JC Tretter: Excited To See Saquon Barkley Getting A New Contract

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I love how they handled it. From the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Rogers lobs one back right corner of the end zone. What would be your advice for Aaron Rodgers, Steve?

It's really tough Rich because you don't want to bounce around the league. Earlier on the show, Prime Video TNF analyst Andrew Whitworth, still to come, NFLPA Chief Strategy Officer J.C. Tretter, plus latest news and more. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

That's right, our number three of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. The Chief Strategy Officer, former president of the NFL Players Association. J.C. Tretter's going to join us in the middle of this hour. He's going to chop it up with him.

Just talking about what's going on in the NFL with one of the top officials of the Players Union. We've already chatted with Andrew Whitworth. Daniel Jeremiah is going to be our first guest tomorrow. I know we were promising him today, but for conditions that we did not foresee, he's going to be joining us on Wednesday. And I'm intentionally vague on all of that.

844-204-Rich is the number to dial here on the program. So, as if the Luca trade with the Mavericks wasn't tough enough for the Mavericks, from jump, with fans acting emotionally, they're upset that one of their favorites, their all-time favorites, who they thought they'd be rooting for the rest of Luca's career, being sent away for somebody six years his senior, with an injury history in Anthony Davis and for not much else, to be very honest, and all due respect to everyone else involved in the trade. Tough pill for the Mavericks fans to swallow. Then came Anthony Davis's first game in which he, on brand, got hurt. And not just a little bit.

He's still out. And as if that's not enough. Just yesterday, Coop came home and he was telling Susie and I about how season tickets are going up in Dallas. You see that?

Yeah, eight percent. And so... Okay. I guess while they're already pissed, you just, you know, keep going.

I don't know. But apparently it wasn't like straightforward in an email, like, hey, your tickets are going up. It was a renewal notice. And when you went into your account to pay your upcoming bill, that's when you noticed, oh, hey, that's so higher than it was last month.

Okay. So there's that. Some customer service issues in Dallas. Then comes today's news that Kyrie Irving's injury that he suffered last night is a season ending one, torn ACL.

Shams being the one to report that one. And then another tweet that he had that caught my eye is how Kyrie is averaging almost 40 minutes a game over his last 10 games, which is a stretch that began right before that Luca AD trade. And he's played the most minutes in the NBA from February 4th to March 2nd, 37 or more minutes in nine of his last 10 games entering Monday. So the NBA is not, Mavericks aren't just losing their star for the rest of this year. And then who knows how long next year, but the NBA is losing one of its most dependable stars. Who's out there not getting rested, load managed, playing back to back nights.

He's not playing tonight. Well, that's coming next year because he's going to be rehabbing off a knee and all that. What a shame that one of the best and most reliable for the team and the league, no matter what you feel about Kyrie Irving. You know, I was there as you know, watching the Mavs and the Lakers downtown last week, he was stupendous. He was stupendous.

He and Clay were keeping that game close all the way to the end when Luca was triple doubling and LeBron came close to it. And now, I mean, one of the worst trades short term, short term, worst trades in terms of shocking the fans in terms of return you're getting for the star player you're sending away at the point of his career, you're sending him away. And then the guy you get has an injury in his first game after everyone's wondering why you're trading for someone with an injury history. He gets hurt in his first game. He's still not playing.

Then you're telling fans when they open up their bills, season tickets are going up for renewal. And then the most reliable and best player that you have that's trying to keep things afloat for you in that final playoff spot in the play-in tournament, 10th in the West, trying to keep things alive just so Anthony Davis can come back and redeem this trade, if not this season. He's hurt for now for the rest of the year.

Tell me as big a nightmare. Oh, and then just on the flip side, Luca has been nothing but spectacular in the last week plus ever since he seemed to be over the shock of the trade and he and LeBron are unstoppable right now. And everybody else around him is energized and playing together and playing better. And they're only going to get better. And it seems like LeBron is, you can't even say re-energized because he was already re-energized all year long, but now you could see Luca is re-energized in a way since coming to LA, you know, they're the two seed right now.

Is this the worst trade ever? In sports? But you can't say that yet until we see what happens next year. But for this year, with the Mavs essentially now toast. Yeah, as Sean said, AD and his team, they're going to have a lot of conversations and one of the options is to shut it down for the year. You know what I mean?

Like get yourself in the lottery and see if you can strike gold. Seriously. And this may be the best news for the Suns who can't get anything going, to the point where Durant was just called it an embarrassment that what's going on in Phoenix. That's the team that can maybe sneak in as a 10 seed. And what an absolute disaster since the minute Niko Harrison lifted the phone, apparently called Rob Palenka and said the words Luca Doncic into the phone. And the Lakers have won 16 of 19? How's that sound? Can't make it up, huh?

