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00:00We're going to welcome on one of the best out there, reporter-wise.
00:05She's also pretty cool just to hang out with and talk NFL football about,
00:09CBS Sports' very own Aditi Kinkabwala on the Make It Right Call, Kyle Wright Hotline.
00:15Aditi, welcome to the show.
00:17Hi, thanks for having me, guys.
00:19Well, we always love having you on here.
00:22I guess we'll start with the off-season in review.
00:26Thoughts on the Browns' off-season?
00:28Do you think the Browns got dramatically better?
00:31I like the draft.
00:34I think to trade down, get more assets, and end up with the player you wanted is certainly exciting.
00:40I certainly appreciate how much of a focus culture was.
00:48We heard Kat Rache.
00:50We heard people repeatedly talk about someone's personality, how good of a guy somebody is,
00:56what a culture guy someone is.
00:59That's obviously necessary.
01:00We knew they needed to attack the line.
01:02We knew they needed to think about the wide receiver position.
01:06We've got a healthy quarterback competition going on now,
01:09and Todd Monken's a guy that just injects a lot of energy.
01:14He's going to make the PR staff earn their money.
01:16That's for sure.
01:17There's going to be some cleanups in aisle eight after Todd Monken talks, but I like that.
01:24You know, this isn't a guy that's afraid.
01:26I've said this over and over.
01:27This isn't somebody who's afraid of superstar players, and that's what you need in Cleveland.
01:33You need someone who's going to stand up, tell it straight, and not have to kowtow to anybody.
01:40All right, so what do you make of Mary Kay Cabot's report that Deshaun has the inside track already?
01:45I mean, it just feels very early to have the inside track, but I guess somebody's got to.
01:48What do you make of the idea that it's Deshaun?
01:52It's early.
01:53I mean, that's not surprising.
01:54You would hope that he's healthy.
01:57What's not surprising is that he is competing, that he is looking good.
02:01That's certainly what you would hope.
02:03Before the everything, I don't even know what the correct adjective is to use.
02:09I don't want to call it the mess, but the drama, the whatever, of the last however many years.
02:13Deshaun Watson was one of the bright-end talents of this game, so he's healthy.
02:20There's a lot behind him right now.
02:23There's not much to lose in the sense.
02:27He's already essentially faced all of that, but I agree with you that it's very early.
02:32This is football in shorts.
02:33You can't, I mean, you can't tell anything in football.
02:36You can tell, I shouldn't say you can't tell anything.
02:40There aren't a lot of things of consequence that you can tell in football in shorts.
02:47So that's a great sign.
02:48That's good.
02:49It's awesome that there's a competition.
02:51It's awesome that Deshaun looks good, but there's a lot of football to be played before you get to week
02:57one.
02:59Aditi, we have not seen a consistently functional offense since the first time Joe Flacco came to Cleveland.
03:07How much better would the Browns be, or how much better would you expect the Browns to be in 2026
03:13if this offense is merely functional?
03:19Well, you just said it yourself, right?
03:21You're saying that they haven't been functional in years, and now all you want them to be is functional?
03:25Obviously, that's much better.
03:27What more are you looking for than that?
03:29I want a win total.
03:31Again, you want a win total?
03:34Come on.
03:35What is today's date?
03:36We're still in April.
03:37We don't even know who the quarterback is.
03:38We'll give you a win total in April.
03:40I know.
03:41That sounds about eight wins to me.
03:43We don't know who the quarterback is.
03:43We don't know what the starting line is.
03:46I don't know how far Todd Monken is into his install.
03:49And remember, Todd Monken is not a system guy.
03:52That's part of why John Harbaugh hired him out of Georgia all those years ago, is that he's not a
03:57slave to any one scheme, to any one system.
04:00He is going to tailor what he does and what he calls to who his personnel is.
04:05And so he's still getting to know his personnel.
04:08He's still learning his team.
04:10I don't even know what that offense is going to really look like.
04:14Outside of functional, which obviously is the baseline hope here.
04:18That's very fair.
04:19I know you've commented in the past with Myles Garrett.
04:22I feel like you have a – is it okay to say you have a good relationship with Myles?
