Ian Rapoport: A Franchise QB Is Very Hard To Find

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Again, that's dell.com slash deals. Coming up, NFL Network insider Ian Rappaport. Plus, your phone calls, latest news, and more. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Our number three of the Rich Eisen show is on the air. We're live here in Los Angeles, California after a wild weekend for yours truly in Indianapolis, Indiana. First couple of hours just unpacking everything that I saw in person in the home of the Colts and the home of the scouting combine, including my top five rumors that I heard all week long. Dan Orlovsky chimed in.

We chopped it up on the quarterback market. If you missed any of the first two hours, don't worry. There's so many different ways for you to be covered. One, stick and stay right here on the Roku channel. The Roku channel is free on every Roku device known to man, Sirius XM, pardon me, the Amazon Fire TV.

Boy, there's just so many different ways for me to keep on saying this sort of thing. It's also free on the Roku app and the rokuchannel.com. Also, you can check us out on our podcast. There's our YouTube page. But stick and stay on channel 210 would be a great way to do all that.

Jason Kelce has officially retired after 13 seasons in the National Football League. He spoke for about 50 minutes. I am told we've got a nice chunk of that press conference that we will play for you coming up here shortly.

844-204rich is the number to dial. Chris Brockman and Mike Del Tufo in their spots. TJ Jefferson, the candle is lit. I'm about to ask Ian Rapoport about the rumor that I was hearing going around the combine. He doesn't deal in rumors.

He deals in hashtag facts. A friend of mine thrilled to have here after a fun week in Indianapolis with him, Ian Rapoport, my colleague from the NFL Meter Group. How you doing, Ian?

Good to see you. What's going on? I'm just taking in everything that we saw. So whose stock, if you will, rose? Did any of the guys who spun it have their stock rise a little bit in your estimation, the quarterbacks or not really? You know, I think Pennock's throwing as well as he did.

You know, you watch the tape, you watch the games, you know how good these guys are. Right. Seeing Pennock's in person, like, I like Daniel Jeremiah examining his sort of like rotations per throw or whatever. Mm hmm. Right?

Like, these are the kinds of things in person that you can see. And I think, you know, there will, by the time the quarterbacks threw, there are a lot of GMs there, there are a lot of head coaches there, a lot of eyeballs watching. You know, seeing Pennock's throw, I think probably helped. You know, I think J.J. McCarthy's stock is probably fine where it was.

I still see him as the fourth quarterback taken. I don't get the sense. You know, anything, anything really changed there. And, you know, as far as the guys who didn't throw, didn't do anything, I'm never quite sure if that actually matters. I feel like it's a good opportunity to show what you got.

But if you don't want to, it's sort of OK. You know what I mean? So then let's jump into the timing of what's going on between the Bears and Caleb Williams. Best you can tell.

OK. Ian, what do you have for me there? So, you know, my indications are that where the Bears are moving, and I don't want to say there's a decision because this is a process and I do want to respect that. But where they're moving is toward staying at one and taking Caleb Williams. They are going to go to his pro day on March 20th and they're going to visit with him around there.

I'm not sure if it's before or after, but it's maybe a day after. And I think that will probably round out their process. If they draft Caleb Williams at one, which, again, I would expect, but they're not done yet, then they would move to trade Justin Fields. But I do feel like they want to get a full and complete evaluation of exactly where they are in Caleb Williams before they do anything with Justin Fields. So while some of us, let's just say for the sake of argument me, would like all of these deals done as soon as possible, I'm not sure it's going to be as soon as possible. But the whole problem for the Bears would be any market for Justin Fields could include Atlanta, Denver, the Raiders, obviously New England. What if any of those teams next week, when the new league year opens, goes and fills those vacancies to the point where they're not going to flip draft capital for Justin Fields and have to make a fifth year option decision on him?

They're just going to go ahead and get somebody in the free agent market. I understand what you mean. And I would agree with that, that certainly someone could move on.

But the thing that would work in Fields favor is where do you go? Right. So if you're a team, like let's say like where Kirk Cousins goes, I think in a long way determines where Justin Fields is going to go.

He seems to be to me like the first domino. Right. Like if Cousins goes back to Minnesota, then perhaps a team like, let's just say the Falcons would be interested in Justin Fields. If the Falcons get Kirk Cousins, then I think there's a couple other teams. Maybe it is the Vikings if they don't take a quarter, if they don't feel like they can get a quarterback in the draft. Maybe it's Steelers. Maybe the Raiders would just be a little more of a remote possibility. Those teams would then be interested. But but I don't think someone's going to say, you know what, I can't get Fields.

