00:00Cut down day 2026. Tough decisions have to be made. Todd Munkin on the quarterback situation.
00:06Do they keep all four? Or do they roll the dice and cut one of them and try and get
00:14them through waivers?
00:15Or do they cut one of them and then just go ahead and claim a quarterback off waivers from somebody
00:20else?
00:21Potentially. Potentially. And then that's your practice squad quarterback you're saying?
00:27What's crazy, Daryl, I don't think that they can cut either Gabriel or Green and sneak them through.
00:33I don't think they can either. I really don't. Well, maybe Gabriel because I don't know that anyone's going to
00:39be bum-rushing the waiver wire to get Dylan Gabriel.
00:41Even Miami, though? Now Miami needs a backup quarterback. They traded Quinn Ewers last night for a 2028 day three
00:49pick.
00:49So they're in the market for... A waiver claim doesn't really cost you anything.
00:54It's not like you're trading a draft pick. And I think that if you expose Dylan Gabriel to waivers, I
01:01do think somebody would say, you know what, we'll do it.
01:04Just because you looked at what he did in that preseason finale and he was able to move the football.
01:10And then you look at his career numbers and they're not bad. It's like, don't put on the film from
01:14last year.
01:15That's certainly what you don't want to do.
01:17You're hoping that a GM just reads the box score.
01:19Yeah, you're hoping that they read the touchdown-to-interception ratio and the fact that he was able to be
01:25out there and somewhat function from a statistic standpoint.
01:29Just please don't turn on that film.
01:32Yeah, I just...
01:33I mean, historically, the Browns need three quarterbacks to get through the schedule.
01:38I mean, that's just undisputed.
01:41That is fact.
01:42That's not me being a smart aleck or sarcastic.
01:45Like, that's fact.
01:47They've only had, I think, three seasons since 99 where they've had a quarterback go the distance.
01:51Baker Mayfield did it twice.
01:53Tim Couch did it once.
01:54That's it.
01:55Okay?
01:57So, and that look, it's unfortunate, but like, that is, that's reality.
02:04Deshaun Watson's going to start week one.
02:07I would bet the farm there's zero chance Deshaun Watson is starting week 18.
02:12After, hang on, hang on, let me, because he could start like weeks one and two and then have to
02:16start week 18.
02:17But like, he's not starting all 17 games this year.
02:20Like, that just isn't going to happen.
02:21I just, I don't see, I just, I don't see it happening.
02:25And I'm not being negative for the sake of being funny or whatever.
02:29Like, I just, I don't, I don't think it's realistic.
02:31No.
02:32He's coming off shoulder surgery and two ruptured Achilles.
02:36Okay?
02:37Albeit it was the, the same one that blew twice.
02:40But like, I just, I don't see a world where he's going to be able to start all 17 games.
02:46And if you paid attention to what Todd Munkin said after the quarterback decision was made.
02:51Okay?
02:53And it was interesting that Todd Munkin's comments matched what all the NFL insiders had to say
03:04when they made the decision to start Deshaun Watson.
03:09I'm not saying Todd Munkin's the one that told the NFL insiders that, but I mean, the organizational message was
03:16clear.
03:17And that was, well, we told Shadour to play the long game.
03:20This isn't over by any stretch of the imagination.
03:23Yes, we're going with Deshaun in week one, but we're probably not going with Deshaun in week eight or something
03:29like that.
03:29He's going to have to keep earning it.
03:31That's going to be what they're going to continue to say.
03:34Like, that's all that they have to say at this point.
03:36Because I think they've got to know.
03:38It's going to be week to week, but guess what?
03:39It's going to be week to week because that's how it goes here in Cleveland.
03:43Yeah.
03:43And he's going to get asked every, like, like if he melts down against Jacksonville, say he does, say he
03:48throws two picks, gets sacked a bunch.
03:50Somebody down there in Florida is going to ask, Todd, is Deshaun going to be the starter next week in
03:55Tampa?
03:56Somebody, the question will be asked.
03:58Yes.
03:59Because right now they've got a lot of guys capable of playing the position, but who could play it well?
04:04I will say that I don't see a change being made after one week.
04:10Me neither.
04:12But I do think the sample size is two weeks.
04:15I don't even know if I see it after two weeks.
04:17I understand why everyone believes, because nobody wants the home opener to turn into a hostile environment against the starting
04:25quarterback.
04:26But fans here have no patience for a guy who came to town with the baggage he came with
04:32and an organization that asked everybody to forget all about it.
04:36I mean, Amazon Prime, more than willing to forget all about it.
04:39Okay?
04:41But fans shouldn't have to.
04:43No.
04:43Okay?
04:44And so then the play on the field is terrible.
04:50So, yeah, you don't want to turn your home crowd in your home opener against your team.
04:59But I do see a scenario where that's actually going to happen in week three against Carolina.
05:04I just don't think they could do it.
05:05I don't think you could let your home opener, which is supposed to be such an exciting day, football's back
05:11in Cleveland.
05:12Like, season ticket holders, here's a little inside season ticket holding.
05:17A lot of times you could sell the home opener and you sell the Steeler game and you could make
05:22a lot of money back from your season tickets.
05:25Not the case this year.
05:27So, funny story.
05:28I was shown something yesterday where, for the new stadium, there is a company that is pitching to people,
05:41you buy the PSLs, we'll sell your tickets for you.
05:46So, it's almost like an investment in that standpoint.
05:49You put up the money for the license, we'll sell the tickets.
05:52Here's the thing.
