00:00I don't think they've just done a great job at kind of positioning this
00:03in a no-lose situation for Shador, both in that locker room
00:07and out here in kind of Browns fandom.
00:10I also think, like, in spite of the idea that Deshaun Watson
00:14might have the best chance of starting week one right now,
00:16if that's truly the case, I'm pretty excited about where this team is.
00:21Like, there might be enough here.
00:24And again, I'm just over the Deshaun thing.
00:26It really has very little to do with Deshaun the person anymore.
00:29It's just, I've done this.
00:31It has not been satisfactory.
00:32There is consistent egg on my face.
00:35No thank you.
00:36I don't want another round of the buffet on this one, okay?
00:39But at the same point, there's enough youth,
00:42there's enough good guys around him that I am excited about a team
00:47that, again, could be a three-win team and it could be an eight-win team.
00:50Yeah, I mean, it probably is one of the best chances Deshaun would have
00:53to actually have success in a Browns uniform.
00:56We're talking pure talent on the offensive side of the ball
00:58and the amount of players that he has to work with.
01:00It's probably the best chance, not only, obviously, Shador has,
01:03but it's probably the best chance Deshaun has had a year as well.
01:05I mean, he didn't get a chance in 2022 because he only played the last six games.
01:09So that one you've got to throw away.
01:11Yeah.
01:11In 2023, he was hurt, but that was probably – 2022 and 2023 are probably
01:16your most talented teams.
01:18And once you got to 2024, the talent had left the building.
01:21The talent had left the building.
01:22At least on offense.
01:22I mean, some of the offensive lines were really good back in those years,
01:26but I still think – I mean, especially if we think the two rookie wide receivers
01:31are what we think they can be, then I don't even really think it's close.
01:35And with that, we welcome on Daryl Ryder, brought to you by Shive & Jewelers,
01:38Cleveland's premier jewelry store.
01:40Hi, Daryl.
01:41Hello, boys.
01:43Are we rested?
01:43Are we feeling good?
01:45Are we recharged before camp?
01:47How was that sabbatical?
01:48The sabbatical was glorious.
01:50We are recharged.
01:51Nothing warms the soul quite like another Browns quarterback competition.
01:55I can't wait.
01:56Did you actually do something in your sabbatical?
01:58Not really.
02:00Okay.
02:01Nothing that I want to talk about on the air, but it was a very busy two weeks.
02:04I have to ask you, how quickly, coming off vacation,
02:08do you lose the vacation glow?
02:10At Lake Michigan this year, it wasn't until, I think, the Monday after.
02:15So it was a full week.
02:16I got a full week of the vacation glow.
02:18That is nice.
02:19Before I finally was like, work sucks and life is hell.
02:23That'll probably happen next Wednesday around noon.
02:27See?
02:28Keep it.
02:28So you're good until you go to Berea, huh?
02:30Yeah, but that's a week and a half.
02:31Pretty much.
02:32That's a 10-day glow?
02:33That's awesome.
02:34That is great, though.
02:36I love that for you, Daryl.
02:38I love that for you.
02:39We'll get it through the Sunday show, and then, like I said,
02:42reality will set in Wednesday around noon.
02:44Oh, Padone's going to ruin it for you.
02:45All right.
02:47Doesn't he always, though?
02:49I mean, I'm kidding.
02:49Stop it.
02:51Now, so we were talking about Nathan Segura today on the morning show,
02:56saying that Deshaun has a slight edge.
02:58And I pitched this idea.
03:00I'm not saying it's not true, but I think the Browns have been so pot
03:06committed to the idea that Deshaun has been ahead of Shador that it has
03:11normalized this position that if Deshaun wins the starting job,
03:16it's not going to be a bad look for Shador.
03:19And if Shador wins the starting job, well, all of a sudden, look what he did
03:23and look what he overcame to get this job in a way that legitimizes him
03:28as the starting quarterback.
03:29Weigh in on that positioning of what I just said.
03:32Yeah, I mean, I would agree with Nathan.
03:35I do think that going into camp, Deshaun is the favorite,
03:38if you want to call it an edge, however you want to phrase that.
03:42And if Shador doesn't win the job, and I've said this,
03:45I don't view it as a failure by any stretch of the imagination.
03:50But, you know, the question then becomes how long can Deshaun hang on to the job
03:55because I'm not convinced that he has much left in the tank to give,
04:00certainly give him credit for doing the work and putting in the effort
04:04to get himself in a position to where he could potentially play for the Browns again.
04:08I know that, you know, 18 months or so ago when he was wheeled off the field
04:15to a smattering of boos, myself and others thought, well, that was it with him and the Browns.
04:23And here we are now, post the double rupture of the Achilles,
04:28he has an opportunity to be the starting quarterback week one in Jacksonville.
