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00:00of the MMQB Albert Breer joining us one day ahead of the NFL schedule release Albert welcome to the
00:06show buddy hey guys what's happening not a whole lot just waiting on this damn schedule how about
00:11you yeah I mean I I don't know I'm done fighting like I just you know like I everybody makes
00:19such
00:19a huge deal out of this and you know I I this is one thing that I don't like really
00:24do a ton
00:25or reporting on until like the actual schedule itself comes out um it doesn't get me fired up
00:31the way it gets other people fired up that's okay you know to each his own so I actually think
00:35you're
00:36kind of on the right show for this because we we analyze stuff and listen it's been a slow off
00:41season so we'll take just about any breaking news that you got yep but I think you're in the the
00:47correct thing on this I think the most interesting thing is like strength of schedule and how that
00:52plays out so I this actually you might be the right guy to ask about this because I think you
00:56probably care about this too if you're a team going into an offseason or going into uh getting ready
01:02for the season how much tangible difference do they see between having one of the five hardest
01:08schedules on paper and one of the five easiest schedules on paper yeah I've come around on this
01:14a little bit like I you know I last year sort of was the one that got me because if
01:19you go back two
01:20years the the commanders had a really favorable draw I'd say and they wind up winning 12 games
01:25sort of out of nowhere make it to the NFC title game and um you know they wound up with
01:31I think a
01:31favorable playoff draw because of it and everything else and then you know coming back last year I
01:36you know a little bit of an argument with one of the one of the big radio hosts up here
01:40Mike Felger on
01:42on on on where the Patriots ceiling was and I and I really felt like they weren't gonna be much
01:47better than 10 11 wins and he said well look at the schedule and I'm like well like yeah but
01:53like
01:53the teams at the Panthers and and all these teams here those are their peers and um I just say
01:59this
02:00it didn't take much for them to level up you know and get to 14 wins and then you know
02:04the depth of
02:05the conference wasn't what we thought it was going to be you know Joe Burrow gets hurt Lamar Jackson
02:09gets hurt Patrick Mahomes gets hurt and like so you know the the makeup of the conference was
02:15different than we thought it would be the schedule was a layup for them and they get to a Super
02:19Bowl
02:19so I think it does matter but we already know who the opponents are um so the other thing about
02:24it
02:24is like with some of these teams that have uh the easier schedules that might be looking at a turnaround
02:31I also think it's starting to make a difference in like the amount of one o'clock Sunday games you
02:36have
02:36just in that it allows you some more normalcy where some of these other teams are getting thrown in a
02:41blender you know and they're playing on Wednesdays and Thursdays and you know I know I know there's
02:46one team that everybody's going to see tomorrow that I believe is going to wind up playing on like
02:50six of the seven days of the week you know and so like you know the better the better a
02:56team you are
02:57the more likely that sort of thing is to happen to you and you know if it does happen to
03:02you um you
03:04know then I think it's going to take a toll on your team whereas if you're playing on on Sunday
03:08at one
03:08most weeks um it's just there's going to be less wear and tear especially when your schedule isn't
03:15as difficult so that's sort of where I stand on that I do think it can make a difference yeah
03:19and Albert you know last year the Browns got no we had no primetime games and I think everyone's
03:23trying to figure out how many we will have this year there's a couple really interesting games
03:26potentially on the docket uh you know a return game against Baker Mayfield is interesting a game
03:31against Kevin Stefanski is interesting uh but does it matter to you from like a broadcast perspective do
03:37you think it matters uh to them in scheduling this if it's Shador versus Deshaun or is that
03:43really not going to come into play I sort of think they're both interesting you know what I mean like
03:48I know how good they're going to be we'll see but they're both interesting you know and I think
03:53they'll at least both be something to watch they'll give you something to watch in a game that involves
03:58the Browns and um you know just like looking at their opponents you know could they be playing on a
04:04Thursday against the Bengals or the Ravens or um you know the Texans I mean the Falcons like you
04:10said there's the storyline there same as with the Panthers you know I I could see something like that
04:15happening for sure so um my guess is they wouldn't go two years in a row without another primetime game
04:21my guess is they would probably shoehorn the Browns into one of those Thursday night slots but we'll see
04:26what happens Albert um avid reader here first time long time uh I did notice uh you you called
04:33yourself intrigued by Talon Green in Cleveland please elaborate yeah so I think this is more about
