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00:00Let's bring in super friend to the show.
00:01He is Scott Petrack.
00:02We love having him on the show from the Chronicle Telegram, brownzone.com.
00:06And he is on the Y's heart, right?
00:08We make it right.
00:08Call Kyle Wright hotline.
00:10Hello, Scott.
00:10Anything going on?
00:12No.
00:12What's going on with you?
00:13Nothing.
00:14Just playing some golf.
00:15Are you shocked?
00:18Or are you just kind of like, nothing will shock you at this point.
00:21So hearing the news today, and get ready because the press conference will have on 92.3 The Fan with
00:26Todd Munkin coming up.
00:27But that Deshaun Watson will be the name of the starting quarterback for week one.
00:32It is hard to shock me after 20 plus years of doing this with the Browns.
00:36If you had told me this Saturday night when I was leaving the press box, I would say I'd be
00:41shocked.
00:42After listening to Todd Munkin on the Zoom yesterday, he certainly did more than left the door open for Deshaun
00:50Watson to be the starter.
00:52And I wasn't sure if that was just a PR thing or what.
00:57But he spoke yesterday like he was going to name Watson the starter.
01:01So that made it less surprising when the news came today.
01:05But there is still a surprise factor because, you know, it doesn't make that much sense.
01:10It just doesn't make that much sense to me.
01:12Here's the thing, Scott.
01:13I think we were all in agreement on this.
01:17If somebody beats out everybody else, that's fine.
01:20You know, I mean, if somebody looks significantly better, great.
01:24And this isn't about Deshaun nor Shadour.
01:27I don't think either guy separated themselves.
01:29So why go with the older guy?
01:32Yeah, that's my number one question, Jeff.
01:35It really is.
01:35I mean, you have the fan thing, right?
01:36And we can talk about that.
01:37And I do think that is an issue in this or maybe should be an issue in this.
01:41But my number one takeaway is if it was close, why not go with Shadour Sanders?
01:47So either Todd Munkin keeps saying that he's going to play the guy that he thinks gives
01:51him the best chance to move the ball, best chance to win.
01:54So he obviously thinks that is Deshaun Watson.
01:57And I have no doubt that Munkin thinks that Watson at the line of scrimmage is better than
02:02Sanders.
02:03And, you know, there's two plays in the heart.
02:05You get up to the line, you got to get into the right play.
02:07He probably does that more than Sanders does.
02:10He's more experienced than through offenses, et cetera.
02:13Having watched him practice for months now, there is no gap between them.
02:19And if you gave me the edge on who played better just from a throwing standpoint, I would give
02:23a slight edge to Shadour Sanders.
02:25So for it to go to Watson either makes me wonder just what I don't know or what I'm not
02:32seeing
02:32about Sanders and what he's not doing that Munkin wants to see, or what else doesn't play.
02:38Because I'm 100% with you, Jeff, if it's close, how do you not go with the young guy that
02:43might have a future that's super cheap and that the fans don't hate?
02:46And then here's the other.
02:48Well, there is that too.
02:50Yeah.
02:51I think, what does it say to Sanders that we saw what we saw on Saturday?
02:57And then, first, Scott, tell me, what mattered more, Thursday or Saturday, to the coaching
03:02staff?
03:03It was Thursday.
03:04And I think Todd said that yesterday.
03:06Yeah.
03:06That was more important.
03:08But, you know, Watson had a really good start to the Thursday practice.
03:12Then he threw a terrible pick in the red zone.
03:14And he missed a wide-open arrow fanning for a touchdown.
03:17Now, it's two throws in this huge body of work.
03:20So I get it.
03:22But if you're going to extend this quarterback competition through Thursday and through Saturday,
03:27then those things matter.
03:29And over those two days, Sanders was way better than Watson.
03:33And we're not, or at least better than Watson.
03:34He was much better on Saturday.
03:37And that's not including the press conference part of it, right?
03:41So, again, I think it was really close.
03:45And, you know, there must be something.
03:47And, you know, I want to hear Todd lay it out.
03:49Hopefully he does when we talk to him at noon.
03:52The exact reasons why he thinks Watson has the edge.
03:56So what's the message you're sending to Sanders?
03:59I think it's stay ready.
04:01Because, you know, I mean, we've talked about this.
04:04Deshaun Watson has gotten hurt throughout his time in Cleveland.
04:08And, obviously, not wishing it upon him.
04:10But the history says that Sanders is going to need to play.
04:14And, you know, Monk didn't go beyond week one when he talked about naming us.
