Hour 2: Live from the NFL Combine with Cowboys HC Brian Schottenheimer & NFL Insider Tom Pelissero

13:02Brian Schottenheimer:No, but it was very thorough. Okay. It was probably the second or third time that we talked that I actually, I got off the phone and I was like, damn, I think I got a real shot of getting this job. And, but the conversations were great. The conversations were seamless. The direction that my beliefs and my philosophy, he was very excited about my ability to communicate, my ability to connect with the players. It was really seamless. And I do think that was part of the benefits of him seeing me around the players and on game day and after games, not just after wins or losses, as a coordinator, leading the guys and giving direction or giving advice or consoling these guys.

13:45Brian Schottenheimer:I think that was a big, big part of it. But it was in the boardroom. The lights were on. No candles. No candles. No voters. Actually, if I had one complaint, it was after about six hours, I got a little hungry. And? And they had salads. Salads? They had a little salad, yeah. Because when you're interviewing, you can't have food coming out of your mouth and stuff like that. So, yeah, we had salads. What is it, a Caesar? What type of salad? It was Caesar, yeah. Look at that. Look at you. See, I got that right. You're back.

14:12Rich Eisen:You're back. I'm back. Before I let you go, what can you allow about what your thought process for your first round draft choice is going to be? Walk a Cowboy fan through.

14:25Brian Schottenheimer:Yeah, again, everybody wants to point the picture at defense, and certainly we've got more holes on defense than we do on offense. But I love the process. I love the conversations that we've already got started with Jerry and Steven going through the draft board. I love this time of year. I love getting in the room with these guys and watching them talk ball because you can see the guys that get real passionate about the X's and the O's. But even their brothers, they talk about their teammates and, hey, this is so-and-so. I think this is the best part of it. But, you know, we're going to go through the process, man.

14:53Brian Schottenheimer:And, again, is defense going to be the only thing that we draft? No. But we certainly have a number of positions that we want to address in the premier positions of defensive football. Okay.

15:05Rich Eisen:I like that. You met TJ, my guy TJ, right? TJ and I are very close. Come on out here real quick, TJ, before I let him go. I know he's got to get going. There you go. There you go. Have you seen his picture of the flag? I live with this man almost every day professionally. You got a quick question for the coach? I do not in all 22 or anything like that coach. It's more about you. Okay. You know, I know you got your first gig in 97, 28 years. It took you to get to this point. Like personally, how did that make you feel? What is the validation of the fact that you put in all this hard work? And I'm sure there were jobs that passed you by that you didn't get.

15:39Brian Schottenheimer:Are you trying to get him to cry? I think he's trying to take your job because I would rather talk to you actually than Rich.

15:46Rich Eisen:Let's talk about it. He's a bonafide cowboy fan. I thought you'd get, but it is a great question. And I've got a second part that might make you cry.

15:53Brian Schottenheimer:Well, I mean, we might run out of time, but that's for you guys. But here's what I would say. I thought it had passed me by. I really did. Yep. I think when we won the division in Seattle in 2020 and we set the record for most points scored in franchise history, and Pete and I kind of agreed to go our separate ways, which happens in this business, and I wasn't getting looks from other teams. I kind of thought it had passed me by. but what it proved to me and what it showed me was you're always being evaluated four years ago i was consultant in this organization and now i'm one year into my head coaching regime there a lot of room for improvement but be who you are all the time every day and and you will get noticed that's what's up and also i noticed that you carry a card of your dad marty schottenheimer

16:40Rich Eisen:with you on game day like now he is trying to get me to cry just like what would that you know how do you think that he's feeling? What would he say to you in this moment, man?

16:50Brian Schottenheimer:Oh, man. You know, I think of him every day. I really do. I think of him every day. I carry him with me on game day. And good times and bads, I hold on to the card. But he's proud. And here I go. And I see his picture up there. What I remember is he was a legendary coach, but an even better father.

