Adam Schefter: There Will Be At Least Seven Head Coach Openings

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Learn more at Discover.com slash credit card. Limitations apply. This is the Rich Eisen Show. This is exceptional. If we could have one of the two games come down to the last nap, we'll take that. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles.

How does both games coming down to the last nap try that one on for size? The Rich Eisen Show. That's what happened earlier on the show. Two time Super Bowl champion and Greenlight podcast host Chris Long. Box Sports College football analyst Bruce Feldman. Still to come, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter. And now it's Rich Eisen. Our number three of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. We just said goodbye to Bruce Feldman. He did not give me names. He did not give me the names of the anonymous coaches who said Alabama was going to beat Michigan because they played Michigan and they thought Alabama would be better and Michigan won the game.

This just in. I don't know if you saw the way we started the show or the week. Our number one, Chris Long was on.

How great was he, man? It's always great. Always awesome. If you missed Chris Long's conversation in our number one and obviously Bruce Feldman's last hour, we re-air right here on the Roku channel as soon as we are done. And then there's our YouTube page.

We put a lot of our clips there. YouTube.com slash Rich Eisen Show. There is the podcast version of this show. Please hit the follow button there and listen to all three hours.

Just one hour if you want. We'll just, you know, we'll take a download. Yeah, we're not discerning people, but we'll take all your downloads.

Check it out. We're all podcasts can be acquired. Joining me here now is somebody I go way back with. He shares the Michigan thing with me.

And he Jim Harbaugh was also his first quarterback, just like mine. Adam Schefter here on the Rich Eisen Show from the worldwide leader in sports. Look at you, Adam. You look so well lit. Look how well you'd look on this.

Well, let me say this to everybody. Rich sent me a text and he's like, you need a ring light. And Rich is responsible for how this looks now much better than it used to. At least I don't know how great it looks now or doesn't look. Well, you know what, Adam, I'm sure you've got a beautiful ceiling in that room. I just didn't want to see all of it. You know what I mean? I just, you know, look at you.

Look at you. Rich, when we can play with the light, do we like that lighting? No, we like I like the other one. This one's better.

You want to help? No, that's no, that's not that one. That one right there. That's good.

That one. Yes. There we go.

Right. Well, the last one gives him like a breer like tan. And we don't need that.

A breer like tan? No, we don't need that. We don't need that.

We don't need it. Been a few it's been a few brutal days in the breer house. Yeah, my Michigan man. There he is. There he is. Good.

Anyway, good to see you, by the way. This how we we went to break. I think you'll like this photograph that we used to you. Oh, there it is. You like that one, Adam? You like that? I can't see. Hold on.

Oh, there we go. A little one finger up. Yeah, I miss that. Look, I used to get that. I used to get that all the time.

Were you on your phone? Where's that from? I don't know. I don't know where we found it. Smitch found it.

Sean Mitchell is the best in the business. He found it. But you know what that is? You know what that is? I think I think that's I did a campaign with my wife this summer. She's a type one diabetic, and we were raising awareness for people to be tested for type one diabetes.

Ah, I think that's the one pledge. Fantastic. I like that is or or we were just getting ready for Monday night.

One of the guys, I guess your wife figured, you know what? I get that. I get that all the time, you know, from my husband.

We might as well use it for something good. You know what I mean? There you go.

I love you, Adam Schefter. Thanks for doing this. All right. Let's just jump right into it. How nervous should we all be that Jim's leaving? What do you think? What do you got for me on that?

I think here's here's here's the way that I view it. The NFL has been a possibility for him each of the last few years, and it has always been up to the NFL to make it such that it could convince him to go. He hires Donny, the NFL based agent this year, which obviously raises the intent of everybody. But the fact of the matter is it's still incumbent upon an NFL team to want him be the right ownership group, be the right quarterback, be the right situation for him and his family, that he feels like that's better than what he has. Now, I know the NCAA could come calling and all that, but he does love Ann Arbor.

But here's the thing. He's really done what he wanted to do and what he was supposed to do in Ann Arbor. He's accomplished everything that he set out to do, other than winning this game on Monday night, which he may or may not. We'll see. Right. But even if he doesn't and hopefully he does, but even if he doesn't, he has restored the program and accomplished what he set out to do. So I think we're back in the situation where if an NFL team makes it worthwhile for him and gives him an opportunity that he believes is better than the one that he has, then I think he could leave.

Yes. Well, and obviously the one that's sitting right up the road from me, right here in SoFi Stadium, because Justin Herbert checks the box. I think I saw a greenie hop on, I think, on McAfee's show recently, saying that he ran into Harbaugh at a funeral, interestingly enough. And Harbaugh was talking his ear off unsolicitedly about Justin Herbert. So that would check a box, one would think.

