Dennis Allen: Spencer Rattler Has Tremendous Talent

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. Rogers is, we could talk Roger forever. They don't care what he does off the field, we just win. This stuff that you think is a distraction, players don't care about that stuff. They love this guy as a teammate. Today's guests, NFL on Fox analyst, Greg Olsen. Saints head coach, Dennis Allen. Bills head coach, Sean McDermott. Two-time Emmy award-winning actor, Bobby Cannavale. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

That's a fact. Welcome this edition of the Rich Eisen Show. Hi, my name is Rich.

I don't know. If you're doing enough for these, you're just gonna be like, that's why I laugh at it. I fall for it every time.

I'm just not ready. I'm like doing something else and then you're being goofy. Good to see everybody here on the Roku channel every single day. We're here on channel 210 and then we rear and then we show up again. It's great and we're thrilled to have you here.

844-204-RICH. I love looking down and already seeing phone lines like before we even get on the air. It's terrific. A lot of football to talk about today because why not? Listen, there was no NBA last night.

We're waiting to see who's going to make the Stanley Cup final because it's NBA finals. Correct. And we have two head coaches calling in today.

Two. Saints head coach, Dennis Allen. Bills head coach, Sean McDermott.

Zooming in, I may say. Greg Olsen's going to join us. The Emmy award winner for best game analyst. Nice. Greg Olsen of Fox Sports will be joining us right here and Mike Del Tufo will tell us everything going on with the graphics, soccer graphics, otherwise known as Tom Brady's rehearsals. All right, so Greg Olsen's going to be zooming in about 18 minutes time and one of our favorites, Bobby Cannavale.

Yes. He's got a new movie, Get Your Tissues Out, called Ezra. He's in it with Robert De Niro, Ryan Wilson, Vera Farmiga and Rose Byrne.

What a cast. It's in theaters near you nationwide tomorrow and I just love talking with him. He's one of our favorites. The greatest. Bobby's one of our first fill-in celebrity hosts that we did 10 years ago. That's how long we've been at it with him. So wild if we talk about that. Bobby Cannavale, die-hard Yankee fan, die-hard Jet fan.

So maybe that's why the two of us connect. He will be joining us later on in this show as well. And again, there's you 844204, rich number of dollars established. Chris Brockman in his seat. Hey Rich.

DJ Mikey D is in D's nuts. Good to see you. Good morning.

TJ Jefferson, Candles Lit fresh off of AEW Dynamite last night. Oh yeah, it was a party last night. Outstanding. I'm eager to unpack that for you. Absolutely.

And with you. I was at the Angels Yankee game last night. Susie got a hard hat tour of the Intuit Dome.

I was a little jealous everywhere, man. For, you know, the Clippers rolled out a little red carpet for her yesterday. We'll talk about that. She could have taken me with her. She could have. That's true. You have conditional phrasing perfectly nailed there.

Although it would have been very, it would have been very geographically sound Intuit Dome. Yeah. Just walk the. It's not a walk. I mean, it's Los Angeles, you know, walking. I mean, it's probably, it's probably about a mile, right?

It sort of walked in the drive through all that traffic. It goes into a dome, SoFi stadium. Forum. Kia Forum.

That's what it is. All right. All on the same street. All right there. And then the place I get my wings from. I had no idea. That's the fourth location of the City of Champions.

I have no idea. Pepper wet. Fantastic. Top story. Top story.

Top thing for us to talk about right here. Jalen Waddle is a very rich wide receiver, according to many sources. Schefter tweeting this one out this morning. The Miami Dolphins have agreed to a contract extension with Jalen Waddle. Ian Rappaport, my colleague from the NFL media group, also tweeting out this morning. It's a new three-year deal. $84.75 million contract includes $76 million guaranteed. Waddle is now one of the league's top five highest paid wide receivers.

As a matter of fact, let's get these numbers appropriately nailed down for you. The $28.25 million average annual value of the extension, fourth highest in the NFL among wide receivers. Guaranteed money is third behind A.J. Brown's $84 million and Amon Ra's St. Brown's $77 million. And those were the contracts awarded to Amon Ra, St. Brown and A.J.