17:11Rich Eisen:Yeah, he's a good man. And I'm the same way as you. I'm a crier. Jake Ferguson's

17:16Brian Schottenheimer:yelling at me right now from TV.

17:18Rich Eisen:Saying, Shottie, stop. Hold it together. Me too, man. But yeah, you know, I worked in LA for 20 years. I always wanted to do something like this. 20 years, I was always behind the scene. He took a chance on me and he put me

17:30Tom Pelissero:and gave me the shot that I had. What's happening now, man?

17:33Rich Eisen:So when I got to learn about you when you got

17:36Tom Pelissero:hired, this was part of the story and it just resonated. So I just wanted to tell you that, man.

17:40Brian Schottenheimer:I'm excited for you and I'm happy. And man, let's do this. TJ, let me say this to you, man. People, this business and life in general is about people. And the way you talk about Rich is the way I hope my players talk about me. It's how I talk about my family and certainly how I talk about our players and coaches. So thank you. I love it, man.

17:59Rich Eisen:Brian Schottenheimer, good luck to you and you're too bad. Thanks, man. Sorry. Sorry. I brought TJ on to make you cry. I thought he was going to basically say, when we get into the championship game when we do it easy on me he took it well we know championship game's coming i'm not worried about that yes it is brian schottenheimer thanks for the time man the head coach of the dallas cowboys brian schottenheimer here tom polisero next on the rich eyes and show if you're like me and my family you're all about creating amazing memories while on vacation. And for me, many of those have involved a home we found on Airbnb.

18:37Rich Eisen:We had such great experiences that whenever we travel somewhere new, we always check Airbnb first to find a place that fits our needs. The homes we've stayed in, comfortable, safe, private. You feel like you're part of the community. After a long day of exploring or sitting on a beach, it really is nice to come back to a place you can call your own. Airbnb is also a great way, if you want, to earn some extra money while you're traveling or out of your house for an extended period of time. You can make your home work for you while you're away. Not as a full-time thing, not as some big production, just something that fits into trips you're already taking.

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19:48Rich Eisen:So get down to your local Hyundai dealer and get away with a deal you'll love during the Hyundai Getaway Sales Event. Visit HyundaiUSA.com for details. The Rich Eisen Show podcast. ESPN Radio audience is back. I've got Tom Pelissero sitting right here talking about his hair. The floor is yours, sir.

20:09Tom Pelissero:The radio audience, some of this will be lost, but I believe we do have a photo of what I looked like at the Super Bowl. I have been growing out the hair for some time. And so after Super Bowl week, it's a long flow, but I put into one of the AI programs, what should the next step be? And so what you're seeing here is the evolution through several different versions of AI. And I believe we have the last one. Look at you. As we're making our way through, it's becoming more of a mullet. The sides are getting shorter. Looks more Mahomes like. And then in the final iteration there, I'm Patrick Mahomes.

20:39Tom Pelissero:That's what I was about to say. Turn me into Patrick Mahomes over like 10 prompts in ChatGPT. And that's apparently what I would look like. I'm not there yet, but we're making our way.

20:49Rich Eisen:You're like, what is it? Like you're the Dylan Rayola of information? Yes, exactly. I got the headband in the gym. You're just going to turn into Mahomes? Gradually.

21:00Tom Pelissero:It's still a few cuts away. But we are. That looks more sideshow Bob than anything else right there. I don't know why it changes the face over time, but the hair, without me even trying, went full Mahomes.

21:11Rich Eisen:Ladies and gentlemen, Tom Pellissero here on the program. All right, where are we on the Max Crosby? Is there still any there there? Where are we right now? Anything?

21:18Tom Pelissero:I would say it is fair to assume that the Raiders are getting many calls about Max Crosby. We heard what John Spitek said in this room. Expects Max to be back. Yes. Great relationship. Texting and talking. We have not heard from Max Crosby since that session. Max has many ways on social media, on a podcast, to potentially respond. But I would say the Raiders don't need to make calls. They will get calls on Max Crosby. is there a world where Max Crosby gets traded in the next seven to ten days? I believe there is. You do. We're not there yet in terms of a deal actually getting done. But almost every player in the NFL has a price.

