Chris Long: Huge Fan Of Saquon Barkley

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See terms at discover.com slash credit card. Check this out. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Let me just get this off my chest too.

Check this out. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. What does this mean for Justin Jefferson? Any sense that the bag is coming no matter what? I mean from a PR perspective, they sort of have to. You know what I mean?

Like, I mean if they lose cousins and then Jefferson is able to shoot his way out of town, that's not great for where they are. Earlier on the show, hosted pro football talk, Mike Florio. Coming up, two-time Super Bowl champion and Green Light podcast host Chris Long. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Hour number three of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air and we just had a very funny segment to be straight up with you. In light of Skip Bayless, what I call him, a performance artist, cowboy hating, LeBron hating troll.

Amulet wearing. His tweet with the all-important comma in the middle of it. All in, my ass. We just had that read six different ways in six different voices by Joey Molinaro.

That was a lot of fun. Susie chimed in during the commercial break, thinks we should reach out to Eric Braden right now, our soap opera friend, and have him do it. Maybe we should just have a whole bunch of people just do it on their phones, right?

Send it in and we'll edit it together. Don't you think? I think that's the move, yeah.

Okay. Welcome back to the Rich Eisen Show. I can feel it.

One of our favorites. So we'll reach out to him, see how it goes. 844-204-rich-number-to-don. We'll take your phone calls.

I've given my top 10 with the power ranking style, free agent signings. We have not spoken to this gent since the end of the Super, since right a day after the Super Bowl. So I miss him.

The host of Green Light Podcast, good to see you, Chris Long. How you doing, brother? Hey.

Good to see you. Rich, what's up, man? How's it going? How y'all doing? I'm good, Chris. What's up, brother? We got plenty of football this week, Jesus. Just like the floodgates open. I know, right.

They sure are. Any of this bring back your free agency memories, Chris? At all? Yeah, I had my lead producer approximate what I would have made my contract season, and it's just not cool. It's just not cool. Like, I wouldn't be talking to you, Rich. Like, I would be on a yacht somewhere.

I wouldn't be doing this. Timing's everything in life. So did you meet with Belichick?

Did you call? Like, what was that free agent experience like for you? Okay, so yeah, like late in my career, I was old and, you know, I was coming off some injuries, so, you know, I think there wasn't a big, like, appetite for me. I just had my first son.

I was at the hospital. I had to go to Harris Teeter to pick up some things for my wife and a sixer for dad, and I'm in the back where the service isn't great. My phone starts ringing, and I'm thinking about retiring at this point, and I'm like, all right, well, I better pick up. It is, like, free agency time, I guess. Like, somebody might call me, and I go to the front of the store and pick it up, and the guy's like, hello, Chris, this is Bill Belichick, and I'm like, oh my god, I better get out in the parking lot.

I almost got arrested for shoplifting, trying to push my cart to a place where I could actually talk to Bill, and, you know, that call changed everything for me. You know, it's just such a crazy time of year for guys. Like, a lot of guys are maybe hanging on by a thread. A lot of guys are looking to cash in on a career full of hard work where they might, you know, get that big bag, and there's guys that are putting winning first, and, you know, it's just all types of things going on, and I think for a lot of free agents, too, they aren't getting calls this early in this tampering period. You know, like, patience, right, because you can feel it when you're not one of the tier one free agents. Like, by the time I ever got to free agency, I signed that big deal in St. Louis a year early, so I never got to free agency. By the time I got there, I really didn't know how it went, and it was kind of sobering for me having to wait through, like, different waves of free agents, and just the silence can be deafening, and, you know, there's obviously the draft, too, coming up where if you're a role-playing guy, depending on what juncture you are in your career, like, whatever, you could be told, hey, we're not going to add anybody, and then the draft comes along, and they add somebody. I remember going to Philly, and they didn't say outright that they weren't going to draft anybody, but that was kind of the intimation, and they did. They went and drafted Derek Barnett in the first round, and I was in Germany getting stem cell because I was old, just trying to keep it together, and I wake up in the middle of the night because of the time change with 130 text messages, and they're all, is that bad for you?

And I'm like, yeah, let me go take a leak and turn the TV on and see what you're talking about. It's 3 a.m. in Germany, and I found out that, you know, I got a first rounder I got to compete with, too, so it's just a crazy time for the big money free agents, but also for guys that are signing smaller deals. Chris Long here on the Rich Eisen Show. What is Christian Wilkins going to look like next to Max Crosby?

Chris? I think he's gonna look great. I always say this, like, I think sometimes we overrate the effect that having two dynamic edge rushers can have on one another, like, that stuff's great, but the guy that really helps is the guy right inside. You know, with Fletcher Cox just retiring, you know, I haven't played with him for two years.

My comments when he retired were, you made everybody around you better, and that's the best compliment I can give a guy, and truly playing next to a guy like Fletcher Cox, and I was bummed that I couldn't stick around and stay healthy in L.A., or St. Louis, rather, when Aaron Donnell was young. I barely get to play with him. You know, a guy like Fletcher or a guy like Christian Wilkins, like, it just creates so much freedom for a defensive end, and it keeps tackles and guards on the same side a lot more honest, and, you know, your ability to run games and that sort of thing, and also just the pushing of the pocket for somebody like Max Crosby, where all of a sudden that drop target for a quarterback goes from, like, seven yards to nine. If there's nowhere to climb because you've got a big guy inside, that's gonna help Max, and vice versa, so I'm really excited to see him paired with Wilkins. I know he can play different alignments. He's done some odd front stuff. He can play in a four-down look. Graham is more of a four-down guy, so I'm excited to see that pairing.