Brown were awarded to those gentlemen on the day before and the day of the NFL draft this year. So things are popping. So three things leap to mind.

Let's take the first one first. Let's talk about Miami Dolphins and what they're building and what they are building and how what they are building requires them to play in their building when it's January. Because what they are building is a very fast team. This just in, we saw it last year, obviously Devin Achan and Raheem Mostert and Tyreek Hill, you know, for you next gen stat freaks out there, nonstop next gen stats thrown in our direction about how the top speeds reached on a field were all Miami Dolphins and once upon, you know, a couple months, DK Metcalf would pop in there, right? It was either Mostert, Hill, Achan, fastest guys on a field.

And they'd be ticketed in a 25 mile an hour zone. Fast. And then in this year's draft as well, they went out and they drafted a kid out of Tennessee, Jalen Wright. God bless him. Good luck to him getting his way into the starting lineup in some way, shape, or form. He ran the second fastest 40 yard dash of a running back at the combine this year. Kid out of Tennessee. They drafted him. They drafted Malik Washington. Remember I told you about that kid at the draft in our draft shows in Detroit? Top five underrated players in the draft. He had one of the best years in the history of Virginia football. Fast.

Difficult to cover. You look at their depth chart. Their starters, Mostert, Hill, Waddle, Odell Beckham Jr. Johnu Smith is the tight end there that's in their starting lineup right now. And if you remember Johnu Smith prior to the Patriots essentially placing him on the side of a milk carton, he was a fast tight end for the Tennessee Titans.

It would be tough to put him on the ground if he was in front of you. Achan is a backup running back with Jalen Wright, who I just mentioned. He's third on the depth chart. Braxton Barrios is second on the depth chart along with Malik Washington. They are deep and they are fast and Tua is going to get paid. It's going to happen.

Folks will wonder if they're crazy to overpay him but he is the guy who is the trigger man and we have seen if he can stay upright and stay healthy he can be an outstanding quarterback putting the ball where it needs to go for this team to get enough wins under its belt to not only make the playoffs but threaten to win their division and that's the key. They lost too many defenders due to non-contact injuries last year. You could lose track.

You lost track on it. I mean Jalen Phillips is one of them. You talk about Bradley Chubb, he's another one. You talk about this defense and what they are building. Shaq Barrett is now on this team.

This guy once upon a time a Pro Bowl pass rusher. They also changed out defensive coordinators because apparently there was oil and there was water and Vic Vangio was one and the team was the other. We'll see how that can work. They just have to make sure they are not playing in negative 20 degree wind chill weather against the defending Super Bowl champs. They could have played at home against the Buffalo Bills. They lost their last game at home to the Buffalo Bills and they wound up in the middle of the Arctic North in Kansas City. That's it.

That's it. And again we're talking to Sean McDermott later on. A lot of folks think the Bills are ready to get got finally at the top of that division because they did have to change out a lot on the back end of their defense due to cap concerns. They did send Stefan Diggs to Houston.

They did send Gabe Davis his walking papers or his exit visas. He's now in Jacksonville. Those are the two guys that Josh Allen was targeting in all of these terrific years when they were threatening to make the Super Bowl.

It is now a totally different room in the wide receiver room. We'll talk about the Bills perspective later on but for the moment of the Dolphins perspective, this is the time to go and get this division and make sure they do not play a game on the road in the playoffs unless it's if they have to do the AFC Championship game or it's the Super Bowl in New Orleans. And that is exactly the type of game the Miami Dolphins want to do.

Play indoors, play on the turf or play on their own turf in Miami and you come in there and they will run a track meet on you and good luck as Mike McDaniel spends his entire week trying to map up the way that you cannot match up with them and he puts his team in those positions. That's the way the Miami Dolphins can win the Super Bowl this year. They just got to stay healthy and they got to win enough games to not go on the road. Can they win on the road?

