB, Albert Breer, Golf Channel Analyst, Brandel Chamblee. And now, it's Rich Eisen. What a great chat we just had with Marshall Fong.

And now we're number one about the running back market. What's happened? Why it's happening?

What can be done about it? If you missed it, there's our podcast. There's also the rear of this show when we're all done here on the Roku channel. Our podcast is where all podcasts can be acquired. And there's 844-204-rich-number-dollar.

If you're on hold, stay on hold. I want to have this conversation, though, with somebody who is clearly in the know. He is Sports Illustrated's writer of the MMQB, one of the best information individuals in our business. And longtime friend of the program, Albert Breer, back here on the Rich Eisen Show. How you doing, Albert? Hey Rich, what's happening? I am great. Um, everything's great.

And I'm glad that you are here. Normally I don't box you in like this, Albert. But you may not answer this question with because they can. Okay? That is not an acceptable answer, even though it might be the ultimate answer. But why didn't Saquon Barkley get a long-term deal from the Giants on Monday? Why not? Because I think both sides were more entrenched in their positions than I figured they would be.

And, look, it looks like a workable divide, right? And, you know, earlier in the offseason, I think Mike Florio reported this. And this was, I believe, right before the deadline to tag guys back in March. That the Giants, who were working on the Daniel Jones deal at the time, were at $13 million. Saquon was at $16 million. Now the guaranteed money is obviously a part of that. You know, then the deadline passes, the Giants pull the offer. You know, that may or may not have had a material effect on the tenor of negotiations.

But the reason I thought it was going to get done, Rich, honestly, you know, there was, I think, ample motivation on both sides. I mean, look, Saquon is even further into his career than a lot of these other guys are. He's played for five years now. He's had an extensive injury history. And if he's going to bet on himself, you know, this year, then, you know, it's going to be a bet that there's going to be a pot of gold for him there in March of 2024. Which, you know, is going to be his seventh year in the league, which is really old for a running back. So, you know, I felt like the motivation at the end would be to take every dime you can and call it a day.

Because it is a shaky proposition going forward without a deal now if you're him. And then for the Giants, I just think he meant so much to Joe Shane and Brian Deball in building their program, you know, over the last year. And turning the Giants around and turning Daniel Jones around and, God, what a great message that was sent to the locker room. And getting a guy who has meant so much to what you've done to build the place up rewarded that I thought that they'd be motivated to do it. Even if, you know, from a principal standpoint, they may be, you know, and look, this is where they come from.

They come from Buffalo, right? Like, they may be more attuned to investing deeper at premium positions than they would be at a position like running back. But ultimately, in the end, I think, you know, I probably am guilty of this because I woke up Monday morning thinking they were going to get something done. They were a little bit more entrenched in their positions than we would have thought. Well, how far apart are they? I mean, if it is just $16 million opposed to $13 million, so it's $3 million here and then $3 million there and $3 million there. Is it really just the cost of maybe his one year of his tender over the life of the contract? Like, and how does that fall apart like that?

Or is it not that simple? And, you know, my suspicion is, Rich, knowing what I know about this, that it may have come down to how much money was guaranteed in the third year. That'd be my guess anyway. You know, again, I made this argument in the column this morning that, you know, like, let's just say the Giants only wanted to guarantee two years, right? And let's say the Giants are guaranteed $28 million over the next two years, OK?

And then the third year is a de facto team option. Even in that case, you know, Saquon would be walking away from $18 million that he's not going to get as part of the franchise tax. So now he has to make that $18 million up next year, again, when he'll be going into year seven.

And is he going to be able to make that $18 million up? I think the Giants maybe figured, you know, eventually he would take that. And it'd be difficult for them to guarantee money in the year eight with Saquon, which, again, is very down the line for a running back. And, you know, I think Saquon's probably, you know, his position was probably feeling like I got to protect myself from an injury standpoint where we are and where I am in my career. And I need I need at least a part of the third year guaranteed.

So that'd be my guess. You know, but there were a lot of moving parts in this negotiation, for sure. So what happens now with with him and look at him. Let me pause. What happened with Josh Jacobs? My colleague, Tom Pelissero, said that he was sitting in a car outside the facility with Max Crosby thinking this was going to get done so he could go right to work.

And that didn't happen. Or is that. Yeah. My my my sense is that the effort was really made. You know, I think they made it.

They made a very strong effort. You know, I know the Raiders have tried to be as communicative as possible with Jacobs. Yeah. I mean, I just think that's another one where, you know, my sense would be that the guarantees in the third year are part of the problem. You know, the average per year, I think you can kind of work through that stuff. But guaranteeing players money into a third year, especially at that position, especially where, you know, in the case of Saquon, you'd be talking about his eighth year in the league. The case of Josh, you'd be talking about his seventh year in the league. I don't think that one got like contentious in the room, you know, between the Raiders and Josh Jacobs people. But and obviously, like, you know, I think you had a moment like like Tom said, you know, I would I didn't have the detail of him being in the car, but I know he was the facility yesterday. I think Josh Jacobs was motivated to get something done.