Yeah, and you mentioned Philly a couple times, obviously, from your playing days, and I just think, you know, Howie Roseman keeps on kind of figuring out how to put things on the credit card if that's necessary to kick things down the road, or not at all. Honestly, I'm not a capologist, but I just bring it up that Hertz, Brown, Devontae Smith, and Saquon Barkley all together on the cap is 11 million dollars less of a cap hit collectively than Daniel Jones is by himself on the Giants cap, and it's just another head shaker where just like, okay, he keeps doing it, and you take Saquon from the Giants. It's hard to not look at that and think it's the Eagles doing it again. What do you think that means to the locker room, too, right, in Philly, that they bring Saquon in there?

Chris? I think it's great. I've always been a huge fan of Saquon. You know, we played them my rookie year, and I ended up on the wrong end of a screen that went for like 65 yards, and I was chasing behind Saquon, and I felt like I was in an EA Sports video game. Like, I'm watching all my teammates just falling by the wayside. You know, like, I'm watching him just juke everybody out of their shoes, and I can't figure out what angle to run. I just remember thinking, this guy is so special, and when you watched him over the last couple years in New York, you can't help but think, man, like, we waste talent in the NFL all the time. Like, and a lot of times you don't see guys get that second destination or that second opportunity, especially running back in his prime, right, who's had injuries.

Like, it's time to throw him a lifesaver, like right now. Like, you know, and Philly is that lifeboat where he can hop on, and he's going to be playing in front of a line, or behind a line, rather. That's just far and away better than probably what he's used to. There's going to be more space for him to operate. There's going to be more playmakers outside.

The passing game, if they can get it back on track, is going to be better than what he's accustomed to. So the context around players, man, it can be heartbreaking to watch these things play out. I'm really happy that Saquon got an opportunity to not just choose where he wants to go, but to stick it to his team. You know, that's fun, dude. You know, it's like, it's like the Aaron Jones situation. It's a business both ways now. And if these teams don't like it, then pay guys.

And now you're going to have to see this guy with 40-inch quads twice a year. And I cannot wait to see him take it out on the Giants. And for anybody like Tiki, who I like Tiki, Tiki's a Virginia guy, but I disagree with him. I mean, like, well, you know, it's his opinion.

It's not like an argument. But I've always been against that kind of thing because when Jason Peters with the Eagles and they went to play with the Cowboys and you heard Eagles fans say, hey, he's dead to me. I thought that was wrong, you know, and you know, the same people saying that are welcoming Deshaun home when he retires.

And Deshaun Jackson played for the then Redskins, another division rival. So I think that stuff, it stings in the beginning, but eventually I think people appreciate the time that the guy spent in that particular city. And I hope people in New York can appreciate Saquon because he would still be there if y'all didn't mess it up as an organization. I'm with you, Chris.

I'm with you 100%. You know, and it looks like they just decided to reset. They just, that's what you do is you get rid of players who are expensive at what you consider skilled positions that you don't need when you're totally burning it down to the ground and starting up again with a new quarterback.

That's what it looks like for me in New York and you hit the line. You know, they go ahead and they sign two offensive linemen and get Brian Burns, who's, as you know, fantastic. It looks like they're gonna try and win games seven to six right now. Yeah, you know. Well, I don't know, man. I can see them drafting a quarterback.

Yeah, sure. Like, you know, but if they're gonna draft a quarterback, they probably believe that guy's special. Now, I'm not gonna say I know for sure who it's gonna be, but I think if they can hit on a sort of special or, you know, a good solid talent at quarterback, like these things can turn around quicker than you think. You know, obviously I like their edge rushers. I think Kayvon's figuring things out. He had a really good year and people didn't pay a lot of attention to him because he's on a bad team.

And then Burns on the edge and Lawrence. And then I think they added Devin Singletary, who I think is one of the most underrated players in the league. So speaking of Singletary, just to bring this up is kind of a non sector like the Houston Texans, man, are doing work.

And I will say this. It's a little early to be pounding the table for a team in the AFC, but they might be one of the biggest threats, if not the biggest threat outside of your traditional Baltimore on some of the usual cast of characters. I mean, it's not a stretch to say that that they're going to win that division and play some home games. Yeah, Daniel Hunter, who I think is fantastic. Um, some of the other additions they made, I think, have been really shrewd. And, you know, that's a team that's going to have a lot of juice coming off of, you know, they get Joe Mixin who's still pretty young. Um, it sucks to see Singletary go, but they've added pieces and I just they look so damn competent, man.

Yeah, it's crazy. It's insane to me when you look at like Carolina situation juxtaposed like Houston, it's just the range of organizations that haven't figured out in this league. And of course it makes things easier when you have C. J. Stroud, but they're going to be as hot as anybody next year. Like I cannot wait to see Houston World of all out there. Yeah, they re signed Dalton Schultz, Daniko Autry, the defensive line of Autry, bro.