Sure. I mean they did threaten the Bills in a snowstorm on a Saturday a couple years ago on NFL Network on a Saturday and I don't remember that but got to play at home. That's number one that I thought of. Number two with Jalen Waddle now being the third highest paid receiver in the National Football League. That's wild. On an annual basis and also having a contract that is 76 million dollars guaranteed and makes them again the fourth highest in terms of NFL wide receivers annual value with third in terms of guaranteed money. What the hell are the Dallas Cowboys and the Minnesota Vikings waiting for? What are they doing? What are they doing? CD Lamb's gonna have to get paid.

Yes. Justin Jefferson is going to have to get paid. Mike Florio our colleague at Pro Football Talk is reporting and is saying that the Vikings while they were trading up trying to trade up for Drake May and the Patriots were saying no thanks and then while they were also holding firm for JJ McCarthy and finally decided to say we can't wait anymore we're moving at one spot from 11 to 10 with the Jets draft JJ McCarthy in between that part of their plan was to trade up to get Malik neighbors and then send Justin Jefferson elsewhere.

Now we don't know Justin Jefferson may be saying listen listen that sounds crazy but Justin Jefferson may be saying listen I want to be paid like a quarterback and his numbers through the first few years of his career are so impressive he set again a record for the best numbers of a wide receiver in the history of the NFL through his first four seasons after just three seasons. That's stupid. It is stupid. It's laughable which is why you laughed.

Right. Okay so you have the ability to say I am so important to a team I understand I don't have the ball in my hands unless the guy who's paid like a quarterback because he is the quarterback gives it to me. I know I'm ball dependent on the guy that's paid like a quarterback but I should be paid like a quarterback and if he is saying that and the Vikings are trying to not set an industry market standard then that's what would cause them to say well let's go get the the latest LSU guy. So that's not that crazy but the fact is is the price is only going up as long as you wait so that may be a reason why Justin Jefferson hasn't gotten the bag yet. We don't know I'm just completely spitballing because clearly he's going to be the highest paid wide receiver in the National Football League when he signs a contract receiving with the Minnesota Vikings. Why is C.D. Lamb placed in the category of needing to see more to decide whether he's the guy to be part of a championship run for the Dallas Cowboys?

What more do you want to say? Exactly if you want to put down on a list if you can make a list of four Jerry Jones who's clearly still reeling from being one and done by the Green Bay Packers. Again that's the storyline of 2024 is how the Cowboys will play under the circumstances that Jerry Jones is placing on the team. At present things can change between now and the season and I assume C.D. Lamb will be signed before the season but that's the one thing I don't understand. If you could put down on a piece of paper the Dallas Cowboys that you can 100% say with certainty have to be part of a championship run for the Dallas Cowboys and their performances are not the reason why they lost in the past few Januarys. That's not it.

That you need to see more from in order to lateral the football before you reach the sideline to use the halfback option analogy that Jerry Jones placed on himself. It would be C.D. Lamb right? Micah Parsons would be another. I would definitely put Dak on there I'm sorry I understand that Dak is underperformed in these games. I mean you want to see what I would put him on there because I know what the way the world works in the NFL somebody else is going to take him and you could put him on that team and you don't think Dak doesn't have you think Dak doesn't have the ability to win a Super Bowl?

No, no I'm talking about Micah Parsons needs to play better in the playoffs because he has disappeared. I'm just stunned that C.D. Lamb has not been signed yet.

What are you waiting on? It's only going to be more expensive. The Eagles just made it more expensive for you. If you don't think part of the signing of A.J. Brown by the Philadelphia Eagles didn't cause Howie Roseman to sit wherever he was for just one split moment to think I got it in before Dallas had to sign C.D. Lamb and I didn't have Jerry Jones set a market for me. I'm setting it for him.

If you don't think he fought that for a split second I think you're out of your minds. And so there's that part of the Jalen Waddell signing. A.J. Brown is in the green and so is Amon Ra St. Brown and so now is Jalen Waddell.

It's time like what are you waiting for? That's two. The third aspect of the signing of Jalen Waddell today to the generationally enriching contract for him again three years 84.75 million dollars annual average value of the extension is fourth amongst wide receivers third in guaranteed money.