04:40like kind of where um where the Browns are at with their coach you know and I really think it's
04:46a fascinating thing when you look at the variety of quarterbacks that Todd Monk has worked at and I
04:50worked with and I know um you know that's sort of like relatively well known but until I really kind
04:57of went back through his history and saw like that all the different types of quarterbacks he's worked
05:03with I mean it's really interesting you go back to the first time he was in the league and you
05:07know
05:07he worked with David Garrard and Jackson he's a receivers coach but he's on that side of the ball
05:12with him then you go to Oklahoma State he's with Brandon Whedon you know then you go from Oklahoma State
05:17to Southern Miss he was actually with Nick Mullins you guys remember him yeah um there then Tampa
05:23and in Tampa he was with Jameis Winston in in Cleveland he's with Baker Mayfield uh and then
05:30at Georgia he won two national titles with Stetson Bennett and then to Lamar Jackson the last couple
05:36years you know so I just think like you look at like that variety of quarterbacks and it's like
05:41this guy's got like a lot of clubs in his bag as far as how to build an offense you
05:46know
05:46and so even if it's just in the preseason I mean he's got this avatar of an athlete you know
05:52I mean
05:52I it's it's it's guy people probably aren't going to believe me when I say this but like
05:58he's probably the most gifted guy in that in that quarterback room right now you know just from a
06:02physical standpoint and that he's 6'6 and um and and I what he runs he ran like a 4
06:09'3 something right
06:10like something like that so he's the most gifted athlete in that room right away and so you know I
06:16mean I think it at least could keep it fun during the preseason I don't know how much he's actually
06:20going to play when it counts but um I think it's interesting all the way around yeah it was a
06:244'3 6'40 uh I think it was the it was the second fastest time for a quarterback in
06:29combine history
06:30trailing just Michael Vick so I mean there's there's a lot there that they could obviously attach
06:34themselves to but then but then it goes back to the obvious question like if he's this physically
06:37gifted and he's this and he's so great in all these areas what what happened because one coach
06:43said to me that like before the draft that if if if you're if you're sitting with him in the
06:48living
06:48room and you ask him to throw it to you it's apt to go through the window so I mean
06:52like I think
06:56that that's really what it is I mean um and look like sometimes that stuff can be fixed you know
07:01what
07:01I mean but it's hard um you know can you can you teach a guy to be more accurate you
07:05can clean up
07:05some things with his delivery his feet all that it's not impossible but but it's not all that common so
07:11you know I think at this point he's still looked at like a guy who's you know uh a more
07:16talented
07:17athlete than he is a quarterback and um yeah he was at two different schools and played a lot of
07:22football and so the fact that he's still at this point where he like kind of like looks raw as
07:27a
07:27quarterback would maybe be an indication that's just who he is at this point Albert uh I'm gonna I'm
07:33gonna use the Browns as the basis but I I can give you an example I after after going through
07:40the
07:40entire offseason I'm actually secretly impressed with what the Bengals have done on defense and it
07:45started to challenge the notions that I had even even through like free agency like I look at the
07:52whole body of work and I think oh they they might have gotten close to where they need to be
07:56so to
07:57then spin that forward to the Browns I I know the Browns weren't necessarily hopeful they could
08:02upgrade on the quarterback spot but do you think the Browns have enough talent to win in spite of the
08:06quarterback position after what they did this offseason um you know I I think this is another
08:14year for them of developing young talent of building assets and I think that's going to be kind of a
08:23an ongoing thing and continuing to invest in the future and you know so looking on the field what
08:31that means is really kind of pouring into Mason Graham and pouring into Harold Fannin and pouring
08:38into Carson Swessinger and you know like now of course like on offense you've got um two young
08:47receivers in Casey Concepcion and Denzel Boston and Spencer Fano at left tackle and so you know I think
08:54the hope is like and and and look I give them credit because like you look at what's happened in
08:59Pittsburgh and kind of where Pittsburgh keeps doubling down on an aging core like I I give the
09:05Browns some credit for like looking at it and saying like okay the Miles Garrett Denzel Ward core has sort
09:12of started to age out um so like instead of just spinning our wheels let's try to get younger and
09:19let's
09:19invest in younger players across the board they got younger on the offensive line way younger on the
09:25offensive line you know I think they continue to get younger on defense you know and and this is
09:30like by the white guys like part of the reason why I I've said for a while now I would
09:34look at trading
09:35Miles Garrett like I think that's where they're going you know what I mean like is they're going