You know, this is another one. I do think like one of the similarities here, these are not the same, you know, but one of the similarities here is that, like, just like, you know, Saquon meant a lot for for for Brian Daball and Joe Shane in year one in New York. Josh Jacobs obviously meant a lot and shouldered a heavy load in year one for for Josh McDaniel and Dave Ziegler in Vegas. And so, you know, I it's it's interesting because I just think, like, a lot of us do focus on the average per year.

And I understand it's an easy number to go off of, but guarantees are always important. And I think that this position in particular, you know, going to that third year for a running that can be a tough pill to swallow for a team. Whereas for a player, he obviously wants to protect against the chance that there's a downturn, which makes him motivated to really push on that third year. Don't get it.

I honestly don't. I mean, you're sitting here saying third year. And I know you point out, you know, Joe Shane's from Buffalo or they didn't pay guys.

And and then, you know, McDaniel's is from New England, where, you know, they won a Super Bowl with Sony, Michelle LeGarrette Blount, Jonas Gray, Antoine Smith, so on and so forth. I know. But hold on a second.

I'm not I'm not done with it. But their current quarterback, you know, Josh Allen's not walking through that door in New Jersey. And Tom Brady, you know, I I think I'm confident in saying it's not walking through that door in Las Vegas. I guess you never say never, you know, but not as a player.

He's not walking through that door. Right. But so that's the point. And we just had Marshall Faulk who called in in hour one and saying this is all because of the way that they pay quarterbacks and push up guys like Daniel Jones and Jimmy Garoppolo. Well, I am lumping together because they're not in the borough and the Mahomes and Allen class, Rogers class.

They're not they're not in them in terms of decoration and widely held belief amongst folks like us to have that same success. So, you know, we're how how in the world is Saquon not as valuable, like for a third year to make happy in year one and two? You know, as you're trying to win now that I don't get I don't I don't understand it.

I don't. Yeah, I would say, well, there are a couple of things like, number one, I think it's how like teams view this position is replaceable. And it's really, really hard to replace a quarterback.

Right. It's really hard to replace a top corner. It's really hard to replace the number one receiver. It's hard to replace the top left tackle. You know, like, I mean, look at the two teams in the Super Bowl.

Right. The Chiefs had a seventh round rookie and Isaiah Pacheco at running back. The Eagles had a guy, Miles Sanders, who's on a rookie contract who they let walk, even though he only got six million dollars a year from another team.

So those are the two teams that were in the Super Bowl. You know, I also think the franchise tag hurts these guys because it's such an affordable thing for these teams. So they have that to fall back on, you know, and it's like, OK, well, if we don't want to give this guy guarantees in the third year when we think he might be done. Well, you know, he's going to show up anyway in week one. And it's it's cold, it's callous, but it's it's probably true.

You know, I mean, these guys are going to show up. And then I I think the third thing is, you know, teams, you know, how I hate to I hate to use the cliche that it's a copycat league. But, you know, look, I mean, with what the Rams did, you know, there's this focus on premium positions. And if you look at like the Rams, right, for example, because they've been sort of a model now. You know, there was a point there where, you know, Sean McBain, let's see, those guys moved away from paying running backs like Todd Gurley and off ball linebackers like Alec Ogletree. And they went all in on premium positions. They paid Aaron Donald. They paid Cooper Cup. They paid Jalen Ramsey. They paid it.

Andrew Whitworth. They paid Matthew Stafford. Right. And so like, I think if you look at it, this is an amazing thing.

You know, I, I, I had this in Twitter earlier today. If you look at it, there are 56 players across the NFL that are paid 20 million dollars a year or more. Seventeen of them are quarterbacks. Thirteen of them are wide receivers. Nine of them are interior D lineman. Seven of them are edge rushers. Five of them are offensive tackles.

So 51 of the 56 played five positions. You know, so it's just sort of where the league's going. You know, that's the other part of it. So and look, like I would argue, I would I think they could be argument against that is sound too, which the argument against that is, you know, like these guys are mean a lot to their teams and their offenses are built around them, which makes them different. And if you look at guys, the teams have paid on the whole, but they haven't regretted those contracts. So guys who are truly, you know, the kind of guy you build your offense around, you know, the Titans don't regret paying Derrick Henry. The Browns don't regret paying Nick Chubb. I think even like the Cowboys and Ezekiel Elliott, the Vikings and Dalvin Cook. It didn't it didn't work out at the end, but I don't think they would say that was money poorly spent based on what those guys meant to those teams.

Right. And the interesting thing is, is that the team that runs the offense that might make running backs the most fungible is the team that that employs the highest paid running back in San Francisco. And the question I have is if if the Niners had somebody at the quarterback position that they were paying like the Rams pay Stafford and like the way that the Chiefs pay Mahomes and so on and so forth, would they sacrifice Christian McCaffrey? Would they treat the running back position like everybody else and that they don't because they don't have the quarterback that is paid that money and they have that luxury? Do we need to see do running backs need to seek out teams with with with quarterbacks on their first year contract for them to get paid? Because, you know, I don't know if it's good for this league that running backs are more valuable in fantasy football than they are in reality football. Albert, here's what's fascinating about it, Rich, like McCaffrey would have been the cautionary tale until he gets ready to the Niners.