Yeah. And Aziz Al Shahir from Tennessee. That guy's all over the place. I mean, the titan game that I called in London, I called his name multiple times.

He was absolutely everywhere. And, uh, I hear you Texans are doing some work, you know, I'm excited about the Texans, man. So, you know, like, and I don't want overreacting with teams not active this early. I mean, like, you know, fan bases get go kind of crazy when they don't hear their names called day one of the legal tampering period. But, you know, some teams got to build things out a little differently. You look at, like, Dallas or Miami, um, certain organizations, you hear their fans complaining about not making moves, but, um, they're complicated situations. Well, I mean, let's talk Dallas.

I'll give you the floor. Um, what, what, uh, what you think is going on there and because, honestly, um, I don't know if there would be such a hue and cry if Jerry didn't say he was going all in and it looks like he's checking the flop, you know, as opposed to pushing everything to the center of the table. As you and I are talking right now, we're about less than two hours to the new league year beginning in their, their long snappers. The only thing they did. Yes, sir. Breaking news. Breaking news. Yeah. So I'll give you the floor in the Congress. I take that back. They seem to be pretty aggressive right now. No, I mean, everybody knows that situation is just kind of, I mean, you're up, you know what Creek without a paddle financially like there's, there's not a good answer outside of like just paying back and having to, you know, just ride it out and hope for different results.

Like, I don't know, I've gone a bunch of different ways on this stack. Like I have the Dallas Cowboys figured out like, man, um, I've, I've posited that maybe they should, they should turn back into a powerful ball team, um, with some of the bodies they have up front that I like. That's why I'm saying, chris, you know, like if you extend Dak soon enough, right, then you have some cap space. Uh, again, I know this sounds like fantasy football, but Derek Henry was $7 million bucks, you know what I mean?

Up to $10 million, you know, with incentives. What, why not? Right? I mean, like if you want to go all in and you're like, we want to see results in the playoffs, then you put together a team that on any given sunday, saturday or maybe monday when it's winter go home time, see how, see how that guy can be put down on the ground, you know, honestly, like with C. D. Lamb also needing to be accounted for. That's, that's what I'm talking about. Why not? If you want to go power football, I would have looked at that, you know, but I also don't know what's going on inside the building as far as that contract is concerned. Here's an interesting one. I was with somebody yesterday.

This isn't like some taking take to the bank and certainly don't clip this for social, you know, they can't handle socials. Uh, but like, you know, you see how Dak freaked out when they brought in Trey lance, like if you really wanted to get rid of Dak and get him to waive the no trade clause, I would have just signed Russell Wilson for $1 million. He would have waived that no trade class clause so quickly. I mean, it would have been like, okay, if you, if you want him out, if you want back there and you really believe he's still the answer, which listen, like this is a fickle business where the guy was an MVP a couple months ago and then he plays bad for a month and the same thing happens in the playoffs. It's like, how fickle are we?

How, how hot and cold are we? But when you look at the, you know, the body of work, you moved on from Tony Romo, uh, you know, what feels like eons ago. And when you look up over the same tenure, like dax record in the playoffs is about the same, all the stats, where you've been.

And uh, it just feels like the definition of insanity for them. And I think Jerry's one fatal flaw has been loyalty to quarterbacks. I think he just, he really wants when he's in on a quarterback, he's like in and it becomes like a personal connection.

And it's hard to say like, you know, you know, I don't know some cause fallacy, but there's, you know, obviously he's just got, he's just got so much wrapped up in this guy and it's going to be really hard to do anything but extend them. So, um, you're, you're a rust guy. You think Russ is gonna find a, no, okay. Uh, I'm not saying I'm a rust guy. What I am saying is if you wanted dak to wave his no trade clause, I sing by judging by his reaction to Trey lance coming to town, that could have been a little bit of mental warfare that would have would have worked out for you.

But I am a rust guy. Like I like Russ and everything. I think at this juncture in the off season, I said this is Stephen A smith the other day because we got to interview him by the way. That was like awesome. You know, like sitting across from that dude is all energy.

No doubt. I don't know how he does it. It's like I say this like talking to Stephen A smith or watching Stephen A smith do a monologue is like watching like a home rider run, hit or hit the ball 500 yards or feet.

It's just the same. It's like a rare talent. But Stephen A laughed at me when I said that I would take baker Mayfield at this juncture over Russell Wilson and who knows what Russell would have commanded in the open market had there not been this loophole where the broncos are picking up his whole damn contract. But I think as evidenced by, you know, baker's deal like baker is an exciting commodity for for teams coming off that year. I think Russ has got to buy into um you know, it's gonna be a powerful football team. Like I think they need to lean into that. I think some of the quick stuff worries me last year. The ball was out on the perimeter a lot.

He didn't look like he wanted to hit the middle of the field. Like you've got, you've got to work the middle of the field with Arthur. And I think maybe, um, I think maybe with play action, that sort of thing, you can see a little bit of a revival. And I think for Russ, like when you're on a team where they obviously don't don't like you, like obviously Peyton didn't like him, which is not a crime.