I'm just going to move. I think almost the other way is that if the Bears aren't trading Fields yet, then I think that would hold up the quarterback market because it does seem like it goes. You know, if we assume Baker signs with Tampa, which, you know, there's mutual interest, there's no deal, but there is mutual interest. If we assume that happens, then I feel like it goes Cousins, then Fields.

I think everybody would wait. And what's the scoop with the medical here? Because that is a crucial aspect of this is we know what we found out Kool-Aid. McKinstry had had a fracture like some of these happened all the time where somebody goes and takes a physical like, hey, you know, you had a broken bone.

And so not saying that that would happen for Caleb. But how do you have any any thoughts on on on on or knowledge about has he taken a physical? Has he handed out a a physical from his own physician to teams that are interested now?

What do you have on that? So I you know, I want everyone to throw at the combine, right? I am a not just that I'm an NFL Network employee, but I love the combine.

And I want guys to go there and throw it. I don't think I don't think it hurts you at all. I think at the very least, it's a great PR opportunity.

Also, it's fun and I like fun things. The medical thing to me is a little different because what can happen, Rich, is like, let's say Caleb does the medical. And first of all, you can only do this if you're the top one percent. Right.

Right. So we're not talking about like, you know, guy who's getting drafted the second round or the sixth round, we're talking about the number one quarterback. If he does his physical, then anyone who wants can poke and prod him.

Anyone who wants can order an MRI. I wouldn't I would never say a team would do this. But let's just say a team in the division is like, you know what, I'm going to create some doubt. I'm going to ask for an MRI in his right shoulder because I'm just curious like that could happen and actually does happen. And I think if I remember correctly, I think with Jamis Williams, who's had no arm issues or anything, I think someone asked for an extra MRI, even though we all knew at that point he was going one.

I could be wrong, but I'm almost positive that happened. So I think what he does now, he's going to go visit the Bears and maybe some other teams do a physical there. They can get whatever they want, but he's not going to let like any other team that has a quarterback get a look at him just because you never know what could happen. And I think there is a thought of like, it's definitely the Bears business. If the Bears trade, it might be that other team's business.

But absent that, I don't know. Ian Rappaport here on the Rich Eisen Show. OK, let's turn to the Dallas Cowboys, because you made some news or they made some news, I guess, where you had Tyron Smith now parting ways with the team and vice versa. And that doesn't strike me as all in. You're not going to go all in with your quarterback by sending off his main protector and a potential Ring of Honor type guy. What are the Cowboys up to right now, Ian? I do think he's a Ring of Honor type guy. Tyron Smith is awesome and played really well this year.

Came back, you know, has had a couple injury plague seasons, but came back, played really well. I think he's going to get paid at a at a market where nobody has those guys. Like, it's hard to find a really good offensive lineman. The Cowboys did draft to that position. They do have Tyler Smith.

And I would be I don't know what for sure they're going to do, but I would be surprised if they don't play him at left tackle. Right. So if you're the Cowboys, you want to go a little bit cheaper.

You want to get with a little bit of a youth movement. There's nothing wrong with saying, you know, you know what, we're just going to move on to the younger guy we drafted. I think Tyler Smith is a really good player. It's just, you know, these are the hard decisions that if you want to continue this and teams like for years, the Patriots did it. The Ravens are great at it. Chiefs sort of did it with Tyree kill. If you have confidence in your draft, then you can say, you know what, we're going to avoid paying this very good, but very expensive older veteran.

And we're going to go youth because we trust ourselves and our coaching. And I think that's where the Cowboys are. There's a lot of other questions with the Cowboys, I think. But to me, the Tyron Smith decision felt like it was mutually beneficial. OK, so the old Belichick, you know, send a player off that you adore earlier rather than too late.

I get it. What are you hearing about Dak? Is it really possible that the Cowboys are not going to extend him and let him play for damn near 60 million bucks this year?

Because they want to they want him to basically prove it after all the years of of coming up short of the championship game. You know, Jerry Jones kind of opened the door and I would never want to put words in his mouth, but his own words were basically like, we'll see what we do. And if you look across the landscape of the league, no other team that has a quarterback deal. You know, it's up for a quarterback deal, has said that the ovens haven't said it. Jaguars haven't said it. You know, last year, Chargers, Bengals didn't say it. Cowboys said, we'll see what we do. And yeah, I mean, I'll see what they do, too, because, you know, the thought of it was that 60 million dollars, that 60 million dollar cap hit is actually worse. But could they not extend them like according to the words of Jerry Jones, it seems possible. But, you know, here's the thing to me is like in the Vikings are sort of in the same place with Kirk Cousins. Could they re-sign Dak next year?

