Tom Curran: What will the Patriots do in the NFL Draft?

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Live from The Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. The story of Major League Baseball right now is about the uniforms. Take a look at Otani's pants. Break the veins! Look at Yamamoto, you can see. Break the veins!

Did nobody notice that you could see through? Earlier on the show, NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah. Coming up, NBC Sports busted Patriots insider Tom Curran.

New York Times bestselling author Shea Serrano. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Our number two The Rich Eisen Show is on the air. Tom Curran's going to be joining us from NBC Sports Boston to talk about what the Patriots are going to do in this upcoming draft. And the conversation begins right here and right now with the combine week hitting. The Patriots sitting here third overall. And one of the things that fascinates me is what the Patriots are going to do. Just how differently they're operating with Belichick no longer at the controls. We just talked about the documentary called Dynasty, the New England Patriots documentary that's on Apple TV. The executive producer who is just one of the all-time greats in this town, Brian Grazer, is in studio tomorrow to support and promotion of it. And we may ask him about pretty much everything else he's ever done as well.

We have one of the most epic Hollywood true or false is already in the books at this point tomorrow on Tuesday's show. But the Patriots, first time in 23 seasons doing it differently. It's even just the little things, Rich. I mean, last week one of the coordinators, Alex Van Pelt, talked to the media. And no podium. It was a table. Just even something so small but noticeable that all the writers that I follow were talking about it. Hey, look, the podium's gone.

First time in 20 years. Is that right? Yeah, it's a table that the coaches are meeting the media at. It's just the little things. You know, Trod Mayo talked about wanting to talk to the media more. I mean, Bill talked to the media. A lot, by the way. A lot. They may not have said much.

Had to ask the right questions. Right. But the fact that they're being out there with, we're going to be more media friendly. Okay. We'll see what that means. What does it mean? But it's just like, all right. It's just new. And it's different.

And it's going to take a lot to get used to. Well, in one of his first interviews locally, I saw this back in January. He said that they were going to choose a player at the most important position with the third overall pick. And that usually is a mean wide receiver.

Right. And so what are they going to do third overall? Because if they are not sold on whoever the Bears and commanders leave on the board, if they're not sold on that quarterback and somebody else is, and they can move down a little bit, then maybe they pass on Marvin Harrison Jr. Because they need a ton of players. They are in need of a lot of young talent. Yeah, exactly.

And there's a possibility. We just had Daniel Jeremiah on in hour number one. He has them in their mock, in his second mock draft.

He only does four of them. He has the Patriots taking Marvin Harrison Jr. And the reason why he has them doing that is because he believes they already have taken care of their quarterback spot. As he said in the veteran market, and if Justin Fields shows up there, because that's what he was intimating. I don't think the Patriots are going to decide in this new way of doing things, going ahead and putting 50 million a year in Kirk Cousins pocket to move to Boston. No, Robert Griffin III over the weekend was saying they should sign Russell Wilson. And I know we're going to hear from him later, but that doesn't do it for me. But I understand kind of the thought behind it. How wild would it be, Belichick out, the guy who Belichick Jedi mind tricked on the goal line in the Super Bowl in Arizona all years ago is the first quarterback of the post Belichick era.

I don't know. I don't see it. And that's why I want to have Tom Curran on because, again, this documentary is out on Apple TV and it's just the Patriots are on the brain. And they're also in a crucial spot because I think everyone believes the Bears are just going to choose Caleb Williams. Justin Fields will be gone by this point next month and because the new league year begins on March 13th. And then the commanders will take Drake May or Jayden Daniels leaving a third quarterback for New England. Unless they've already gotten that handled and then they can have Marvin Harrison Jr. there unless they're like, why are we bringing in a wide receiver? I guess they're bringing a wide receiver for the new quarterback. That would be a smart move.

Yeah, playmakers. But if they don't make the move at quarterback there, why would they just bring in somebody of Marvin Harrison Jr.'s talent if they're not going to, I guess, have a quarterback ready for him unless they'll go get one on Friday night? It's just such a wild, wide open array of options for a team that is at a crossroads that I guess we sensed was coming. Well, it was inevitable. But the fact that it hit so fast and so precipitously, Mac Jones still on the roster?

It's only February. Dude. And just one more thing on that. I'm wondering if Mac Jones is totally done there. In the same way, how are things going to be done differently with Jerrod Mayo's staff? I just saw the way Mac Jones looked in his rookie season, right? When he had Josh McDaniels as his OC. In his last two years, he had, in his sophomore season, two guys who had never done it before, who I think everyone believes was in the wrong role on Belichick's staff. And Joe Judge and Matt Patricia. Right? I mean, come on.

And then last year was Bill O'Brien. But the weapons were gone. I mean, gone.

Nothing. Jacoby Myers gone. Juju Smith-Huster on, like, one leg.

Right? The run game was nonexistent. And then... Just injuries everywhere. Injuries everywhere. Yeah, it's just a bad situation.