Well, let me say this. He's not the only head coach who loves Justin Herbert. There are others that I'm sure there are others, and I know specifically who would love to coach Justin Herbert. But Jim also brings a certain level of cachet. But what he also would require would be a certain level of cash. And I also imagine, you know, he's got a shop for the groceries, too, or have his own hand-picked person be that. Do you see the Spanos family handing him the store and the amount of money that would cause him to say, all right, I'll coach Justin Herbert?

What do you think? I see the Spanos family conducting a open-ended, exhaustive search, not being focused in on Jim Harbaugh. Jim, I see, being a candidate there. I'm not telling he's the candidate there. And ultimately, he may turn out to be the candidate. But at the outset of a search, I think he's one of the guys that they probably are eyeing from afar, and they know him.

He played quarterback there before he coached at San Diego State. So it's not like they don't know him. It's not like they're not familiar with him. Would they be willing to do all that?

Look, when you're entering into a marriage this significant, you figure out a way to try to make it work and you hope it does, never knowing if it will. So I think that if that's the guy they want, they'll figure out a way to make it work. OK, and so then let's talk about coaching searches writ large. How many? There's three open now. What do you think the number is going to be? What's your best guess? Crystal Ball it for me. I've said all along, I've said seven to ten.

And I still believe that to be the case. Wow. Seven to ten. Rich, let me explain this to you.

Yes. The NFL has averaged on. Go back to the start of the century. Six point eight head coaching changes per year. Six point eight. We got five last year. It almost never happens that you get a low number below the median average in back to back years. Could it happen? It could. But if you go back and look, you almost always get 12 to 13 to 14 in a two year stretch.

I'm playing the percentages and odds and I could probably match it up as well. But we'll get, I believe, at a minimum seven. Seven. OK, so and I think I think probably more in the end. Wow.

Probably more. All right. Well, commanders were obviously, you know, unfortunately for Ron Rivera. And that's the problem with these conversations is you and I both know these people mostly and it's tough to just talk about who's going to lose their job or not. But this is the national football league. So that becomes sport for better or worse.

I don't like it and I try to avoid it as long as possible. But when you're coming up to the last weekend of the season, it's just a part of the conversation, the way playoff clinching scenarios are. It just is like that's that's how it is.

So fortunate the commanders are one. What's your latest reporting on the Patriots? What do you have for me there? With that subject matter, I guess I would say that that would be a potential other spot, of course. Right. And Bill Belichick, I don't think is ready to retire.

I think he wants to keep coaching. But I just think it's a situation where there's been speculation all year, all year about this. Right. Yeah, right. Oh, yeah, sure. I'm listening.

Have you heard anybody stop it? No, no. Right.

Neither have I. Well, that is definitely education. So the question is, though, is that is that maybe it's not stopped because there's a negotiation that's happening behind the scenes or or there could be a coming of the mind where where Bill gives up some form of grocery shopping.

So that's always that that was the phrase from New England was where that phrase was born years ago for the other bill. I mean, what do you got? No, you don't see that happening. No, listen, I think that at the end of the season, at some point, these two sides are going to meet and figure out what they want to do. And we'll see where it goes from there. I think, you know, most people believe that somehow the question is, how do they figure out a way to dissolve the relationship?

I think that's what most people believe. Now, we'll see what actually happens in a meeting and anything. They've been together a long time.

We've known plenty of people who plan for their marriage to break up only to stay together and try to make it work. So there is a question and some suspense and drama about how it ultimately will be handled. But I think we're in a situation in the end where these two sides have been together for a long time. And it just it just feels like it feels like everybody wants to try something new and we'll see if that has to be the case. And then how long do you think this plays out?

Because there's been some changes, right? And when you can contact coaches on other teams in the playoffs, right? Like the league kind of wants this thing to to not go so quickly and to make sure that these searches are exhaustive.

How long do you see this stuff playing out into into January? And obviously that's crucial when it comes to Michigan. If Jim is going to be, you know, looking at his watch and saying, I got to make a decision right here.

What do you think? Well, it actually works out because Jim is going to coach Monday night and his season one way or another is going to be over at about midnight on Monday night. So at that point in time, if there's an NFL team that wants to go talk to him, he will be right there amongst the candidates.

Now, yes, you're correct. The league is trying to slow down these searches and make teams take more time than ever. And they're going to have to because they're not allowed to interview the candidates until after the divisional playoff weekend. So whereas we used to see this rush where it was crazy, I never understood it where you're interviewing coordinators as they're getting ready for a wildcard game on a short week.

Like, how does that even happen? It's crazy. The league has slowed it down and none of these interviews are going to take place till after the divisional playoffs. So it used to be, you know, we've done this a long time, but it used to be, I would say, leading up to the divisional playoff round, we would get the first hire and then another hire. And then by the time that round rolled around, most of the openings would be filled.

And that's not going to happen this year. Like they're they're doing their best to slow this down by another seven to 10 days. And so there's time for everybody.

