00:00The Browns undefeated offseason thing is at serious risk here because you can't say that
00:08you win the offseason. And right now, I think the Browns are winning the offseason. I got to tell
00:13you, because they retooled the offensive line. They had what appears to be back-to-back really
00:17nice draft classes. I'm getting ready to plant my flag here, Michael, and say that the Browns
00:25are winning yet another, this would probably be their fourth or fifth consecutive offseason
00:29victory. But there's a big if that could change the outlook on everything. And I do worry
00:38that if they trade Myles Garrett, which again, we have to be accurate in giving you guys the
00:47information that Andrew Barry has been steadfast since that very first public trade request
00:54from Myles Garrett, that they ain't trading him. Barry has never wavered from that. Repeated
00:59stating that they're not trading Myles Garrett. But he reworked the contract. He's not at OTAs.
01:07Munkin mentioned Wednesday that they still have not met face-to-face. And that's led us to the
01:12conversation that we're having today. If they trade him, and if they start Deshaun Watson,
01:21week three against the Carolina Panthers, I don't know if Panther fan travels all that well, but
01:29something tells me there will be more Panther fans than there will be Browns fans in that stadium for
01:35Cleveland's home opener. If your starting quarterback is Deshaun Watson, and you're out there without Myles
01:43Garrett. Well, first of all, I think there's a lot of stipulations on that. What if Deshaun went to
01:48Florida and somehow won both games? If they're coming home 2-0, I think people are going to be
01:51excited. Number two, it's the home opener, Nick. People are going to go to the home opener. We know
01:55Browns fans. We are suckers for a good time. And we will go down there no matter what. No matter
02:01who
02:01the quarterback is. You're right. They will be there. They will be there. Best fans in football.
02:06No question about that. But boy, would it take the wind out of your sails out of having two back
02:14-to-back
02:14really nice drafts out of hiring this new head coach, Todd Munkin, who has been a breath of fresh
02:20air. Obviously, he hasn't even coached a game yet. He's coached a couple of practices. He had rookie
02:25minicamp, two days out there. And then he's had a couple of OTA sessions so far. Like, we're under
02:3110 Todd Munkin practices coached. So I do want to pump the brakes just a smidge. However, I do think
02:39everybody's willing to say that Munkin feels like a bigger breath of fresh air than Kevin Stefanski was.
02:45I think everybody feels good about retooling this offensive line, about adding Concepcion and Boston
02:52through the draft and then getting Emmanuel McNeil Warren there on day two as well. But I definitely
02:58think they hold the cards to knock us down a couple pegs. And boy, would we get a big slice
03:06of humble
03:07pie if that Adam Schefter notification comes across the feed that they're taking three first round picks
03:13from the Philadelphia Eagles and Deshaun Watson, week one quarterback in Jacksonville. Man, would that
03:20shave a few wins off the whole win total on last week's schedule game?
03:25So I would agree with you. That would not be
03:28obviously good to have Miles traded and then hear that
03:32Deshaun Watson is your starting quarterback week one.
03:35My only thing, and again, I know we're going to get into this a little bit more in depth here.
03:39The whole Deshaun Watson
03:42idea. I'm not exactly
03:45for it. Like, I'm not going to sit here and pound the table and say,
03:48I think Deshaun Watson should be the week one starter.
03:51What I'm sitting back and willing to say, though, is
03:54I'm allowing Todd Munkin to make the choice.
03:57I don't want to be the guy that's going to hire a head coach and then
04:00force it upon him. Hey, you have to start the kid.
04:02You have to start Shador Sanders because, man, we just
04:04gots to know. Like, I'm not that guy
04:07who's going to do that. And I think
04:08Todd Munkin deserves that. And
04:10he knows that this is probably his one and only shot
04:12at being a head coach. If he goes out there
04:14and he tells me and he tells us
04:16that Deshaun Watson, he feels
04:18gives him the best chance to win after training
04:20camp and after all this, after they're splitting
04:22the reps, which most people believe has so far
04:24been done pretty fairly. Yeah.
04:26If you come out of that and you say
04:28Deshaun Watson's going to start the season at
04:30quarterback, I'm willing to
04:32move forward with that because I'm willing to trust
04:34Todd Munkin to make that choice. I'm
04:36trusting him to make that decision. I hate to tell
04:38you, I still won't like it.