22:00Tom Pelissero:Even setting aside the frustrations Max has had with the constant churn being shut down at the end of last season, he's a 29-year-old star player who is still at his peak on a Raiders team that's probably going to be challenged over the next one to two years to really be competitive in a tough division. All of that, to me, tracks toward push this as far as you can, maximize your leverage by saying we're going to keep the guy here, see what type of calls you get. I'm not aware the Raiders calling anyone. I do believe that they are getting calls, and I do believe there's a possibility of Max Crosby being traded sometime between now and the start of the league.

22:36Rich Eisen:When you get calls, your spy tech or Brady are saying call John. I mean, you could receive the calls and then you could say, thank you for your interest. We'll let you know. Or do you say actual compensation that would work? You know what I mean? Like how deep are these that you that you are willing to share with us based on your knowledge? How deep detailed calls are these?

23:07Tom Pelissero:There's about 1 ,700 players in the NFL, 2 ,800 in the offseason. I would say maybe 20 of them. It's a thank you for your interest, hang up the phone. Maybe 20 in the entire league. There are not many guys that there is not a price. And just, again, my opinion, look at the circumstances here. You have a player that has been very frustrated on multiple levels and has expressed that. We know that much for sure. We have a Raiders team that is not probably a Max Crosby away from winning the Super Bowl this year. New regime. Clint Kubiak has had a good coffee with him, spent a little time with him.

23:44Tom Pelissero:I do not believe that John Spitek, Tom Brady, want to trade Max Crosby. But there are so many teams that need pass rush help. Yeah. Every contending type team. I've been asked here, would it be the Bears? Would it be the 49ers? Would it be the Bills? Would it be the Lions? Everybody. I would say, why would any of those teams, any team that's a contender, not make the call and try to find out what the price will be? Well, what is the price?

24:08Rich Eisen:That's what I'm saying. Are the Raiders verbalizing a price in these conversations?

24:13Tom Pelissero:It's not really how it works in terms of it has to be here. Sometimes, but a lot of times it is more so, what would you offer? Why would we, as the team that has the player that other people want, constrain ourselves by saying, here's the price tag?

24:28Rich Eisen:because somebody could just go hog wild and say, I'll give you three ones. And all they were going to ask you for.

24:34Tom Pelissero:Or you continue to listen to what you're being offered and then let people know, well, actually we're being offered this. And that's a lot of times how you drive the market. I don't believe that it would be Micah Parsons, which was two ones. And you don't Kenny Clark. Why? Max is 29 years old. Micah's younger. Micah's younger. Right. Micah's 25. He's got more years left in his prime. Max is still really, really good. Of course he is. He's got three, four years left probably of playing at a really elite level. But it's hard to justify for the teams we're going to give up that type of package. Never say never.

25:07Tom Pelissero:I mean, I wouldn't have sat here prior to the trade deadline last year and say the Jets are getting two ones for Sauce Gardner. Right. But that happened. They drove the price on Quinn and Williams. There's a lot of different dynamics at play. But the calls are going to come. It's fair to assume they are getting calls. They have no reason not to listen. Does the price get to a point where they're willing to move him? That remains the open question, but is it possible? Yes.

25:31Rich Eisen:All right, over the last half hour, news breaking about Anthony Richardson here being allowed to look for a new place of business. What do you know about that?

25:39Tom Pelissero:That was probably inevitable, I would say. Three years in, all the injuries, the really unfortunate circumstance last year where a resistance band accident in pregame warm-ups leaves him with a serious injury to his orbital socket and his eye. we don't yet know firmly where we stand in terms of the medical. With Anthony Richardson, everything the Colts have said publicly is he's continuing to progress. He was able to practice a little bit, but it's one thing saying you can get back out on the field or do conditioning or throw the ball around. It's completely different to can you go and play quarterback at a high level.