That's crazy. Is this ball dependent position. Gotta have it and it's gonna be split amongst two others if it's a three wide receiver set. Four others if it's a three wide receiver set and you got a good tight end. Five others if you got a three wide receiver set and a good tight end and a good running back. Five wide receivers if it's five you see where I'm going with this right okay but one running back who is ball dependent but also is much closer to the quarterback to receive the football spatially logistically and that matters something the reason why I you know and I've been at this as you know for a while talking to so many wide receivers having worked with them Michael Irvin in particular and Dion can be considered one right I mean they can go on Steve Smith I've worked with some greats yes you have I've worked with some greats and I have had conversations with a lot of guys defenders too why are wide receivers the ones who are sometimes the loudest the most brash the most heard from and honestly you know why it's that they are the furthest away from the ball of all the ball dependent positions they're literally the furthest away like hey I'm all the way out here do you see me 20 30 yards down the field I'm open hey I'm all the way out here beyond the numbers and the great ones never not open Chris right correct always always always running backs are right there and they're also the ones for sure in the months of January and February when it's coldest you depend upon the most and even indoors Jonathan Taylor who had to fight tooth and nail to get his deal from the Indianapolis Colts last year had to hold his breath sometimes had to go on the you know the paycheck signers bus and hear stuff like hey listen a meteor can hit us and the NFL will still survive so you're not getting paid I'm paraphrasing but he had to hear all that he finally got paid push comes to shove Houston Texans in their house final drive of the game season literally on the line win or go home time in the final defective playoff game of the regular season who did the Indianapolis Colts lean on the most Jonathan Taylor Super Bowl overtime only happened once before we saw it this past year who did the San Francisco 49ers lean on after they took the ball first Christian McCaffrey is any one of them paid like this now they don't wide receivers take the beating of running backs some of these guys can perform well after 30 but Jalen Waddle and Amon Ross St. Brown and AJ Brown are they are they over 30 so why are these guys paid like this but running backs are not I have no answer for you I don't have an answer for you Derek Henry may wind up being the most important guy on the Ravens this year we might find you know and you can get a ton of the receivers that you might need in the draft look at the Green Bay Packers Devante Adams is off in Vegas right now and Josh Jacobs is apparently sending him text saying hey the wide receivers here are incredible in Green Bay you're thinking of maybe coming back here with the side eye googly eye emoji no room I'm just saying man why aren't they why aren't they paid like this just signing them where are you taking Jalen Waddle on fantasy this year he's not top 15 yeah but this isn't a fantasy play though right you gotta look at this as real football I am looking at a real football there's like 15 or 16 guys who are better than him why is he getting this much money what are the Dolphins doing what are they doing they're trying to win now and get their guys happy now what they're not gonna let him walk it's not gonna let him walk you're gonna pay him as the third highest wide receiver in football what are you nuts who you're talking about Jalen Waddle right that's crazy it's them again it's with the market bears the salary cap goes up and they gotta do it they gotta keep these guys happy I think it's a great idea worry about the later on for later on worry about the later on for later on that comes home to roost at some point not if there's a you look at a trophy in the case you say hello hi Vince let me tell you who's not winning the Super Bowl this year oh is that right yeah okay come on I don't know how you could say that with such certainty right here two days no one in their right mind anywhere other than South Florida thinks the Dolphins are winning the Super Bowl they certainly can they 100% certainly can end up on the end of the season actually I kind of hope it does that'd be kind of cool for you to end up with those videos we got to take a break right here though because Dennis Allen is going to join us next instead of top of in an hour two Greg Olsen is going to join us an hour or two they flip flop yeah that's next this is the Rich Isaac show Dennis Allen of the New Orleans Saints next let's talk sleep number people because quality sleep is so essential that's why the sleep number smart bed is dissolved for your ever evolving sleep needs and the same thing for your partner so you can choose what's right for each of you whenever you like need a bed that's firmer or softer on either side helps you sleep at a comfortable temperature quiets your snores or your partners sleep number does that my sleep number setting is 60 my wife's is 70 10 numbers apart but it truly is the world of difference the 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Power 2023 award information visit jdpower.com slash awards only at a sleep number store or sleep number.com what's up everyone it's reality steve your number one source for all things bachelor nation and reality tv every day i'm