Should the Browns make a run at Malik Willis?

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Here we go.

Friday edition of the Orange and Brown Talk podcast.

Hey, everybody.

Welcome to the Orange and Brown Talk podcast.

I'm Abby with Mary Kate Cabot and Ashley Bastock recording this is about 120 on Friday.

This is one of those times of year where it's important to just note when we're recording

this as we get into that weekend before free agency, which can be an active weekend in

the NFL.

The Browns have been active before going all the way back to the the Jarvis Landry trade,

the Jerry Judy trade, all of that stuff.

So just noting when we're recording this and when you're listening to this.

So free agency right around the corner, the tampering window opens on Monday.

The lead gear starts on Wednesday.

So we're going to get into the first thing the Browns needed to do to kind of set up their

free agency.

And that is the restructuring of Dishon Watson's contract has to become an annual, an annual.

It's like a sign of spring.

It's like pictures and catchers reporting and all of that.

Mary Kate, the Dishon Watson contract gets restructured.

We are getting closer to a point where the Browns will be able to move on from him.

It seems likely that that's going to be next off season, probably as a post June first

cut.

This is again, just a procedural move.

But why does this matter for the Cleveland Browns to get this done right now?

Well, it's important right now for a couple of reasons.

First of all, they have to be kept compliant by the time the lead year opens at four o'clock

on Wednesday, March 11th.

So that's one of the things that needs to happen.

And in order for them to do that, they had to get about $17 million under the cap.

They were over it by about that amount.

Now what happens with this particular restructuring is Dishon Watson's base salary for this year

was going to be $46 million.

And you can take that all the way down to the veteran minimum, which for a seven plus

year veteran is $1.25, $5 million that you have to pay them.

So you subtract that from the $46 million.

And they can give him a bonus if they go that far.

They can give him a bonus of, I don't know, the numbers are in front of me, but $44

some million.

So the restructure bonus would be $44.74, $5 million takes the base down to $1.25, $5 million,

which they've done with him in the past.

And then it saves them about $36 million on the cap.

So not only does it wipe out that $17 million over the cap charge that they had, but it then

creates another $19 or so million right now that they can go out and spend in free agency

or to acquire a player in a trade and have room for whatever his contract is or whatever

his extension is going to be.

So these are the important reasons to do this.

And in the case of Dishon, he's going to get that money anyways.

It's a fully guaranteed contract.

So it's really just a matter of when with him and not if.

There's really no downside at all to redoing his contract and it was already baked into

the plan when they first signed him to this blockbuster five year deal worth $230 million.

Now the corollary to this is the next guy that this is going to happen to is Denzel Ward.

I don't expect it to happen today as we're taping this on Friday afternoon, but he has

a cap charge of, I think it's 32.8 million dollar cap charge for this year.

That's a lot of money, especially for a non quarterback, especially for a corner back.

So they will do the same thing with him.

Take that down to the studs basically and give him the veteran minimum I would guess of

$1.25, $5 million for him as well.

And his base salary this year is $16.9 million.

So you are giving him a bonus of, I wrote it down here somewhere, a bonus of $15 million

or something like that.

So you have $15.6 million for a bonus for him, a restructure bonus and that saves you

some millions on the cap as well.

And I don't think there are too many guys that are in this category, but if you just do

these two guys, that should give you what you need to do the business that you want to

do.

And there will be some other guys kind of coming off the books as well.

So they should be in decent shape and they should be able to add some free agents and make

some trades starting as soon as, they could do more things today even.

Yeah, and I think, I remember when Josh Allen signed his deal and even going back to

him, Patrick Mahomes initially signed that, you know, that huge 10 year was half a billion

dollars, something like that gigantic deal that he signed.

The thinking with these big quarterback deals is eventually, you're going to reach in

and you're going to restructure and you're going to use them to free up cap space and

that's just going to happen every year.

Of course, the issue with Deshan Watson is, you know, when you're doing that with Patrick

Mahomes and Josh Allen, you're getting super bowl of a quarterback play.

