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00:00We got a special treat here as on the Make It Right Call, Kyle Wright Hotline.
00:04You know him, you love him. He's here every Tuesday on Afternoon Drive.
00:07Albert Breer joining us of the MMQB. Welcome back to the show, friend.
00:12Hey, what's up, guys?
00:13Oh, just enjoying another delightful Browns offseason here.
00:17And it's interesting, like, you know, I don't know the Browns have gotten worlds better,
00:21but we've been kind of paying attention to the reaction to the Browns offseason.
00:25And it does seem like people are not only not impressed, but maybe think the Browns have gotten worse.
00:31I'll ask you, a man with so many connections, so much insight into the NFL,
00:36do you think the Browns have gotten better or worse this offseason?
00:43It feels to me like they're treading water to some degree.
00:47I don't know. Do you guys not feel that way?
00:49Like, I don't know. Like, I think it's year one.
00:53And I don't know if this is going to be a throwaway year,
00:56but I would put them in a bucket of teams that is probably bridging to 27 when it comes to
01:03quarterback.
01:04You know, they're with teams like the Jets and the Cardinals and, you know, Dolphins.
01:11So I think they're probably, like, just trying to see their way through that.
01:16And I don't know if this makes sense as being the year when you want to go splurge on a
01:22lot of different things anyway.
01:24Now, I would question, like, you know, you lose Wyatt Teller today.
01:28You know, Joe Batonio is a free agent still.
01:32And, you know, so you're going with Kevin Jenkins.
01:37I mean, it's just, like, I don't know if they've gotten demonstrably worse.
01:42But have they gotten a whole lot better?
01:44I wouldn't say that's the case either.
01:47What does it seem like to you after, I mean, really just nothing done with the quarterback spot for the
01:51Browns over the past week or so?
01:52We could still do something, obviously.
01:53But does it really feel like we're headed towards that collision course of Shador versus Deshaun Watson?
02:00You really don't want to include Dylan Gabriel, huh?
02:02Oh, no, I never do in these conversations.
02:04We always kind of overlook him.
02:07I'm kidding.
02:08I'm kidding.
02:09I think that's sort of, like, what it looks like right now.
02:13Now, I've said this to you guys, like, really for months, like, that I don't, you know, being at the
02:20end of the contract, especially now as a new coach,
02:23I don't know if there was a ton of sense in cutting Deshaun Watson.
02:26And the reason why is you've already paid him all his money.
02:29You've built up all his cap debt.
02:31I mean, that would have sucked to cut him in the last year, and then all of a sudden he
02:34goes and plays really well somewhere else, and you're paying for it, you know?
02:37So I can understand the logic in, like, we're paying for it anyway at the sub-cost.
02:42We might as well see what the guy's got.
02:44But I don't know if there's some great hope that Chidorah is going to be the future of the franchise.
02:50You know, again, I'd sort of look at it the same way I look at those teams I mentioned a
02:54second ago.
02:55You know, the Cardinals right now are going with Gardner, Minshew, and Jacoby Rissette.
02:59We'll see if they, like, add Jimmy Garoppolo to that mix.
03:02The Jets are going with Geno.
03:04The Dolphins are going with Malik Willis.
03:07You know, I just think it's a weird spot for some of these teams to be in because, you know,
03:12these teams are drafting high.
03:14And generally you'd be looking at quarterbacks, but to make up this year's class is that it's probably one franchise
03:20-level guy in Fernando Mendoza and then a big drop-off.
03:24And I actually would agree with the idea of, like, punting if you don't think that the guy that's going
03:29to be there for you is a franchise guy and not forcing him.
03:32Like, I think the worst thing you can do is force a first-round pick on a quarterback or force
03:38something in a quarterback that really is going to not help you in the long term
03:44and maybe keep you off the market and looking for one in the short term.
03:49And it just feels to me like all of these teams are sort of keeping their powder dry for next
03:54year.
03:55You know, when we're going to be talking about Dante Moore and Archman and Julian Sand and TJ Carr.
04:01And all these guys aren't going to hit.
04:03Lenore Sellers, Darian Mensah, Brendan Sorsby.
04:08These guys aren't all going to hit.
04:09But there sure are a lot of names that we're at least discussing now.
04:13And if a handful of them do hit, then you're going to have a quarterback where it straps.
