00:00we get uh the browns quarterback competition has closed uh the future of the browns quarterback
00:06spot whether you think they're gonna be any good and to talk about all those many things
00:10we head out to the wise heart right we make it right call kyle right hotline and welcome on nfl
00:15insider for the bleach report and nfl on prime thursday night football you know we're talking
00:22about here james palmer joining us now james welcome to the show i appreciate you guys having
00:28me again you know what i was thinking about when you're going over real quick of those no shows
00:32who's going to be in their seats i always am curious covering more probably preseason games
00:37that i'd like to in my career it isn't oftentimes that every stadium gives the no shows so i'm kind
00:44of curious if that does pop up on the jumbotron uh because that's kind of up in the air stadium
00:49by stadium in the preseason because you've covered so many preseason games in your career as you've
00:54alluded to what makes a good preseason game oh um i would say it's really the word that's tied to
01:02training camp uh hope honestly and i think you can find it and like who you know cleveland's gonna
01:09blame you know out there quarterback in the second half like fun entertainment he's tied to that as
01:14well i mean are there some camp stories that have that have kind of taken things over and you get
01:19a
01:19chance to see somebody that you know maybe have a chance to make a roster i'm not talking about the
01:23quarterback position specifically but you know somebody out there that has a chance to make a
01:26roster and you're seeing somebody that you've heard about all in camp and there's a chance they're
01:30going to play in a preseason game it's you know the hope aspect of of maybe what a future prospect
01:35can be to me oftentimes uh is the best part outside of uh can we have every guy just leave
01:42the playing
01:42field healthy uh that's probably number one with preseason games all right maybe let's take tonight
01:47aside because i don't want you to do like three minutes on taylon green although we like him
01:51but where where in general with this team do you see the hope from yeah from the browns especially
01:57i mean it's a young core i mean it really is and i you know i'll get to kind of
02:01a comparison to
02:02another organization but in all honesty i it's it's a young core that now it really looks like you've
02:06had two consecutive drafts where you're able to go out there and find a group that first on rookie
02:12contrast because dead money might be an issue in some instances and and you have an ability to to go
02:16and groom that group together and i think you who you acquired in the in the miles garrett trade to
02:22me
02:23is kind of in jared verse a a pied piper in that a leader uh that you hear on the
02:28field and you
02:29didn't just give away you know the best defensive player in football you go and get a piece and an
02:34up-and-coming player his in his own right that that has a chance to be a part of this
02:38and wants to be a
02:39part of this and wants to lead this group so to me it's like okay how does the quarterback play
02:44now right obviously that's tied to a lot of teams in this league i think it's almost like
02:48where does the quarterback what type of situation if he's picked in 2027 does he fall into in
02:53cleveland and and with the jets in new york i think the jets have a really good group of skill
02:57guys and
02:58decent guys on offensive line and there's a chance that some guys honestly in this draft class if
03:03that's the way these organizations go and pick the right guy i think cleveland's one of those spots
03:07you're walking into a pretty good situation james um todd munkin said uh when he named deshaun
03:15watson the starting quarterback that this isn't he doesn't anticipate this being a week-to-week thing
03:19right i look at it from what i've seen with deshaun watson in camp which is not great and i
03:26look at what
03:26he said on saturday taking a flamethrower to this fan base and i think i know i know todd munkin
03:33has to
03:34say what he has to say i look at this as a two-week audition because i just don't know
03:38if he looks
03:39awful that you can put him out there on the field in week three what's like the minimum games that
03:45deshaun could start to start the season that would surprise you if he doesn't meet like a certain
03:50criteria yeah i would say just to to the phone calls i've made and the people i've talked to i
03:56would
03:57say around the league outside of the browns building i'll sell you know make sure that's clear
04:00is everybody's looking at the first two road games and and if things don't go well there
04:05when they come home week three that it could be shador sanders and i think you're right todd
04:08munkin did say all the right things i think there's a caveat to kind of what he said which is
04:13i don't
04:13want you guys asking me about the quarterback position each and every week right this isn't a
04:17week-to-week thing we're not going to have a press conference filled with are you thinking about
04:21switching to shador every single week with him saying that i think that's part of him trying to avoid
