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00:00isn't it time for you to discover the islands, River Islands in Lathrop. Mike Yam joining
00:06us on 95.7 The Game. He works for NFL Network. Hey, Mike, how you doing, man? What's going
00:11on?
00:12Doing great. Good timing, too, to pop off with you with some of the stuff regarding
00:16Brandon Ayoub and a potential deal with the Steelers. So it's kind of a crazy time and
00:20candidly, I don't know if you guys feel this way. I'm almost shocked we're at this point.
00:25Well, I know Guru is.
00:26I'm with you, Mike.
00:27Doesn't take a lot to shock him, though, but he is shocked on this one. I'm just going
00:31to read this tweet from your colleague, Ian Rapoport, just to bring everybody up to date,
00:36and then I'll jump off with you. The Steelers and Niners have a deal on a potential trade
00:41and Pittsburgh is in a good place on an IUK contract. Sources say if San Francisco gives
00:47the final sign-off, it's done. San Francisco has an offer out to IUK on a long-term deal
00:53for him to stay. He hasn't accepted. That tells me that the 49ers are okay with the
01:03compensation they're getting back, and if that's the case, then what?
01:13I got to tell you, I think there's a lot of tentacles to this. Number one, and I'll circle
01:18back to my initial statement, still surprised. I mean, Brandon is a huge part of this team's
01:22offense in a lot of ways, and I get it. I think from a fan perspective, you take this
01:27macro view and you see Kittle on the field, you see Debo, and you think, oh, okay, cool.
01:34They obviously drafted Pierson. Maybe he can step up and fill that void. I just think back
01:38to so many of these critical moments last season where IUK had, in some ways, was just
01:45a huge safety net for Brock Purdy. I just think it'd be a really big loss for this football
01:52team.
01:53Look, I think Debo is obviously the premier wide receiver on this team and can get utilized
01:58in so many different ways, but Brandon, I don't know if he's a one like that. He's a
02:04one B though, and I see what the market is across the NFL for these wide receivers and
02:10what they go and get paid. If I was him, I'd want those deals. Here's the other layer of
02:15why I'm surprised about this. San Francisco has done a really good job over the years
02:21of drafting, having success with some of these players, and then rewarding those players
02:25with big deals. I get it. At some point, it's going to be too big. You can't go and literally
02:32pay every single guy.
02:34The Trent Williams situation, to me, is really concerning. I think you can make an argument
02:37maybe more concerning than the Brandon IUK deal, which doesn't get as much headlines,
02:43but I think the Niners are now saying, and John Lynch is like, hey, there's only so much
02:46money to go around, and there's still eventually a Brock Purdy contract that needs to be decided.
02:53Maybe this deal does get happened. In my heart, I didn't think he was going to get traded.
02:57I still doubt that this thing is going to happen, but at the same time, maybe just from
03:03a financial standpoint, they're sitting there going, look, we got other dudes that we got
03:07to go and pay, and Brock Purdy's deal is, look at these quarterback contracts. What
03:11are they taking? 25, 30% of the salary cap on some of these deals, and if a guy like
03:16Jordan Love is going to get 220, and Trevor Lawrence is going to be sitting at $200 million,
03:22what's Brock Purdy going to eventually have to make? I think that's why this deal potentially
03:28maybe gets done.
03:29Yeah, Mike, you're on fire. I agree, and the fact that the Niners don't have a Super Bowl
03:34victory to deal with these problems, to me, just make it more stressful, but I've been
03:39shocked since draft night when they went after Pearsall. That shocked me. I love IUK,
03:45but you mentioned Trent Williams. Mike, is it fair for me or anybody in Niner, any Niner
03:50fan to question the front office and how they're doing their books? Because we have reports
03:55out here since March, the Niners knew that Trent wasn't happy with his contract, but
04:00now that you got this back-to-back with IUK, national talk shows are leading off with the
04:07Niners in their books. If I say they've kind of let me down on how they're handling it,
04:12how would you respond to that?
04:15I would hedge and maybe pump the brakes on people saying that they've not been spending
04:19well. I mean, Bose is a really good example coming off of one of the great campaigns that
04:23we saw in the NFL as offensive player of the year. What are you going to do, knock on one
04:27payback guy? I think they've been knocking on the door of winning a Super Bowl. Two years
04:32ago, who knows what would have happened if Brock doesn't get hurt in an NFC championship
04:36game against the Eagles. Maybe we are talking about that Super Bowl victory. It's really
04:40hard to win and they're so close and this roster is ready to win right now. And they've
04:45paid their players like that. I don't remember what the exact stat is guys, and you might
04:50have a better handle on it, but you look across the NFL and I think the Niners in key positions,
04:57whether it's Trent, whether it's Christian McCaffrey, Fred Warner, for example, Debo
05:02Kittle, like they're paying premier guys, like they're in the top five in terms of salary
05:07on really notable positions.