giving you the behind the scenes juice and your info on all your bachelor nation stories and also interviewing some of your favorite reality stars my name has been synonymous with spoilers but i'm so much more than that give me a listen the reality steve podcast part of the believe network just search b-l-e-a-v on youtube or wherever you listen the rich eyes and show desk furnished by granger with supplies and solutions for every industry granger has the right product for you call clickgranger.com or just stop by dennis allen's going to be joining us in about seven minutes time greg oles in the middle of the next hour uh in between that i'm going to give you because we're shining the light and being the light uh for all of the nfl teams out there coming up with the best case scenarios for all teams in the nfl i gave you the nfc west yesterday nfc south coming up sure okay great so i will um chat with dennis allen uh first and then tell everybody what i think is best case scenario after he's left the program do you think so yeah well maybe i'm gonna have them win the super bowl why yeah eric in manhattan new york right there in manhattan manhattan what's up eric what's up boys how is everybody doing we're calling in that fine aisle in the aisle are you part of the jury you getting out of the jury room you hopped out of deliberation of cause okay no sir things are a lot more controlled here on the upper east okay eric what's going on upper east well i i'll tell you rich first of all you're you're a phenomenal member of the tribe i know larry david didn't say that but you really are i appreciate you saying that i appreciate you saying that i nailed my hoff torah about 50 years ago 40 years ago so it's all good i did so listen i don't know they're talking about it every year what but the jets are going to be i don't know why we do this to ourselves every year but the jets are going to be better okay it ends tragically okay but the roster on paper to where it looks good i'm sure health is a factor but injuries hurt any team dude did you see did you see rogers did you see rogers have to you know he was running around and he run off to the side yesterday i was just hoping it was like a rock in his shoe or something like that but he sat down and he needed some work on his foot on his right foot you know i mean it's just it's basically you hold your breath you know it's not just holding their breath not just jets fans the entire nfl seven of the first 11 weeks of jet standalone football games and with all due respect to torah taylor that's not they didn't put him there because because of him it's because of rogers and let's see what he's going to do eric so right his health is predicated on not just the health of of of the jet season but everybody in that building to be quite honest with you so you know i think the onus now is on keith carter and despite whatever you know drama there was with the players at the end of last season uh he's been given an incredible amount of talent and clearly the jets see something in keith that yes okay he was the you know the the the architect of derek henry's line on the titans but you know last year okay you got a revolving door but this year boy do you have some talent on that line well i mean and and and thanks for the call eric i mean you went you went really deep on on your your thoughts on the jets clearly uh any anybody's um health of their season is predicated on the health of the offensive line and the jets decided to make sure and they even used it brock bowers was sitting out there that would have been a very nice piece to add to this offense for aaron rogers in his dotage to to to throw to him at the tight end position and instead they went uh fashion week they got more help for the line also smart move and and again we'll see it's all mapped out i mean it was mapped out last year and the football gods decided to say no no thank you uninterested in seeing how this plays out as a matter of fact we won't even give you a quarter we won't even give you two two drives of it so we'll see but thanks for the call right there let's take a break to make sure we are on time for the coach of the new orleans saints dennis allen's next this is the rich eisen show afford anything talks about how to avoid common pitfalls how to refine your mental models and how to think about how to think paula well certainly you can mess up on a million dollars a year it is far less likely than it is on thirty thousand dollars a year right i would meet wonderful people that were struggling with a budget that was super tight it was a hundred percent you need to make more money make smarter choices and build a better life afford anything wherever you listen griddle this growing season get the weber slate rust resistant griddle right now with a carbon steel cooktop that's safe for metal tools it's pre-seasoned and ready to cook on right out of the box it's the griddle that stays ready not rusty this griddle heats evenly edge to edge it reaches up to 500 degrees and the weber works prep cook and store system keeps cooking supplies handy you can carry all the food condiments and utensils you need get fired up for your new weber slate rust resistant griddle joining us right now on the rich eisen show back here after uh quite a respite i don't remember the last time he was on but he's the head coach of the new orleans saints dennis allen how are you dennis i'm doing great rich man i appreciate you having me on i appreciate you coming on uh what what what does a coach do uh at the end of may