Albert Breer: 49ers Are A Team That Have Done A Lot Of Stuff Right

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Northbrook, Illinois. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Javonte Adams going to the Rams. What a brilliant move.

Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Which new receiver with his new team will have a better campaign? Adam or Metcat? Oh, that's easy. One has Matthew Stafford. The other has, I don't know, as of right now.

I mean, that's as simple as it gets. Earlier on the show, former NFL general manager Mike Mayock. Coming up, senior writer for the MMQB, Albert Breer.

Plus, latest news and more. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Our number three of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. Albert Breer joining us in 15 minutes time to tell us what is up. That's it.

That's what he said. What's up? Just what is up? What's up with that? Well, what is going down? You know? Would that be odd if that's the way I spent the next 15 minutes setting up Albert Breer?

It would be odd. That's what's up. Yeah, yeah. That's what's up. Here it comes.

Oh, man. I see breaking news. What's up?

What's up? Guys, the Dallas Cowboys have done it. What have they done? They've signed a player.

Is it one of their own? Kevonta Turpin is coming back to Dallas. I like that.

Three year deal reported by Jeremy Fowler. Okay. There you go. One of the highest paid special teams players in NFL history.

Okay, very good. Fast explosive. He's really good. Good draft choice. He's really good. His signing makes sense and is one of their own.

So they're being selectively aggressive with Solomon Thomas today and him. Look, we're better off right now than we were at this time last year. Delicious. Seriously. Good.

Squirrel. There you go. Or this time yesterday. By the way, Kevonta Turpin's return against the commanders this year was a highlight of the Cowboys season.

True that. Because they beat the commanders. Remember that?

They were one of the last teams to beat the commanders all year long. That was the one where he dropped it, right? Then he dropped it, picked it up and ran it back. And that was before or right after the throw from Jayden Daniels to McLaurin. Oh, it was.

It was the one that set it up, right? Where it looked like it was over and then and then Daniels threw it to McLaurin for a big score and then made it close again. And then the Cowboys closed it out. Am I right? Is that what happened in that one?

I got to remember the exact chain of events. And that was a big moment where the Cowboys, it looked like they could potentially make a run for that seventh and final playoff spot. So Turpin is is an excellent returner and somebody who can be instant off and we'll see, maybe he can play offense.

They turn him into that. You know, he definitely should be on the offensive side. The Cowboys went ahead. It was twenty seventeen, right?

The ball goes through his legs, right back to the goal line, picks it up, spins around the twenty and then outruns everyone. You thought the game was going to be over and then the commanders, Jayden Daniels, connected with McLaurin for that 80 yarder, right? Right. Right. That was exciting. It was fun.

Fun game. Hey, let's let's you know, let's talk commanders for a second here, because when you've got a ton of cap space, it's always a good thing. Let's be honest. Having a ton of cap space, it's a good thing because you have the flexibility.

The bad thing is if your team say like the Patriots and you got a ton of cap space and suddenly you're now enriching players that are just the best on a market that might not be that good. Right. We'll find out. Obviously, we've covered today the moves that they've made on defense, I think are really smart.

Agree. And we'll see, you know, they haven't been able to get too many offensive players coming there yet. Yeah, just Morgan Moses. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, by the way, which is not bad. You take one from somebody in your division, you make yourself better. That makes sense. But we're looking for, you know, we're looking for game changers that are going to come in your direction on free agency. And that sometimes isn't the case yet.

We'll see. But if you've got a ton of cap space and you've already arrived. OK, and you've got a great situation, like you're the Washington commanders where you went from second overall on the clock to second place in the conference in one year.

And you've got three more years, at least could be two before you pay your quarterback. Right. And you've got a you've got the you got that time.

And you can win right now, clearly the commanders can win right now. Right. We're all in agreement of this. Yes, sir. Didn't say that one year ago today and the day in which Saquon signed with Philadelphia.

OK. But the commanders, they've got something going on for sure. And they had top five amount of cap space going into this offseason. And what you do with it, it doesn't mean you go ahead and spend it on all these free agents and generationally enrich somebody who's gotten two, three years in the league and is now looking to get paid and and you pay them.

That can work out. But what you do is you look for somebody else's already established stars that are making a significant amount of money, maybe too much for the blood of the team that they've been on and they became established stars with. Maybe that team is capped out a little bit or is looking to send that somebody somewhere else. And you're like, we got the cap space to bring them on. And the commanders did that with Debo Samuel and Laramie Tunsell. And gave up draft assets, gave up, if I'm not mistaken, five draft choices. One for Debo, four for Tunsell, two in this year's draft, two in next year's draft. The two in next year's draft could leave a bite because that's supposed to be a better draft than this one. And the draft picks they gave up for Tunsell are a third and seventh this year and a second and a fourth next year. And Debo came at the price of a fifth round pick this year. So you're giving up three this year, two next year for a guy that can make your quarterback that much better because he can catch it and he can run with it. And you've got him a guy who can make sure that the quarterback gets it to the guy to catch it or run it with. You're making that guy better because you got one of the top pass protectors in the league in Laramie Tunsell.