There's no rush on anything. And that means that when the season ends, whether the Kraft family and Belichick meet on Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday next week or at the end of the week, it doesn't really matter because there's time for everybody to do what they need to do in a thoughtful, responsible manner. Few minutes left with Adam Schefter, my buddy from back in the day at Michigan now and NFL Network now with the worldwide leader in sports ESPN. So when I was walking into the Rose Bowl, Adam and all the Michigan clad fans were walking past me, I got a lot of go blues and I got a lot of the Lions were screwed.

I got a lot of that stuff. And then Brad Allen, the official that was part of what eligible gate, whatever you want to call it, is report gate. I mean, report gate. I like it.

There you go. We improved it. We workshopped it.

The first first game out of the box national television game on ESPN and ABC. He's going to he's going to officiate it. What's your reporting behind that thought process? Well, those assignments are made weeks in advance. It's not like all of a sudden the assignment came in after this game.

Those assignments are penciled in weeks in advance. And so this is something that the league had. And the question the real question will be whether Brad Allen will get to officiate in the postseason while the members of his crew get to officiate in the postseason. We'll see. Maybe they will.

Maybe they won't. But they were penciled in for this game. And again, when we're talking about the officiating crew for a game, the first game of the week, that's never a good sign for anybody. Right. That we are taking note of who's officiating, but everybody is going to be watching.

And hopefully it boosts ESPN and ABC ratings that much more because they want to see how the Brad Allen crew does on Saturday afternoon. OK, and then let's chop this one up, Adam. Very rarely do I see you in my replies on on on the old Twitter machine on X. I had to I had to see if it was a fake blue checkmark with your with your name and avatar. There's only a million of those out there. But during the Christmas night game, I was just seeing everybody saying, oh, boy, here's Lamar. Now the MVP checked that box. I totally agree with that and how all the teams blew it by passing on him because there was collusion happening.

And I'm like, hold on a second. Lamar was never an unrestricted free agent. He was just transition tagged, which allowed other teams to talk with him. And what I was hearing at the time is the reason why teams didn't reach out to him wasn't that they didn't believe in his abilities. They were concerned about his his eating habits to be straight out with you. And they were also concerned with his work habits.

But most more than anything else, they were concerned that the Ravens loved him so much. Why help them figure out their conundrum in a contract by negotiating one only to allow them to match it? That's what I was talking about. And then you jump in saying that's not it. So I'll give you the floor.

Adam, what what what's your what's your reporting on all this? I think that that may have been a slight part of it. But here's the thing. There was never a team, never a team that was even willing to challenge it. What if there was a team, Rich? Whatever team it was that went to Lamar and said, we're going to give you a five year, three hundred million dollar deal fully guaranteed. What if there's a team out there that went to him and said, we're going to make you the highest paid quarterback by a lot and we're going to make it difficult for the Ravens to match.

And we want you to be here. Here's a guy, Lamar Jackson, that publicly said while we were at the owners meetings that he wants out of Baltimore. So he wanted out and said as much.

Everybody could say whatever they want, post facto. Oh, he wasn't going to leave. The Ravens weren't going to match. There was never a team, never a team that was willing to even make the effort to challenge it, to make it such that the Ravens couldn't match. And I find it to be that's like saying, well, the Cardinals aren't going to beat the Eagles.

Why play the game? They're not going to be that game. But but but also, you know, it's two number ones that you'd have to cough up.

Three hundred million dollars. You know, hold on, hold on. But we're doing this.

But we're viewing this right now after seeing Lamar right now. He didn't finish the previous two seasons. And Adam, listen, we don't we don't traffic a rumor.

We don't traffic in rumor. But the conversation was, you know, why wasn't he out there with his teammates? Why wasn't he with him? He was sick. I mean, there was a lot of questions about the way Lamar was handling his business behind the scenes. There was a lot of questions about Lamar being healthy. And I love the kid.

Rich, all those are fair. You raise great points. And that has more to do with it than the Ravens not willing to match. There was never a team that was willing to step up to even challenge it, whether it's because of the eating habits you're suggesting or whether it's because he didn't finish either the past two seasons. You were an injury or somebody didn't think that he would be worthy of being ultra aggressive. We've seen over time teams step up when they wanted somebody to make it happen. Nobody stepped up. The Panthers stepped up for Bryce Young. That's what they did. Nobody stepped up for a variety of reasons for Lamar Jackson to even put Baltimore in a spot where they would be in a tough position where all of a sudden they'd have to match.

By the way, it's two ones. If you saw Lamar at an offer sheet and you get a Baltimore referral. I get that. I get that what we're seeing out of Lamar. And that's why I always thought the Ravens were never going to let him walk anyway. By the way, they were never even presented with a difficult, never challenged.

That's the problem I have. But it's also different for a team to cough up two ones for a kid on a rookie contract and you don't have to pay him $200 million or $300 million until you've seen it from him. And I know that sounds ridiculous when you see what Bryce Young looks like and you know what Lamar has been and is and clearly will be for years going forward for a Ravens franchise that may win the Super Bowl with him this year.

