Mike Mayock: Seahawks Trading Geno Smith To The Raiders Was Intriguing

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. You chose to hit play on this podcast today.

Smart choice. Progressive loves to help people make smart choices. That's why they offer a tool called Auto Quote Explorer that allows you to compare your Progressive car insurance quote with rates from other companies. So you save time on the research and can enjoy savings when you choose the best rate for you.

Give it a try after this episode. at Progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. Not available in all states or situations.

Prices vary based on how you buy. Some people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance by checking Allstate first. The same way you know you've got to make sure your lucky jersey is clean on game day or your team might lose. Checking first is smart. So check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate.

Savings vary. Subject to terms, conditions, and availability. Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates.

Northbrook, Illinois. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Devante 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. Today's guest, former NFL General Manager Mike Mayock, Senior Writer for the MMQB, Albert Breer, plus latest news and more. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

That's right. Hour number two of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. I've got a new hot cup of coffee right here.

You can see the steam coming out of it on the Roku Sports Channel. I saw you make it. Oh, you saw me make it? Which means I'm fully ready, armored, and caffeinated to find out if Rodgers is going to be a Viking.

I'm ready. I think you talked the world into him going to the Steelers. You sold me on it. Again, if I'm him, that's where I want to go.

If I'm the Steelers, you have to seriously consider it. You influenced my thinking, Richard. Well, that's what I'm here to do is I'm an influencer. I mean, Jay Felley was just like, oh, I spent all weekend. I feel for you, Jay. You could reach out to me anytime. You got my number. I spent all weekend going, damn it, Geno Smith to the Raiders?

What are we doing? And then I just talked about it on the show, and you're like, huh. You were like that Alonzo Mourning GIF shaking your head all weekend, and then I talked, and you're like, oh, okay. I have been influenced.

Thank you, sir. Boy, I would give anything to know what was Alonzo Mourning thinking about in that moment. I think that all the time. I can't wait for him to come on this show so you can ask him one day. No. One day.

One day. Because Brockwood and I send that GIF to each other all the time. Well, I mean, we just ended hour number three talking about what the 49ers might be up to on their roster and what's happening, and the Alonzo Mourning GIF for them.

But right now, they're in the head shaking part of it. Terzo in Iowa. All rise. Let's take his phone call here to kick off hour number two. What's up, Terzo? How you doing, sir?

Well, Rich, I've had a couple better days. You know, watching Hufunga and Greenlaw go to Denver is pretty tough. I knew that they were going to be making a lot of different changes, but losing those two guys was pretty tough for me to swallow, especially going to that Denver defense.

I know, bro. I mean, that defense was already top five last year, and now they added those two. Let's see how Greenlaw's coming back from his Achilles injury.

As we all know, he attempted to do it at the end of last year, and he wasn't ready. But Hufunga, who was one of the many Niners who were hurt last year, putting him in the back end of that defense next to the reigning defensive player of the year is significant. It's going to be awesome. It's going to be really awesome. That's going to be a fun team to watch. I just really didn't want to lose to Hufunga.

I thought he was next to Warner, our next best player on that defense, just how he kind of maintained everything on that back side. So losing him is a tough one, but like you guys said, it's going to be important for them to find great draft picks and hopefully put themselves in the position that the Rams kind of were last year when we all kind of thought that their window closed, but they had a great draft and turned it around. No doubt, and it's going to be big for them, and we'll see what happens again.

Thanks for the call, Terzo. We'll see what happens when the new league year hits, and there's going to be a whole bunch of people on the street, if you will, on the market. And I don't know what their plans are, and they have one.

It's not like, oh my God, we're losing all these people. They have one. They know who they're going to target, and they know who they're going to be interested in the draft and who they're hopefully going to get. I mean, they're not clueless. They've got some real smart people in there, and we'll see what they do.

Let me just throw just a name out there. What if Cooper Cup wants to go there? Do you think that would interest Cooper Cup going to San Francisco?

Now suddenly you're like, oh, okay. Again, I'm not saying that's going to happen. I'm not saying that's even in the ether of happening. The Niners may have no cap space for it to happen. I don't know what Cooper Cup's going to want to take or get. I'm just throwing that out there.

And so again, why would you acquire trade? Like right now, the Niners would have no chance of getting Cooper Cup because the Rams would have to trade him there. Why would they give up any of their draft capital when they know the Niners are going to release him tomorrow? That's the whole point again is you don't know who's going to be released tomorrow, just yet. So that's why we kind of have to hold off. But right now it looks pretty scary for Niner fans, and I understand it.

844-204-rich number to dial. Listen, we did overreaction Monday, yesterday, as a segment. Normally we do that podcast, but we're on sort of an every other week cadence on that pod. The next one will be up Monday when we figured all the pieces of free agency will have landed.

So we'll do that then. So Chris, you're being tested to the limit because a lot of these free agency questions that you're putting out there on overreaction Monday might be worthy of the pod next week. But we had a segment yesterday and so much happened between yesterday and today. We're running it back. It's now overreaction Monday on a Tuesday. That was terrible. That was crap.