That's what we call smart. And they also have north of $40 million in cap space left. So you don't just have to go hog wild like the proverbial shore leaving sailor, right? You don't have to do that in free agency. You just start looking around for somebody else's top notch stars and pro bowlers who are making a significant amount of money. And you offer them the draft compensation that they can accept because they were otherwise thinking of maybe trading them for less or cutting them. And you, you just take on the existing contract. And if you want to pay them more and extend them, that's fine.

But other than that, you just need to do it now for this year and next year while you can. Before you pay the quarterback and the entire dynamic changes, which is part of the reason maybe why Debo was available to begin with. That's just smart general managing. That's smart cherry picking. That's smart roster building.

And the commanders are better today. They signed Zach Ertz. They signed their other tight end too. Let's see what they could do in the draft. Maybe another smart free agent pick up here and there.

I mean the easy thing to keep saying is a lad Cooper cup. They could if they want. They could do a ton of stuff right now if they want. Just depends on how much draft capital they want to give up. And I wouldn't mind them effing these picks because they chose the mother load second overall last year. Man, this is not a one off guys, right?

That's not a one off with the quarterback and this team. They are just really smart. And every single time they pick somebody up, you know, I learn about it from from Magic Johnson. And it's just it's a delightful celebration to announce these selections and acquisitions from Magic.

Hey, commanders are real. So my two cents on that front. I think you're right with the losses that Philly has well accrued here in the last couple days. What do you give Washington's chances of overtaking them in the end?

Well, pretty darn more than 50 percent. Here's the thing is I didn't need to see Philadelphia's less than. Although you got to be careful with the whole Philadelphia's less than. I'm not saying they're less than. I'm saying they've lost some key pieces.

I understand that. But what's the one year anniversary of them acquiring Zach Bond, for instance? Did we even mention it on the show?

I bet you we didn't. Not a high profile acquisition last year. Correct.

But what do you turn into? A high profile acquisition. You know, one year ago, we were singing the praises about you got Saquon, of course. But so let's just be careful about, oh, yeah, they lost C.J.

Gardner Johnson. They lost their tackle. They lost this. They lost that.

They're less than. The one thing that I would be concerned about is they lost Kellen Moore. Now, that's a different story because the last time they lost one of their coordinators, they lost both.

And it created a big problem the next year. But. I would imagine in how you still trust San Francisco still has better Super Bowl odds than Washington right now. That to me is crazy. I wouldn't I take out the word kind of. That's crazy.

That's crazy. And I understand that you've got to trust the 49ers and feel that they're going to figure it out. But again, if you want to just pop up the graphic that we built today prior to the show, because I figured this is definitely one of the conversations over the first 48 hours of the negotiating period, is the the number of names that we've associated with the depth of this team and how good they are. So many positions that you need to be good at in order to be great.

It is it is jarring. And I would be concerned as a being a Niner fan. But the commanders were a better team last year and they're going to be a better team going into this year. And I understand you never know what a team can be based on moves that you're assessing in the middle of March.

But come on now, barring injury, the commanders are 100 percent a better team going into 2025 and have a better chance of winning, winning, winning a championship in the next two to three years than the Niners are. And that's just that's just that's not trolling. That's just simple. Eight four four two oh four rich number to dial Albert Breer Sports Illustrated when we come back right here on the Rich Eisen Show. Albert, what is up?

And he just fills in the blank from there. This episode brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game, shifting a little money here, a little there, hoping it all works out? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can get a better budgeter and potentially lower your insurance bill, too. You tell Progressive what you want to pay for car insurance and they'll help find you options within your budget. Try it today at Progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law.

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See store or sleepnumber.com for details. Can you just clean that up, please, sir? Thank you. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, Albert Breer is going to join us in just a couple minutes time when the radio audience returns. Did you see last night the Warriors improved to 12-1 with Jimmy Butler? The Lakers looked lost without LeBron, but they're also without Rui and Jackson Hayes. A lot of guys out last night. Phinney Smith was out, too.

They kicked their whole starting form. The Nuggets took care of business against the Oklahoma City Thunder. And that's a pretty big one. Dude, the West is just absolutely lit. Steph Curry is two three-pointers shy of 4,000.

Seems like a lot. Dude, right? Let me just say, yeah, Jokic is playing his best basketball right now.

You could make that case. Jalen Williams left with a hip strain. That's not good. For Oklahoma City. LeBron's out for who knows how long. If he's out for two weeks, in the two weeks, they've got six games in eight days. They've got two back-to-backs coming. All right, so where are they? They're in Milwaukee Wednesday, Denver Thursday.