04:18When we talked to him yesterday about this is a decision for week one.
04:21And who knows what happens by week three, right?
04:24Do they go down to Florida, go 0-2, offense looks bad, and you go to Sanders in week three.
04:28Like, that is on the table.
04:30I think everything is on the table in this situation.
04:32Which, again, is, you know, typical Browns and not a good spot to be in for your quarterback situation.
04:39So I think the message to Sanders is be ready.
04:42And your time will come.
04:44And, you know, who knows how quickly that will come.
04:47My only argument would be he's only going to get better by playing.
04:50So, if you think he's going to play at some point, and you think there's a chance he, whatever chance
04:55it is, that he could become the guy for the future, to me it just makes sense to get him
04:59out there earlier.
05:01The earliest as possible.
05:02Doesn't it also, if not scream, loudly say, gosh, that 2027 draft sure has some interesting quarterbacks in it.
05:12It does, but, like, if you're making this, I don't think they're making this decision to try to lose games.
05:18Like, I don't think that's a factor in it.
05:22So, it might be the byproduct is that they get bad quarterback play from Watson, or maybe they get bad
05:28quarterback play all year and lose a bunch of games, right?
05:31I mean, that's certainly one of the scenarios that's possible here.
05:35But, yes, all of this screams they're going to go find their future quarterback somewhere else, right?
05:41I mean, the way this has been handled, the two guys they have.
05:44And, again, I've not closed the book on Shooter Sanders is a possible starting quarterback in this league.
05:49We just haven't seen enough.
05:50Plenty of people have closed it.
05:52I haven't closed it.
05:53We just haven't seen enough.
05:54But, you know, if he's not starting and we don't know if and when he's going to play, you know,
06:01I think the odds of Deshaun Watson being a starter here next year are minuscule.
06:05So, yeah, it does scream 2027 quarterback, but it's been looking that way for a while now.
06:10In his comments after the game on Saturday, Deshaun talked about the starting quarterback situation, and he mentioned coach, and
06:18he mentioned ownership, and he mentioned Andrew Barry and everybody else.
06:23When it came to making that decision.
06:25And then Todd Munkin yesterday said, yes, everybody has input, but it's my decision.
06:32Is this a Todd decision or is this an organizational decision?
06:37I think at the end it's Todd.
06:40But you know that those discussions happen with ownership and especially with Andrew Barry.
06:46You would think so.
06:47On a daily, weekly basis, right?
06:49I mean, they set the depth chart.
06:50They talk about that all the time.
06:51So, yeah, and, you know, I believe Watson feels he has support from above, and I don't know where that
06:58is above, but he's mentioned it plenty of times, right?
07:02And since we started talking to him again, coming off the injury, that he feels the support.
07:07And that, you know, the Haslam's, that big swing and miss comment, you know, it's water under the bridge, and
07:13he does feel that support from above.
07:14So, you know, and I don't know how much a factor the guaranteed money is, right?
07:19I get it as an owner, you want something for $46 million.
07:22You've got 19 games for whatever the rest of the math is, right, for the other $180 million that they
07:28paid him.
07:29I get that you would want something, but to me it's a cost, and that shouldn't be a factor, right?
07:35But maybe it is.
07:36Maybe that, if it's really even, maybe that's the tipping point, right?
07:39And I don't think anybody will say that, but that's why this has been so messy and continues to be
07:45messy, because there's all these factors.
07:47And the biggest factor, you know, it's multiple factors, is Watson's contract, the trade for Watson, and his relationship with
07:55the fans, right?
07:56And all of it, his time in Cleveland, that's all there.
07:58And the major reason why the Browns are in the position they are from a quarterback standpoint and even from
08:05a rebuilding standpoint is it's because of the failed trade for Deshaun Watson.
08:09We talked about it a little bit earlier in the show about the financial ramifications of not being able to
08:15take Watson off the roster for another year.
08:17My question for you is what does the rest of that quarterback room look like week one?
08:21Is there a chance that maybe, you know, Gabriel is traded or like Shadour is traded?
08:29Or Shadour is traded.
08:30And the only reason I kind of, like normally I would be like, oh, I don't see that happening, but
08:34it's hard not to look at history of last year and wonder, huh, I wonder what this quarterback room is
08:39going to look like week one.
08:41No, I agree with that point 100%, Andy, that normally I would say, no, that it's not going to happen.
08:47But we look at last year, you look at the Josh Dobstry, he was going to be the number two,
08:51and all of a sudden it's DTR who's going to be the number two.