04:40You don't have to, but I will
04:42respect it and I
04:44will be willing to move forward. I guess like
04:46I'll say that I respect it because I guess
04:48I feel like I have to, but like, I still
04:50won't like it. I still won't feel great
04:52about it. I'll tell you folks, like I was out
04:54there Wednesday at OTAs
04:57and there was the throw that, you know,
04:58kind of went viral on social media where
05:00you know, Watson had the
05:02throw of the day, the highlight throw to
05:04Denzel Boston. The
05:06throw before that was almost
05:08intercepted and the throw
05:10after that was like four or five
05:12yards behind Jerry
05:14Judy that like the football
05:16was on the ground before
05:18Judy even realized that it was heading
05:20in his direction. So are we going to
05:22micromanage OTA plays though?
05:23No, but I can't.
05:26There's literally no
05:28fiber in my being.
05:30They can do all the PR work
05:32that they want to, to, you know,
05:34prime us for. And that's truly what I
05:36think is happening right now. I think right
05:38now the Browns are priming
05:40us. They're soft launching
05:42Deshaun Watson back to
05:44us in that he looks healthier
05:46than he ever has before. And
05:48the highlight play that I was there
05:50to see with my own two eyes at OTAs
05:52and that he could get back
05:54to that 2019 2020
05:56form with Todd Munkin
05:58and boy would be off to the races
06:00and you had that, you know, at the
06:02owner meetings that quote from Andrew
06:04Berry that I like laughed off the air at the time
06:06that he said it, but there is no rule
06:08that prohibits the Browns from
06:10extending Deshaun Watson, all of this
06:12stuff. They're priming us that
06:14it looks like he's going to be the
06:16week one starting quarterback.
06:18I'm here to tell you though.
06:20I don't think that's a solution
06:22like, okay, you could name them the
06:24week one starting quarterback,
06:26whatever. I'm a Browns fan. So I'm here
06:28along for the ride. Hell or high
06:30water.
06:32I just don't think that that's like
06:34that's even furthering my point on
06:37this miles Garrett thing, Marcos, because
06:39if they start him week one, I'm going
06:42into the season expecting that he's
06:44either going to get injured again, or
06:46he's going to be so comedically bad
06:49that they're going to end up putting
06:50Shador Sanders on the football field
06:52anyway. And if Shador is what he was
06:55last year where he's taken 20 yard
06:56sacks and he threw more interceptions
06:59than he did touchdown passes in that
07:01small sample size of games that we
07:02got to see, it's effectively another
07:05punt year for this team. And
07:07specifically for this offense that I
07:09do want to see make some
07:11progressions, even if it isn't in the
07:13wins and losses category.
07:15So again, I'm not going to really, I'm
07:18not going to pound the table for
07:19Deshaun Watson at this point after
07:20everything we've seen so far. And
07:22that's, I'm not even taking into
07:24account all the off-field stuff. I'm
07:25talking about on-field Deshaun
07:26Watson here. Like there's nothing that
07:28we've seen. Not only is he unlikely to
07:30stay healthy, but he's, he hasn't
07:33looked good when he's played outside of
07:34like maybe a couple of games here and
07:36there. So I'm not going to sit here and
07:37pound the table for Deshaun Watson, the
07:39quarterback right now. I would probably
07:41prefer to see Shador Sanders and at
07:42least get an answer on that before
07:44you're entering an extremely plentiful
07:47quarterback class that we believe we're
07:48entering in 2027. I just, I, the way my
07:53brain works, I have to try to
07:54rationalize it. I have to try to find
07:57out the reasons why for my own and
07:59we can speculate all we want, but the
08:02way I look at it though, is Kevin
08:04Stefanski and Deshaun Watson were never
08:05a good fit. I don't know how he
08:08convinced Deshaun Watson in that film
08:10session down in wherever they met that
08:12he was the guy for this. I can tell you
08:15how he convinced them, but it was a lot
08:17of money. Yeah, but Kevin Stefanski
08:18wasn't one throwing that money. Everyone
08:20talked about this film session between
08:22Kevin Stefanski and Deshaun Watson where
08:23they sat in a dark room together and
08:25they watched PR positioning, soft
08:27launching it to you. Go ahead. But all
08:29I'm saying is I think that again, I'm
08:33willing to let Todd Munkin make this
08:36evaluation for himself. I think we owe
08:37that to him, right? Like we can't just,
08:39you can't just hire a coach and then
08:41force him to say, Hey, you have to start
08:43in this case. Obviously, like I just
08:45don't think either of the options are
08:47very good. They're not. I don't, I
08:48totally agree with you. I'm not, I've
08:50never been a big Shador Sanders guy. I
08:52have nothing against Shador Sanders. I
08:54just don't think he's that great. I
08:56was, and I still am like a Shador
08:58Sanders supporter. I think his ceiling
09:02still is way higher. His ceiling is
09:05double what Deshaun Watson's is at this
09:07point at 30 with two Achilles
09:09injuries, a shoulder break in two full
09:11seasons away from the national football
09:14league. I still think that Shador
09:15Sanders has a higher ceiling, a brighter
09:18future. I'd start him week one over
09:20Watson for all of those reasons. But
09:22again, I can't lie to you, the
09:24audience. I was in the Indianapolis. I
09:27was talking to team scouts that are in
09:30the AFC that were saying, you guys have
09:32fun with Shador Sanders last year. Yeah,
09:34it was fun. The scouts are like saying
09:36like, that's, that's what it was. Like
09:38that's, that's, it was fun. Yes. Good.
