00:00in my opinion giving the leg up to Shador Sanders now maybe the early crack at it for Shador just
00:05comes from the idea that he's been in the building he's been around uh obviously they have a
00:10relationship and he watched him play as recently as just a couple months ago like some of this
00:15stuff does matter to Todd Munkin clearly it matters to Todd Munkin and maybe big picture
00:19it doesn't matter who's getting the most reps out of the gate but this was a sensitive spot for
00:24Shador last year and so the idea that Munkin has given it to him early I do think is almost
00:29like a
00:29vote of confidence and it is something that I think Shador would appreciate if we're trying to
00:33find reasons to be optimistic about this thing I would say that a big one is that Todd Munkin
00:38ruled out the four-man quarterback competition thing uh from from Jump Street from get-go like
00:45dude that never made any sense last year no it was dumb it was we wasted so much time with
00:50that
00:50last year and trying to speculate who had a leg up in that whole thing but what got lost in
00:55it
00:55because we had to talk about it every day was just how dumb it was and and how much time
00:59was wasted
01:00giving actual reps to Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco who weren't even on the roster by the bye week and
01:05then Dylan Gabriel who they ended up wasting six games with in the middle of the season anyways were
01:10the quarterback that had the most promise always and you and I were on this from literally draft night
01:15the guy that had the most promise the only guy that could have become a franchise quarterback in that
01:21room was Shador Sanders last year so I almost wonder if that's how Todd has this framed in his
01:27head right now was they wasted this kid's time all last offseason that's why he was behind the eight
01:33ball when he actually got into the game so if we give him the king's ransom of the snaps even
01:38if it's
01:38you know 60 Shador 40 Deshaun at least we're not wasting anybody's time this year yeah this time
01:45around I I'm trying to think about it from like what angle gives Todd Munkin the best chance to
01:49make himself look good right like what's the one that really makes him shine I don't think there's
01:55a wrong answer here like if you get if you get the quarterback to look better than just a league
01:59average because if it's Shador everyone's like oh well he didn't look very good last year obviously
02:04he's got a lot of talent but like clearly Todd Munkin will get a lot of credit if he's able
02:09to
02:09actually look you know again slightly above league average Deshaun Watson it no one's gonna expect him
02:14to go back to what he was six years ago that's not the expectation and so Todd Munkin would get
02:18credit
02:19from that as well it's a weird spot because typically with these type of scenarios I like
02:22to think uh you know who is gonna have the most to gain out of whatever option they end up
02:28choosing
02:28and in this instance Munkin really can't lose well the Munkin quotes on Watson were very funny today
02:34and I honestly doubt we'll even play him JP because it was really just two sentences was all Todd really
02:39gave about Deshaun which again breath of fresh air for me after living through Barry on Sunday
02:45afternoon and then Haslam Monday continuing to inflate airs into the Deshaun Watson tires here's
02:51all Munkin said about Deshaun Watson today okay he said what I've seen over the years I'm hoping to
02:56tap into that we're excited to see what we have he's part of our roster do you think the Browns
03:03just
03:03thought maybe they went too hard on the paint over the past couple days and and and decided hey we
03:07gotta we gotta at least tap the brakes yeah maybe this this thing's starting to become a little bit of
03:10a
03:11fire and maybe we need to maybe to get the extinguisher out a little bit I I don't know I'm
03:15not I'm not entirely sure what I do know is that nobody seems to make up their mind what the
03:19hell
03:19is actually going on no and so I want to play a couple pieces of audio for you and they're
03:22both
03:22from the Pat McAfee show and so they're going to be on the quicker side of things but I just
03:26I I think
03:27this is important to note and we'll have Albert Breer on at 520 later on today he's one of the
03:31big
03:31insiders in the NFL and I'm sure he's going to say some really nice things about Deshaun Watson in that
03:35stretch but I want to highlight the idea that I'm going to play an Adam Schefter clip and then a
03:40Pete Schrager clip okay and Peter Schrager and Adam Schefter two heavy hitters in that world
03:46listen to how different each other sound we'll do uh Adam Schefter first on Pat McAfee here we go
03:52I think that's been one of the least talked about biggest stories going into the season
03:55the fact that Deshaun Watson could wind up being the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns I think
03:59that's absolutely on the table I think that it feels like it's moving towards that right now
04:05now Todd Monken comes in and who knows exactly what he's going to do but they're going to take
04:09a look at everybody Todd Monken said at breakfast this morning that he hasn't decided at least
04:13publicly how the quarterback rotation will work out in OTAs he's going to lean on people who've had
04:18experience there Shador's had some experience Dylan Gabriel not being there like that there's a
04:23message there the fact that he's not there I think now if you just heard that you'd be like oh
04:27crap that sucks all right Deshaun Watson's got the he's got the pole position he's in the front here
04:31not great and then here's Peter Schrager again same program same radio show same everything
04:36here we go Deshaun Watson he has spoken to but Watson I don't think has been around as much and
