Ian Rapoport likes the Michael Penix Jr. pick

Get ready for the greatest roast of all time. The Roast of Tom Brady. A Netflix live event happening May 5th. Hosted by Kevin Hart. The seven-time world champion gets his cleats held to the fire by famous friends and frenemies on an unforgettable night where everything is fair game. Tune in on May 5th at 5 p.m. Pacific time for The Roast of Tom Brady. Live only on Netflix.

You ready? Showtime. On May 3rd, summer starts with The Fall Guy. What are you doing later?

Let's drink a spicy margarita. Make some bad decisions. Yes. Audiences are falling in love with the most entertaining film of the year. Fall Guy. Fall Guy. Fall Guy.

Is that the poster you sent? See Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt in the movie critics say exists to make you happy. Do you want to make out? No. Cause I don't either. It's not what I'm into right now.

What are you into? Talking. Yeah. Okay. The Fall Guy.

Only in theaters May 3rd. So are you ready for the draft? Let's get started. This is the Rich Eisen Show. The Chicago Bears. Live from the NFL Draft in Detroit, it's the Rich Eisen Show. The 2024 NFL Draft is now underway.

Today's guests. NFL Network insider Ian Rappaport, ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky, Fox Sports college football analyst and NFL Network draft analyst Joel Klatt. Detroit Lions defensive end Aiden Hutchinson. Michigan head coach Jerome Moore. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

That's right. Welcome to the third and final day of the Rich Eisen Show draft week special live on the Roku channel from downtown Detroit at the Total Buy Verizon studio. Thrilled to have you here with us on the Roku channel which is free on all Roku devices known to man. Also available on select Samsung smart TV. Amazon fire TV. The Roku app cause the Roku channel's on it.

The Roku channel.com for all you internet freaks out there maybe sitting at work. Wanted to check out on what we thought about what went down on the first night of the first ever draft in Detroit with a quarter of a million of our closest friends. It was a lot of fun last night. We say hello to everybody listening on the Rich Eisen Show terrestrial radio network and Sirius XM Odyssey coast to coast. Also to those who might be checking us out on our podcast through the Cumulus podcast network. We're thrilled about that.

Good to see you over there, gents. Christopher, how are you? Rich, I'm great.

Chris Brockman. Love the Drake. I'm in, baby. Let's go. The Drake Hotel.

Now a set up shop in New England. Yeah, buddy. How are you, TJ Jefferson? Like that candle?

Candle is now lit. Hey, buddy. What up, though, Detroit? How about that, right? Detroit's been awesome, man.

Right. That crowd last night, Rich, I can only imagine what it was like being there and looking out over the sea of people. You must have felt like a rock star. Just the crowd like that.

The energy. City's been amazing. It's been an awesome week in the first round lived up to.

Yeah, I mean, just it was a sea of Honolulu blue, and we'll talk about that throughout this three hour edition of the show. Ian Rappaport, my NFL network colleagues going to join us about what he heard about might have been going on behind the scenes last night. And who's still on the board? There's some draft trade talk already throughout this day.

I'm wondering what he can fill us in on. And then Dan Orlovsky from the ESPN set. Joel Klatt was next to me all night last night.

He's going to join us top of our number two. And then we'll have a parade of Wolverines here on this program. Aidan Hutchinson, who was out on the stage last night with two of his teammates and Eminem and Calvin Johnson and Barry Sanders, the commissioner, and putting the Bears on the clock. It was great. There was like huge cheers last night for the Lions, and then they put the Bears on the clock for boos.

Immediately. And then the Lions trade up for draft choice. They introduced Terry and Arnold, huge cheers. And then the Packers went on the clock. Boo. It was just fantastic energy throughout the entire night. And then Sharon Moore, the head coach of the University of Michigan, is going to be making his way to our studio.

We'll hang with him. And then we're going to get you set for night number two and day number three of the NFL draft. Listen, obviously the stories going into this draft all about the quarterbacks and the draft did not disappoint on that front.

It went from 100% then down to 75%. It didn't get below 50% in terms of quarterbacks being drafted compared to the number of picks that had already been made on the draft board until pick seven. We saw an amazing amount of choices at quarterback, three in a row to start, and then pick eight, pick 10, pick 12, all quarterbacks.

And that is something that we were expecting to be possible. We've never seen a draft with four straight quarterbacks to start. That did not happen in this one, but we've never seen four out of the first eight Picsby quarterbacks, five of the first 10 Picsby quarterbacks, and six of the first 12 Picsby quarterbacks. We've never seen that before, but the one that stands out amongst all of them, the one that was the least chalky of all of them was Michael Penix Jr. going to Atlanta. And in terms of that, I have been fortunate to be doing this draft for 21 years with NFL Network.

This is my 18th draft gavel to gavel. And there have been many head scratchers in the NFL draft, but none being more of a universal industry-wide head scratcher than the one that we saw last night, Michael Penix Jr., number eight overall going to Atlanta. And let me finish my sentence by saying this, this has nothing to do with Michael Penix Jr. abilities. You've heard us talk about this kid out of the Washington program, from the Indiana program to the Washington program, everything that has gone into making him the man that he is.