That was garbage. This place sucks. Overreaction Monday on a Tuesday. And who knows, something may happen tonight and we'll do overreaction Monday on a Wednesday for first.

On a Wednesday? Wow. I believe in you. It's me way of saying I believe in your ability to dig deep into your id, your sports talk id, and come up with just so many hot takes. Now you're stretching the intro.

I believed him. How is everybody? Everybody doing okay? Hey, that's my line. Stop it. Where's the gavel?

This court is in order. Nice. Everybody good?

Get a new hat. All right. All right. Who had the best overreaction by the way? Who had the two best days yesterday when we're thinking about it? I'll tell you who. The Bears and the Patriots. They're both making the playoffs this year. Be real. Be real. Why would you include the Patriots in there? Go ahead.

I'll give you the floor. You don't think they had a good day yesterday? Excuse me.

That's not the topic bar. You had great days yesterday. The Patriots and the Bears. And they're both making the playoffs in 2025. You have a ton of cap space.

You need to take advantage of it in ways that are smart to build your team. Certainly if you're starting at the bottom, which the Patriots are pretty damn near close to. They were one Joe Milton game away. The Milton game away from being at the very bottom, meaning at the very top of the draft order.

Okay. They made some smart moves. They did. I mean, some of their players that they have on defense now are terrific. And I, they got the guy who can figure out the pieces, including a guy who used to coach Harold Landry.

I get it. But making the playoffs, Chris? We literally just saw teams have the second overall pick and go to the NFC championship game. That's what the NFL is right now. You can turn it around in one year.

Okay. There's nothing that convinces me that the Patriots can't be that team. The Bears making the playoffs is not an overreaction. The Patriots making the playoffs is an absolute overreaction right now in the AFC with three teams in the AFC West alone made it. And they're only getting better.

They're only getting better. And they already have their quarterbacks. They're not all going to make it again.

Okay. In the AFC West. The AFC North. There's turnover every year.

Half the teams don't make it. The Jets signed Justin Fields. Yeah.

And guess what? They're the Jets. But I'm not sitting here saying they're making the playoffs. You should.

Okay. That part's an overreaction. But seriously, you should be very happy that the Patriots use some of their calf space wisely. You know, I am plucking one of the defenders of the Super Bowl who made Patrick Mahomes' night a misery. It was great. And he was going somewhere else, too. They came in over the top rope. Did you see variable playing blackjack the night before free agency open? That was cool.

What else? We talked a lot about Sam Darnold yesterday, obviously going to Seattle. Sam Darnold should have stayed in Minnesota. He'll never have it better than he did in 2024. So staying in Minnesota apparently was a one year twenty five million dollar deal.

Oh, that was the part about what I was wrong about. One of my rumors when I said that the Vikings want to keep Darnold in for more than one year. And now you hear it was just a one year twenty five million dollar deal, which is why they didn't franchise him.

Why would you franchise him for one year for forty when you had one year for twenty five on the table and all he got for the team that gave him multiple years was thirty three. It's a pretty disrespectful offer from Minnesota. Well, again, they've got a kid in waiting who they believe in and it's time to go to him or coach him up or hedge your bet best you can. So, I mean, it's not disrespectful. You have to understand. It's not that they don't believe in him.

One year twenty five million is pretty disrespectful. Well, they knew he would reject it and he did. And so that's why I'm saying it really wasn't an option for him to go back to Minnesota. Was he going to take less money for one year to go back there and maybe not even get the starting job or go to somewhere new? That is clearing the decks for him. Totally new spot where he can now live the rest of his playing career and take advantage of the opportunity in front of him. He's in a great spot in a great spot up in Seattle, where they love their team and in Sam, they trust now. And on top of all of that, you know, the spotlight isn't as bright there nationally. But let him go there and just go and dominate and and restore the team to greatness with the new coach that they've they've cleared the decks. They weren't doing that in Minnesota. So I'll call this an overreaction.

What else? But yes, I mean, it's possible he'll never have it better than he had last year. Yeah, possible. But last year is not next year. Richard Glass half full guys.

No question. Although Miles Garrett turned me into a cynic for about an hour. I was steaming when I heard about that news over the weekend.

I think he was Dr. Nichols. I think you got taken advantage of. You can't take that personally, baby. I didn't when it all came down. I'm human. I'm laying it all out there. My emotions. I ran to gamut when I came here.

I got I cooled off and I gave a more nuanced, normal, regular approach. Like we all have a number, don't we? That's true. The eternal optimist, rich eyes, nuanced.

I like that. That's why I come to you for nuanced approaches. Nuance.

We love to take you where your fandom on your sleeve. Can you by the way, can you not spell influence with without nuance? Are the letters of nuance in influence?

There's no A in influence. Damn it. Justin Fields is going to end the Jets playoff drought. When? That's what he's saying. It's got a two year deal. So during this two year deal. Yeah, I will say that's not an overreaction.

What about this year? It's pushing it. That's a tall order, Nordberg.