And I saw this kid in Germany, and I just heard him talk about all the hard asses that he's had in his life. And he at one point said Tua, his old teammate in Alabama, was telling him about how, you know, he said he wishes, part of him, he said wishes he had a coach that would sit next to him, you know, a head coach, and, you know, invite him over to the house and be in the quarterback meeting rooms. And honestly, I said to the group after Mac Jones left, it's like, Mac kind of needs a hug. And I'm wondering, is it possible that they're just going to hug him out and see if they can get him back to where he was two years ago? And I know for the fans, this is kind of like, if you had said to me, you know what? Zach Wilson just needs a hug. I'd be like, get out of here.

Yeah, absolutely. I've had enough. I've seen enough. Like, we've turned the page from Bill.

We've turned it. Because in the documentary, this Apple TV Dynasty documentary that Brian Graves of the all time great executive producers coming in on Tuesday to promote and talk about. Brady says that after they won the Super Bowl in their first year together, I guess they got in a car together the day after the Super Bowl because he said Brady said he went after he won that night. He was wiped out.

He didn't go party. He said that Belichick was still in the bag. He could smell the alcohol on coach when he got in the car.

The next day, I guess, after they had their press conferences that Bill hadn't gone to sleep, but he was wiped out. He said Bill got in the car and said to him, you know, Tom, you got a very good season. Which was his way of complimenting Tom. But Tom laughed it off because Tom didn't need the hug.

Tom was the perfect do your job vessel for Bill. And Mac might just need the hug. I don't know if that's going to be the case. I might be completely barking up the wrong tree. I mean, Mac can find hugs elsewhere.

OK, got it. Ready for overreaction Monday? Mark Carney's about to join us.

Before we do, get some answers. Hit it, Chris. Hit it. That was terrible. That was crap.

That was garbage. This place sucks. Overreaction Mondays. All right, Christopher, how about it? Guys, what's up? Monday? Everybody good? What up? Mike, got a haircut?

You look great, pal. I can't tell. He's got a hat on. You know who else I saw got a haircut in some video over the weekend? Russell Wilson. He's going to be week one starter in the NFL somewhere in twenty twenty four. Well, I mean, the Broncos want him to take a haircut.

And that's the conversation here. I don't I don't I think this is potentially an overreaction right now, Chris. I don't think you can guarantee that he's going to be a week one starter somewhere in twenty twenty four. I don't think you can guarantee that at all right now. Wow.

Can you? I don't think it's going to be in Denver, although everybody he says he wants to stay there. Sean Payton says we've got to have Russ wants to be here.

That means something. We've got to have him as part of our conversation about what to do. But there's a financial aspect of it that Denver wants him to endeavor and one that he is so far not wanted to endeavor. And he might look over the steering wheel and find out Pittsburgh wants to stick with picket or draft again.

Might find out that the. Atlanta Falcons are not interested, might find out the Patriots are not interested, might find out the Raiders. These teams may be uninterested. Uninterested and plus, we've got to find out if the Broncos are going to flat out cut him, is he going to be available?

And I believe the date that that might have to happen is after the new league year begins. So he might need Denver to if you're going to part ways to meet, do it fast because teams are going to fill up these spots. That's why I'm saying like just to say for sure he's a week one starter in twenty twenty four, I think is an overreaction.

Because the reality of this situation is the best part might be for him to stay. If he's in Denver, he's absolutely their week one starter. There's no doubt about that.

I just think there's a lot of doubt if he's back in Denver. This is a fluid situation and the way you phrase it is is absolute. So I'll call that an overreaction. What else, Chris?

This is an absolute segment, Rich. I understand. It's Combine Week breaking news. You ready? Thank you. You're all packed?

No, I'm not. A lot of talk. The talk, the chatter, the workouts.

This guy does something all of a sudden. Draft boards, mock drafts, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Caleb Williams, not a lock to go first over. You're out of your mind.

See you later. Wait till we see Jayden Daniels workout. I got it. Drake May.

Drake May, you see the video? Eighty yards. He hit the crossbar. I love it. Good for him.

I love it. They'll be the red flags that he wants to change the NFL and stay away from him because of this, that, the other thing. OK, gotcha.

If I say if this is a what's more likely segment, what's more likely? What if somebody trades up for Joe Alt? OK, nice one. That's an overreaction. Get out of here.

Let's let's let's just move on. This is a this kid is the number one overall selection in the draft. The only question is who's going to hand the card in with his name on it. I think it'll be the Bears.

What else, Chris? Raiders, Rich. Pick 13th overall. They're going to trade up and take a quarterback. I don't think that's an overreaction.

I mean, I mean, this is more believable than what you just said. They're going to have to move up far. I mean, real far for that. I don't know what they're going to do at the quarterback spot. I honestly do not know.

This is just a wonderful question mark. Because what are they going to do? Is Josh Jacobs sticking around?

Are they going to trade Devante Adams? I doubt that. Why would you? Why would you?

What if you want to play there? Rogers. So what? So what? I don't know what he's going to force his way to New York, baby.