This has nothing to do with that. I believe he's worthy of a top 10 pick in the NFL draft. We had Kurt Warner, Pro Football Hall of Famer, my colleague from the NFL media group sitting in this room. This chair to my left on this set yesterday, he said he thought that Michael Penix Jr., in his mind, was a better choice at quarterback in this draft than Drake May, which is saying a lot. This has nothing to do with Michael Penix Jr.'s ability and everything to do with what the Atlanta Falcons did in free agency in advance of making this pick.

We have to go and sign Kirk Cousins for the amount of money that they did and also run the risk of a tampering charge in the process of doing it and giving this man a generational salary at quarterback over maybe if it's four years, the entire contract being four years long. We were wondering would he actually finish this contract in Atlanta? I'll tell you one person who thought he would finish this contract in Atlanta and his name is Kirk Cousins.

This guy is a great guy. This guy is the guy who showed up, starts throwing out first pitches at the Braves game, talks about this is his last stop of his career. I'll tell you what, Atlanta's not going to be the last stop of this man's career because Michael Penix Jr. being drafted eighth overall and starting the clock of his first quarterback contract in the NFL mandates that he starts at some point in this contract. And he starts at some point in this contract before Kirk Cousins ever imagined another quarterback would be brought in to take him.

His starting role. I have no idea why Atlanta would want to do that with Kirk Cousins coming in in the manner in which he came in and the amount of the red carpet that they rolled out for him and the doubt that they're now going to be placing within his mind and that locker room. His ability to stroll in there and say this is my team, this is my franchise, this is my new city has now been compromised because they brought this kid in eighth overall. You have to look at this kid in the face and say let's talk about what you need to do to become a terrific quarterback in this league. As great a human as Kirk Cousins is and has shown to be, you have to sit there and wonder how he's going to be with this kid in this quarterback room. Another thing to point out here, the doubt that might be in Cousins' mind and anybody else in this locker room that wants to be in the Cousins camp fully and completely has to sit here and wonder at what point did they fall in love with Michael Penix Jr.? Was it watching him be a collegiate quarterback in Washington?

Was it him being a quarterback in the championship game against Michigan struggling but also seeing what he did against Texas? We heard and Ian Rappaport is going to come on here and I'm wondering if he can confirm this. They did not have a top 30 visit with Michael Penix Jr. They went and chatted with him at the combine and had a 45 minute meeting with him watching a workout of him in Washington and that's it. When did they fall in love with Michael Penix? Was it in the process of signing Kirk Cousins to a four year, $180 million contract that pays him $90 million of guaranteed money? Did they do that during that, after signing him? Tom Pelissera, our buddy Tommy P, is going to sit in for me when I'm with the Roku New Fronts next week in New York.

He had the line of the day on Good Morning Football today. He said it's basically like cheating on your wife during the honeymoon. It's essentially what he said.

That's what it is. You're in the honeymoon phase right now and you're going to bring in a kid who by the way is also 24 years old when he takes the field if he does it all for the Atlanta Falcons this year. So if Cousins plays the two years and they do finally stick out two years by the way for the $90 million that he's guaranteed to be paid over those two years and they do stick Penix out there, he'll be a 27 year old guy who's not played much of a snap in the NFL at all.

That's how Penix is going to get born into this league. So the question is what was the thinking of Terry Fontenot, the general manager of the Atlanta Falcons, and he next to Raheem Morris in a press conference that was very highly watched last night had this to say after choosing Michael Penix Jr. 8th overall. At the end of the day if you believe in a player at that position you because if we're all sitting here a few years from now whenever it is and this guy's playing pretty good for somebody regardless of the situation regardless of you sit better look back then and we pass him up you can't do that. If you believe in a quarterback you have to take him and if he sits for four or five years that's a great problem to have because we're doing so well at that position so it's just as simple as if you see a guy that you believe in at that position you have to take him.

I mean to wait for four or five years and I think that was wild. Well I think Terry Fontenot was saying that because he does need to address the guy who they paid all this generational money to to be a free agent and come in to win now. The sense in Atlanta was let's win now and the sense is when you do that in free agency and you're a quarterback needy team and you're eighth overall on the clock that now allows you to take the best player available to supplement the arrival of Kirk Cousins. To maybe trade out to trade down the debt the debt the Dallas Turner selection that everybody had them in their mock drafts Dallas Turner wound up going 17th overall Minnesota traded up one more time to go get him. He wound up being 17th overall Byron Murphy who would have been a very nice addition in the middle of the defensive line for Atlanta to help out win now and win a division right now if not a Super Bowl right now. He went 16th overall you could have traded out into those spots you could have traded out into those spots and gotten those guys and more draft choices in a draft that's very top heavy. I mean the Buffalo Bills got two more picks in tonight's draft on purpose for that and we'll discuss the bills and what they did later on in this program. You could have done that but he's also saying we want to win later on but Michael Penix if you do wait the four years. If you do say wait four years that guy's gonna be a 28 year old quarterback who's not played before with the possibility of you picking up the fifth year option of him not having played a single snap. Now then in terms of making sure that you're winning down the road the famous website and firm spot track that keeps track of all the finances.