The Browns have barely gotten a full season out of Deshan Watson.

So that's where, that's where this hurts.

You're still kind of getting hit with those cap numbers, even if you're lowering them.

You're still getting hit with sizable cap numbers and just not getting performance.

But that said, Ashley, like this is just, this is what they signed up for.

This is what they've had to deal with.

And here we are.

We're to a point now where, you know, a year from now, we might, we're probably talking

about him as a post June 1st cut.

And he'll still be on the books for a few years after that.

But again, this is all just about reducing those cap charges and just being able to function

and being able to have a football team that you think you can at least go out there and

be competitive with while you're navigating this just gigantic albatross of a contract.

Yeah, we were talking before we hit record and I mentioned I've had friends and family

texting me and this happens every year and asking, well, why are they doing this?

Like, Deshan Watson hasn't been good and it's like, well, they quite literally can't afford

not to do this.

This is largely, as Mary Kay laid out, all the reasons for doing this, the money it frees

up.

It's a bookkeeping move, essentially, because he's getting that money regardless.

Like it doesn't matter to anyone and really it's a result of having some cash on hand

with via your owners who are willing to help you restructure in this way, to free up the

cap space so that you can operate.

Like if they didn't do this, they wouldn't be able to operate.

And it also just is interesting though in the future, you know, after this year, because

I'm sure everyone remembers this.

Like when they first signed Deshan Watson, Andrew Berry would always say, we're not thinking

about this in five years.

We're thinking about this in ten year terms.

And like, can you really say that today?

Obviously, the answer is no.

Just given how it's worked out, given his injuries, it's not been, I think, what they expected

in that regard.

So, you know, when people praise Andrew Berry and his handling of the cap, like this is

one of the more, uh, give me sorts of moves he has to deal with.

To me, like the real work on this is going to be in the years to come for him.

Yeah.

And also just to explain, I know that I see some people bring this up and it happened

like when Wyatt Teller said his goodbye.

Um, I got some emails from people and like, wait, he's a free agent.

Why are they going to, why is he going to be waved?

Essentially, there's void years tacked onto some of these deals.

And that's the case with like a Wyatt Teller.

That's the case with David and Joku.

So we're probably going to see next week, the Browns are actually probably, whether

they announced it or not, the Browns are actually going to waved those guys with post-tune

first designations.

They're essentially waving the void years, even though they're free agents.

And that allows them to say more money on the cap with those void years.

It's all really complicated, Mary Kay, but this is just a model we're seeing more and

more in the NFL.

I mean, the Eagles and Howie Roseman have really made it famous.

And the thing that stings with the Browns is, right, the Eagles do this and it results

in a Super Bowl and a Super Bowl appearance and a Super Bowl victory.

The Browns unfortunately didn't get that.

That's what they thought they were going to be able to do when they traded for Tashon

Watson.

But obviously that never came to fruition.

No, it didn't, but this is the model.

This is what people are doing now and you look around the league and everybody has these

big, enormous quarterback contracts.

So the Browns are not alone in this at all.

In fact, it wasn't long after Tashon Watson signed his contract that he started to trickle

down the leaderboard in terms of quarterback salaries.

And now the salaries are up to $55 million and more.

So he's not even one of the top paid quarterbacks anymore.

And you see other teams having to eat enormous salaries.

The Denver Broncos had to do it with Russell Wilson.

The Arizona Cardinals are about to do it with Kyler Murray.

They're going to have to eat $36 million of his contract.

And because he has offset language in his contract, it's not like a team can go out and bid $20 million

for him next year because it just comes off what the Cardinals would have to pay him.

So he's not going to get any more money.

So a team is going to get him for $1.255 million and it's the same thing with Gino Smith.

So this is some of the happenomics that goes on and I hope that we're explaining it in

a way that is not too overly complicated and kind of easy to understand.

But there are so many teams that are in this same boat now with these big contracts.

But it's just the wave of the present and the future.

This is what the quarterbacks are making.

