REShow: Tom Pelissero - Hour 3

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Find out how to bring your ideas to life at dell.com slash welcome to now. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Who is the number one guy? Rich Eisen.

Really? Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. How have you been able to adjust where you're definitely more famous every passing day than the day before, Brock?

I don't try to think that I'm somebody else or something bigger. Earlier on the show, actor and host Jerry O'Connell, Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell. Coming up, NFL Network insider Tom Pellicero. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

Hey. Our number three of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. Tom Pellicero is going to join us.

20 minutes time. First order of business. One of the bears is going to tell us Justin Fields is out so he can make a move in fantasy. And if you're thinking, Rich, why are you talking about fantasy on the show and it's just we don't care about your fantasy team, then you must have felt like Kevin O'Connell did moments ago when I told him I had Jordan Addison on the team. You should beat him.

That's so unprofessional. And you know what? I don't care. Rubber's meeting the road. It's week seven.

You know what I mean? Right here on the Rich Eisen Show. Week number seven here. We had a great conversation with Jerry O'Connell. We also had in hour number one a chat with Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports talking about what's going on in my alma mater and Jim Harbaugh and what's going on with an investigation into Michigan about a possible cheating scandal, stealing signs and things of that nature. If you missed any of it, it re-airs right here on the Roku channel, channel 210, as soon as we are done. And it will run all weekend long, all the way up until our Monday program, when we're back talking about week seven writ large in advance of the Monday Niner that we've spoken about quite a bit with Brock Purdy on yesterday's program and Kevin O'Connell on today's program.

844-204-Rich is the number to dial here on the show. Let's take a couple of phone calls before I give you my top five list of the five most intriguing matchups I'm looking forward to for the rest of this weekend. Let's go to Jeremiah in one of Brockman's many old stomping grounds, the great state of Alaska.

What's up Jeremiah? I'm driving on the highway here. You're driving in Alaska, are you? Yes.

Okay. I've never spoken to somebody driving in Alaska before. You're the first.

It's never happened in my life. Yeah? I do it all the time. I drive all over the place and look at broken stuff and give my opinion to people. Very good. What's on your mind? Where are you heading Jeremiah? What's the town you're heading to? I'm heading to Wasilla today. Oh, can you see Russia from there? It's just north of Anchorage. Okay.

It's a pretty nice little town. Okay. That was a 2008 reference that Jeremiah did not get. What's going on Jeremiah?

What's on your mind? Well, I'm wondering, you Mr. Rich Eisen, as a lead pipe wielding professional and a guy that witnessed the game over there in London between the Jaguars and the Bills. I did. How do you feel about that being the AFC Championship game and every time that those guys face each other, how do you feel about the possibility of Josh Allen sacking Josh Allen? It's a rarity. As a matter of fact, Jeremiah, Josh Allen at his first career interception and only one to date against Josh Allen. That actually happened in the first time they faced one another.

And the Jaguars are 2-0 against the Bills when Josh Allen and Josh Allen have been on the same field. Yeah, I avidly watched, but this year it was too early because I live in Alaska and it starts at 6 a.m. and I caught the end of it, but not the first. Last 15 seconds? Is that what you're saying? You caught the last 15 seconds? Yeah, pretty much.

Like David Spade. Jeremiah, thank you for the call. Thank you for the call.

Drive safely. Jacksonville versus Buffalo is an AFC Championship game rematch from that week, let me get this right, five contests I called? I hear you. Why not? That would be possible for sure. The way that that would work would be what? Let's just assume both of them win their divisions. Okay. That would mean they wouldn't face each other in the divisional playoff round, the wildcard playoff round. Right. And probably wouldn't face each other in the divisional playoff round.

Right? Unless one's two and three, and then they face each other having won their wildcard rounds. That would pretty much be it.

Unless someone's one and three, because one and four would play each other, two and three would play each other. That's what I'm saying. Yeah. There's also the matter of the Dolphins and the Chiefs being involved in this matter, and then let's see if the Bengals or the Ravens or anybody else hops up in there. Let's just rewind six years, they did play one of the worst playoff games in recent memory.

Ten-three. Oh God, yeah, that was Tarod Taylor versus Blake Bortles, right? Yeah, it was really bad. And then Bortles the next week lit it up in Pittsburgh. Oh, and then they almost beat the Patriots the week after. Right, that was it. That was the run.

I remember that. And would I like to see Jacksonville versus Buffalo in the AFC Championship game? I think it would be a good game. And plus the fact that, you know, Nance and Romo and everybody else would have to pull the copy of me on the call.