I was just looking at it right now. Well they tweeted this out and I want to put it on the screen so everyone can understand what the Falcons are thinking. That Penix is going to make 16 million over the next two seasons with his slotted contract as he ramps up and learns behind Cousins who's going to earn 90 million dollars over that span. So that's a hundred million dollars 106 million bucks at the quarterback spot which is you know 50 million a year.

That's like DAC right that's good it's like my home's money but after that they've got Michael Penix on a two year 6.8 million dollar guarantee through 2027 with the fifth year option to boot. Now that is dirt cheap and that however is going to be the window in which you want to try and win a Super Bowl that they have left which is the rookie contract. You want to win in a rookie contract right now that's why that makes no sense to wait the two years and bring him in to learn behind Kirk Cousins.

The only thing that this could possibly remotely compared to that I have seen in the 21 years was back in the last time the 21 years of doing the draft. Back in the last time the Washington franchise chose a quarterback second overall in 2012 just like last night they chose second overall and they chose a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback in Robert Griffin the third. And then a couple of draft choices draft rounds later they chose Kirk Cousins and I remember sitting at the NFL Network draft set in Radio City Music Hall saying why do that? The only time Kirk Cousins is going to play is if something has gone horribly wrong with your eggs in the basket decision. All eggs in the basket decision at the time is to use the second overall pick on a quarterback. This version of it is to generationally enrich a quarterback further. Why would you go ahead and choose another quarterback when you've just chosen one? And it's amazing to me that the situation now involves Kirk Cousins in the role of being the one supplanted. And it's Michael Penix Jr. being the one brought in to make the quarterback wonder are all the eggs in my basket or not?

Time is a flat circle. It's unbelievable and that is the point to just finish up going through the entire head scratcher here is what does Kirk Cousins think? Because you do have to win now with the guy. You're paying him like you want to win now.

You've got to get at least two years out of him in win now mode. What is he thinking? Well, last night the Falcons called him just as they were making this choice to give him a heads up and both Fontenot and Raheem Morris were asked about that. Questions for Terry or Raheem, whichever one of you called Kirk when you were on the clock and you tell me about it, what's his reaction? Well, that's a private. We wouldn't share that, you know, and obviously reactions are pretty private, right?

Yeah. You know, he got called on the clock obviously because of the sensitive time with the issues of what you got going on. It's never a right time to talk to a quarterback about those things and reactions are always going to be private when it comes to those things. Unless Kirk decides to tell you some of those things that whatever the case may be.

But he's a competitor just like us all. And you can always expect those things to go just like you kind of think. What were they really thinking? It didn't go well. Yeah. It didn't go well because that's why they're not sharing it.

They'll always, reactions when they're positive will always be shared publicly, as you know. So here again, calling him with mere seconds left on the clock or just two minutes left on the clock. Hey, this is what we're doing is kind of like when you're paying for the bill at dinner and somebody else makes the reach for their wallet just as you put your credit card down. Okay, let me, let me, I was really going to get this.

I'm making the move. I'm making the, you know, I'm making, it's not reaching for the check. It's reaching for the wallet. It's just like, oh, nice try. I appreciate you acknowledging, but what does it do me? You know, you're not putting your credit card down in time.

So again, I just to sum up. Biggest head scratcher I've seen in 21 years of doing this draft. Does it mean the Falcons can't win the Super Bowl in the next two years with Kirk Cousins? Absolutely not.

Does it mean that they won't, that they won't win the Super Bowl with Michael Penix Jr. when he gets out there? Absolutely not. Does this mean Michael Penix Jr. doesn't deserve to be the eighth overall pick in the NFL draft?

Absolutely not. Does it mean that he deserved to be born into the NFL this way? He also might play week one. We don't know if Kirk Cousins is ready to go. Also there have been 130 quarterbacks who played games in the last two years. But you also don't sign a quarterback to the contract that they did if you're questioning whether he's going to play week one. He's going to play week one. They expected, the whole conversation, this entire six weeks was like Kirk Cousins has arrived, Atlanta's on the map.

They are absolutely in the mix to win their division, if not the conference. And we'll see what they're going to do to supplement them with the eighth overall pick. And they didn't. And all they did was just add a lot of questions and a conversation like this one to start this show. Which is a head scratcher. Headline. I'm scratching my head.

I see. So we'll talk about it all throughout this edition of the Rich Eisen Show starting with the man who just sat on the couch. My buddy, the rap sheet man himself. At rap sheet on Twitter, the must follow. And my buddy Ian Rappaport here on the Rich Eisen Show. Fresh off of last night's stuff. And the man who told us before the pick was in.

This could be Penix. Don't be surprised. I was. Hey, it's Kaley Cuoco for Priceline. Ready to go to your happy place for a happy price?

Well, why didn't you say so? Just download the Priceline app right now and save up to 60% on hotels. So whether it's Cousin Kevin's kazoo concert in Kansas City. Go Kevin!

Or Becky's bachelorette bash in Bermuda. You never have to miss a trip ever again. So download the Priceline app today. Your savings are waiting. Go to your happy place for a happy price.