Absolutely. Sure they could. They also could not. And that's a scary thing because, you know, a franchise quarterback is very hard to find. Look around the league and just check out who has been trying to get one for years and years.

There's no guarantee you get one. So it's it's a scary proposition. Not many teams would do it, but that seems to be at least a possibility for the Cowboys. But my point about this, Ian, is, you know, we didn't have time to have this conversation during the combine yesterday. But for, you know, to go all in, I thought that meant extend your quarterback and now you've got the capability to get some serious free agents. Because if you're honestly like how how how can you fill out this roster to win now with more fuel? If you're going to just say, all right, it's more important for me to see Dak do it under pressure and then be free to walk away from him than it is to try and go all in with other people to win this year. Because the cowboy, you know, the Cowboys say words a lot and Jerry Jones says words a lot.

Yes. And it doesn't always match what actually happens. If you watch the Cowboys the last eight years, as far as like economics go, they've been very forward thinking. They have extended their own players. They have drafted extremely well.

And they have always done everything with a long term view in mind. They never locked themselves in right now. Does it hurt them?

Yeah. Sometimes it hurts them. They waited too long in the Dak Prescott contract and they got they got hit pretty hard by his agent Todd France. I mean, they they did like this. They did. And it might happen again.

And, you know, the last time Dak was up for a new deal, it was a great deal for the player, a fantastic deal for the player that could happen again. But them going all into me was never realistic. They don't do that. They are smart. They are savvy. They are long range.

They pick around the edges. They do deals like Stefan Gilmore, which they didn't give up a lot for. And they didn't pay him a lot. And he's a veteran. And he was like, that was that's more what I would expect from them, mostly because because they've drafted so well, they have to pay their own guys rather than other teams, guys.

All right. The few minutes I have left with you, Russell Wilson, what's the latest there and what do you what do you think the Broncos plan is for him and at quarterback? Yeah, I mean, I would say the plan is, you know, everything I've heard has been to move on without him. We'll see when that official decision comes.

But that's the direction it's going. I don't think that would be a surprise. Now, they've kept open the possibility of keeping him.

But everything I've heard has been, you know, probably move on. So if that's the case, they get crushed on the cap. They will probably not be able to spend a lot for a quarterback.

So they've judged him who they like. They also have some other high priced guys. We'll see what they do with them there. But, you know, if you have Stidham and you're looking for some competition, you're probably looking more in the realm of like Jacoby Bressett, Sam Darnold, you know, those kind of guys. So I would say that's probably what they're looking at. And look, if Jared Stidham is good enough to be a starting quarterback, they're going to be fine this year.

That's a great place to be. They just, you know, he just will have to prove it. And then are they in the market for a rookie as well with 12th overall or you're not getting that sense?

Well, I are they in the market for it? Yes. I just don't know where, because let's say quarterbacks go one, two, three. And let's say JJ McCarthy's a top 10 pick, which say what leaving the combine. I think he is like I I didn't think so going in, but leaving the combine, I think he is, which is awesome. And makes it very tough for teams like the Broncos to say, we'll just stick at 12 and pick one because, you know, is it panics?

I don't know. Right now, 12 is higher, not but I don't know who would be if they just stick and take one. Now, the Broncos have showed a willingness to trade up in the past, traded up for Marcus Davenport, for instance, a couple of years ago when Peyton was with the Saints. So he has traded up before. But to get a quarterback, maybe you have to. And your guess, if it quarterbacks go one, two, three, New England takes the third or what? What's the likelihood there? I don't know the answer to that question.

Yes. Elliot Wolf is the new de facto GM there. And obviously he's got a track record. And I think he's extremely good and I think he will be extremely good, but he's always worked for someone.

So it's tough for me to know what was his and what were other people's. So I can't look and say, well, obviously the Patriots will I think they are open. I think teams will try to trade up. But if you're the Patriots, the only question that actually matters, you can forget about the draft.

Who cares? It's going to be a lot. If they trade out from three, it's going to be a lot. The only thing that matters is, do they just trade away the chance to take a franchise quarterback? And if they believe that they are going to get a franchise quarterback at three, I think they don't trade. If they believe that the package is so much that they're willing to give up on the chance of someone being a franchise quarterback.

That's a different story. So that's what the decision is. It's like, where do they stay in their quarterback evaluations? And then the other thing is, are they just a team that, you know what, they just have more needs? Like quarterback is court.

They just have so many needs. They have to get going and figure out the quarterback later. There's a lot going on in New England as far as kind of rebuilding this thing. And I'm not sure which way they're going to go.