Then they're home. They've got back-to-backs on Sunday to Monday. If they go on a little slide here, they could fall into the play-in. That's how tight the West is.

From Denver at two to the Clippers at eight is six and a half games. And then you take a look at the teams that are on the outside looking in right now. Outside, outside looking in, right? Go ahead and name them. In the West? Yes. Phoenix?

Cleveland, San Antonio, New Orleans, and Utah has officially been eliminated. Let me ask you this question. Do you think New Orleans, San Antonio, and Portland have bright futures as well? I do.

Yeah, you damn straight do. I was watching that Warriors game last night. Your guy Clingan from UConn? He's a really good- Rebounding machine.

He is a- I mean, the Blazers have a bright future too. The West is loaded. 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 clickgrainger.com or just stop by. And you stop by from Sports Illustrated and Prime Videos. Our buddy Albert Breer here.

Albert, my goodness. Lots to talk about with you. But does it feel like a lull right now though? Does it feel like a little bit of a lull or yesterday was such a burst or what? Yeah, I'd say this is like the way it normally goes though, Rich. I think normally the guys that get the value they want will sign quickly or will agree to terms quickly.

They can't sign until tomorrow, but they'll agree to terms quickly. And then you'll have teams resetting and the second wave coming. And a lot of times part of the second wave is there being some guys out there like the Vikings left tackle, the temporary left tackle there.

Sam Robinson would be one of those names. Some of the older receivers and Mari Cooper would be in that group where maybe the market didn't quite materialize immediately the way that they wanted to. And so they're waiting it out a little bit too. So, you know, I think we're sort of there. And then, of course, you know, on the quarterback market, you have one big piece that has yet to fall into place.

And I think that's holding a couple of things up, too. OK, so let's jump into Aaron Rodgers. Where do things currently stand with him, Albert? Yeah, I know the Steelers felt pretty optimistic yesterday that they'd be the choice.

The Giants have continued to make a push there. And, you know, I think as he usually does, Aaron is kind of private about his own feelings on this. And so this is really going to be up to him, you know, what he wants to do. I thought Minnesota's had a lot of like creative discussions about what they're going to do at quarterback.

I'd be surprised if it was Minnesota at this point. You know, but I mean, think for the Steelers or Giants, they want an answer at the same time. You know, that's probably not the right guy to push for an answer. So, you know, we'll see what happens. But I think it's really between those two and only Aaron knows what he's going to do. And I think they both, you know, present enticing situations for him. So walk me through what you think he might be thinking.

How does that sound as a setup? Yeah, I mean, I think like proof of concept is important now. You know, I think we're all sort of beholden to our own history. And he took a chance a couple of years ago on going to a Jets team that hadn't won in a long time and thinking I can be the final piece and I can make a difference. That is essentially what he'd be doing with the Giants, right?

So does he want to do that or does he want to go to a place that's established, that hasn't had a losing season in a generation and that has a lot of stars that, you know, are ready to compete for a championship and have been in playoff games and a lot of them haven't won playoff games, but there's going to be a sense of urgency there. That's not just tied to Aaron Rodgers himself. It's that TJ Watt is going to turn 31 years old.

It's that Minka Fitzpatrick is going to turn 29 years old. Finally looks like they've got the offensive line, right? You know, they've got an experienced offensive coordinator in Arthur Smith there who has made, you know, offenses work for different types of quarterbacks. There's a lot to like about the Steelers situation at the same time. Vengeance can be a factor, you know, and the idea of maybe doing it for the Giants, you know, right down, what is it, I-80 there in Jersey, you know, from his old team and going to a place where you can be the difference. I think there'd be some appeal to that, too. So, probably to guess right now, I might say the Steelers have a slight edge just because, again, like it's the more ready-made situation.

You're guessing less on what's going to happen there. But the Giants certainly, you know, have their hat in the ring and have a really good chance at it, too. You know, listen, I think he and Dabol would mesh, right? And I think, obviously, throwing to Malik Nabors would mesh. Certainly, if third overall, they don't go quarterback and go Travis Hunter. I mean, that would be obviously somebody he would throw to, right?

And he doesn't have to move. If he does really like the New York market, there is that. And I understand that, you know, if there is a revenge factor with the Jets, you know, the fact that he's sitting there in the building and, look, I could do for them what I could have done for you if you stuck with me. But then you see the Steelers, and the Steelers are unlike the Jets in the way that the Giants are kind of like the Jets, where if Rodgers doesn't do it, the whole house is cleaned.

Everybody's job depends on him. Not so with the Steelers. The Steelers do have a bunch of people who are closer in his age, contemporary, that you mentioned, like T.J. Watt and Hayward and Minka Fitzpatrick.

