00:00It sure seemed like it was a one-stop shop.
00:02Basically, Albert pitted it as they were doing this because of the importance of secrecy.
00:09Yeah.
00:10Which I just think is, I understand relationships matter.
00:14You're trading a Hall of Fame player.
00:16You're trading a generational player.
00:18The idea that you would, hey, we've got to keep a tight, heavy lid on this so we make sure
00:23that this doesn't get out,
00:25while shopping him, feels a little ridiculous to me.
00:28Very convenient for them that the one team they talked to also met the three parameters that they had.
00:33Isn't that interesting?
00:33These wildly unrealistic parameters that they could possibly have.
00:36They found the one team that was able to do it.
00:39I mean, Albert says, basically, they like dealing with the Rams.
00:41They're comfortable dealing with the Rams.
00:42They trusted the Rams, which is funny because then, like, the one thing in the Jacksonville trade
00:46for the number two overall pick to go ahead and get five and Mason Graham and everything that was
00:50was that basically nobody could know about it, no leaks.
00:54Yet then they go to Los Angeles, who had more leaks and more people in the big media that they
00:59know
00:59and connections than anybody.
01:01So it's like, all right, sure, if that's what you want, Browns.
01:03Now, what's interesting about it is I've seen two things on the Browns trade.
01:08Just in terms of the player component of this, one comes from Thomas R. Peterson,
01:14who does some stuff for the Bleacher Report, the NFL Network, the Philly Voice, the New York Post,
01:20who said that the Browns wanted Jalen Carter and the Eagles said no.
01:24Yeah.
01:25And then Sam Monson, legendarily of PFF, now on the 33rd team, saying that Jared Verse,
01:32while not being Myles Garrett, was one of five guys he could come up with
01:36that in a Myles Garrett trade, he would want back for Myles Garrett.
01:40Okay. Is he one of the five guys? I want to know the other four guys now from Sam.
01:44Did you list him?
01:45So I looked through all the replies, did not get, he didn't say it.
01:50I did ask him, who are the other four guys?
01:52Did you just text him or what?
01:53No, no, no. I tweeted at him.
01:55Oh, okay.
01:56I don't know Sam like that.
01:57Oh, okay. Sam used to do so many radio hits, I wasn't sure if you did or didn't.
02:00He used to be, like, you know, like, Foreo's just been going on all these radio stations for so many
02:04years.
02:04That was Sam Monson, like, the very beginning, when PFF was launching and going.
02:08He was on every radio show always, so I didn't know.
02:11So, with Albert just being on, I want to get to why Verse matches the Browns' timeline and Garrett's role
02:19in the trade.
02:20I think you can look at what the Browns' return is here, and you're adding Verse to that group of
02:25Schlesinger and Graham and Judkins and Samson and Fannin
02:29and now Concepcion, Boston, and Fanno, and his timeline matches up with the timeline of all those guys we've talked
02:36about the last couple of weeks.
02:37Those timelines are now concurrent, and yet you still don't know who the quarterback's going to be at two or
02:43three years from now.
02:44And so, you know, you've set yourself up to have a great support system around a really good quarterback, a
02:50really good young quarterback.
02:51You've given yourself a ton of picks to either pursue that quarterback or build around that quarterback.
02:56But, you know, you traded what I think for that franchise is someone who's in the stratosphere of Jim Brown
03:02or Otto Graham.
03:03So, that part of it's difficult, of course.
03:05And I think it's important to make this clear, too, just so people, you know, in Cleveland have a clear
03:10mind about this.
03:11Miles didn't ask for this.
03:13So, I think it's interesting to say whether Miles asked for it or whether Miles, in the end, was made
03:22aware of where he could go
03:23and then the list was whittled down from that.
03:26Albert also said he didn't pick the spot.
03:29It doesn't mean he didn't pick a bevy of spots that he could have gone.
03:32Yeah, that's why I said, like, that championship bubble of teams.
03:35You know what I mean?