How about the AFC East getting three teams? That's a naked gun, naked gun reference, naked gun reference. Well done. You got that one. All right, P.O.J.

OK. Yeah, I don't think that's an overreaction. Dude, they've got a really good young roster. Well, we heard that last year. I know that. And the year before that. Well, the year before that.

Listen. In the same way that Rogers was a smart bet for the Jets, this is a smart bet coming off of the aftermath of Rogers. He's the antithesis of Rogers.

This is a better bet than the Rogers bet. Well, the bet that the Jets made with Rogers was a smart one, where it was a roster that surprised probably even them from growing up so fast that they were playoff ready at that point in time. And Zach Wilson had proven not ready for that moment.

He couldn't grow with that team anymore. The team had outgrown Zach's pace. And so you had to get somebody who could pick up that pace and four friggin snaps in his Achilles snaps. And the kid who had his pace outpaced is thrown in there. With Calvin pace, you know, and so it was a smart bet.

And this coming off of the aftermath of that with a new coach coming in is a smart bet. Let's put an age contemporary in the room with Garrett Wilson. And if you're giving Garrett Wilson an attaboy, please stick with us because we know we're going to have to sign you at some point. Give him his college quarterback and say, help him grow. The quarterback's not helping you grow anymore, Garrett. You're helping the quarterback grow. And the coach that's coming in is named Aaron starting fresh.

It makes sense. And with the rest of that roster being as good as I think it is, this is not an overreaction. What else you got? Our last one. Max, check it in. We'll get to him in a minute.

Yes. Rich, in three years with the Cleveland Browns, Deshaun Watson is nine and 10 in games that he has started. Kenny Pickett or someone maybe they draft is going to win nine games this year. This year is a tall order, but man, nine wins is a tall order for this year, buddy. Nine and eight. One game over five. But I'm picking up what you're putting down, which is it's not as bad in Cleveland as you think. Exactly.

OK, I'm picking up what you're putting down. I love the coach. Love the coach.

Kept Miles Garrett. I love the guys on offense. And when the coaches had somebody other than Deshaun Watson and all you hear out of this conversation in the league is that Deshaun wasn't comfortable in the Stefanski offense. So they changed the Stefanski offense to make it Watson as comfortable as possible.

And it just didn't mesh well enough. So when you have somebody in there who just runs Stefanski's offense, the manner in which Stefanski kind of wants it run looks pretty good. You get comeback player of the year in Flacco and you get Jamis Winston flashing as, you know, eating W's. So I pick up what you're putting down, but nine wins is just a little too much. I'll call that an overreaction, but I hear what you're saying. That's overreaction Monday on a Tuesday. When we come back, Mike Mayock on all of these subject matters, what are the Steelers thinking? What should they be thinking?

That and the way that the quarterback carousel affects the draft. Mike Mayock coming up. So visit your local Hyundai dealer today. It's a great day for a new Hyundai. When you choose the best rate for you, give it a try after this episode at progressive.com.

Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates not available in all states or situations. Prices vary based on how you buy in the NFL. There's no margin for error.

As we just saw, one mistake can change the outcome of the game and a season and the biggest game at that. Science proves quality sleep can help boost reaction time, recovery time and overall athletic performance. And that's why Sleep Number is the official sleep and wellness partner of the NFL, because they provide players with data and insights to optimize their sleep for the ultimate competitive edge. Imagine what it can do for you. I know my sleep number setting is 60.

My wife's is 70, just 10 numbers apart. But guess what? It makes the world of difference. So why choose a Sleep Number Smart Bed?

So you can choose your ideal comfort on either side. And now save 40 percent on the new Sleep Number Special Edition Smart Bed. Limited time, exclusively at a Sleep Number store near you.

See store or sleepnumber.com for details. Can you just clean that up, please, sir? Thank you. Back here on our program, everybody, and that was energy that I'm bringing to the table because I'm excited. You're supposed to ask me excited for what?

Excited for what? Just to be here. Just to be here. Just to be alive. Yeah, Mayok's going to join us shortly. Radio audience is returning. Life's good. What are you doing over there? I'm posting your Daniel Jones take.

Oh, what's your copy? Awesome take by Rich? No, I did a nice pun of a super old movie that old people get. Mr. Jones is going to Indianapolis. Did Mr. Jones go to Washington?

Yeah, I didn't get that. It's Mr. Smith goes to Washington. Stay out of the old movie reference business. 1939.

Great job, Rich. Mr. Smith goes to Washington. Ah, dang it.

That's kind of the same idea. No, it's not. Well, Mr., the last name, and then Jones is a common last name.

Smith and Jones goes to a nice city. Oh, I screwed that up. Sorry. 1939.

Oh, my God. You know what would be a funny bit for us on YouTube? What is a funny bit for us on YouTube? Me doing movie reviews of all these dumbass old films that no one watches anymore. They're not the dumbass old films.

Old films are excellent films. You're the dumbass. Does that make sense? No. The films aren't the dumbass. You as a human saying these words are the dumbass.