I love that idea. You know why? I like to resonate. You're the resonator. I'm probably resonating in my own household right now and not in a good way. Well, you're resonating with all the hotels in the Valley.

Words that were actually accurate from 1994 to early 1996. Rich in Redding, California. You're here on the Rich Eisen Show. What's up, Rich? Good afternoon, sir. So I feel like I have an odd number of things that connect me to you, even though we've never met or spoken before. First of which, my name is Rich and I live in Redding.

About 30 years. That was me from election night 1994 to just prior to Valentine's Day 1996. That was me. And I did witness several broadcasts from KRCR. Did you really?

That's so cool. And see if you remember this. You interviewed a quarterback from Anderson High School. His name was Charles Wheaton, probably somewhere in that timeframe. And he does have a VHS of it.

I have not been able to get a hold of it yet, but he is my coworker at a large utility that I work at. Well, I would love to see it. I would love to see it.

That would be fun. He's been looking. It's like somewhere between his mom's house.

They don't know. Anyway, I also live probably three blocks from Mr. Mangus. He lives up the hill from me in Redding. Please tell him I said hi. He was the main sports anchor. I don't run into him too much, but my wife and I do a walk every morning and we do pass by the little cul-de-sac in which he lives. Please tell him I said hi and that thank you for the number of times he probably saved my job that I did not know.

Please. And the other one was, since Jerry O'Connell was on today, I don't know if you know this, but the bridge scene in Stand By Me, which obviously Mr. O'Connell was a typical character in, is in Bernie, California, which is not too far from here and even my job. I drive by that bridge quite often and sometimes stop there and just have lunch because it's kind of a cool spot. The tracks are no longer there, but the bridge is still intact.

Is that the end of the connective tissue or is there more, Rich? That's about it. I thought that was pretty good. That's amazing. Do you have a family? Do you live alone? I live with my beautiful wife who is a math teacher at Enterprise High School. Ah, I've covered many a game at Enterprise High School.

This is amazing. When you get packages delivered, does your wife open them before you get home? She's still watching. Not usually.

Nor does mine. I'm having fun. Thank you, Rich. Appreciate it. I've been meaning to call for years. I appreciate you taking the call.

Thanks, man. That was fun. That's awesome.

I know exactly. This is your life. I've covered many events in Bernie, California, Enterprise High School.

Wow, that is cool. Back in the day, man. All right, present day, week seven began Thursday night. I now have my usual Friday fair.

Top five most intriguing matchups for the upcoming weekend, week seven. Hit it, please. High five. One, two, three, four, five. Rich's Top Five. All righty, then.

Let's start with right up the road. Coming off their bye week, the Pittsburgh Steelers are in town here in Los Angeles, California. Chris Brockman, are you going to the game? You going to the game still? You going? Questionable.

Oh, no. Well, or for your wallet, I'm sure you'll flip those tickets to some black and gold, terrible towel-waving fan. We'll hop right in there to see if they can beat the Los Angeles Rams, who, hey, folks, if they can go to four and three winning this game, a four win team through seven weeks.

Few people thought that would be possible, but that is entirely feasible. And, you know, this is Aaron Donald's hometown team that we're talking about here. This is this is apparently the only other team you would ever consider playing for.

And I'm sure he would love to just send a message to everyone back home by saying, hello, we're the Los Angeles Rams and we're still pretty damn good. And this is going to be a fun game. Late window Steelers Rams. Lots of fun watching this one.

Looking forward to it. Number four on this list is the game we've been talking about with our guests over the last two days. 49ers and Vikings. Yes, the Vikings have only one win. I get it. Or two wins. Pardon me. They only have two wins.

I get it. But two and four against five and one. Can they hang a second consecutive loss in the San Francisco 49ers?

Or will the 49ers bounce back? Purdy v. Cousins is a lot of fun. I can't wait to see this one on Monday night. And obviously there's a lot of implications for many people's fantasy teams. McCaffrey, Deebo. What's going to happen in this one on a Monday night in week seven to wrap up the week?

That intrigues me. Number three on this list. Chargers, Chiefs, AFC West, because this is it, folks. Honestly, with all due respect to my Raiders friends and fans, if you look at the rosters, just the rosters. The Chargers are the team that could be able to make a run on the Chiefs or threaten them, threaten them. You know, and the Chargers have the same number of losses as the Raiders. And if they go to three and three and win a game on the road and actually beat the Chiefs here. Then then it bears watching in this division the rest of the way. If not and the Chiefs win their six in a row and send the Chargers to two and four, that would be what we call a lightning bolt tailspin here coming off of a bye to lose two in a row after the way they went into the bye.