Get out of here. Why would you? Oh, man, it's a wild west. Why would you want to go to the New York Jets after that season? And you're hearing everything what happened in that locker room.

And it sounds like as opposed to staying where you know. No way. That one's even crazier of an overreaction. This is believable.

But I mean, to call it an absolute, I'll say it's an overreaction. But if you move on, it's possible. It's possible. But I have no idea.

This one is a big shrug emoji. I have no idea what they're going to do at quarterback. It's a bunch of Raider fans in my timeline every day, by the way. Talking about AOC. And I thought to myself for a second, I'm like, AOC, like, how is she going to be the quarterback?

No, it's Aiden O'Connell. I got it. What else, Chris? I was looking at some cap numbers, a lot of cap space. New league gear starts.

Good use of your time. Teams are going to be spending cap. You know, the top three teams and available cap are the top three teams at the top of the draft. One of these teams picking in the top three, making the playoffs this year.

I'm talking about the Bears, the commanders, the way the Bears defense played. And if they could pull off Caleb Williams and Roma Dunze with DJ Moore and if Shane Waldron is the real deal, they can absolutely make the playoffs. No doubt about it. No question. And that's who I would choose to make the playoffs.

That's who I'd choose. These teams have a lot of cap space. They're going to get real good, real fast if they spend wisely. I don't know about the Patriots making the playoffs.

Crazy things have happened. If I had to peg it, I'd go in order. In order. Of likelihood to make the playoffs.

Oh, interesting. The Bears defense was one of the best defenses in the last two months of the season, dude. So we're assuming they'll just get better there as well. And then if they can pull off Caleb and Roma Dunze with DJ Moore in the running game, maybe get somebody else in the third, fourth, fifth round, go for it. Or they keep fields, trade down, use the draft capital to get better as well. I don't know why everyone's giving up on fields.

Because Caleb Williams is that good. I'll take fields. Okay. Well, you're in New England.

Yeah. What else? I'll take him to New England.

You got a couple more? Justin Jefferson. We're going to come.

Robert's going to be road here with this dude. I think he should hold out until he gets a record breaking wide receiver contract. Don't hold out. I don't I don't I don't advocate holding out.

It never goes well. For the player who holds out. Really? Really? Tell me.

A young guy like this? When was the last holdout? I mean, Chris Jones, did he get the contract he wanted?

You know what I mean? Honestly, and who has more leverage than the guy that they were totally different. I know it was a long time ago, but Emmett missed a game and then got paid. That was a long time ago. A different, different era.

I wouldn't I don't I just don't advocate holding out. I saw a rumor they might trade this guy. What is it? Well, that's nuts. I saw what to you. Right. To the Patriots for the third overall pick. Done.

Sold. Get out of here. OK, that's Jefferson, TJ's cousin. Come on.

It's my cousin. I just don't advocate ever holding out. I just don't I just don't think it really works out. I can just, you know, just pony up.

Give him the bag. It's coming. Just got to figure out.

Certainly, T. Higgins getting getting franchise tag for like 20 million per. Yeah. If I'm there, that just shows you what the floor is. And you're only going up. You're in the penthouse button there.

Well, it's the Jeffersons, of course. Last one. I saw it happen in Wake over the weekend, guys.

And we've seen it a few times this year. Ban it. Kaitlin Clark. Ban it. Time for the NCAA to ban court and field storming.

See ya. Wouldn't want to be. Get out of here. Because kids are running onto the court. Too crazy. And they're not even seeing what they're going. The the the fan who who smoked Kaitlin Clark was looking at her phone, right?

Because she's too busy. You know, hey, look at me. I'm running. I'm running. I'm running into, you know, the most talented player maybe in the history of this game.

And then it's just a Duke player gets banged up. Same situation to get off. It's insane. It's insane. And it is not safe for anyone. And I understand.

I sound like, you know, some guy holding his daughter kids running on the floor. Crazy. But but how about this?

Can we get the players off? At least they just wait 30 seconds if you're going to because your people are trying to exit. Right. While you're entering, while you're entering, it's like Braveheart meeting at the middle of the field. It's like Wal-Mart on Black Friday. So just hold at the very least. Like if you storm the court and there's still a member of the opposing team on it, then you should be held liable. Yeah.

As an organization is a school. I'm with you, too, man. Enough's enough.

It's crazy. Nothing enough. All right. Let's wrap.

Not an overreaction. Let's take a break. Tommy Curran.

Johnny's. I think he's behind the wheel of his car again. He always is. He is. He's driving and disseminating information.

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That's OReillyAuto.com slash Eisen. On the BiggerPockets real estate podcast, co-host David Green and Rob Abasolo interview real estate investors and entrepreneurs about successes, failures and hard earned lessons. Joined by author Dave Meyer, who wrote a book. I did write a book. It seems like you're coming out with a book every four minutes. You are one to talk. You've released two books this year.

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Yeah. Is he on Storrow Drive? Where is he? Is he on Storrow Drive? Man, the thing about Storrow Drive, these trucks, they don't know how tall their trucks are. Well, you better. You better.