Okay, like I'm not freaking out about that whole thing. Um, I think, I think it wears on you and it's really hard to perform when you know you're the people upstairs or your head coach doesn't even want you there. Like, so I think the mental lift of going somewhere where he's wanted on a million dollar deal where you're like, the pressure is not on me, you know, I'm playing with house money a little bit here. So I hope Russ can get some of that weight off his shoulders and, you know, look like he's having a little bit more fun this year. He's got it. He's got to work the middle of the field, dude. You know, like last year when you watch Broncos games, they did not take a lot of chances.

Um, and it was a lot of quick game. But I think with Arthur, they can figure out a cadence that will work for Russ. Um, but I'm not like Russ is going to put them over the top. But if you look at that team last year, they win what?

Nine games with a combination of Kenny Pickett and Mason Rudolph. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Chris is I first thing you say Russ has got to do what you just said. I say the first thing he's got to do is beat out Kenny Pickett. Uh, that that's not a given. And you know, you know, Tom is going to give Pickett every opportunity to win the job and then use his all of his future Hall of Fame. I like to say, uh, coaching skills to tell Russ stand, stand ready. We're gonna need, you know?

Yeah. And that puts real pressure on Kenny, unlike a Mason who, you know, that does put pressure on Kenny. But Kenny got hurt and he really couldn't control that.

I like Kenny better than the guys that Arthur hadn't down in Atlanta. And I know they just traded away Deontay Johnson, right? I mean, I feel like some of these acquisitions and trades feel like dreams.

Like, did I have that dream that happened? Yeah. So it was a Carolina or something.

But I look at it, I look at it like this. Like, I think Pittsburgh's got some weapons up there. Like, they're really close to being a team where you're like, okay, you know, you know, I'm a huge fan of George Pickens and, you know, he's just gotta, he's just gotta continue to grow up a little bit.

And I think also what will help him is like feeling like he has a bonafide offensive coordinator and somebody throwing the ball, whoever that is. So, um, I like Najee. I love the other running back there. I'm only forgetting his name. No, it's, it's Jalen Warren.

He, he, he's a home run hitter. They definitely have the weapons. They add Patrick Queen on defense, which is totally on brand.

It's exactly what they missing right there in the middle of the defense. They're gonna have a lot of, you know, a lot of buzz around them and no doubt about that. And man, I could, I could talk to you forever.

There's just a couple of things to hit on. You, you said, um, you know, Stephen A. Laughed at you. You'd rather have Baker over Russ. You've got two guys who agree with you right here. I mean, 100, 100% I would take Baker Mayfield right now over Stephen A.

Stay off the weeds. We are, we are all in on Baker right now. And as a matter of fact, I mean, it's all kind of playing out perfectly for Tampa because Jason Light resigned.

Everybody kind of, pretty much everybody wanted to resign. And, and, and he's got Tristan Wurfs next on the hit list to give a contract to. Keeps Evans. Keeps Lavonte David. Keeps, you know, he's got Antoine Winfield currently on, on a tag that he's probably gonna try and get off the tag. He's got, you know, he even resigned his kicker and, and Baker that, and it's playing out perfectly with their chip on their shoulder. Cause you know, with Kirk Cousins going to Atlanta, the free football world will think this is Atlanta's division to win and make sure the Bucks don't go back to back. I mean, that's playing out perfectly for them right now. Yeah.

Yeah. It's gonna be one of those interesting divisions where I think on the surface, like, you know, casual fans, like, oh, that division is not going to be very fun. And it's probably one team's division. We didn't know what the heck was going to happen last year. You know, Tampa was an afterthought for a lot of people. I know Tampa fans feel differently about that, but you know, the national media was not all over Tampa to have a really good year and Baker to revive himself. So I think the big question is like, how much of that was Dave Canales? How much of it was Baker? I tend to think like Baker just needed an opportunity. And I, you know, I said this last year when Baker and Trevor were getting ready to play each other, and I think we might have had this conversation, but just the whole idea of, like, who a guy is, right? Like, you think Baker's washed. He hasn't done anything in the league.

He's a bus, whatever you want to call him. But he hadn't done that much more or less than Trevor Lawrence. And, you know, I remember going in that game last year, prepping for that game, and the feeling was, well, Jags have a better quarterback.

Well, how do we know? Like, you know, Baker was hurt at the tail end of his tenure in Cleveland. I know people are real sensitive to people making excuses for high pick quarterbacks. You're a high pick quarterback.

What kind of situation you think you're going into? And so, you know, for Cleveland, you know, he had to deal with Freddie kitchens, some injuries, you're in Carolina, and, you know, and when he got his opportunity, he seized it. And I think somebody who deserves a lot of credit for his career revival is not just Dave Canales. It's also Sean McVay giving him an opportunity at the end of the year before last. And I think there's an interesting parallel here when you look at Sam Darnell, because I am a Sam Darnell fan.

I'm not saying he's a great player or anything, and he's still got to prove it. But I put him in the category of people that I can explain some of the issues he's had based on the context and with in which he entered the league. I mean, who's played well for your Jets? Who's played well for the Panthers? I think Shanahan, a year with him, can do wonders for a guy who absorbs things. And we'll see if Sam's going to absorb that experience and now parlay it into an opportunity in Minnesota.