03:35Like, the five or six teams that seem like they're in the championship, the Super Bowl bubble, and then you
03:39just kind of go from there.
03:41I think the phrasing on that is interesting by Albert.
03:44We've trusted Albert.
03:45We know Albert for a really long time.
03:46I don't know why they feel like this insistence to tell us that it wasn't Miles' call and it wasn't
03:51Miles with the trade demand.
03:52The trade demand happened last year during Super Bowl radio row.
03:54That's all you need to know.
03:55He didn't have to go back to the table this offseason and tell them, hey, guys, still would love to
04:00be traded.
04:00And, by the way, I don't know if I believe them when they say he didn't do exactly that.
04:04There's a part of me that believes that he did exactly that.
04:08But, ultimately, I don't know why they feel the insistence on this.
04:13I don't think Browns fans are going to believe that Miles was just an innocent bystander here.
04:17Yeah, my guess is Miles got a taste of some of the vitriol last offseason when he did request a
04:23trade.
04:23And even though, like, I was of the people who were like, hey, you've earned the right to ask for
04:29this.
04:30They have let you down.
04:32But there were a lot of people pissed at him, and I think still during the season we're mentioning it
04:37when we're talking about this.
04:38Definitely.
04:39Well, he's trying to paint himself now as a martyr of sorts.
04:41Yes.
04:42I think that ship sailed.
04:44I would agree.
04:45Yeah, I think it's bunk.
04:46But, hey, good try.
04:48Which, if they had independently come up with their own thought and their own idea of we're going to trade
04:53you and you'd never done Super Bowl radio row, you'd never done any of that, maybe you could have gotten
04:58away with it.
04:58You know, the idea of, like, all right, yeah, listen, they, Browns have shown you nothing.
05:02They're not trying to win this upcoming season.
05:04They're just, they're a quarterback away.
05:05That'll take time.
05:06The timelines, as Albert mentions, doesn't add up.
05:09Like, he probably could have won this as a martyr situation.
05:11But you don't get to go scorched earth the way that he did last year and then come crawling back
05:16and act like, oh, no, I just, I was ready to play out my entire career with the Browns.
05:19No, you weren't.
05:20And I don't blame you for it.
05:21I don't blame you at all for it.
05:23But, no, you weren't.
05:23Yeah, and the verse stuff is just so interesting because not only did the Browns go hard in the paint
05:29to make sure everyone knows, hey, the verse had to be a part of this.
05:33This is why, when he wasn't a part of this, that's why we weren't doing a deal.
05:36And then it changed the math.
05:38That was the whole press conference of that.
05:39And I believe this, by the way.
05:41I think it's apparent that they were not just targeting picks, that they understood the value of getting, whether it
05:47was a premier position, specifically an edge rusher,
05:49getting a young, controllable, dynamic player at a position of incredible importance, I do buy that that was the number
05:58one thing they needed out of this, more so than even the draft stuff.
06:01So I buy it.
06:02But, man, and I like Jared Verse, and I think you guys are going to like Jared Verse.
06:09Yeah, probably.
06:10But you did put about 10 times more pressure on this kid by making sure everybody knows he's why we
06:16went after this.
06:18This is the only reason we made this trade.
06:21The Jared Verse-Miles Garrett comparisons will be a plenty this season.
06:24Yeah.
06:25I mean, he's double-teamed twice as often as Byron Young.
06:28Byron Young had a million sacks last year.
06:30He matched his pressure rate.
06:31He had 27 quarterback knockdowns.
06:33Like, there's a lot to like about Verse.
06:35Do I feel like this is unfair to Verse to be the center of this?
06:38Maybe a little bit, but that's, I mean, that's the NFL.
06:41That's the NFL.
06:42That's part of the deal.
06:42Again, and you had, what, two years to figure out if you're going to give him a massive deal attached
06:46to this?
06:46If PFF already said last year that he was the 13th best pass rusher in the sport, well, yeah, the
06:53expectation is one day you're going to be not 100% Miles Garrett, but the expectation should be you get
06:5880% to 85% of what Miles Garrett is.