early june what's life like what are you up to oh man this this is my favorite time of year you know you've gotten through the draft you have your draft pitch you have your uh sign free agents um and we're able to get out here and practice football um you know without the stress of you know winning and losing games we're able to get out here and and really coach and teach and uh it's a fun and exciting time yeah i mean coaching and teaching really that's part of the job still that's that actually wow what what a concept it's actually the best it's actually the best part of the job man that's the that's why we got into doing what we do it's um working with these guys and and trying to uh help improve them look not only as as football players but also as as you know individuals i bet so what what uh what does one coach or teach to professionals at this point in time of the year what are you doing pretty much everything you know we we start every year anew and we start um and teach all the basic fundamentals from uh from step one all the way through steps 10 11 and 12 and and so uh you don't really want to assume anything you want to make sure you're teaching these guys all of them as if it was the first time uh that they've ever heard it and and look offensively there's a lot of things that are the first time that they've ever heard it and so uh there's a huge attention to detail there and yet even though we've been in the same system here since 2017 defensively we still teach everything like it's day one install are you talking hip drop tackles anything like that does that you get that we haven't really we haven't really talked a whole lot about that um i feel like this really you know this isn't that time of year where we're getting into um you know the physical battles and and and and you know the the tackling aspect we're still teaching tackling um and so the hip drop tackle has never been anything that we've we've taught um it hadn't been uh you know something that we've utilized or taught i think as we get into training camp and we get a little closer to playing games we'll start talking a little bit more about uh what that what that looks like uh and like i say quite honestly um i haven't thought a ton about it because that's not a it's not a tackling technique that we've utilized or taught and so um we haven't put a lot of focus on it okay dennis allen here on the rich isin show offensive install with a new oc and clint kubiak what can you shed light on on that front well look i think uh it's been awesome uh the attention to detail uh that that our offensive staff is is put into place i think it's been has been uh really outstanding um i think what we're seeing from our offense is going to help our whole football team you know there's a long time here where you know we saw a lot of the same plays um a lot of the same personnel groupings same motions and i think if you see them year in and year out you know you kind of uh you kind of anticipate what's coming uh and so i think both offensively because it's it's new and then i think defensively because we're seeing a lot of you know different looks um i think it's been greatly beneficial to us how different is it going to be from what saints fans are used to seeing from the obviously all the years of your predecessor being there and having that spill over into your first couple years yeah i think i think probably um probably significantly different um you know i i think you know we've we've been you know a lot of uh what we call 11 personnel you know three wide receivers one tight end in the game um and and i think we're probably going to see a little bit more you know two tight ends in the game we're going to see a little bit more uh you know full back being utilized in the game uh we're still going to have you know some of the things that we've had in terms of drop back passing game and utilizing you know three wide receiver sets and things of that nature but you know i think i think you're going to see a little bit more um you know motion and things like that to try to you know mess with the defense's eyes a little bit so i think it'll be you know significantly different in terms of how we package things look the reality is there's only so many things that you can do from an offensive standpoint in terms of scheme you know there's certain run run plays that everybody runs and and how do we dress them up differently and and and how do we coach it better um you know where our players can execute it better and that's the same thing in the passing game dennis allen head coach of the new orleans saints here on the rich isin show draft night we haven't spoken since then um what was it like to be in the middle of the first round of a draft where quarterbacks went six of the first dozen you're sitting there and i'm sure again you're not you're not in this quarterback game and um unless you were you know what i mean like it kind of is a bit of a mystery what your approach might have been and what it was like to watch all those quarterbacks go right in front of you yeah look the reality is i was kind of excited to see all the quarterbacks go because um at at the spot that we were picking at you know quarterback wasn't a a high priority at that spot um and so when you see those quarterbacks going that means they're pushing some other players right down the board to you and so i felt like this year you know a lot of things kind of lined up for us in terms of how we had players graded on the board and in terms of what our needs were and so