This is what the market is bearing.

And if it doesn't work out, then you're left holding the bag.

Now fortunately for these teams, the cap continues to climb and climb.

And this year it has eclipsed $300 million for the very first time.

It's just over $300 million.

It went up by $22 million.

And in the final analysis, when the Browns are ready to do business, I think they're going

to end up with about $45 million or something like that that they can use to sign their

own free agents and look externally to try to add some guys from the outside.

And as I wrote from the combine, their number one priority internally is linebacker Devon

Bush.

They want to get that done.

I don't know if it will get done before he hits the market.

The goal is to get it done before he hits the market.

We'll see how that goes.

Drew Rosenhaus is his agent and he's obviously going to drive a hard bargain.

He's a really good agent.

And he will maximize Devon Bush's earning potential in this regard.

But he also has a good relationship with the Browns.

They work very, very well with Drew Rosenhaus.

He's always got a lot of Browns clients and they know how to do business with each other.

So I expect them to get that done.

I think they will also try to resign Guard Tevin Jenkins, who did some platooning with

Wyatt Teller at the end of last year.

And then also Corey Behorkquez, their excellent hunter.

So these are some of the guys that they will work on resigning.

And then there are guys on the outside that they will take a look at as well.

And also that rising salary cap thing and look, we could spend hours and hours talking

to the salary cap.

I don't think people want this to turn into a math podcast.

But when you mention that rising salary cap, that's part of this to consider too, because

I did just look it up in 2022.

The salary cap was $208.2 million.

And now it's over $300 million.

And so like $50 million, if we just picked that generic number, $50 million in 2022, that

squeezes your cap a lot tighter than $50 million does this year.

And then down the road, let's say it gets to $350 million in the next three or four years.

That's what a lot of these teams are banking on too, Ashley.

It's just this idea that this cap is going to keep going up.

And so some of these numbers that are eating up 20% of your cap this year, that same number

is going to eat up, I don't know, 10, I'm not a math guy, 10, 15% of your cap in three

or four years.

Yeah, I mean, even back to when they traded for Dishonelots and back in 2022, we were sort

of hypothesizing this bent like Andrew Berry and this front office.

It just feels like likes to get ahead of the curve in so many ways and play the long game

and you've seen it on a micro level.

Like I always think about them extending Denzel Ward, the off season they did that.

And it was right before there was this big jump in the corner back market or even like

extending Jerry Judy before he played, that moves ultimately probably saved them some

money, even though I guess we'll see how that ultimately shakes out and if Jerry rebounds

here next year.

But I do think in signing Dishonelots and like we talked about that again, even like

four years ago, yes, the deal was unprecedented at the time, but that it was going to become

one of those things where you are starting to see like those numbers be the sort of standard

and all these teams kind of have the same workaround to it.

So ultimately they were ahead in that way.

But again, I think it goes back to this larger point of well, another team has done it.

It's gotten them more success.

So they haven't.

So it's going to be in the later part of the life cycle of the cap hits for this deal,

how they're going to navigate that.

Yeah, and unfortunately it's got to, it comes with this idea that you had a guy that you

got like 19 games out of and that's what kills you in the end because to your point, Ashley,

like extend early, ask the Cincinnati bankles about this.

Extend guys, be the first to extend, don't wait.

And then the next time around, yeah, you'll have to reset the market again, but you know,

you want to be ahead of it when you extend guys.

So that's something they've done well, even with Miles Garrett's contract last year.

You know, that got beat pretty quickly and that's just the cycle of things.

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Mary Kay, let's get into some other news that has happened.

Let's stick with today in the quarterback position.

Gino Smith is going to be released.

So there's another guy who's going to be on the market, similar situation to Kylo

Murray, where if you sign him, it's going to be for the veteran minimum.

So that would be a cheap option.

We've talked about Kylo Murray.

He's going to be available.

Of course, we know the really big fish out there as Malik Willis.

Don't know if the Browns would actually put them if they're going to throw their hat

in the ring there or not.