Exactly. I mean, the Giants too, right? I mean, that's something I heard at the Combine is that they are 1 million percent in the quarterback drafting market this year. I mean, I would expect them at least to do all the quarterback homework. They met with all the quarterbacks at the Combine.

They did the official meetings. And you know, I'm sure it'll create a thing. It always creates a thing. But this is their job, right? I mean, if you're Joe Shane, the general manager of the Giants, this is your job to evaluate everything, to evaluate the quarterbacks, to see what's behind door number two. No one has ever been hurt by over-evaluating.

Ever. And so if the worst thing that comes out of is a couple of headlines, like, okay. But they have to look into it. They should look into it. And I think that will probably come as well.

All right. So then by the end of April, then what's more likely, Saquon still on the Giants or a rookie quarterback is? Well, we're going to find out on sake. Well, I think, well, first of all, we're going to find out on Saquon soon. Franchise tag window is closing four o'clock tomorrow. They have said they are open to tagging him. You know, if that's the case, then you keep a really good player for a little more than 12 million dollars and hopefully get a long term deal. If that is not the case, he goes to free agency. And, you know, if you if you decide to let your own guy go in free agency, I'm not saying they can't get him back because they could. But it rarely happens. Like rarely does it.

A guy go into free agency and comes back like usually if he goes, he goes. So I think if they want to keep them, tag is is certainly a way to keep them. Is it more than you'd like to pay? Probably.

But sometimes it's not that bad of an option. We'll see what they end up doing, you know, by tomorrow at four. All right. Then in the last minute, how many tags is your prediction or you're hearing?

What do you think? I know you're not really in the prediction business, but what do you got? You're looking at my board. What do you got your board?

Is he got a board to your left? Look at you. OK. I always have the board. OK. That's how I keep track of everything. I'm not going to show you the deal.

And then when a deal gets done, the best thing is you get to erase it. Nice. So who's on your board? Who's on your board? Well, I mean, all the tag, all the tag possibilities on my board, I would say, like, you know, probably six to eight. There'll be a bunch. OK.

I haven't I haven't added up yet being totally honest. OK. Plus, there might be some deals that could happen. OK. So we'll see. Ian, thanks for the time, brother. You'd be well. We'll see you down the road. All right.

Take it hanging right back at you. That's at rap sheet. The one and only in Rapoport. The Rapoport. The Rapoport.

Ian Rapoport. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Hmm.

He didn't want to play. What's more likely? That's a fun one.

What do you think? Uh, rookie quarterback. Yeah, me too. Yeah. Yeah, me too. What if Saquon's here for the Chargers?

I don't know how they work that magic. But boy, would I do that. Everybody involved. Would I do that? Yeah. Right. I think that's a win. Oh, my goodness.

Would I do that for the Chargers? For sure. All right. Let's take a break.

Jason Kelsey has said farewell to his playing days. We'll discuss that still to come on the Rich Eisen Show. Let's talk game time tickets, people. It's the fast and easy way to buy tickets for events near you. Right now, all users get one hundred dollars off when they buy a big game ticket with code Vegas 100. Game time is the ticketing app that gives you complete peace of mind with your purchase. I get to see the view from my seat before I buy with game time tickets. I also have all in prices with game time tickets shows you your total upfront before you buy. Take the guesswork right out of buying tickets with game time. Right now, all game time users get one hundred dollars off a big game ticket with code Vegas 100.

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Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Survivor 46 is here and so is On Fire, the only official Survivor podcast. And we have a twist this season. The winner of Survivor 45, D. Viadaris will be joining us every week. We're going behind the scenes of the biggest moments, the how and the why things happen, and the strategy and analysis you can only get from someone like me, a Survivor winner.

Listen to On Fire, the official Survivor podcast, wherever you get your podcasts. Where did you take in the Super Bowl this year? Were you in were you in Minnesota or you were not? No, I had the opportunity to go to Minnesota, but we were in production on the series and I was still healing from a broken leg last last summer.

So it seemed a little arduous, especially with the cold. And I like watching in the comfort of my home. I feel like you can analyze the game better live.

It seems to go by so quickly. And I like to know the intricacies and nuances of who's hurt, whether they're coming back into the game, all of those things that you kind of miss when you're when you're there watching it live. And so what was what did it mean to you?

I mean, who would you call? What I mean, what did it mean to you? I was sitting with my 14 year old son watching the game throughout with only a couple. I didn't want too many people because I didn't want distractions. I wanted only people, football minded, focused people. Talking Brock Brockman's language.