04:33So, you know, I mean, my expectation is that Deshaun will be the week one starter.
04:40I think that they're going to fall back on to the veteran thing and his experience,
04:46give Shador some more time to grow his game and, you know, continue to learn as the number two
04:54before eventually, I think, turning the keys over to him.
04:57But, you know, when camp starts, I do think that Deshaun is the early leader in the clubhouse.
05:03Is there any fear the Browns would have, or at least you would entertain,
05:07that Deshaun, if he just wasn't given the job out of the gate, would revolt, essentially,
05:13and just be like, I'm taking my ball and going home, I guess?
05:15Is that a fear that the Browns would exhibit?
05:18Because it's different than Shador.
05:19Shador has nowhere to go.
05:21Shador can't do anything about it.
05:23Deshaun kind of can.
05:24Well, I don't know why Deshaun would do that, considering how good the Browns have been to him,
05:33how supportive of him they have been since his arrival, including the circumstances with which he arrived under.
05:40And then also, too, you know, they did open the practice window for him last year toward the end of
05:48the season,
05:48that 21-day window, to give him an opportunity to get back on the field and see what he could
05:53do.
05:54So I don't know why he would, to use your term, Jonathan, I don't know why he'd revolt.
06:03This is as fair of a quarterback competition to date than I've seen in a long time.
06:08Typically, somebody's got a finger on the scale, you know, when it comes to these things in the Browns.
06:16And I don't get the sense that there's a finger on the scale tilting it in the favor of either
06:22one of these guys.
06:23So, look, if Shador goes out and wins this job, kudos to Shador.
06:27And then I think Deshaun will do what he did for a part of last year,
06:34and that's play a supporting role behind the scenes.
06:38All right, so we've had Manti Teow come out this week and talk about Dylan Gabriel needs to be talked
06:45about in this spot.
06:46A week ago, Lance Reisland said it.
06:49Are we sleeping on the idea of Dylan Gabriel factoring into the quarterback situation at some point this year?
06:56I'm trying to remember how many times Todd Munkin has even said Dylan Gabriel's name since taking this job.
07:03Two and a half.
07:03Okay.
07:05So, no, I don't think we're sleeping on Dylan Gabriel at all.
07:10And I think that the only way he sees the field this year is, you know, circumstances outside the control
07:17of Deshaun Watson and Shador Sanders.
07:20Okay, so on that, Schefter today had said that he thinks that there's no way the Browns enter the season
07:25with four quarterbacks on their roster.
07:26That would imply a Dylan Gabriel trade is happening at some point.
07:30Do you think that's going to happen?
07:31Well, I mean, that assumes, A, somebody wants him, and, B, you can actually get something for him.
07:38So, and I certainly don't want to assume that.
07:41I think, just guessing, maybe you get a seventh-round pick for him, which, obviously, that doesn't look too good
07:48on Andrew Barry,
07:48considering he burned a third-round pick on him last year.
07:52So, I don't know that there's a Dylan Gabriel market out there right now.
07:57However, things do happen around the NFL during training camp when it comes to quarterbacks and the injury bug and
08:02whatnot.
08:02So, if there are developments around the league, then, yeah, maybe an opportunity to present itself.
08:10But, yeah, I just, I don't think that there's going to be much of a robust trade market for Dylan
08:15Gabriel in the preseason.
08:17Why are we assuming Talon Green is going to make this roster?
08:19Well, because Andrew Barry typically does not cut his draft picks.
08:24And...
08:25Well, but Dylan Gabriel's a draft pick of his, too.
08:27I understand that.
08:28But my point there, Nick, is that, you know, there was reporting that, I think it was Baltimore or Pittsburgh
08:37that were interested in Green.
08:39I don't see the Browns getting him through the waiver wire.
08:42And so, I think he is on the team already.
08:45I think he has made the team by virtue of being drafted.
08:49I think Shador Sanders, obviously, has made the team.
08:52Deshaun Watson has made the team.
08:54Dylan Gabriel's the guy that's on the bubble.
08:55And the question becomes, how do they move on from Dylan Gabriel, or do they just put him on waivers?
09:02And, you know, if he clears waivers, then they toss him on the practice squad.
09:07I can't see them keeping four quarterbacks on the active roster.
09:11I do see them keeping three quarterbacks on the active roster.
09:16Darryl, Andy's going really viral with his sourcing that he had in the station earlier today.
09:21If you haven't seen the quote or anything on it, he goes,
09:24Here's what I was told yesterday by a reliable source.
09:27Last week, LeBron's crew was probably ready to make an announcement.
09:30Irritated was the word I was told by the commissioner pushing them.