If there is a dumbass anywhere in the sentence. No. Okay. You'd have to watch them to review them.

You know that, right? But me reviewing them I think would be pretty funny. Or we could do a watch-along.

I'm sure the fans would be into that. Dumbass watch-along? That's a working title. You know, we're about to speak to a man whose pop culture knowledge stopped at the movie Stripes. You're aware of that, right? Well, that's halfway through.

That's halfway through. 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 our favorite in his Tuesday spot, Mike Mayock, back here on the program. Good to see you, Mike. How are you, man?

I'm feeling like the definition of a dumbass, speaking of which. No, no, no. We're just, you know, we're talking about old movies. And I will never forget the draft moment in Radio City Music Hall in between the first and second nights when it was you, me, and Ivan Reitman in a confab prior to shooting our scenes for draft day. And you found out just before that Ivan Reitman directed your favorite movie in Stripes.

And then you started critiquing him on the film. And it was just fantastic, Mike. I will never forget that moment in my life. For some reason, that made an impact on you.

Oh, my God. Yeah. I said to you, not everything deserves an evaluation, is what I said to you after that moment, you know. The movie was legendary for half of it, and it fell right into the river once they got to Germany.

And I stand bad on that evaluation. Didn't he tell us, though, didn't he say that they ran out of a budget? Exactly. And they decided to put the movie in an RV and go to Germany. That's what he basically said to you, right?

Did he say that? He packed them up, put them in an RV and just directed it out of there. They didn't have any more money to spend. Wow.

They ran out of cap space. All right. So let's just dive into this, Mike. I want to start macro with you. What happens in a general manager's room or an office when a plan A goes out the window because somebody else signs somewhere else? Like, what happens in those moments, Mike? So all weekend you were planning for those moments, if not the last several months. But this past weekend, you're sitting in your building with your coaches, the high level people, your salary cap guys, but you're saying, okay, here's our target, you know, A, B and C as far as the early layers, then the middle layers, the late layers. Our priorities are these three guys. If we get smacked in the mouth and don't get them, what does that look like?

What does that waterfall effect look like? Where are we going next? How are we staying in touch with all the appropriate agents so we don't lose anybody for lack of interest? There's a whole lot of different levels of keeping everybody involved so that while you're negotiating with a primary guy, you know you've got other people out there that you can fall back to.

Not necessarily the same position, but whatever your priorities are. And so the reason why I ask that macro question now I narrow in on what's happening in Pittsburgh and what you think is happening in Pittsburgh, because boy, does it feel like there were multiple plans on the table for their quarterback spot, whether it was bidding for Sam Darnold or trying to keep Justin Fields. And now both are in different spots and they are left without a starting quarterback on the eve of the new league year.

And what you think is happening in that building right now, Mike? Yeah, it's interesting because the way the quarterback carousel shuffled, and I had it in my notes, that I thought youth would be served, and they were. Darnold, Fields, Daniel Jones kind of set the carousel, and now you're going to see Rodgers, Russell Wilson, and down the line.

And I think there's two kind of wildcard plays in there, which leads back to your question, Rich. The wildcard plays to me are potentially Derek Carr as one of them after June 1st. And then I think a second interesting one is Kirk Cousins. And it'll be interesting to see whether or not Atlanta controls value.

And I'm a big believer in that. And what I mean by Kirk Cousins is they have a $10 million roster bonus for next year that becomes vested the fifth day of this league year. I think they ought to control Kirk Cousins because I think both Kirk Cousins and Derek Carr have value after June 1st for different reasons. And again, after June 1st, when you can defer cap problems over a two-year period instead of one, I mean, you can get Derek Carr for the vet minimum at that point, OK?

One point some million. But you're going to have to give up a big draft pick to get him, whereas Kirk Cousins is about $27.5 million. But again, if Atlanta controls that value, I think down the road, depending on who gets shut out in free agency and then who gets shut out in the quarterback draft, I think there's real value with those two guys.

Interesting. And how do you feel the quarterback draft has been affected by the first 48 hours of the negotiating window in the new league year and the fact that you look at the Browns having acquired Kenny Pickett, a former first rounder, as we know, and a victory formation snap in the Super Bowl for the Eagles. You see the Jets having a two-year deal now with Justin Fields seventh overall. The Raiders acquiring Geno Smith to reunite him with Pete Carroll. They're drafting sixth overall.

The Giants have yet to make that move. The Titans are clearly in the mix, as we all know. How do you see the carousel, how it has spun affecting the draft right now?

Mike, I think it's really intriguing. Let's start with Vegas at number six. They made the move to trade for the quarterback from Seattle, Geno Smith. I thought that whole thing was intriguing because all of a sudden Seattle got younger at quarterback. They went from 35-year-old Geno down to 27-year-old Sam Darnold, similar dollars. Pete Carroll gets his quarterback that he's used to and he'll feel like can immediately compete, especially with their free agent dollars available.