I'm not going to one of those parties where you're explaining the game to casual fans or like, you know, people don't understand the importance, you know. And so I watched it in my theater. And even with the broken leg at the end of the game, I'm jumping. I have video of that. And I left the ground.

I was like two feet off the ground at the end of that game. And it's unforgettable. And also to have your son right there with you. And then we got on the phone with my dad back east and FaceTiming with him. My dad's got tears and he's not the type of guy to cry, but he's been waiting for this moment for 70 years.

You know, it's really special when when it does happen. And the most emotionally affected I got was watching the parade. And Jason Kelsey's speech was unbelievable.

His mommer's gear. Even before they got to that, seeing the people of Philadelphia, knowing what it meant to the mentality of the city, to the, you know, the future of the city in some ways that the that really struck me. Just knowing how desperately the people wanted it. You look like you're getting a little choked up.

I could if I talked about it. By the way, he's got a little bit of a touch of the Vermeil right here. The touch of the Vermeil. I'll take that.

Oh, yeah. He's got to be choked up about the Kelsey news today. 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 clickgranger.com or just stop by. The great Jason Kelsey. I adore this man. I love his play. I love his personality, his attitude. And I just love how he wears it on his sleeve, man. I love it.

What's not to love? I mean, he retired today, announced his retirement. Everyone's expecting it. Just taking his time. We got clear into March. Obviously needs to make that decision official before a new league year begins.

So we did it today. You ready for this one? Former walk on running back at Cincinnati. OK, turned into one of the best with 38 collegiate starts, 26 at left guard, just 12 at center.

Just 12. And that's how you become a sixth round pick. One hundred and ninety first overall. He had a very nice combine, you know, and that may have what be what put him on the Eagles screen. He had a 20 yard shuttle. Don't ask me what that is.

It's just it's just a test. Four point one four seconds. That's the fastest time in the history of the combine for an offensive lineman. But just took 12 starts at center.

That's it. And a former walk on and the Eagles took a flyer. And you could make the case. That he's just, you know, eight picks removed from the Brady spot. One of the greatest sixth round draft choices ever. And, you know, I didn't win as much as Brady in terms of. You know, Super Bowls, obviously, but he did.

I was on a team to beat Brady in a Super Bowl. But six round picks aren't supposed to have this type of career. Hall of Fame. Thirteen year NFL career. Two hundred and five starts. A buck ninety three in the regular season, 12 in the playoffs. Seven time pro bowler and a six time first team all pro tied with Dermont Dawson for the most among centers in the modern era. And here's the most amazing part about that. The six first team all pros came in the last seven years of his career. So it took a while for him to get so recognized.

And as you could see in the photographs that we just put up there, I'll describe for our radio audience wearing the Mummers parade gear to celebrate the Super Bowl at the Super Bowl parade. And there's a photo that I saw earlier today of him hugging the Philly fanatic and him just representing the Philadelphia sports fan for a kid from Ohio to get it the way that he got it. And then, you know, announcing that he's staying by what, doing keggers, things like that, having a kegger a couple of years ago.

Yeah, he had tweeted that out this morning. He's like, no kegger this time around, but I'll have an announcement later. I just love him. This is how he said farewell. Typical Jason Kelce. Just being a human.

Hit it. So this all brings us here to today. Where I announce that I am retiring. Where I announce I'm retiring from the NFL.

After 13 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles. And today, I must admit, I am officially overrated. Vastly overrated. It took a lot of hard work and determination getting here. I have been the underdog my entire career, and I mean this when I say it.

I wish I still was. Few things gave me more joy than proving someone wrong. My mother used to tell people and still says to this day, if you want Jason to do something, all you have to do is tell him he can't. And that was true in more ways than I care to admit. I relish doubters. They fueled a fire within. I suspect that comes from an upbringing where my parents would tell me, Jason, you can do, you can be anything in this world you want to. As long as you put your mind to it and work hard to achieve it. So whenever I was faced with doubt in my career, be it from fans, from coaches, even from my own teammates, the American dream would burn from deep inside my bones. Which leads to my last. Yes, Scotland quote.

Hungry dogs run fast. Thank you, Philadelphia. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for letting me represent this city and allowing me into your homes every Sunday. Growing up, it has truly been a privilege.

You have all been so good to me and my family. Growing up in Cleveland, I watched all of my favorite athletes leave the city. Hell, a whole team left the city. It has always been a goal of mine to play my whole career in one city.

And I couldn't have dreamt a better one and a better fit if I tried. I don't know what's next, but I look forward to the new challenges and opportunities that await. And I know that I carry with me the lessons from my time here. And that forever.

And that forever we shall all share the bond of being Philadelphians. Beautiful brother, so cool, beautiful brother, beautiful. And speaking of beautiful, that family that's now going to get you full time.