You better know. I know, and the number of times they get stuck. Jackknife tractor trailers. Hilarious. Remember those, Mikey?

They just get stuck underneath. Oh yeah. Talk about jackknife tractor trailers. I didn't mean to interrupt you with whatever you were doing. No, I'm on. You're on what?

I'm with you. You're not talking much today. What's going on? What happened? He was sleepy. He was tired. Are you hungover? No. No? What happened? You're not feeling well? No, I had a long weekend. What was so long about? I had crazy hours for basketball. Doing games.

It's 48 hours. Like different hours. It was nuts. I had two games. A lot of round ball rock for you to press play on? Yeah, I love my round ball rock. Do you have any Gus games? No, actually I think I might have one next Saturday night. Nice.

By the way, again, this documentary on Apple TV. Young Gus doing games. Gus Johnson called. He called Brady's first career start. Or was that Iron Eagle?

I think Iron Eagle called it. Gus was in the booth. Gus was doing those early 2001 games. And it was Enberg on the call of. Probably the AFC Championship game.

No, no. I think it was Enberg on the call of Mo Lewis blowing up Bledsoe. By the way, that hit happens now. Mo Lewis is fined, suspended, all of the above for that hit. But why? What do you mean why? He never left his feet.

It's just one of those weird things. I think he almost killed Drew Bledsoe. Yeah, but it was a perfectly legal hit. He almost killed him. But I don't think he launched. He didn't. He was just a grown ass man. I don't know.

Seeing some of the hits that Tom was taking early in those days. I know that. No wonder the rules changed. Or they protected him. Get out of here.

Get his helmet knocked off. Back on the Rich Eisen Show radio network. I'm sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.

Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by. Our friend from NBC Sports Boston, Tom Caron, back here on the Rich Eisen Show. How are you doing, Tom?

Top of the world. How are you, my friend? I'm doing great. I appreciate you pulling over to the side of the road to have another chat with us. Good to see you.

Love it. I'm always happy to come on. All right. So let's just jump right into it. How have things already felt different with Gerard Mayo at the helm for about a month, Tom? Well, it is definitely a lot different. And I think that the main way that we're seeing in a tangible fashion is the coaching staff being filled out with such a huge number of coaches. Patriots always had traditionally one of the smallest coaching staffs in the league under Bill. He liked to have guys who came up under him who understood his way of doing things and would do things as Bill kind of instilled in them the values and, you know, different categories of importance.

And I think with Gerard, you know, he is flying quite a bit. And I think the franchise is, as a whole, flying by the seat of its pants to a degree, because with Bill and Gerard, I think that the plan was success. They wanted and expected to succeed in 2023, and they expected Bill to see the end of the two-year contract in 2024. And then perhaps to have a succession plan, if Bill decided at that point he wanted to step away, the fact that they failed to do that in 2023 accelerated the entire process. So I don't think that anybody would look at this, Rich, and say, yeah, this is exactly what we had planned. So first off, the coaching staff is different. I think that there's a greater openness on Gerard's part to being accessible. He's stated that. But really I think we're going to see the concrete nature of it as we go through this offseason and have opportunities.

But there is definitely a learning on the job component to this that I think really should impact some of their draft decisions, which is probably a conversation for another day. Well, actually, I plan on having it on this day. But before we get to that, they're still serving Duncan, though, right? I mean, things haven't gone completely off the rails, right? There it is, ladies and gentlemen. All right. Just want to make sure.

OK, they're still taking care of you that way. So let's talk about the third overall pick and openness. I think I know I saw I just don't know who was interviewing Gerard Mayo after he took the job. When asked about the third overall selection, he says, we're going to take the best player at the most important position and kind of laughed and smiled. Now, that's quarterback, clearly. What do you think?

What are you hearing about the third overall conversation? I think put it this way. I think that the quarterbacks would have to eliminate themselves from consideration in order for the Patriots to not take a quarterback. By that, I mean that their meaning seems to be significantly in the direction of a quarterback. To me, I think the team is in such poor straits.

Offensively, and they are trying to implement a program. I wonder if the Patriots even deserve to take a quarterback at this juncture. I mean, they're in disarray on the offensive line. They don't have a top end receiver. They don't have a tight end under contract. They have one running back from Andre Stevenson under contract.

So there are so many different places. Now you can say, well, you don't get a chance to pick in the top three all the time. You don't have your chance to pick in the litter quarterback. And I totally understand that. So if the Patriots are convinced that they see the quarterback, whether it be Jayden Daniels or Drake May. And they say that's a guy who can absolutely propel us. And we see him living through and getting to a second contract with us and being a playoff caliber quarterback.

Then go ahead. But if you have any reservations at all, and the most important reservation in my mind is what's the resiliency level of a player? Because the team is going to not be good. They're going to have a coaching staff that is sorting itself out and finding out what its own identity is. So how will that player do when he's blamed for not being a good player right away? Will his family say, Hey, they're hosing you here. This is a bad situation.

