00:00Mary Kay Cabot joins us. Hello, Mary Kay.
00:02Hey, Mary Kay.
00:03Hey, guys. How are you doing?
00:05We are well. Mary Kay, of course, covers the Browns for the Plain Dealer Cleveland.com.
00:09You can follow her on x at Mary Kay Cabot.
00:12Okay, here we go. Early in the show, we looked at a bunch of mock drafts.
00:17General consensus, wide receiver, or offensive lineman.
00:20How stunning would it be if the Browns get out of the first round
00:24and don't have an offensive lineman and a wide receiver?
00:28Or would it not be stunning?
00:31Well, I think the chances are probably pretty high,
00:35but I don't think it would be stunning because the thing that everybody has to remember
00:39is that Andrew Barry does not draft for need.
00:43He does go into each draft as though he's stocking an expansion team.
00:47So he's not going in there saying,
00:49we have to have a receiver out of this first round,
00:51and we have to have an offensive lineman out of this first round.
00:55They probably have to have a wide receiver or two and an offensive lineman
01:00at some point before the start of the season,
01:03but not necessarily out of the first round of the draft.
01:07Now, in this particular draft,
01:09the strengths of the class just don't happen to line up with the Browns' needs.
01:14So it is a good wide receiver draft,
01:16and it is a good offensive lineman draft,
01:19just like it was in 2020 when they needed a left tackle and they drafted Jed Wilt.
01:24But if they felt like there were a better player at another position,
01:30say defensive end or something like that,
01:32then Andrew Barry would do that.
01:34As he has said, he's looking for highest sustainable impact from that player in the draft,
01:42especially in the first round.
01:44So that's what they're going for there,
01:46and then you can fill in the rest of what you need in other rounds of the draft or in
01:52other ways.
01:54What do you think they need?
01:55What do you want them to do at six, Mary Kay?
02:00Well, I would definitely be exploring a trade down.
02:04I think that that would be wise, and I think that they will do that.
02:09And I'm on record, again, I'm not jumping on the table.
02:13I'm not jumping on the table for anybody at this point.
02:17But I did say on the morning show one day that I probably,
02:22and this was a couple weeks ago, that I probably would take Ty Simpson at number six,
02:26but I don't even really want to get back into going down that road
02:29because even then I said I could change my mind on that in three days or four days.
02:35I mean, this is, I'm very much looking forward to hearing what Andrew Barry has to say on Thursday
02:42when we have him for the pre-draft press conference,
02:44and I certainly never thought that they would actually do that.
02:47But I have my reasons for saying that, and I think they're legitimate reasons.
02:54And like I said, I don't really want to re-litigate the whole thing.
02:58But my reasons for that would be if you're not 100% certain on a player at number six overall
03:05and you can't trade out, that's where I like to take a chance on a quarterback
03:09because there are so many different positions that don't hit very well in the first round anyway
03:16that it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to take your chances there.
03:19So that's why I said that again.
03:21I'm not jumping on the table for Ty Simpson.
03:25I don't really have one player in my mind that completely stands out as a have-to kind of guy
03:32there.
03:33I just don't have that guy.
03:34I'm not even sure of this morning show thing that you were talking about.
03:36I'm not even sure what that is.
03:37I'm just kidding.
03:38Wow.
03:38I'm just joking.
03:39Listen, the other part of this whole, like you said when I thought the beginning trade, right?
03:44That just screams Browns to me.
03:45But I think they're in a weird spot this year because, I mean, who knows?
03:50Maybe the Cardinals, the Titans, the Giants, who are all ahead of them, and Washington,
03:54they all seem open for business if somebody wants to make a trade.
03:58And isn't that something they have to deal with this year?
04:00For some reason, it feels more so this year than most years.
04:05But the trade factor around them and how that could affect them trying to make a move.
04:11Well, I think that there will be a lot of discussion that happens, obviously, between now and April 23rd with
04:20all of those teams in the top six,
04:22even the top eight of teams considering trading up, teams considering trading down, teams considering trading for a veteran.
04:31So I think those discussions are ongoing, and I don't think anybody has any real definitive answers yet on exactly
04:40what's going to happen two through five.
04:42So I think we're going to be playing the wait-and-see game.
04:45Again, we might get a little bit more insight into what Andrew's thinking is when we talk to him on
04:50Thursday.
04:50We might not.
04:51He might send up some smoke screens, right?
04:55So we might not know any more on Thursday than we know right now.
04:59But I do think that you're going to have a lot of teams calling around over the next nine days
05:06and seeing if they can stay, move up, move down, and whatnot.
05:11Mary Kay Cabot joining us from the PlainDealerCleven.com.
05:14Mary Kay, we know the needs, a wide receiver and offensive line.
05:19But if they have a defensive end sitting there ranked very highly above wide receivers and offensive linemen,
05:27you could easily make that case, could you not?
05:30Put somebody on the other side of Myles Garrett, Myles, you know, 30, certainly, you know, he's made the turn,
05:36let's say,
05:37and is on the back nine of his career.
05:39Doesn't mean he can't play for a number of years.
05:41But if you added another force to that defense and tried to win football games based around a great D,
05:46that makes a lot of sense, does it not?
05:50Well, it does make a lot of sense.
05:52And there are some really, really good edge rushers at the top of this draft, obviously.
05:57There are three that could go very, very high in the top six, seven, eight, or whatever.
06:04So, yes, I could see them going edge rusher there and then maybe coming back and going receiver, tackle, whatnot.
06:13I could also see them making a trade for a veteran player with one of their first-round picks.