You know. Those three daughters. Wyatt, Elizabeth, Elliot, Ray and Bennett Llewellyn. Obviously, Kylie, Casey, his wife. Just an awesome family that we're getting to learn more about because the Kelseys are the world in which we're paying rent right now with him and Travis. My favorite Kelsey moment of the last who knows how long was watching the Chiefs and the Bills have at it.

And Kelsey's Travis scores and CBS goes to find Taylor Swift. And instead they see one big, huge ass polar bear just growling from the booth, holding the can of beer in his hand. It looks like it's just a little small, like that can of what is that light? Miller light.

It was blue light. Pardon me. I know that's fighting words. What I just did up there. Right. And his hand in his right hand.

Honestly, it looks like just a small. Yeah, it looks like one bun yama holding a baseball. Right. And just him with his shirt off, just growling. And, you know, I guess his wife knowing he's doing this and he's just like, this is him. This is me. And also, by the way, you know, it was him hopping out of that suite to collect a young fan so she could wave at Taylor Swift. That's a girl dad at work, by the way.

Beautiful. He had this to say about his relationship with Travis and the conversation was, you know, you were pointing out maybe he sticks around one more year so that two of them can go into the Hall of Fame together. He played guard in college. No, they don't actually. They need a tackle in the worst way.

At any rate, this is what he had to say about Travis. We have a small family, no cousins, one aunt, one uncle. It was really my brother and I our whole lives. We did almost everything together, competed, fought, laughed, cried, and learned from each other. We invented games, imagined ourselves as star players of that time. We'd envisioned making the winning plays day after day on Coleridge Road. We won countless Super Bowls in our minds before ever leaving the house. And when we weren't playing, we were at the other one's games, but seated in a lawn chair or bench, a Capri Sun in our hand that mom had packed, cheering during the game, and waiting outside afterward to celebrate a victory together or offer encouragement after a defeat. There is no chance I'd be here without the bond Travis and I share.

It made me stronger, tougher, smarter, and taught me the values of cooperation, loyalty, patience, and understanding. Beautiful. Just beautiful. Oh, man, I'm getting all the touch of the Vermeil, too, here.

Yeah, that's pretty cool. The football stuff we can leave aside because that's a big void in the middle of that offensive line. I guess the Eagles are in a center market now.

And by the way, there's a ton of good ones that I just saw at the combine. That's for another day. The new day is Jason Kelce now leaving his playing days behind him, and I can safely say that his broadcasting days are going to be equally as successful. Psych form. Excited form.

Can't wait to see what he wants to do because I'm sure he could write his ticket there. But he's one of our favorites here. One of our favorites. Congratulations, Jason Kelce. It's funny. Remember I said that to Marshall back in the day, and he's like, why do you always say congratulations about a playing crowd? Because I'm like, because you crushed it. Because you crushed it. You had the opportunity, and you made the most of it, and you killed it. And you made something of your dreams. And then you exceeded it.

And his point was, but it's not over. I'm like, okay, I get it. Your playing window is so small. You know, Jason Kelce is 36 years old. He has a whole life. I know.

Exactly. So, congratulations, bud. You deserve it. And all the flowers coming your way.

844-204-RICH numbered adult here on the Rich Eisen Show. We'll wrap up this program. A couple more thoughts from the combine, and then set up the rest of the week right here on the program. Make sure you click on the links that are in there, too. Oh, absolutely. I can't wait.

I'm excited. Find out more by searching the Stacking Benjamins podcast, wherever you listen. Welcome to Talkville, the Ultimate Smallville rewatch podcast. Title Transference aired October 27, 2004.

Director James Marshall, writers Todd Slatkin, Darren Swimmer. I really like this episode, and I'm surprised that you don't like it as much as you thought you did. I actually respect your opinion more than I respect my own in general. When you say things are good and I check them out, they are. Jump in now or catch up on any of the past seasons of Talkville on YouTube or wherever you listen. Oh, God. Mike Evans tweeted out the I'm not leaving scene from Wolf of Wall Street today. I saw that.

So, I don't know if that's put an algorithm. It just has put a ton of Wolf of Wall Street scenes into my phone. Yeah.

And I think we've had this conversation before. Is it a comedy? Now, Scorsese doesn't make too many comedies. The King of Comedy is technically not a comedy, although that was kind of funny at times. I don't think Scorsese has funny moments.

But it's not supposed to be. Is Wolf of Wall Street a comedy? Like a straight up laugh out loud funny. Every Rob Reiner scene is hilarious.