Go to your happy price, Priceline. Our house is a mess. Come on in. I'm Amber Wallin, internet comedian and host of your new favorite podcast, Fly on the Wallin. That's pretty presumptuous to assume that this is going to be their favorite podcast, by the way. Anyway, that wasp that you just heard interrupt me is my husband. And co-host, Benjamin Wallin. Listen in as we discuss relationships and keeping our sweet baby kid alive.

Fly on the Wallin, wherever you listen. Back here in Detroit, I'm sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk on the Rich Eisen Show radio network. Its desk is furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.

Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by. Rap sheet checking out his phone. People texting you right now?

What are they texting you right now? They want to know what's going on with the 49ers receivers and who's going early tonight. Okay, so let's jump in first on the Falcons.

Okay. Because you were telling all of us for the last few days, Penix Junior is in play at eight. And then it's the Falcons pick and they get in my ear saying, let's go to Ian. And I say, all right, Ian, and you're like, I'm telling you guys like one last time, Michael Penix Junior is, I think you said very much in play for the eighth overall in the draft.

You hear so many rumors leading up to the draft and this one would just not go away. And I had heard that they took a trip. Look, if you're going to do a fake out, right, then it's a long fake out to go from Atlanta to Washington.

Like, I don't know if you can get further. Right. So they went in and met with him and did the whole thing. But he never visited top 30 there?

Never visited. But I don't know why he would. Like, if you're going to go out and meet with him, like, that's enough. Right.

Okay. And then there's always the fear that, like, someone finds out about the top 30. They go, oh, maybe the Falcons take him. And then it's like someone trades up over them.

So, like, you got to do your homework, but you have to be careful that someone doesn't jump you. Right. So anyway, so I hear this rumor. I talked to some people. I'm like, all right, I'll say it on the pregame show. And I felt good about it. But, God, you just never know. Like, is someone really going to do it? And then I got another call kind of further explaining why Penix makes sense right before the pick.

And I'm like, oh, my God, it has to be him. So why does it make sense? Make sense of it? It makes sense because there's nothing more important than the quarterback. And, like, could they have taken an edge rusher who I think would have been Dallas Turner?

Yeah, they could have taken Byron Murphy. Yes. They're important players.

Nothing's as important as the quarterback. But didn't they just already fill that need? Yeah. Yeah.

With a very enriching contract for a veteran that brings a certain sense of excellence to their franchise? Oh, yeah. Okay. I think here's how I see it.

Okay. Kirk Cousins made them whole and normal. They have a good roster. He is a legitimate starting quarterback. Wherever you think he ranks, like, 10th or 15th or I have no idea. Wherever people think Kirk Cousins is.

Okay. Legitimate good starting quarterback. Makes him a good team. Makes him a playoff contender. That is basically a two-year proposition.

Okay. It's a four-year contract, but guaranteed money is two years. So then it's like, if you can make sure. And this was a battle for them to replace Matt Ryan with someone who's good in cable.

And it cost them $100 million at least. So if you can say for, you know, not this year, not next year, you have a very good backup for the next couple of years. Fine. But, and if something happens, you have a starter.

But let's say from year, two years from now till 12 years from now, you're done. You got a guy. You don't have to worry about it.

You're just good. To me, that's worth everything. It's the same argument I would make with the Packers when people would be like, they needed a weapon. Why would they take a quarterback? I'm like, nothing matters if you don't have a quarterback. So I, I understand the pick.

I like to pick. Might it help them zero this year? It might. Best case scenario, it helps them zero this year.

That is okay. The thing I just don't understand is that when you sign a quarterback for a four-year deal, even if it's two years of real money, fine, you do that. Then you've taken care of business for your quarterback position to try and win a Super Bowl right here and right now. Nobody, when he was signed, was saying, well, but what about 2027? What about 2028? That's not the way you do things in the NFL if you want to win right here and right now.

You're not worrying about that. That would have been like the Jets taking JJ McCarthy at 10. Actually, you know, where Aaron Rodgers is, you know, two years to go, three years to go, coming off an Achilles, just like Kirk Cousins, we need to get somebody at 10 right now who's going to be playing for the next, you know, 12 years. I like the argument. And that to me, I even said that from this, and I love JJ, I want JJ McCarthy to play for my team for the rest of my life based on what just happened this past year. And I thought that made no sense.

I think it makes sense. I would not, I don't have taken JJ McCarthy. If you're Rodgers coming back, he's a Achilles heel, he's rehabbing. Thanks for coming back, Aaron.

Here's a kid who's going to take your job. And that's what Atlanta just did. Green Bay did that and he went back to back MVPs. Well, right. So there's always the chance that, I mean, Jets didn't do it, obviously, but there's always the chance that Rodgers gives them the finger as he did in Green Bay and goes, cool, you take that guy?

Great. He'll sit, he'll watch me, I'm going to be an MVP. I actually thought Kirk Cousins might kind of do the same thing. You want to take that guy?

Let's have him watch me for two years. Like the Rodgers reaction, which was, you know, the ultimate double bird, probably made him a better player. Maybe this makes Cousins a better player, but here's the other thing. I don't care about any of that because the Packers are set up for the next 10 years now. And, like, I don't know where the Jets had J.J. McCarthy, and I don't really get the sense they seriously considered him or Pennix or any of the other guys, but I don't hate the argument because think about what it cost to get Rodgers. Second round pick, a ton of money, like.