Tomlin and him could vibe. And in terms of, you know, revenge, look at who the Steelers play. I mean, it's the NFC North.

He could go right back one more time in the NFC North for O'Langhzine. They play the Jets in New Jersey. You know, the Packers are, from what I'm hearing in Dublin, you know what I mean?

Like, it could be a worldwide tour. The Vikings, the Dolphins, the Bills. I mean, the Seahawks as well. I mean, this is a big time. I mean, Rich, you're talking me into it now.

Like, I'm getting kind of excited here. I mean, so if you're saying there's a choice for him. It's not like whether the teams are, you know, on the fence about bringing him in. These are his choices. Again, only he knows.

Only he knows. But, you know, like, they're both all in to get him, yes. And they're both, like, optimistic about their chances. And they both feel good about the situations they're presenting him.

And, I mean, I think it's kind of interesting because are they both up a creek if they don't get him? That was what my follow-up was, is what is the plan B for each team? If they don't, like, one team is going to have to turn to plan B, what would it be? Yeah, so, like, for the Giants, I think they would look at Russell Wilson. They had him back.

They had him last year in for a visit. And then I think that the next, you know, step would obviously be the draft as well. Now, you know, part of the problem for the Giants is they have no way to control their situation. And let's say they only like Cam Ward, right? Like, which is where I think some teams are right now as far as who would be worth a top five or top ten pick.

You know, they have no control over whether or not he gets to them. They would have to either trade up to one or just hope that the Titans and Browns don't go quarterback. And that's a tough spot to be in, you know. So, it could work out for them, but it might not. You certainly, I don't think, can rely on that as your plan.

Hope isn't a plan, you know. So, I think that the Giants would have to find a way to backstop that with, you know, with some sort of veteran quarterback. And I think regardless of what they do, whether it's Rodgers Wilson or some other veteran, and I don't know who that would be right now, you know, I think that they would plan on taking a quarterback high. Now, it might not be with a third overall pick if they wind up signing one of those guys.

It could be like a Jackson Dart on day two. But I do think they would plan on putting a quarterback in that pipeline. The Steelers are murkier to me.

I would just say, like, there are some people that aren't keen on the idea of having Russell Wilson back there next year. And so, could they do it? Yes. Could those fences be mended?

Yes. There's just some stuff that happened at the end of the year where I don't know, like, how the Steelers are going to put their belief in that. And again, like, I like Russell to play. He's accomplished a lot. But I'm not sure that relationship is in the best place and has been in the best place. And so, you know, what does that look like if they are bringing him back? I think that's really murky. And the hard thing for them is they let Justin Fields go. So Justin Fields is now a jet. And then I think, you know, one of their plan Bs would have been Daniel Jones. I think Sam Darnold was probably always too expensive.

Like, they like Sam and they wanted to take a swing on Sam. I don't know if they would have gone to the level that the Seahawks went to. I mean, but would they have gone with Daniel Jones if, like, the Aaron Rodgers thing fell through on Monday? I think they might have looked at that. So, yeah, I think they're in a little bit of murky territory if they don't wind up landing Rodgers. Okay, there's, man, lots of follow-ups here.

Yeah. What about Kirk Cousins, Albert? Where could he play into all of this?

Obviously, tomorrow rubber has to meet road for cap compliance. And, you know, would he be available if a team flipped a draft choice to Atlanta? Or is Atlanta really intending to hold on to him?

Because Arthur Black, what do you think? What do you got for him here? I think that's part of why they're hanging on to him. I mean, look, let's just start with what's out there logistically, which is, you know, his contract, $10 million of his money for 2026 becomes fully guaranteed on St. Patrick's Day.

So, that's a week from yesterday. So, if they have him on the roster a week from yesterday, then $10 million for 2026 becomes guaranteed. And so, now, instead of being responsible for $90 million, you're responsible for $100 million if you're the Falcons.

So, that's the real deadline in this whole thing. And, you know, I think for Atlanta now, it's going to be, you know, wait to see what happens with Aaron Rodgers, wait to see what happens with the Steelers and the Giants, you know, keep an eye on the Browns, and then see if there's some sort of agreement where maybe you can buy a draft pick. In other words, you know, like you can say, well, we will eat X amount of Kirk Cousins money for this year if you give us this draft pick back. So, then that team might be getting Kirk Cousins for $15 million or $20 million where it can kind of be one of these things that can help everybody. You know, the Falcons get off the hook for some of the money, you know, the new team gets its quarterback at an affordable rate, the Falcons get the draft pick, and then, you know, Cousins gets a clean break.

So, I think there's some solution that could look like that if, you know, the Giants or the Steelers are in a desperate spot after all this. And I don't think Cousins is a bad solution. You know, the first year coming off the Achilles to the plant foot, that's a tough deal for a quarterback, especially one of Kirk's age. I think he feels like he's going to be in a better spot. And by the way, for those who missed it, last week, last Wednesday, he went in and had a meeting on Wednesday night with Arthur Blank and basically told Arthur that I want to be a starting quarterback somewhere next year.

