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00:00This week seems to be the week to dump on the Browns offseason.
00:03We have had, and it started, the first one I saw yesterday was where Daryl said,
00:08the Browns are no better.
00:09I might be, if I'm misparaphrasing this, let me know.
00:13But the Browns are no better today than they were a week ago,
00:17which is wild because they have an offensive line and they didn't a week ago.
00:20Well, I think that was the gist of it.
00:22I do think you can have a conversation about how much better they got or if they got better.
00:26The people that are suggesting they got drastically worse, that's an interesting one.
00:31Well, let's start with that.
00:32Robert Mays of the Athletic was talking about the Browns offseason and consider him not convinced.
00:39I think they're definitely worse.
00:41I think the offensive line, I know that they added a few names,
00:44but I think the offensive line will take some amount of step back.
00:47Losing David Njoku isn't the biggest deal because obviously we love Harold Fannin,
00:51but he is a talented player and we've seen Tom Monken use two tight ends a lot.
00:55They are a team where they have two first-round picks, so it complicates it a little bit.
00:58This is one where we could look a little bit later in the offseason and be like,
01:01oh, they solved a couple of those things in the first round.
01:03But for the most part, I don't think they upgraded anywhere,
01:06except maybe arguably Quincy Williams over Devin Bush, I think is like,
01:10that could work out for the defense.
01:11But otherwise, it was hard for me to get there with a lot of these.
01:14I don't really get where he's going with this one.
01:16Again, we didn't have an offensive line at the end of the season.
01:19Yeah, so I don't know how you say the offensive line got worse.
01:21I don't expect you to say that it got significantly better.
01:25And so here's where I'll meet anybody that says this team is maybe, let's say,
01:32not drastically better.
01:33I'll meet you there.
01:33I think we can have those convos.
01:35Hell, Vegas had you at, what, five wins last year, whatever it was,
01:37five and a half when it's said and done.
01:39You're six and a half now.
01:40So if you're trying to bark up the tree of this being some sort of massive improvement,
01:43I don't get on board with that.
01:44But I don't get on board with the idea that this team is worse,
01:47considering that offensive line was one of the worst offensive lines I've ever seen.
01:51Also, like five new bodies at all is going to be better than what they had last year.
01:54What if they subtracted?
01:55It's David Njoku was like the big, the big piece to put up there.
01:59That's the case Robert Mays was trying to make there,
02:00is Njoku being gone is some sort of big deal.
02:02Which David has not really been, I mean, since 2023, David has not been David.
02:07Yeah, he's not been healthy enough.
02:08He hasn't been able to stay on the field enough.
02:10And so there's nothing dependable about Njoku at this point.
02:12So it's just, this one caught me off guard.
02:15And then I was listening to the NFL daily podcast,
02:19where they were giving out grades for every single AFC offseason to this point.
02:24And Jordan Rodrigue just went, I mean, hog wild on how bad the Browns are.
02:30I will not grade them high, even though they did the thing that they were supposed to do,
02:36because they also set up the reason that they had to do the thing that they were supposed to do
02:40and then did.
02:40Whenever a Packers lineman is not fought very hard by the Packers to keep,
02:46my eyebrows raised because I do trust the way that they evaluate and retain their offensive linemen.
02:52So Elton Jenkins, he's a fun player.
02:54I hope it works out.
02:55I'm just not sure.
02:56I do like the Zion Johnson move.
02:58They absolutely had to have somebody at the sort of the top of the pool here.
03:02But again, I can't grade them well with the way that they're structured right now,
03:07with all that dud money, with Deshaun Watson's contract, and also they did this to themselves.
03:11All of the linemen came due at the same—that's hard to do.
03:15So I don't think that she's wrong about the idea that they did this themselves
03:20and that they're digging themselves out of a hole.
03:22She had a valid reason for why she didn't like the signings, too.
03:25I like that at least.
03:25But they still did it.
03:27Like, oh, well, you put yourself in this position, and then you dug yourself out.
03:31No, but if she's not an Elton Jenkins fan, for instance, just because of some Packers belief that she has,
03:36at least she has a reason for why she doesn't like the signings.
03:38No, I don't know.
03:39I think that goes deeper than what Robert Mays was trying to give us,
03:42where Robert Mays just kind of bypassed the whole offensive line in general
03:45and just assumed it was worse.