What a head scratcher. I hear you and I totally know what it's like roster building and money wise and the back end of the contract, what, $6.8 million over the last two years leading into a fifth year option for a starting quarterback in the NFL. That is chump change. I mean, and Michael Pennix Jr. is no chump, you know. But, all right, we'll see. You mentioned Ian Rappaport here on the Rich Eisen Show, the 49ers wide receiver situation. What can you tell me about what almost happened last night and what still is in play going into tonight? Yeah, that was a fun one last night. That was another one where, like, you know, I'm pitching my topics on air and I'm kind of like, all right, this could be interesting if the 49ers take a receiver. And, like, I kind of thought they were going to take a tackle.

And then I'm like, I guess there's a chance they take one. And I was surprised that it was Pierce, so I think a lot of people had him in the second round. Kyle's a very good scout.

I think he knows offensive skill players, so I will trust him. But I was a little surprised he went that early. Well, he said Ayuk even texted him to say that was a fire pick. They were teammates, weren't they? Yeah, Arizona State. Arizona State, right.

Because he transferred to Florida from Arizona State and, you know, into the SEC from Arizona State, just like Jayden Daniels. So were they close to trading Ayuk last night or Deebo? Is Deebo in play at all? So I don't get the sense that they were close to trading Ayuk last night. I think they would have done it maybe for one, but it kind of feels like this is not, I wouldn't say this is like reporting, this is more just my general feel of the situation. Sure. It feels more like there's a little bit of a push to keep Ayuk now, and could Deebo be had?

Like, maybe, you know? I think if you're, you know, Brandon Ayuk is a very good player. I think they have made offers out to him to pay him like a very well compensated receiver. It's not there yet, and the market has gone up, as we learned last night right before the draft and several other times this week. With A.J.

Brown. Yeah, and then the Amun Ra deal, I think, helped Ayuk's market. But keep your young good players, and if, you know, Deebo's got two years left. He's already been paid once. Teams might be interested. Like, I could see it.

That Deebo could be the one traded tonight. Maybe, yeah. I know it's hard to do because you want to get a guy physical, and so like, you know, worst case scenario is let's say the 49ers trade him tonight on the clock for a third rounder or something, and then God forbid he fails a physical, and then you're like, they already used the pick. So it's hard to do.

Could you agree on it? It's a challenge. Like, do you remember when Hollywood Brown got traded to the Cardinals, and it was broken on the clock?

He was already in Arizona having taken a physical, and he literally showed up at their draft party being like, I'm here, but the deal was done because his physical was done. So it's a challenge. So we need to look at doctors in certain towns that are looking at D comma Samuel. Yeah, yeah.

I thought you were going to say D comma Bo. No, no, no. That would be wild if something like that happens tonight. Bills fans want to know what's up, and I think they're more concerned with the fact that they actually let the Chiefs jump them, and if Xavier Worthy beats them in a division game or a conference final or something like that, that would be quite something, but what's the Bills' philosophy by trading down with the Chiefs and then out?

Yeah, it's funny. I was thinking about this because it's like, oh, man, I can't believe the Bills let the Chiefs take this receiver, and then it's like, well, it's not like the Bills made the Chiefs good. Chiefs are already good. They won the Super Bowl. They're pretty good.

Now, did they make them better? Maybe, but the Bills are in a weird spot. It feels like a reset year. It feels like a collect picks and cheap assets year and use as many picks as you can. The Bills, I tweeted earlier, and I'm going to mess it up now, but in one of their trades, they gained 30 places. It was the pick swaps, and then in another one of the trades, they gained 59 or something like that, and that's pretty good. I assume the Bills like Xavier Worthy. I think most people had him as a first rounder, kind of a rounder he was taken. I think the Bills might have taken a receiver at 32 where the Panthers came up and flopped with them.

I don't know they would have taken the guy the Panthers took, but my guess is it would have been a series. Well, the guy the Panthers took, as Daniel Jeremiah said last night, told the world. The Panthers told me. I could not believe it. Xavier LeGette was telling everybody, the Panthers told me they're going to take me with the first pick of the second night. You know they were cringing when he said that, like, come on, bro. Yeah, I know. We told you that in confidence.

Canales' response to try and cover those tracks was like, well, we told 50 players the same thing. But then they traded up to get the kid and get a 50-year option on him as well. So the Bills trading out. Is it possible the Bills are traded out because they gave themselves an entire evening and day to try and pry Debo or Ayuk Luz from San Francisco?

You know, I didn't get that sense, no. I don't know if they have the cap space. They only have, like, $3 million in cap space, and Debo is making, like, $12 million, something like that.

So you've got to, I mean, he's making more than that, but I think that's his cap. I'd have to look it up. You've got to be able to absorb it, so, like, I don't know that they could do it. I guess you could do anything, but I don't get that sense. I get the sense they would like to find their own Debo Samuel or their own, you know, let's say it's a receiver.