04:25Is that okay?
04:28I mean, I think I do.
04:30I think you do.
04:30I don't know.
04:31I just didn't want to make that weird.
04:32But, like, I want to ask you –
04:33I think you did.
04:34I know.
04:34My bad.
04:34I feel like you made that weird.
04:36I did.
04:36I totally did.
04:37Is it okay to say that?
04:38I totally did.
04:39But I want to ask you about what you think is going to happen this offseason with him.
04:42Because although he didn't show up for the voluntary portion, he doesn't have to.
04:47But clearly, he's yet to comment on anything with Todd Munkin and being the head coach.
04:52Munkin says they've texted back and forth.
04:54But, like, there's a weird – we're talking about weird.
04:56There's a weird vibe that's existing right now between Myles and the Browns, at least in my opinion.
05:03I mean, Myles has been mercurial since he got to the Browns.
05:08So, I don't – I think that sometimes we look to read too much into something.
05:13None of this is all that surprising.
05:15None of this is alarming.
05:16This certainly isn't rising to a level of, oh, my goodness, Myles Garrett needs to be brought back into the
05:21fold,
05:21or he's going to create some sort of issue.
05:25He's had a busy offseason.
05:26His girlfriend was in the Olympics.
05:28Did you guys see that?
05:29He was in the Olympics.
05:30He's coming off of a great year.
05:32You know that he's going to put in work.
05:34It's not like he's sitting on a couch eating food that he shouldn't be eating.
05:40And the fall – if you're talking about – when you say the offseason, do you mean after this season
05:46or do you mean now up until the start of training camp?
05:48I mean up until the start of training camp.
05:50I think every day after June 1st, I feel like Browns fans are going to be on watch.
05:54And even, like, the day of the draft was weird because we got more phone calls about Myles Garrett
05:58potentially being traded, even though we understand it wouldn't happen until after June 1st
06:02than we did on the actual draft itself.
06:06I certainly haven't heard any rumblings about him being on the trade block, if that's what you're saying.
06:15Is that what you're saying?
06:16No, I'm just – I just want to know where your vibe is at, where you think if that's –
06:19if it's anything realistic,
06:21if it's anything we should even be keeping an eye out for, or if you think it's just going to
06:24be
06:24something where Myles plays this season and then we'll just revisit it next offseason.
06:28Like, have we made it through?
06:30Maybe, or maybe we won't revisit it.
06:32Maybe he has another monster year and maybe the Browns win a lot of games
06:36and maybe he's a lot happier with the product on the field and the effort from all corners of the
06:43locker room
06:44and the planet quarterback, which was, of course, his issue a year ago.
06:48And maybe you don't go through this this offseason.
06:52All right, Aditi.
06:53And at this point, you should know Myles certainly well, right?
06:56You know who he is, you know?
07:00This is part of his personality, his demeanor.
07:03That's who he is.
07:05All right, Aditi.
07:06I need your journalistic integrity here because I'm looking at these numbers of the NFL draft
07:15attendance here in Pittsburgh.
07:17It says 805,000 people.
07:20The NFL's claiming 805,000 people attended the draft in Pittsburgh.
07:25You got boots on the ground there.
07:27You live there.
07:28I got to say, I didn't see 805,000 people.
07:32I'm calling shenanigans.
07:33Was it 806?
07:34Yeah, it could have been.
07:35804.
07:35I think it was closer to 803, if we're being fair.
07:39Well, then this is all.
07:40You know that this is counted.
07:43And it's not just in Pittsburgh that it's counted this way.
07:46Every draft city, it's counted this way.
07:48You can enter, exit, re-enter, and you're counted twice.
07:53And what Pittsburgh did is it had two distinct areas.
07:57At Point State Park, there were all sorts of activations and really cool things to do.
08:02And then there was also an area on the North Shore around the stadium.
08:06And I know plenty of people who went to both places in one day.
08:10They were at Point State Park.
08:12They were also entering on the North Shore.
08:15I don't know, actually, though.
08:17I should ask.
08:18My family didn't actually get to Point State Park.
08:20I don't know if you'd have to go through.
