[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, that's it for now. But, but the swift thing really, you're right Jay. That's a big one. That really shows you that there's going to be a lot of money spent here this week. Yea, don't worry. Because for the last bunch of years running backs have been getting nothing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Nothing. And usually the running backs, even the good ones, have had to wait out, like they weren't signing in the first week because the money wasn't there. The fact that the first big deal of free agency is a running back is kinda telling.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Derek, I wonder if there's been a lot of rumors that Kirk Cousins may sign with Atlanta today.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's, that's a power move. Let's think, if, if Cousins ends up in Tampa Bay, let's, and Justin Fields is eventually traded, let's think about the possible teams that he could end up on. Uh, New England?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But he has no, he has no say. Listen, let's not go over the top. Sean Payton won a lot of games in New Orleans. I know last year he didn't have his best season. That was a while ago, boy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, but at least the Giants, unlike the Browns and the, and the C and the Broncos didn't give up anything to get Daniel Jones besides the draft picnic. That's what could make the Browns all time worse. Do you want Justin Fields, Mike?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I get, wait a second, I guess the bills did not cut Deon Dawkins because now Schefter's saying he just signed a three year, $60 million extension.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yea, Dawkins tweeted out, unless, unless Schefter's wrong, unless Schefter made a mistake and he's signing that three year, sixty million dollar deal with somebody else.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That'd be interesting to follow. But, that's what chefs are saying now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But Jay, the bottom line is a lot of the, there were a number of quarterbacks last year that were making no money that played well as backups. Look at Jake Browning for example. Hell, Joe Flacco.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't agree with that. I thought after that first game against Baltimore, which was a tough spot, the next two games he played pretty well. No one was going to say he was going to take us to the playoffs when we were going to win with him. Okay, but you didn't win with Joe Flacco either.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Jake Browning before I take CJ Browning. But last year you would have said, oh, you want this guy or Jake Browning? You would have laughed at Jake Browning. He never played. How long was he in the Bengal system?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All I'm saying is I'm not buying this. Some sea change. And that most, I think it's always been the same way. It's ebbed and flowed to some degree.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When you pay big money to a starting quarterback, those teams are still not going to pay big money to a backup.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't mean there's not a couple of guys to change. I'm saying the basic pool is mostly the same guys year in a year out. If Daniel Jones gets cut, he's going to be a backup quarterback this year.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Give me, what will prove that teams are taking a higher priority in quarterback?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But he may be on fraud alert, according to my man Cleve T.A., who's the analytics guru of Cleveland. Mike steals all his information from T.A., right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] By the way, you know where Saquon, you know where Derek Henry is going, Baltimore. Isn't he a perfect Baltimore guy?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's, you know, I've come around in the last couple of weeks about the Browns spending some money on a veteran running back because


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To pair with Nick Chubb. But because Nick Chubb's injury was so serious.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To Mario Davis, new deal with the Saints. That was one of the worst Browns trades in recent years getting rid of him. That was stupid. He's one of the best linebackers in the league.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So we were, he, I was going to his wedding in his hometown, I can't think of the name of the town. Some small town in southeastern Ohio.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeaah, I mean it's very rare that the last year of a contract is guaranteed outside of now we've seen with some of the quarterbacks.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] By the way, if the Browns do not, there's, there's rumors that the Browns are in on, um, Christian Wilkins, the big, greatest defensive tackle.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, but I think actually, and the Browns have had a history of signing ex-Bengals.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It is interesting how the money, you know, for running backs have been such a big talking point. And it may affect Nick Chubb. You know, listen again, Nick Chubb's not healthy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I would not restructure Deshaun. You wouldn't. Unless I had to. I'd wait.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because, let's face it, at this point we don't know what he's gonna be. Isn't his cap hit 85 million dollars? It's, I think it's 60 something next year.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And the reason I wouldn't restructure it is because