06:19So, I think at this point, pretty much anything can happen.
06:23Now, last year he was willing to pretty much rule out a trade up to number one.
06:28So, I wonder this year, and I actually posed this question in a post this morning,
06:34would they be willing to trade up for someone?
06:37I don't know.
06:38I don't think that there's a player that they would be willing to trade up for two through five,
06:43and they need too many things to want to sacrifice assets.
06:47But they are open for business, and anything can still happen at this point.
06:52I don't even know how they necessarily feel about Jeremiah Love.
06:57And at this time of year, if somebody tells you that they know exactly what the Browns are thinking,
07:03well, you can definitely take that with a grain of salt.
07:08Would you – is Carnell Tate so far, in a way, the best wide receiver in this draft
07:14from the folks you've talked to, Mary Kay, that he's a no-brainer if he's sitting there for the Browns
07:19at six?
07:21I don't know if he's a no-brainer for the Browns at six.
07:24I think it would depend on how their board is set up and who else they have ranked right near
07:31him
07:32or who else is going to be available for them at number six.
07:35I think – I don't think that would be a bad pick by any stretch of the imagination.
07:40But I don't think he's a lock to them at number six.
07:44I think you could, you know, also look at some other players.
07:47I think if one of the edge rushers does fall – if David Bailey falls to them at number six,
07:52you know, maybe you're doing something like that.
07:54Or maybe you really, really have fallen in love with one of these offensive tackles
07:58and think that he can be your left tackle of the future for the next decade or so.
08:02So I don't know if he's a lock there, but he's certainly, certainly within consideration.
08:09Do you think they're ready?
08:11Especially because they're in a different position that we've seen before, right?
08:14No Paul DePodesta.
08:16Andrew's – I don't know, is Andrew on his own?
08:18Was Andrew always on his own going into this thing?
08:21I know Andrew's going to talk later this week,
08:24but I'm just kind of curious on how this might shape differently than it did in the past.
08:30And it also makes me wonder how they were able to be so successful last year in the draft
08:34compared to, you know, Andrew Barry's first couple drafts.
08:38Well, I think you get better as you go along.
08:41So I think that has something to do with it.
08:43You learn from some of your mistakes,
08:45and then also you start to get first-round picks that you haven't had in previous drafts.
08:50And it's a whole lot easier to make a blockbuster trade and hit it out of the park like that
08:55when you have the number two overall pick and you can make a trade like that.
09:00You can't do that 22, 23, 24 when you don't have a first-round pick.
09:05So that has a lot to do with that.
09:07I think when people look at that draft, you know, people do forget he parlayed number two
09:11into three picks last year alone.
09:15So, you know, he did exactly what Jimmy Haslam mandated that he do,
09:20and that was to really nail that 2025 draft.
09:23And now he's got an opportunity to do it again, in part because he has two first-round picks.
09:30So they basically made up for the loss of those three first-round picks in my mind.
09:36I don't think we can look anymore at those three years and say
09:39that they have completely set back the Cleveland Browns.
09:43I don't think you can do that.
09:45I think that they've overcome that.
09:47Mary Kay, an NBA reporter based in Wisconsin, put out a tweet recently that said
09:54his sources contend that Jimmy Haslam is trying to become the controlling owner
09:59of the Milwaukee Bucs, and right now he's one of three guys with equal power there.
10:04If Jimmy actually becomes the controlling owner of the Bucs, what does that mean for the Browns?
10:09Good question.
10:12Yeah, I don't think it really means anything for the Browns.
10:16I think that he would be equally invested in the Bucs as he is in the Cleveland Browns.
10:21And with the new stadium coming here and with Jimmy's world being built in Berea,
10:27I certainly think that...
10:28That's funny.
10:29That's funny.
10:30I certainly think that the commitment to making the Browns be a perennial contender
10:37is there in full force, and I don't think that's changing any time, Stan.
10:41Mary Kay, let me throw this one at you.
10:43We talked about potential trade for a veteran.
10:45Is there a veteran you could see on this roster that might be a value piece that they might
10:50look at and say, hmm, maybe we should be trading this veteran?
10:53I know everyone says miles, but I mean, there's more to it than that.
10:56Or is there another big move that could be made aside from the draft to go along with
11:01what Andy just said?
11:04Well, I think anything is on the table right now.
11:07I think Andrew Berry likes to make trades.
11:09He likes to engage in the trade market.
11:13Some of his best acquisitions have come via trade.
11:16And I do think that they will look at trading away a veteran if they have to.
11:23They will look at acquiring a veteran.
11:25And again, they'll look at going up and down in the draft.
11:30So he's open for business.
11:32People know that about him.
11:34And I don't know if they would be willing to trade any of their quality, quality veterans.
11:40I don't think that they want to.
11:42I think that they love the fact that they have Denzel and Tyson Campbell as arguably one
11:49of the best cornerback tandems in the NFL right now.
11:53He's basically told us that Miles Garrett is a career Brown.
11:57So I don't even know how that's going to be addressed or brought up again on Thursday.
12:03But I think, as Jimmy pointed out at the owners meetings, they feel like they're on the cusp
12:10of getting this thing turned around, and they don't want to be parting with their core players
12:14if they don't have to.
12:15Mary Kay, we thank you, as always.
12:17Next week, we get it rolling.
12:19Draft on Thursday.
12:21Can't wait to see your coverage.
12:22Thanks, Mary Kay.
12:24Thank you, guys.
12:25Mary Kay Cabot, PlainDealer, Cleveland.com.
12:28Joining us on the Make It Right Call, Kyle Wright Hotline.
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