09:41Glad you guys had fun with that, but
09:43that's, let's, that's, that's the, the
09:45peak of the Shador Sanders experience
09:48was how it was relayed to me and
09:49Indy. Yeah. And I, I know you've
09:51mentioned that before. And I think the
09:53thing with Shador for me this off
09:55season, I want Shador to have the job
09:59because he's burned it. I don't think
10:01it's good for him to be handed the
10:03starting job. That's all I'm asking him
10:05to do. And it's unfortunate, Nick, that
10:07this is the situation that we're in
10:08where Deshaun Watson is the best
10:10competition that we can give him. Right.
10:11Right. Like, because it's not great
10:13competition. And I think Watson's only
10:15ahead because he's been around the
10:18league longer. Like I think that's the
10:20only reason why he's ahead. Oh yeah. And
10:23because his contract is still says that
10:25we owe him. Oh, what's that number? Oh,
10:27right under $50 million. Yeah. That's,
10:29that's why he's ahead of Shador Sanders
10:31right now. Like I said, I wish we had
10:32better competition for Shador Sanders to
10:34go up against this off season. Like, I'm
10:36glad it's not just Dylan Gabriel and a
10:37rookie quarterback. I'm glad that's not
10:39it. Like I'm glad Deshaun, at least I
10:41think is someone who can push it or a
10:43little bit in camp. And again, so far, we
10:45have no reason to believe it has not
10:46been a fair competition, a fair split
10:48of reps. Todd Munkin speaks very highly
10:50of Shador and he thinks he's taken
10:51massive strides just this off season of
10:53getting better and being able to
10:54process things quickly and learn a new
10:56offense, by the way, for the first time
10:58since he's been a pro after learning a
11:00whole new one last year. Like he's
11:02given Shador a lot of credit. I just
11:03want Shador to go out there and earn
11:04it. I don't know what that looks like.
11:06That's for Todd Munkin to decide in
11:08this offense and all of these coaches. I
11:11don't want it handed to him. That's not
11:12good for Deshaun or not good. That's not
11:14good for Shador.
11:15But what if it doesn't feel like Deshaun
11:16is the one that's currently getting it
11:18handed to him?
11:19No.
11:20It does to me. It feels like this is
11:22like not a real, like if this is a
11:23fight, it kind of feels like a little
11:25bit of a fixed fight. Like somebody,
11:28this is like a Jake Paul fight.
11:29Okay.
11:30Like there's somebody in this fight
11:32that's 25 years old and there's
11:34somebody in this fight that's 40. Like in
11:37the Jake Paul fights, you know that
11:38that's going to benefit the guy that's
11:4025 and in the shape of his life in
11:43this Browns quarterback situation, you
11:45have somebody that was at one time
11:47that time was a very long time ago, a
11:49pro bowl talent that speaks the
11:51language and goes about his business
11:53the way that a 60 year old head coach
11:55probably likes. And that's why he like
11:57on Wednesday, he got more reps than
11:59Shador did Watson by a lot. And we'll
12:03see if there's, I do hope it's, I do
12:05hope it's fair.
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