04:26that aspect of the weekly you know confines of how an nfl season works but it doesn't mean that
04:34he wouldn't make a switch two weeks in at least that is the vibe around the league um and i
04:39think
04:39you're right i think deshaun has to play well in those two i think there's a reason why deshaun was
04:44picked as a starter i don't think it's singular i think there's several i think todd made the decision
04:48to my understanding solely based off of football and who gives him the best chance to win and there is
04:53a
04:53lot that goes into his offense and there's a lot that's on the quarterback shoulders and a guy that
04:57has played it he hasn't done it in a browns uniform but has played it at a high level and
05:01operated at
05:01the line of scrimmage in the manner in which todd needs it to be done on the road that's important
05:05to start off with but i think we all know he needs to play better certainly and i don't know
05:10that they
05:10that sidor sanders has played better he's better player than he was a year ago like i've heard that
05:15repeatedly from people in the building where he has made this much closer he has grown as a player so
05:20i mean when have the browns gotten through a season with one quarterback anyway so i think we
05:24will see shador sanders at some point um the buzz around the league is if if deshaun doesn't play
05:30well in those first two it could be as early as the third week how do you explain the drop
05:34off from
05:34deshaun i mean it's fascinating honestly i mean i was there i did his first interview with him when he
05:42was when he was drafted you know and arrived in houston when i was with nfl network and i was
05:47the
05:47first person he spoke to and he gave that city so much hope and there was so much discussion about
05:51what he had done you know people just gravitating towards him in the locker room and the way that
05:56he kind of galvanized that entire building and he did that and i've been told he's very liked
06:00inside the browns locker room but at the same time i think it's a combination of a variety of things
06:05i
06:05think playing the quarterback position obviously is so tied to confidence and how you go about it and
06:10things obviously off the field have changed um in terms of his perception and probably his
06:14confidence is you know i don't want to speak for him but you know with everything that's going on
06:18i think that's changing things and then you know i was talking to one of his former coaches from
06:22houston the other day who was just like it's just you have to remember the injuries are massive
06:27injuries i mean multiple acls multiple achilles the shoulder on his throwing shoulder he's just like
06:32when i coach him he just doesn't move the way he moved when i when i coached him and you
06:38know
06:38and there's some similarities in the systems there are the mobility is going to be somewhat there still
06:42it's not what it was but the electrifying play that that we used to see from some of the people
06:47that have that have coached and that i've spoken with have just said it's just physically not there
06:51to the level it used to be and that was kind of his you know herculean aspect of how he
06:56played and
06:56making something out of nothing oftentimes and the wizardry of it um but i think there's still
07:01decent football there and it's just how much can he get all of that back with the time he's missed
07:05and that's that's really the biggest aspect of it is time we got james palmer on the wise heart right
07:13we make it right call kyle right hotline uh so in having this conversation about deshaun something
07:18we've debated in in kind of previous seasons is whether there will be another nfl opportunity on
07:25the other side of this with deshaun but it was always under the idea that he had played his last
07:29game
07:30in cleveland so if he goes out there gets a two-game audition it just doesn't work do you think
07:36that next offseason there will be a team willing to give him a chance to come in and at least
07:40be a
07:41part of a quarterback room it's a great question i mean i would have to be how bad does it
07:46look
07:47um does he get an opportunity i would think he does and it's it's for these couple reasons one
07:52we've seen guys taken at the top of the draft get multiple multiple opportunities right and we've seen
07:59them get multiple tryouts and we've seen it go bad even for a stop or two and then maybe we've
08:03seen them figure it out because of those instances i think that does give him the opportunity to get
08:08another another shot he was the what 10th overall pick he was picked at the top of the draft i
08:14mean
08:14that last year in houston the stats even though they didn't win any games i went back and looked at
08:18them the other day are incredible in all honesty in terms of completion percentage and the number
08:23yards he threw for and you know and so there's still that so i do think somebody gives them
08:28a chance the other part that i want to add on to it is it's always easier being the next
08:33team
08:33let's be honest it's easier being the following team than being the ones that have to do it first