09:39towards um a future that's going to be built around those younger guys you know and so I I still
09:45look
09:46at it like this is going to be a year of development this is going to be a year where
09:50you're going to
09:50continue to to to pour into the guys that contributed for you last year and pour into the rookies and
09:57and and you hope you know by the end of the year there's a pretty bright light at the end
10:02of the
10:02tunnel and maybe at that point you know who your quarterback is going forward or um you've at least
10:08got like the core of something that's going to be nice for a young quarterback to step into especially
10:13if some of those young guys in the offensive side of the ball develop Albert past couple days it feels
10:17like the uh the players wanting high quality grass fields convos pop back up again uh JC Tretter has
10:23been obviously at the head of this and with the FIFA World Cup games coming around it gives them
10:28reason to tee off here uh what do you see do you see the advantages of the conversation or do
10:33you feel
10:33like hey because there's there's some games Albert you watch like the Steelers games for instance some of
10:37some of these fields really are bad I get what they're saying yeah but is it is something actually
10:41going to happen here let me ask you this how many teams in the NFL when the weather's nice out
10:48are practicing on turf none of them they're all grass right and that's even though okay like follow me
10:56here that's even though these are the same coaches that will simulate crowd noise at practice right
11:02that will simulate um environmental conditions they'll take them inside a bubble and turn the air
11:09conditioning down or the heat up to try to simulate the weather that they'll be going into
11:13like these coaches do everything they can to acclimate the players to whatever environment that they're
11:19going to be playing on playing in yet they're not doing it for the playing surface why do you think
11:26that
11:26is the danger yeah no it's a good point yeah you know what I mean like if if what the
11:33NFL is trying
11:34to sell everybody is true then it wouldn't be 32 out of 32 teams practicing on grass every single
11:40chance that they get you know what I mean like I like and and and that's the problem I have
11:46with the NFL
11:46with some of this stuff it's the same thing as like the you know where they're moving all the television
11:51prod broad like so many of the broadcasts into like areas where you have to pay for them I mean
11:56it's just
11:56like just tell us what it is these are all money making decisions you know like these aren't about player
12:02safety
12:02or giving the fans a better product like don't lie to us you know what I mean like this is
12:07what this
12:08is okay and this goes back I'd say this goes back 25 years um when the Browns stadium was built
12:14how
12:15much did it cost you guys remember wasn't just over a billion here yeah yeah no it was less than
12:21that
12:22see I think like the Browns was like 300 million or something like that I know I just saw recently
12:27like
12:27I know NRG stadium when they opened was like 350 or something like that 280 to 290 million
12:31did that I was way off okay okay so three 350 for NRG stadium with a retractable roof right in
12:372002
12:38six years later Lucas Oil which is sort of a similar stadium cost almost 800 million dollars in Indy
12:46then two years after that MetLife opens and this is in New Jersey so it's a little different but 1
12:51.6
12:52billion right and now every stadium that opens is over a billion so like basically like the owners the
12:58cities all these people have decided you know it's not work like we're not we can't build a stadium
13:05and then just have it there at that cost for 10 football games so you jam a zillion events into
13:11the
13:11stadium right you're trying to do everything you can to monetize the stadium which they should be doing
13:15right and then you realize that grass can't hold up in that environment right so grass can't hold up in
13:22that environment so what do you do do you spend more to fix the grass and to do and to
13:27do more to
13:27try to find a way to for the grass to work or do you just lay turf down most of
13:31the teams have decided
13:32that they just whether they're just going to lay turf down well I mean to me like like I I
13:39look at
13:40the Packers right and you have no owner who's who's who's pocketing the difference right there
13:45they're they're playing in Green Bay Wisconsin they rarely have issues with their surface they
13:51pay for the surface that they have over in in England that the Premier League teams play on
13:55called grassmasters the hybrid surface it's very expensive to maintain you have to replace it a lot
14:01but it works but it's expensive right and so the Packers are pointing that money back into
14:07their football team the bills right like Buffalo can't bubble isn't gonna have a ton of a ton of
14:13ancillary events and Buffalo Buffalo's made the decision we're gonna pour back into the football
14:17team and we're gonna pour back into the football stadium for the football players so they're grass
14:23meanwhile in Charlotte and Nashville you have you have outdoor stadiums with turf how does that make