26:14Tom Pelissero:It's also the reality of Anthony Richardson knows he has no path to be the starter in Indianapolis again.

26:19Rich Eisen:Even with Daniel Jones having an Achilles injury that may or may not have him ready in week one?

26:24Tom Pelissero:Everything is tracking toward Daniel Jones being ready for week one. Colts have been in negotiations on a contract extension, a multi-year deal to keep Daniel Jones there, which shows you they're not sitting there going, well, maybe Anthony can beat him out. That was last year. It didn't happen. This is full steam ahead. Maybe more likely that it's a tag, at least initially, on Daniel Jones, but they've been trying to do a long-term deal. So if you're Anthony Richardson, you're at a point like Trey Lance was with the 49ers where Trey Lance was drafted number three, Richardson was number four. A lot of injuries.

26:56Tom Pelissero:Hadn't played. Super talented guy. And we've seen that with Trey when he got in in the preseason with Dallas, what he looked like last year with the Chargers. If you're Anthony Richardson, you're hoping that your trajectory is. Just get me someplace else where I can settle in, not have the pressure on me. I think he's 23, 24 years old. I mean, he's a young guy who's 6 '5 and 250 and has a massive cannon of an arm. Just get me somewhere else where maybe the dynamic's a little bit different. and I'm not the guy who was supposed to be the guy and I'm not. Now it's a fun project for somebody. And you know that the, I'm not saying he goes to these teams, but the Sean McVeighs, Kyle Shanahan, Kevin O 'Connell's the world, they love Matt LaFleur too.

27:34Tom Pelissero:Look what he did with Malik Willis. All those guys, if you've got somebody with a ton of physical ability, let's put him in a good system with really good coaching and see what we can get out of him, assuming that at some point he's fully cleared and all the way back from a medical perspective.

27:48Rich Eisen:And when Ben Johnson was on the podium, you know, we're hearing, you know, Tyson Bajant's name being mentioned, right? Well, it makes sense. Well, I mean, the reason why I'm bringing it up is, are teams going to be looking at other teams' number twos to say, let's get you in our program, let's give you a chance to compete for a starter's job, rather than wait for Tua or Kyler to clear? Wondering if they're going to clear. Like, I'm wondering where we're going here on the quarterback front.

28:21Tom Pelissero:It all fits together. You have a draft where Fernando Mendoza, we all assume and believe, he's going number one to the Raiders. After that, the only other quarterback that somebody might think can be a starter sooner than later is probably Ty Simpson from Alabama. And even that one, he's a one-year starter. There's some growth that needs to take place for him to get ready. So if you're one of the seven to ten teams, I'd say seven firmly that need a starter, there's probably a half dozen more that at least need a compete guy or somebody who could step in or a really good one underneath a young player, you're having to tip over all these different buckets.

28:56Tom Pelissero:There's not the, hey, we'll go draft Dylan Gabriel in the third round. We'll take, you know, Tyler Shuck and have him come in and compete with Spencer Rattler. Those guys don't exist in this draft. And so you have this unique combination of other than Malik Willis, who I do believe is going to get somewhere between$20 million and$30 million a year, I would say between Miami and Arizona, maybe somebody else, the price is going to get driven up. We had John Eric Sullivan on. He said, my gut tells me it will not be cheap. So there is a price for Malik Willis. Other than that, and Daniel Jones, obviously, who they're trying to get something done with.

29:28Tom Pelissero:I don't know that any other, and Aaron Rodgers is in a different category entirely. There's not another guy who's going to get paid. So you're talking through a bunch of budget-type options. Tyson Bajan is a budget-type option. I don't know what the price would be in a trade. I would have to think it's not a throwaway. He's a really good backup. Is it a third-round pick for Tyson Bajan to potentially go get him? Mac Jones, same thing. It's not going to be a giveaway. I do believe the 49ers, regardless of what's been said publicly, would move Mac Jones at a certain point, but that, too, might require a day-two pick.