But I don't think it takes Vegas out of the quarterback market, potentially even at number six, depending on what happens up high. I think to me Geno's a bridge. Geno's not a franchise quarterback. You can win football games with Geno. He's won between eight and ten games a year for the last three years in Seattle. They give the Raiders a chance to win quickly, and that's kind of how I viewed Derek Carr when I was with the Raiders.

I mean, a guy you can win with. But at age 35, you still have to be looking for a permanent franchise quarterback. And then, Rich, it brings to kind of the top end of the draft Tennessee, Cleveland, and the Giants.

You know, the picket move doesn't do a lot for me. All three of them are still obviously in the quarterback market. Tennessee and Cleveland, having done nothing but the picket move, tells me that they've got to be heavily invested in either Cam Ward or Shadore Sanders. Cleveland, I'm a big Stefanski guy. I've known him and his father. They're Philly guys.

I've known them forever. I think he's a really smart guy, two-time coach of the year. You know, he won with Joe Flacco a couple years ago. Go to 11 wins. But now's the time to me to make those decisions at the top of the draft. Are either of those two guys going to be your franchise quarterbacks? And, Rich, it looks like since they haven't made any significant moves, they're in play. And the Giants sitting there at three, we all know they made quite the yolo move for Matthew Stafford.

Didn't work out. Rogers is sitting there. Do you think Rogers makes sense for the Giants or the Steelers on those subject matters, one at a time, if you wouldn't mind Mike Mayock? Yeah, I think he wants to play for two years. And I think he can do that on either team. It's interesting to me because, like Pittsburgh, I know Mike Tomlin pretty well. And Mike has no problem with direct communication. And it's going to be run his way. So even though Aaron brings a certain circus to town, I don't think he's in a negotiating position at this point in his career to be anything more than a really good teammate, which he is anyway.

He's a good teammate. But I think they're going to have to do it the Pittsburgh way. Heavy run game, play action. I think Aaron can do some of that. He can still throw the football.

And I think he'll be a better player than he was last year coming off the Achilles. So I think he can be in play in Pittsburgh as long as he understands the fit, the role, and that the general in that building is Mike Tomlin. As far as the Giants are concerned, another situation where I think you've got a head coach and a GM feeling some heat.

You've got to win some football games now. So I think the Giants have got to be putting the full court press on Aaron Rodgers to keep him in the metropolis of New York. And in a different way to look at it, could Pittsburgh say, well, you know, we can win with Russell Wilson?

They can. But at the end of the day, I think one of those teams may end up looking at the two options I talked about earlier, which are Kirk Cousins and Derek Carr a couple of months down the road. Interesting. Well, let's just linger here for a second because, again, you know, it's always dangerous to assume what Rodgers is thinking because it sounds like you're talking for him and nobody does that. Right.

Right. So that's my preface to what I'm about to say. It just strikes me as that Rodgers wouldn't want to do what you mentioned with the Giants because he's done that movie before with the Jets. Listen, we all know every quarterback knows if he does not perform, the coach and the GM might eat it. OK, like that's just the way life is in the NFL. But he he just did that with the Jets where I'm coming in, you know, I need to win games.

And if I don't, there's an ownership that's going to clean the whole house. And going to Pittsburgh is a different story for him. You know what I mean?

Like, that's a totally different ball of wax. And I think he and Tomlin absolutely can coexist. I don't I don't think it's that ill of a fit that maybe those on the outside looking in would think. And that if I'm Rodgers, I'm putting every ounce of my firepower to get there. That's where I want to go because they made the playoffs last year. It's not a reclamation. They're going to need somebody to feed the thirty three million dollar a year wide receiver. Right. Like they got to do that. And I think that makes sense, you know. Maybe maybe I wasn't clear.

And then, you know, you've accused me of that in the past. But I do believe that his not his number one landing spot. Right.

Should be Pittsburgh, mostly for what you alluded to. And I do believe and I said this, he's he is a good teammate. Like a lot of that gets I've seen him practice a lot. I've been on the practice field with him. He's a smart football dude. OK. And he'll buy in.

You just bring a certain circus to town. That's all I'm saying. But they got to really gifted wide out right now. They made the trade for D.K. And this Pickens dude is the kind of guy I think can go either way. As far as, you know, Pittsburgh's had a couple of wide outs over the years. Let's face it, Antonio Brown and we, the Raiders rescued them out of that situation. Then Deontay Johnson. And now they've got the George Pickens situation. They typically know when to cut bait on wide outs. But this Pickens dude is gifted. And I think Aaron Rodgers, the kind of guy that can get a lot out of him and connect with him, can convince him that he and D.K.

can be special together. So I do believe if I'm Aaron Rodgers and I'm 41 years old, and I've already been through what you discussed, Rich, I want to finish, it's less, much less about the money and a hell of a lot more about trying to win football games. Mike Mayock here on the Rich Eisen Show. What's your assessment of what's happening in San Francisco? We have this graphic to help support the notion that it's an end of an era.

You know, I'm not saying that there's a window closing. There's still a ton of talented players there. But a lot of fans of the Niners are seeing these names go elsewhere or expected to go elsewhere.