Right. And now all of a sudden, you know, he's the poster boy for paying a running back. So as I tell you, because they paid him in Carolina after three years and then he couldn't stay on the field. You know, like he like he was great 17 through 19. They pay him at twenty twenty twenty one.

He couldn't stay on the field. And in twenty twenty two, he's dynamite and he comes and he gets traded and now he goes to San Francisco. And now you see like the value of a running back who can give you something in the passing game to and who can be kind of that chess piece for you, which I think is a huge part of it, too, is like which of these guys can give you something in the passing game? And that's where a guy like a Camaro is so valuable. And even like the Barclays and the Zeke's and the girlies and the and the Mixon's like those guys are I mean, they're not Camaro.

But for bigger backs, they're really good in passing. You know, so that's sort of the I think that that's that's the risk, you know, for teams is like, OK, like the one thing, like even if I really love the player and I think he's a unicorn at that position, you know, the problem that I run into is it could be what happened to Christian McCaffrey, where Christian McCaffrey. I mean, I can remember when he was coming out, Rich, he had like, I mean, incredibly clean medicals. And then he stayed healthy for three years in the league. And then he signed the contract and all of a sudden he can't stay healthy for two years in a row. Saquon, same thing.

I mean, I didn't see him tell me Saquon. His medical profile coming out of Penn State was similar to a kicker's like that is how clean he was medically. And he gets to the league and he can't stay on the field, you know, so that's part of it, too. It's just it's a complex thing. And I think we make a mistake sometimes of thinking this is like a straight line thing. There's a lot that goes into it. Obviously, there's these are tough decisions to make. Now, I would argue like that if you're going to pay Saquon, say, 14 or 15 million dollars a year, right?

You're basically paying him what the Broncos pay Courtland Sutton, what the Raiders pay Hunter Renfroe. Exactly. And I don't think I mean, that's what I'm saying is it's apples to apples. And so that's the thing. I don't know.

We had Austin Eckler on the show last week. He's like, I'm making the same as a third wide receiver on the team. It pisses me off, you know. And it should. Damn well it should.

It should piss off anybody in any line of work. And that's the whole thing I don't understand, you know. And I think receivers are coming out of college right now at an alarming rate. And so are wide receivers next? Could they be the next running back group? Or this is just where the tight ends are already becoming the next running back group. But I understand, you know, that tight ends are valuable.

And we see how terrific they are with their university and everything in June. But what's next? Could receivers be next on this hit list? You know what? I think the other thing that, like, here's what I think. Like, it's just worth everybody paying attention to this part of it. I think analytics are a huge part of this.

Like, so many teams have built out analytics departments now. And so it's not, like, guessing anymore. You know what I mean?

Like, in a lot of cases, like, I mean, I know it's been going on in baseball forever, right? But, like, it's like, no, we're not guessing. We're putting a value on your head.

You know what I mean? Like, this is what we think you're worth. Or this is the probability that you're going to, you know, that contract's going to wind up looking like a good one for us, you know? And this is, like, across the board. Like, this is happening. I mean, I think we're going to, like, the impact of analytics in the NFL, even though you can't see it, because teams are very secretive about this stuff, I think is profound in a lot of different ways. And this is one of them, where positional value, I would say, has almost been overemphasized over the last few years, because owners are empowering analytics people, and the analytics people have, you know, have data that backs up these sorts of decisions. And so, yeah, I mean, I know I sound like I'm all over the map, but it truly is something that, like, there's just so many different ways to take this, you know?

I mean, I can remember, so, and I think this was 2000, I don't know, 2016, 17, whatever. And I was at the Saints, and I was with one of the guys on the sidelines at one of their practices, and we're just catching up at everything else. And he goes to me, and he says, like, well, look at Michael Thomas out there. And he's like, you know, Mike's a great player for us. He's like, do you realize Mike touches the ball less than half as much as Mark Ingram does? Like, on what planet does it make sense that he's making, you know, four times as much as he is? And I thought about that, and he's like, that probably should count for something too, you know what I mean?

Like, so, it's just an interesting argument that has so many different tentacles to it, which I think is why it's so interesting for all of us to talk about it whenever one of these situations arrives. And that's why it's kind of a false equivalency of saying, well, name me the last Super Bowl winner that had a highly paid running back or a league's leading rusher on it, and the reason why they don't is because most of the quarterbacks that have won the Super Bowl are named Brady and Mahomes the last few years, and that's, so it's not, like, it's not fair to say- So the offenses are built around those guys. Right.

Yeah, you don't need as much here, right? You're right. That's why you're able, that's why if you have Mahomes, then you can win a Super Bowl with Isaiah Pacheco and Damian Williams being your leading rusher.

You have that luxury. And by the way, and Kelsey, by the way, and Kelsey on top of it, you know what I'm saying? So it's not, obviously it's not all Mahomes. You've got a Hall of Fame talent there, and, you know, in terms of New England, another Hall of Fame talent wearing a headset. So I get it.