Can't make it up. Honestly, like Luca and LeBron are combining per night. It seems like in all seriousness, close to 60 points, sometimes like what, 25 assists and sometimes 30 rebounds. And these are, I'm not kidding. Like that's what they're providing just the two of them.

And I should know because I have them both in our fantasy league. It's been unbelievable. Really? Yeah.

I didn't notice that. Yes you did. You're taking, we're playing each other this week. Oh, what's the score of that right now? You're killing me.

Got it. Hey man, I haven't talked about it nearly as much as I have in my past years. You know, that's our fantasy nightmare. NBA nightmare is what this Mavs trade, their idea was. And they're saying, what now? Now did our friend Sam Amick say that he heard that the Mavs were afraid he was going to fall apart in the next five years?

Well, guess what? Luca now it's just like, you know, moved to Southern California. Your hair looks better. Your skin looks better. Yeah.

You drop a few LBs. Look at Luca right there. Look how skinny his arm looks right there. You knew it. You knew it. You knew he would come here and have some sort of a renewed sense. You knew it. We all knew it. This is the one place he could not go TJ. Never, ever. So Boston for me would have been equally as awful.

And now there's going to be a 77 jersey in 15 years hanging up at Staples. If he decides to stay. Okay. Rich, we don't know that. We don't know that.

That's true. We can't 100% say that Miami is quite the lure. You know what's a pretty good lure? The left coast.

The sunset. I mean, I get it. We're not leaving.

I realize you're not an ex anymore, but I don't know if you know this is a great deal of people that don't like this place. I understand that having never been here. I get it. I get it.

There's a lot of people never had a 60 degree day in February when it's 12 where they live. I understand that. And, and the States where both Stafford and Luca came from just voted red. And then they come out here and guess what?

It doesn't matter. It's an incredible place to live and it's a great place to live. It's expensive, but if you're making, if you're making nine figures like these guys, you know, I'm barely holding on. I ain't J. Felly. You know what I mean?

But I still love it here. Breaking news, breaking news out of the national football league. The Jets have released Devante Adams.

I got to be honest with you. When I saw over the weekend, while I'm at the combine that the Jets are seeking to trade Devante Adams, I'm like, what are they even attempting to do here? What are they doing? You know, he was owed $40 million next year, but everyone knows you're going to release him. You know, what do you, what do you, you want to just make sure you're, you got a top weapon for Tarod Taylor or, or whoever you were drafting.

I don't know. It was a nice try that they made it seem like we're going to trade them. We're going to do right by him, but they did right by him by, by releasing him. And now Allen Lazard has been given an option to seek a trade as the, there's a new Aaron in town and his name is Glenn. And I have no problem with this.

Again, 0.0 problem with this. You, the last thing you wanted to do, the last thing you wanted to do is own last year. If you're the new coaching staff by running it back from last year, one more time. And like I said, it made sense for the Jets to go get Aaron Rogers and then make him as comfortable as possible by getting him the system he wants by getting him the play caller.

He wants by getting him all the weapons that he wants. It made complete and total sense to remake the franchise in his image. And then his Achilles popped typical jet stuff. And then, you know, firing the coach, firing the GM again, the coach, the previous coach tried it with Zach Wilson, right?

Didn't work. And they survived that purge. And then Rogers made sense. And it now makes sense to say, we are starting from absolute scratch.

And it's up to Aaron Glenn to tell any of the guys in the locker room, whether it's Quinnen Williams or whomever, I also heard that he spoke to both Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner from jump. Good for you. That's exactly what he needed to do, because those are the young Turks that he needs buying in young Turks buying in. Whoa.

Yeah. They want them all. And the Vontae Adams on the market, guess what is a heck of a free agent wide receiver.

He just, he just leaps to the top of the list. 198 receiving yards. He had against Jacksonville after 109 against Miami. I mean, he still got it and maybe he'll go wherever Aaron Rogers goes, but I totally agree with this move that the jets made here. What happened? What do you got guys? Breaking news.

What I tell you before we are going to remember the 2024 NFL season as the year of Saquon Barkley and the Eagles are rewarding Saquon with a two year, $41 million contract extension, making him the highest paid running back in NFL history. It's just brilliant. Per Adam Sheft. It's brilliant. It's brilliant. It just shows everyone in the locker room, you ball out here, you give us a championship, you get paid and everybody around the league is trying to figure out how they can do it without getting capped. And you know, I, I, I just can't tell you enough how amazing that is and how terrific that is. And you pay people who are generationally talented and great on the field and great off of it.