Because they do love him that much. So that's different. But, you know, this conversation, people are going to be looking at me like I'm an NFL stooge or you won't say the word collusion because everybody thinks that that's what it was. That it was collusion. By the way, there's still an ongoing collusion case. There's depositions being taken. I don't know what's going to come out of that, but that's going on.

So that's another element. But again, nobody challenged this. Nobody tried to be creative with this. Nobody said we're going to sign Lamar to an offer sheet and then we're going to go make this trade proposal to Baltimore for all the reasons that we talked about here.

Nobody was aggressive. Nobody challenged it. And and when you look at him this year, you say, how could that be? Like, but it wasn't that we're scared Baltimore is going to match. So we're not going to sign him like I don't believe that's what it was like. Was that one of the factors?

Yeah, OK, fine. But it was among a multitude of factors. And again, it's a lost opportunity from any number of teams that could have been aggressive and put all the mental energies into these contracts that these teams are. So many of these teams are so smart and so creative with so many things. And they were just teams that just worked here.

They just worked. Adam, love you, brother. Love you.

Love you too, Rich. I mean, this is this is the greatest Michigan football. I mean, we had Charles Woodson on yesterday. He said if they win, they're the best Michigan football team ever, even above the 97 team, because he said that's what he said.

That's what he said. The people there at the school around the program have been touting this team and these these players and this group of young men all season long. And I remember being there this summer and talking to people and they're saying last year, Georgia had 15 players that were drafted into the NFL. And Michigan felt like it had a real possibility of this team, this current team that 18 players drafted this. So as good as Georgia was last year, Michigan has a real possibility to have more players drafted.

Now, there won't be a lot of high picks where there were Georgia, but there's going to be a lot of Michigan talent that you'll be calling on draft night. No doubt. No doubt.

And then I'll be reaching out for you for the next part of our calendar year, which is that and what the Bears are going to do and all that sort of stuff. Adam, great conversation. Love seeing you, especially in this light. It really is.

It's golden. Rich, I always appreciate you casting me in a good light. Thank you. You always you know, I'm always there for that. Love you, brother. You be well. Me too. It's Adam Schefter. Everybody follow him.

You already do. Right here on the Rich Eisen Show from ESPN. I think he's running off to do a couple of sports centers. Probably. Which never existed, by the way, at two in the afternoon when I was there. Times have changed.

Oh, my goodness gracious. Schefter gets it. But the problem I have with the Lamar stuff now is that we're playing the result. If he goes to a different team, he may not have been the MVP this year or the offense might have looked different or he might have struggled or he might have gotten injured.

Listen, I totally understand his point is like, why didn't anybody? Take the chance, take the chance, and here's here's here's another aspect of this that drives me a little crazy is like teams went out of their way to let it be known that he wasn't going to be their quarterback. I don't know of any team that put out a statement under letterhead saying we are not going to go for Lamar Jackson. But weren't there teams that did come out?

But they did. I'm asking. Come out means when you say that they were like proud to let everyone know we are not going to try for Lamar Jackson. What they did was respond to information men and women who are reaching out to their sources.

Are you going for Lamar Jackson? And the answer came back. That is not in our plans. As you know, that's always the phrase. It's in the plans because it's never like we're definitely not going because plans change, you know, per sources. There's many sources, there's unnamed sources, there's sources close to the situation. There's the Scandinavian per source, per source, you know what I mean?

So there's so many sources. And so no teams like put on their letterhead. We are not going for Lamar Jackson.

They were just responding to information men and women asking the question, what are you going to do? What is in your plans? The one team that I thought that would do it would be the team that almost won the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes. I thought Atlanta would do it. I thought Atlanta would do it.

I thought Atlanta would do it. And then we had didn't we have the general manager? We had Ray Fontenot on the show. And he was just like, we talked about it after.

Yeah. And they did talk about it. We had Arthur Smith say they talked about it, Jim. And and so at the end of the day, at the end of the day, what ended up happening was they said they didn't go for him. Fontenot said that they after they didn't get Deshaun. They basically said, OK, that cap space that we had, they flipped their plan.

Right. And they didn't want to go against their plan. Now, Adam's clear statement of why not try it.

I totally get it. I understand that, like, why not try it? Why not challenge? We also had other former general managers on the show say there are teams that they were just like would never use the resources of their legal staff and their front office staff to actually go through the paperwork. And I understand it sounds silly when you're like, well, it's the difference between your ass getting fired and not making the playoffs or looking like the Ravens. But there, you know, didn't Scott Pioli basically say there are times that they wouldn't chase people because they know that they're not leaving.

And so they're not going to solve the Rubik's Cube and hand it to them. You know, who did actually do that were the Eagles. The Eagles figured it out with Jalen Hurts and then. Three days later, Ravens just gave him, you know, they plussed it up with Hurts, plus it basically did the hurts. They did hurts plus write something similar again.