You could say basically maybe bye bye. Certainly if Garoppolo is getting in and out of the lineup. So this is kind of a big game just for the AFC West and to see if somebody can draw more blood than the Lions in Kansas City. Number two on the list, Lions Ravens.

Let's go. I saw the Ravens with my own two eyes last Sunday in London. They are a really good team and they have a defense that loves to impose its will. And that's what the Lions are all about themselves. I know Jared Goff and Lamar Jackson, you would say, are on kind of opposite sides of the quarterbacking spectrum. Nobody's played the position and I mean nobody better. You could have been playing it just as well, but nobody's played it better over the last calendar year than Jared Goff. And Lamar Jackson is having a really good run at it so far in the first six weeks of this season. Ravens decided not to have a bye.

They did not want to buy after their London game because they wanted it later in the season. Here come the Lions and I can't wait to see this one. A good old fashioned paint swamp and affair all leading up to Sunday Night Football.

It is the Saban Bowl. It is Tua and Hertz. Their history together is one million percent fodder for my interest. Hertz isn't the guy he is today without the journey.

And you could say the same thing about obviously anybody. But the night that Hertz gets benched in a national championship game to watch Tua win it all is one of the many character building moments that has led to Jalen Hertz being the effing man in Philadelphia. And for him to now with Tua at the pinnacle of his football professional career right now, building that pinnacle to go even higher. For him to be coming in off of the first loss of the season and the adverse maybe effects of that loss to try and wipe it away against Tua. And this offense going against a Philadelphia defense filled with the old Georgia Bulldogs and there's Alabama Crimson Tide quarterbacks all over the lot. It is an SEC contest up in the northeast with the Miami Dolphins bringing Tyreek Hill and AJ Brown and Devontae Smith is the guy who as we all know was Hertz's target until Tua hit him for that national championship victory that night.

He's Hertz's wide receiver. Come on, man. McDaniel, Sirianni. What more do you need to intrigue you? This is number one, a million percent on the list. Two five and one teams.

The number one most intriguing matchup of week number seven. Do you think we need one more? Sure, George.

All right, we'll get one more. Why not indeed? The NFC South on display. You know, seeing the Saints the way they looked last night. Can they win the division?

Put it all together? You know what? It's the NFL.

You can't sit here and say no shot. In the same way that you are more confident saying that about a winless team entering week seven, like Carolina is with a rookie quarterback. So these are the two teams, right? Falcons, Bucks.

These are the two teams. And if the Falcons can win on the road, they would take a major leg up in division. They would go to four and three, send the Buccaneers to their second consecutive loss at home coming off the bye as well. Desmond Ritter, V. Baker Mayfield, two guys in different positions, figuratively playing the same position. And the Falcons would be able to go to four and three, have a half game up in the standings, but a big leg up by notching a road win in division against the team that does appear to have the best shot to win the division in the NFC South. Or the Bucks go to four and two and send the Falcons to three and four and keep their turf unblemished against the team that is closest to them in standings and potentially also talent to win the division. And what if Desmond Ritter has a bit of a pick fest here?

It always seems to be teetering on the edge. We don't know Arthur Smith and his mustache and his level of patience with this guy, knowing Taylor Honeke would not make a lot of the same mistakes as this rookie. Certainly he might make different mistakes.

He might make different mistakes, but maybe not the ones that cause Arthur Smith to be a meme with his hands on it. So those are your intriguing matchups for week number seven. I love them all. It's gonna be a lot of fun this coming weekend. I want to tell you before we take a break and turn to my buddy Tom Pelissero and what appears to be a very nice black sweatshirt hoodie.

Wondering if he's going to change for us from his appearance on NFL insiders. I want to tell you about Game Time tickets. It is so easy to use. When we got a call from Game Time saying, hey, we're interested in partnering up.

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Because it does mean that Justin Fields might not play Tyson Bajant being the starter for the Chicago Bears. Are you are you are you texting someone right now? Are you reporting back to what? Tom, Tom, Tom, there's a move.

OK, what's the move like? What is it? Now you've got to share it.