30:01Tom Pelissero:You're sort of in this at Richardson, and Will Levis, there's guys who have started games in this league, you have almost a competition between which of the budget options is going to be the best one and becomes available first. And if you're a team that might be a less desirable situation, you might not be able to get one of these veterans. This is an important thing to understand because of the four to five veteran quarterbacks that could be cut in the next two weeks here between Kirk Cousins, Kyler Murray, Tua Tungavailoa, Geno Smith, and Justin Fields doesn't have an early trigger, but he does have guaranteed money.

30:34Tom Pelissero:When you have quarterbacks who have guaranteed money or any player with guaranteed money, when they become free agents, the money doesn't matter. You can't bid on the player unless you're paying them above and beyond what their guarantees are. In other words, let's say all those guys get cut tomorrow. Where are they going to want to go? No one's going to sit there probably, I don't think, and go, my first choice is going to the New York Jets. Your first choice is probably going to a team like the Vikings that has Justin Jefferson and Kevin O 'Connell, who, you know, sprinkles magic dust on quarterbacks and they all of a sudden play really well underneath him.

31:06Tom Pelissero:I mean, that's been the track record for him. You might have to trade something to get one of those guys. You might have to trade something to go get Kyler because you're not going to have the opportunity to pluck them off the street. It's a really unique thing where we could have four or five quarterbacks with a ton of starts who all have guaranteed money and are all signing for minimum salaries, which means there's no such thing as a bidding war. It's literally the players choosing where they want to go. And oh, by the way, if some team does work out a trade to eat some of the money, if the player doesn't want to go there, he can go, I'm not signing the revised contract and can blow up any trade.

31:40Tom Pelissero:It's really fascinating because we've never seen a quarterback group quite like what we're going to be dealing with over these next couple of weeks.

31:48Rich Eisen:So all the machinations happen in the next three weeks, right? Essentially. Or what are the odds that all of this doesn't pop before the two days that you're allowed to talk, before the new league year starts? What about that?

32:03Tom Pelissero:Kyler has an additional$19.5 million that vests if he's still on the roster March 15th. Tua has, I believe, another$3 million that vests if he's on the roster March 13th. Kirk Cousins, we already know he's getting released. He's going to be released on March 11th based on the revised contract. Geno Smith also has, I believe, an extra$8 million that becomes fully guaranteed on the third day of the league year. It's all popping. So March 13th, March 15th, more than likely March 11th, 12th, you're going to see these things begin to happen. The only question within the league, and the only threat, frankly, that the teams have, that have these quarterbacks is, we'll just keep them.

32:36Tom Pelissero:We'll do what the Falcons did last year, let that extra$10 million vest for Kirk Cousins, and keep a really high-priced backup until you give us something for them. Well, how that worked out with the Falcons is they've got a completely new regime, and that regime is still on the hook for$10 million at Kirk Cousins this year. It's rare. It's not unprecedented. Right. But it's rare for a player you know is not going to be there for you to go, we're going to let a bunch of additional fully guaranteed money vest.

32:58Rich Eisen:Okay. Hmm. I got what? What are you thinking over there? Well, the Falcons needed Kirk Cousins last year, so it was good that they kept him around. I'm so curious about the Minnesota situation. Me too. I was just literally about to ask that. Yeah, I mean, Cameron Wolfe is reporting that there's mutual interest between the Vikings and Anthony Richardson.

33:15Tom Pelissero:Could you see that happening realistically? It would be a complete projection with Anthony Richardson.

33:22Rich Eisen:Well, I mean, forget about Anthony Richardson. Just the mere fact of what Chris just brought up. Like, what is the plan in year two based on, pardon me, year three? For J.J. McCarthy and the Vikings. Right. Where year one was him and Sam Donald may the best man win, and then the injury gods made the decision for everybody. And then year two was, we're going to offer Sam something, but whatever the heck it was, it wasn't good enough for him to stay in a situation where he knew there was a kid right behind him. Okay. Now year three is what? Where they bring in a veteran who's going to compete with him?