So and I understand Adam's like, you know, hey. Nobody tried it. But I again, I rumor may not be fact, you heard all sorts of stuff as to why not, but at the end of the day. In the same way that Adam said, have you ever heard anybody stop the rumor that Belichick might be out from New England? That's an interesting was an interesting way of saying, like they could immediately end it. And they haven't, which means there's smoke and potentially an actual firing. Right.

So in that same way. Have you ever seen a more dicey situation than the Lamar Jackson saying, I want out, right? I'm going to tweet that I want out and I've already asked out just as my coach's ass hits the chair for an owner's meeting press conference.

I'm going to hit send at the most interesting, fragile time. OK, you know, to to what would potentially, you know, throw egg on the face of my coach and organization. And have you ever seen a more dicey situation like that and not a single leak? Coming from the building that he is out, we're done. Or he better watch it and we're not we're not we're not going to be there and we own his rights and we're going to hard line stance it. Number of times at Harbaugh and Eric the cost, we're like, we love him. Now, some of the rumors that I'm here that I heard about his knee and how many meetings he was in and how he finished up and his level of commitment. That may have come from that building.

I have no idea. Also, but right now, it doesn't look good for the teams that didn't even challenge it. So my whole point, but Chris, you said you're playing the result.

You're not playing the result. He's not a fringe quarterback. He's not a, you know, a guy we're not sure if this was a bona fide superstar. So you're not really playing the it was a bona fide superstar in twenty nineteen. But the previous years after the subsequent years after that, he only won one playoff game, couldn't finish the season.

And so that's what your point is. Like, don't forget the manner in which the previous seasons ended and how he went into this. Negotiating window and what you're talking about is the result.

This is why the result I'm maybe I'm playing the result, too. In saying that the Ravens always loved him and we're never going to let him go because every move that they made in the nonplaying season, from getting rid of the offensive coordinator, their head to one that's going to reimagine the system, a new set of eyes and getting Odell Beckham for him. You know, I mean, this was all about keeping Lamar. The entire time. And guess what? This conversation that we just had.

We may be having it every single day for the next five weeks, all the way through to Las Vegas, our shows in Vegas. And maybe a week after that, like who would have gone for Lamar? You should have gone for Lamar.

Well, that's the point is who should have, but they would never have gotten him is my point. I'll never know. We'll never know.

But Schefter saying there's a collusion case that's getting to the bottom of. Eight, four, four, two or four rich number to dial here on the program when we come back. Power rankings. I'm going to turn my mic off. Power rankings.

No, no, no. I want it on. Rich Eisen here, if you love football as much as we do here and want to be in the game every day, there's something the guys on my show have been enjoying. Prize picks, daily fantasy sports, the number one daily fantasy sports app. Brockman, tell everybody about prize picks and your strategy this season. Rich, it's fun and easy. Pick two players or more based on their stats and place your entry.

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Learn more at discover dot com slash credit card. Limitations apply. I've got a nickname for you, certainly since again, as we established earlier on, that that that people are concerned of the amount of usage that you have and you're getting and that, you know, running backs wind up showing diminishing returns. And I don't think you're showing any diminishing returns and that's not going to happen. As a matter of fact, you are the one who does the diminishing. You're the one who comes downhill and does the diminishing. So I have a nickname for you.

You, Derek Henry, are the diminisher. I love it. I love it. Whoa, I love it. OK, so you understand this is this means a lot to me because I've tried a lot to give nicknames to people in the NFL.

And they have rejected them. I've been I love it. I love it. I can tell you put thought and time into this nickname. And I definitely appreciate it. Like you said, we've been knowing each other for a long time. Yes. I know that you put a lot of thought into this and I'm very appreciative.

It comes from the heart. I love it. Right here. You are the diminisher. You're the diminisher is coming to your town to diminish your chance of winning. You are the diminisher in the fourth quarter.

The diminisher is running downhill. Derek Henry. Yes. Right. But you know what I got to do. I got to live up to it. I live up to it.

You gave the nickname. I am not concerned about it. That's all I'm saying.

OK, I am not concerned about. So let's print up the shirts and the hats and let's go. And you can have it. You take it.

How does that sound? All right. You take it.

Hey, sounds good. Derek Henry, minister. Say that one more time.

I want to hear it. Say it one more time. The diminisher. Yes. Derek, you have no idea how much you made it. You have no idea, Derek. Ah, yes.

Fun stuff back in the old day. Rich Eisen Show Radio Network's back on the air. I'm sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.

Call clickgranger.com or just stop by. Jimmy in San Antonio. Jimmy. Jimmy, what's up? What's up, Hermanos? How are you?

I'm doing well. Colonel Eisen, is it true that there may be a flight plan that shows you landing in Houston, Texas on Monday? Oh, no. Yeah, I don't know.

You know, Susie's already working on a nice B&B somewhere in the Rice University area. OK, yourself, my friend. OK. All right, Jimmy.

Sounds good. I don't know about any of that, but, you know, I mean, I got to be here. You know what I mean? I got to work on this program. You know, I'm off a lot, so I don't, you know. Yeah, you know, I know the drill and I know the biz, but come on, dude, you got to go. Everyone's rooting for you.