Now you've got to share it. You're not always here, Tom. What is going on? The Steelers are releasing Gunnar Olszewski, who is a great story out of Bemidji State. Wide receiver, but a very productive special teamer. Wild guest Bill Belichick. We'll have him back in New England in about 10 seconds here. We'll see exactly how this plays out. That's notable, though, for the Steelers, because Deontay Johnson, remember, coming back from injured reserve this week. So by releasing Gunnar, that probably means Deontay Johnson is back. We'll see it this week.

They certainly could use him because sounds like Pat Fryer definitely not playing this week and may not be playing for a little bit here. OK, so this is actual genuine information that that has a ripple effect and thus, you know, is required for your immediate attention despite being on live television and radio, Tom. You can multitask. It's OK. It's OK. We try to we try to handle everything. By the way, what's up to my guys in the studio? What's up, Tom? That's my guy being here.

I know. So anyway, the the the fact that Justin Fields, is he going or he can't go? What do you think? Is he going Sunday? What are you hearing? I would be really surprised based on everything I know if he is going to go. Which means that it's probably or is going to be the undrafted rookie from Shepherd. Tyson Bajan getting his first NFL start, which is it's a remarkable story on Bajan, because if you look at his numbers, it's astronomical production. He thought about transferring to a Division one program last year, but decided, you know what?

I'm going to finish it out here, finish it out at Shepherd. Put up big numbers, didn't get drafted, went to the Senior Bowl. But there's something about the guy as much as the player that teams really like through the course of the process. So the Bears said, OK, he's a free agent.

Let's bring him in here. They weren't thinking at the time he was going to beat out P.J. Walker for the backup job.

Walker started for the Browns when they beat the 49ers. Bajan will be starting this week going up against whoever it is and whoever the Raiders are starting a quarterback. But here we are in a big opportunity for Tyson Bajan. And then, you know, if he performs well enough, Tom, it's entirely possible that we won't have to constantly mention who his dad is every time we talk about Tyson. Travis, let me get this right, 17 time arm wrestling world champion. And if I'm not mistaken, because every single time Tyson Bajan gets mentioned these days around our stomping grounds at the NFL Media Group, there's video from the Senior Bowl of you arm wrestling this individual. The question I have for you is now how did that come about and why would you do that, Tom? All great questions.

Thank you. It started out because I was in an establishment in Mobile early in the week and ran into Tyson Bajan's agent who was like, oh, do you want to meet his dad? And he, of course, the 27 time arm wrestling world champion. He started out as a lefty, which there aren't many lefties, but then he also switched to righty. So he won titles with both arms.

It's very impressive. So like Mickey Mantle talking about it. I think Ian Rappaport actually suggested, hey, you guys should arm wrestle on TV. But we get to like late in the week. It's Thursday. We're like trying to spice things up on TV. And they're like, hey, is the dad there?

Let's do this. So he walked down and you'd think he'd been rehearsing the script for a month. He had the whole thing and like all the smack that he was going to talk throughout all of it. Kevin Clark replied to the video when it got put out there again yesterday saying I didn't realize I thought Tom was just going to get beaten. I didn't think that the guy was going to cut a wrestling promo before, during and after beating him.

But that's what it was. So funny thing, Rich. I'll be on Game Day morning. Of course, your show on our show, Tom, it's our show. It's our show. I like to think of it as your show, but sure.

Bring me into the mix. So I plan to talk about Tyson Bajan on Sunday. So I'm going to text Travis the Beast Bajan just to check in, you know, because we've got very special relationships. I text him like, hey, you know, I'm going to tell you, I'm sure it's exciting. We're going to be talking about Tyson on TV. You know, do you want to give me a quick call if you got a minute? Like 15 minutes later, my phone rings, you know, hey, what's up? And he goes, it's your daddy calling. Yeah, so he's headed there.

A lot of friends and family member going to be in the house for first starts. That's a pretty cool moment to keep it together in the stands. There it is. The great I mean, you didn't have a shot, right? Like, you know, like, honestly, what is that like? Was it like like hitting a wall, like a brick wall, like actually shoving your arm against a wall? So what it was like that that photo there is a great representation of it, because you notice at that point, I have both hands on just trying to get something going there.

It was it was it was something. But my concern was for about five minutes after, because I'm putting everything I've got into it, I don't know what I'm doing. For about five minutes after, I was numb from my wrist down the elbow and thinking, this is bad. This is my microphone elbow. If I got to do the game lefty, we're going to have some real problems here. But the feeling came back.

OK, good. It became this viral moment. Thanks in part to your friends, Daniel, Jeremiah and Charles Davis cackling uncontrollably in the background the whole time. You never think, though, too, when you walk away from that week. And I talked to scouts after coaches who were like, yeah, you know, Bajan threw it OK.