Or do they find the most resilient kid possible? Like what's the difference between Mack Jones and Joe burrow? Joe burrow is a better player, but why was Joe burrow able to go for nine and one, get injured, take all the sacks he did and still come through the way he did. You can say, well, Cincinnati did a great job surrounding him with talent, but why did Mac Jones not?

Mac Jones had a better rookie year. Again, he's not as strong armed as Joe burrow, but the development around him suffered and now he's virtually unusable. So I think that the resiliency and the mental makeup of that player has to be so far above.

What normal expectations for any other player is that that has to be a major consideration. And if he's not there, don't take him. Well, what about maybe handling that business in free agency or using any of their draft capital?

And I know, as you just mentioned, you need a ton of help. You need a lot of coal for this engine, new coal for this engine. What about Justin Fields, if he's available? What are you hearing about the Patriots maybe making a move for a veteran before the draft and using the third overall pick on Marvin Harrison Jr. instead?

What about that? To me, yeah, to me, it's just this conversation as to, you know, what do you want to do at that position? Say Justin Fields grips it up. And then you're in a position now where, okay, we just spent a year with Justin Fields. We really like him. We really like the way he played.

Now we have to pay him $30 million. I think you like the controlled nature of the rookie contract with a quarterback. You have a pool of stand ins, bridge quarterbacks, whether it be Scobie Brissett, Gardner Minshew, even Jimmy Garoppolo, despite the two game suspension. Go ahead and do that and then maybe take a quarterback later or do that and say, okay, we're going to sort it out. Can Bailey's happy be our backup? I wouldn't move on from Mac Jones until you absolutely know that's an asset that you cannot use.

You don't need them anymore. Excuse me. But to me, I wouldn't make any decisions until you have to make the decisions. The first decision has to be made, though, Rich, in a couple of weeks at the beginning of free agents. Yeah.

And that was going to be my follow up question is what about Mac Jones as a bridge quarterback? Because, again, I know you use the words virtually unusable with him. Yeah. And I know the fan base is really down. That's an understatement. You know, Brockman over there is already blanched at the conversation. He's just even being broached.

But but why not? Right. I mean, is he is he totally irredeemable there, Tom? It's not that long ago, Brock, that he actually had a game against the Buffalo Bills that he brought the team back to win twenty nine to twenty five. So there's a quarterback in there.

There's a quarterback in there who can play. But what if things go sideways here or what if even if they're going well, he is so mentally broken in New England that he's double thinking and triple thinking. And the leadership aspect, I think, was difficult for the organization to swallow, despite the bad situation that most people agree he was put in coachwise. I think his acting out really soured not completely, but certainly soured the organization on whether or not they can see him as a leader all the time. And I think it might be best for both sides if they move on from each other. But in a vacuum, when you look at you say, well, kid on his fourth year of his rookie contract, it's manageable. We've seen him win games in the NFL. Why would we move on from him? And it's the extraneous things that make that decision.

I mean, the blanching, it's it's it's an epidemic of blanching every time you mention Mac Jones up here. But it makes sense to play it out until you look at the. But really, what's it going to be like if he throws a pick?

People are going to lose their minds like the Colts game in Germany. Well, yeah, but like I said, when I saw him prior to that game, he he was he was trying to be positive and he was very positive. And I loved talking to him. But as I said before, he needed a hug. You know, I mean, like he just needed a hug. He just need and that wasn't coming.

It was coming, you know, honestly, man. And and so he bought those picks were terrible. I mean, Belichick had no choice but to hand Bailey Zappi a mop and say, you try and clean up this mess at the end of the game.

I don't know where the fake spike came in. Well, you know, what's interesting, too, is don't forget, he got the start the next game after the bye week, all the time in the world to prepare for Tommy DeVito on the Jets. And he threw two picks in the first half like mind numbing picks.

So that to me is an indication of, OK, he can't he can't think it through. These are mistakes. One was a breakdown between he and the receiver that folks have said was not on him.

The other one was just a bad throw. But, you know, everything he does right now is seen through the prism of Max, a bad leader. Mac doesn't have a strong enough arm. Max soft. And Matt can't play here. And I don't agree with all those things. I think he's going to have success someplace.

But I just don't think that it's here. Tom Carr in NBC Sports, Boston, you're in the Rich Eisen show. What are you hearing that Belichick is going to do in twenty twenty four?

Anything? Well, Steve Belichick was on with Chris Long on the Greenlight podcast last week, and he alluded to television, which is something that I actually mentioned before the end of the season, because I think there's a good opportunity for Bill to do a reset and get the right situation. Now, I think in a lot of ways, Atlanta could have been the right situation, at least roster wise. They have the offensive talent. Bill has not been great with offensive player selection, but they had everybody but the quarterback in that organization.

So it was a good situation, but it didn't pan out. If Bill goes on TV and he acts the way he did with you on the NFL one hundred and he finds the right situation. It was intimated, I think, with Adam Schefter tweeted that Bill would like to find a place that has a smaller media contingent.