03:46Also, the dead money thing feels flawed to me.
03:49I also feel like that's a different conversation than the one we're trying to have.
03:52Like, if you're trying to do the dead money conversation,
03:53that might be reflective of why you just don't like the Browns in general,
03:57but is it really a reflection of anything we're talking about with are they better than last year?
04:01It's so funny because I think there are real valid criticisms of the Browns
04:06and how they've been built and Andrew Barry's drafting habits.
04:11And one of the things Jordan did say is, you know,
04:14how did you know that this was coming due this year
04:16and not draft a single offensive lineman last year?
04:19Well, yeah, but it's not about last year.
04:22It's about this offseason grade.
04:24And if the number one missive was build an offensive line,
04:28I think there were a fair amount of people in Cleveland
04:30that didn't think the Browns were going to be able to find four starters
04:33through free agency and trade in the first week.
04:36And they did.
04:37Well, I think they had to.
04:38They didn't have much of a choice.
04:39And so I think that's kind of what you...
04:40You could have gone much cheaper.
04:41You could have waited for the secondary market to hit.
04:44I guess you always can go cheaper if you want to look at it from that perspective.
04:48But I'm not going to throw them a bunch of flowers
04:50for going out there and getting tight as Howard either.
04:52It's not as if they didn't break the bank.
04:54And there were guys out there.
04:55We talked about all sorts of different players,
04:56Walker being one of them,
04:57that were better linemen they could have gotten.
04:59I mean, but I guess my point is,
05:01if the Browns were really in the,
05:04we're just going to kind of let this one play out,
05:06or if the Browns were in a position
05:08where they didn't want to spend money,
05:10I'd be more critical of them for that.
05:11If the Browns had gone out and signed four Brady Christiansens,
05:15a player who I'd still like them to add as a rotational lineman,
05:18and that was going to be their starting offensive line,
05:20who's the kid from Chicago?
05:22Braxton Jones.
05:23If they had made four moves like that,
05:26I would have gone, what the hell are you doing?
05:28Like, they at least have put together,
05:30and I think the best, I can't remember who said it,
05:32but the idea of they've raised the floor with the offensive line,
05:36and the problem was that it was a bottomless pit last year.
05:39So it's weird.
05:40Like, I understand what Jordan is saying,
05:42but it feels a little deeper than just
05:44really anything about this offseason,
05:46and more maybe about her feelings about Andrew Barry
05:49minus Kevin Stefanski six years into this thing.
05:53Yeah, and that's fine.
05:53I think when they do these and they go through team by team,
05:56I just think there's a reflective,
05:57they just want to vomit when thinking about this Browns team,
05:59and maybe that exposes itself.
06:01Like, I do believe the Browns got,
06:04and I'm not going to call it significantly better,
06:06I'm not even going to say it's better by a lot
06:09or anything in between there.
06:10I don't think they got worse,
06:11because I don't think it's possible to get worse
06:13than the offensive line you had last year, though.
06:15Yeah, I just, I think, listen,
06:17I think if you look at the Miami roster,
06:19that team should be one of the three worst teams next year,
06:22definitively, no questions asked.
06:23If you look at the Jets,
06:25like, even with the addition of Geno Smith,
06:27who I would have welcomed here
06:28in a quarterback competition with Shador,
06:30that is a team that absolutely should be
06:32one of the three worst teams next year.
06:34The only way you can say that with the Browns,
06:36definitively, is the quarterback spot.
06:39And that's the only spot you don't have a clear upgrade for,
06:42whereas the rest of your needs on offense
06:45you can conceivably go fine in the draft.
06:47And I think there's a lot of reliance on the draft
06:50that the Browns are going to do here,
06:51but that's also going to the idea
06:52that they're building on this thing.
06:53The defense is obviously good,
06:54and no one can debate that.
06:56We're a much better defense
06:57than some of the slappies across the NFL.
06:59But yeah, it's okay to question,
07:01all right, who is our second tight end?
07:03Is our second running back good enough?
07:04And then our wide receiver room
07:05is one of the worst in the NFL.
07:07That part hasn't changed,
07:08and so there's a lot they have to do in the draft.