But it wasn't like, wow, he blew everybody away. He had a pretty solid week with those guys. You just never know. Are they going to get that opportunity? Is it going to line up for him?

Are they going to kick around and get cut 100 times over the next five years? Here he is. It's week seven of the NFL season. A dude who is starting against fill in the blank state school for West Virginia last year at this time is about to start against the Raiders on Sunday. It's pretty wild against fill in the blank quarterback for the for the Raiders. As we're talking here, Tom, any guess at all who it's going to be and what does ale Jimmy Garoppolo, Tom?

Josh McDaniel said before practice today that they would not make a final decision until after practice. If I am reading the tea leaves right now, Rich, from everything that I have been told so far, I would guess educated guess, but still a guess that it's Brian Hoyer getting the start this week, which would mean Aidan O'Connell would the rookie would end up being the backup here. It's a tough deal because O'Connell, you remember, got his last start. It was, you know, short notice. And he's put out there, thrown into the fire, actually made some plays in that game, also turned it over a couple of times with Brian Hoyer last week. You played OK in relief.

You go back through. I mean, Brian Hoyer, he's a great guy. He's been around a long time, has not had to start and win very many football games like the last seven, eight years here. But maybe that allows the Raiders to feel like they've got a little bit more control over the situation. We all know Josh McDaniel comes from the Bill Belichick tree. You don't want to give away the football.

Aidan O'Connell did that a couple of times his last time out. With regard to Jimmy Garoppolo, what I can tell you is in part what Josh McDaniel said, which is that they feel like they've ruled out the most significant. They've dodged a major bullet, as Josh put it, in terms of internal injuries. But it's a substantial enough injury that by Thursday they had already ruled out Garoppolo for this week's game. I can tell you, Jimmy has been in the building this week. He's out of the hospital. We'll see exactly when he might be able to get back onto the field right now.

For Raiders team that's won their past two games, it's find a way and let some of those other superstars they've got on the roster go to work. Tom Pelissero here in his usual Friday spot on The Rich Eisen Show, my colleague from the NFL Media Group. What is your best guess on what's going to happen Monday night with McCaffrey and Debo, Trent Williams, Niners and Vikings?

What do you got for me there, Tom? With Christian McCaffrey, they ruled out any type of rib or rib cartilage issue, according to Kyle Shanahan, which is good news. He's dealing with what the team is calling an oblique issue at this point.

I've talked to people who know McCaffrey really well and say, unless there's an injury and the doctors say you cannot play, he is going to play. In other words, this is not going to be well. I don't quite feel 100 percent. He knows he's got a chance to do something special this year. He knows that there's MVP conversation and it's not all about individual goals either.

It's also about getting this 49ers team back on track. So we'll see. It's really going to be a matter of how does he feel here in the coming days. It sounds like with Debo and Trent Williams, they're kind of in the same boat with Trent Williams. He's played through everything. He's got an ankle sprain right now. It's not a high ankle sprain and he's played through those before. So I'd be surprised at this point if Trent Williams doesn't go with Debo. We just want to make sure with his fiscal playing style, is he able to protect himself?

Is there any risk of aggravating it? None of those guys you mentioned practiced yesterday near to Drake Greenlaw. So there are some things we're going to be monitoring leading up to Monday night. What's the deal with Deshaun Watson, Tom?

What's going on there? I think, Rich, the Deshaun Watson conversation got skewed a little bit by how that first week played out. What we know right now, let's start there, is Deshaun Watson has played the past two days or practiced the past two days. Didn't practice on Wednesday.

So at that point you're going, it's going to be another week. But he was out there limited basis on Thursday. Kevin Stefanski said he did everything on Friday. Now they've got to see how that throwing shoulder responds to all that activity and make a final determination. If you go all the way back to that first game he missed, which I believe was in week four, Deshaun thought everyone there, the coaches, the front office, everyone thought Deshaun Watson was playing.

He showed up on Sunday morning. He could not throw the ball more than 10 yards. Could not drive the football the way that he needed to to go play in a football game. And so the decision was made to hold him out. I know that a lot was made of the Kevin Stefanski response when he was asked whether or not Deshaun Watson was medically cleared. And he says, yes, he was medically cleared. But, you know, he made the decision that he was not able to go.

A lot of people took that as well. Deshaun pulled himself off. Why didn't he gut it out for the team? In my mind, and again, educated guest territory here, Rich, I believe that Kevin Stefanski was surprised that anybody would ask if a player who's going through a pregame workout on Sunday has been medically cleared. In other words, if a player is not medically cleared, you don't work them out two hours before kickoff. You rule them out.