04:42then Shador has been there every single day then Dylan Gabriel has not been there and they can't
04:46play football yet but they can all be in the building and work out and everything so if I was
04:50to put a bet right now I would say Shador is likely in the lead spot just on the fact
04:55that he finished off
04:56last year and has been in the building and all that but they are hoping that yeah Deshaun Watson's
05:01on the roster that this guy can actually compete for the job I don't envision them taking quarterback
05:05at six and despite him knowing Ty Simpson very well because he knows Ty's dad Jason Simpson from
05:11their college days I don't think quarterback in the first round you want to know why we just like
05:16like pull our hair out consistently when we're talking on this radio station it's because of that we
05:20have two of the biggest insiders in the NFL Nick and within a matter of minutes they can't agree on
05:25what's going on with the quarterback spot here the the most important position in sports JP the
05:31position that the Browns have been obsessed with since 1999 when they returned and uber obsessed with
05:39in the Haslam ownership realm they just can't figure it out and like it's never really felt as confusing
05:46as it feels right now because we're talking about this Watson v Sanders competition for 2026
05:54what's what's the long-term plan though I don't think anybody even knows that they not only is
05:59there no short-term plan there's also no real semblance of a long-term planet to be on if we're
06:06reading it and this is just me just kind of deducing things it seems pretty obvious it's 2026 you're
06:12just kind of getting through it yeah basically yeah I mean Albert calls it a transition year but
06:16you're getting through it and then it's setting up for the 2027 draft and instead if Shador is awesome
06:21and takes off then there we go you gotta uh then would be third year quarterback or entering his
06:26third year on a rookie deal you're off to the races if Deshaun turns out to be awesome which I
06:31don't
06:31think is going to happen but you can revisit that part of the conversation as well and so like they're
06:35really I just I just don't think they're that serious about winning a lot of games in 2026 and so
06:40they're not as concerned about what this all looks like how this is coming across what this appears
06:45to be and that's why it's a jumbled mess right yeah but at the same time like ownership repeats
06:50that five wins and a last year and eight wins over the last if I hit a dollar for every
06:55time Jimmy
06:56has him said it's unacceptable it's unacceptable and he's disappointed good enough I'd have more
06:59money than Jimmy has it has to be very very wealthy because that's all he does every offseason
07:04is telling us how it has to be this it has to be that it's unacceptable and and all these
07:08other
07:08things and meanwhile nothing changes it is but but at the same time I'm not worried about like
07:13what they did on the offensive line right before free agency even opens where you give Titus Howard
07:17who's 30 to a big contract extension three-year deal to play right tackle you put up big money for
07:25Zion Johnson you put a big money they could have put up bigger money they could have gone for
07:28they could have gone for uh Walker they could have necessarily like rebuilding moves
07:34they had they had to there there's nothing else they could do in the offensive line like all five
07:39guys in the offensive line hit free agency they had to buy bodies to at least fill out the offensive
07:43line and then just like you think of the state of the defense and that the defense is really good
07:48and maybe all of this changes if we get to Thursday night of the NFL draft and we start getting
07:52word
07:53from the insiders that Miles Garrett's going to be on the move whether it happens in draft night
07:57whether it happens after um maybe that signals and is the big signal of what direction they're going
08:02hey we want to get off the mat quick hey we want to rebuild keep an eye on Miles Garrett
08:07because that
08:07could be an indicator I just don't think that as we're talking about this quarterback thing
08:12regardless of which path you're going down Deshaun Watson makes sense for neither
08:18yeah Deshaun does nothing for you he does nothing for you pretty hell-bent about that because even your
08:23take JP we're like okay for Todd if he is the guy that can turn Deshaun around well that just
08:29puts
08:29the Browns in an even more uncomfortable spot because if he plays okay like if he plays above
08:33average that's why they said what they said over the past couple days with Andrew Barry saying that
08:36there's no rule saying that we can't that's why that's why they're saying that they want you to
08:40already normalize and get comfortable with that idea they want they want that but they want they
08:44want to normalize it so that you if it does happen they can't be like well this blindsided
08:49everybody you had to think I told you guys in the owners meeting if he's awesome this is on
08:53the table like this is this is part of the deal and again this is all just if you got
08:58to play
08:59through the lens that I'm thinking of that they're just not going to try to win a bunch of games
09:02in
09:022026 if they fall into a bunch of wins because your door is great then okay fine let's ride that
09:07they fell into five wins with the worst offense in football because their defense was awesome and
09:13unless they trade Miles Garrett all them dudes defensively are going to be back so I'm just confused
09:19about how they're going to get this shiny quarterback in 2027 if the bar is five games
09:26it's not it's not five games because they had a good defense a year prior and they won three games