So the people are not invading his space with his coaches. I don't know if that's out there. So I would imagine television would probably be the landing spot right now, Rich.

Yeah, I would think so, for sure. But I guess Steve. What are you hearing? Nothing.

Zero. He could plop down right next to you. I would love it. He's welcome here. My guy Del Tufo, give him a slip for his boat. You know what I mean?

I got one right next to me. All he's got to do is just get it through the Panama Canal and he's got a spot here. That's all he's got to do, because, you know, I think he's got he's got the ability to do that.

Honestly, Tom, he would be dynamite. And Steve Belichick said, I guess, that he might show up at the in Seattle University of Washington every now and then just to check things out. Or I guess he was looking at all the players for Steve to go through. He's the greatest coach of all time. Honestly, he's the greatest X's and O's guy and diehard ball guy I've ever come across in my 20 plus years of doing this. The greatest in-game coach in NFL history, bar none. I mean, who else in 2014 is going to sit there and stare at Pete Carroll chewing gum with a time out in his pocket, the team on the two and say, no, not calling time about they look a little disorganized. The in-game coaching of Bill is will never be really parallel because you have to have a level of success to get to that brass balls level of I'm going to do this.

So before I let you go, I'm watching the Dynasty doc, seeing you in the background every now and then on Apple TV. And the conversation that you hear all the time in our business of, well, Belichick's overrated. He's nothing without Brady. Listen, Andy Reid doesn't have this Hall of Fame run that he's going on without his quarterback. And the quarterback needed Andy Reid to become Patrick Mahomes.

And the first couple of episodes of this documentary just crystallizes how tough a decision it was for Belichick to stick with Brady. Not once, but twice. Once after getting smoked by the Rams, after Bledsoe is cleared to return. And then once when Bledsoe gets them to the Super Bowl against the Rams, when Brady gets hurt and Super Bowl week, he sticks with Brady again. What's your recollection of those moments when you see this, Tom?

That was to me my biggest sticking point with the first two episodes. Bledsoe was like 10 for 21 for 73 yards in that AFC Championship game. He hit Joey Porter between the fives. He threw another pass over his head, falling down. He was a problem before.

Somebody did a really interesting thing. They compared Mac Jones' numbers to Drew Bledsoe's numbers in their final 26 starts. Mac Jones actually had better numbers. Drew Bledsoe at that point was not the same quarterback. So the decision Bill made was convincing the fan base and ownership that he doesn't have it anymore. But it was very clear to people covering the team and there was no decision to be made going into the Super Bowl. I mean, Tom was like, I think 12 for 18 for a buck 30 in the first half before he got hurt. So to me that my recollection and even that Saints game, excuse me, the Rams game. If you look at that game, the Patriots came out of that game on top of the world. There was no one looking at Tom Brady and saying, this guy needs to be replaced. He highlighted the two picks, but that was 24 to 17 and the Patriots and the Rams both said, wow, that was a really close game. That was a really tough game. Yeah, he had two picks.

Yes. But overall, and Brady did it the next week against the Saints. They showed that there wasn't a decision to be made. Now Bledsoe felt entitled to his position, which one would understand with a hundred million dollar contract. But the Patriots built a trap door into that contract because of their misgivings. Remember the landscape was the Patriots were building a new stadium. They were the worst team in the NFL by record and by roster in most people's minds.

They needed a hood ornament to build the new stadium. Bledsoe was a hood ornament, but they didn't love the way he played. Bill had undressed him at Cleveland, at New York. And once they had an opportunity to replace him and Brady played at the level that they thought he might, it was curtains. So there wasn't, it wasn't as gutsy a call as it's being portrayed in this documentary? It was, it was gutsy in that Bill was walking the same plank he walked in Cleveland. I thought they did an awesome job of illustrating just how poisonous and toxic the Cleveland situation was for Bill to stick his hand back in that fire. But the fan base and a large contingent of the media was 50, 50 families was probably 60, 40, enough of drew.

And I think the media was closer to 50, 50. I mean, I, I, I remember saying a wrong board, just the night that he got hurt. Don't be too nice to him because he got, and I didn't know how bad it was. I said, just because he got hurt, don't ignore how bad he's been in this game. And then when we found out, I said, he's not going to get his job back, Ron.

I told him the next day and we were argued for an hour. I bet. I bet. So have you learned anything over the first four episodes at all, Tom, of this doc? I just like, I love to hear the words put to it in a way that they haven't been before by people like Scott Pioli. So I learned a lot there. I learned more intimately and granularly the FU nature of the 2007 season.

You know, you could sense it, but just to hear the players articulate how much they wanted to dominate the competition. But I'll tell you, the episodes coming up, I've had the opportunity to watch them because I was asked to contribute. It's really, really good.

They are great. Even this one. Yeah. Yeah.

No, no, I'm sorry. I mean, interrupt. You know, my 13 year old is the diehard Patriot fan of my three kids. It's it's like a learning experience for him. It's like a history lesson for him. It is.