So, one way or the other, I want out of here. And it'll be interesting to see where that goes over the next few days, because I would think that Kirk's wanting the Falcons to work with him, whether it's by cutting him or by trying to find some sort of trade solution that could be created by the desperation of these teams. Any idea how that went over with Arthur Blank? Yeah, I mean, I think Arthur Blank just said to him in not so many words, we're going to do what's best for the Falcons. And, you know, I think part of it is they're looking at it and saying, you know, there have been these teams that have had, you know, quarterback injuries and they've been putting themselves in really tough spots by not having depth of the position and, you know, we're responsible for $90 million anyway for the single year, so why not just pay the extra $10 million? Now we're responsible for $100 million over two years, but we have quarterback insurance. Now, I think the counterargument to that is, one, doing what's right for Kirk. And Kirk didn't know you were drafting a quarterback eighth overall, and he only has so much time left in the league. And, you know, it's doing right by the player.

That's number one. And then, number two, are you creating a tough situation for Michael Pennix? In other words, if Michael Pennix has a tough first month of the season, which isn't impossible, you know what I mean? Like, say the Falcons schedule, say they have a gauntlet in that first month of the season and Michael Pennix is going to have to take his lumps. Like, are you creating a problem for your young quarterback by keeping the old starting quarterback on the roster? You know, that's a factor too. So, it's a very complicated situation. And, you know, I think the best thing for everybody involved is for there to be some sort of clean break.

I'm just not quite sure how it's going to happen yet. Halbert Breer here on the Rich Eisen Show. And in terms of following up for what you were saying about Rodgers' situation with the Giants and the Steelers, this is now the second time the Giants have gone for an OG quarterback. Stafford stayed with the Rams. Now, you know, Rodgers is considering going to them or the Steelers.

So, my question is for you is, is what are you hearing about the draft? You know, would the Giants still take one? Is that something that they've told Rodgers? I mean, Rodgers would have to ask Joe Shane and Dabel and John Marrow, if he met with the owner, are you taking a quarterback third overall, right?

I mean, he'd have to ask that question. How has the quarterback carousel, as it's currently spun, affected the draft class, do you think, Halbert? Well, I'll say with the Giants in particular, I know one thing that they had sort of talked to Matthew Stafford about was the idea of the third overall pick being able to help him, you know, and that if they brought him in, then, you know, like, all right, like now we can maybe use the third pick on Travis Hunter. And maybe Travis Hunter can be the third receiver and you bring Cooper Cup with you. And now we got Malik Babers and Cooper Cup and Travis Hunter.

Those are concepts that I know were at least discussed. The difference, I think, is that you could see Matthew Stafford being your quarterback for the next three or four years. I don't know if he'd commit to that, but that's at least conceivable, where with Rodgers, it's probably a little bit less conceivable. And I don't think Aaron would necessarily be against the idea of having a young quarterback on the roster. I mean, I would say this, like, as ugly as things got at the end in Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love have a very strong relationship. Like, I've talked to Jordan Love multiple times about this, about, you know, how much he loves Aaron Rodgers and how much he feels like he owes to Aaron Rodgers.

So I don't think it's, I don't think it would have anything to do with, like, having to look over your shoulder, you know? Because I think Aaron's only going there for a year or two anyway. I think it would probably be more what I was talking about in the first place, which is, do you want, like, does Aaron want the team to use that asset on somebody who's going to help him right now?

Like, I think that'd be more the question. And, you know, we'll see. But I do think, like, if they signed Aaron, then they'd probably take a quarterback. My guess would be somewhere in the top 100 picks. And in terms of where the quarterbacks land, right, in the draft, you're hearing Cam Ward is high up as obviously the Titans if they want to go in that direction. There's Abdul Carter sitting there too, Travis Hunter, if that's, you want to go for the unicorn there. Then you got the Browns who pick up Kenny Pickett.

You got the Giants. And so, you know, you mentioned Ward's name before. So is it a general sense now that I'm hearing, and I'm sure, you know, you're here with your ear firmly to the ground, that this is Ward's draft and Shadore Sanders could go from anywhere in the top 10 to out of the first round?

Like, what are you hearing about this subject matter? So I think Cam Ward is like, again, like, and I used this term with you last week, I think, Rich, like, he's the guy he chased ceiling with. He's still inconsistent. He still has some growing to do. But he is somebody who has a high ceiling and somebody who when you pluck out play, as you can see, okay, he's doing some superhuman stuff.