obviously offensive tackle was a huge need for us uh we felt like it was a really good draft for offensive tackles um and we felt like you know in particular once the quarterback started going off the board we felt like there was a good chance that uh one of those guys was going to fall to us and and and certainly uh you know that happened and um if you're willing to share i'll ask anyway surprised by the rival in your division eighth overall choosing one of those rookie quarterbacks yeah look i'll be honest with you yeah i was a little surprised that uh that they did that and and yet um you know i think when anytime you identify somebody that you think has a has a chance to be your quote-unquote franchise quarterback um then then i i don't ever think that's a bad move uh to take that player so um yeah certainly i was i was a little i was a little surprised um by that and and and i know that um you know that's a player that they're really one of the two kirk cousins or michael pennix one of the two is not going to be on the field and so that's one less weapon that they have talia se fuonga is the guy that you chose and is he plug and play left tackle for you yeah i think that's the thought process right now is that we're going to start him out on the left side that's where we've been working in the last couple of weeks uh he's looked pretty good over there uh i tell you the thing that i really like about the player i think he's a tough nasty player and i think that's something that we can use up front our offensive line i think offensively you know our ability to be a little bit more physical a little bit more nasty i think is is something that we need to be and you're going to serve more kool-aid on bourbon street i guess now uh now that you drafted that kid in second round what'd you like what did you like about him what do you think listen i i thought i thought um well probably one of the one of the smarter more instinctive players that i've seen uh in a while and so just i really like the fact that um you know he had some inside outside flexibility in terms of the corner position i loved his intelligence and his instincts um and i think look you have to be smart to play in a nick savon defense and i thought he you know did that extremely well and lastly in terms of your draft fifth round you kind of hung out third and fourth rounds best you could um through the draft and then we were all wondering sitting up there on the nfl network draft set where do you draft set where would spencer rattler wind up and it wound up him going to your team what is your plan for the kid at quarterback look i think this i think the plan is is that he comes in and really basically uh competes and and we'll let the cards kind of play out as they as they do i think we were excited about the fact that we got into the fifth round and and and he was still there i think you know from where we had him graded on our board uh we felt like this player was probably uh more of a second or third round talent and the fact that he was still sitting there in the in the fifth round i think a lot of that has to do with the fact there were six quarterbacks already taken in this draft uh and that's a little bit of a unique position in terms of the draft so the fact that he fell all the way to us to the fifth round we're really excited about that he's got tremendous talent uh you know and now it's just about getting him in here uh teaching him the things that we want him to to know and be able to execute the things that we want him to be able to execute a few minutes left with saints head coach dennis allen here on the rich eisen show uh my crew if you wouldn't mind popping up the schedule on the screen when you saw this for the first time you thought what coach what'd you think well look i thought i thought you know the the the beginning part of the season was going to be a tough stretch um you know opening up with a division opponent uh at home and then having to go you know on the road to dallas uh we got kansas city on a monday night and come back and play tampa bay then thursday night versus denver i thought that was you know that early part of the season was going to be a really tough stretch uh you know and then i looked at you know the end of the season there's a couple of potential cold weather games that we got to be you know ready to play in you know at new york and and at green bay late in the season do you like to buy week 12 well look i i don't really get a choice in it so you get preferences you're a human being you know i mean you you have rights yeah and perfect world scenario you'd love for that to be right around you know week eight and yet it really kind of depends on how the season plays out you know sometimes if you're on a roll you don't really want that buy or or sometimes you have some injuries and you may need to buy a little bit earlier so um yeah i think much better than having it week you know 15 or 16 well you knew you would you there the uh sean payton appearance in the super dome would be in front of a nationally televised audience i mean you had it that you couldn't have been as surprised about that one right no i wasn't shocked i knew it was going to be a prime time game i just didn't know which prime time game it was going to be um whether it was going to be a thursday night game or whether it was going to be a monday or sunday night game i knew it was going to be prime time guess i'm kind of excited about it being a a thursday night game that's a lot less hoopla on a shorter week i guess um