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right now, I'm already on the hook for some dead money with him in year six after the contract's over.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If he falls on his face again this year, then it's over in my mind.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] At the time. I think in the end the goal is to win the Super Bowl. I don't think you could win the Super Bowl with Baker. I didn't. I still don't.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm not going to argue that he hasn't played better than Deshaun Watson last year. He obviously did, but...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'd still think he's good enough to win with. That's how the Browns felt. I think at this point it's pointless. Well here's the thing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's a good thing. By the way, update on, uh, Baker's contract, if you want the details here. Only 40 million is guaranteed, not 50.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes, 30 million base salary for 25, 40, uh, 30 million base salary for this year. Well, not really, because most of it's signing bonus. 30 million base salary for 25, 40 million base salary for 26, 5 million in incentives each year. So there you go.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Football's bigger. And the game means so much more. Yes. What does the Duke North Carolina game mean now in the regular season?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Football rivalries are bigger. Just in general.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Nothing else they've done in free agency has been done.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I didn't say we. I told you Daniel Jones was a fraud. I was right about that one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What the hell was that? This is the second Tuesday in a row a Cavs player has gone 5 for 5 from 3.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In the fourth quarter to lead them to some miraculous comeback. The only two players in the NBA this season to shoot 100% from deep in the fourth quarter of a game this season on a minimum of five attempts.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Streus last Tuesday, Wade last night, it makes no sense. Being there for both of those games, you can feel the energy in the arena just kind of...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] 20 to 17. He was perfect from the field. He was one for four in the first three quarters, by the way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Two rebounds. He had six rebounds and 20 points in the fourth by himself. But the most impressive part about Wade...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is he is always in the right spot at the right time. And we talk about the little, little things in basketball that don't necessarily show up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] On a stat sheet. And no, he can't rebound like Andre Drummond. Last night he shot like Larry Bird, but he's not a Larry Bird-esque shooter. He's a solid shooter.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He was Steph Curry. I mean, Steph can't shoot 5 for 5. He can't shoot better than he did last night. But if you watch some of these plays here, and you can see the spot, shout out a few of them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He's always in the right spot and he makes the smart play. Like this is a little role here and Drew Holiday couldn't help off because Sam Merrill's in the corner. I know a lot of people are like, Sam Merrill only had six points. Well, just by him being on the court, you have help drawn your way. Here he takes another step up to get a better passing angle from Drew, uh, from Darius Garland, uh, behind Drew Holiday.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He's in the right spot at the right time, and in the fourth quarter it was one of those magical experiences where, no matter what Boston did defensively,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Dean Wade was there to bail them out when it mattered most, including the put back dunk where he sneaks by four different Celtics defenders. That was the only shot they missed in the fourth quarter, the last nine minutes, by the way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But they challenged it and then they made the right decision, which was clearly the right call. But the Cavs, when it mattered most, went to a one in.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Four-out lineup. Dean Wade became Larry Wade.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know about that, but have you ever been to a Cavs game and they play the Hungry Hippos game?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Joey Chestnut ate every one of the hungry hippos. He was the green hippo. And then afterwards they go, let's talk to the winner. And it's Joey Chestnut announcing he's gonna take on three random fans in a pierogi eating contest. It was an awesome, awesome development.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Not only do you have seven shots, made all seven, five threes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He had two assists, both to George and Yang, who we've been crushing George and Yang, and he deserves some credit. He had two killers.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Crucial 3's in the 4th quarter along top of Dean Wade. They were 8 of 8 from 3. Okuro hit a 3. Niang 2. Wade 5. Every little play you could have asked for, he made. And coming off their worst loss of the season against New York, this was their best one of the season. And you know, you just said it. What's the difference?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He has to be the worst player in NBA history to score 20 points in the fourth quarter.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But the last two, the put-back dunk, the pass to Niang, like these are in the most critical moments of the game. And one thing we talked about Dean Wade last year in the postseason series against New York, that guy you see on the screen crumble.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] At this point, but in last night's game, when it mattered most, the Vanilla Wolf was impeccable.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And teams, I don't wanna say play down to competition, but it's natural human nature. Now, the Celtics should have won that game last night.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you hit 11 of 12 shots and you essentially make the one you missed because it was a put back dunk, like you should win that game every time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But the Celtics, what they did in the first three quarters to build that lead, they went away from the fourth quarter. We talked about Joe Missoula and where you rank the NBA Eastern Conference coaches, like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's a big issue for the selfie. It's not the town, it's Missoula. But back to...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The Cavs last night, I just want to say two more things before we talk about Mobly. Yeaah. We talked on the show yesterday, how after New York, Jan, you weren't here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's like I need to see some sort of fight. Like I can't see you lie down against a team that is as good as Boston, as talented as Boston.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And New York may have your number, but at least in the regular season, it has had Boston's number the last two seasons. You go back to last year in the regular season, they had the overtime win here in Cleveland. Obviously last night, it's a team that they don't...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Fear necessarily when you go up in the matchup. And last night was as gritty as tough.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it's frankly awe-inspiring of a performance we've seen from this team all year long. We got on JB for saying, what the hell? How could you admit your team took its foot off the gas when Brunson went down in the first quarter? Well,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you had told me a curl wouldn't be in that five, I'd be like, nah, he has to be. But last night they found a lineup that worked.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They were as engaged as any fan in the arena. From the second they sat down, the pictures, like, that's not a faux pas. Like they were as engaged, they chugged beers, they were signing autographs, taking pictures. It was so cool to see them engaging with the fans in a way that I hoped they would.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But to actually see it in fruition, everything you hear about them, totally checked out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He left the arena in a boot last night. Hayden Grove had a better look than I did. He said it looked like his ankle was a golf ball, very swollen.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I have been pretty strong hold on the stance.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That in some capacity, the Cavs' best lineup included Mobley and Allen.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I had hoped and I had held steady in this stance that Mowgli could develop into a 3-point shooter, but if you go back and you watch the end of the next game, and I'll get to what we saw last night.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Where Evan Mobley's wide ass open in the corner and Darius Garland doesn't even look his way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He ain't shooting it, and in the playoffs, the pressure only ramps up. Right. And the spacing is so congested, you can make space with two bigs.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And there's certainly ways to do it. But when the defense locks in, especially late in the game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I want Donovan to have as much ability to drive without it being congested. I want the same for Darius. And I want two guys in the corner.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Where their defenders can't help off for them to be able to kick out to in case they don't have a straight line drop.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And at the point, at the point in time we are right now, Mowgli doesn't make shots consistently enough. And hell, on Sunday, Dean Wade and Niang were unplayable because they didn't make shots. Last night they were phenomenal. There's a happy medium between the two. If Dean Wade and Niang are gonna make seven threes in the fourth quarter, they have to play obviously. If they're 0 for 6 like they were against New York, well you got a little different preposition at hand. But I am, I am starting to teeter towards the,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Their best crunch time lineup includes one big and four shooters and that's not how I felt leading up to, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Can I say one more thing? Sorry, sorry. It doesn't mean Mowgli can't play. Mowgli is a crucial, invaluable role on this team. I just don't know if if you need a bucket, he's in the lineup you have on the court to get a bucket.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But depending on when Mowgli's return is, we won't be able to find that out until there's 5-6 games left. And at that point, you better have your rotation figured out or else we got bigger issues.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] On the flip side, if you look at the Eastern Conference standings today, casual to three seed.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do you know who's the fourth seed today? Orlando. Orlando. Do you know who's the five seed today? The Knicks. And do you know who's the sixth seed? Miami.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Philadelphia. Oh, Philadelphia, you sure? Mmm, as of this morning, yeaah. Okay. But, either way, my point is, there's so much shuffling of the deck in the Eastern Conference, and even two to seven, it's not that big of a gap.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We all agree, during that 18-2 stretch, no Mobley, no Garland for part of it, they were playing 4-in, uh, 4-out, 1-in. That was their best brand of prolonged basketball we had seen, correct? Yeah. So now with Mobley out, assuming Donovan can come back in the next couple of games and we got enough... I'm not rushing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We got an update from JB yesterday. He's gonna miss the next two, then they're gonna reevaluate.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When he was asked in the press conference directly yesterday, how long do you expect Mitchell to be out? He said, I hope not a month. Which isn't the greatest thing you want to hear from a coach.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You want him back before the end of the regular season. I'm just saying, there's no guarantee he's back in a week now. Right. It could be something longer. With Mobley on the sideline.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you're all under the agreement or the impression that their best lineup includes one big,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They're gonna have to win a bunch of these games against tougher teams in the regular season to stay afloat in the 2-3 spot, as opposed to falling into the 4-5 or even God forbid the 6.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Big picture of competing for home field, home court advantage with hopefully the two seed. The three seed to avoid a potential...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, matchup with Boston in the second round, so you gotta hold on to one of those two.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Going 4 out 1 in. Yeaah. Because you're forced to right now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's a slight spin zone if you think that's their best chance.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's Garland Mitchell Allen, and then it's, and then it's matchup dependent. If they have a guy that you need Isaac's defense on the primary court, if they have size,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You can't go, like, Struz and Okuro could be those next two guys. If you need size, maybe it's Waiter and Niang, but it's those three, and then it's matchup dependent. Who is the hot hand?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I agree with Gene a lot of ways. I think from Flacco's perspective, I can see why if he doesn't have a guaranteed starting spot, Cleveland would be the perfect opportunity to come in.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Even though he said when he was on this show, he said on your podcast, well, I want a chance to start. He's the bonafide QB2 here to begin.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, Deshaun has to prove to us he can stay healthy for 17 games before I think any of us can fully believe he'll be.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Capable of doing that, right? Like I don't think that's a far-fetched assumption, and if you're Joe Flacco and you want to play, well if you're not going to get an opportunity to start off the bat,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You kind of would bank on going to a team where a quarterback has some health issues.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you know the infrastructure. And clearly, he was beloved by the Fantea. They welcomed him with open arms. If Mayor Bibb was like, let's build the Joe Flacco statue downtown right now, would a single person oppose?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like, no, like, so to me it makes sense from that standpoint.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm not sure it makes as much sense from the Brown standpoint, but I'm curious what you think.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't buy that side of it. Um, I do have one other question though. I'm not sure if it's a concern, just a question, but.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Deshaun has said they're gonna throw the ball this season. They hired Ken Dorsey. They're clearly going under a philosophical change to the offense.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He was hurt? Well fine, but I'm saying a philosophical change from what the offense Joe Flacco ran here was last season.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Under what Flacco and Stefanski had developed last season, right? And we talked about, and I know you've said it, they had some sort of innate connection where...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We don't know who's gonna call plays and frankly I don't think that matters for this part of the discussion.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In terms of whatever offense they come up with in the week leading into the game, into the weeks and months leading into this season in general.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I, going off what we know from what Watson said on his podcast, from what I think from the Dorsey hire, from all the other guys they brought into this offensive staff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's going to be a much more predominant shotgun offense than it was under center. Now that doesn't mean Joe Flacco can't play in the shotgun. He had done that for part of his time in Denver. That's mostly what he did in New York. Little different than what he did in Baltimore.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I'm not sure if he's exactly the same fit that when, when Stefanski talked about the quarterback room, we want our guys to have similar skill sets. Now maybe that's completely out the window because Flacco did what he did last season.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But he still doesn't fit the mold of what you want in that arc type offense.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm with you, Iron Sharpen's Iron. All positions across the board, they want to sign, if Andrew Berry wants to allocate money to 33 defensive tackles this summer, so they can, they can whittle them out and get the four best, like, I'm all for that at every position group. In a hypothetical world, if it was Berset or, or Joe Flacco as the two potential QB2 options.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We know Deshaun and Kobe were super tight when they were here. Yup. Flacco, we think they have a decent relationship. We, we, we don't know to the same level as we knew for sure. Kobe's no threat. No threat. That's what I'm saying. So, if those are your two options, would you rather have...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Jacoby the no threat or Flacco the theoretical could be a threat to push Watson. Which scenario do you think would be best to get the best out of the Sean Watson?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They played a pretty cupcake schedule in terms of their opponent quarterbacks, especially who was healthy when they played them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You have to be able to score points. And Flacco we saw last season, he wasn't perfect. He certainly had the turnover issues, but he at least gave you an opportunity.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm not panicked, I kind of expected it to be honest. I thought Evans was going to get the fridge. I thought Evans could, but I also thought-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So that was my thing, if Evans, if it came down to money and Evans had his choice, I just think he would have ended up signing elsewhere. So I was always looking more in the Marquise Brown, Gabe Davis, Calvin Ridley bin for realistic opportunities, even a Curtis Samuel as a guy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm starting to believe a little more could be the wide receiver target for Andrew Barry, but I just think it puts a bigger emphasis on AB going after someone on the defensive line to boost that side of the ball, as opposed to making a home run swing in the wide receiver.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Who's in the conversation? Jonathan Allen. I mentioned this yesterday, real quick, yes or no.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hypothetical trade. Yeah. Alan for Wyatt Teller, would you do it?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We spent a bunch of time on this yesterday. They both have two years left on their deal. Allen has a slightly bigger cap hit, so you take on about five million dollars. Probably, yeaah. Why tell us their best offense? Jason said no at first, but by the end of the discussion he said yes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And if you look at Spotrak, which is, by the way, Spotrak is not perfect, but they are the only site that puts out the projected contracts based on the average value for their production.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'd much, much, much rather have Brown or Ridley over Gabe Davis.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Five, six million dollars, right? At the most. Can I ask one question before we dive into this? Cause it's a fascinating question.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Let's say they restructure Chubb's deal, which I think we all agree they're going to do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Let me tell you why you're wrong. And I agree in the premise of what you're saying, but Tony Pollard, in his last year in Dallas, before Zeke left, thought he was the best back on that team. He's coming off a legitimate, it's not catastrophic in the sense of Nick Chubb, he broke his ankle.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So it's very difficult for you to come back from. When you watch anything from 2023 from Tony Fowler, the explosiveness you saw in 2021 and 2022 was not there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I just think Swift is younger, and has less wear and tear, and is healthier. The fewest amount of receptions Yonder Swift's ever had in his career, 40.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He had 39 last year, but 46, 48, 62, and then 40 last year in Philadelphia. Over a thousand rushing yards behind.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He's already been in situations where he's not the primary runner.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We're just picking our different flavors. I think we're saying the same thing. I just like the younger, more explosive, swift. You like the more experienced. But we're kind of saying for the same arguments.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But when you see the market and to Bull's earlier point, there's so many guys out there. These guys are gonna be cheap. And another guy I wouldn't even mention, who I wouldn't be totally opposed to, would be Deontah Foreman, out of Chicago, who's also a free agent. I think you could sign for like a million and a half bucks.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't like him, I'm just saying, he can fit the, if Chubbs your workhorse, if you think he's back to that, just the pass catching back, scat back third down guy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, both on-site kicks and kick-offs. We'll talk about the on-site kicks first, then we'll do the kick-offs. But, according to the new proposal, which is just a proposal, this has not been voted in, but just... 24 out of 32 owners have to vote for it. 75% has to vote for it. For it to change. The new on-site kick rules would A,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Eliminate surprise onside kicks. So you'd have to call it in advance, and as you can see on the screen, you can only do it while trailing in the fourth quarter. The caveat, which makes this at least a little bit entertaining, is the NFL had banned overloading one side of the field for onside kicks, which had eliminated essentially any chance of a return.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't have the exact numbers, but the return rate or recovery rate or success rate on on-site kicks in 2023 was less than 1%. It was like 2 for 126 or some absurd number like that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now you can overload one side of the field which they're hoping, even if it's declared ahead of time, will bring it back up to about the 5% recovery rate.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It had been in prior years before they banned the overload. So we'll start with the on-site kick.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Gee, you take out surprise onside kicks, you have to declare it, and can only do it