And then when you get there and you see Schefter, you can ask him, have you ever seen a coach accept suspensions that was innocent and then see what he said? OK, Jimmy. OK. All right. Well, that's the back door, either. What else you got in your mind?

Oh, that was it. Good to chat with you, brother. Good to chat. Happy New Year. Happy New Year to Jimmy in San Antonio. By the way, according to the LD, today's the last day you can wish somebody. Is that right? Today's the last day. I think it's the whole week. It's all week, right? Got to get at least to the well, I mean, Saturday will be the first time I'm on a Zoom with the NFL Network guys.

I mean, Sunday. I haven't seen someone a good maybe two weeks into the year. Two weeks is a long time.

What if you haven't seen them? I think two weeks is proper. Happy New Year. Let's go the whole month for myself. Really? Like if you haven't seen somebody, it's January 14th. The year is three hundred and sixty six days this year because of the leap year. But you don't tell somebody Merry Christmas now, right?

If you haven't seen them. I sent a Merry Christmas text last night. Did you really? Well, because I forgot to respond earlier this summer.

Oh, because you're just too big. There's another holiday after Christmas. You have a distinct window for Christmas. It's up until the 31st.

After this, the new year is January is only eight percent. But it's not new. It's not new anymore. What do you mean?

It's new. I say I say next Monday. That's it. A week. Yeah. Seven days. I said I'd give it four weeks, man. Four weeks. A whole month.

Yeah. It's like a leap year. Well, a week is less than two percent of a year.

No, one week. Well, as of next Monday, if somebody says to me next Monday, Happy New Year. I'm like, who are you? I don't know if you haven't seen them. Even if I haven't seen haven't talked to them. You haven't run into Roger Goodell on January 14th.

Happy New Year. No. What if he says it to you?

It's the playoffs. Are you not going to respond to you? What if he says Happy New Year? You know what I'll say? Thanks, boss. Yeah, right. Don't you look good.

You know, and he's going to be like, you're not going to say something. There's something glowing about you. Maybe it's a great regular season.

No, it's a great. Maybe it's a super wildcard weekend. You look super like the wildcard weekend. You don't want me to have a Happy New Year, Rich.

Yeah, that's messed up. I already said that to you. Happy New Year. I'm talking as if I'm the Rog. The goods.

Yeah, the goods. OK, I didn't know you were role playing. That's what we do. You should have established it's time. Happy New Year to the latest power rankings here on the Rich Eisen Show.

Hit it, hit it, hit it, hit it, hit it, hit it, hit it, hit it, number 10 on the list. This is as low as they have been all season long. I can't kick them out of my power rankings just yet.

Probably should have. I cannot do it. There's too many good players. There's too many good people in that locker room. There's too many good people on both sides of the line of scrimmage.

And this is a game that's in the trenches. What is their record? The Philadelphia Eagles are down four spots. I can't get them any lower on my power rankings. They're tenth. They are number 10 on my power rankings. They're going to lose to the Saints.

They are not going to lose to the Saints because the Saints aren't even playing in the playoffs. OK, because my son Baker Mayfield is going to be winning this game. You saw the glint in his eye when he said, I'll play in Carolina. OK, he's planting a flag right there and David Tepper's open bar.

All right, here we go. That's number David Tepper's open bar is a great fantasy team name. Number nine here on the list. They might be this this may be a debut in week 18. I felt bad I even left them off last week. I should have put them on new to the list.

Number nine. Who's power rankings? Oh, Rams power rankings. Yeah, yeah. Carson Wentz is starting this. I heard that. That's how powerful they are. Yeah.

They can start Carson Wentz against the 49ers and not bat an eyelash. Let's do it. Yes. Pooka freaking Nakua. That's my guy.

I'm going to set the receiving record. Pooka Donchich. Yes. Yes.

Nakua Matata. I can't turn any more phrases other than to say that they are playing well enough, that they are number nine on this list, man. And they make their power rankings debut in week 18.

I don't think I've had them on all season long. Number nine. Number eight on the list. They're up one spot. Things are looking up for the Kansas City Chiefs.

They're looking up. Hey, by the way, who's starting for the Chiefs this week? Blaine Gabbert.

Blaine Gabbert, baby. Yeah. They can't be better, any better than three. They can't be any worse than three. So they're starting. They're starting them. Rest up, Patrick Mahomes, to take on either the Dolphins or the Bills. It looks like in the wildcard we can find someone to catch the ball in the next.

Dude, dude, dude, dude. They're going to go. We are going to go into the playoff season with the same narratives. It's not being a race this week.

And last week, you know, they didn't look like terrible world beaters against Jake Browning either. By the way, make that face one more time. Will you the face that you just made? That's it right there. That's a good one. Don't screen grab it.