08:53Because he gets an offer, it's a fifth round pick, right?
08:55So Andrew Bayer values those.
08:59Now, I get that there's one segment of thinking that says you can't have Shadour as a backup.
09:05Just too big a distraction and, you know, his fan base and all that.
09:08The focus stays on the backup.
09:10I think, I just feel Watson's hold on his job is tenuous, so there's no need to get Shadour out
09:19of here, right?
09:19Like, it's not like you have a number one pick that you want all to focus on him or something.
09:23I just think you're going to see Sanders play maybe sooner rather than later, so you're not in a rush
09:28to get rid of him.
09:29Now, Dylan Gabriel's interesting.
09:31Could you get anything for him?
09:32Are you comfortable with Kalen Green?
09:35Is your three?
09:36Or would you pick somebody else up?
09:38Do you go with four quarterbacks?
09:41You know, Todd's talked nice, or talked highly of Kalen Green, despite he's not getting too many reps.
09:46He's going to play Thursday night.
09:48Does that shift anything?
09:50I just, I don't know.
09:52I think the way that Andrew's handled the quarterbacks and the trades of quarterbacks leaves me thinking anything's on the
09:57table.
09:57But I would be really surprised if they traded Shadour Sanders.
10:04I just wonder what the value, like, is there anybody out there that wants Sanders?
10:08Yeah.
10:09And would there be value?
10:10That's, you know, if there was, I think they would probably think about it.
10:15Yeah, they might.
10:16I mean, they might.
10:17But I do think there's people in our organization that are Shadour Sanders supporters and think he might have a
10:23future and don't want to give up on him and want to see more of him.
10:27Now, if somebody offered him a third-round pick, I think they'd trade him in a heartbeat, but I don't
10:31think that's happening.
10:32You know, do you get a fifth or a sixth for him?
10:34And where's the market, right?
10:37I mean, maybe in Arizona that's looking for a quarterback, but they're probably aiming towards the 2027 draft, too.
10:43So I don't think there's a huge market.
10:45And if you do trade for Shadour, you bring in all that, right?
10:49Can you have him as your backup?
10:51When's he going to start?
10:52You have to be willing to take that on.
10:54So I don't know if there's a whole lot of teams out there that are going to do it at
10:57this stage of the offseason.
11:00Can't wait to hear what Todd has to say.
11:03Is this a possibility in your mind?
11:05All right, we're going to give Deshaun two starts.
11:08We're going to see how it looks in the two road games.
11:11And if it's not looking good, we're going to Shadour that early in game three.
11:16Well, I don't think they would say that.
11:17Yeah, I don't think they would say that.
11:18I think that could certainly be part of the thinking.
11:21And I thought Todd left the door open for that yesterday.
11:24But I think that is flawed thinking.
11:27So when we go back to how this has all been handled, and I've heard that scenario a ton of
11:32times.
11:33Well, they can just start Deshaun in Florida.
11:36If he plays bad, you go to Shadour in week three.
11:39Well, I just don't see the benefit of that.
11:42If you're going to get to Shadour in week three, get to him in week one.
11:45Agreed.
11:46I agree.
11:47What are the odds that Deshaun goes down there and plays great in Florida?
11:50Maybe he does.
11:51And then they'll look like, I don't know if they'll look like geniuses, but they'll look smarter than I am.
11:55But I just don't like that.
11:56I don't like going into the season going, this is our fail-safe plan for a quarterback.
12:01When you just spent months trying to figure out who your guys are going to be, I just don't like
12:05that line of thinking.
12:07Scott, you think the Browns think they owe Deshaun anything here?
12:11That's a great question.
12:14I don't know why they would, Jeff.
12:16I mean, again, what is it, $230 million?
12:19Like, I don't know why they would owe him anything.
12:21I really don't.
12:22Yeah, I don't either.
12:23Again, I think maybe they think he owes them something or their money deserves more than it's gotten.
12:33But I don't think they owe Deshaun Watson anything.
12:36All right, we didn't talk about it yet.
12:37Let's talk about the fan factor here and what was said on Saturday.
12:42And, you know, Todd seemed to have tried to downplay it a little bit yesterday.
12:46Your thoughts on what was said, and is there any turning back from that?
12:51Yeah, I thought it was, I don't know, monumental, might be too strong.
12:55But I don't remember many press conferences like that.
12:59But I thought it would and perhaps should shift the quarterback competition in that decision.
13:06Obviously, it did not.
13:07I don't know how he comes back from this.
13:09It'll be interesting if we talk to Deshaun today, what he says about it.