I gave you the Chiefs and Eagles, right? Like what they did at running back. Right.

You know, they didn't invest a lot. Right. The counter, another counter argument to that could be look at the teams that they played in the conference championship games. Both those teams, the Niners and Bengals, had highly paid running backs. Like guys who were paid, you know, top five salaries in the league at the position, right? Right.

And Joe Mixon and Christian McCaffrey. So it's not like you can't get there. I mean, I don't think you or I would have been shocked if the Bengals and Niners had beaten the Chiefs and Eagles on that Sunday. And then we'd be talking about something else entirely. That argument that I made earlier would be dead, right?

So I don't know. I mean, it's just, it's, you know, it's so complicated and it's just, and I think, you know, I think if you're going to like really, if you're really going to bottom line it, I think what, what NFL teams would tell you is we're not, on these contracts, we're not paying for past performance. We're paying for what we project them to be into the future. And I would say, unless it's a quarterback, that's probably the biggest thing. Unless it's a quarterback, Albert, unless it's a quarterback, you know, like that. But they get paid for the, for how they're, because they, because those guys can play deep into their thirties. You are paying for future performance there, you know?

Okay. So last one for you, how does this affect Dalvin Cook? Who is definitely, I would think the most sought after running back that's sitting out there with all due respect to Kareem Hunt. And by the way, Kareem Hunt and Zeke are sitting at home. And those are, by the way, two of the last, let me just hold on a second. One, two, three, four, five, two of the last five leading rushers in the NFL are sitting at home right now. Yeah. With Dalvin Cook out there also, like what does Dalvin Cook's market look like?

When does it pop? And give me an estimation of what that number he's going to sign for starts with, Albert. Okay. Well, I, my guess would be, I don't know, we'd probably be talking somewhere in the neighborhood of like what Miles Sanders and David Montgomery got at the top of the running back market pre-agency, which was six, maybe a little more than that. I guess he'd pack in some incentives that would help him get closer to being whole to what he was supposed to make on his Vikings contract.

As for like who is interested, you know, I think that the AFC East is the place to look. The Dolphins, you know, part of this for them is, and they were almost, I mean, I'm talking about the deal, the trade was on the doorstep of getting done in March. The Dolphins got cold feet at the end, but there was almost a trade that would have sent Dalvin Cook to Miami back in March. Now, one of the things the Dolphins saw in him was adding an element of speed and explosiveness, like a big play threat to their backfield back then. They drafted Devin A.

Chain in the first, in the second round out of Texas A&M. So like how he does early in camp could affect, and how he did in the spring could affect how the Dolphins approach Cook. The Jets, I would absolutely watch the Jets. I think one of the ways that they see Dalvin Cook internally is somebody who could allow them to be more judicious in bringing Breeze Hall back, who obviously they think a lot of. They could be a little bit, I would say, a little bit more on the cautious side with Hall if they have, you know, a guy that they feel like can kind of hold the rope while Hall is getting himself back to 100%. You know, then the Patriots had that money earmarked for DeAndre Hopkins that they could turn around and go and offer to Dalvin Cook now. So like, and I think New England's looking to add another, New England's looking to add another element to their offense that they don't have right now. And I think Cook could kind of complement DeAndre Stevenson and their backfield pretty nicely. So those would be the teams I would watch. I mean, again, like my guess would be, like you're not going to see anything crazy, but, you know, monetarily. But I, you know, it would seem to me like the right number would be right in that range that, you know, the top running backs in the free agent market got back in March.

Albert, you are the man. When do I see you in Los Angeles? You're coming out for Rams, Chargers, Cowboys, doing that whole business? Yeah, so I'm thinking somewhere, I know this is very, very vague, but somewhere in August, the problem right now, I'm still waiting for a couple of teams.

And like this whole putting the camp trip together is like a jigsaw puzzle, where if one thing goes wrong, the whole thing falls apart and then you got to build the thing back up. So, but I'm thinking that, yeah, second or third week August, I'll be out there and I'll definitely swing by El Segundo. And where in between Mike Shanahan and George Hamilton is your 10 currently ranked right now, Albert? What do we got? I would say I was like, I would give myself like a nine, like last Friday when I left the island. I'm probably down to like a seven and a half right now. Albert, come on now. By the time you see me, though, like I'm going to be back up there.

For those who don't know, I would say like my ability to tan might not be number one on my list of abilities, but it's definitely top five and not number five. Okay, we got to get you more scarlet and not gray. Okay, Albert, let's go focus. Focus. Get that base going.

Get that base going. We'll check. I promise you this, Rick, that I will have my game pace on when I'm in studio. Attaboy.

Attaboy. We'll see you soon. Be well, Albert.

Thanks for the time. Great Albert prayer here on the Rich Eisen Show. Let's take a break.

844-204 Rich, number to dial here on this program. So much to unpack over the last hour and 20 minutes of this show. If you're like me and you're on the run, you need help finding good food and eating right. And now that we're in the thick of summer, you might be looking for wholesome, convenient meals to support sunny, active days. Factor, America's number one ready-to-eat meal kit, can help you fuel up fast with flavorful and nutritious ready-to-eat meals delivered straight to your door.