It's not a straight up comedy, but you will definitely laugh 10 times out loud at that movie. I mean, just Jonah Hill's fake teeth. Jonah Hill. Pretty much every scene. Him swallowing the goldfish. Right.

The scene where I guess the ludes kick in on Leo at the golf club and him trying to get to the car to tell Jonah Hill that the phone's being tapped and did not use the phone is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. And that he thinks that he drove it perfectly normal. And he did not.

And he didn't. It's a cautionary tale movie. I understand. But it's all, you know. Unintentionally hilarious, maybe the Kyle Chandler scenes where he is the FBI agent, where obviously it's dead serious, but that's funny by play, too.

And they're on the boat. It's hilarious. I mean, yeah. So thank you, Mike Evans, for putting this in my phone today just by merely not leaving, not choosing the method to describe it with some earmuffs. But thank you. Back on the Rich Eisen show.

My goodness gracious. So much going on here today. Jake in Arizona will take your call. What's up, Jake? Hey, what's up, guys? Hey, how are you?

So I originally called in. First off, I love you guys. Watch your show all the time. Thanks, pal. You guys bring immense joy to us.

Appreciate it. Here every day. I was originally going to call in. What is up with Steelers fans? I am a diehard Steelers fan. And I had to call in because we had that guy that said he would take Kenny Pickett over Dak Prescott. And I just think the last couple of days with all these rumors, I think it's making us go crazy. Steelers fans, we're losing our mind. So, yeah. Well, I mean, I think you better prepare yourself for Kenny Pickett to have a leg up on the starting job and have Mason Rudolph potentially resign and and run it and run that back.

I don't know. Honestly, the other choices would be to, you know, go get Russell Wilson, who would be dirt cheap, dirt cheap. I mean, I think Russ might sign for like the minimum, the veteran minimum just to help his new team because he's making damn near 40 million bucks from his old one. You know, he's still one of the highest paid quarterbacks you could get on a veteran minimum or, you know, who knows? I should negotiate for him. I mean, I've been watching Kenny for two for two, two years now, and I love the guy.

Great guy, but spins out of spins in the pocket out of trouble every single time. I just I think it's time for us to move on, for sure. I don't know, man.

I don't know. Because you saw something in him and we all saw something. What he did to finish two years ago.

And I understand last year it was substandard. But, you know, thanks for the call, Jake. Appreciate it. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's me. That's me. That's me, Mike.

I'll take it. He was just saying thank you. I don't know.

I think you want to continue the conversation. I'm not caping for him. But your options are what are you going to do? So you've got Kenny Pickett in the middle of a hold on a second. You've got Kenny Pickett in the middle of a rookie contract right there in the middle. And if you want to know, hey, do we end up like do we end up needing to pick up that fifth year option? You play him this year.

And see how it goes. And your other options are let's re-sign Mason Rudolph. And if the first month doesn't go well, you put Mason in there and we could see what's going on or Mason beats him out. Because the last month of the Steelers season, the offense looked completely different. And Arthur Smith's coming in.

He's real. I understand he didn't work out in Atlanta, but he is a real deal offensive coordinator. And you could get out.

You don't want to hear it. You can get Tannehill. But I understand in this day and age where you've got to beat Burrow and Lamar. And if Deshaun Watson shows up, like the old school Deshaun Watson, those are the guys you've got to beat in your division.

And is Kenny Pickett the guy that's going to go into battle? I understand. That's why Steeler fans are like, get out of here with that. If we're getting a real offensive coordinator in Arthur Smith, then let's go get a franchise quarterback who's already done it somewhere else.

And that's going to come at the freight of 40 something million bucks a year. Unless? In Kirk, Cousins, unless what? J Russell Wilson. Do you really think Russell's the guy for Pittsburgh? He'll he'll perform better than what we saw over the last couple of years. I think he'll perform better than Kenny Pickett or Mason Rudolph.

Bingo. So with those receivers. We all say Russell Wilson won the best deep balls in football right to this day. So let's go throw in D.J., Deontay Johnson, none of those passes. They're not going to do it, obviously, because it's not the Steeler way.

No, but the Steeler way. But he will be a free agent. He will be a free agent. He will actually be free. Exactly. He could come cheaper. He could come cheaper than Kenny Pickett.

All these things you say are making sense. Because he's he's making the money from Denver. He can give any team that wants him the ultimate new home, new hometown discount. Yes.

Because what does it matter? He's already generationally rich, but he's also one of the highest paid quarterbacks this year. Based on a contract that he appears to. Not be willing to redo in any way, shape or form to stay in Denver. Don't blame him. So maybe that's your option. Steelers fans.