I know you've said it, it seems unlikely that he would at least come here, but we'll

see if they end up throwing their hat in the ring there.

As the dominoes kind of start to fall here and some of these veteran quarterbacks become

available, we spent a lot of time talking about Gino Smith last year.

If you think his struggles last year were because of the Raiders and not him, maybe

that's a guy we're taking a chance on.

I don't know.

It's not that super mobile guy that Todd Munkin likes, but he is a veteran quarterback

who's played well in recent years, at least.

So has anything changed in your mind about where this team might go quarterback wise?

No, not really, because I think I've been writing and saying, at least I hope I've

been writing it.

I know I've been saying it that I don't think that they are going to look for or add

an older veteran quarterback.

If they add a quarterback, it will be a younger guy that has upside potential and they can

maybe sign him to an extension and keep him around for a few years.

I really don't see the Gino Smiths or the Kurt Cousins as viable options for the Cleveland

Browns right now, not feeling it.

I would be surprised if that happens.

If anything at this point, I'm starting to think that, and I texted this to our subscribers

today.

I think I did anyways.

I thought to do it.

And that is, I think that they will march forward with Deshaun Watson and Shador Sanders

and maybe add another developmental quarterback in this draft or even in free agency.

Maybe you pick up a young guy somewhere along the line that you can add to that room that

can start if you need him to in a pinch, challenge for a backup job or whatever.

And in that scenario, I think they would try to trade Dylan Gabriel.

Now will anybody give you anything for Dylan Gabriel?

You know, maybe not, but if you could get a late round pick even out a year or two or

a conditional pick out a year or two, then I think that they would be willing to do something

like that.

Because if you think that you have seen enough that you don't see him as a viable option

for you as a starter, maybe it's time to move on and see if you can get something out

of that.

It was a third round pick.

Pretty significant.

And if they can at least get something in return, I think that they would really like

to do that.

So we'll see how that goes.

If it doesn't work out, I think they see him as someone worth continuing to develop and

seeing where that goes for him and maybe down the road, you can get something for him

or whatever.

But right now, I'm, I'm just not feeling the older veteran quarterback.

I would think that they would add a younger guy with upside potential.

And I like, if it were me and I don't know that they're going to do this, I would get

really aggressive.

And at Mary Katz, I mean, this is the guy you liked in the draft.

You probably would agree with me.

I would get aggressive and go after Malik Willis.

I would make him say no to something because just the more I look at it is, okay, yeah,

maybe Miami's an option, but they're sort of going into this weird sort of rebuild mode.

We talked about some quarterbacks that teams might have to eat a bunch of dead money

on to a could be in that category here soon.

Arizona is another team that's been floated out there.

And again, they're a team that's going through a lot of change and a lot of upheaval.

They've got a few guys on offense, but I don't know.

I would throw a deal in front of Malik Willis and make him just see if you couldn't

tie him to come here.

I think that might be your best path forward a quarterback.

Kyla Murray is interesting, but I think there's a lot that comes with that.

Again, Geno, older guy, I just don't know what you're trying to get done in that situation.

That would be my move.

I don't know if they're going to do that, Ashley or not, but I would certainly entertain

the idea of like, let's be bold here.

Let's go see if we can be the team that goes and gets this guy and sees what he can

do.

Yeah.

I mean, just in a sense of like if you think Malik Willis is that good and if you think

Malik Willis has potentially the ability to be like a Sam Darnold or be like a Daniel

Jones and hey, it's a guy.

People had kind of written off and now he's developed a little bit, has more experience.

Like if you think he's going to be that good, then that could potentially be a long-term

solution for some team at that position.

So like why not be you?

Now I guess if they don't feel that strongly about him or don't think he's that guy, then

you can't make that move just for the sake of making it, but there are these guys that

pop up every year and maybe it'll be someone else that's not Malik Willis, but I think if

there's any thought that he could be that guy, it's like why wouldn't you try, but I don't

know, it's interesting.