05:10They have not been cheap and that's a reason why they've had success. But at some point
05:14there is a salary cap in the NFL. You can't go pay all these guys, you know, but we're
05:18money. They got to go and manage it. And I think now we're at the point where, you know,
05:22I, I need to make a really good, uh, point initially, like they haven't won that Super
05:26Bowl and yet they've been close. Had they won a Superbowl? I think this conversation
05:30is vastly different. I think you say, okay, like we got one ring, you know, maybe, maybe
05:35we're going to have to make some decisions, some tough decisions.
05:38And it's just the timing thing for Brandon. Like it just sucks for him because he's performed.
05:42He's performed well enough to go and get a contract that hasn't come. I just thought
05:46the Niners over the last few years or so, you've seen this, like it just gets closer
05:50to the start of the season, but they eventually get the deal done. I just, maybe they just
05:54sit there and go, like, we can't make this work financially.
05:57Mike Gamm joining us on 95.7, the game he works for NFL Network. Here, here's one thing
06:04that crossed my mind and I'm not saying it's the reason this is happening, but maybe it's
06:10just something that's, that's in the equation. They know they're going to have to pay Brock
06:13Purdy. And if you, and I've, I've been harping on this, so I'm sure some of our listeners
06:18are rolling their eyes right now, but right now the Niners have McCaffrey, they have Kittle,
06:23they have Debo, they may pay Iuke. And that means if they bring Iuke in here, Brock Purdy
06:30will quarterback that team. Then they will have to pay Brock Purdy based on this season.
06:37But he won't be able to quarterback the team that he's quarterbacked the last two years
06:42because somebody's going to have to go, one of those weapons. And one of the things that
06:48I'd heard was obviously if you pay Iuke this year, then you only get Debo, Samuel and Iuke
06:53for one more year and we're going to have to lose one of them. So I was thinking again,
06:59not the reason you would do it, but if, if you play hard ball with Iuke and he's not
07:05here, don't you get a better assessment of Purdy with the type of team he is going to
07:11quarterback the next two or three years?
07:14That's a good call. I hate to have that be the reason why you don't try to get a deal.
07:21Look, there's a lot of factors and I think that's just one layer to it. I think you hit
07:24the nail on the head because this is what eventually it's going to be. Hell, last year
07:29we were on set and we'd walk off the set and I would turn to someone like David Carr and
07:33Michael Robinson and go, what is Brock going to get paid? Eventually they're going to have
07:38to go. And like, how do you assess this? Because I am not one of those people who says, Hey,
07:43he's a system guy. Every quarterback in the league is, is essentially running some sort
07:46of system. Like, I just think that is a, an over the top simplification of what this guy
07:51is capable and proven that he can do. Like right now, tell me Brock, Brock Purdy has
07:58done it consistently gone through pain and Jordan Lovett's got $220 million in a four
08:03year extension. Like if he's going to get that, what do you think Brock's going to go
08:07and get paid now? The biggest challenge is going to be if he doesn't have Brandon this
08:11year, like this roster is still primed to win it right now. You said to me, who's the
08:15best team in the NFC? I would still point to the San Francisco 49ers and say, I would
08:19be disappointed if they're not in a super bowl, like they should be with this roster.
08:23They're capable of getting there. And then it becomes, you know, Matt, like if it's neither
08:28or who's more important to your team's offense, is it making sure that Trent Williams is happy
08:31or making sure that Brandon Iuke is and for as painful as it is, there needs to be a decision
08:37that gets made. And to me, I'm going Trent a hundred out of a hundred in that scenario.
08:41Wow, Mike, you know what I've told my partner, he thinks I'm crazy. I don't think either
08:46party wants a divorce, Brandon, nor the Niners. But with that said, in your opinion, why do
08:51you think it's dragging on? Do you think it's more so Iuke or the Niners?
08:57It's a really good question. I haven't thought about it in those terms. You know, I think
09:02if maybe it's got to be the Niners, right? Because if you're Brandon Iuke, like you've
09:06been asking for, for this cash and you want to get paid. And if there's a deal that you
09:09like, of course you're going to go and just say yes to it. I just think it's a matter
09:13of, and look, Ian Rappaport, my colleague at NFL network, and Matt, you started this
09:17segment by reading his tweet and what he put out there. There is an offering might just
09:23not be financially what Brandon is looking for. And all of these deals, they all go up.
09:29Like when we were having this conversation about Lamar Jackson's contracts, you know,
09:32the other off season sitting there going like, why if you're Baltimore, why don't you
09:36just get this done? Because the longer that goes by the more expensive it's going to be.
09:41And I think Brandon's sitting here going, no, no, no guys. Like I am one of the best
09:44wide receivers in the NFL. His camp feels like that. He feels like he's had that production.
09:49We're on a really good team that can win a super bowl. You need me to get over the hump.
09:53I have some leverage here. That's probably what he's thinking. I just don't know if the
09:57Niners say, Hey, are you, are we having this conversation? They're like Justin Jefferson
10:02or CD Lamb, who's also looking for a contract or Tyree kill. Like Brandon's really good.