08:22I shouldn't say that because I should find out.
08:25I don't know if you had to go through a different entry because the only way to get from one
08:30to the other was the gate with a bird.
08:33Could you have walked there also?
08:34I think you had to.
08:37Yeah.
08:37Okay, so my husband is telling me that you did have to exit one site to get to the other
08:42site.
08:42So, obviously, it's not 805 individual distinct people.
08:48It's people that are going in and out.
08:50It's the same person showing up all three days.
08:53But that's how it's been counted everywhere.
08:55That's how Detroit was counted.
08:56That's how Nashville was counted.
08:58That's how Green Bay was counted.
08:59That's how the NFL chooses to count.
09:01And I wouldn't get hung up on this.
09:05They were great crowds.
09:07They were really, really, really good, energetic crowds.
09:11I was doing live shots on Thursday starting at noon.
09:14And people were lined up at the gate outside the theater waiting to hold their spot for eight hours to
09:22be first in that whole big theater general admission area.
09:27Pittsburgh showed out well.
09:29I will say that.
09:30All right.
09:31Ballpark it for us, Aditi.
09:32Cleveland was off of COVID.
09:34So it was a weird year.
09:35Ballpark it.
09:35$300,000 or less?
09:38Oh, no, no, no.
09:39Definitely more than that.
09:40Come on.
09:41$350,000?
09:41A lot of double dippers is what it sounds like.
09:43A lot of double dippers.
09:44Yeah.
09:45Maybe triple dippers.
09:47But it's different.
09:48It's distinct states.
09:50So you can look at the pictures.
09:52I mean, what?
09:53I'm looking at the pictures.
09:54I'm seeing 250 tops.
09:55I'm not one of those people that assesses a crowd.
09:58We have one of those on the station if you want one.
10:00That's not my area of expertise.
10:01We can loan them out to you.
10:02Why did the Steelers tender Aaron Rodgers?
10:08I read that as them not being sure what exactly he's going to do.
10:12It's a piece of protection, and that's what owner Arvuni said, too.
10:15It's a way to protect them if he decides to go to another team
10:19or spit out until a contending team needs a quarterback.
10:24Now, if you for sure 100% knew that he was definitely going to show up
10:29in a couple weeks, then why would you do that?
10:35Aditi, is the AFC North wide open?
10:40It's too soon.
10:41I don't know.
10:42I really don't.
10:44It's way too soon.
10:45I need to see if the Bengals' defense is any better.
10:49I still really like the Ravens.
10:51I have no idea who the Steelers' quarterback is,
10:53and I have no idea who the Browns' quarterback is.
10:58Yeah, that's...
10:59If I don't know who the Steelers' or Browns' quarterbacks are,
11:03how can we sit here and say, okay, that's in the same class
11:05as a Joe Burrow-led or a Lamar Jackson-led team?
11:09Doesn't it feel like a lot of anywhere between 8-10 win teams, though?
11:15It could be.
11:16There's a potential for that short.
11:19But, again, I'm reminded of Jim Schwartz kind of snapping back at me two years ago.
11:25The defense had come off of this monster year,
11:29and I remember in the preseason asking him about building off of that,
11:33and he snapped at me, and he said, this is a whole new year.
11:36I haven't seen anybody.
11:37Nobody's healthy.
11:38No one's even played together.
11:39Why do we think we're building off of anything?
11:42And that defense struggled for a while.
11:45Until there were enough healthy bodies getting enough reps together,
11:48he was completely correct.
11:50So I can't sit here and say, well, I love Jesse Minter defenses,
11:53and the Ravens have pieces.
11:55I can't sit here and say, well, the Browns had a great defense a year ago.
12:01Who knows?
12:02Again, you're asking me to say things that are so early.
12:05This is part of the fun.
12:07Let's enjoy the process.
12:09Let's see how practices go.
12:11Let's see how these OTAs go.
12:12Let's see how these minicamps go.
12:14Let's see what sort of young guys stand out
12:17or what players seem to be taking a leap from a year ago.
12:20Enjoy the process before you worry about what the end result is.
12:26Adini, Andrew Filippone.
12:28He's not lying.