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think, and once again, I think it's to give the team the ability to overload the field so you take out the, uh, injury risk of guys flying.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I thought, I thought if you declared the onside kick, it'd be from where you used to onside kick. I don't know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, so the kickoff rule, and bad job outta me, boy, you're right, that does make a difference in why it's declared. The new kickoff rule is what the XFL adopted.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Last season, and boy, you're right. They actually are getting rid of it this season in the U.F.L. They're going back to traditional kickoff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But the XFL's kickoff rolls last season were a lot of fun. Essentially the kicker for the team kicks off at his own 40 yard line.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The other ten players in the defense start at the opponent's 40 yard line.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The offense then starts at the old 35 yard line. So it's an additional 10 yards on a kickback, on a touchback. If the ball is kicked and rolls into the end zone, it's a traditional touchback at the 25. What you're aiming to do as a kicker is get the ball to land or get the returner to catch the ball inside 20 yard line and the end zone, which forces a return.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then you have your guys 10 players versus, you know, 10 blockers and the returner.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's off a T, which is the one, I'm not sure if they would allow it to be a drop punt, but right now today in the NFL, the Kaker turns a non-existent play.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] 93% of the time, the ball's kicked out of the end zone for a touchback. You get maybe one kick return a game if you're lucky, which has taken out some of the most exciting plays in football. Go back to Josh Cribbs, one of the most popular guys to ever play for the Browns, especially in the modern era. His best trait was kick returns. This, and you go back and look at the XFL stats, and I have a friend who works for the XFL who said,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They're livid that it's being taken out of the game because it was so much, it was so fun and such a big part of their success last year, that this, even if it creates four or five kick returns a game, that's four or five exciting plays of football that were not