I know they're not paying him like big time starter money, and maybe there is somebody else that they have in mind through the draft or that sort of thing. But I think when you look at like a Baker and some of this quarterback movement, Sam Darnell is a guy that I'm excited to see play next year, because I'm a big fan of Kevin O'Connell. Me too.

Me too. And then Josh McCamby and the quarterback coach, and they were on the bench together in New York. It's kind of loud how things work out. Chris, man, like I said, I could talk to you forever. We haven't even hit Justin Fields sitting around, like trying to, you know, like... Kyle had a great take.

My brother had a great take. We talked about it in the fall a little bit as like one of the many options they'll have, but like keep them both. You know, like if you're pro Caleb Williams, and this is the point is like, and this is my brother Kyle Long by the way, but like if you wait and you just keep Justin, and right now nobody's sending anything over, and you wait until the middle of the season, somebody's gonna get hurt. And then all of a sudden you got those teams by the you-know-what, right?

You got them by the balls there, Rich. At that point, you could trade Justin, and you could still get the haul you were looking for all along, and you could give Caleb some of the time to develop, because I don't know if anybody's ready, you know, when they come out of college. So anyways, that would be my two cents on Justin. Okay, brother.

I appreciate the time. So you saw Stephen A. and interviewed him at South by Southwest, right? You took Green Light Pod to Austin. Yeah, it was awesome. It was cool.

What other guests you got? Who else? Oh, you know the other one coming up this week, and I just want to warn the listeners of Green Light Pod, some of y'all might not like this guy. His name is Lance Armstrong, but because I was in Austin, we had an opportunity to interview him, and I got to tell you, like, I didn't think I was just gonna be doing softball interviews when I took this job. I mean, there's gonna be some people who are divisive and polarizing, but I enjoyed the opportunity to talk to him. I think no matter what you think of the guy, you know, he does have a willpower that was kind of rare, and so, you know, interesting conversation. I know some people are gonna come out of it and say, I hate that guy.

You shouldn't even interviewed him. But he's been fine to me, and I enjoy talking to him, so check that out on Thursday. Thursday?

Or Friday, that'll be, uh, Friday, that'll be out. Okay. And is this the, is this Stephen A. one posted yet? Has that hit yet? Stephen A. has posted, Stephen A. has posted, and we're really excited about some of the guests we got lined up over the next couple weeks coming up to the draft, so stay tuned.

I'm always here for you, dude, but, you know, if you want me to chime in before I hit Detroit, happy to do it. We gotta talk some Michigan basketball. No, we don't. We don't, actually.

I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't know what you're talking about, Chris. As a matter of fact, I don't follow that sport. That's odd that you would bring that up. No.

No. We'll talk about something else. We'll talk anything else.

We'll talk anything else. You take care, Chris. Thanks for the time. You're the best pal.

I miss chatting with you. That's Chris Long of Green Light Pod. Check it out wherever you get your podcasts.

Lance Armstrong and Stephen A. at South by Southwest. Love it. Let's beat it on down the line. Let's take a break.

Lots to talk about. 844-204-rich. Number to dial, including breaking news.

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Limitations apply. See terms at discover.com slash credit card. Named one of the best personal finance podcasts, The Stacking Benjamin Show with Joe and his friends makes financial literacy fun. I got an email today from the LenPenzo.com HR department. I find it really interesting. I'm an employee of one at this company, but somebody from the HR department sent me an email telling me that I had a raise.

If I just opened the attachment, I could see how much my raise was. Make sure you click on the links that are in there, too. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, I can't wait. I'm excited.

Find out more by searching The Stacking Benjamins podcast, wherever you listen. Herm Edwards on October 30th, 2002, after a week 8 loss to the Cleveland Browns. Here is play to win the game as told by Victor Newman. This is great about sports. This is what's the greatest thing about sports, is you play to win.

Hello. You play to win the damn game, right? You don't play just to play it. When you start telling me it doesn't matter, get your ass out of here, then retire.

Cause it matters. Well done. That's number one. Next up, on October 16th, 2006, after the Cardinals blew a 20-point lead against the Bears on Monday Night Football. Oh, man.

Dennis Green. They are who we thought they were, as portrayed by Victor Newman. Bears are who we thought they were, you know? That's why we took the damn field. Now, if you want to crown them, then crown their ass. But they are who we thought they were.

And we let them off the damn hook. Very good. Very well done. All right, last one for you. I can feel it.

I'm glad that we got it rolling, because here's the last one. I can feel it. On May 7th, 2002, the famed practice press conference of one Alan Iverson, as recounted by the man who plays Victor Newman, Eric Braden, hit it. I mean, listen, man. You're talking about practice, okay? Not a game. It's not a game. Not a game, all right?

Not the game that I could have then die for and play every game like it's my last. I know it's important. Yeah, I do. I do.

I honestly do. But you're talking about practice, man. What are we talking about? Practice. You're talking about practice, man.

Still worthy of applause. Back on The Rich Eisen Show radio network, 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. Let's go to Doug in Florida. Doug in Florida, line four. DJ Mikey Diaz and Deez Nuts. What's up, Doug in Florida? Hey, Rich. Nice to talk to you guys.