13:14Obviously, it's in the forefront of his mind when he's out there.
13:17I don't think the reception is going to change at all.
13:19Even if they go 2-0 in Florida, I don't think the reception changes.
13:22I think he's booed when he walks on the field.
13:24And they cheer when something good happens.
13:25And as soon as something bad happens, he gets booed.
13:27I just think that's where it is with him and with this franchise.
13:32I can't believe he said those things.
13:35I think you have to have better, let's call it this, I mean, I'm, you know, I appreciate him being
13:40honest.
13:41There's no doubt about that.
13:42But I think as the starting quarterback, you have to have better discipline there.
13:46And the discipline is to, whatever, give a canned answer or blow off the question.
13:53It's not to light up your fans or the fans.
13:56Can we talk something not quarterback for a second?
14:00I've got a minute.
14:00They've been looking for defensive ends all offseason, and now you lose Alex Wright.
14:06This is, is that a huge issue?
14:09Or is Mike Hall an answer there and is bringing in Derek Barnett an answer?
14:14I think it's a big issue.
14:17You know, Alex Wright was going to be their number two guy.
14:20They were expecting big things from him.
14:21He was expecting big things from himself.
14:23He had his best season a year ago.
14:26You know, Barnett's a rotational guy.
14:29You know, five sacks the last couple years.
14:31So if he's your third or fourth, that's fine.
14:35I think Isaiah McGuire moves up to number two, and he's still got to prove some stuff.
14:40I mean, he's shown flashes in his couple of years here, but he's still got to prove that he's a
14:44starting defensive end in this league.
14:47I'm not sure they're done.
14:48You know, I think another move is possible there.
14:51It feels like Barnett is, you know, a fill-in for Wright, and before Wright got hurt, they're still looking
14:56for somebody.
14:56So I think another move there is possible.
14:58I think Mike Hall helps that he can play at end and has shown that in the last week.
15:03But that's such an important position.
15:05You need depth.
15:07If they don't add somebody, I think they're a little short there.
15:11Speaking of Wrights, let's talk about Daquan Wright for a second, going to LSU.
15:16The only question I have coming back at, okay, so he's going back to college, probably going to make way
15:21more money in college than he would have.
15:24I don't know, maybe would he have ended up on the practice squad here?
15:27Would he have ended up, you know, he'll make more money there.
15:29But my question then, what happens to these guys on their rights?
15:32Like, I know the Browns waived him, so that probably makes him a free agent, so I guess that's how
15:37it works.
15:37But there's so many gray areas on this thing moving forward, and is this just kind of a once-in
15:44-a-lifetime thing?
15:46Well, yeah, I mean, you know, to paraphrase Munkin, you know, it's some crazy bleep.
15:52I don't have my head all the way around it.
15:55But if he doesn't get claimed, then yes, he's just a street free agent, and he can do whatever he
16:02wants, right?
16:03If somebody claimed him, then you're kind of in a pickle.
16:06Like, then he belongs to an NFL team.
16:08He's trying to get out.
16:10I don't think he can not sign a contract.
16:12It's just a difficult spot.
16:14And I would say it's a one-time thing, except I don't know what's going on with college sports.
16:18So I think it'd be silly for me to say, yeah, it's a one-time thing.
16:22I think there could be more of these types of situations that hopefully get cleared up this season, right, that
16:29it doesn't continue to drag on.
16:30But it was bizarre seeing him in the bronze jersey warming up when he's in the transfer portal.
16:35Like, it just doesn't make any sense.
16:37And I get that he's probably going to make more money, but how much is a tight end in college
16:44worth for when he's not good enough to make an NFL team?
16:48Because he's probably not making an NFL team right now if he was drafted, and he's bouncing around waivers.
16:52So how much is that guy worth in college, right?
16:54Like, I don't know.
16:56It just feels like the whole economics of it are off.
16:58And does he go back into the draft?
17:01Right.
17:03What's going to happen?
17:04Right.
17:05I mean, does he think that that's going to help him next year in the NFL?
17:08Maybe he does.
17:09I mean, I don't think this, like, scars him with NFL teams.
17:12It's just bizarre.
17:13All right.
17:14Along with you and everybody else, we'll be listening to see what Todd Monk and SSA at noon.
17:18As always, appreciate your friendship.
17:19Good to see you at the game Saturday.
17:21I'll see you on Thursday night.
17:22And, of course, we're reading you all the time in the Chronicle Telegram and brownzone.com.
17:27Thank you, Scott Patrick.
17:28Thanks, fellas.
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