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The only one I could remember, specifically, was the Super Bowl. Right. Like, was it Indy Say, uh, Indy New Orleans? Yeah. Sean Payton came out and did a surprise. That's true. Which would be a bummer to take out, but what, that's one in, one in the Super Bowl. And plus.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm all for it. Any way to make a play that's currently a zero, a something again?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm off. I don't know what the downside is. Right now it can't get worse. Like, with all due respect to the NFL, it's a great product.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Real quick, long snapper story, when I was in Texas, there was a private, little tiny private high school there, a kid named Levi Hancock. There was a TAPS, which is like the Christian schools, the private schools, whatever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He won all-state quarterback in that division like three years in a row, was like 6'2", 220 pounds, a man amongst boys in that level of football. Got a full ride to A&M as a long snapper. And I went out and did a story on him and his long snapper training.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] How'd you pick up on it? It's like, I was just messing around in practice one day and I long snapped it on the money from like 20 yards out. Ended up being the number one rated long snapper in the country in his class.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's like, is it hard? He's like, like I throw the football 60 yards, so this is, you know, for me. And I was like, you know, you never think of it, but he wasn't a D1 quarterback. He's now a three year letterman at A&M. He's a long snapper, like, I wonder how he's doing, but good for you Levi.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like they fake snap towels and they push the weight back and they take three scoots backwards and they push the weight back. Funny workout to watch.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's hard to hear Terry Francona say I don't have an answer and then be given an opinion to an answer that if Terry doesn't know then who the hell am I, but I don't think there should be a salary cap, there just should be a salary floor.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There, I do think there should be a minimum amount that a team should be able to spend. Like has to spend. Now I looked at the salaries from 2023.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I don't know what the projected, uh, payrolls for teams are for 2024, but I went back to 2023.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you have obviously teams spending a gajillion dollars like the Mets and the Dodgers.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then you have teams like Oakland and Tampa Bay and Cleveland spending, you know, 60-70. So I tried to figure out a number I thought would be fair.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I came to 110 million dollars per team. That would have been 21st in Major League Baseball. Still in the bottom third of the league. But it wouldn't prohibit teams like


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] L.A., or New York, or Boston, or these b- Chicago. From spending as much money as they want.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But it would make the bottom tier franchises have to spend enough money to at least be competitive. There are always outliers. The Rays somehow find a way year in year out to spend 60 million dollars and win 102 games.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I don't think you could say, well, just because this one team does it, everyone should be able to do it. They have some sort of secret sauce down there that no one else in Major League Base was able to replicate to that extent. Other teams have had it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In short spurts, the Royals did it earlier in the decade when they won a World Series. The Guardians have done it from time to time here, but not sustainable. But I do think, by making a salary floor,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It would force owners who aren't uh, willing or capable to spend the bottom line dollar to sell the team and bring in owners who could.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Can I ask you two baseball questions? Cause we got a second here. First, chase the louder.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Jimenez is obviously a platinum glove at second base. Unbelievable second base.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But none of the guys that they're trying out at shortstop have fully grabbed that spot by the horns yet. Any chance you think that Jimenez could slide from second to short and then they give a little more