08:38oftentimes with some of the things that are tied to deshaun so i know the league thinks that way
08:43doesn't mean there'll be no backlash no nothing from fans that that have their opinion and then they
08:49can't be pushed off of that no matter what the discussion point is um it is a little bit easier
08:54when
08:54you're next and so i would think that there's only 32 of them on the planet and let's be honest
09:00guys
09:01i think everybody in cleveland knows this i don't think there's 32 people on the planet that do it
09:05at a high level so i think every team will always continue to look and i wouldn't be surprised if
09:10they at least got a look or two for sure james you're connected that's that's your deal around
09:14the nfl when you talk to people outside of the browns because you said the browns already really
09:18kind of rave about chador and some of the growth he's had in a year what are the people on
09:22other
09:22teams what do they say about your sanders at this point yeah they've seen the similar side of it now
09:28let's remember like they're not in the meeting room these other teams and other evaluators are
09:33are not you know they don't know exactly what goes on at the line of scrimmage they don't know exactly
09:37what calls and checks he's fully making but you know obviously there's discussions between players
09:41and coaches in these other buildings and they know he throws a good ball they know he was a
09:45developmental prospect they know that there's something there like there is an it factor to
09:51chador that is discussed other places right there there is a there isn't a lure to him just because
09:56of how he's wired and how he goes about his business that is intriguing it's certainly there i would say
10:02though that yes most of the conversations are i i want to keep an eye on chador as this continues
10:08um i want to see how he develops because there are things that you know everybody's watching each
10:13other's tape right now as we're getting down to these cuts where they go that's a really good ball
10:18like that that that that does exist about chador and i would also add this that if you remember
10:24during the draft and obviously all of you guys do that everybody thought it was going to be this
10:29circus that was going to follow you know chador to to cleveland and that it was going to be something
10:35that may not be attainable at this level i do think the rest of the nfl has noticed that that
10:40has not happened
10:41and and i think that's important to mention that that is not what's gone on in cleveland with chador
10:46sanders when some people really even probably exaggerated those those thoughts and facts and
10:52thought they were facts um around draft time i think the league has noticed that hasn't happened
10:59james i i i had this thought when we were talking about this uh earlier in the show and i've
11:04yet to give
11:05what i think is going to be my answer but if if let's say in 2027 the browns are drafting
11:11a
11:11quarterback with a top five pick and chador sanders isn't here what do you think is the career arc of
11:18chador after the season what would be the reason chador wouldn't be on the roster in 27 i think there's
11:26a narrative agree or disagree that if he cannot uh grab the job they wouldn't want a big personality
11:33backing up the new quarterback next year yes i can see that thinking i mean i don't know if that's
11:38exactly todd's thinking and i don't know if obviously he's only had him for a little while
11:42and if he thinks he's learning his system fast enough what do you like to keep him around but but
11:45i get it too like there is definitely that role of you know there's a certain reason why a lot
11:50of
11:50these guys get the backup jobs right like there's a reason why about how they go about their business
11:54so i do see that um yeah i i think he obviously again from the second part of what i
12:02said
12:03has changed the thought process for some teams i mean there were some teams that were just like
12:08really that i spoke put off by their interaction with him during the draft process and put off with
12:14you know how that those meetings went or that sit down went and they came away with a certain
12:18perception i'm not sure if those opinions and that perception is the same in those buildings as it was
12:24then what oftentimes when these guys have another opportunity obviously you go back to all your draft
12:29work you go back to everything you had and it can help you and it could hurt you
12:31in any given building but at the same time i think they've witnessed enough maybe growth from
12:37chador there was enough buzz after that process um about how he kind of almost admitted he didn't go
12:43about that process and maybe the best way to help himself and so i do think there's enough curiosity
12:48for for a guy that does have the makeup um does have the lineage does have traits that say he
12:56can play
12:56nfl quarterback i think he would be brought in again and honestly i'll throw in the way he's handled this
13:02situation and the way he's handled losing this job all of that's evaluated by other teams and i think
13:08that's in his favor as well
13:09you
13:09you