04:16So I would definitely agree the idea of don't overdraft a quarterback this year.
04:21And I understand playing the long game.
04:23But I look at, like, the Dolphins roster.
04:25And that is just otherworldly Spartan roster.
04:30And I can see that winning two games.
04:33The Jets, I can see winning two games.
04:35I almost feel like the Browns, because they haven't shed Miles or Denzel.
04:40And they've drafted well on defense.
04:42And because I think if you fix the offensive line, there's a chance that your offense could be functional this
04:47year.
04:47I think you run a bigger risk of being too good to get one of those quarterbacks and still not
04:53good enough.
04:53And that's, I think, my ultimate concern right now from where the Browns are.
04:58Unless you're not good at quarterback, and that fits the whole thing, which is possible too, right?
05:02Like, I guess part of the logic could be either we find something at quarterback and doing it this way,
05:08or it's just going to be otherworldly bad, and that'll sink the ship.
05:11I'm not saying they're having that discussion, but that might be one way to look at it, you know?
05:15So, I don't know.
05:18Again, like, and you guys know where I stand on this.
05:21Like, I, when it was in November when I said they should trade Miles, I still sort of feel that
05:25way.
05:26I mean, I just, I don't know.
05:29You know, guys like Miles Garrett and Denzel Ward, I'm just not sure you're going to be able to get
05:33good enough,
05:33fast enough to have a lot of runaway of their prime left where you're competing for a championship, you know?
05:41And I actually think the Browns did the right thing last year in trading away the Travis Hunter pick.
05:44Like, I, you know, I think that helped them set a foundation, and now they're going to have another crack
05:49at it.
05:49But, you know, with two first rounders this year, it's just, it's, again, you don't want to call this a
05:59throwaway year,
06:00but you definitely feel for another year of transition, especially with a new coaching span.
06:04Well, you mentioned Miles.
06:06Is there any thought that Miles would just, maybe he learned from last year, if you do this too early
06:10in the offseason,
06:11it can all just kind of sputter and go away.
06:13But if you do what Micah Parsons did, where you take that into camp and then you kind of force
06:17a trade,
06:18maybe that works out a little better for you?
06:19Is that something that you think might still be on the table, or is Miles just locked in?
06:23Yeah, I don't think so.
06:25I mean, I think you've got to give it a couple of years if you just did that and you
06:30got a big raise.
06:31And, I mean, it's kind of hard to sell anybody on.
06:34Like, I'm doing it to go win after the way the last time went.
06:38You know what I mean?
06:38Like, so, you know, I think, like, my guess would be that that ship is probably close to having sailed
06:48for this year.
06:50I certainly think if you were going to do it and you were going to push for it, you'd probably
06:54push for the draft.
06:56That way the Browns can get some, like, current year capital to work with.
07:01And, remember, like, the Micah thing happened.
07:03Like, that wasn't, like, him up and deciding, like, oh, yeah, like, right before the season trade me.
07:08I mean, that had been a contract saga that had lasted the entire offseason, you know?
07:13Yeah.
07:13So, we knew pretty early on that that was going to be a problem.
07:17And, of course, if we keep it going.
07:19Albert Breer of the MMQB on the Make It Right Call, Kyle Wright Hotline.
07:24We did read your breakdown there of Kyler Murray going to Minnesota.
07:29And I think it's interesting.
07:30Some people took away from that piece that J.J. McCarthy still might not be set in stone as a
07:36member of the Vikings this next year.
07:38Do you think there's still a chance that J.J. McCarthy gets traded, whether it's before the draft or before
07:43the regular season?
07:46I mean, I just don't see the sense of selling low on him right now.
07:50So, I'd say no.
07:52I don't think he'll be traded.
07:54What makes sense for the Vikings at this point is to put the two guys in a competition and see
08:01how that goes, you know?
08:02And I think one of the advantages of going and getting somebody like Kyler Murray is, at the very least,
08:08at the end of all of it, you're going to have an answer.
08:11You know, he's either going to respond and all of a sudden turn a corner and you're going to see
08:16a different player, or he's going to get beat out.
08:19You know, then you have your answer, too.
08:21So, look, I think it's like a way of sort of accelerating the process of assessing J.J. McCarthy.