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Open the lineup with second base, whether it be an angel, Martinez has come on really strong this spring or one of the other guys.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I do have one more question going back to the initial question we asked here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And there's probably a very obvious answer, I just don't know. What? Isn't there a salary cap in baseball?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Of course, take out Oakland last season, G. This is based on 2023 for team payroll. The Mets team payroll last season, they missed the playoffs last season. Over 300 million, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The Guardians. Payroll five, the Dodgers, $222 million dollars in change. Yeaah. The Guardians last year, 89 million, 25th in baseball.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Both ways. You have to declare before the bat which hand you're gonna pitch with. You can't switch, you can't throw one pitch lefty, one pitch righty.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And we got any super chats, and then if we don't, I got two things I want to mention.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And Cavs tonight at 6. Okay. Let's get some super chats, I got two things to do. Yeah go ahead.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He's a good player, but not, uh, yeaah. He's not the burner you would want to compliment what you already have in the receiver. Okay, two things left.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] One's draft related from Eddie, he sent me a question. One, the Cavs actually played tonight again by the way. They play Atlanta, second night of a back to back. We've talked about in the past.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is the stretch without Donovan in the game, he's injured. Where like, you gotta figure out what Darius is, how to get him back to his all-star form. We assumed Evan Moe would be part of this, he's out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Last night, against Boston, even though they won the game, that's a really good defensive team. I didn't take any of the numbers too seriously, you know. He struggled, he played well, it was like, it's Boston, most point guards struggle.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Darius, if you're looking for a team that you can get your points and your assists, get your stats up to feel yourself feeling good moving forward.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's Trey Young and the Atlanta Hawks. That is some, uh, OLA defense they like to play down in Atlanta.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I know on the second night of a back to back last week against Chicago.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Coming off the win over Dallas, we saw Andre Drummond have 26 rebounds. We saw Nikola Vucevic and Demarda Rosen.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And Kobe White and Iwata Sumo come out and kinda snatch their soul in a double overtime loss.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As good as we feel right now about the Cavs coming off the win over the Celtics, they can't have another letdown performance tonight. They can't.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But with six seconds on the shot clock, if you're flat foot at half court with no screen in sight,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That Luka Doncic, when the ball comes into his hands, holds it for five and a half seconds per possession. That's number one in the NBA. Now his usage rates through the roof there on the whole offense through him, he does a lot of Iso. Kind of to be expected. Now on the opposite of that spectrum, Jokic gets a hundred touches per game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Then he is, to, to, not, uh, Yoke-A-Twish.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, I mean, Luke is significantly better than Darius, it's not even a question. But my point is, I just want to see some quick decisions. You don't have to hold it for five seconds each time you touch the ball. Get it? Go. It's fascist basketball, basketball. Uh, second thing real quick. We got, I got a question from Eddie. I wanted to bring up cause we got two minutes here. Yeah. Eddie said, I got, what's up Eddie? Where were you at? Shout out to Eddie.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If the Browns trade back in the draft, do you think they would look at Joe Milton as a backup quarterback? Get not drafted a quarterback.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The three of us on the panel and Mike and Anthony, we sat around telling stories about our confrontations with the police.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's true. So a lot to get to on today's show. Uh, could Mike Williams rejoin his former college teammate here in Cleveland?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Speaking of which, the Sean Watson will talk about his odds of winning the MVP in the 24th season. We look ahead to the start of the second half of the year, not really the second half because he played more than half the games. But the final 29 games for the Cavaliers gets going tonight and we'll have some fun with Guardians home run total projections based on the fan graph projections.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, that were put out this week or sometime in the last week or two for the Guardians. Couple of quickies before we get started. Number one today is the 44th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice victory.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, if you're too young, if you don't know what that is, I mean come on, get a little history in your life. If you're too young to remember the details, uh, it was, it was 1980 Olympics, the Winter Olympics, in Lake Placid, New York, uh, leading up to that Olympics,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We didn't even know for sure if the Russians were gonna play. They were the dominant hockey team in the world. Because they were, at that time, they were using essentially professional.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Their players were not allowed to play in America because of the Cold War.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They had a bunch of stuff going on. And there was talk, Jimmy Carter had been talking about potentially boycotting the Summer Olympics in the 80, in 80, cause that, so it was a whole big thing. But in the end, both teams played, the Russians were massive, massive, or, uh, favorites to win the, uh, gold medal.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And Team USA with a bunch of amateurs with the youngest...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Team that America had ever put in the Olympics and I think still it's the youngest team ever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Not technically not semi-finals, in those days it was a round robin of the four teams.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It wasn't a championship. If the U.S. had lost to, who was it, uh, Sweden?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think it was, I care if it was Sweden or Sweden, I think it was Sweden. But I could be wrong about that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But they could have still, even after beating the Russians, they could have not gotten the gold medal. But in the end they did. And, uh, the miracle on ice.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Of course, the great Al Michaels call. Do you believe in miracles? Yes!


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then you go, did you know that Mike Arruzzione, the captain.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] of that U.S. Olympic team never played the National Hockey League. Most of the guys on that team did. He never did.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm not really a hockey authority either. And listen, Earl likes NASCAR, so you never know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The only reason I know a little about NASCAR is because many moons ago when I was working in Utica, New York, in upstate New York, people liked NASCAR.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I worked at this station for three years where I was the only host and I was also the program director of the station.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So we carry the NASCAR races on PRN and whatever it was called. And they actually do a really good job with the radio broadcasts. So sometimes I'd be there, you know, listening to some of the stuff. And we did a fantasy NASCAR league one of these years in 20, I don't know, 2005, 6. And I had Jeff Gordon. And I won. He had a great year. Jeff Gordon.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, I didn't, no, they didn't say I said it. PFF said it. Oh, okay. So it was a PFF podcast. Yes. And people were mad that the morning show today, and I know Ken's been sick, so he wasn't on, I don't know who was, is Lima still on maternity leave? I was on yesterday with Peter Lin, but I don't know who hosted it this morning.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] People in a basket? That's an interesting combo. Uh, so they were, but why would anybody get mad that they were talking about? I see people on Twitter, fans, like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh my god, why are they talking about it? Now we just don't have any interest in talking about it because it really doesn't make sense. But why do you get mad if somebody, I don't understand, there's a million things you can listen


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Why are they talking about it? Because we get paid to talk about topics. That's it. You know what? It was a smart thing to bring up because now everybody's agitated about it and we're referencing it even though we're not talking about it. Exactly.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Exactly. Our job is to entertain and get people interested. And so is it in radio and everything else. And by the way, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's the truth. You want to know the truth? That's the truth. People be lying. They listen. I listen. I'd love to talk. I'd love to talk more about the guardians. If the numbers didn't go down the tubes whenever we brought them up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, because I gotta do two quick behind the scenes notes. Perfect. Number one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This, we all have these boxes behind us. You see these? See this? Can we put this on camera?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We all connect our headphones into these things, right? Our earpieces. You see the earpiece here?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The one that Jay uses, and now I use a lot when Jay's not here, it sucks. It's the worst one because