07:10Yeah, no, I think my point is,
07:12there's a difference between,
07:14hey, you still have a ways to go,
07:15and I think they graded the Browns offseason
07:18at a 64 out of 100,
07:19which was clearly the worst offseason
07:22of any AFC North team,
07:23which I don't think is fair,
07:26considering Cincinnati has done largely nothing,
07:28which is, honestly, even Baltimore.
07:30Baltimore has lost a lot,
07:31and they've only added Trey Hendrickson,
07:33and even Pittsburgh,
07:35I think you can pick apart their offseason.
07:37My point is not that the Browns had the best offseason.
07:39It is, nobody had a great offseason so far
07:43in the AFC North,
07:43and I don't think the Browns got worse,
07:45and it feels like a lot of people
07:47just kind of want to pile on the Browns now,
07:49and I just don't think this is where that roster is yet.
07:52Big trade was announced,
07:53Denver trading their first, third,
07:55and fourth round picks to Miami
07:57for Jalen Waddell in a fourth round pick,
07:59and my initial reaction was,
08:02they got that for him?
08:05It looked like an absolute fleece for Miami
08:07because Jalen Waddell has not been
08:09a 1,000-plus-yard player
08:13since, what, 2023?
08:15I remember year two,
08:17I think he went for like 1,300 yards,
08:19somewhere around there, top of my head,
08:21and so it's been a while,
08:22but Denver, they needed the weapons,
08:24and so what I think Denver's doing, though,
08:25and this is what I find interesting,
08:26I feel like they're looking at this whole thing
08:28and saying,
08:29we believe that Jalen Waddell is better
08:31than anybody we could have gotten
08:32at our late first round pick,
08:34and the way that this draft
08:35is kind of maneuvering,
08:36if you have,
08:37and the Browns are in this discussion
08:38because the Browns at 24,
08:40if you go Monroe Freeling at six,
08:42you can have some of the same discussions
08:43the Broncos are having
08:44with whether or not a wide receiver at 24
08:46is going to be better
08:47than what Jalen Waddell is.
08:49I just think it's interesting.
08:51I think it's really interesting,
08:52and I think this might be complicating
08:54the A.J. Brown market as well,
08:55other than the fact that apparently
08:58Philadelphia's asking for
08:59a ridiculous amount of return
09:03for a 28-year-old wide receiver,
09:05but I look at this and I go,
09:08the number one thing
09:09that I think you're going to be able
09:10to get out of this
09:10is wide receivers,
09:13and so I think to your point,
09:15I think it's really interesting
09:16that they might view Jalen Waddell,
09:19again, who's had two down seasons in a row,
09:21albeit we know the quarterback situation there,
09:24is worth more to them
09:26than whatever wide receiver
09:27if they could draft to 30.
09:28I think I'd rather have
09:29an Omar Cooper Jr. if he's there,
09:31or a, I'm trying to think of some of the guys
09:33that are on the fringe.
09:34Yeah, it's got to be fringe guys,
09:35because even Cooper,
09:36we've talked about it for us at 24,
09:38and there's certain mocks
09:39that have him gone by the time
09:40you get to 30,
09:41and so it's just an interesting
09:43conception maybe,
09:44someone around there,
09:45like you're going to go
09:46with what is the fifth best wide receiver
09:49or sixth best wide receiver
09:50in this class,
09:50or Jalen Waddell.
09:52And I think the interesting thing
09:53with that is,
09:55he also doesn't come with
09:57a rookie contract as well,
09:58and I know they've got Bo Nix
10:00on a rookie contract for now,
10:01but I think they're like two years away
10:03from having to extend him.
10:04I don't know,
10:05I just looked at this,
10:06and I thought,
10:06I was not surprised
10:09that Jalen Waddell
10:09got a couple picks.
10:11I was surprised he got
10:11a first round pick,
10:12and basically a first and a third
10:14with then a fourth round swap.
10:15I also made sure
10:17that I wanted no part of this
10:18for the Browns.
10:19Like, I already was a little
10:21on the fence about Jalen Waddell
10:22as it was just because
10:24like,
10:25the last two years
10:26have also coincided
10:27with Tyreek Hill disappearing.
10:28So you would think,
10:30all right,
10:30who picks up the slack there
10:32production-wise?
10:33But it wasn't Jalen Waddell.
10:34Yeah, I'm looking at Denver's
10:37depth chart right now.
10:38That's the only thing
10:38they've done this offseason.
10:39Yeah.