Leonard Floyd got released during this conversation. So what do you think is happening in San Francisco, Mike Mayock, right now? I think a couple things, Rich. Number one, I think financial ramifications and the way they've been doing business over the years bring a certain reality. They've had a lot of injuries on high-paid players over the last several years.

On both sides of the line of scrimmage. I'm a coach's son, as you know, and I know coaches. My whole life has been around coaches. And what coaches want is they want the best players available and they want them now.

And they don't really typically care how old they are or what they cost. They just want the general manager and the infrastructure of the cap and the building to provide them good players. And so I feel a little empathy for Kyle Shanahan right now. Because good players are leaving that building.

And they have been a perennial favorite to compete for the Super Bowl. So I think there's a little bit of a pushback within the building, and I'm guessing this, just that we've got to do some business in a different way. We've got to stay younger. We've got to stay healthier. And we've drafted pretty well, let's lean back on that now. And so I don't know what you want to call it.

A restructure, a retool. I think they'll continue to compete. That young quarterback is better than people think.

And I think they will compete. But I think they've got a year or two now where they've got to figure some stuff out, Rich. And in the one-year anniversary of Saquon Barkley signing with the Eagles, the Eagles' defense has been picked apart in the first few hours of the new league year and free agency. The Rams keep their quarterback in Stafford. They add Devontae Adams to go with Puka Nakua. They go ahead and get Poona Ford for that defensive line. And then you see what Washington has done.

They're using the cap space that they have to supplement an already spectacular situation with what you saw, that they were able to get some expensive assets of top-notch, ready-to-go quality and debo for the offense and then for Laramie Tunsell to protect their golden child at quarterback. Which one do you think has – I guess they've gotten closer. Do you think the NFC in the last 48 hours has been somewhat tightened at the top, Mike? What do you think? Somewhat. And I'm intrigued by Washington. I think Dan Quinn and Adam Peters are joined at the hip.

You made all the correct points. They're pairing debo with McLaren. I think the Tunsell deal is huge. They signed both tight ends. Zach Ertz, who's like that quarterback security blanket, and a guy named John Bates who's a better player than people understand. They got them both re-signed. They got Bobby Wagner on defense. They continue to make intelligent moves. They signed a whole bunch of one-year players a year ago, Rich. So you knew there was going to be some movement this year, and there is.

But I love what I see there. The Rams, less need, doesn't get enough credit out there. In addition to the moves you made, they also re-signed 2-2 Atwell for $10 million guaranteed, which sounded rich to me.

But in hindsight, I'm guessing it was part of the pitch to the quarterback, Matthew Stafford. Hey, we're going to go get Devontae. You got Puca, and we're going to keep 2-2, who's an explosive kid. So I continue to be really impressed with what they do. They compete every year. Every time you want to write off the Rams, they continue to compete. And lastly with Philadelphia, you know, Howie's not done yet. Made the trade of the safety to Houston. And C.J. Gardner-Johnson's a good player. But in return, they got a former first-round pick in Kenyon Green, who has been hurt and not playing well.

And I think Philly's kind of got the secret ingredient with offensive line-in coach Jeff Stoutland. Where's he from, Rich? You got any idea? Staten Island, New York, Mike Mayock.

My hometown. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

He's a Hall of Fame coach, and I think Howie uses him like a secret weapon. Okay, we're going to get the Australian rugby guy and turn him an All-Pro guy. Check. Makai Becton.

Check. Okay, let's bring in this Green kid. And by the way, if they keep Becton, which they probably can't financially, but if they could, he could be the long-term replacement to tackle for Lane Johnson while you slide Kenyon Green in the guard. So, Rich, we could do this all day. I wish we had more time.

I bet. But in the remaining minutes I have with you, interpret the Daniel Jones signing to Indianapolis to provide competition for Anthony Richardson. Give me the interpretation of that move. I had to have a competent NFL starting quarterback in that camp this year. Ballard made reference to it at the Combine.

Like, we got to have real competition. Look, Anthony Richardson is one of the most gifted, tight-weight, speed specimens I've ever seen in my life. But he was basically a one-year starter in college. His arm strength is off the charts, but so is his accuracy.

He's got issues. He can drop a dime 60 yards down the field into tight coverage and then miss three guys in a row with level one and level two. There's literally no consistency at the quarterback position.

There's a high talent level, a high ceiling, but I think there's a low floor also. So you had to bring in somebody that could stabilize the situation. You know, I watched Daniel Jones beat Minnesota a couple of years ago at Minnesota in a playoff game. If you put him in the right environment, heavy run offense, play action, let him use his legs both in the planned quarterback run game and in the scramble game, you at least have a chance to win every week. So Daniel Jones gives them a chance. And by the way, Steichen and Ballard, they're under some pressure too. So you got to bring a quarterback in that you know worst case can come in and compete every week. But, you know, if it is a true competition, don't you think Daniel could beat him out?

I mean, that's entirely possible. He starts week one in Indianapolis, right? I 100% believe Daniel Jones is their number one, week one starter.