05:53This year, week three, they're going to struggle to move those tickets if he's the starting quarterback.
05:58And the people that are going to go to the game, Daryl, you've lived in this town longer than I
06:04have.
06:05I get text messages every season from friends of mine who are diehard Browns fans, season ticket holders for decades,
06:13and they'll text me and be like, I can't even sell my tickets this week.
06:19Because nobody wants to watch this.
06:22Nobody wants to pay to watch this.
06:24I'm old enough to remember when they would tape or staple the tickets back when they actually had physical tickets.
06:30Yeah, to the telephone poles.
06:31To telephone poles around the stadium.
06:32And I'd be like, that's a really cruel thing to do.
06:35To telephone poles.
06:37Just to get people in the building.
06:38To staple Browns tickets to them, right?
06:40And look, there's no denying Shador Sanders' popularity.
06:44There's no denying that there is talent there with him.
06:47But it's not refined.
06:48It's not a finished product.
06:50There's still holes and deficiencies in his game.
06:53But look, I think you're paying customers.
06:56Would rather watch him struggle and go through those young growing pains than watch Deshaun Watson.
07:02I don't think you could afford to have your home opener turn into LeBron's return to Cleveland as a member
07:07of the Miami Heat.
07:09And I think that's what it would be.
07:11I think you would have people going to the game to actively be a part of the scene.
07:17You know, to be a part of the story that you were there to boo Deshaun in week three.
07:22Especially if the first two weeks go poorly.
07:25There will certainly be people that go to week three with those intentions to just be a part of the
07:30camaraderie.
07:31That's going to be the banana scene that takes place down there.
07:34If they truly roll with that.
07:36And then it'll turn into fans v. players again.
07:40And then it'll be a national story.
07:42It really will.
07:43Like if a starting quarterback gets booed the way that LeBron was booed and he was a member of the
07:48Heat in his home stadium.
07:50That's not just a national sports story.
07:52That's going to be a national news story.
07:54The good thing is that nothing will ever be as hostile as that game in December of 2010.
08:06Like, I mean, that was probably the most negative energy I have ever felt in my life.
08:15I would argue I think Shador has more continuity than Deshaun.
08:17I think Shador has better chemistry with the receiving core than Deshaun does.
08:23And again, I'm just basing that off of what I've watched in practice.
08:28This makes no sense, dude.
08:30When Deshaun was going through his meltdown.
08:32No, no, it makes sense because, again, if you – and I'm not saying you didn't, so don't take this
08:40the wrong way.
08:40But, like, if you listen to Todd Munkin and the things that he has said.
08:44Well, sure, sure.
08:45We've been primed.
08:46We've been primed.
08:47I'm saying from a logic standpoint, it makes no sense.
08:50Well, actually –
08:51Because I have a brain in my head.
08:52Well, it does make sense.
08:54He's a veteran.
08:55He's got the experience operationally.
08:57But he's been washed for six years.
08:59He's got a better – I mean, he's got, I think, a little better understanding than Shador.
09:03Even though Shador has come a long way, he's got a little better understanding of all the pre-snap responsibilities.
09:08Sure, sure, sure, sure, sure.
09:09I know.
09:10Give me more of that Kool-Aid.
09:11Pour it up.
09:12Pour it up for me and I'll drink it because –
09:15Listen, I'm not drinking the Kool-Aid.
09:17I'm just trying to explain Todd Munkin's view of it.
09:23It doesn't make sense, though.
09:25I'm not saying that I agree with him.
09:27I'm just saying this is the reasoning behind the move.
09:31Like, we're talking about the chemistry with the receivers and stuff.
09:33And I agree with you because I've been out there at camp and obviously watching the preseason.
09:37You see which guys are kind of on the same page and who's gelling and who's not.
09:41The Bills preseason game, you know, the broadcast camera and the clip has gone out there on social media.
09:47When Watson threw the ball that, like, literally just fell out of his hand and it, like, barely made it
09:52past the line of scrimmage,
09:53they cut to Denzel Boston on the sideline who does, like, one of these, you know, and just kind of,
09:59like, shrugs.
10:00And it's like, come on, man.
10:02Like, I don't like that.
10:03Like, that's my rookie receiver that I think could be pretty damn good in this league.
10:07And he knows.
10:09Like, this guy's a rookie that hasn't even played a serious game in the league yet.
10:12And he knows this is a joke of a situation.
10:15He knows that this is laughable quarterback play.
10:18So why are we doing this?
10:20And why are we trying to make sense of it?
10:21Because he's the veteran and the processing and the cadence.
10:25I love how that got shoehorned in this year.
10:27The cadence.
10:27That wasn't a thing last year.
10:29That's not been a thing that people have talked about in the 10 quarterback competitions that we've had.
10:34Do you say blue 32?
10:36I thought correctly.
10:38Oh, but it matters so much.
10:39And Deshaun's a vet.
10:40And he's been in the league for all these years.
10:42Like, miss me with that.
10:44And miss me with, you know, against the Bears in the preseason.
10:47Well, you got to just look back that far.
10:49Sure.
10:51I can't do it, Daryl.
10:52It's going to be a long year.
10:54It's going to be a long year when it comes to that position in specific.
10:58Because I do think the rest of this roster has guys that you could root for really from top down.
11:03But with that quarterback spot, dude, what are we doing?
11:06The things that we have to cling to for a sliver of hope.
11:10It's almost embarrassing.
11:13It really is.
11:14But the decision is the decision.
11:17It is what it is.
11:19And the question I ask, are they setting themselves up for failure again?
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