and so you know we'll kind of get in and go go get the gameplay you know what it's what do you think it's going to be like that night in the super dome coach oh i think it's going to be a great atmosphere um as it usually is for for a thursday night game um and look i mean obviously with with with sean you know bringing the uh denver broncos in here his first uh time back in the super dome against the saints i mean certainly there's going to be an electric atmosphere and and uh a lot of eyes will be on that game all right last one for you and your if you don't mind me um putting uh guardrails on this question you can't give me the coach's answer that you just gave me a minute ago of like you you have no saying it and it is what it is you can't you can't give me the it is what it is on this one okay i can't but i won't i am telling an nfl coach what he can and cannot do i understand that's a third rail subject matter listen uh the news that apparently the players association is coming up with an idea to reconfigure the off season and potentially put um otas in in a ramp up period in june to have july being filled with practices do do you like that idea coach um well i think that's a two-fold uh question there rich um i i think i think that i think what we're what we're able to do during this time of year uh i think is is really good teaching environment i think it's a great teaching environment um what i don't really like about where we're at um in terms of the calendar i don't really love that there's a five-week we put in all this work and then there's a five-week period where you know we don't get an opportunity to spend any time with our players and so uh i guess i'd probably rather see it um somewhere in between where we have some time you know during the quote-unquote off-season time where we get a chance to work with a lot of these young players that need the work um and then maybe shorten up that that break in between and and have a little bit more time to kind of ramp up uh for training camp but that would be that would be kind of you know the way i would see it i know this i know there's a ton of work that has to be done to get ready for training camp uh and a ton of work that has to get done uh in preparation for the season and so i know you got to find time to do that work um you know there's no shortcuts to success and in this game that we play and so um you know certainly we've got to we've got to find the time if we decide to change something we've got to find the time to get the work in so you're the five-week period you're referring to to be clear is the one that's upcoming mid-june all the way to the beginning of training camp when rookies report in july is that the five-week yeah typically there's about five weeks there that um you know it's kind of a dead period uh where you know the players not necessarily the rookies you got a couple extra weeks uh you know you can keep the rookies an extra week you can bring them back a week earlier um so there's kind of a three-week window where they're on their own uh there's really basically a five-week window from the end of ota's or mini camp to the start of training camp and and uh look i think you know if we were able to shorten that in some form or fashion without losing you know the off season i think uh would be something i'd be in favor of okay and then the last request of you crystal balling which again i know is another thing i don't i'm treading lightly asking an nfo coach to crystal ball it the december 29th home date with the las vegas raiders how's your quarterback going to feel about that one would you say and you as well i might add i would imagine he's going to feel uh good about that he's going to feel excited about that you know my expectation is um you know that at some point during that time frame we're we're trying to get ourselves ready to make a playoff run and so i think that's got a chance to be a big game in terms of trying to uh set ourselves up for the best position that we can so there's no time for revenge even for you none of that well look i i can't i'd be lying if i said that those games don't mean just a little bit more um you know but uh but really what you got to focus on during those times is focus on all the things that you have to do to try to win a game regardless of who the opponent is so worrying too much about who the opponent is you kind of get out of your out of your uh your your wheelhouse a little bit in terms of being able to be successful so no special cigar set aside just in case is what you're saying i don't think we need i'm not a big cigar smoker anyway go ahead sir look at you dennis allen thanks for the time i appreciate it greatly appreciate it thanks man right back at you that's you that's the head coach of the new orleans saints dennis allen right here on the rich isin show interesting stuff right there i thought uh certainly since um he he would like to shorten the period between no activities in june and the beginning of training camp that would remove you know his vacation time john brings his skewed sense of humor jeff brings tips to cut strokes off your next round together it's those weekend golf guys they'll pay a lot of money to pxg and tilas and calloway and on and on right how many yards you think you're gonna pick up with that extra i think i can get an extra five to ten what if i give you 15 to 20 you pay me more just teaches on a sliding scale those weekend golf guys the podcast part of the believe network just search b-l-e-a-v on youtube or wherever you listen