The ones who are absolutely the perfect embodiment of the team mentality that you want, despite him having as many reasons to put as many eyes in his name as possible. And kudos to Howie Roseman for going, I don't care if he's a running back at all, I'm going to reset that market. And you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to make sure my guy's happy. And I, I know how I can figure out who the next people in line are, who might be, where's my stuff. I'll make that work too. Cause I can draft my head off and he's now extended. So he doesn't have to go into this next year wondering if he's going to be here.

What do they feel about me here? Welcome to the party pal. You want to three Pete too. You want to go for a three Pete. This is how you do it.

This is how you do it. And then you don't care that it's a running back. Cause this running back leaps backwards over people and then notices ball boys on the wrong side of the fence during the parade and picks him up and makes him part of the team. That's the stuff that he does. He celebrates when the third stringers go in and get a touchdown when an extra touchdown might mean something to his MV, because he celebrates when the backup guy goes for another 50 yards, even though that 50 yards could stick it to the giants or could give him 300 in a game doesn't matter to him because he is second to none. And again, he doesn't care if it's a running back spot because guess what? That's going to take a grenade and lob it into the rest of the league who have to figure out how to pay their running backs. Cause he just reset the market.

Oh man. Great for them. And you know, Coop was asking me, why are they releasing Darrius? Why are they releasing?

I don't know if one means the other, but figure it out. And that's the way you three Pete Hertz running it back with Saquon and AJ Brown. And he signed Devante Smith early. Do it early.

My God, do it early. Ask the Bengals about not getting it done early with Jamar chase. Ask the Cowboys who just had an already reduced CD lambs contract this hour to create cap space. That's my first blush reaction to the Saquon news.

That's why they have a parade. And that's why Howie Roseman bleeds for the city and he'll take the beer off the dome and keep on ticking. Well done Howie. 8 4 4 2 0 4 Rich number to our NFL PA chief strategy officer, eight year veteran of the national football league, fourth year president of the league as well.

JC Tretter. When we come back on the rich eyes and show this episode is brought to you by Navy federal credit union at Navy federal. Our mission is to help members of the military veterans and their families achieve their financial goals. That's why we offer great savings and investing options like our certificates certificates come with sky high rates and some even have the flexibility to add money any time during your term, whether you're saving for a home, a new car or your future, our options could help you get there.

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Hey, Rich Eisen here. I hear from a lot of business owners like you about the work it takes to pursue your passions. So I know how important it is to have the tools that can help keep you moving forward. And with access to world class business and travel benefits, the American Express Business Platinum card helps you take your business to the next level. It offers a flexible spending limit that adapts with your business. Plus, you'll have complimentary access to more than 1400 airport lounges worldwide, including the Centurion lounge, so you can keep running your business while you're on the go. See how the Amex Business Platinum card gives business owners like you the tools and rewards to do more of what you love. Not all purchases will be approved. Terms apply.

Learn more at American Express dot com slash Amex Business. So if you're a general manager in the in the NFL radio audience will rejoin a couple of minutes. That's all ring in J.C. Tretter of the NFL Players Association. If you're a GM in the NFL and you've got to pay a running back, they see your brand of bean, right?

James Cook won at 15. Now he's going to want more because Saquon just broke the 20 million dollar a year barrier at the position for the first time ever. I mean, I mean, McCaffrey came close, but now Saquon's, if you will, jumped over backwards over it. Is that what your response is to any running back? Say run for 2000 yards, leap backwards over people. Give me a parade and I'll pay you that.

Yes, that's the answer, right? I mean, sure. Brandon made a better rush to get that 15 deal done fast. Unless he's just like, I'll go with Ty Johnson. I'll go with Ray Davis. I'll go with, you know, any like there were a ton of really good looking running backs at that combine. That might be the best running back class ever, but what's the fastest?

It's never been that fast. Yeah, but still, I mean, and Gente didn't even work out. Known commodity and James Cook, you know what you got, right? And so, you know, that might be the answer from the GMs to running backs that are looking to get paid or, you know, what if Joe Burrow doesn't get his guys and how, cause he basically, he told right. Didn't he tell, you know, the part of my take guys like, Hey, the Eagles re sign everybody.

So I would like that too here. And now how he's like, okay, we're going to pay Saquon early top, top, top of the line. We're going to reset the market. And he re signed Devante Smith early and he signed AJ Brown again and he got Jalen Hurts done. And he's still doing that. You're not, this is supposed to what you're supposed to do with a guy on his first contract. Jalen Hurts got paid and he's figuring all this stuff out. How does that get handled in other spots in the NFL?

That's part of the pressure that Rosamond's putting on them too. Back on the Rich Eisen Show radio network. I'm sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk, furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.