What's going on? There were two things I wanted to mention, but you and the great Chris Long mentioned one of them. As a Raider fan, I was so happy with the signing of Wilkins to add onto the defensive line with Crosby, Kuntz, and Kyrie Wilson, which I like that more home rules. But my curiosity is, with the signing of Gardner Minshew, do you think it's more likely now that the Raiders do trade up in the first round to get a quarterback like JJ McCarthy? Or would they hang backwards and kind of see if they get Michael Penix Jr.? It's entirely possible they hang backwards and get either one of them.

You know what I'm saying, Doug? I don't know the way this is gonna roll for McCarthy and Penix. I do believe we're gonna see, based on, you know, what I believe the Bears are gonna do, based on the fact that the commanders signed Marcus Mariota, a seemingly perfect guy to have in the quarterback room for Jayden Daniels. You know, they can compare Heisman's. They can compare abilities to throw and run.

Honestly, it's a terrific choice. And then the Patriots getting Brissett. I think we're gonna go quarterback, quarterback, quarterback. I don't know about the other two, but I do believe going Minshew as opposed to anybody else means that they can choose somebody like Penix and then chill. Penix, however, and thanks to the call, Doug, is 24. McCarthy's 21. So if you want to draft and sit, you got a guy who's 21 and can play by the time he's 22, or if you go like the full Jordan Love plan, 23, 24, as opposed to Penix.

I mean, Penix would be 26, 27, which is not obviously ancient. But I think the Raiders are definitely looking at one of these rookie quarterbacks. Jimmy Garoppolo is gonna be released today. We'll see who goes and gets him.

Honestly, today is about watching who gets released and who you can jump on. In that respect, I do believe, do we have breaking news? My eyes hear the drop.

I've never saw anything like that. Here it comes. Oh, and my eyes see breaking news. Love it. Love it.

What's up, Christopher? Yeah, the Los Angeles Chargers making moves. They're gonna release Mike Williams today. That saves them 20 million against the cap, and they are now cap compliant, according to Adam Schefter. Adam also added that Khalil Mack will restructure to stay with the Chargers.

That's big news there. So he's stick and put on a restructured deal. So just cutting Mike Williams gets them cap compliant, so they get Keenan Allen and Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack in there. And it's just Mike Williams who hits the road, and he'll see if he wants to come back under a more... Yeah, he's gonna test a market and then some interest, but we'll see. Is that interest you in Dallas? No?

You don't want Mike Williams? Look, nothing's interesting to me, because I'm not gonna set myself up for joy when I know there's no joy to be had. This guy.

Rich, why would I say that? All you do is you sit down and you down them, so when I say no, I don't feel like there's any hope. You're like, oh, this guy. You were the one who told me, don't expect anything from Dallas. Yeah, that's true.

You pounded the table, you set out the text, and now when I don't, I'm wrong? No, you're not wrong. I'm just saying, you'd like to have him, though, right? Yeah, I mean, yeah, sure. But apparently we're not gonna get anybody. So, come on, man. Except for Trent C, putting respect on his name.

Don't do our long-snapping friend like that. But I'd love to have Mike Williams. Yeah, sure, but... You are not serious people.

That's how I feel about our front office right now. Now, by the way, that's five words in a comma, right? You are not. You could say, you are not serious people, but he goes, you are not serious people. You are not. Comma. Serious people. All in.

I love you. Comma. I would also love to have Eric Armstead and Khalil Mack. Well, you need Eric Armstead.

I mean, none of these things. You need somebody standing there right in the middle. You need my Wolverine, Mazzie Smith, to ball out, pal.

Yeah. Let's go to Braden in Utah. Not the Eric Braden we were seeking, but Braden in Utah. What's up, Braden? Hey, Rich. How's it going?

What's on your mind there in Utah? Hey, I was wondering if you think the Giants are gonna take the quarterback, or if they should do something like make a move, maybe just like Justin Fields, and then just take the best available player at six in the draft. What do you think? Oh, man.

Well, let's see if the Jets need a quarterback by March 26th. That's where RFK Jr. just announced he's having an announcement in Oakland, just down the road from Chico, California, where Aaron was born. Hey, Rich, not to bug him, but I was in the back getting a tea, and Adam was answering Braden's call, so I hopped in, and he and I chopped it up. Oh, is that right? Yeah, and we both came to the conclusion the Jets stink. Oh, okay. I mean, I think his words officially, but I'm not gonna disagree with him. Okay. Well, I mean, it's interesting that a Giants fan would say that. Yeah, it's not great for either of us.

No, it's not. You know, here's the thing. Here's the difference between us is I don't want my quarterback to be RFK's vice president. You do. You know what I'm saying?

Like, that's the difference. You're like, please, RFK Jr., take our quarterback, please. Like the old Henny Youngman joke. Take my wife, please. Wouldn't be mad. Wouldn't be upset about it. So thank you for the call, Braden.

I do think there, you know, it does. Let's just game this out real quick, and then we'll take a break. Bears take a quarterback, quarterback, quarterback. The Cardinals sit in fourth. That's Marvin Harrison Jr. The Chargers sit there. Who wants Malik Nabors?

Call them up. Because if they draft Joe Ault, they're gonna stick him in a right tackle. I don't think that's, he's arguably the best left tackle. They don't need a left tackle. Rashawn Slater's sitting there.