It's amazing. And, you know, the next two, I believe, are Brady's knee injury, which you're like, do I really want to watch that? Yes, you do, because they do a very nice job of showing how well Castle played.

He didn't play as well as kind of as indicated. But how and I love that just got off the phone with them. But they show that Brady watching Castle succeed, put him on pins and needles and reminded him just how replaceable everybody is, which led to the Jimmy drafting, which led to Brady's response to that, which led to his need for that last contract that didn't come.

So Brady was always mindful. And you're going to see this as we go through these few episodes of I know how I got this job. It was because of a door that was cracked open and I split through it. Somebody else can do that to me. How about that?

All right. Before I let you go, what do you think the Patriots are going to do? I know it's a big question. Seven weeks out. I think they're going to take the quarterback, but I will continue to say every chance I get is a paid mouthpiece slash hot take artist that they should trade down unless they know that they have the quarterback and there are no reservations at all. And that they're not going to have Sam Darnold or Trey Lantz or Zach Wilson or you name the quarterback that ended up on the scrap heap.

Unless you know that. Don't take them because they covered that bear, essentially what you're saying. They have three players, Rich, who I think would be looked at as possible starters on other teams on offense from Andre Stevenson, maybe DeMario Douglas as a slot and David Andrews.

Otherwise, nobody's under contract and when he was up, Hunter Henry's up, they have to resign all those guys, too. Tom, appreciate the time, man. Look for more of my texts and calls. You're the best. Thanks, pal.

Drive safe. You're the best. Thank you. See you guys.

Right back at you. Tom Carn. I love it. Every time we chat.

Love every time. He's the best. Tom E. Carn on Twitter. Back on the Rich Eisen Show in a moment. There's some competition committee movement, everybody.

Rules changes in the mix. Not the one I want because I'm not on the committee yet. Yet. Yet.

Hi there. Sorry for the interruption, but are you enjoying the show on Google podcasts? You should know that the Google podcast app is going away this spring.

That's right. Going away gone as in no longer available. You can still enjoy the show elsewhere, though. Try out Spotify or Amazon music or maybe tune in is more your style. Whatever app you switch to. Be sure to follow so you never miss the next episode.

And thanks for listening wherever you listen. Put your hands together for the most recent Heisman Trophy winner. Where is that trophy right now? I sleep next to it.

It's on your nightstand. Yeah. See, it's good morning Heisman every day. Yeah. Seriously, it's right there next to it. Like there's a night table next to Kyler Murray's bed and the Heisman Trophy is resting. Yes, sir.

That's amazing. Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night and you've had it in your arms? You've been spooning with it. There's no spooning. There's no there's no Heisman spooning. By the way, I would say if I won the Heisman now taking part in the Rich Eisen Show Throw Challenge. Kyler Murray, is this the first NFL Duke ball that you've thrown?

That's an NFL. Oh, my God. You won't even answer that. Wow. Go for it, Kyler.

Go for it. That's one. Two. Three. By the way, that's four. Those are all Duke NFL footballs. Just wanted everyone to know that. First overall pick.

First overall pick. That's four. That's five.

These are the footballs Kurt Warner complained about. That's six. That's seven. That's.

Oh, my goodness. Let's get some. Here we go. Keep going. I'm off.

You got one more. Hold on. This is getting bad. Here we go. No.

It's getting bad. You got seven for first seven. Good enough.

Seven out of ten. Congratulations. He won the Heisman and it seems the Rich Eisen throwing contest in the same year. That's a first.

No one could ever take that away from you. That's Arizona's franchise quarterback. When he appeared at the Super Bowl prior to his drafting here back on the show right here. And Arizona Cardinals apropos of nothing on this day decided to tweet out that Kyler Murray is our franchise quarterback. Good to know. What's up with that?

OK. I mean, I remember when they did this for Josh Rosen. So does that mean Kyler is going to get traded? I don't get what that. Is about. It's not his birthday, right? I don't think so.

Nope. Just let's put together a nice, you know, a nice little. Photo collage. Maybe it's Arizona Cardinals Collage Day. Is today quarterback appreciation day and no one told us. Here's what I'd like. I don't usually want to task our guys at home with anything.

They work very hard. I'd like a Mike Del Tufo collage and we'll just like our our our audio, our franchise audio executive. And I just want a montage of Del Tufo and see if we've been inspiring me. Is it National Collage Day? That's the second Saturday in May from what I think. World Collage Day.

It's International Collage Day. Here's what else I need. OK, I need the thirty one other teams or if they you know, maybe not all of them have franchise quarterbacks, but by the way, say twenty five. Correct. Hold on a second. You think twenty five teams have franchise quarterbacks?

No, they do not. Twenty? How many teams? Anyway, I need the other teams who regard their quarterback as franchise quarterbacks. How about this? To troll the Cardinals and post a collage with their quarterbacks. Let's do this. Which quarterbacks in the NFL are collage worthy?

Let's do it. I mean, not to go not to go all Elaine on you, but who is collage worthy? Josh Allen's collage worthy.