12:30I was just going to gloss over it, but yes.
12:34Andrew Filippone, mutual friend.
12:37I know you go on that show every week.
12:38All Access.
12:39Big fans over here.
12:41I want the high school Hall of Fame induction recap
12:45when this is over, by the way.
12:46Oh, thank you.
12:48I appreciate that.
12:49He is saying the Steelers are turning into the Browns.
12:53Do you agree?
12:56Oh, I don't know what he's talking about.
13:00Well, the Browns have been really bad for like 30 years.
13:03I think it's the quarterbacks mostly is what he was going off of.
13:05And now they find themselves in a turmoil
13:07and they could be drafting as many quarterbacks in many years.
13:10And it just seems very Brownsian to him.
13:15Well, I've been on his show multiple times telling him
13:18that I've been told over and over by multiple coaches
13:21and personnel people that they believe you should draft a quarterback every year.
13:26It's the most important position until you have one, keep taking shots at it.
13:31So I don't know.
13:33But then the flip side to that is if you have four quarterbacks,
13:36if you have two quarterbacks, then you don't have any,
13:38then you don't have a quarterback.
13:40And what you need is a quarterback.
13:42But I don't want to say that I don't want to compare the organizations in that way.
13:49But yes, the Steelers are definitely not necessarily what the Steelers are putting.
13:56I have to be careful.
13:57I'm sitting in a long car ride next to a diehard Steelers cultist.
14:00Although he hears this from me at home all the time.
14:03The Steelers' reality has not matched the legend of the Steelers,
14:10the myth of the Steelers for some time now.
14:13So can they get themselves back on track to what that organization once was?
14:22Or do they continue to try to do things with fewer people,
14:26a pared-down staff, less resources,
14:31and hope that it works out for them in a way that it hasn't in 10, 15 years?
14:37It does sound then, maybe not to the degree the Browns have gone in the last two years
14:41where it's three quarterbacks, but you do like the approach then
14:44in them taking Taylor and Green and just taking another shot at the quarterback
14:47even if it's late.
14:50I mean, I don't think there's anything wrong with taking a talent like Taylor and Green
14:55when he's available that late and seeing what you have in him.
15:00And a lot of freakish talents need some time to develop.
15:09And we had, week 18, our crew had Green Bay,
15:12and Malik Willis was such a topic of conversation.
15:17How much he had grown and developed under Matt LaFleur.
15:22And you look at, we'll see, we'll see how that works out.
15:25But sometimes we're too quick in thinking, okay, you've got to get that first-round answer.
15:30And if he doesn't pan out in one year, then that's that.
15:33That's not the only way you make a quarterback.
15:36All right, Aditi.
15:38With respect, I have a message for your husband, the Steelers fan.
15:46Are you ready to relay it?
15:47Okay.
15:48Yins are going to have a...
15:49I might.
15:50You're on...
15:50Oh.
15:51Okay, go ahead.
15:52Oh, you're on speaker now, okay.
15:53Yeah, all right.
15:54Yins are going to have a darn year.
15:59I could never do that accent, and I will not say that.
16:04Has he made you mad recently?
16:06Because this would be a great opportunity.
16:09We've got an hour to drive,
16:11and I want to make sure the driver is in the right headspace to get us home.
16:16You didn't say it.
16:17I said it.
16:20No?
16:21The next time we're on, I'll put him on the phone, and you can tell it to him.
16:24And he knows you can't curse on...
16:26He can't curse back at me.
16:28His FCC standards.
16:29Correct.
16:30All right.
16:31Aditi, great stuff as always.
16:32I'll make sure that that's clear.
16:33Congrats on the induction.
16:34I appreciate your having me.
16:37Thank you so much.
16:38Aditi Kinkabuolo there, CBS Sports and the Make It Right.
16:41Call Kyle Wright Hotline.
16:42You had me.
16:43I thought I was on speakerphone, and I was like,
16:46Finally, I'm going to speak to the Yinzer in their own tongue.
16:51And you've got to do this kind of thing.
16:53And then she was like, I'm not doing that.
16:55That was tough, wasn't it?
16:56Yeah.
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