They're not going to play in the game. So in Stefanski's mind, he's thinking, why would you even ask? Of course he's medically cleared. Like the doctors say he could play, but he's got to be functional.

He wasn't functional. And then the other piece of it was it was reported as a shoulder bruise, which, you know, I have said this before, but I think people think of that terminology, that injury as well. You got up in the dark and you walked into a door frame and you got a little little bruise on your shoulder. No, it's a it's a rotator cuff issue. He referred to it as a micro strain, a strain or micro tear. I refer to it as a rotator cuff contusion.

It's all more or less the same thing. And functionally, when you have that type of an injury on your rotator cuff, it makes it hard. You lose strength. You have some weakness in there.

You have discomfort in there. Those are all symptoms that Deshaun Watson was feeling. We've seen some videos of him throwing just an individual drills in that setting. It looks like he's doing OK. The real test is going to be can he drive the football? Do you make the throws downfield? Is he in, you know, as little pain as possible at this point?

And can he function normally? If he's not, then they're going to go with P.J. Walker for another week. Good sign today. We'll see where we are come Sunday. Few minutes left with Tom Pelosero here on this busy Friday. One year ago today, happy Christian McCaffrey anniversary trade to the 49ers, Tom. Anything on the horizon of something in that vein? Obviously, McCaffrey was traded away from a team that had already blown out their head coach. And it was obvious to everyone there that they had turned the page to the following season.

We haven't seen any of that yet. So there are unique circumstances to this trade that occurred one year ago today. What about the upcoming trade deadline?

Any blockbuster you're sensing feeling that you're willing to put out there right now? I would say that based on all the GMs I've talked to, everyone gets the sense that things are a little bit slower right now than they've been in years past. My theory on that, just talking to people within the league, is in part a lot of the teams right now, Rich, that have bad records thought they were going to be good. Denver, right or wrong, Sean Payton said, I think we're a playoff team. The Vikings were in the playoffs. The Giants were in the playoffs.

The Patriots were not a terrible team and definitely thought that they would be better. All those teams right now are one or two wins. And so you're in a challenging position because the trade deadline is so early. And there was discussion among the general manager's advisory committee actually last fall about could you push it back a week or two. There's always concern from the competition committee. If you push the trade deadline any further back, you're going to have teams to get further along and then you really tank.

So it's early in part to guard against some of that behavior. But right now for those teams I just mentioned that are all bad record, but they thought they were going to be good. Now you've got not just the football stakeholders, the head coach, the GM, but you also have owners who are trying to figure out and having conversations about are we really going to be better? Are we really going to take apart a team that six weeks ago we thought was going to be really good and start selling?

Or do we double down, maybe even be a buyer, bring somebody in? The Panthers are another team on that list. They didn't anticipate being 0-6 right now. But just poking around on Carolina, yeah, there's some veteran players who potentially would be available. But they'd like to add players. They'd like to put some things around Bryce Young if they can, whether that's a receiver, whether that's getting some help on defense. They'd like to upgrade that roster.

So it's a really unique type of a position. There's some teams like Arizona that, yeah, I think we all looked on paper and said 1-5 sounds about right. They've been very competent. They're playing really hard for Jonathan Gannon. But that's a team that potentially could be taking calls on selling players.

Denver certainly is open for business, but they're not just going to give away the entire roster, all of which Rich is a long way of saying we are currently, what, 11 days out, I believe, from the trade deadline. I thought this would be the week things really picked up. Right now there's a lot of poking around. There's a lot of calls being made. There's not a lot that's advancing at this point. Let's see where we are after this week's games and even those final couple of days before the deadline, just because, again, some of the teams with bad records right now didn't think they were going to be bad. And they want to hold off on any decisions about blowing things up until as late as possible. Yeah, I mean, that makes Week 7 games that huge.

They're huge in that regard. You know, it might push teams towards more of a brink or more towards buying. And then the Cardinals, I mean, if they're thinking of selling or taking calls to determine it, they put Kyler Murray and Buda Baker back on the practice field this week, and they're talking about how these guys might return.

Like, is that possible? Tom, what do you think on that front? I would be surprised if Kyler plays this week. Nobody's ruled it out yet, but that would surprise me, just three days of practice. He has worked in with the first string offense, so not out of the question.