I'd be curious to hear their straight honest thoughts about him and like especially if

they don't even make really a concerted effort to do it.

But I'm with you.

I mean, I would be aggressive.

I think I got asked the other day on the radio if like money wasn't a factor who would

be the best option and to me, it would be him.

I think for any team searching for a quarterback right now, it would be him and it just kind

of once again illustrates that these guys don't become available on the open market all

that often.

Yeah.

And look, I mean, Mary Kay, obviously I see the reasons why it couldn't work, right?

It's the small sample size stuff.

That said, based on the discussion we just had, I mean, you gave $230 million guaranteed

to a quarterback that you essentially got nothing out of, right?

I mean, I mean, he never even threw a pass in a playoff game for you.

So I don't know.

Would it be so bad to say to Malik Willis and his agents, hey, here's three years, I think

Donald got 102.

So let's say three years and $110 million.

And you know, two of those, it would probably more be like a two-year deal, right?

Like that's how these three-year deals usually are.

Usually after the second year, you can kind of get out of it a little easier.

I don't know.

I just think that's one of those things that is a risk worth taking if you're the Cleveland

Browns and you're facing this specter of Dishon Watson versus Shador Sanders, which again,

maybe Shador Sanders could end up being really good with a bunch of weapons around him.

But I don't know if you want to necessarily stake everything to that.

Well, you know that I would do that with Malik Willis.

I would absolutely toss my hat into the ring for Malik Willis.

I would be kicking the tires.

I would be making some kind of an offer.

I would do that.

I have felt that way since he was coming out in the 2022 draft.

And I wrote a column to that effect back then, just based on a lot of due diligence actually.

I did a lot of work on him back then.

I didn't just pull that out of thin air.

It involves talking to people, it involves watching some highlights and some film.

It involves talking to people that have worked with them.

It involves observing him at the senior bowl, interacting with teammates there, talking

to coaches and GMs and people like that.

So I came to the conclusion that I thought that he was somebody worth drafting and building

around.

And then I came to find out, which I didn't even know it until just this year, that if they

hadn't traded forward to Sean Watson, they would have drafted Malik Willis in 2022.

Finally, they were going to listen to me about something.

No, they absolutely would have done that.

And I think that's significant because one thing that we know about Andrew and we say it

all the time, when he has his sights set on someone, he usually does not give up on that

until it just becomes impossible to get that person.

And so in a perfect world right now, I think he would be pursuing Malik Willis, but because

of the economics of the whole situation, not sure they'll go ahead and do that.

I think the price might climb a little too high for a player, you know, in their mind,

it might be a little rich for their taste right now for a player who's only played in

or started six games or something like that.

No one knows for sure if Malik Willis is going to be worth that kind of money.

So we will soon find out because I think someone's going to pay it, but I would be going

after him.

If I were them, I just don't know if they are going to do that.

I think that they are pretty darn intrigued by Shadour Sanders.

And I think they are very curious to see what to Sean Watson has left in the tank.

And then maybe they bring in one of these younger guys somewhere later in the draft as

well.

So I'm, as I've been saying from the start, I'm not really feeling it, especially because

you know, people are talking about $30 million a year for him.

And you know, you could be holding the bag on that if it doesn't work out the way that

you want to.

And they can't get themselves into another situation like that with the quarterback that, you

know, that isn't starting games for them.

So I think they, I think they're curious enough to go with what they have and just see where

it takes them.

Yeah.

And I know we've talked about that a lot.

And on Wednesday, after the coordinators, I mentioned that like, you know, I'm not sure

where why they're talking up to Sean Watson so much other than like maybe he really does

have a chance to start for this team.

But the only other thing I can think of Ashley is maybe they're praising these guys just

a little too much.

And we've seen the MO of this front office before and obviously it's a new coaching staff.

But you know, Travis Hunter was Shohei Otani a week before the Browns traded out of the

number two picks.

So I, I just don't know.

Yeah, we have seen them play this game before.

I think Andrew Barry is fairly good at it.