10:40And what's interesting,
10:40I mean, obviously they had
10:41a lot of success going
10:42to the AFC title game.
10:43We all saw how that ended.
10:43It was what it was.
10:44But like,
10:45the offseason they've had
10:46has been so weird
10:47between Sean Payton
10:48and Bo Nix,
10:49and it almost kind of felt like
10:50they understand.
10:51I think they know
10:52that Bo Nix isn't that great yet.
10:55Yeah.
10:55They might believe he'll get there,
10:56but as of right now,
10:57he's going to need a little help
10:58to get over the finish line,
10:59and I just wonder
10:59if that's just a bet on that.
11:01Yeah, I do think
11:02that's interesting
11:03and kind of a difference
11:03from like what the Browns
11:04are doing.
11:05The Browns are kind of saying,
11:07well, we'll wait
11:08on the quarterback,
11:09the big swing at quarterback,
11:10or we think they are
11:10until 2027,
11:12but we're going to try
11:13and make every other thing
11:14on this roster
11:16bulletproof or something
11:16close to it.
11:17Making sure that it's ready
11:18to support a quarterback.
11:19Correct, yeah.
11:20Denver's kind of done
11:21the opposite.
11:22You know, Bo Nix
11:23was the beginning
11:24of kind of the rehaul here,
11:25and what's the cliche?
11:27Once you know
11:27you got your quarterback,
11:28go find the wide receiver.
11:29Well, and what's become
11:29more in vogue recently
11:31over the past couple years,
11:32and it's interesting
11:34to tie it to the Browns,
11:35but it's kind of like
11:36the inverse of what the Steelers
11:37have been trying to pull off.
11:38Teams are spending
11:40a lot of money
11:41on the offensive side
11:41of the ball,
11:42and then they're getting
11:42all the other pieces
11:43on the defensive side
11:44of the ball,
11:44and so it's becoming
11:45a little bit of an interesting
11:46way of how you spend
11:47the capital versus what you do,
11:48which is why I think Denver
11:50is very comfortable,
11:50and they have a good defense
11:51to begin with anyway,
11:52one of the better defenses
11:53in the NFL,
11:53but it's why I think
11:54they're getting comfortable
11:55with the idea of
11:55we'll pay Waddle a bunch of money,
11:57and we'll make that
11:57one of our spends
11:58because teams are just
12:00much more willing
12:00to spend offensively.
12:02It also helps that the cap
12:03is still going to continue
12:04to shoot up over
12:05the next little bit.
12:06Yeah, for sure.
12:07I don't know what it is,
12:08but coming off this playoff push,
12:12whether it's like the way
12:13Sean Payton has talked about
12:16the loss and kind of
12:17the expectation this year,
12:18whether it is kind of him
12:20reconfiguring his offensive staff
12:22to make sure Davis Webb could stay.
12:24It's weird, yeah.
12:24He's never given up control
12:25of offensive play calling before,
12:26and now he's done that.
12:27I also can't recall a time
12:29that he traded for a big,
12:30wide receiver like this.
12:31In New Orleans,
12:32they pretty much drafted
12:33and developed all their
12:34big receivers,
12:35even finding guys like Colston
12:36in the seventh round
12:37or Michael Thomas
12:38in the second round.
12:40They're doing a lot of
12:42un-Sean Payton-ly type things,
12:44and I wonder if that tells us
12:45the Waltons want some sort
12:47of big bang for their buck
12:49from Sean Payton specifically
12:50if he's feeling some sort
12:52of weird pressure,
12:52which is crazy
12:53because nobody had him
12:54in the AFC title game
12:55last year.
12:56That's also kind of
12:57what I wonder too about,
12:58and we see this with the Patriots
13:00on the other side, right,
13:01where Patriots have success,
13:02they go to the Super Bowl,
13:03and now everyone wants them
13:05to spend big
13:05and to keep spending big, right?
13:07And I wonder if the Broncos
13:08are just doing that.
13:08They're like,
13:09we tasted the AFC title game.
13:11Maybe they think
13:12they're better than they are,
13:13and they do.
13:14They have a great defense.
13:15They have one of the best
13:15offensive lines in the game.
13:16It's a lot to hang your hat on
13:18if you're a Broncos fan
13:19watching that team,
13:20but ultimately,
13:22it's just getting too rich
13:25for my blood here.
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