09:29and I also I also account for the idea that Miles Garrett and going for the sack record won you
09:34two
09:34games that I can't account for this upcoming season that is fair and the team did rally around
09:38your door it kind of felt like as they got late into the season and everybody else was kind of
09:42just like
09:43quitting you know there was the conversation of would there be a quit game and there never really was
09:47they never all the way quit on Kevin and I think a big piece of that was they rallied around
09:52Miles
09:53the offense and what was left of it kind of tried their best to rally around Shador I just wouldn't
09:58like there's been too much JP there's been too much Deshaun Watson talk and I can't move past it I
10:05mean and I'm genuinely scared by it there is something to it I don't I see I'm just not scared
10:10by it the
10:10same way I guess because I I don't know if that's just a belief that Shador will beat him out
10:13or what
10:14that is but I I'm just not scared by it the same way is it that you're believing that like
10:18there's
10:19no way that the Browns who are a data driven organization and all they could all they talk
10:24about is data points and analytics that they actually think Deshaun Watson could be good because
10:28I don't believe that the Browns actually think he could be good there's definitely a way that the
10:32Browns end up playing Deshaun Watson like that is it as a reality that we all have to kind of
10:36come to
10:36grips with and that's a reality that has to sink in for all of us I I can't explain to
10:40you why I'm not
10:41scared by it or why I'm not intimidated by it I think it's just a belief that Shador will beat
10:45him out and we won't have to worry about it until or unless Shador gets injured or something happens
10:50in like week seven week eight if he can't do it then all of a sudden Deshaun goes in but
10:54at that
10:54point the season's already shot anyway like at that point my enjoyment of the year is gone so like as
10:59long as Shador starts the season I'm going to have something to be invested in if Deshaun starts the
11:03season yeah that's not going to be great and I I will have all sorts of theories as to why
11:10wasn't able to beat out Deshaun Watson and I will wonder if the whole situation is actually done
11:16in uh good faith the same way I wondered last year if Dylan Gabriel beating out Shador Sanders
11:22was done in good faith and I was proven right that it was not and so I'll have some of
11:26these
11:26same questions but I'm just not losing sleep over it I can't I I just there's I don't know what
11:32part of
11:32me uh is just not subscribing to the idea that I have to lose my mind over the prospect of
11:38it
11:38because maybe it's because Nick for I don't know months I've been preparing for this to be the
11:42reality anyway the the one thing in my theory that could throw this off this for being a reality and
11:50Schrager hit it in that audio is if they draft Ty Simpson if they draft Ty Simpson you could throw
11:56all of this in the garbage if they draft Ty Simpson I will be so utterly confused I won't know
12:02what to do
12:02with it is that why they're talking about Deshaun Watson so much because last year they were talking
12:06about Travis Hunter a whole lot and it was distract it was to distract us from the fact that they
12:12were
12:12trading down so this year are they talking so much about this Shador Sanders Deshaun Watson
12:17competition because they're getting ready for that competition to take place this summer or are they
12:23trying to distract us from the fact that maybe they are more into Ty Simpson than they want to even
12:28lead us on I can't I can't tell you no only because all they do is sleight of hand tricks
12:33that's this
12:34whole organization that's all they do you mentioned the Travis Hunter stuff all it was is to throw us
12:38off the scent how about Todd Munkin getting the head coaching job that was a that was a month display
12:43of throwing us off the scent to then give him the job like like all they do is these little
12:48tricks
12:48with us so if that's part I can't tell you no right I can't tell you you're wrong because like
12:53Andrew Barry I've said this before but it's true Andrew Barry gets like perverse joy out of making
12:57everyone believe one thing and then doing something else I it's maddening is what it is I think
13:02like the the funnest part of being a GM for Andrew Barry is throwing everyone off the scent and then
13:07doing something completely different than what everybody said was going to happen and so if
13:12that's how this goes down I'll just have to look back on this conversation and be like Nick you had
13:16it right the entire time it's all I can do uh but it will be out of just the pure
13:21and utter idea that
13:23Andrew Barry loves to mess with people's minds and like and this and this whole Deshaun Watson nonsense
13:27was but like the problem with that is that you just got a lot of people upset and thinking
13:32about it in the meanwhile and you got a lot of people that are sitting there and canceling their
13:35season tickets and are being upset at the prospect of Deshaun Watson and not taking this Browns
13:39organization seriously while you're doing these tricks and these games and I don't know that Andrew
13:45Barry fully understands that I don't think he's ever truly cared about how often he pisses off this fan
13:50base locally and nationally it just even even nationally people are like Deshaun Watson I mean he says he
13:57loves playing games I've never met a person that loves playing games more than Andrew Barry when it
14:01comes to storylines like that's a big thing with him he loves his games so he's playing a lot of
14:05games
14:05is he playing another one right now
14:07so
14:07now
14:07you
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