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Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen. So I went on a visit to the Patriots, and that's when Charlie Weiss was office coordinator. And I go to Boston, and I really like to visit. I like Charlie.

I love Charlie Weiss. Did you meet with Bill? I did meet with Bill.

You know, we sat in his office right above the stadium, right there where you're looking out at the stadium. We really just sat there. We really didn't talk about much. We just looked at each other.

What do you mean? You just looked at each other. We just kind of stared in each other's eyes, you know, I guess.

So you're saying it was awkward? No, I mean, I just, you know, you know how Bill is. He just, there's only a few things he probably wants to know about you. And I guess he was trying to get a sense of, you know, was I passionate about football? As most coaches do, you don't invest a first-round pick on a guy.

You want to make sure they're passionate. Do you think they would have chosen you if you were available? Well, they said they were going to choose me.

Charlie Weiss promised me if I was there at sticks. Because they needed a running back. They needed a running back bad that year. And so, yeah, when the Chargers drafted me, I think they took Richard Seymour the next pick.

Richard Seymour, yep. They worked out. They worked out. They worked out. They worked out. Have you ever brought up to Brady when you've seen him?

No, never brought it up. You could have been Robin, his Batman? I always thought about, you know, what would that be like? With all due respect to Antoine Smith. All due respect to Antoine Smith. It would have been a little different. No way.

I'm kind of getting freaked out. Oh, yeah. We've had some great running backs on this program. And that was Marshall Faulkner, our one.

And that was, of course, LT back in the day at the Super Bowl in Atlanta. Back on the Rich Eisen Show radio network. I'm sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk, furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger is the right product for you.

Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by. Marshall Faulk had his two cents. Albert Breer just had his. Now we go to 844-204-RICH for your two cents. Our great friend Terzo in Iowa, back here on the Rich Eisen Show. All rise. Terzo, what's on your mind, sir? How are you guys today? We're good. We're chopping it up. What's going on? Good.

Hey Rich, so this is kind of, I got a couple things for you. But my first thought with this running back issue, I think a lot of it has to be tied to the GM. And the reason I kind of say that is I think that they're so nervous at this point to give away that big deal to one of these running backs. I think that they think that's going to cost them their job.

And I know some of that analytics kind of pushes everybody into that position. I just kind of have this sense that none of them really want to pull the trigger and keep any of these guys. No, and I understand what you're saying Terzo, but I mean Saquon, just let's just use him as an example. If Joe Shane gave Saquon a third year that Saquon wanted, and then he gets hurt by like year two, and John Mara calls Joe Shane in his office and say, why the hell did you make the guy who we adore here so happy that we're now left with an injured player at a position that we could have just, you know, franchise tagged him and left him unhappy? You know what I mean? Like that doesn't seem like it's going to cost him his job if he goes ahead and says to, you know, John Mara, we signed him to this deal. We want him happy, right?

You know, sir? You know, like we also, you know, we also know what he means to the franchise, right? And now, you know, Debo can coach, coach can go into the locker room and look at everyone in the face and say, you ball out and you get paid around these parts, so let's go beat the crap out of the Cowboys and the Eagles and let's go get them.

You think John Mara is going to, that's what I, that's why I understand what the analytics say and what, you know, what the position might be borne out to pay. But Saquon just strikes me as just a different cat for that team in that area and what he means, you know? And Rich, I completely agree with you, and I want Fred Warner to come back and get a great contract, and those middle linebackers are kind of in that same position. And I would hope that the Niners make sure that they bring him back and give him everything that he wants, because he's that heart and soul, and Saquon's that same guy.

I just, it just boggles my mind. Well, and thanks to the Coulter's, though, and the reason why the Niners should be able to do that is because their starting quarterback is on his, either his first contract, Lance Purdy, or Sam Donald, who is on his third team. And I'm sure is being paid a salary for a song. And you can pay Nick Bosa, which is apparently coming, and Fred Warner, and the rest of this team, and McCaffrey at 16 mil, and you can have that piece of, you know, China in your case because of the way the team is constructed. And you, if you can go to the NFC Championship game with Jimmy G multiple times, and Brock Purdy once, thanks to Jimmy G, right? And the way that's, the way the team is constructed, and the owner is sitting back there going, hell yeah, I love my coach and my general manager, even though we just traded a whole bunch of draft choices and draft capital to go get a kid that's hardly playing. Then it works out. But that's a rarity.

That is for damn sure. Matt in Tennessee, you were here on the Rich Eisen Show. What's up, Matt? Hey, Rich. Hey. Hey, Susie too. I know she's listening.

Hey, listen, that's my wife, Matt. Hold up, now. Hey, I'll follow back up with that. That's okay. No, no, no, no. It's fine.

No, no, no. I got a follow-up question after I get rid of what I'm going to tell you. And I'll hit you in the soft spot real quick. I think I already have, Matt.

I'm not going to lie. Sorry, I'll do it again. It's all right. Don't worry.