34:05Tom Pelissero:It's what they intended to do last year. When they did not get Sam Darnold back, And realistically, they knew someone was probably going to outbid him, even though the Seahawks offer was structured similarly. Plan B was Daniel Jones stays. What they didn't know was that Daniel Jones would choose to take a virtually identical offer and leave to go to the Colts.

34:24Rich Eisen:Well, because he's in a situation where if he's competing with somebody who is already on a tenuous ground with an opportunity to really get the job, why wouldn't he do that? And J.J. McCarthy was 100 % going to get the runway to start.

34:42Tom Pelissero:Both Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones chose the path least resistance. You're absolutely right about that. You don't want to look over your shoulder and go, here comes the kid. I would just tell you the Vikings thought they were getting Daniel Jones back. They had the offer in place. The Colts didn't do anything beyond money. And then what, compete in the summer? And then compete with J.J. McCarthy and have that be the setup. You're absolutely right that Daniel Jones looks at that and goes, It's probably a matter of time until they go to the other guy. But remember, he did have to compete with Anthony Richardson in Indianapolis to win that job as well.

35:10Tom Pelissero:What I would say is what the Vikings are going to do this year is what they intended to do a year ago, which is have a legitimate guy, a former starter, competing with J.J. McCarthy. And they're optimistic that competitive environment is going to bring out the best in McCarthy. I would say the logical guys. And again, I believe the Vikings, all things equal because the money doesn't matter. they're going to be able to get someone for a minimum salary if these guys get cut. The ones that make sense to me would be Kyler Murray coming in. He's played a ton. He has not played in this offense. So you get an opportunity to learn from Kevin O 'Connell.

35:44Tom Pelissero:And we know he's got playmaking ability. He's fully healthy now. Geno Smith would also make some sense as a compete guy. Because, again, you can at some point, you can turn it over. Even if those guys are your starters out of the gate and they all play J.J. McCarthy, at some point you can turn it over. The idea of bringing in Aaron Rodgers, and if the season doesn't get off to a good start, you're not benching four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers. That is correct. You're not having an open competition between Aaron Rodgers and J.J. McCarthy. That is correct. I don't believe you can have an open competition between Kirk Cousins and J.J.

36:11Tom Pelissero:McCarthy because you've got thousands of fans pulling out their number eight jerseys because he is Kirk Cousins. And because I don't know that Kirk wants to come in and play for a minimum salary either. He's made a ton of money, as everybody knows. It's what he's most famous for. I believe that a guy like Kyler or Geno makes a ton of sense to come in because you can have a truly level playing ground. You can choose the best quarterback. If J.J., who it sounds like is back healthy, he's working on a lot of things in this offseason, he's going to spend time with Justin Jefferson in this offseason.

36:40Tom Pelissero:Justin Jefferson still believes in J.J. McCarthy. I can tell you that factually. He still believes in him. There have been a ton of bumps. J.J. McCarthy is much more in the Trey Lance, Anthony Richardson category of, We have no idea what he is right now than he is in the two-year, 34 starts, failed and not good enough.

36:59Rich Eisen:Let me push back on that a little bit. Please. You know who you're talking to here. J.J. McCarthy lost one game in college. One game in college. Two years. All right? I mean, Anthony Richardson had one year in Florida, and Trey Lance had a COVID year and one year at a certain level. J.J. has more experience and has shown that he has the ability to make throws in big games at the collegiate level. As a professional, I understand he's in the same mix of a highly drafted first round guy that you're wondering what he can possibly be.

37:37Tom Pelissero:What I mean is there's no reason for the Vikings to punt on a guy that organizationally there's a belief in.

37:42Rich Eisen:But aren't you punting on him by bringing in a veteran to potentially beat him out, which might actually happen because he is still green? And then how do you – then when do you turn it over to him? In year four? When you've got one more year of contractual control after that?