Call clickrainger.com or just stop by. The NFL players association team report cards came out last week, which spurred this guest booking joining us here from the NFL PA, the chief strategy officer, JC Tretter here on the Rich Eisen Show. Good to see you, JC. How are you? Good seeing you. I'm doing well. Good to see yourself. So I imagine one of your chief pieces of strategy, JC, was to have running backs get paid $20 million a year.

So check that box. Congratulations. Knocking it out of the park. So far, so good. I imagine that makes you very happy what you heard about from Philadelphia.

Correct? Absolutely. I think you were hitting it right where people talk about that running backs are replaceable. I don't think anybody after watching what Saquon did last year would say he's replaceable. And I think that's the point that running backs have been making for a long time is that there are difference makers at the positions that you can't just plug and play somebody else.

And I think everybody's excited to see Saquon deservingly so get rewarded for that. Yeah. And I guess like how do you handle this? How does the union handle this subject matter? For instance, you know, we just mentioned how very talented the running back group looked like in Indianapolis. They will be future union members come, you know, late April, right? Officially when they're drafted. So they would be the ones replacing these guys.

I understand that. It's just paying the guys, getting these guys paid in a manner commensurate to their value that they show on the field. How does the union handle that conundrum?

JC? I think this is a big first step, right? Is having somebody reset the market. It's something we hadn't seen for a while where usually you see a bunch of players take a step up to the top of the market and then nobody eventually comes and breaks the glass ceiling above it. And that starts that stretch of then pushing up that entire market.

So I think this is the beginning of that trend hopefully. But again, a huge well-deserved payday for Saquon for everything he's done in Philadelphia this year. Right.

And doing it early is one of the ways that you can do that. That's a tool, if you will, in a general manager's tool kit and building a roster. So is the franchise tag. What's your opinion of the franchise tag, JC?

I think player movement, you always want. Guys want to be able to get to free agency and get fair market value. But it's something we have in the CBA right now.

And I think that was one of the running backs a year or two ago. We're getting frustrated with a lot of them got tagged. That's a tool management has right now in the CBA.

It's been in there for a long, long time. I think anytime we can try to get players any position, again, it's not just a running back issue. The franchise tags affects all positions. But the more we can get players to the open market to be able to be bid on and to be bid up will help the entire market rise as well. That's the free economics of our business work.

Yeah, sure. And then just before we get to the report cards, because I'm curious as to how this all comes about. How have you found a difference in the rookie class now that players can get paid in college, JC? Have you noticed a difference of how a rookie comes into the National Football League and expects to be paid or maybe shows up to work in a manner that is entitled? I mean, because that is a conversation I heard at the combine quite a bit.

JC, I think the NIL market is still ever shifting and ever evolving. And it's something everybody's trying to get their arms wrapped around and understand where this game's going. I think there are some positives to it.

You could argue there are some drawbacks to it. I think the players bouncing around the development of them physically is impacted by that. But also, I think guys understanding that this is a business from a young age or a younger age is better. Usually that happened once you became pro. I always said like, yeah, you start off as a little eager and your dad's coaching you and then you go to high school and it's your geometry teacher or your geography teacher who's coaching you and you view them as kind of friends who are looking out for you or loved ones. Then you go to college and it's the coach that sits on your couch and says, hey, I'm going to treat, you know, talks to your mom and says, I'm going to treat him like a son of mine. It was always kind of looked at. And then once you got to the league, you realize this was a business and everybody was out to use this as their job and their profession. And I think now the players at a younger age in college understanding that might be beneficial to their careers and the union in general going forward.

So I think there's there's positive and negatives, but it's ever shifting. It's a it's a landscape that I think three months from now we'll have a different conversation about to what would your NIL deal have been in Cornell, J.C., back in the day? I think I probably got like buy one bagel at Cornell Bagel and get one free would probably be the most they would offer me.

And that might have been pushing it. I thought you would go poor man's pizza at the hot truck behind the U-Haul, J.C. Wings over Ithaca. They might give me like buy six, get one free wings over Ithaca.

I think that's probably the size of my town or my worth to the Cornell Big Red football team. Is the hot truck still there? Because I gained about 20 pounds one summer at Cornell Summer College eating the poor man's pizza at the hot truck behind the U-Haul. I think Louie's lunch truck closed down, but I think maybe the hot truck's still there. But yeah, it wasn't good for me.

It wasn't good for me whatsoever. But going from Cornell to the National Football League and now with the Players Association, J.C. Tretter here on the Rich Eisen Show, what does the Chief Strategy Officer do? What is your title? What do you do with the with the P.A.? Yeah, a lot of it's continuing the initiatives I've been working on as president, the report cards, some of the other issues. And then we'll also be building out a data analytics function at the P.A. So using data to drive a lot of our decisions instead of using anecdotes or, hey, I heard this from a couple of guys, but this is what we think is happening. I think we have to have a better grasp of what actually is happening based off data. And that will help us both educate our membership, but also make more informed decisions around the CBA or free agency or anything that that involves players and what they care about.