With Buda Baker, not out of the question. He could be back either. You also have to ask yourself, if you're going to be a seller, and I'm not reporting anything, just saying if you're going to be a seller, guys like Buda Baker, maybe even Kyler Murray are some of the guys who potentially have the most value as trade partners. So if you're able to at least show that they're back healthy in practice, maybe even get a guy like Buda into a game, what does that do to the potential trade market? These are all things that teams have to take into consideration. We've seen other teams in the past who hold guys out if they're dealing with any type of injury prior to the trade deadline, so keep an eye on some of those inactives over the next couple of weeks here, too. It's going to be fascinating. And what about Saquon?

He basically said, I don't want to leave. Don't trade me. But that's, again, a one-year anniversary of McCaffrey being acquired. Look at what a difference it has made for San Francisco. Again, in this world, we work on NFL plus. Everything's plus. They became Niners plus, you know what I mean, by that trade. Why can't the Bills become Bills plus by making one of those trades?

Just as a for instance, just throwing it out there. Let's take a team that is already really good and maybe get plussed up, like Von Miller allowed Buffalo to become Bills plus until he got hurt. Why not?

Why not do one of those things? Might the Ravens be another team that, you know, eventually after losing J.K. Dobbins, maybe there's a running back who helps put him over the top. Those are all things that are possible with Saquon. He doesn't want to leave.

He ultimately doesn't really control that. He's going to be a free agent after the season. This is the type of guy in the situation where if you're able to get value, historically you would say, okay, that's a logical player who could get traded. I also know how the Giants organization, how ownership feels about Saquon Barkley.

They want him to be there. You know, you look at the contract. He signed that contract before they started training camp on a one-year deal that just had some incentives in it, which right now they're all tied to playoffs, so he's not going to hit any of them. He's basically just going to play for the tag number.

He signed that because he thought the best thing he could do was go out there, have another big year, lead the team to some wins. Instead he gets hurt, gets banged up. You know, circumstances change within the NFL. But you look at that upcoming schedule for the Giants and, yeah, they still got problems on their offensive line. Andrew Thomas is out again. Daniel Jones listed as questionable, but not yet cleared for contact.

We'll see if he can make it for this week against the commanders. But that schedule, Rich, you would have loved to steal that one in Buffalo. Again, nobody thought that you would win with a backup quarterback. But even without that, get a couple of wins here prior to the deadline. You're not completely out of it. There's an extra wild card spot these days, 17-game season. Again, you can trick yourself into believing a lot of different things here, but, you know, the reality is there really is opportunity. Everybody's going to have to make those decisions.

And if the Giants still think that they're in it, I would anticipate Saquon Barkley still being a part of that team. Tom, thanks again. Greatly appreciate it. So don't be surprised next time when you – next week when you zoom in, I'll just start the interview by saying, it's your daddy. You know, we could just do one of those. That is funny, man.

Well, that sound bite, yep. We'll revive it on Sunday. Tom – oh, yes, on our show, Tom, our show, called NFL Game Day Morning. We'll see you then. That's Tom Pelissero right here on my show, the Rich Eisen Show. We'll see there's a difference. Well, actually, it's our show here, too.

Thank you. You know what I mean? It's our show.

My name's not on the mug, though. It doesn't matter. It's our show. Without you guys, that was the whole point yesterday about Mike McDaniel. Right. You know, somebody's got to block for Tua. Right. We're blocking. I'm the Tua in the equation. All right.

I mean, perfect example of how big these games are. Let's hit that next. Let's wrap up this Friday show with that next. Let's go. All right. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show. Yes, and if you were just watching before I went off camera, my card slipped out of my hand.

All right. You can stream Kevin Harlan and Kurt Warner on the call. Me and Studio all season long for free and get in the zone with AutoZone.

The free AutoZone fix finder service can help you find a fix for free. Restrictions apply. Get in the zone.

AutoZone. Nice. That was significant. Great up for him yesterday. Nick in Ontario, Canada, back here on the program. How you been, Nicholas? How you doing, Rich? What's on your mind, sir? A couple things. First, question for you. Have you ever watched Home Improvement? How about us for an answer, Nick?

When I did standup comedy in college, I once opened for Tim Allen at the U Club on the campus of the University of Michigan. So, yes. That'd be a great night.

But it never worked out for him on the show when he talked about Joe. I see. I got it.

Very good. What else is on your mind? Huge game Sunday. In my mind, this is for the NFC South. I know Baker's your boy, but Falcons D-Line are going to turn them into the Doughboy this weekend. Hey, man. The Falcons defense has been balling out. I think, couldn't you, thanks for the call, Nick.