09:33So, they decided to hold back.
09:35What do you make of Andy Baskin's reporting?
09:37I absolutely love that.
09:40That LeBron is tweaking the commissioner right now.
09:44Who was, you know, trying to nudge LeBron into making his announcement where he's going to play so that they
09:53could kindly finish the schedule.
09:55Namely, the holiday schedule.
09:58That's obviously the Christmas games, the New Year's games, right?
10:01MLK Day.
10:02All the other holidays that the NBA likes to take over in season.
10:08And so, the fact that if LeBron indeed was ready to make a decision, which I totally believe.
10:14Like, I think now they're just milking it at this point.
10:17I think Rich Paul is trying to do as many podcasts on this as he possibly can.
10:21Make as many appearances on ESPN TV shows as he possibly can.
10:26I think that they're milking this for all it's worth.
10:28I don't believe for one second LeBron James' decision, or his mind, I should say, has not been made up
10:36where he wants to play basketball.
10:38Now, see, it's interesting you say that.
10:40Because currently at 92 through the fan, I am public enemy number one.
10:45Oh, you are?
10:46What did you do now?
10:47That's fair.
10:48What I did, with the help of other co-conspirators, is I strung together three identical, identical takes.
10:59From 92 through the fan hosts, in the last 20, and now it's 48 hours, about how the duration of
11:06LeBron's indecision is going to impact their end joy of the decision.
11:12We're going to play it for you right now.
11:14I am not waiting on pins and needles the way I was.
11:16I am not sitting here just wanting that type of information, needing that type of information.
11:21It's like, I'm going to be less excited about LeBron being here because of this.
11:25I'm running out of steam on the caring about where he's going to play.
11:30We've got football practices coming up here.
11:32We've got baseball that's back in full swing after the All-Star break.
11:35Like, let's go.
11:36You can only care about these things for so long before you go, okay, either make your decision or you
11:41don't.
11:41Like, I do think there is a law of diminishing returns here.
11:44And he's flirting with not striking while the iron's hot.
11:46All right, Daryl, I called these three takes by three people that I actually do like, despite constantly needling everyone
11:54else on this station, I called it absolute and complete utter buffoonery.
11:59I know, sorry, baloney from Ken, Jeff, and Jake.
12:03What say you?
12:06I'm team Nick Wilson on this one.
12:09Look, are we all annoyed that this has taken so long?
12:12Of course we are.
12:13But it's LeBron.
12:14I mean, who has this kind of power where the commissioner's waiting to finish the schedule because this guy needs
12:20to pick his next team that he's going to play for, right?
12:22That is absolute power in the palm of LeBron's hands at the age of 41.
12:28That's just absolutely incredible.
12:30If he comes back, the excitement's going to be through the roof, okay?
12:34Even if this thing goes to August before he makes the announcement of where he's going to play, and if
12:40he picks the Cavaliers, the excitement will still be through the roof.
12:44If he goes to Golden State, yes, there will be no excitement.
12:47There will be, I think, some venom and vitriol from some folks.
12:51If he goes to Miami, meh, okay, he's already been in Miami.
12:54If he goes to Philadelphia, you know, kind of the same thing.
12:58Like, hmm, that interesting decision by him.
13:00But, yeah, if he comes back to the Cavs, whether it's today, tomorrow, next week, two, three weeks from now,
13:07the excitement's still going to beat it.
13:08And yet, Daryl, do you hear that sound?
13:11Tick, tick, tick.
13:13Oh, no.
13:15Nick, in his guarantee of by Wednesday, LeBron, he locked it in that by Wednesday we would have a decision.
13:22Tick, tick, tick.
13:24Oh, no.
13:24Wait, wait.
13:25Is it Wednesday today or Wednesday of next week?
13:27Wednesday today.
13:28We're losing time here, Daryl.
13:30I actually don't recall saying Wednesday today.
13:33Well, listen, I have multiple times invited LeBron to come on the Sunday show and make his announcement.
13:40Yeah, well, you know, hey.
13:41The new Heights podcast wasn't enough for you, you clout-chasing bastard.
13:45You know, there's no chance that he's going to call the hotline, but just want to throw it out there
13:50for him.
13:50If Rich Paul or he happened to be listening or one of his people happened to be listening,
13:54he's welcome to call in on Sunday and make his announcement.
13:56I mean, he's not going to do it, but it was nice of him at least to wait until I
14:00got back from vacation.
14:01So you're all welcome for that.
14:03You got two weeks of LeBron talk while I was away.
14:05He clearly was waiting for me to get back on the clock.
14:09That's exactly what he is thinking.
14:11All right, Daryl.
14:12Be good, buddy.
14:13You bet, guys.
14:13You bet, guys.
Comments