Because I certainly I certainly wasn't hearing, well, they're going to go and. You know, trade for Justin Fields. Would you rather have Justin Fields? Where you've got to pick up a fifth year option on him and give up draft capital or get Russell Wilson, where you probably have to pay him next to nothing and you don't give up anything for him? I would say the latter on that one. Chris, you take Russ over Justin Fields? Oh, if you're just talking in terms of money. I don't know. Justin's young and you want to put some somebody.

I would take Fields, even though it's going to cost you a lot of scratch. Not that much. It could cost you a guaranteed fifth year, right? And then and then you can see, see, and don't you think he would just put a big old jolt into the system that Steeler fans are asking for? And Arthur Smith had, again, look up Tannehill's numbers with him. Tannehill, do you remember the number of times that Tannehill would run it in when they could give it to Derek Henry? Yes, but signing Tannehill does not excite the fan base. No, what I'm saying is the system plug Justin Fields into that role. That's what I'm saying. Real good run game, Jalen Warren, Najee. Oh, I'm not saying to sign Tannehill.

I'm just take a look at what Tannehill was doing in this man's system. Oh, and you're going to have Fields now into that. Yes, sir.

With Najee in the role of Henry. Right. I like that. And Jalen Warren. That's exciting.

And George Pickens. And what I was saying was just based on a salary cap thing when you're talking Russ and Justin. But yeah, you've won fields. But the thing is, they're not going to do either of those things because it's not the stairway. They complain that they are winning games and neither have been losing seasons. But then it doesn't seem like the fan base wants to take any chances that would get them over the hump.

I might be speaking out of turn, but that's what it seems like to me. All right. I don't blame you. Let's finish up the show this way. Chris Mortensen.

What a beautiful soul. I remember I've spoken many, many times into this here microphone about how I was 26 years old when ESPN found me in Redding, California. And all of a sudden, my colleagues were. All the SportsCenter anchors that I was watching in college, all right, suddenly, Keith and Dan and Robin Roberts and Bob Lee and Charlie, so on and so forth, they were all my colleagues, Chris Berman. And I'll throw into that mix. I remember the first time I wrote.

A lead in to inside the huddle. And I was. Chris Mortensen. Reporting. Or had a SportsCenter hit where I was interviewing Mort.

And that was as much a thrill for me. Because Mort's a goat. He's a trailblazer.

For sure. Will McDonough, who you know very well, Chris, right from the days of his time at the Boston Herald, and he turned he was, I guess you would say, the first scribe to turn into an information. Reporter on television, TV inside.

Right. A TV insider. But Mort was the first to do it on a daily basis. McDonough would show it once a week on TV.

Mostly right. Mort was the one to do it every single day. And then he and John Clayton showed you could do it together. And that was huge.

Huge. And I remember who he was before I showed up and Mort was a legend already in the mid 90s. And then you got to know him and meet him and he was always interested in you. Always interested in you.

And he was so kind to me and I was, again, young and trying to find my way and the fact that he helped welcome me in there made me nice and comfortable and loved him for that. But here's the thing about Mort and all the stories that you're seeing about him. Involving my buddy Schefter here.

Okay. When he left NFL Network to go to ESPN, I thought to myself, I just want this guy happy. And for a split second, I thought to myself, is he going to be happy going to a spot where he's, you know, showing up as a young buck? And as a guy like Mort who's so established there, how's he going to be welcomed in?

And I thought to myself for a split second that, and I'm like, well, it's Mort. Mort could have absolutely said, I don't want Schefter here. I don't want a piece of him. I don't want any of this. Because then my clock's ticking on my job. And he never did that.

Never did that. And guess who, oh my God, I can't. Guess who voiced his obituary today that I saw on ESPN? Schefter. Yeah. Adam Schefter voiced it from Mort. Ultimate. Mench, team player, friend, human.

Could have easily, big footage Schefter didn't. The two of them have a bond that is emblematic of everybody. You see everybody's outpouring of love and emotion 100% across the board about how great he was. And stories about he reached out to me when I didn't think expected or anything like that. He always welcomed you in.

And now it's us sending him off. With love and affection and appreciation universally. To the Mortensen family and the ESPN family from all of us here.

Rest in peace, Chris Mortensen. We love movies, TV shows, books, podcasts and more. It's What Women Binge with Melissa Joan Hart and her friend Amanda Lee. We have Lauren Bosworth with us. The Hills. So what is like your number one question from fans? The primary question I still get asked was what is it real? In 2024 to me is a surprising question to get because I feel like everybody has been through the reality TV gauntlet at this point. What women binge wherever you listen.