Appreciate it and the advice. Wouldn't you say that the Falcons being, you know, in the position that they're in, which is to win this game to be four and three and take a leg up, it's a defense that's kept them in these games? A million percent. A hundred percent kept them in the game. Just take last week, for example, it was an eight-point game for the entire fourth quarter. Their defense got three stops. The Falcons went offense three times to try to tie the game. Had a shot.

And could not. Yeah. It was a defense that kept them in the game. Kaleis Campbell joined the 100 sack club, you know. They're playing great. The only problem with the Falcons being on the road, other than the obvious, is that we don't get the cool shot down from the Mercedes-Benz dome people.

Those shots have been phenomenal. And the Falcons' social feeds have made hay out of them. So Tom Pelissero just gave some great food for thought to go into the weekend. It's more than just wins and losses, in particular for certain teams this weekend, because the trade deadline lurks.

Two Tuesdays from now, it is Halloween afternoon for Eastern Time. And you take a look at the teams that if they lose this weekend, they could fall to one and six or oh and seven. Those are the teams you're looking at. Because that's the point of essential no return here, where you can look at your fan base and go, this has sucked. And we know it sucks. We know you are not enjoying the sucking.

But what sucks worse is to do this again next year. So we got to make moves now. We already are in the sucking zone, so we might as well just lean in and get better fast. Us sucking.

That's it. And so Patriots against the Bills, Broncos against the Packers. That game's a one point spread. I think that game's going to be close. The Titans are on a buy this week. Otherwise falling to two and five might cause some consternation.

But what a time to be on a buy as well, right? Their week eight game is home for Atlanta. It's pretty big. Arthur Smith Bowl.

That is the Arthur Smith Bowl. And then in the NFC, because everyone else in the AFC, you take a look at you got three wins or even the Chargers falling to two and four. They're not going to pull the record. You know?

So there's that. And then the NFC, the Giants, they fall to one and six. You know, Giants fans would be like, this is terrible.

And then they trade away. Saquon. Would somebody just rip up their season tickets? I doubt it.

I doubt it. It would suck for Saquon to my gosh, what a year that would be for him. He didn't do anything except get hurt at the wrong time again. It would suck for Saquon unless he goes to Buffalo. Right. And then suddenly, well, just, but unless he just loves living and playing for the Giants, living where he lives and plays for the Giants, I mean, in terms of marketing, what's better than New York City, I get it, but the Cardinals, if they fall to one and six, what do they do?

No, nothing. I think this is what we thought they would be all year kind of. And the Panthers, man, Carolina Panthers, another time, what a time to be on a bye week. And the Bears, they just ruled Justin Fields out moments ago.

If they lose to one, they lose, they go to one and six. But I mean, how many more draft choices can they go ahead and get? Great. Marvin Harrison is waiting to be a bear. Go get him. Go get him, right?

Yeah. And then if you have your take your own pick, unless, unless, unless they, they decide to get the Ohio State kid and trade their Ohio State quarterback to go get somebody else in the draft, you could, I mean, you want to talk about what's at stake this weekend. It's more than just any old week seven, man. And if the Vikings fall to two and five, what happens then? I know Kevin O'Connell said, we're not giving up. Who makes that call there?

I mean, who makes these calls? This is a huge weekend. I wish they would push the trade deadline back a little bit though. Seems a little early, mid November would be great. Yep.

I would think so. Just another week or two, but that's for down the road. I want to appreciate all the O'Connells, Kevin O'Connell, Jerry O'Connell, and Tom Pelissero O'Connell, Dan Wetzel O'Connell, I don't think that works.

Doesn't work. Chris Long on Monday. We're back at it. Gents, we're back at it. Enjoy your week seven. Enjoy college football, everybody. We'll have a, a great old time this weekend.

We're wrapping this show up on the Roku channel shortly, but that wraps up things for our terrestrial radio audience, Sirius XM and Odyssey and more. Have a great fun weekend. Be safe. Chat again Monday. Every Monday, Rich Eisen and Chris Brockman react to what's happening in the world of football on overreaction Monday, Dolphins final four AFC team.

Oh, that is not an overreaction at all. I'm with you. You're in.

I am in. The other three final four teams. They asked me to call my shot, this is the overreaction podcast, entertainment purposes only. Unless I'm right. Chiefs, Dolphins, Bills, Ravens, Ravens final four overreaction Monday, the podcast wherever you listen.