They're paying him $14 million, which isn't starter money, but that quarterback hasn't shown enough where you can have any confidence whatsoever playing him every week. Mike, you're the best. Thanks again.

We'll chat again next Tuesday. Thanks for the two cents and making us smarter. You're the best. Thanks for the time, bud. Thanks, brother.

You got it. It's Mike Mayock, everybody. Check out Mike on, yes, Twitter, I said it, at MikeMayock. Go follow him and all of his insights right here on the Rich Eisen Show.

Thrilled to have Mike back here every single Tuesday. Good stuff. Some people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance by checking Allstate first.

The same way you know you've got to make sure your lucky jersey is clean on game day or your team might lose. Checking first is smart, so check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate. Savings vary, subject to terms, conditions, and availability.

Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. 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.

And certificates are just the beginning. Navy Federal also provides financial advisors to help you manage your investment portfolio along with online tools to guide your savings plan. With our support, you'll have everything you need to take charge of your finances, so don't wait. The sooner you start building your financial future with Navy Federal's savings and investing options, the better off you could be in the long run. Sign up at NavyFederal.org. Navy Federal Credit Union, our members are the mission.

Savings products insured by NCUA, investment products are not insured, not obligations of Navy Federal and may lose value. Are you surprised the Giants let you walk, Saquon Barkley? I feel like, you know, during the time leading up to the negotiations before I hit for agency, I didn't really hear from them, you know, leading up to that time. So I kind of had an idea of what was going to happen, so obviously everyone got to see hard knocks.

I wasn't really surprised by that, but I look at it as a blessing. I'm in a new chapter. I'm thankful, you know, for all those guys over there in New York for the six years that I had there. I learned a lot. I feel like I won't be the player I am today or the man I am today without my time there.

And now I'm in a new chapter and I'm super excited about it and blessed with this opportunity and focused on taking advantage of the opportunity I have here and off to a great start. And I've got to be consistent. That's my whole mindset for this whole season. How consistent can I be?

And that starts getting ready for week two. Not to equate myself with you at all. We don't have the same quads just as a for instance. But, you know, I spent seven years at ESPN before going to NFL Network and ESPN was my identity professionally. Right. Like they gave me my start. They drafted me, if you will. Right. And and but they let me walk.

They let me walk to another spot. And, you know, it's a chip. It's still a chip on this. I'm 22 years now at NFL Network. It's still a chip for me, but I was still stunned.

You know, and it definitely surprised me. And I'm wondering if you have if that leaves a chip with you even within. But trust me, everything's worked out for me. I'm very happy with everything that has worked out with the opportunity I was given to be let walk. But I'm wondering if you have a chip on that.

I think I think that's a great question and no one ever presented that question to me. And I agree it does leave a chip on your shoulder, but I always have a chip on my shoulder no matter what. I feel like that God blessed me with a tremendous talent and I want to go out there and try to be one of the best romances to play the game.

I studied all the greats and, you know, the same. So your grace has become greater. So did it leave a little chip on my shoulder?

Did it hurt a little bit? Yeah, of course. But I am thankful for the opportunity. And sometimes, you know, sometimes they say the grass ain't always greener.

But look at them right here. My family's happy. I'm happy. You know, I'm smiling more. Just everything about me is, you know, is trending upward. So I'm just super blessed with opportunity.

But chip is on my shoulder, not just because of the Giants. Let me walk, just because there's something I want to do. I'm on a mission and I want to accomplish it. And, you know, that starts like I say, continue to go back to being consistent and getting ready for week two.

You said on a mission. What is your mission, Saquon Barkley? Be consistent. Be consistent every day. Someone challenged me to see how consistent I can be. Always been a very constant person. But how consistent, how consistent can I be? And that's my mindset.

Every day, come in, one percent, get better and improve. And, you know, I feel like when I have that mindset, when I look back on the end of the season, I'll be happy with how things played off. One year ago today, Saquon Barkley changed fortunes for everybody. The Eagles, the Giants themselves personally, and so much more. And all the fans in Philadelphia were hoping it was one year ago on this day that Saquon Barkley signed with the Eagles. And everybody thought, you know, who knows what he can look like behind an offensive line and an offense like that.

And yada, yada, yada, 2,000 yards in the regular season in a Super Bowl run. Later, they're champions of the world. Hyundai getaway sales event.

I've been talking about it for a while because it's going on right now. You get deals so right, it almost feels wrong. Almost. Now is the best time to get that Hyundai car or SUV you've always wanted. Plus, new, 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. Well, think again.

Don't wait. The Hyundai getaway sales event is going on right now. So, visit your local Hyundai dealer today. It's a great new day for a Hyundai. Paul is calling in from one of Chris Brockman's favorite places on planet Earth. Syracuse, New York. What's up, Paul?

Rich bleepin' Eisen, baby. How you doin'? Okay. Okay. Okay.

Okay. I'm in hot. What's up, Paul? Hey, we got our franchise quarterback, Justin Fields. He's our guy.