37:58Tom Pelissero:You bring in a guy for a million dollars, essentially, if one of these guys gets cut loose, and you are setting it up for J.J. to go out there and win the job. And then Kyler holds – has an earbud in his ear in Minnesota? Maybe you trade him. They did it last year. They traded for Sam Howell during the draft and then traded him to Philly during camp and signed Carson Wentz. There was a lot of quarterback stuff in Minnesota last year, and some of it's got forgotten. But the idea last year was to have J.J. in a competitive situation. It didn't play out that way based on all these other things that happened that were somewhat out of their control.

38:30Tom Pelissero:They want to have him in a competitive situation. They have a belief in J.J. McCarthy, and you're absolutely right. J.J., a highly accomplished college quarterback. But the point being, I don't think that we know in the NFL. There are way too many people who have memed J.J. McCarthy. He's memed himself on certain things as well.

38:48Rich Eisen:Referring to himself as nine, his alter ego as nine.

38:51Tom Pelissero:Which can't. Champagne bottle stuff. Every good moment J.J. McCarthy had last year was followed by something strange. First game, the comeback in Chicago. They win. He's fired up. Has a baby on Thursday. That's right. Misses practice, is watching tape in the hospital room, goes out and doesn't play well, and suffers an injury. Misses six weeks. comes back against Detroit. I was at that game. There's no one is going to tell me that J.J. McCarthy, who played in Detroit, is a bust in the NFL. He was excellent. He was. Didn't have to throw the ball a ton, but red zone, big situations. He was really, really good.

39:27Tom Pelissero:Comes out the following Wednesday, talks about his alter ego. Next week doesn't play as well. Then later he's got a concussion. Then he's got the wrist or hand thing. There were just, there's been so many bumps. But you would know. There have been other quarterbacks, Rich, that we've all covered, right, and that we've all seen it take place. Where you're two years in, it's like, this guy. Come on. We can't. This is not going to work. They don't feel like that in Minnesota. Kevin doesn't feel like that. Rob Brzezinski, who essentially is the interim GM, doesn't feel like that. What they're saying publicly matches what's being said privately.

40:01Tom Pelissero:Justin Jefferson doesn't feel like that. So why are they bringing in a veteran to compete? Why not just call him the starter? because they want, A, they want to have options because he's not shown that he can be durable. They don't want to be signing Carson Wentz off the couch at the cutdown deadline in August and then having to play him. They go to the playoffs last year if Carson Wentz doesn't get hurt, by the way. They're still a 9-8 team. They're not that far away. Yeah, because McCarthy came back and won football games. He came back and he played well down the stretch. He had the moments.

40:28Rich Eisen:Max Brosmer playing is really what really crushed it.

40:32Tom Pelissero:If Wentz doesn't get hurt, Brosmer in Seattle having to start a game, where didn't Mooch predict he was going to throw for 500 yards? That was his bold prediction. I don't think he threw for 50 in that game. But it's, listen, there's still a lot there with J.J. McCarthy, but there is something to be said for being in a competitive environment where every day you're having to fight for the job. That's why some teams don't want to anoint people, and the Vikings didn't want to. They were going to do this year what they intended to do a year ago.

40:59Rich Eisen:I've got to throw it a break. Can you stick around one more segment? Okay, we're going to be right back. And I look very uncomfortable. I thought you looked pretty comfortable. Okay, good. I think Brockman looks more uncomfortable. We're going to take a break. Tom's going to go through another wardrobe change. Don't go anywhere. I'm going to relax.

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43:29Rich Eisen:The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, Tom Pellicero here for a few more minutes. Before I let you go, the trade that the Jets and the Titans made, what's the genesis? Why would the Jets want to cough up a pass rusher? Because they got second overall. Are they going to get somebody new there?

43:49Tom Pelissero:That definitely gives them the ammo to go and replace Jermaine Johnson. It's also this. He's 27. He's an older fifth-year player because he was older coming out. He was due over$13 million on his fifth-year option. He probably wasn't a long-term fit for what they want to do with Aaron Glenn now running his defense and taking over the play calling. You've got a guy in Robert Sala in Tennessee. Hi, Ian. Who? This is Tom's time. My bad. My bad. He wrote back, nice job on that trade, period. That was his text to me after. No, it was definitely a period. But anyway, so Robert Sala gets— What do you want, an exclamation point?