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I like to keep mine low because I don't, you know, I've been putting, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, ear pieces in my ears for 30, 20 something years now. I don't want to kill my earring. So I like to listen to it low. The problem with this one is...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If I have it low, I can't hear Mike when he's talking on the air.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The problem is, so I gotta turn it up a little more. But the problem is, Mike will occasionally, when I'm in this seat,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Talk to me where only I can hear. And it doesn't go on the air and Earl and G don't hear it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, I don't know what you're gonna do. So, this one sucks, that's it. Number two, Mike texted me last night, out of the blue, and goes,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You gotta bring your A game tomorrow. I don't know why you randomly texted that, but whenever I've worked with someone who will text me like, you gotta bring your A game tomorrow, that makes me think you feel like I haven't brought my A game lately.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I feel like every time I come on the freaking air, I bring my A-game. Now once in a while I don't, I'll admit that, but I know when I don't have my A-game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I can hear, I can hear you only because you're close enough that I can hear you, but I'm not hearing you in the earpiece. Is, is, is that an ear infection? No! Uh oh, yeah boy, you in trouble. I'm fine.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] First of all, and I know Earl, I won't spill the beans, but I know on Earl's show today, he's getting into some trade topics. I won't mention any names, but the reality is,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] At least as far as I can tell, none of the big time, top 10, top 15 receivers that are, that are not free, you know, none of those guys are free agents. Unless you say, you know, T Higgins and Michael Pittman are on the bottom of that list. But the rest of those guys, none of those guys are getting traded, or at least I don't expect any of them to get traded as often.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The reality is those guys are very likely to get a franchise tag. Very likely. And not 100% certain, but I think we'd all be surprised if those guys are not franchise tag.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In Higgins' case, is it possible that a franchise tag can trade him? Sure, but they're not trading him to the Browns if they trade him. So, to me, I'm saying none of the superstars that are under contract are getting traded.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Higgins and Pittman are probably off the board. So who's the best receivers left? Like, who are the best reasonable targets for the Browns to get? Well, okay, Mike Evans. Yea, there's Calvin Ridley. Yea, there's Marquise Brown. And then Mike Williams.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Mike Evans is a class ahead of the rest of those guys.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I think Mike Williams is in the same class right now as Calvin Ridley and Marquise Brown. You may like one or the other better, and Ridley's I think a year younger than Williams maybe, maybe two, and Brown maybe two or three years younger. So there may be reasons you like those guys more.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But ultimately I believe they're the same, they're all number two receivers, they're good receivers, they're not great receivers.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With everything the Browns have had at that position, and outside of Amari Cooper, look at who they've added. They've added guys in the draft that, to this point, have all done nothing. They added Elijah Moore, who did nothing. So, is Mike Williams great?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No. Is he gonna get me excited like Pittman or Higgins or a trade for some big superstar receiver? No. But based on what's realistically available, he's probably one of the, one of the best guys. And so yeaah, I would be more excited about Mike Williams than I was when they traded for Elijah Moore.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But the bottom line is, we talked about this, you even said yesterday, hey, the guy can play 12-14 games, I'll take it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Mike Evans has been a relatively healthy player, but he's kind of old at this point. He was still good last year. And he's not the speed guy you're looking for.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] From that angle, Ridley and Marquis Brown make the most sense.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Look at some of the other wide receivers, G. Wouldn't you rather have Mike Williams than Darnell Mooney? Would you rather have Mike Williams than Gabe Davis? But see, I think they cancel each other out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If we take out the guys, we leave on the board the guys who are most realistic.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We'll say Mike Williams, Gabe Davis, Mike Evans, Calvin Ridley, and, uh, what's his name? From the Cardinals. Marquis Brown.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think I would take Marquis Brown second, then Ridley, and then Mike Williams.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But Marquise Brown is a much better player. He is. And Marquise Brown.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right? And I don't believe, I was talking about this with G, I think we were talking about this off the air yesterday. I said, this idea that Deshaun Watson can't win the MVP because of the off the field stuff, I don't believe that. I believe he would lose, if it was a neck and neck battle with someone, he'd probably lose some votes because of that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I actually don't think Fields is crazy at 50 to 1. I, see, the way I look at it, I think of this group, okay,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I would actually put Goff and Watson and maybe Cousins


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Towards the top of this group. Whatever number that should be, whether it's 40, I would say probably like 40 to 1.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Something like that. 35 to 1. I don't know why Richardson's 30 to 1. That's insane to me. That makes no sense to me. That's crazy, but remember sometimes the odds are what they are because of how people are betting.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So there might have been a lot of early money on Anthony Richardson and that's why his odds are. There may be a lot of fans that are very


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right, the teams. Yea, now we don't know where Justin Fields is gonna be. That's part of the reason I'd also, in addition to Watson, have Goff higher, because we know the Lions are gonna be good, and he had a hell of a season this past year at Goff. Yes, I like Goff higher. Now, ultimately, while I don't, I'm not confident that Watson's gonna play at an MVP level, of that entire panel of players,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, Deshaun Watson's best. Now, as we've talked about ad nauseum, Deshaun Watson's best is a while ago now, but...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The fact remains that none of those guys have ever played as well as Deshaun Watson did at his best, which is why I'd have him probably the highest on this chart with Goff and Cousins right behind him and then all the other guys. Uh, Richardson