So the data, like what sort of data are you referring to? Yes, we have contract data and getting a better grasp where markets are going. I think that helps educate both the agents, but also the players. I think that's something we can do.

We can educate both of them and just help them be a resource or be a resource for them. I think when it comes to some health and safety data, I think the more access to data we get, the better. That's something our executive director, Lloyd Howe, brought up in his State of the Union address at the Super Bowl was getting more access to that data. Some of it we get, I would say you would say access to, but it's de-identified data. So they put a graph up there and say, here's the data, but you don't know what the the accesses are and you don't know what the points are.

It just looks like something my kids would drop for me and I'd hang up behind me. So I think the more access the day we get, the more we can dive into some of these issues around health and safety, around compensation, around revenue that will then get us in a better position to advocate for our players. So tell me about the data behind the team report cards here, because we saw the grades. A lot of people saw the grades and that's a lot of grist for Mills for sure, which we'll dive into a little bit.

But what is the data gathering? Yeah, so this is the third year that we've done this. This year we had 1695 players respond with full report card or full surveys.

That's 77% of our membership ended up responding. And it gives us a really good look into each player's team and how they interact with their facility on a day to day basis. And again, this isn't about wins and losses. As you can tell, there's nothing connecting teams that win versus teams that not. It's not like the teams that win are in the top.

But that's somewhat the point, right? Like we want to know how the players feel or are treated on a day to day basis in their facilities. And we've broken it out into several categories, really basing it off how players interact with their building. You come in, you grab your breakfast, you go to the locker room, then you go get treatment in the training room, you work out in the weight room, all the different areas you interact with and the staffs that staff those areas, we want to know how they're doing. And the good news is after year three, we're seeing major improvements across the league. And I don't think we can claim that they're because of the report cards.

I think it matches up timeline wise. But in the end, what our job is, or what our goal is, is a union is to see ever rising standards in the league, which what we are seeing, we're seeing teams make major improvements. You look at a team like the Washington commanders who had been 32nd overall the first two years, now jump up to 11th. And all that was done wasn't knocking down the facility and putting $50 million in. They reinvested in the food program. They added some things for the families. They changed how they travel. They brought in a new head coach. Like all of these things made giant changes, which shot them up the overall rankings, which again, is great for our guys that we can see such improvements in just a single year. Yeah. There was also another change there. You didn't mention JC that might've meant something or two or a million different ways.

You know, your ownership changing. I think Josh, Josh Harris said, uh, one of my, one of my favorite quotes, uh, I'm not an F minus guy. He said after year two, um, and he lived up to that, he is definitely not an F minus guy. I think his players felt that, uh, and he responded and made so many things better around that building and just going there for our team visits.

You could feel the energy just different from previous years. A lot of credit goes to Josh. A lot of credit goes to Dan Quinn and his staff, uh, and the players there too, for, for having such an amazing year. But again, that's, that's the goal of, of these report cards is to make sure players have a look into what's going on at other buildings and make sure they understand what their standards are, how their team's treating them versus other teams.

Uh, so it's been a really valuable tool for us for, for three years now. Yeah. I mean, uh, you know, in terms of correlating grades to winning on the field, you said that, you know, those are not really correlated. Uh, the super bowl champs got an F in team travel.

Um, and I guess I know John, Josh, um, you know, Harris said, he's not an F minus guy. They, he got an F for the locker room, uh, Patriots getting an F for team travel. I mean, part of that is from what we heard, no wifi and ashtrays on an, on an antiquated aircraft, JC, do you, is your, is your intention to, uh, for lack of a better phrase, embarrass the franchise into fixing that sort of stuff or, or what, or do you, or do you actually talk to the Patriots about this sort of thing, um, in advance of the cards coming out, you know? Yeah.

It's not a, it's not a public shaming. I think what we'd like to see is what, what Josh took it as is shining a light on the issues that the players are experiencing. Uh, and then, you know, the, the ownership group or the coaches or the staffs then can, um, figure out ways to improve those areas. And that's what we saw with the commanders.

We saw that for a team like the Falcons too, who made major large jumps. Um, you know, in the end, it is a very hard thing when you're a player and you have an issue going on at the facility or something doesn't feel right. Uh, it is a big ask to say, walk up to ownership and tell them what they're doing is not good enough. Um, and if that's the expectation, I think you probably don't get a lot of feedback from ownership or for ownership.