To get their own. I mean, that's, you know, again, like, this feels like a reset year, but there's nothing wrong with for Brandon being in the Bills to be like, you know, that deal made sense to them. Let's take a day. Maybe someone offers us more. Maybe, I mean, the 33rd pick doesn't get traded a ton, but maybe someone offers us something we can't refuse.

So take a deep breath, get the assets, take a day. Before I let you go, what are you expecting tonight, Crystal Ball? What do you have? I will be watching some, see if we'll have some trades. I don't think very many quarterbacks. Okay. I would say... Run on who? Running backs? We'll get some running backs. Yeah, I mean, there's going to be running backs and receivers. Okay. Maybe, I mean, you know, there's some defensive guys still on the board. Kool-Aid, Cooper to Gene.

There's some guys. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

Patriots wide receiver? Yeah. I don't understand. I could see what you're... Who cares? Hold a second.

It's going to get better on defense too. No, no. I know the look of an information man. Like, you're about to say something and then didn't want to because you're not as comfortable about sharing that. Did that moment just happen with you right there? Did that moment just happen with you right there? Yeah, I mean... Like, I was about to say this, but I can't if I should.

Well, this is the problem with coming on shows like this is you feel like we're just having a conversation in your living room. Yeah. So it's like you're just sharing and then it's like, well, that's not ready for you. That's not ready for printing.

It's not like you would use it on Instagram or anything like that. But go ahead. Yeah. No, no. I'm good.

He almost did it. I saw it. Should have given me some bourbon. I'll see you... Well, that's later tonight.

No better next time. Good to see you. Good to see you, brother. Good to see you.

Thanks, man. Look who's joining us. Look who looks all snazzy getting ready for ESPN. Good to see you, Dan Orlovsky. Looking forward to seeing him at a Connecticut golf course soon. All right. Fantastic.

That's next. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Dan Orlovsky here on our program here in Detroit. You come to Connecticut for golf? I go all the time.

I play golf. America starts the day with America in the morning. Hi, I'm John Trout, your host for the latest news, politics, entertainment, business, and weather. Our staff of correspondents provide a fast-paced look at the world with specialized reports from where news happens.

The decision was based on finding there is a likelihood... So far, the central bank appears to be threading that... Concise, accurate, and fresh each day. America in the morning, the podcast. Available wherever you listen. Dan Orlovsky here on the Rich Eisen Show as we're back with a radio audience with our Roku channel live stream right here from Detroit.

I'll just throw in your lap. I saw your video last night after the Falcons drafted Michael Penix Jr. What are your two cents on it? Completely perplexed. I was sitting here trying to make sense, trying to make sense, trying to make sense of it, and I couldn't. And then, obviously, I went to bed and I had a couple conversations about it this morning. With who?

With others? You're from Atlanta? Did they reach out to you? They didn't reach out to me, no, no, no. But I just sent this emoji eyes to a couple people and they were like, go ahead, ask it. And I was like, okay, why? And they laid out to me, totally made sense. And then I started to think about that information. I was like, I actually like the decision.

So a couple of things. And I've shared this, but number one, they had Michael Penix as the number two quarterback in the draft, top four player. He was neck and neck with Jayden Daniels for them. So they valued the player. Number two, they realized and expected, I mean, this is a team that won seven games last year with pretty darn poor quarterback play. They think they're going to be pretty good with Kirk over the next couple of years. They don't believe that when that time comes to go get that next guy, it's going to be as easy as, like even myself thinks it is to get up in the draft, you know, to go get a guy that you really believe is that talented of a quarterback. And the third thing was they went out on that. They went out for a private workout with Michael and they said 50 degrees, windy day, and everyone thought they were inside watching him throw the football. And they said, I saw him to throw the foot, like, and again, going all in on, on criticizing the pick as I, I guess I did to start this program.

And not Jerry Jones all in, like I literally went all in. It was like DeNiro, you disrespect a little bit. You know, I didn't disrespect. Disrespect a little bit? You prefaced it by saying it wasn't disrespectful. No, I prefaced it by saying this has nothing to do with Penix's ability. Right.

Or rightful top 10 pick in this draft. Sure. It has nothing to do with that.

I mean, the kid throws it, he's, he's unbelievable. Right. It's just that then, then why are you paying cousins a hundred million bucks?

Like, why are we doing that? Well, my guess is that they, and then let him throw out a first pitch at the Braves game and talk about, I'm going to retire here. Right.

And they clearly have other plans on that front. Well, my guess is that there was no really, I get, you know, this is part of the, how the NFL calendar works. You know, like free agency teams go from the season to free agency.

Right. And I would imagine, and so like free agency happens. We have to figure out the quarterback situation.

Who do we go after? All right, so we're going to go and sign Kirk Cousins. And then you transition to the draft. Again, I've never built a team, but this is my assumption of the chronological order of how it goes. And then you start to do your due diligence on these prospects and you get this quarterback and you're like, man, we're kind of intrigued with them. We pick eight and then you have this workout and he throws the ball as good as anybody but Matthew Stafford in their words, as far as people that have been around a guy like that. And you sit there and I, I'm rich. If we think about the three most important people in the conversation.