Like to me, it's one of those things that when he's done that in the past, like the Travis

Hunter thing being the prime example, like it becomes really clear in hindsight, what

he was trying.

And so impossible to know, but I don't know.

I think it also kind of comes back to this idea of their options are going to be limited.

So I kind of waffle back and forth between those two worlds.

Their options are limited in terms of how they can add, in terms of what they can add.

Just across the board, who's going to be available?

The assets you're willing to give up, your cap situation, the weaker quarterback draft

class.

So if you also are trying to sell, I don't know, other players, a fan base on reasons

to still pay attention to this team.

And not think you're talking about another four or five win season, then that also makes

sense to me in terms of the messaging that we're getting from them right now.

So I can, I can see the value in it that way too.

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All right, another big thing to get to, 30 visits have started for the Browns, starting

early this year.

So Jordan Tyson, tendered the calves game the other night, visited the Browns the next

day.

And then on Thursday, it was carnal tape.

And it was, this is of course the one that got a bunch of attention.

Ty Simpson, Mary Kay, there's been a lot of, you know, coming out of the combine.

Of course, Todd Munkin talked about his relationship with Tyson.

Instead, you, you tracked down Ty Simpson after his availability and got a little more from

him on that relationship and, and how he knows Todd Munkin, it all just makes this very

interesting.

Ty Simpson has essentially separated himself.

It feels like at this point is the number two quarterback in his draft.

But similar to the guy we just talked about, obviously, it's not going to be as expensive.

But, you know, Malik Willis, Ty Simpson is a guy that did not start a lot of games at

Alabama that has generally been, that has generally been a red flag that has held true

for most quarterbacks that if they just don't start many college games, it doesn't translate

well to the NFL.

Now, his situation is a little different.

He, he could have left Alabama.

He actually could have gone back to school and made a ton of money this year transferring

someplace else, but he could have left Alabama when he lost that job, Jalen Milro, but

he didn't.

He stuck it out.

So, again, a little bit of a unique situation and that, and why he only started 15 games,

but still something worth considering in this process.

But I guess what was your, what was your thought when you saw the Ty Simpson was visiting

the Browns this early?

Well, even though I don't think they would pull the trigger on him at number six overall,

I mean, it could happen.

I would probably be very surprised if that happens there, but the reason you do so much diligence

on a player like that, number one, maybe you want teams to think you're going to take

him at number six, because if you're sitting at number 12 or you're sitting at number 14

and you think the Browns are going to take him at number six and you really want him,

then you might think about trading up to get him.

So that's one of the reasons and then the other reasons are the fact that you also have

the number 24 overall pick in the first round and you have the number 39 pick.

And once he starts to turn into perhaps a value pick and maybe he starts to slide a little

bit, maybe he becomes a little bit more interesting and tantalizing to you.

So these are some of the reasons why you would do this.

I know they like him.

I, again, I would have a hard time seeing them take him at number six overall.

I still think that in a perfect world, Andrew will try to trade back from that number

six overall pick, but that opens up possibilities too.

You know, maybe you trade back to somewhere where it makes sense to take a tie Simpson.

And even if you don't think he's going to come in and start for you this year right

away, if you get him at a sort of bargain, then maybe you think that you can develop him

for down the road because you like his skill set and you just bring him in and you let

these guys work with him and see where they can take it.

So once again, there are numerous reasons to have him in.

He's a really, really thoughtful, nice young man.

I mean, he's got great measurable.

He's got a lot of talent.

He did some very, very good things last year.

In his first eight games, he had 20 touchdown passes against only one interception.

And then he got into a situation where he suffered a horrible bout of gastritis.

And he lost like 25 pounds and he faltered a little bit down the stretch.

And he was not the quarterback down the stretch that he was in the early going.

And he's been able to explain that now.

And so if teams can look at that and see why that happened and understand why that happened.

And if Jason Simpson, his father is explaining that to Todd Munkin, how that all went down

and why that all went down and how it's been solved, then maybe that changes the game

for you a little bit 15 games is not a lot.