If, if that's the expectation is that you're going to have a, a player who goes up to their, their head boss and says, Hey, you're not living up to your end of the bargain. So I think what this is is really giving a candid feedback, um, and pointing out to areas where they can make huge differences. And again, we're not talking about, um, you know, to, to Josh Harris's Josh didn't have to knock down that facility to make giant improvements. Uh, instead Josh picked a lot of the, you would say the, the softer skills and the softer issues, uh, around the staffing, around the food, around the travel. Uh, and it made a giant difference for his team and how they interacted with the facility or how they felt taken care of. Um, and that, that too is the goal. Do you hear from Woody Johnson after the jets give him an F the only ownership grade with that?

I have not, I've not heard from, from Woody. These are things too that we would love to have that type of dialogue with, with teams, um, both from a high level head coach ownership side, but also from the individual staff levels too, where what, what this has proven over three years is that the staffs at these teams want to do good work. They want to help out the guys. They want to give a good, um, work environment for the players. And sometimes they have questions, um, on how we can do that better. Um, what are guys looking for?

How can I do my job better? Uh, they want to ask those questions. Um, there are some things we're not allowed to talk to interview teams about, uh, without the league being involved in that, that causes some issues. Uh, but that's something we would love to be a resource in those discussions to these teams.

Um, because in the end we all should be wanting the same thing, right? Like we, we want the players to be taken care of because healthier, more taken care of players will then perform better on the field, which is better for all of us when the product's better, because that means everybody's bringing in more money. Like there, there's all things that we should be, be working together on to make these improvements. Um, but that's, that's a struggle now is how we can do that, how we can have those, uh, those conversations with the teams.

Yeah. Locker room, training room, training staff, weight room, strength coaches, team travel, head coach ownership. Those are the eight categories in which you asked your membership to vote on.

Uh, based on, I can tell only three teams had an a in every single, um, category, whether it's the actual letter minus or plus Vikings dolphins and Raiders. Um, does this affect free agency destinations? Do you think, do, do players use this as a resource when they're going about their business about where to go?

JC? I, I think it, it's probably, there's a lot of factors in free agency, right? Like it's not like you have a, depending on who you were for myself, it's not like I had 32 teams asking me to come play for him when I was, when I was playing.

So you already have a limitation and then it comes down to what your offer is, what you're looking for, where the, like, there's a ton of variables. Um, I think the most valuable part of these has been peeling back the curtain on the player experience. So I remember my, my first year I was talking to a player and I was like, Hey, that doesn't look like your, your team travel is really up to standard across the league. And they're like, what do you mean by that? Uh, and I was like, you guys have roommates on the road. And he was like, other, other players get to have their own room. I was like, yeah, most, most other teams give you your own room.

And I was like, also you guys don't get to sit first class. The coaches sit first class and he was a way other teams let their players sit first class. And you never really got that information before the scorecards went out. The only way you would learn that was if you signed a free agent or you traded for somebody who came from a team that was doing things differently, would that word start to spread? So I think the really valuable part of this is allowing everybody at their teams to see at what standard they're being treated or where they fall. Hey, if we're one of three teams that aren't offering this, that, that kind of says something about your team that, you know, most of the other teams are willing to offer that to its players other than them. So I think you're really peeling back the curtain and giving them access to the information is the, the valuable part.

All right. In the few minutes I have left with you, uh, JC Tretter, NFL PA chief strategy officer. I want to talk with you about quarterback player development, because I think this league's got a problem with it. Uh, with this subject matter, there's too many quarterbacks, second, third stringers that when they get out, there are not nearly as up to speed or have the experience necessary to help a team win or bridge a gap between weeks that quarterbacks are hurt.

Um, we're seeing it more and more and more. And listen, I know when I first started with NFL network 22 years ago, there were a bunch of teams that said, uh, these voluntary workouts are really mandatory and you as a union needed to do something about it. And I think you have, but it just seems that there are less, there's less and less time that guys can be in the building.

There's less and less time, which guys can be in a playbook. There's less and less time in which practices and reps can be given to, uh, backups that can, might need to be called upon. And I'm wondering what you think of this subject matter as a union. Uh, cause the last thing you want as a union member to go out there unready. Cause that's the way a career can get destroyed. JC. Yeah.

And not to turn this around on you and interview you, but I got, I got a question on that too. I feel like more so than ever, the, the top, top of the market or like the, the top quarterbacks, there's more of them than ever before. Um, where we're, we're seeing more really competent quality quarterback play from the starters.

I get your question about the, the, the backups, but I feel like that also has always been somewhat an issue. Like the quarterback position is the toughest position in sports. It is both from a mental and physical standpoint. Uh, being that highly skilled and capable is very hard.