Okay. The owner has been searching for the quarterback since Matt, Matt Ryan left or Matt Ryan retired. So then you're sitting there as the owner going, I don't want to be in this anymore. And then the head coach Raheem Morris just was a part of the Rams and going, okay, if you don't have a quarterback like you, you can't win.

And the general manager, Terry Fontenot was in new Orleans when they didn't have the plan for what they were going to do post Drew Brees and they were admiring in like, what's the guy, who's the guy next? So I think like the vision of looking forward, I understand. I do. I, I, I see both parts of the argument and the conversation, but when someone sits there and says like this guy, we thought so highly of that we, if we were at two, you know, Jayden Daniels goes at two, like we thought they were that same type of quarterback. I understand it.

I do. And I think it's smart because we have so many teams and they realized they weren't going to be able to get up in the future. Like they just honest, you know, like Raheem came from the Rams, right? What have the Rams done for years with their number one pick?

Get rid of it because it's pointless eventually. And I think that that's what they envisioned what their next couple of years with Kirk is going to be is they're going to be picking late in the first round. I just find it again, just mystifying that you go in free agency and you do what you do in free agency and you pay the quarterback what you're paying him in free agency. And I understand the two years are the two years.

And after that, who knows? And you know, the hoopla is so significant. He talks about, I'm going to retire here. And the entire time he's talking about retiring here and throwing out a pitch at the Braves game, they're pounding the pavement on his replacement.

Yeah. And that is a wild way to build a team and try and win now for the team that is set to win now. And that's a locker room is going to have to deal with it. And obviously, Raheem Morris, that's what he can do.

And he's outstanding at dealing with personalities and figuring all that out. It's just a weird way of going into the two seasons of saying, hey, we're all in on you. We need you to win right now. We'd love to win right now. We think we can win right now.

But this isn't but the clock's ticking. But isn't that how always how it is when this situation presents itself? It's always weird. Like when they took Aaron and had Brett, it was weird. And then when they took Jordan and had Aaron, it was weird. When they took Patrick and had Alex, it was kind of weird. They were just coming off of a playoff run. I believe Buffalo had went to the playoffs with Tyrod Taylor when they took Josh. So that was maybe not as weird. And the money, I understand, is different.

I just I think that philosophically hearing, I guess, the thought process and the vision of it all. I understand why Atlanta did what it did. And we can also pretty comfortably say they don't have to worry or think about quarterback until like 2030. I hear you. And I guess what you're saying is the awkwardness of the two, three year period of the I guess overlap is nothing compared to the 10 years of championship bliss that the Packers are hoping that they're entering right now with Jordan Love. The Bills, we're not talking about the awkwardness between Tyrod Taylor and Josh Allen whatsoever. I hear you. I'm shocked by it and I'm still just head scratching over it, but I'm appreciative of you, I guess, giving us your sort of journey on the subject matter here.

Dan Orlovsky on the Rich Eisen show. Caleb Williams, Jaden Daniels, Drake May, your full agreement with those choices? Yeah, absolutely. Well, I thought from the jump I would have gone Jaden number one. It wasn't like Jaden one and then Caleb, it was a very clear, hey, like it was a preference because I've seen the development out of Jaden Daniels and I've seen the consistency out of Jaden Daniels.

And I think the the pocket, the patience and peace and movement I liked a little bit more. But I'm a massive Caleb Williams fan. I think he's obviously physically talented. I think the two things for Caleb, you know, Chicago, I would put as like a top six or seven skill group now, you know, with the addition of Romo Dunze. Is Caleb going to be willing to constantly hit singles? He's going to have to go on that journey.

My guess would be yes because of the maturity and awareness. The Notre Dame game, everyone continues to say like, why do you harp on one game? The Notre Dame game, if you looked at the way that Notre Dame played against USC last year, it was U.S. It was NFL style of defenses. It was NFL style of fronts. It was NFL style of coverages.

It was NFL style of show one picture pre-snap and show another. Caleb really struggled. And so he's going to have to really learn from that. He's going to have to grow from that and realize like that's going to be, you know, the consistent stuff that he's going to see in the NFL.

Again, highly intellectual kid, highly motivated kid. I think he's going to be a star. Jaden in Washington, again, goes into a pretty good spot because the skill position places. It'll be fascinating to watch how Cliff Kingsbury builds the offense around him because I don't think you just run the same stuff you did with Kyler. He's a different type of player, different type of passer. Jaden is then Kyler. And then Drake, it was the place that I felt most comfortable for Drake May to go.

Why? New England has no business trying to win right now. And because Jacoby Brissett is there, there's no rush to get Drake May on the field. He's an unbelievable physical talent.

If you put a kid who's physically talented but mechanically flawed out there too early, you ruin them more than likely. Especially in New England where Boar's Pass protecting offensive line in the NFL last year. Their leading rusher ran for 640. Their leading receiver at 560. You're going to die as a rookie quarterback in New England unless you're like out of this world.

And I don't think Drake is there just yet. And I think New England stays patient and allows him to sit and grow and develop the, you know, get through the flaw and work on the flaw so it's no longer the talking point. New England's a really good place for him in 2025, 2026. Fair to say J.J. McCarthy wound up in the perfect spot? I think you can make the case that J.J. McCarthy is in the best spot we've seen a rookie quarterback going offensive wise in a long time. And I just said this about Caleb, I think Caleb goes into the best overall situation for a number one quarterback. But you're talking about a guy that, one, is going to play in a scheme that always props quarterbacks up.