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It would probably be last on my list. I mean, Richardson and Martin, Martin the Cardinals are going to be terrible. Like, Tyler Murray's not winning an MVP.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, I-I-I-I wouldn't- Who's after, uh, Lamar? Who's the next group?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Top three, Mahomes, Burrow, and Allen, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, Mahomes, Allen Burrow, Stroud, Jackson.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Six, can I guess? Sure, six. I won't give an order, but I'll say six through ten.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, Jalen Hurts. And Jordan Love is seventh. Oh, Jordan Love. I'm sneaky high on Jordan Love this year.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, I guess it's really just him and the, and the rookie and second year players that the guys who are lower like Mack Jones, Kenny Pickett, you know, guys that have never been any good. It may not even be starters next year. So I don't know. I think we all agree his odds should be better. I don't think he should be in the top 10, but he should be right after that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'd put him in the, I think, do you guys agree with me that he should be the top of that group? Yes. Yes. Which would put him like 11 amongst quarterbacks.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean I think that's fair to have those guys ahead of Watson. I would have him 15th in the odds. That's pretty good considering what he's done in the last couple of years.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Give to a Swag Lessons. That's what we need to know. Deon. That's it. Maybe they need to work. Maybe he needs to work with Deon.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yesterday, by the way, by the way, off the air yesterday, because I was just about to say this about Joe Burrow, but I gotta give the context. So off the air yesterday, we were having this conversation and Earl said a very nice thing to me. He goes, you're invited to all the black barbecues, right? Which was a very nice thing to say.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I was like, and then I was just thinking, well, Joe Burroughs also invited to all the black...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We talked about that a million times. Anyway, go ahead, Mike. What do we got next?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now, Mobly averages what per game during the season? Like 15? About 16.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And Darius averages... About 19 right now. Okay, so Darius would be further away from his number. Go ahead, Earl, who you got? Uh, you go, I'm looking up something.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Darius is gonna shoot more threes. So if he has a hot night. Darius ain't been hot in a while. That's fair. But.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's a lot of, like, Evan Mobley's gotta make more baskets to get 25.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't think they're gonna go 25 and 4, but I, I know, unless they have, unless Donovan Mitchell has a serious injury, and even then I don't think they can go 10 and 9.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So if they went 25, they'd finish with 61? Which would be tremendous. What's the Cavs record? There was one year with LeBron, they won over 60 for two years.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't think they're going 25 and 4, but they're not, there's no chance, I give a 1% chance of going 25 and 4, maybe even a little higher than that. I think there's no chance they go 10 and 19.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or, Mobley made four. Mobley's never made four three. He's made three. He can't. I wish you would have said five. Then I, I mean.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, Donovan Mitchell has, besides the 70 point game list here, had he ever done 60 in Minnesota?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If I had to put the bread down, I'd bet on Mobley, but I'm nervous that he's never gonna take four in a game. There's a chance that he might happen. It could go either way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Never scored more than 46, except for that one game last year. Correct.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You could make it 8 and I would still go 27 or more. Ooh.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wait, no, the problem is that at the end of the season there's going to be games where he doesn't play a lot.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeaah, but Struce in his career has been a better three-point shooter, so I would, and he's been not as good this year, so I expect him to be...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think he'll be a better three-point shooter than a Coro from here to the end of the season. I think Struz will hit a higher percentage, so I'm gonna go with Struz.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, where they have Imani with them and they're up by 30 points, they're playing some bad team, and he'll play the whole second half. Play Detroit, baby. You know, A Detroit, he's from...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Mike, before you put the next topic, let me just say to fans right now, there are thousands of you watching the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show live with us at 1205 in the afternoon. There are many more of you that are watching this later today or tomorrow or maybe next week.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All of you have made the wise decision to shut off old media radio and put on new media YouTube and watch this show that we love to bring to you. We don't waste 20 minutes of every hour with commercials. Nope. We give you nothing but content the entire show. So what we ask in return is not much. Please, on YouTube, hit that subscribe button.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Click on it, hit the thumbs up, hit the bell so you get alerts every time we do a show. From all our extra UCSS shows to the original this show.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Get those alerts and please subscribe. It costs you zero money. Please do it. Thank you. Go ahead, Mike.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Obviously the affordability of having


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A cable package or a satellite package or just a Bally's app is a factor. I don't...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't, I don't know. I don't necessarily buy that, that's a, I don't see why that's a factor compared to last year. In fact, inflation is down.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Prices on a lot of things are coming down. Uh, the economy, contrary to the nonsense put out there, is better than it's been in a while.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That switched from direct TV or cable to YouTube TV when the football season started. Because even if you're just a Browns fan, a lot of football fans like to watch other games. You wanted the Sunday ticket. So you, I think a lot, I was one of these people, I had direct TV forever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I switched to YouTube TV in September because I wanted to be able to watch the Sunday Ticket. And...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think like me, a lot of people at the beginning of the season were like, well the Cavs were exciting last year, they let us down, so I'm not gonna watch them this year. We'll see you later in the year or I'll watch them if they're on ESPN or NBA TV. And I was one of those people. Early in the season I wasn't watching the Cavs. And now I've been finding ways to watch the Cavs, whatever. And they've been on national TV a little bit lately.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But when I come back from my vacation, I'm gonna get direct, I just canceled my YouTube TV. And I'm gonna get direct TV again because I wanna watch the Cavs and obviously I wanna watch the Guardians.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But, listen, the economy has had its issues since the pandemic. It's been an issue.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So yes, I think that's a factor, and I definitely think that's a factor. I think that's a factor, certainly the switch to YouTube TV is a factor, because you can't watch rallies on YouTube TV, and the fact that the team


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Felt like they sucker punched us last year. I think early in the season had people less interested. I would guess that the last month the Cavs ratings have been better than the previous month and they'll be better in the last 29 games.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The minimum you could spend for like Fubo or DirecTV Stream to get the Cavs and Guardians is like about $100.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] MLB needs to have, like, there's an MLB extra innings package, but usually the local team is blacked out when I've gotten into direct TV. You're saying the T-Mobile wasn't?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I've had Verizon since the beginning, I'm afraid to switch.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I don't know enough about this, but I would think that if they said, Hey, we're going to put the calves on whether it's channel, whether it's us here at channel three or channel five or eight or 19.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That you could charge more to advertise in those games because more people will watch.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It doesn't always work. The Cubs started, like the Yankees have had their own channel for a while. The Cubs started their own channel the pandemic year and I don't think they're making a ton of money on it. Plus, believe it or not, like, I can't get the Cubs channel in Cleveland. Like, why would you not have it