14:28any sense at all it doesn't right it doesn't yeah well the reason the reason why is because in those
14:34places you have owners who are again like focused on taking home the difference and what they'll save for
14:39the turf over grass I I want you guys I'll give everybody out there you know a homework assignment
14:44here google um Bernabeau Stadium in in Madrid and and and look up the field surface there and what
14:53they did to make grass work at this stadium which I believe is the home to Real Madrid that's where
14:57the
14:57NFL is playing now um they have like a field that's retractable that goes underneath the ground
15:04underground and has grow lights and watering and all that stuff underground I mean it's unbelievable
15:09so like this stuff can work it just costs money to do it you know and so you have to
15:15negotiate those
15:16sorts of things and everything with the players of course um but I mean like I I just wish they
15:22would
15:22stop with the whole idea that there's no difference between grass and turf that's not why you're doing
15:26this like if all things were equal you would lay down grass because your players like it more and
15:31because it is safer um if you just I mean call it what it is which is a business decision
15:37then you
15:38know we can all kind of handle it that way and everybody can work through it that way um but
15:43it is
15:44what it is I mean it's just these are these are decisions that are made based on each owner's bottom
15:49line and you know in the end like you know like do the players have to give a little to
15:54get a little
15:54here maybe so but you know I wish we could all just talk about that sort of thing on the
15:59level
15:59instead of being lied to about it Albert I'm surprised at how the Rossini Vrabel story in
16:06one way or another continues to pop up uh you know I think about two months into this thing
16:12um and one speculation that I see and it is speculation is that somehow maybe this could
16:18endanger Mike Vrabel standing in New England as the head coach do you think there's a chance
16:23that Vrabel isn't the Patriots head coach in 2026 from here um no unless there's some sort of other
16:32revelation and like I'm not saying any of this is possible or on the radar or anything but I mean
16:38like you can dream up what those scenarios might be right like I don't know I mean more comes out
16:47about the situation with Diana that drastically changes that story there are other women whatever it is
16:52like you can you can dream up whatever you want to dream up uh about what would change it I
16:57think
16:57the main thing would be like there would I think it would take like some major breach of trust between
17:03you know between the crafts and Vrabel that that took place um and like to this point I don't think
17:10that that's happened um now again like I'm not privy to the conversations that he's had with Robert and
17:15Jonathan Kraft and um you know whether or not those conversations have been completely truthful like I said I
17:21don't know um but I think at this point like when you get to this point a story like this
17:26where it's
17:26starting to do damage to the Patriots brand and it's all people talk about when it comes to the Patriots
17:32obviously it becomes an issue for the franchise and I know how the ownership there loves Mike Vrabel
17:38they've got a long-standing relationship with him obviously it goes back 25 years and like those
17:44things are really the foundation of most of those things are on trust so like the only way I would
17:50see that
17:50anything happening here um you know that affects his employment is if there is some sort of
17:57sea change in the story right and it and and the and the whatever that revelation of that that that
18:06whatever that revelation is um is also some sort of breach of trust between the crafts and Vrabel in
18:13other words it'd be like have to be something that that caught them surprised that they weren't aware of
18:17Albert really good stuff and I want to tell you the power of Albert Breer is it when you said
18:22I'm
18:22going to give you guys homework Google Bernabeau Stadium in Brazil I think JP did it and I know
18:27Mack Robinson our board op did it and he's not even talking on air so that's he had some real
18:31pull in
18:32this town buddy well it's in Spain not Brazil but Spain I did I say Brazil I might just be
18:38an idiot
18:40okay well you gotta but but seriously you gotta Google it it is the most it is like one of
18:46the
18:46most unbelievable things you've ever seen and it'll be expensive for anybody to do this like to put in
18:51this sort of system but when you guys see it you're gonna be like holy crap like I can't believe
18:56that
18:57someone was able to pull this off and by the way that's not even a new stadium that was a
19:01refurbished
19:02stadium but you know maybe next week we can have the conversation about how much of this is about
19:07the soccer leagues have to compete with each other for players so there can't be any collusion
19:11between the owners and that sort of thing like there's those soccer players the more I've looked
19:16into it you realize how much power those those international soccer players have Albert great
19:21stuff buddy appreciate you thank you Albert all right thanks guys Albert Breer there MMQB
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