08:28And I just don't know how much you would get for him if you traded him right now.
08:33Like, his value is at that point as he's been since he came into the league.
08:37So, I think what makes more sense for the Vikings is to start the competition and then, I mean, you
08:45know, who knows?
08:46If somebody has an injury somewhere and liked him pre-draft, maybe something happens.
08:50Maybe at that point, Kyler's got a lead on him.
08:52But if I were them, I would at least start the competition and, you know, expect to have both guys
08:58on the team in 2026.
08:59Albert, it feels like for the Browns, people have just kind of settled on Carnell Tate versus Monroe Freeling.
09:04If it's Monroe Freeling, do you feel like that's an overdraft?
09:09It feels that way because, like, he has sort of risen quickly.
09:14Now, are you guys talking about taking him over Spencer Fano or Francis Alley-Noah?
09:21Yeah, that seems to be what people have kind of slid into, yeah.
09:25So, you're talking about taking him at six, not 24.
09:27Six, not 24, yes.
09:29Okay.
09:33I, again, I may feel differently in two or three weeks.
09:36Right now, it does feel to me a little bit like, and, like, I think Fano and Malloy-Noah, like,
09:44have been kind of circled to me as the top two tackles.
09:46The Penn State guard might actually be the best line in the draft.
09:49But I'd say, like, I'd say Fano and Malloy-Noah are seen as probably the best two tackles by most
09:57teams now.
09:58The thing about those two is that they're right tackles, right?
10:01And Malloy-Noah is probably only a right tackle in the pros, whereas, like, Fano, you see some things, and
10:08there's a guy who might be a first-round pick, and Caleb Lomu playing opposite him, like, where you can
10:14say, okay, like, that's the reason he wasn't a left tackle.
10:18So, like, I don't know that Monroe Freeling is at the point yet where you say he's going to go
10:24in front of those guys.
10:25But, I mean, he is a left tackle, you know, and so, you know, teams continue to dig into him,
10:31and we get to that point.
10:33Like, I don't think it's impossible.
10:34I think a lot of things in this draft are up in the air at this point just because you
10:39don't have, like, the super elite, like, Joe Alt type of left tackle or Miles Garrett type of defensive end
10:44or Patrick Sutan type of corner or Julio Jones type of receiver.
10:48I mean, you don't have those guys at the top of this class, and so it does feel like there's
10:52some compromising going on, and, like, I certainly think that that sets up to have some surprises early on.
11:00Albert, big trade in the NFL today.
11:02Jalen Waddell to Denver for a pick swap in the fourth round and then a first and a third going
11:09to Miami as well.
11:10I guess your initial reaction to this trade and kind of how it sets up for both teams.
11:16Well, I mean, Denver's clearly going for it, right?
11:19Like, so, I think Denver's built their roster up to a point where you feel comfortable moving draft picks, which,
11:26like, you know, like a huge part of that is kind of, like, how you build through that, and they've
11:30built through that very nicely.
11:32They were in the AFC Championship game a year ago, and they're in a window right now where, you know,
11:38you look forward and you say, okay, they've got the quarterback on a rookie contract.
11:43Maybe they wait until, you know, 2027 or, I mean, 2028 to pay him, and if you wait until after
11:51his fourth year to pay him, that gives you even a longer window.
11:55They have one of the best defenses in football right there with Houston and Seattle.
11:59They have a really, really good offensive line.
12:03They have a lot of, like, good complementary weapons on offense.
12:06If you look at, like, the makeup of that group, you know, between Sutton and Mims and Franklin and Engram
12:14and Harvey and J.K. Dobbins coming back, like, they've got a lot of complementary guys, but they don't have,
12:21like, a true carry-the-coverage type of receiver.
12:24And so now they add that, so those guys fit into their roles.
12:28As for the Dolphins side of it, I just say this.
12:31Like, I know, like, they felt like the most important thing for them was to rebuild their base of young
12:37talent, and there are different ways to do that.
12:40And, you know, as part of that, they looked at it and said, we got to, you know, we got
12:46to build up our war chest of picks, and there aren't that many assets in that roster where you look
12:50at.
12:50Like you said, there weren't a lot of guys in that roster where you say, like, yeah, that guy could
12:54grab David or Turner.
12:55You know, yeah, that guy's going to be here in three years.