I'd implore anybody who wants to see it. A couple of scouts told me this, go to watch the Cal game, the Miami Cal game. They told me you see everything there, all the good, all the bad, like, it's all there, right? So you're chasing ceiling with him, which if you're Cleveland or Tennessee in the AFC and you're contending with Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow and Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert and CJ Stroud and all these different guys, you know, like, then maybe you do have to chase ceiling. But at the very least, you know that ceiling's there. I think with Shadore, it feels to me a little bit more like Bo Nix. You know, I haven't been able to find very many people, Rich, that think he's a first rounder.

That doesn't mean nobody does. But I think, you know, I would have said the exact same thing a day before the draft about Bo Nix. Like, where is he going to go? Well, you know, Sean Payton, you know, he may be a fit there, but nowhere else. And then Sean Payton takes him, you know? So for Bo Nix, it wasn't about, you know, proving to the league that on this superhuman prospect, it was finding the right fit. And ultimately, he found the right fit and had a fantastic rookie year. I think that's the boat that Shadore's in right now, where there are going to be a lot of teams that are going to look at him as a second or a third round pick based on his physical skill set. And for him, it's going to be about finding the place that looks at him differently and sees him differently and says, this guy is a fit for us in particular.

It doesn't matter what he is for anybody else. He's a fit for us. Because you and I both know if he finds the right fit, if Shadore Sanders finds the right fit and goes on and wins a bunch of games as a rookie, nobody's going to care how 30 other teams saw him at the end of April. A few minutes left here with Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. Every Niner fan I know is freaking out. Albert, freaking out about the roster remake here. And they know the number for Purdy is going to come and they're putting it all together. Is Purdy going to be the guy with whoever's left? Is the window closing? What's your message to Niners fans seeing what's happening, knowing what's happening, what could happen next?

What are your two cents on that, Albert? They found Debo Samuel in the second round. They found George Kittle in the fifth round. They found Fred Warner, I think, in the third or fourth round. They found Brock Purdy in the seventh round.

It's really hard to duplicate that. But, I mean, this is a team that has done a lot of stuff right over the eight years that John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan have been in charge. And look, like they made a real run at it over the last few years with the core that they had. But the reality of it is, you know, if you looked at the roster and you looked how they were pushing money, I think at one point they had over $300 million in cap commitments for this year. That's without a draft pick on the roster. That's without signing a free agent to the roster.

That's without, you know, having some certain positions filled. And so, you know, this time was coming. Could they have kicked the can down the road for another year or two? Maybe. But, like, this was, you know, this was the logical time to do it.

And if you want real encouragement, here it is for you. The Buffalo Bills did this exact same thing last year. And the Bills, I think it was something like $65 million in dead cap they took on. They got rid of a ton of guys. I mean, it was, I mean, Tremaine Edmonds was the year before that, but they got rid of, you know, Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer and Tredavious White and Stephon Diggs and Mitch Morris and, whoa, what are the Bills going to do?

And you know what ended up happening was a great program carried them through. The Rams two years ago, same thing, right? The Rams two years ago, they ate all of this dead money. They traded away Jalen Ramsey. What are the Rams going to do? Well, you know what? It was a front office, a coaching staff that's made a lot of good decisions over the years, continuing to make good decisions, filling out the roster.

And now what do you see? You see, you know, the Rams and Bills in a good position going forward with clean cap and a full complement of draft picks. I think that's sort of where the Niners are. Now, can they pull it off the same way the Bills and Rams did? Maybe, maybe not.

But I don't think there's any question they've got the right people in charge to pull it off. All right. And last one for you, Albert. You're the perfect guy to ask about what type of quarterback the Jets just acquired. And Justin, seriously, I mean, you've been following this guy forever. You've known, you know, his entire journey, soup to nuts.

Who do the Jets just acquire and what is their plan for Justin Fields, do you think? The right type of guy, first of all. Like, I think that that's, anybody who's around him knows that's obvious. You know, like the way he has been described in the Pittsburgh building was he was a stealer before he ever became a stealer. So he's square jawed, military kid, like, all of that.

Like, so you're getting the right type of person, you know, that's going to be, you know, calling signals for you. And I do think, like, you know, a lot of people in the Steelers organization would have liked to have kept working with him. It was just whether or not they were going to be willing to go to that level to keep him. Were they willing to go to $20 million a year and promise him the starting job and all that? That's where they weren't willing to go, but they wanted to keep working with him. And I know this, like, you know, Arthur Smith, their offensive coordinator, he felt like he could do more with Justin Fields given the time, given some more time than he did with Ryan Tannehill. And Ryan Tannehill got him to an AFC title game. So is Justin Fields ever going to live up to what we all thought maybe he would be coming out with the 11th overall pick and all of that?

Maybe not. But, I mean, this is a guy who I think will get better with experience, has gotten better with experience. And what everybody around him says is he's just got to play. Someone's got to let him play through it. And part of the reason why is he's got to learn to see the field better, see it feel faster. Because, I mean, his experience in college was the first guy was almost always open. And, you know, he's going through it in Chicago and they fire his coach and, you know, he dealt with all different coordinators every year. And then he goes to Pittsburgh and it's a new system again.