Go ahead. Henry Hopkins, when he was at Michigan, all right, he would run, throw, and sometimes on fourth down, he'd punt. You know, if someone was able to do that successful in the NFL, how would you pay them? You know, like running backs do a lot of stuff, like blocking, catching special teams.

They deserve more, and I think the NFL, the union, should really push for that. And so what's your point about Sue's? What's your question about that? Oh, when you're not there, I call in and I ask embarrassing questions about you. That's great.

Keep doing it. So I want to give you a follow-up, and I want to give you some redemption. Okay. How long do you guys actually wait to talk to each other when you first wake up? Hmm. Thank you for the call, Matt. Greatly appreciate it. We say good morning right away to each other.

Of course, after we check our emails. By the way, I think he means Desmond Howard. Yeah, I was about to say, because Hopkins played permission.

No, no, no. He said DeAndre Hopkins. I think he means Desmond Howard, who did everything. And Charles Woodson then did everything. They won Heisman's, by the way. Thanks for pointing that out.

And Charles won half a national championship, so that's great. So what was his point? He was hitting on your wife. That was the point. Did you see on our Instagram account, because we posted a great story from Timothy Oliphant. Oliphant. A great story from Deadwood, where he talked about there was a kid actor who had somebody on his team not being...

It was rubbing David Milch the wrong way. Very funny. And they wound up killing the kid's character off. Yep.

See ya. That's a true Hollywood story. Right there. Sometimes it can happen. Don't mess with Milch, okay? Don't have your people mess with Milch, because then your character's gone.

That's why I try to stay on your good side here. And it was also a great story for Deadwood fans, because the child actor's character being killed off was a major plot point. Right.

And led to one of the most gut-wrenching scenes. And he said Milch came up with that on the fly by just saying the kid's team is driving me nuts. He's out.

He's out. And he talked about how creative David Milch was, that he just like on the spot decided to kill the kid's character off and then create a major plot point for Deadwood. So all of that, and I knew Susie would pay attention, because she's a diehard Deadwood fan. Did you see what she posted?

No. She goes, wow, the hair, epic. About Tim. That was huge. And I wrote back thanks, I just had it cut.

Yeah, I saw that. How am I supposed to respond to that? Like, I thought she'd be like, wow, what a great Deadwood story. Oh, wow, whatever. I mean, but she's talking about his hair, which is, by the way, spectacular. But you know your wife.

I understand that. I don't know why that comment surprises you. It doesn't surprise me. It hurts him a little. I don't know. It's just like, but I'm very confident in me and us. I mean, I say hello to her right away when we wake up in the morning. Look, Rich. That's nice.

Coach Prime can help you get to that Coach Timothy hair stand. I know that. Combat Player of the Year.

I mean, you would win combat. You understand that? You can get all the surgeries you want. You're not getting that hair that Tim's got. That is what we call God given. Yeah.

So you've never what if he does Brockman though? Look at that. Ain't nobody getting that hair. That was on that Rich Eisen show. If you want to chime in. Milch's quote though. Listen, we're going to kill the kid. Yeah, we're killing the kid.

David Milch just knocked on his trailer door. And then we're just going to have this whole different plot for the entire season. Your character. But it'll be good for you, though. Your character. It's going to be great.

It was good for him, by the way. All right, we'll take a break here. The commissioner of the SEC has chimed in on the name, image and likeness front, and he has put out a request for help that I think will go unheeded and be completely left disappointed by.

Like a bat signal? Please. That's next. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Brandel Chamblee on the latest from the Open Championship coming up. Back here on our program.

844204 Rich. Number to dial here on the show. If you want to get your phone call taken, we are more than happy to talk with you here on the show. I know we've been really all over that running back thing.

It's just a fascinating conversation. Obviously, training camps don't open mostly until next week. The Jets open tomorrow. And hard knocks will begin. Could you imagine what hard knocks would would be like if Dalvin Cook shows up?

Oh, man. For the Jets? I mean, I'm sure the end of the league and films are crossing their fingers. Could you imagine what hard knocks would be if they were allowed to go into the darkness retreat with your quarterback? Did you hear, though, speaking of darkness, did you hear that the Jets might put the film's crew in the dark? Did you see Schefter say that Salah thinks watching players get cut is inhumane and there will not be those moments on hard knocks?

They will not let NFL films into these conversations between coach and player. Richard Salah hates fun and good TV and entertainment. Robert Salah, too. Who did I say? You said Richard Salah.

It's okay. You're mixing two of your favorite people. Who's the Richard? Lewis.

Like, what are we doing? Honestly, it shouldn't be up to him. It's his team. It's his facility. It's not his show. It kind of is. But it shouldn't be. Understood.

What are we doing? Then they shouldn't be on. But we know how it works, Rich.

They didn't want to be on. We know how it works. You're going to follow a guy and you're going to get all invested in him. He's going to have a great backstory.

And then he's going to break our hearts because then he's not going to be on episode three. Yeah, I mean, that's just how all these work. Dude, like if it was Patriots hard knocks, what would it be? Just like one big redacted statement from the CIA? That's funny. That's what it would be. That's what it would be. Actually, it would be awesome. It would just, you know what I'm saying? But Bill will sit down and do a whole documentary.