Let me just pull up. Josh Allen's collage worthy. Two is collage worthy.

The Jetson Giants. Aaron Rodgers collage worthy. He's gotten five snaps in it. Patriots have nothing.

You know what? Out of respect for Aaron Rodgers' professional career. Aaron Rodgers is collage worthy. The Jets need the Jets need Lamar. The Jets need a hanger collage banner. Lamar's collage worthy.

That's four. Joe Burrow. Burrow's collage worthy. Deshaun. Easy collage worthy.

They're paying them. Good enough. Nobody on the Steelers.

Yeah, I would agree. AFC Salas. Stroud is collage worthy without a doubt. T-Law. Trevor Lawrence.

Trevor Lawrence is collage worthy. What's the number at right now? So it's three, three and three. Three, four, five, six. Nine. Nine collage worthy. Who's nine? We just went in the AFC South.

The Bills, the Dolphins, the Jets. Is Anthony Richardson collage worthy? He hasn't done anything yet. Okay.

What about Will Levis? No. So then we're at eight. We're eight, yeah. We're at eight. Mr. Mahomes is collage worthy. Herbert. Herbert. Okay, so now we're at ten. There's the West. Dak. NFC East. Dak is collage worthy. Hurts.

Eleven, twelve. Not Daniel Jones. No, he's not collage worthy. Jared Goff. He's collage worthy.

Absolutely thirteen. Is Justin Fields collage worthy? For the moment, he is.

He is. Jordan Love. Jordan Love.

That's now up to fifteen. Jordan Love. Right? Jordan Love. Kirk Cousins. Baker.

Oh, Kirk. But he's a free agent. He's collage worthy. It's collage worthy. For who?

Is he going to have just a no logo? He is correct at this point in time. Football quarterback. Fifteen. Baker? No, we're up to sixteen. Baker's seventeen. Derek Carr?

Eighteen. He just redid his contract. You deserve a collage. Bryce Young? Bryce Young. He needs the collage help. Yes.

He needs the collage help. Brock Purdy? Purdy is absolutely... Look, how dare you? What's the matter with you?

Well, he's kind of mentioned him. Absolutely. Going up to twenty-one. Stafford? Twenty-two. Gino? Alright, so twenty-four. You're right.

Twenty-four, twenty-five collage worthy quarterbacks in the NFL. Boom! So I need all these teams, they're social teams, get on it. You got the rest of the day to troll the Cardinals. What are you trolling? Just come out and... How absurd of a post that is.

What? You just collage it out and say, our franchise quarterback. Go. You got the rest of the day, social teams, do it. And replying to that tweet. Reply to it.

So it's a massive thread underneath the Cardinals. What I'd like to do is to get a collage of Del Tufo. And the collage is just you in action. Smiling like that. Right?

Right? Now, can you give us a serious fader look? Give us a serious, like you're... Alright, now you're not paying attention, you're on your phone. Careful. I know, I got it. Okay, there you go. Alright, looking down. Hold the phone up, Mike.

That was very, very lifelike of you. No, no, no. There you go. We need to see the phone. Not paying attention. Seriously fading.

And then just smiling. That's our collage of Del Tufo. Our franchise audio executive. You want me to, like if someone mentions a name about another mixer?

Like that look? Cause his name got mentioned the other day. Jeff Walker's getting so many shout outs on the Turner broadcast.

I'm just saying. He's a great mixer. He's my friend.

Now he's your friend. Let's not go down that. We will never agree on that, Mike. Nah, you know what? I know the truth, I'm good.

Cause there's something called tape, Mike. Now we know the truth. We thought we already knew it, but now we know the truth.

Kyla Murray is the Arizona Cardinals franchise quarterback. I'm glad they collaged it out today to confirm. I'm glad they did it. Cause I was wondering. Why was that necessary? I don't know where that came from.

It's not even international collage day. There it is. There he is on the run. There he is throwing. There he is throwing.

He's throwing and he's running. Was that like a scheduled date? I don't know. Good to know.

Good to know. You know who has nothing to do with that tweet whatsoever? Gannon?

The general manager? How do you know Michael Bidwell didn't say I need to see a collage of my quarterback and I need to see it first thing Monday morning. Because you know that didn't happen.

Come on, Mick. We need it. I need a collage on my desk first thing Monday morning.

We all know that didn't happen. It's like the human fund. It's like the human, it's in collage form. Helping people. People helping people. Best thing about us is it's about us. Wedding Crashers Vince Vaughn. People helping people. That's one of the funniest scenes of all time. Thank you to the Arizona Cardinals social media team for giving us some content today.

Because we need it. I read that on social media recently. Well, congratulations. That's right. Thank you. Commissioner Silver just chimed in on Kyler Murray's confirmation as the franchise quarterback of the Cardinals. This is shame. This is so funny. This is complete BS. And our apologies to the seven quarterbacks in the NFL we just deemed not collage worthy. Our bad. I feel like I'm in a room with all these artists and they all respect each other. Rolling Stone music now wherever you listen.