I think, you know, getting him into a position where he can settle in and be the starting quarterback for a little while, do him a lot of good. Well, it's got to help that he's reunited with one of those guys who is always open. Yeah.

You know what I mean? Not just one. Garrett Wilson's there. Jeremy Ruckert's there too. That's right. You know, and Ruckert was tweeting out too.

He's fired up. And again, like, so you bring a young contemporary into the young room after the OG was there. Right. And see how this works out. You know, and if you're going to re-sign Garrett Wilson, this is a way of basically saying, you know, we see you.

I don't know. I kind of dig it. I kind of dig it. There's so much you can do with him too. Like, you don't have to play offense a certain way. You can play offense. You can do different things with him and utilize his athleticism in different ways.

And, you know, I think all of that's a plus. Like, again, like he's going to be a receptive learner. He's going to be somebody who's going to be good in the room. He's going to be somebody who's going to be great with his teammates. I mean, who do you hear nothing about?

Who do you hear nothing from on getting benched when he's four and two? Justin, you heard nothing, right? Right. Exactly. I think that says everything about the type of guy he is. So I think he's somebody who's going to be committed to becoming better as a football player.

And, you know, I know that it's like a huge part of the reason why he went to the Jets is because he would have the opportunity to have some runway to start and be the guy. And I'm fascinated to see how all that turns out. Yeah.

Play like it's 2019. That's all. That's all I'm looking for. That's right. Remember when he came out of that medical tent?

You're going to be fired up here, Rich. No, I know. He came out of that medical tent like Superman.

I know. He threw that ball to Garrett Wilson for the touchdown. He did in the big house. And it was the last time Ohio State beat Michigan.

And then he didn't get to play them a second time because somebody canceled the game. See, I knew if I was going to go there, he would go there and we would just basically say, tune in tomorrow on tomorrow's show at one Eastern time. Be sure to do that, Albert. I will.

I've got Bryce Underwood here so you can see, you know, the future November's. Is this part of his NIL deal? No. No, no, no. He's showing up for nothing. Oh, please. You are the last person.

We have snacks. No, I'm just returning volley. I'm just returning volley. That's all I'm doing.

Honestly, the last person. I never said anything about anybody else paying players. I want my school to pay players. By the way, I want the Jets to draft Jack Sawyer. I would like the Jets to just keep going. Keep going, man. Just get them all. Maybe Caleb Downs in a year or Jeremiah in two.

I don't know if the Jets are going to draft that high if Justin Fields performs, Albert. We'll see. You know, thanks for the time, sir. Always great.

As always, making it smarter. Appreciate it. Awesome. Thanks, Rich.

That's Albert Brier of Sports Illustrated. You know, ladies and gentlemen. That's what's up.

That is indeed. See, I asked him, what's up? And by the way, he just immediately got on the phone.

Oh, good for him. He's gone. Do you want to take him? He's already off. I think he's already dropping off.

He's frozen because he dropped off. I saw him. He just picked up his phone. By the way, I always appreciate information, men and women who come on this show when it's all going down and they never look at their phone once. I greatly appreciate it. I notice it. By the way, I pick up on everything. I'm very astute.

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Savings vary, subject to terms, conditions, and availability. Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. I always like to think that I'm his most favorite person in the room. But when the Vince Lombardi trophy is sitting between the two of us, I think I lose out. Michael Irvin, right?

I think I lose out to this baby, right? It's so funny you start with this because I'm going to tell you something, man. When I was playing, I made a pact that I would never go to a Super Bowl until I play in the Super Bowl. Every guest that comes here, they're going to get Super Bowl questions. That's why I always say I would never go to a Super Bowl until after I play in the Super Bowl. So I would not have people like Rich Eisen asking me questions that I cannot answer. Now, what do you want to ask, Vince?

Because I prepared to answer since I won three of these things. So what was it like picking this trophy up for the first time? It was the greatest thing. And it really was, Rich. It really was the greatest thing. Do you remember the circumstances?

Oh, my God, man. First of all, you've got to go back and think about it. We were 1 and 15. We were 3 and 13, 1 and 15. When you're 3 and 13 and 1 and 15 Cleveland Browns, I know you don't think there's any chance that you will ever lay a hold of something like this. So to go from those days to coming in 92 and winning that Super Bowl and actually somebody handing you that trophy, the most incredible thing, most incredible feeling in the world. Did you ever step in when you heard that Jimmy and Jerry were not doing well?

Or your station wasn't that in life at that point in time? I just didn't think anything would happen, Rich. I really didn't. I was like, are you joking?