It's not going to be pretty for Chris. All right. Number seven. I mean, I don't have to put him down two spots, but they didn't report his eligible well. Detroit Lions, they're seven on the list. Hey, they're still one of the best teams in the league. They're down two spots. And you know, it was also down two spots. The Miami Dolphins are down two spots. They're out of my top five, but they're still the sixth best team in the NFL. I still think they would beat the the Lions because if C.D. Lamb had 227 yards, what's Tyree Kill going to have against them? You know what I mean?

I'm knocking stuff over behind the desk because I'm just wondering. Tyree Kill needs like 220 for the receiving record. You know what he's going to get against the Bills? 300. 221. 220, 221, whatever it takes.

It's all ball bearings these days. Number five, the Dallas Cowboys are on the list. They're up two spots.

Awful low guy. Up two spots. They're a top five team. You know what? They're a top five team. We found one thing that you cannot do against the Dallas Cowboys. You cannot try to fool the head ref as to who's eligible because the Cowboys will sniff that out. It's really loud.

It's a lot going on. OK. Yeah. They're number five on the list because, again, I wanted to put the Lions above them in the worst way.

But how am I going to do that? And I wanted to put the Dolphins above them in the worst way because they they they just beat the Cowboys. But I am genuinely to be straight up serious. Bradley Chubb not being there now and Jalen Phillips is not going to be there. Not going to be there now.

And and and that is a genuine concern for me. Jalen Waddle may not go Sunday night. You know, it's possible that he may not be back on Sunday night. They're hoping it'll be there. I mean, if they go in as a wild card, that's a totally different ball of wax.

But that would also give us Tyree killing Kansas City, which we didn't see because they put that game in Germany in the regular season. Number four on the list. Up four spots.

Highest I've had them all year. I am putting the Cleveland Browns right here. Flacco sons. I'm putting the Cleveland Browns right here. I'm putting them right here because they are playing complementary football by being so uncomplimentary to you. They are killing it in every phase of the game. Coaching defense, offense, special teams. They are crushing it. They are sitting Joe Flacco in week 18. The rest of them up for a playoff run that he you know, he can do. He's done it before in the way that he's looking right now by play action offense.

Just killing you going vertical. They are killing it right now. Number three on the list are the Buffalo Bills.

And this is how crazy this world is. The third best team on my list may not make the playoffs. I'm telling you. Right. A little problem with this team can either be a two seed, a six seed or a no seed. And it's entirely possible it's more likely there are no seed than the six seed. I'm I'm telling you guys, this is a wild scenario that the third best team on my power rankings, as they have been for the last three weeks and entering the postseason, I believe, are going to be potentially at home. Number two on the list of the forty niners.

No change there. And the number one seed stays like a before. The Baltimore Ravens are your number one team in the National Football League, and that is no joke, and that is not at all out of the realm of possibility that they are the team to beat in the Super Bowl.

And I would love to see another power. They have to be what the unanimous choice above everyone's power rankings list going into week 18. Yeah, I would think the Buccaneers dropped out. I put the Rams in instead of them because I thought I should have done it last week anyway, and I was right.

Proven by the results of week 17. That's my power rankings. What do you think, guys?

What do you think, guys? All right. Yeah, pretty good.

And seen pretty good. OK. Yeah, you don't have to go high range. It was high register five. Trying to think, you know, I mean, what would it be? All right. We we close out this show with a public service announcement that everyone needs to hear.

If you think your team needs a certain player in the draft. Public service announcement coming up next right here on the Rich Isons show. Don't go anywhere. That's how we're rolling out of Wednesday. That they're not going to hurt you.

So I was in good hands with John. Jump in now or catch up on any of the past seasons of Talkville on YouTube or wherever you listen. All right. What's going on? What's happening? Looks like there's a fire at Tyreek Hills house right now. Are you serious? According to Twitter. Yeah.

And unfortunately, I hope that's not the case. What else is going on? Anything on? Hope he's all right. No, everything is OK.

I'm hoping. Yeah. All right. Nothing else. I'm looking at. I'm looking to see if what else is Newsy. Sam Howell starting. Yeah.

Did you see I saw that he's going to be the first wire to wire quarterback starting quarterback in Washington since Kirk Cousins in twenty seventeen. Yep. Wow. All that.

Well, they took their lunch and then the commanders are number two overall. That's a choice. Right there, that is a choice. Do you stick with Sam Howell because you put all that time in there or do you do you go and get a new quarterback there because you're you stick there and whoever pops into the Bears spot. You know, to take to take another quarterback, if the Bears stick with Justin Fields, then you get you get Drake May or Caleb Williams or whatever.

I mean, what a great spot that is. Yeah, there's movement at the top of the draft this year. We're going to see teams straight up. Bears have some interesting decisions. Giants need to move up.

They need to reset. You know. The Giants are not moving up, pal.

I'll still take that action. And so whoever takes the Chargers job gets a sixth overall pick and Justin Herbert and a roster that you have to figure out, make some tough veteran decisions. Yep. They need to get faster.