He's 26 years old. Paul, you went higher register. You went up in the air with that. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

I felt that. But he is our guy. This is a guy the Steelers gave up on, and we bring him in. He was 4-2 as a starter last year.

65% completion prophetic. Career high. QBR career high. This is our guy. He's reunited with Garrett Wilson.

We're going to win the whole guy's darn thing now with Justin Fields as our guy. Ladies and gentlemen, Paul at Syracuse doing a higher register segment. So, does that mean you really don't believe what you just said, Paul? Is that what you're saying? I do believe. I guess I'm all over the place on the actives.

I can't control the volume of my voice. Loving Lance and whatnot. But no, I believe it. Justin Fields, I think he's going to be the guy that turns around our fortunes. You just talked about it with Saquon Barkley. Let's fast forward a year, and what are we talking about? Some confetti? playoffs? Well, I mean, you can get confetti places.

I don't know if it's a hero named for canyons and named for heroes. We'll see, Paul. But, you know, listen, I totally appreciate the optimism. And thanks for the call, Paul.

The glass half full in Syracuse, New York. But I think his tongue is firmly planted in cheek. Paul's called in many times before. Listen, I will repeat what I said in my first blush reaction. I left one thing out in my first blush reaction.

I'm glad to get a second bite at this Big Apple right here. That in the same way that it made sense for the Jets to put all their eggs in the Aaron Rodgers basket, because their roster of young Turks had built into such a playoff ready team, that it outpaced Zach Wilson's readiness to quarterback that team. And so they needed to get an adult in the room to bring this team to where it could go, but for the quarterback position. And Rodgers lasted four snaps. We'll never have the answer of what Aaron Rodgers looked like as a healthy New York Jet.

He wasn't one last year. So going in a different direction now made complete sense, as much sense as it did to go get Rodgers in the first place. And when you do that, you go opposite. You don't go for another old guy looking for another shot. You go for a young'un.

And if you're not going to draft one, you go and get one that was a first rounder with a ton of upside and just lack of opportunities. And you go for one that speaks to one of your young Turks that you know, you're going to have to resign because he is dynamite and Garrett Wilson and say, listen, we know the last two years didn't go the way you wanted. Here's your college quarterback.

Let's go to work. And you put an age contemporary into the locker room and see if they can build around each other. And now Garrett Wilson goes from you're the pupil to maybe you're the guy coaching up your quarterback and see how that works. And you got a coach that is ready for that challenge. And he's the cult of personality, Aaron, not the quarterback. And you follow that Aaron Glenn, because he's your coach. And hopefully he has chosen wisely with the offensive coordinator, because that is going to be what makes this work or not.

That's the rubber that meets the road. What is the scheme that makes Justin Fields not feel robotic, as he said at one point in time in Chicago, or suddenly a package gimmicky guy? Let's get him throwing comfortably in rhythm, knowing where to put the ball while taking off and being smart about it or running him. Because if you don't know if the quarterback or the running back has the football, guess what? If the quarterback doesn't have it, Breece Hall does. If Breece Hall doesn't have it, a thousand yard rusher in Justin Fields does.

Go to work with that and see if that can work. It makes complete sense to try it. And thus the optimism is, in fact, dare I say, warranted. That said, the Jets also, do they go ahead and draft a quarterback?

I don't know. I would rather them go and give a major offensive piece like Tyler Warren to Justin Fields and go to work that way. But it makes total sense to give it a try. And if the owner is going to back off and not threaten the coach and the general manager for making a smart move, you're paying your quarterback 20 million per. Is that really what's happening? To give it a shot with somebody who's in his mid 20s and a ton of experience, but just lack of opportunities, and you believe in him?

See how that one flies. And if it doesn't work, the next year you're drafted high again and there's better quarterbacks, I guess. Makes sense to me.

So I guess going higher register in terms of winning right now. They got the roster. They got the kids.

The kids are damn all right. And you're going to have to pay him in sauce. And you've got to look at sauce and say, hey, you want to reach out to T. Higgins now? I mean, that one that one in the off seat. Was it late in January where somebody said to him on social media, hey, sauce, go reach out to T. Higgins, tell him to come here. He's like, nah, nah, I'm not doing that. That's the thing.

When I realized, like, you got to go in a different direction here. So blowing it up again makes complete sense because you've got sauce and Garrett Wilson and Quinnen Williams. Those are three tremendous young players that you can build around as pillars at positions that are important back into defense. Anchor of the defense up front. You got Williams's brother. You got all of these pieces around on defense.

You got Aaron Glenn to come coach it up and you got Justin Fields to figure it out. Why not? And by the way, the number of people are like, how do you like the fact that you've got Ohio State players that you got to root for? I don't care.

What do I care? Treat the, treat the opponents like it's 2019. Because that was the last time that they beat Michigan with Justin Fields and Garrett Wilson leading the way. So treat it like it's 2019. You know, just don't don't don't treat it like it's 2021 or 2022 or.

Twenty, twenty three or twenty, twenty four. Just don't do that. That's my answer to people. How do you feel about rooting for Ohio State? Plant the flag, Justin.