07:01Like with everything, winning is the key.
07:03If you win with Jared Verse, they're going to be able to say, no matter what the sacks say, the
07:08pressure rates say, any of the advanced analytics say, they're going to be able to say he's a better player.
07:12Doesn't mean it's true, but if you lose with Jared Verse, there's also going to be people going the other
07:18way saying, why did you make this trade?
07:20Or even if Verse looks good next year, but the defense takes a step back, and you know the conversations
07:26are coming from a mile away.
07:27It'll be like, oh, yeah, but Jared Verse doesn't help the defensive line the same way that Miles did, so
07:32Mason Graham suffers in the meanwhile, and all these other guys start to suffer just a little bit more, and
07:37the trickle-down effect from it.
07:39I can hear the calls already.
07:40I know you and I probably disagree with this, but that to me is why, as important as it is
07:45to get the quarterback in 2027, and if you have to, using that 2027 first to make sure you get
07:51there for the quarterback, as important as that is.
07:53And, oh, by the way, you've got to get the quarterback right then, too, so it's twofold.
07:57I do think Jared Verse has to be really good this year, has to be healthy and really good, really
08:02productive, and I think one or the other happens, and we're probably looking at this and going, all right, okay,
08:11we'll see where this goes, but I think both things have to happen for the Browns to, I don't want
08:16to say save face, but to truly be able to say, not only did we win the trade, but we
08:21won the trade in spades.
08:22Yeah, we do disagree with that.
08:23I think it's all about the quarterback.
08:24I think if you get the quarterback right, then it's going to be all done in that service, but what's
08:28interesting is I've been playing with the assumption, Nick, that Andrew Barry will be here for the next three years,
08:32and he's got that runway.
08:35I just think that Haslam is just, he just looks at him, and they're just, they're Bert and Ernie together.
08:39They hang out.
08:40They're buddies, but, like, I guess could you draw up a scenario where the verse trade doesn't work out because
08:45the Rams get the most value out of everybody, and verse in the Brown system just doesn't look as good,
08:49and he starts to lose that trade, and it gets Jimmy Haslam frustrated enough to not let him choose 2027
08:55quarterback.
08:56Yes, and that could also have dire consequences for Munkin as well, which I would hate.
08:59Yeah, you can only lose so many games.
09:01You can only lose so often before at some point someone like Jimmy Haslam will say, okay, maybe your vision
09:07isn't right.
09:07Maybe you don't know what you're doing when it comes to this.
09:10I actually think that's going to be the fascinating thing.
09:12Just about 2026, right?
09:14What matters more about 2026 and Andrew Barry getting to take the quarterback next year?
09:19Is it another great draft class of Denzel, Boston, and Fano showing up, or is it now Jared Verse?
09:28Because this is the more high-profile thing.
09:31This is the thing you're going to be judged on more.
09:34Let's say the young rookies struggle, and they don't automatically hit the way 2025 hit.
09:40People will say, well, it's the NFL.
09:42Guys don't hit the ground running all the time.
09:45It's hard to double up like that.
09:46The Jared Verse thing, now he's a third-year player.
09:48He should be expected to play.
09:50So the difference there is that people are calling this, they say draft picks are lottery tickets, right?
09:57But this isn't a lottery ticket.
09:58This is if you scratched off the scratcher and already got the win, right?
10:01Jared Verse shouldn't look worse than what he did last year, and he was a pro bowler last year.
10:05I mean, it should be impossible.
10:07The only way you end up with Jared Verse looking worse than he did last year and not being better
10:11in year three
10:12is if, in fact, Connor Orr is writing his piece, making the suggestion that the Browns don't know what they're
10:16doing with elite talent
10:17and are going to ruin everybody, meanwhile the Rams do.
10:19That was a very salacious piece, Nick.
10:22I was just thinking of verse and worse and how...
10:25Curse first.
10:27There's a lot of words that suddenly rhyme with verse, and I didn't even realize it.
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