44:27Tom Pelissero:I would like an exclamation point to show that he was— Well, you get this man in punctuation he's looking for. He's never actually happy for me when I break something. But so Robert Sala gets one of his favorites, Jermaine Johnson, back. And the Jets get—I mean, Tavondre Sweat is a top nose tackle, huge space eater type of guy who is going to fit the way that Aaron Glenn wants to play in New York. It goes back to what Kyle Benoit was telling us about. Is he and Ian broken a trade today? Is he and Ian broken a trade today? Oh, no, there's only been one so far. There's only been one. Okay, so there's no other trades to break.

44:57Tom Pelissero:Aren't you guys supposed to do this at Starbucks? Yeah, yeah, is this a Starbucks situation? We're not supposed to fight on air. We had it out the other night over something else. We're good now. You and Ian? Oh, yeah. Oh. There's occasional. Oh, is that the Avengers thing? I don't know, man. There's only a handful of Infinity Stones in this business. I don't remember the part of Avengers where Iron Man ditched Ironheart and War Machine to go coddle up to Captain America. But, you know, we all got business to take care of. This is real talk. Unbelievable.

45:32Rich Eisen:This is real talk. I am grieved. The announcing is awful right now. You bet. Here he comes. He's got his hand, Mike. Is that working? Ian, take a seat. Is this working? Take a seat. Why don't you take a seat? I don't understand. You guys have prop mics? We got it all working. Is that a real mic? Yeah, now you don't need two mics.

45:52Tom Pelissero:This is like when old school artists were having the Madonna mic, and then when it's time to actually sing instead of lip-syncing, they held the real mic. There you go. Now you got that microphone. Double fisting. There we go. How many mics do I need? I've only seen that a few times this week from you. I drink beer. It's like drinking water. This is fantastic. It's like Landman where, you know, if you drink a beer, you're basically not even drinking. You're like the Sunshine Boys right now.

46:14Rich Eisen:Huh? What's up? Your finger. He doesn't even know what the Sunshine Boys are. I don't even know what the Sunshine Boys are. Really? You don't even know?

46:20Tom Pelissero:He's not real cultured.

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46:52Tom Pelissero:So, Rich, are you aware that there's a well-known, successful general manager in the NFL who only refers to Pelissero as the Fonz? And it is moments like this.

47:03Rich Eisen:Because it's moments like this.

47:04Tom Pelissero:I just saw him, actually. The Fonz? He only calls you the Fonz, and this is why. He's going to be real excited when he sees this. Nice chat with him last night. Yeah? Well, it's my hair, too. Have you seen, you saw the AI, the me where AI turned me into Patrick Mahomes, right? Have you seen that? I think I sent that to you guys a while ago. Fantastic. AI can do some amazing things.

47:23Rich Eisen:Do we have it? Let's get one more time here. Oh, you've seen it. I've not seen it. You've not seen it? I think we've established here that my pop culture reach is limited. No. I stick to, yeah, I stick to what I like. I named a 70s movie just, you know, Sunshine Boys.

47:39Tom Pelissero:I got a very small wheelhouse of movies I like.

47:42Rich Eisen:Fantastic. And Tom probably hasn't seen most of them. Tom Pelissero here on the program. The Ridge Eisen Show Podcast.

47:49Tom Pelissero:Shot clocks, big shots, upsets, aces, TGL playoffs are here. First, Atlanta Drive starts their repeat run against Los Angeles Golf Club. Then, Rory's Boston Common Golf and Tiger's Jupiter Lynx face off in their playoff debuts. Who will advance? Keep up. It's playoffs. Tune in Tuesday, March 17th at 6.30 p.m. and 9 p.m. only on ESPN and the ESPN app.