It's not a recipe for success in the NFL.

But once again, if you think he's a guy that you can bring in and coach him up and get

him to the point where he becomes a viable, bona fide quality NFL starter.

And you can get him at a good spot in the draft.

Then of course, he would give that some consideration.

And I think too, just looking back to last year's draft, right?

We talk about the 24th pick and the 39th pick.

And okay, so where did Jackson Dark go?

You won 25th.

The Giants traded up to take him there at 25th.

You're a Tyler Shucko, he went 40.

So those are sort of, you know, for using last year as a template where again, there was

a clear number one and then there was a gap and it was sort of thought of as a weak class

with some guys who were flawed.

25 ended up being that spot for the second quarterback and 40 ended up being that spot

for the third quarterback.

So I mean, Ashley, that's right in the wheelhouse if they don't want to take him at six and

I do think that would be a little crazy to maybe take him at six unless you really believe

in him.

Maybe he does end up going down to 24 now.

I don't know what the Rams are thinking.

I don't know what some of these other teams who might be looking for a developmental quarterback

are thinking, but you are sort of in that sweet spot where you can maybe not have to reach,

maybe not make an extreme choice and you can still take one of these young quarterbacks.

Yeah.

And I mean, I think that's the thing about the Browns is we just see repeatedly they

don't reach even when they have a need at that position.

Again, we talk about the Shadour Sanders decision there and they traded up a handful of spots

in the fifth round to get him, but they weren't running to take him in the second round just

because he fell out of the first, right?

I think for them, it really becomes about maximizing value and taking guys where you have

them valued and if not going in a different direction.

So I mean, I think it's going to come down to that and I mean, it'll be interesting.

The stuff coming out of the combine and whether he will go in the first round or not, that'll

be interesting.

And like I said before, I mean, I still remain curious, like to Mary K's point, if we're

going to see them ultimately trade back for six, if they can get some assets that they'd

like and trade back, like that would still make the most sense to me, just given how

we know everyone views this quarterback class, however, one views the potential 2027 quarterback

class, that's all I think a part of it too.

Okay, do we miss anything else?

Any news here from the last couple days after, after coordinator day, I feel like we're

sitting here on this Friday before free agency recording a pod and I feel like we're just

playing with fire here the longer we go.

So I don't think we missed anything.

I think we got everything that's kind of, oh, go ahead, Mary K.

Yeah, I was just going to say, I just wanted to mention that, you know, Carnell Tate would

be an interest for them at number six overall.

And for him to be here in Berea yesterday when Tyson's and was here, I think that's pretty

significant.

So they've had in, as we mentioned, Jordan Tyson was here, again, the day after going

to the Cavs game to watch Jalen play and help beat the pistons that day and he led the

team with 22 points and whatnot.

So then they bring in Carnell Tate and Carnell Tate is widely regarded as the best wide

receiver in this draft.

Now his 40 time was not what he hoped it would be, but he's still really, really good.

And I'm sure he'll, you know, he'll follow along in the tradition of these first round

Ohio State receivers who are performing really, really well in the NFL.

So I thought that was, you know, that was interesting too.

They're taking a good strong look at him.

And I think it's a sign that he's in play at number six as well.

Well, and the beauty of being an Ohio State receiver is you get to run your 40 in Columbus

too at some point.

And that was an infamous 40 yard dash that was only like 39 yards.

I don't know if that's still the case, but that used to always be the joke that the 40

in Columbus on those pro days was actually maybe like 39 yards.

But I think that time in Columbus is going to be faster than it was at the combine for sure.

And honestly, like I don't, I don't really care.

I think four or five, like low four or five is fine.

If you're the kind of player that Carnell Tate is.

Okay, we're going to wrap things up there on the Orange Brown Talk podcast.

Mary Kay mentioned she texted some folks earlier today.

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And just a reminder, like I always say, if you're on any social, go search Orange and Brown

Talk. Give us a follow there from Eric and Ashley.

I'm Dan. Thanks for listening, everybody.

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