He's pretty good. So, you know, would they go ahead and get Malik Nabors and say, let's go there? They would want to trade out. Who would want to trade out? Somebody who maybe wants to get J.J. McCarthy and they're afraid the Giants are gonna go take him? Or the Giants just gonna go ahead and get another offensive lineman, keep stacking? Do they, or do they, do they go ahead and they need an offensive weapon. You know, you might be to sit there and go, well, for who? And your answer could be for Drew Locke, sure.

But I just don't know if McCarthy's the sixth overall pick in the draft as much as I adore him. You know? Pretty high. Yeah.

I don't know. But Drew Locke being there allows them the draft and let him sit. But also, Rich, if he's the guy you believe in.

No, I understand that. It's never too high. If you hit, it doesn't matter where you take him.

I know. Which means, you know, I think that would be what the Raiders, I mean, what the Chargers are hoping for. That the Raiders, Vikings, or Broncos are sitting down there in the, you know, 11, 12, and 13. And they're like, well, we better go up to five. I think the Chargers would love to trade out.

Love. And the Cardinals would love to stick and pick and give Kyler Murray, who, by the way, is the third largest cap hit of any player in the NFL this year. And give him an offensive weapon like Marvin Harrison. So I don't think they're moving. Which means, again, the Atlanta Falcons are sitting down there at eight. They could choose the top defensive player. Titans, I have no idea what they're going to do.

Sitting there at seven. That's the way this thing's playing out right now. But by signing Kirk Cousins, the Falcons can sit there and they may have their choice of any defensive player in the draft for Raheem Morris. Because you've got Drake London. You just signed Darnell Mooney.

Ooh, I want to touch upon that when we come back. Baker Mayfield spoke today. Jason Light is just an absolute quote machine right now. The general manager had something to say about Baker that caught my eye.

I'm wondering how it sounds. That's next. This is the Rich Eisen Show on a very busy New League Year Wednesday. Jump in now or catch up on any of the past seasons of Talkville on YouTube or wherever you listen. Be sure to follow so you never miss the next episode.

And thanks for listening, wherever you listen. All right, here's how we're going to finish up the show. What do you got? This is what we have for the rest of the day. What do you got?

Rest of the day. We've got Baker Mayfield sound bites. A sound bite. Let's go Baker first, then Jason Light.

Mike Hoskins, does that sound good to you? All right. Well, you've heard the sound bites.

Does that work to go from one of them? Okay, very good. I've only read them.

They read off the page very well. No, I'm seriously. And I want to cape for running backs one more time. By the way, I should start getting a cut.

For running backs? Yeah. Cut. You have been on the forefront.

What kind of percentage are you working for? I don't know. Five?

Just to wet my beak a little bit. Like Don Finucci? Don Finucci.

You don't want to end up like Finucci. No. Two percent?

I know how to keep people happy, Mike. The rent stays like that. Like above four. The other guy. Yeah, but Don Finucci had to be backed into a corner before. Well, that's true. The rent stayed like before because of what happened to Don Finucci, and it got around that it was Don Corleone who did that. Exactly.

Okay, not to just really nitpick here, but it's true. After that. No, well, this show is talking about the podcast.

We'll do overreaction Monday, the podcast. Yes, sir. And then, Mike, you will drive me to the airport. Very kind of you to do that. Yes, I do that.

I'm the official driver of the Rich Eisen Show. All right. Yep. And in between all that, we're going to find out, is this a crime scene behind me here? Like what is- No, no, they're digging a hole. They're digging a hole.

That doesn't mean- Well, that doesn't mean- Hold on. I'll ask again. From New Jersey. It's even worse.

From New Jersey. It's like a New Jersey guy saying, you're digging a hole. They're digging a hole. No, but they're digging a hole. It's not a thousand yards down from the sands of Vegas, like in casinos, so I think they're working on something else. Okay. So it's a construction site. Yes, it's construction. I'm just wondering, what the hell needs yellow tape?

There's nobody walking around here. Okay. Game time tickets. Get the app on a mobile device near you and start buying tickets to sports, music, comedy, theater events, anything you want to take, your spouse, your kids, yourself, your friends, go hang out, have a great time, and you'll know you'll have a great time because you're going to get a great seat with a great view because you can check that out before you even buy your tickets and you know how much your tickets cost all in with the all in pricing before you even buy your tickets and then two taps to buy the tickets.

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Those terms apply. Again, create an account, redeem your code, rich and get $20 off. Download game time today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Susie's going to be in this chair tomorrow and she says really good chance that Steve Kerr will be joining this program. What? Yeah. They're taking on the Mavericks tonight and I do believe the Lakers Friday.

Lakers. Um, and the, uh, you're going to have an in-studio guest tomorrow, Christopher, the director of the, uh, the documentary, the dynasty on, uh, Apple TV on the Patriots is going to be here tomorrow. And Susie will be the one she's excited to have to, um, conduct this interview since they are watching this part, this, uh, show quite a bit. Matthew hammer check.

I don't know if he's related to damage check. I doubt it. I feel like Frank Costanza. I got a lot of bones to pick with you. Well, I mean, that's on tomorrow's show and then Kirk Morrison's here Friday. I'm back Monday, Larry David next Thursday.