We're back here on the Rich Eisen Show talking about what if the Patriots were on hard knocks, our radio audience just returned. It would be like one of those redacted documents that you see in, you know. Just black lines.

You know, national security trials. No, it would be just the screen. It would be all black except for a few lines that you'd be able to see on your screen. It would just be a big dark screen. Just one long, just one, a few lines on the top left part of your television screen, you'd be able to see what's in there.

Stupid. That's the way it would be if the Patriots were on hard knocks. And yet the Jets are like saying, we don't think the conversation between coach and player getting caught is of private matter. Like, would you want to have your cameras on if you got fired from your job? Like, you want the cameras on that moment of one of your lowest moments? With hard knocks filming, was that a part of the deal?

Yeah. So you're also getting exposure by being on the show. This is the point of the show. Everyone loves those moments. The point of the show is to give fans a look at what it's like to be in the NFL in a training camp.

What it's like to be a player, what it's like to be a coach. That's part of training camp. Brother, that's what it was back in the day when Brian Billick's like, bring the cameras. Rex Ryan's like, bring them.

Now, nobody wants them. That's why the league had to come up with some sort of construct. Because, if I'm not mistaken, half the league has never been on hard knocks. Oh, not that many.

Probably more than half the league. So, what's the league going to do? Basically say, we choose who's on hard knocks every year. Doesn't matter. Yeah.

Doesn't matter if you made the playoffs, you're coming off a world championship. We're choosing, you're on, you can't. Too bad. Tough nuggies, as we said back in camp. Yep.

All right. Well, I nominate the Patriots for the first one and see how that works. It would be awesome. I would love to see Belichick coach in a training camp, what it's like.

I would love to see all that. Any time we've seen any footage of Bill in the football lives or any of the documentaries he's done, he is incredible. The scene of him and Tom Brady breaking down film where Ed Reed is one of the greatest pieces of football art we've ever seen.

Right. One of my other famous scenes from that football life was watching him try to, what, find something on his radio. Remember that?

In his car? Like it was, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. Even the mundane to see him go through that. A day in Nantucket with Bill Belichick?

Right. What it's like to be- Come on, what are we doing? Again, if hard knocks is a service for the fans, that would be the greatest public service is to show me how Belichick handles his business.

Honestly. Front row seat, I would be there popcorn ready. And the first scene that I want to see is him firing Matt Patricia. Well, he did that already, didn't he? I want him to bring Matt back just so we can see him and get the satisfaction of the firing.

Because it was the worst hiring in franchise history. We should reenact that with Frank Caliendo as Belichick and Zach Galifianakis as Patricia. No kidding. Between two ferns. Between two Lombardis.

Between two Lombardis. Look at you. Thank you. Thank you. I'll be here all week.

You are not serious people. That's a good one. Our new drop finally made.

It's air. Well done, Jay. Thanks.

That's exactly what I'm looking for for that job. I'm going to be listening. We are not serious people. Yes. Okay.

We are not serious people with that conversation. You want to see Jerry Jones on the Bond villain yacht? Come on. I mean we've been on a few times. They come to us when they want the ratings to spike.

Let's just be honest. The Cowboys have been on. Yeah. Remember a couple years ago NFL films did the, they had the drone fly through the star. That was amazing. Yeah. Yes.

That was one of the most incredible shots in the history of Hard Knocks. And then the rest of it was boring because the Cowboys are boring. No, listen to you. Listen to you.

Except Micah Parsons. He's, I like him. Tank. Tank.

You good? Feller loves Tank. I love Tank. Who else is interesting on that team?

You love Dak even though you try to trash him. Diggs' kid is more interesting than Diggs, right? By the way, Aiden Diggs, I don't know what that kid's going to grow up to be, but I'm here for that. He might be a football player. He could be a coach.

He could be a public speaker. That kid is amazing. So. Are you Patrick Mahomes?

No, I'm Dak Prescott. Let me, let me just share with you. I'm very well rested today. Yeah. I went to Maine over the weekend because kids are in camp there. You flew cross country. I did. I did. I did. And Boston, you know, was inundated with rain and flights got canceled and I, you know, Soos was driving back from Maine with our oldest who's got a few days off from his camp.

Soos got on her phone and found me a flight through Salt Lake. I got in like one in the morning, but I, so I crashed last night and what helped put me to sleep was the Yankees offense. And watching that last night was like, what, what, what can I do? Like I could, I could, I could like see some paint and watch it dry or watch the Yankees offense with all due respect to Sean Casey, the mayor, it's going to take some time for him without judge. But still, despite striking out 12 times against a young pitcher I'd never heard of before in five innings, hardly putting the ball in play.

They were actually up three, three to one. And you know, another way that I just didn't want to, you know, wake myself up or, or, you know, get myself all stirred up so I can get some rest and catch up on my sleep. You know, like I couldn't watch a horror movie, but I felt like I was, you know, you know how, you know, you watch people, you know, go somewhere in a house or they walk through some spot in the woods and you're like, just don't do that. I mean, you're, you're sitting there, you, you know, you just don't do that, right? Don't do that. And you're going to get, you're going to get axed.