Their wide receivers are so well, they're big, they're physical and they're always hurt, always physical and always hurt. It's not how you want anything. Well, that's what that's what. Fat and stupid is not a way to go through life.

Not a great way to go through life, son. So I don't know. I saw Mark Traff had them Brock Bowers at six overall. OK, that's interesting. All right. Very good.

Who knows? All right. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show game time tickets. Get it on your phone.

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Thank you. Everybody out there is just assuming the only quarterback conversation top the draft is what are the Bears are going to do? And trust me, we're going to have a ton of time to talk about that. Oh, yeah, because the Bears are number one overall for second straight year. And Justin Fields must be looking around going, really? Again, I got to do this again. Last year made me do it for Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud, who followed me to Ohio State.

Now I got to do it for Drake May and I got to do it for Caleb Williams again. Well, the answer is yes. Answers, yes, certainly when you see what C.J. Stroud has looked like coming out of the box field doesn't look like that in Chicago, and I understand it's who's around you. It's your environment.

It's everything. And then you got the commanders sitting there at second overall. What are they going to do? Sam Howell was just named a starter for week 18, which means he's the first wire to wire, same starting quarterback. The Washington commanders football team has put out there since they were the the old Redskins back in twenty seventeen with Kirk Cousins. Kirk. And then you got the Patriots at three.

Then you got the Cardinals at four. Jonathan Gannon has taken the guesswork out of that. He went on local radio and said this about what they plan to do with Carla Murray. Is there any doubt in your mind who your quarterback is going to be for next season?

No, there's not. He's your guy. I love it.

Why are you laughing? I love this guy. No, there's no doubt. You love which guy? It's number one, our franchise quarterback.

That's who I love. OK, I mean, you should after that performance. I mean, it's not about one guy, though, guys. It's not about one guy.

But yeah, I'm you know, you know, I'm a Kyler guy now. And he is in his press conference today when asked why he was so convicted about Murray moving forward, quote unquote. You guys watch the tape, don't you? Hey, OK. And then is anybody out there with a commander saying, don't beat the Cowboys? Don't. I know you're sitting there saying, don't beat the Jets. I'm saying don't beat the Jets for sure. Guess what?

Yeah. Public service announcement for you. Public service announcement for commanders, fans, cardinals, fans out there saying, what are you doing winning? The public service announcement from the Rich Eisen show to you is your team's not tanking. Tennessee Titans, perfect example.

Don't you think it would be better for them to lose another game? Yeah, except don't tell that to Mike Vrabel. This was an exchange at his press conference yesterday. What's the Gentry Estes? Is that the name of the OK? He's the name of the columnist of the Tennessean. When Vrabel said there was a number of reasons why the team needed to win or wanted to win or was going to win.

This is a follow up question. Mike Sigmund need to win for a lot of reasons, but. Just fan on because it sucks to lose Gentry. Trey, did we need to show you anything?

Did you have another thought or no? I'm just curious why it sucks. Losing. Awful. That's why I want to win.

Because you don't sleep. You want to win for the players that bust their tail. That's it. You know, I mean, it's not about, hey, we'll go into the offseason with a good note. Nobody knows what you did on January 7th or 8th or 6th in April when you come back. But, you know, you want to see. You know, just it all come together and just put four quarters together, you know, win a game like we talked about, you come in here. Well, you close game.

Yeah, we feel the same way. You know, in that game the other day. You know, we got to put ourselves into a competitive game where it's, you know, back and forth, back and forth. And there's some field position and then you score and you take care of the football. And we just hadn't done that in the opportunities that we had that we're like, OK, we fought and we were close. But I think that's why, you know, just put yourself in a competitive situation, you know, come up with a way to, you know, make a play in the second half to win the game. That's what I hope for.

Sorry about my language. Love him, man. That's your 2021 National Football League Coach of the Year. And no one will remember what you do on January 5th, 6th or 7th on draft night. But when you're choosing behind the Giants, the Chargers, and you want a player, then fans might sit there and think about it. But they're not the ones living and dying in this locker room with these men trying to win football games and staring at the ceiling because losing F and sucks.

That's your public service announcement. Care of the 2021 National Football League Coach of the Year. And a guy who let me just finish up as I started the show. Ohio State fans are hoping walks through their door. He's not walking through your door. I want him to walk through my door. Oh, I know you do. But it's more likely that he walks through your door than Columbus's door, because where he currently is right now, there's rules for free agency, not in Columbus.

True. Not in that not not in that form of football in college football. You know what I'm saying?

Oh, I'm loving my life right now. How wrestling really works and how you get the ratings. Eric Bischoff and Conrad Thompson explain on 83 weeks. I mean, I dig Jay Uso because he's born out of great storytelling and he lived up to the opportunity and exceeded it. The LA Knight, he's way up on my list because here's a guy that's been around for almost ever should have probably quit a half a dozen times. And he just forced his way into their life. And now he's making money hand over fist. That is a story I love. Eighty three weeks on YouTube or wherever you listen.