Um, so I, I would love to, I would want to dive more into and look back and see where we're trending. I feel like that's always been an issue too, where, um, the old, the old saying, if you've got two quarterbacks, you got none. Like you're never really expecting, um, the backup to be on the same level as your star, especially if you have a really good one.

So there's always going to be a little bit of a knock. Um, but there's a bunch of different ways to look at player development overall. Um, so, uh, I think there's a level of football readiness that always plays in a factor of getting ready for the season. There's a physical level of readiness that plays into it. And I think there are some things we should look at overall when it comes to the off season and training camp is how do we.

Thread the needle of doing both. How do we make the off season valuable, uh, and training camp valuable to get players to develop and become better players, but also be more physically ready. Uh, we've continued to work on injury rates, uh, and work on number of soft tissue injuries.

I think there's still more work to be done there. So I think we need to look at more of a, uh, a full package or full picture of what we can do to make sure the product we're putting on the field is as high level as we can. Uh, and that is preparing players to be ready to go out there, but also making sure that the, the truly generational talents, uh, don't unnecessarily get hurt.

Uh, and that comes with preparedness too. So I think it's a two pronged issue to make sure we've got the best product on the field. No, listen, uh, I, I, I always, I'm, I'm still scratching my head over why, well, I'm sure it was money, you know, why NFL Europe got shuttered JC. I speak to this bunch of people. I work with Kurt Warner, who says his time in the arena league and the NFL Europe got him ready for his magic carpet ride, 99 season, you know?

Um, and it was with Kurt, not just as an example, a couple of years ago, I'm in a, I'm in a meeting, a pre-broadcast meeting in London with Mike Vrabel with the Titans. And I asked him how well that's what Levis is doing. He shrugged his shoulders. He goes, I don't know. I mean, we, we, we can't get him reps during the week, you know, and, um, he, he hardly got to play in the preseason.

And so I have no idea. And, and he was one Ryan Tannehill inch moment away from having to play Will Levis and win games with, uh, uh, a roster full of veterans that, that were depending on the quarterback spot. So it, it, you know, it just seems that the way things are set up right now, um, it is not, it is not, uh, a successful plan in place right now for crucial moments to be met by, as you said, the most difficult position to evaluate and develop JC. Yeah, no, I'm with you again. I think we, we need to look at how we can improve that overall. Um, and I think we're, again, that's another thing we all should be aligned on, right? Like we want to make sure our players are getting better. Our players should want to get better.

Uh, and then, you know, the, the better product we put out there brings in more money to those players who are performing. So I think it's something we all should be aligned on. I think there are a couple different ways we can, we can work on solving that.

Um, but all that plays into the sides coming together and, and figuring it out. JC, I appreciate the time. Um, let's do this more often. I'm happy to chop up these subject matters with you. And I appreciate the, you know, uh, giving us these grades and stuff to talk about while we're, we're waiting for free agency to hit and all that other stuff. Um, I appreciate the time and let's do this again soon. Absolutely.

That'd be great. Thanks for having me. You bet. That's JC Tretter, NFL PA chief strategy officer joining us on the day that, uh, the running back market gets reset 20 million per for Saquon Barkley. And we'll see what happens in the quarterback market with Brock Purdy as the cap goes up and up and up at the Hyundai getaway sales event, get deals. So right.

It almost feels wrong. Now's the best time to get that Hyundai car or SUV you've always wanted. Plus every new Hyundai comes with America's best warranty and three years or 36,000 miles of limited complimentary maintenance.

Don't think you can get away with all that think again, but don't wait. The Hyundai getaway sales event is going on now. So visit your local Hyundai dealer today. It's a great day for a new Hyundai. Welcome to the A to Z savings event at auto zone.

What are you working on today? Yeah, I need to change my oil. I want to get a full synthetic oil. How about Pennzoil platinum? It's the only oil made from natural gas.

Sounds great. How much for an oil filter? Oh, that's free.

What? The filter is free with the oil free. Really, really free. It's just part of our aid of free.

I mean, A to Z savings event at auto zone, get in the zone, auto zone restrictions apply. I did not approve this, but, uh, you know, that's, that's part of me delegating to you. Our social media grand maester, you put out on Instagram, a photograph, it says breaking bears trading for Russell Wilson. And what's today's date? What's today's date? It is April 1st.

And that is what it is April fool's day. So, um, it's five minutes to air and I, my phone's on the desk and it's buzzing and yeah. And I, I, I see it as, uh, you know, it's, it's, uh, uh, it's Jeff Garland. And of course, you know, well, I, I, I connect with Jeff and, um, he's very, he's very upset. He's definitely one of the, the biggest bears fans that I know.