You're going to get whatever. Don't go down there. Don't do it. Don't go out there.

Don't do it. So the Yankees are up by two runs and Otani strolls to the plate with two outs and a man on first and Michael King, who walked that guy on first, a couple batters before, you know, and, and pitching coach comes out and I think to myself, they are not going to pitch to show you Otani who's already, who's already reached base twice. As a matter of fact, he would have knocked in the first run of the game had for some reason the Angels third base coach sent home who was way out. I mean, it was, I feel bad. I think it was that, what, Neto, the, the leadoff hitter for the Angels who's in front of Otani. Exactly. And, and he came, it was, he like pratfalled right into the catcher.

It was ugly. I felt for him because he took it right in the face. But so Otani, you know, he's really good in case you need to, you know, a backstory on him. He'd already reached a base twice.

And so the pitching coach strolls back to the dugout and the Michael King proceeds to pitch to Otani. And I think, do I, do I reach for Twitter now? Do I, do I go and do the fan thing? But you know, I was writing it out and I hovered, you know, I like to hover, even though, even though the blue check Mark, I didn't pay for, but God anyway, because I have over a million followers, which is not a humble brag or anything.

I'm just pointing out, I'm just pointing out about how great a business model they've got going on there at the old Twitter machine. But so I don't have to hover because, you know, it now actually gives you some time whether you hit send. Hmm. Yeah.

It's pretty cool. But what are they doing pitching to him? And Michael King uncorked a fastball that went in the upper part of the zone and, and he threw it past Otani for a swing and a miss. And I thought, oh my goodness, they're like, can you get out of this? And I thought to myself, you know what, I'm still thinking of sending it anyway, but I'm just going to put it down.

You know, not everything needs to be on Twitter. And then he proceeds to give up a monster two run shot to show Otani that by the way, I saw coming like the calls from within the house. I saw it.

I saw it coming. Somebody what's his name, Aaron Boone didn't. And Otani goes yard 35th home run of the season and epically backflips just absolutely flip the game on its head. Fan base that was falling asleep like I was totally erupts Otani screaming and yelling like it's the world baseball classic as he rounds third and Yankees lose in extra innings because why would you put Otani on? I understand it's putting the tying run on base.

You don't do that. Certainly when you've got a pitch to Mickey Mosiak, who's been playing well, he has been playing well. He's hitting 320 or something like that. I'd rather pitch to anybody named Mickey and Anaheim mouse across the the street, Hatcher does not hear what I said yesterday that they have an opportunity to squelch any hope for the Angels after they gave up six in the ninth to the Astros to lose the night before they're down in the dumps. You can just squelch the Angels hopes, take them nine games out of the wild card and show Otani what it's like to play for the Yankees and I guess the Yankees are showing Otani how much they like him by pitching to him in a crucial situation that everybody knew they should not do except for the manager who I like very much by the way. I saw him by the way in New York during the uh the Emmys he and his wife were having lunch and a very nice exchange if I had told him that if I'd known what was happening then I would just basically say hey man Aaron before we go uh let's just say you're pitching to Otani in about uh two months from now and the game's on the line you know just be careful watchers tread lightly Boone's getting fired dude no they're not they don't the Hal Steinbrenner is catatonic catatonic I don't know what's going on they come in the last place catatonic what does he care star insurance is paying him 20 million a year for his team that's in last place now on July 17th so what does he care his team's making him money do you care how that's my only question for you is do you even care I know Boone does I'm sure this is killing him his dad was there last night his brother was there last it's got to be killing him that he is pulling teeth with this team right now as judges taking batting practice but holy cow there's a four-finger situation for Otani and it's to walk him come on the hell was that Mickey I will take my shot with Mickey Mosiak and his 324 average single and double he was he was he's locked in are you going tonight I am so glad by the way when I was falling asleep on my couch last night I was thinking to myself glad I'm not there bro I'm so glad I didn't sit in that bumper-to-bumper traffic to get there for a first pitch at 6 30 when the Angels have their first pitch it the traffic is a disaster Herman on the mountain I'm great by the way on David Cohen's a perfect game anniversary there you go back-to-back cones in the booth so yeah I'm glad I didn't go honor you know and I have obligations to the NFL Network tonight yeah as you know sacrifices take the chopper down oh yeah yeah the network chopper the network just cruise on chopper I'll make some calls yeah I forgot about that network chopper it's Moniac but I'd say Moniac Mosiac whatever who the hell is Tim Horton honestly point is the same I'll pitch to Mosiac or Moniac or Zodiac Mickey Morandini is killer last night Mickey Spillane Monie love name a Mickey I'd pitch to him mantle oh maybe not him the plate what are you doing Mickey from Rocky how wrestling really works and how you get the ratings Eric Bischoff and Conrad Thompson explain on 83 weeks collision has been struggling a little bit out of the gate with these ticket sales a little bit out of the gate this was a major show announced on a major network with what everybody thought was this huge star CM Punk I said he was gonna be the biggest financial flop in wrestling history and I think I'm being proven right every minute of the day 83 weeks on YouTube or wherever you listen