It just does. It makes them play greater than their physical talent. Two, that scheme is married with a play caller that I think Kevin O'Connell's got himself into the conversation for one of the, you know, top six, seven play callers we have in the NFL. And then Justin Jefferson and Addison and Hawkinson and Aaron Jones in a top eight offensive line. That's so rare for a rookie quarterback to go into. And, you know, when you look at what J.J. does best, he's phenomenal in the play action pass game. He was top, I think, eight or nine in all the play action pass stuff in college football last year. Minnesota ran it at the third most in the NFL last year.

So just taking players really good at this, team wants to do this, bang. It's a tremendous place. I've said this, Rich. I think after last night, I would go neck and neck. Favorite for offensive rookie of the year would be J.J. or Caleb. Really? You put J.J. McCarthy in that conversation? Yeah.

I think it's that good of a place and I think he is physically a much better player than people expect. I'm not going to get any argument from, you're not going to get any argument from me on that front. Six quarterbacks taken in the first 12 picks. The number of those six that are going to start this fall would be what? Start meaningful games? Start meaningful games.

Okay. Aren't all games meaningful? I mean, no. In the NFL? Yeah. Every rep is sacred.

Consequential games, maybe. So I think that the top two start pretty quickly. If not day one, I'd be surprised if both Caleb and Jaden don't. I think J.J. McCarthy's got a really good chance to be their starter week one, even though I love Sam Darnold. I just think J.J. is going to have a really good chance. J.J.'s going to play this year. Bo Nix will start. I'd be shocked if he doesn't. I would be concerned with Drake May starting just strictly because I don't want his talent to go away. If you told me he was going to start a little bit in December, I'd be okay with it. I don't think Michael Penix starts this year unless Kirk, for some reason, has an issue with his rehab and the injury.

And I don't anticipate that. Which is, again, the head scratcher. Because he's one – could you say he's the most pro-ready? You could make an argument, Michael Penix Jr. Yeah, you could make the argument.

You could make the argument in terms of processing the way he throws the ball. Yeah. But I – But I never get into pro-ready.

I never understand that. Who cares if you're that pro-ready? Who's going to be really good for ten years, I think is the more important thing. Sure. But even you just pointed out with Drake May, it's important how you're birthed into the league to make sure you get to those ten years. Totally.

Because you can get screwed up. Totally. So I guess that's the whole equation. So you'll go, what, four out of the six? Yeah. Start a consequential game.

Yeah, meaningful games for sure. Yes. And then Drake maybe at the back end of the year is very similar to like, you know, what happened, you know, with Patrick's first year. Okay. Obviously Jordan played, but that was because of injury more so than – Was it COVID? I think it was a COVID – COVID maybe.

COVID situation. Yeah. Yeah.

But I – that would be the one that I would sit there and just be like, I don't want to ruin this young man. Brother, thanks for coming on, man. Pleasure. Always. Yeah, yeah. Dan Orlovsky here, wrapping up hour number one. Hour number two is going to start with that man that just settled into our couch on our green room.

He's the best. What's up, Daniel? He's in our class. We were hanging out all night last night. We're going to hang out at the top of hour number two.

Still have about 90 seconds left here. But yeah, Joel – I got two quarterbacks. We found the one, Rick. We found the one that likes the Pennock's Pick.

We did. We found the one. See?

There's always one. Teaser. Nobody's – you got to come around on it.

He did. And you got – so people from Atlanta were like, this is what we're thinking. You asked what's going on? Yeah, I reached out and – Are you scheduled to do an Atlanta game week one?

week one. I understand it. I understand it. I also was a fan of the Jordan Love pick when it happened. Yeah and I get it that they're different situations but I just I believe that so often we get these young talented quarterbacks and they don't survive or they're not successful and it's not necessarily mainly because of them and this is a good place for a quarterback that and is age sure but like there's also COVID in the conversation you know so you know him, Jaden and Bo are older because of COVID.

And I guess this is a perfect time to announce that the second Monday night game of week two is Atlanta hosting and Dan Orlovsky will be in the booth. I've just been told. I understand what is the rationale it's just it's wild it's it's gonna take me a little bit more than just an overnight to buy it. Yeah.

But that said I totally understand what you're saying. You're heading off to work right now? I'm going to McAfee show right now. Oh fantastic. Tell Pat I said hi.

And then yeah live for two to four and then Sports Center and then on a plane home. Give my best to Matt and Mel. All right Joel Klatt coming up. The Rolling Stone Music Now podcast gets inside the biggest stories with Rolling Stone senior writer Brian Hyatt. Now here is my conversation with Jacob Noll. Your story is an amazing one and obviously you lost your dad when you're only one year old. It was definitely a screwy way to grow up. I think that a lot of people never heard of who I am and then they see me join this band and they must think this kid must have handed everything or nepotism kid. It's a gift that I have an opportunity to sing in such a big band like my father and my uncle's band Sublime. Rolling Stone Music Now wherever you listen.