And he's always been very kind to show up on this show. I think he's very pissed off as a matter of fact, I think he's not only so very pissed off that he cursed on our Instagram page in response. Yep. Uh, yep. We have to, we have to, we have to, uh, black it out right there.

Go fill in the blank yourself. I will have my revenge is, is the caller there is the caller there on the return from Chicago. What's funny about it. Nothing's funny about it.

Nothing is funny about it. Not a thing. Uh, let me tell you something.

I want to make this clear. Today is a beautiful, wonderful day. I had a delightful day filming Curb Your Enthusiasm.

I am in a great mood. And then our friend Doug Robinson texts me the Capitol, Russell Wilson. He says, you know, rich doesn't usually get the scoops.

Adam Dexter should be on this. Well, that should have made me suspicious, but no, I have so much respect for the rich eyes and show that I know that they have connections that nobody else has. Well, you know what, rich, I'm not going to swear, but I got to tell you, you're a little social media boy. He's going to get it. TJ, you traded off our gravitas, our brand of being a trusted name.

By the way, you're saying that kind of joke. But the reality is you, your show gets respect. Thank you. Thank you. TJ, do you have anything to say to Jeff Garland? Yeah. Uh, happy April Fools Day.

All right. Hey, TJ, you don't know what you brought down on yourself. You don't even have a clue. You know the powers that I have, especially in practical jokes. I'm going to nail you so hard. You know what? I hope you enjoy your testicles right now because they're going to disappear.

No, but I need them. Always great to see, uh, oh, hear Jeff Garland's voice. One of our favorite drops.

Always great when an April Fools prank just hit. You love that sort of stuff. Why? Why? How could you not? I don't know.

Just kind of challenging. That was a really good one though. It was fantastic. April Fools jokes.

Everyone I've done has hit. That one was good. What were the other ones?

I'd have to go back. There were two other ones that were really good. That one was really good. Obviously that one was great.

Yeah. Well, Chris, I remember the very first when I first started doing the social media and I did it. Rich did not like it. What was that? I can't remember what it was, but it was clearly because I literally went a fourth month first day.

I put all the info in the hashtags and rich, rich did. He was like, just not another one coming up next month. I can't wait at the Hyundai getaway sales event. Get deals. So right.

It almost feels wrong. Now is the best time to get that Hyundai car or SUV you've always wanted. Plus every new Hyundai comes with America's best warranty and three years or 36,000 miles of limited complimentary maintenance.

Don't think you can get away with all that. Think again, but don't wait. The Hyundai getaway sales event is going on now. So visit your local Hyundai dealer today.

It's a great day for a new Hyundai. And people wonder, what are you going to talk about when the NFL is in its off season, literally everything getting us ready for the next season. What have we seen already in the last week? We've saw Matthew Stafford go on a, I'm not asking you to get traded, but just want to see what my worth is tour, but I'm only to come back. Right. We've seen, um, a scouting combine where can you put up Daniel Jeremiah's top 50? I know I'm, I'm asking you to do something that we were planning on doing, but you take a look at the top 10 of Jeremiah's, uh, Daniel Jeremiah's top 50 and only two of them will Campbell and Jada Baron worked out at the combine. Everybody else said, yeah, I'm hurt.

I got, I can't, I'm not doing, I can't. That's it. We saw that. And yet we still saw a ton of talented guys out there, fastest wide receiver, uh, running back group, fastest, tallest and fastest, uh, offensive line group, incredibly athletic people. The number one overall pick we found out through a medical exam had something that might've needs needed surgery, but he kind of doesn't need it. Sam Darnold becomes because of the Stafford decision to stay put the number one quarterback domino to fall that would affect the draft and the team that could most affected by keeping him from the free agent market declines to do so. And Saquon Barkley resets the running back market with a $20 million a year plus contract extension or renewal that has caused James cook in Buffalo to weigh in with the googly eyes.

I'm seeing it. And again, this is part and parcel of what it engenders because Andrew Brandt who came in studio with Susie last week, he tweeted out that he believes even with this new contract for Saquon Barkley, Barkley is still the seventh highest paid player on the Eagles offense. So even by breaking the market barrier for the running back market on offense set with the offensive line and the running and the wide receivers and the quarterback. Yeah, he's still the seventh highest paid player on the offense.

Wow. And so how he Roseman's able to do that after winning a Superbowl to keep things together, to go repeat. And he just, like I said, he, he pulled the pin on this running back grenade and he lobs it into every single facility that's looking to resign a running back or anybody. Somebody's gonna be like, wait a minute, the Eagles are paying their guy 20 million a year at running back and I want X at my position. And then it's also landing in Cincinnati where Joe burrow saying, let's resign everybody like the Eagles. Wow.