10:08I just don't know if Brandon's looking, what kind of money Brandon's actually looking for.
10:12And if the Niners see, see that number and go, Hey, we love you, dude, but we got other
10:18decisions to be made. We want you to be a part of this team. There's no doubt, but we
10:21just can't pay you like you want to get paid. So I guess I would still net out that it's
10:26probably a little bit of both, but maybe I'd lean closer to the team.
10:29Mike, I'm joining us on 95, seven, the game he works for NFL network. And we're talking
10:34about the San Francisco 49ers. Mike, when do you make a determination? And he comes
10:39courtesy of the river Island's guest line. Mike, when do you make a determination about
10:44whether what's going on with the Niners right now is just kind of business as usual, as
10:50opposed to, Oh, I don't like the way that things are going even before we've played
10:57a regular season game.
11:00So I circled back to something that I alluded to before they take the deals and they
11:06eventually get done. But it's much closer to the start of the season than it is, you
11:11know, the first preseason game. That's just typically how it's gone with this
11:16organization. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I, I start to worry
11:21though, because in a day and age where you're trying to assess, you know, what a guy is
11:25posting on social media, what emojis and gifts actually mean, what I need usually
11:30someone to help decipher that stuff for me. You know, there's just more drama around
11:34it. There's more eyeballs as time has gone on the league and the sport has been more
11:37popular. We want to know what's going to happen with some of these players. And it
11:41gives us fodder. Like, you know, if this wasn't going on right now, guys, like what
11:45would you be talking about on your show? Like we love it from a media perspective,
11:48right? Like these are the moments that we're able to magnify and we're creating some
11:52of this drama and it becomes this real life soap opera. I'm, I'm with you. I look
11:58at it and I say to myself, I'm still cautiously optimistic that this thing gets
12:02done. And the biggest reason why is Brandon is still young. They've taken care of their
12:07own over the years. Proof is in the pudding, but I just don't know when I look, I'm
12:12not in that front office. I don't know how they assess these guys. And in conjunction
12:17with what the books look like, because it's not an infinite amount of money. This is not
12:22the New York Yankees in baseball where you just say, Hey, we can clean up a mistake and
12:26just overpay someone else. It's not how it works in the NFL. And I think they're looking
12:30at those books going, you know what? Like we got some, got some expensive bills, one
12:35in particular in Brock Purdy and we need the quarterback and we got to make sure that Trent
12:39Williams is happy at 36 years of age.
12:42He's still well, top two, top three at his position, maybe even the best still at that
12:46spot. I don't want to be a stat geek here, but if you look at the next gen stats with
12:51Christian McCaffrey, look at the success that he has. It's usually when Trent's on
12:55the field and he's running that way. Just saying like you need that dude on the field.
12:59And I just think they're just having, they're in a position where they got to make some
13:02tough choices.
13:03Man, you're on fire, Mike. Uh, I'm different. I embrace it. And when I tell you this, you
13:08tell me if I'm crazy. Last year, McCaffrey had 339 touches. I know the offense is McCaffrey
13:15centric. I get it. Football's a tough sport, but even throughout the playoffs, he was rubbing
13:19and touching on the calf, the thigh this off season, he's not playing any preseason
13:25games.
13:26The calf has been barking any concern there for Niner fans about McCaffrey and just Mike,
13:32how much the offense goes through him. I think there's always going to be concerned for any
13:38running back who's makes up that much of, of a team's offense. But Christian is dynamic
13:45and the amount of touches that he gets the game and how he gets them, whether he's coming
13:49out of the backfield as a runner or as a pass catcher, how we've seen him throw, um, at
13:55times as well. And I, I'm glad that he got paid because I am not a believer in devaluing
14:00that position.
14:01I look across the league and see the teams that are able to run the ball effectively
14:04and the success that they have. Christian is, is one of the most explosive players in
14:10the NFL. There's always going to be concerned there, but you gotta make sure that I wouldn't
14:16be playing them out there. Like even this weekend, as a prime example, I think we're,
14:20I was on set with Steve Smith and Brian Baldinger. We're looking at each other in these breaks
14:24going down. I saw Joe Burrow play in the preseason. That's kind of cool. I thought Patrick Holmes
14:29playing the preseason. It's the first preseason game number one, and we're seeing notable
14:34quarterbacks out there getting some reps now, granted they're not out there for multiple
14:39series.
14:40Maybe it's one, maybe it's two series and it's a short period of time, but I don't really
14:43remember seeing that, you know, five and 10 years. Like you just didn't play these
14:46guys really because you were worried about them getting hit. So it is something in my
14:51mind where I'm going to be concerned, but I can't go into the season freaking out about
14:55it.
14:56Mike, thank you for joining us as always. Really appreciate it, man.
15:00You guys are the best. Appreciate the invite.
15:01Yes, sir. That's Mike.