12:58And so, like, you know, Waddle was one of the guys who had very real value to other teams.
13:04And, you know, I think for a couple guys coming from Green Bay and John Eric Sullivan and Jeff Hathaway,
13:09now this gives them the capital to build the sort of draft and develop machine that the Dolphins intended when
13:15they hired them.
13:15Well, what's the play there with Malik Willis?
13:17I'm just confused by that.
13:18Three-year deal, and then it's like, if you're going to tear it all down and then try to be
13:22in the draft for a quarterback the following year, why'd you even bother with Malik Willis?
13:26Unless they think that there's something there and it's going to materialize, but now you've stripped him of Tyreek and
13:31Jalen Waddle.
13:33I'd say the same thing I just said, right, like about the Brown situation, which is, I mean, look, like,
13:38here's the thing.
13:39While you're doing this, you still have to sell appropriately.
13:43I mean, you still have a first-year coach who's got to be able to stand in front of the
13:46team and say, we're going to give you a chance, right?
13:49And so, you know, Jeff Hathaway and John Eric Sullivan know Louis Lois from having been in Green Bay with
13:54them, and so they have an idea of exactly what they're getting.
13:59And, like, now they can legitimately say to the players, like, look, we're giving you a chance to compete here
14:05and now.
14:05Because as you guys know, like, that's all the players care about.
14:08Like, they don't – 90% of players could care less, like, what you're building for 2027 or 2028 because
14:14there's a good chance they're not going to be on the team.
14:16You know, so how do you build a program?
14:19How do you build a foundation?
14:20You need the players to buy in.
14:22And that means you've at least got to give them a fighting chance.
14:26You can't just completely strip the thing bare and then expect to get, you know, the response that you need
14:32from players.
14:32So, I think Louis Lois is a good play in that way.
14:35It shows that they are going to try to be competitive in 2026.
14:39And, you know, like, if he can't be a lot more than most people think he is, then they'll be
14:45dropping really high next year and probably looking at quarterback.
14:49And if he is more than most people think he is, then maybe you have more of an answer than
14:53most people think.
14:54Albert, it's March, and we're honoring the time-old tradition of Steelers legends bitching about Aaron Rodgers not signing with
15:02the team yet.
15:03Rod Woodson furious, saying they should move on.
15:06Last year it was countless guys, including Mr. Football and himself.
15:11So, I'll ask you, last year it was June 6th that Aaron signed the one-year deal with Pittsburgh.
15:16How patient will the Steelers be with Aaron Rodgers' decision this offseason?
15:22Yeah, I sort of wonder, like, how much this is backing up the rest of the quarterback market.
15:26You've got Kirk Cousins out there.
15:28I think the Steelers would be appealing to him.
15:31You know, so, Joe Flacco's still out there.
15:35You know, Russell Wilson's still out there.
15:36Now, they'll go back down that road.
15:38But, you know, I think there's at least some options out there.
15:44And they're clearly the most attractive quarterback jobs that are out there.
15:49You know, so, it gives them a little bit of runway.
15:52I also think because of the relationships that Aaron Rodgers built, the ones that he's got with Mike McCarthy's staff
15:59coming in.
16:02Like, I'd be surprised if they're completely blindsided by whatever he decides to do.
16:06You know, so, it sucks.
16:10But, like, it looks to me – it sucks not that mile where it's the Steelers.
16:16But it does look to me like they're building something that would be for a veteran quarterback
16:22and going and getting Michael Pippen and Rico Dowdle and kind of reworking some of the pieces they have.
16:28I know we're reworking the offense and getting a little bit more veteran on offense.
16:33You know what?
16:34Like, I thought, honestly, they were about at the point last year where it was time to sort of hit
16:40reset and start over.
16:41But the Mike McCarthy hire showed that they weren't ready to do that.
16:44The owners weren't ready to do that.
16:46But, you know, the way that they've built this offseason certainly looks like they're going to try to be all
16:53in for this year again.
16:56And that will be something that will clearly attract, you know, Aaron Rodgers then.
17:01Albert, great stuff as always, buddy.
17:03We'll talk to you next week.
17:05Awesome.
17:06Thanks, guys.
17:06Have a good one.
17:07Albert Breer there of the MMQB on the Make It Right Call Kyle Wright hotline.
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