You know how hard it is doing Super Bowls and you have a formula that's working. And then when it happens, you're like, oh, my God, I should have done this. Maybe I should have talked to him. I should have tried this.

I should have tried that. Jerry Jones, I'm telling you, that's the one thing. I'll never forget Jerry Jones telling me that when I was negotiating with him. And I was saying, you know, I'll go to Cincinnati.

And it was just I'm just talking, trying to get my money up. I said, I'll go to Cincinnati. You get Carl Pickens over here and let's see what happens. And Jerry said to me, Jerry said, Michael, you know, when I see you, I see Michael Irvin and the Dallas Cowboys. He said, I kind of see it like Magic Johnson and the Lakers. He said, what is magic without the Lakers and what are the Lakers without the Magic? He said, you guys, they belong together just like you and the Cowboys. He said, Michael, the best way I can tell you, if a bomb hit Valley Ridge today, that's where we practice and blew everything up, everybody, everything. When the smoke clears, baby, me and you, we're going to still be here. So we might as well work this deal out right now.

So that's what he said. I said, this dude is a fool. He had me laughing as he was telling me no about my money. That's why you're in the Hall of Fame together. Oh, man, I miss Michael. Makes me think I got to call him as soon as the shows are. Last I saw Irvin, he was down in Carnival. I saw that. Was he?

He was because I follow him on Instagram. He's gone nuts. He's like shirtless and standing in front of something. Carnival is a party. You've been there? I've never been, but I've heard stories and I've seen videos and it is a good time. Apparently, we're in Brazil.

Where is it? I pulled you out the ghetto with these hands. We got all sorts of drops from Irv. We going to spank that ass. Now, that was what he said about the Bills in the Super Bowl here in the Rose Bowl. He said that when he was here on our set at the last L.A. Super Bowl talking about the Cowboys playing in the last or the previous Los Angeles based Super Bowl. I believe you're right about that.

So I'll know if I get that out of the country ring. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, 844-204-Rich is the number to dial. Jeff in Detroit, one of our favorites, is back. What's up, Jeffrey? How are you?

What's going on, concusses? How's everything going? Been enjoying the show?

Thanks, sir. Where have you been, Jeff? Oh, nothing much.

What up, though? You guys were talking earlier about Magic Johnson. I mean, could you imagine having $40 million with that guy coming up to your doorstep, knocking, and saying, Hey, come play for my team? I know for a fact after the Washington commanders beat the Lions, he was there at the locker room greeting everybody.

So it's kind of hard to beat that type of personality. I want to move on to the NBA. Trejo Langdon, GM of the year, Barney Bickerstaff, coach of the year. I mean, we were in the gutter, and the game over the weekend, even though we lost against the Golden State Warriors, that was a hell of a game, man. That was one hell of a game.

And I'm so proud that the Pistons are really back in the mix. I'm really hoping that the 49ers go ahead and sign Bob Purdy. The person that personally got affected by that, they got to get that boy that money because, I mean, you and Albert Bridge just went over it. They're going through quarterback carousels all over the place, trying to find the right sit. And you got the right person driving a truck. Keep them in charge. Keep them going. I hear you, Jeff.

Thanks for the call. I mean, they're going to sign Brock Purdy. Although I got to say, the first few signings of the free agency period, they have corrected the quarterback market a little bit here. Sam Darnold signs for 33 million.

I thought it would be definitely north of 40 that he would have some sort of a bidding warrant. Some other teams are like, too rich for us. Justin Fields, 20 million bucks. The Steelers didn't even want to continue working with him for 20 million bucks. I mean, that's cheap. That's very inexpensive for the quarterback spot.

But the Niners are going to sign Brock Purdy. They're going to figure out the number. Will it be north of 50? I think it will be. We'll find out. We'll see how long that dance goes. But in the meantime, they are freaking out their fan base by swapping out a ton of name players in their championship run. We keep showing this board.

It gets bigger and bigger every single time we talk about it. And I guess a particular Dallas Cowboys taking notice of this? Chris?

Yes, Rich. I saw it on Twitter just a few minutes ago. Micah Parsons has chimed in. What has he chimed in about on Twitter?

Take a look. No more rookie QB lol. Welcome to reality.

Retweeting one of our favorites, Clarence Hill. Talk about the 49ers gutting themselves. Welcome to reality.

Hey, man. If there's anybody who's going to be... Not wrong. No, but he's living in a glass salary cap house. Glass house because the Cowboys aren't... They're not gutting themselves. They're just not signing very many.

Very many. We're doing work, bro. I got it. And by the way, that was Micah the podcaster. I got it.

The trolling Micah. That wasn't the player. I got it. Okay. They're one and the same, pal. They're not. They're two different entities. Two different people. I mean, that is a large stone to be thrown from a glass salary cap house there in the Metroplex. I'll tell you that. He's a media member, bro.