It's going to be great. That's what I'm saying. Yeah.

Let me just say this to you. Uh, Darnell Mooney. We haven't talked about his free agent signing going from the bears to the Atlanta Falcons three year deal, 39 million bucks. And you know, we're talking about what value for him, right? That's a nice value, nice pickup. It's just like, okay, that's a, that's a he'll, he'll have some big plays. He's got some big playability and maybe he could be what the Addison to Kirk's Drake London being the Jefferson in this role. I know that I'm saying quite a bit here and I'm making these analogies to say Kirk cousins as these two weapons to use and a receiver and you know, but he's got to get the ball. Like you've got a, anybody who has a wide receiver in fantasy knows it's kind of wild. You got to get the targets, you got to get the ball. And that's why receivers are more often than not the ones who are the loudest on the field because they're the ones who need to be, Hey, remember me?

I'm open. Right. I mentioned that to say, do you know Darnell Mooney is paid in terms of dollars and cents in terms of length of contract, in terms of the real money and all that sort of stuff. Do you know his contract? Almost he mimics dollar for dollar guy's name is Saquon Barkley, Saquon three years, 37.75 million, a little bit less than three years, 39 million, 25 and a half million guaranteed at signing a half million less than the guaranteed at signing of Darnell Mooney. He gets less money, 13.25 million in 2024 than Mooney makes this year, 17 and a half. The practical dollars are two years, 26 million Mooney's two years, $27 million. Why wouldn't you want to pay Saquon Barkley Darnell Mooney money? What in the world is happening?

Because guess what? When the game's on the line for the Atlanta Falcons, do you know what they're going to do more often than not? If the kid is that good, as we expected, they're going to hand it to Bijan Robinson, the game's on the line. You need the yards. You need to, you're going to go to the guys right next to the quarterback and say, here's the ball.

Not like try and scheme the other guy open. That's the way it works in the NFL. When the Texans had the Colts right where they wanted them, the Colts had one last chance to try and win the game at home and make the playoffs and win the division.

What do they do? They turn to Jonathan Taylor. When the game was in overtime in the Super Bowl, what did the Niners do? They had a Christian McCaffrey centric drive, but no, we can't pay running backs more than Darnell Mooney money. It's insane.

I don't get it. And why more teams don't have a talented guy like Barkley and say, we'll keep you by paying him Darnell Mooney money. And I don't mean to, this is not to denigrate Darnell Mooney. It's just saying the running back is always there when the game's on the line as the relied upon spot, but you don't pay him that way.

Nuts. Now then, Baker Mayfield got paid and he spoke today as a newly paid, big time paid quarterback in the National Football League. He's staying in Tampa. He was asked if he was considering giving a hometown discount to the Bucks to stay. Is that the question? Okay. Is it fair to say that you left some money on the table here to get these other guys done as Jason's been able to get all your teammates done and there's more work to do?

Was that part of the strategy? For me, I said it immediately after our Detroit game at falling a loss, to build a winning team and to have a lot of the key pieces that we needed back to continue this run and improve it. Some sacrifice have to be made. Now, listen, this is life changing money and I'm not going to act like otherwise. It's something that I've worked extremely hard for over the years and many years of football. So I'm grateful for it. There's nothing to be ashamed about.

There's nothing to say, oh, well, he got more. It's not that mentality, knowing that we have a chance to bring back some key pieces and make a further run in the playoffs. That's important to me. I'm a winner at heart. I hate losing. So knowing that we get a lot of guys back and we can continue to build this for years to come, it's a special thing.

No state taxes. That's a good point. Use that one a lot. That's the general manager, Jason Light saying, I use that one a lot is in negotiations. He said that.

I was sitting there thinking that same thing, a hundred million, no state taxes. Jason Light, man, to drink minimum Jason Light, this guy these days, man, he has been a quote machine. Remember he said last week that he loves Baker and he thinks Baker did well here because his chip matches the chip on the shoulder of the Buccaneers who nobody thought could win last year? This is what he said about today, about what works. And he understands Baker Mayfield. How much does toughness, Baker's mental and physical toughness, mean to this organization and to you as a talent valuator? Well, it means everything. He set the tone for this team with his, well, for lack of a better word, he's probably a one out of 10. He's a 10 on the prick scale.

So sorry, Nelson. Thank you. I'll take that. And so it's like, that's what you want in your offensive lineman. And Baker's kind of an offensive lineman in a quarterback's body. So it's what's rallied this team this year who's a big part of it.

Oh, yeah. They get my boy and my boy gets them. And your boy's getting paid. And the chip will only get bigger because you know, and I know nobody is going to choose the Bucks to repeat when the Falcons have Kirk Cousins and they're just going to load up even more in the draft. That's coming.

That's coming. And I love it. Baker's like, I'll take that. I'll accept it and move on. And he didn't even put a comma in there.

He just set it straight through. Hey, everybody, this is Dan Bespress, host of Fantasy NBA Today, a daily fantasy basketball podcast. We cover every box score from every game every day. Plus bonus shows on by low opportunities, players to stash schedule analysis and really anything you could need to smash your league into deliciously tiny pieces. Catch the Fantasy NBA Today podcast, part of the Believe Network on YouTube or wherever you listen.