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know, I can't get into the mind of a billionaire. It seems like just greed to me. I don't know, but...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I don't know if we're ever going to have, you know, a majority of Cavs games. Cause yeah, you're right. When I was a kid, I watched the Mets and the Yankees on free TV. It was channel nine and channel 11. I would watch the games. You never have to pay for it. And now you got to pay for everything. And that's the way of the world. And unfortunately the case, and there are people that can't afford it and that sucks. Does it?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Football, at least you can watch your home team if you live in market free. Yes, yes, for the most part. I mean, most people have at least some level of basic cable, but you can watch it for free. Anyway, go ahead, Mike.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, and Fangraphs has, I can't remember the total number, but Fangraphs is projected, Fangraphs is, uh, you know, like a PFF type, uh, site for football, but,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Baseball analytics are more widely accepted. Like baseball is all the G, almost every GM is basically an analytics guy with almost no exceptions.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, it's not like football where, you know, a lot of people are like, ah, PFF, who cares? With baseball, everybody takes fan graphs seriously. And so, people buy into the, the projections. Doesn't mean they're gonna all come true. Obviously, it's not perfect.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now, they were dead last by a lot last year, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If the Guardians finish 20th in home runs this year, they have a chance to win their division. Right.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because they have pitching. So now I don't have a lot of faith that they're going to finish 20th, but you can't be 32nd. 30th. Or 32nd, it's not.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There will be 32 teams in baseball eventually, but not yet. Go ahead Mike.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You got it. I'm going over. I'm going over too.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I hadn't heard that, but I like that. That's why I said I'm going over. Alright, well, and here's another reason to go over based on something Stephen Vogt said too, and I forgot about this until Earl just mentioned something Stephen Vogt said, it reminded me of something else he said, that it looks like, you know, for many years, Jose's been hitting third in the lineup.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This year, it looks like he's gonna hit second. Which means, how many more plate appearances are you gonna get? Over the years? I mean over a year? Maybe that's 30, 40, 50 more plate appearances? I would always ask. They can't protect a man.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, they're gonna have Naylor probably batting third, and Naylor's pretty good, so. Oh, if they move them up, they can pretty- It's smart. Ramirez should have been batting second.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, it might, might hurt his RBIs, but we're not betting on the RBIs right now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I'm going to say yes, if he's healthy, he plays 140 something games this year, he'll hit 25 home runs. Uhm. Big dude.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He finally hit lefties. So the fact that he can hit lefties now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That wasn't his rookie season. That was his first season with the Guardians. He's kinda old too.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He's gonna be right around that number. I'm gonna go under on him.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] How many total home runs did he have last year? More than three, certainly.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, between that being five years ago and him not playing, I don't think he's playing every day. I'm going on, I got him with, I got him with like...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, let me give you some. Now I was high on Kyle Manzardo because he is their best prospect. Now a lot of their best hitting prospects have not panned out. Now they just traded for him last year for Aaron Savalli.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He has power. Here's the thing with Manzardo. He hasn't been a power hitter in the minors.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He projects to be a power hitter eventually in the majors, but he won't be as a rookie, that's one. Number two, he's not, he's unlikely to be with the team at the start of the season.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I, so next week I'm on vacation and I...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm pre-recording some interviews to run on podcasts. I mentioned that earlier in the week. One of those interviews is with Jim Rosenhouse, who's one of the voices of The Guardian. I spoke to Jim earlier this week.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And if the talk, getting Jim's thoughts on Kyle Manzardo, I wasn't that optimistic that he's, he made it seem like, I don't know if he's gonna be here at all, at this point here. Maybe not at all, but like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's for him won't come as easily as I thought they would. And I don't think Jim would say that if it wasn't true because he's obviously got a feel for the team. So I don't


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They traded Nolan Jones. They could easily have.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Without giving up a single, I believe, a single player on their active roster. They could have Nolan Jones in right, Will Benson in left, and then you'd move Kwon to center. You could have, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, we'll get, by the way, one guy, when we're done with these predictions, I'm gonna give you a guy that I'd like to see the Guardian sign, and I think it's actually realistic, as opposed to some of these big-name guys. But go ahead, Mike, next.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Thirty's too much, but I think he can hit twenty. Okay. I think he'll be eighteen to twenty somewhere in that range. Definitely over fourteen. He's gonna play, I, I, one other thing I asked Jim Rosenhouse, I don't wanna give away the whole interview, I said, I wanna see Bo Naylor play a hundred and forty games this year. And he said he thought he would, assuming he's healthy. Uh, so,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Why you got that sly smile on your face, Mike? No sly smile? Uh, Bownailer got around 20 home runs.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If he hits 30, my God, he's going to be an all star.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm very down on Arias. They sold- I don't think he's gonna be the starting shortstop. No. They sold me on that. See-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because unlike the other sports you get to be a, think about it, in the other sports you're a prospect when you're in college.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is why. It's not because of him as a player, it's because he's a good guy and a good clubhouse guy, which they wasted four million dollars on. I'm fine as a backup catcher. What's his, I mean, when's the last, most years he hits like five, six, but that's when he played more.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He's probably hit double digits a couple of times. He does nothing. He's the worst hitter in baseball. The worst.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] By the way, Anthony of the six of us here today is the only Italian person, and yet, he's the least mob guy of the six of us.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When's the last time Miles Troy hit two home runs in the season? He, I say 2020. What?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] One of the good things about Francona being gone is that a new manager is not going to be as loyal to the veterans, and I don't think, I don't think Miles Schroeder is going to be a starter.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, were we all under or is anybody thinking he's good? Because to be over, you got, you have to drink.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, now, let me throw one player. Shoot. Cause there's still a lot of good free agents, and I know... Go ahead, Mike.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, so we're about to play the free agent game. Let's put it together. Do you have to do a read first?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Unlike basketball and football, where all the good free agents go off the board in the first week, or first days.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In baseball, especially in recent years, there are a lot of good free agents. First of all, nobody signs in the first week.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And there are still, even though we're already starting spring training and the first spring training games are starting Saturday.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There are a lot of good free agents still on the board. Cody Bellinger.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Blake Snell, Matt Chapman, Jordan Montgomery, I'll leave JD Martinez out for now. All five of those guys, by the way, have the same agent, Scott Boris. That's part of the reason they're all still out there. Now Montgomery, Chapman, Snell, and Bellinger are four of the top ten free agents in this market, and they're all still there. JD's probably top 25. Cause he's old.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, all these guys, well, the, the guardians, I wouldn't expect them to spend on a pitcher, but, and, and, uh, you know, they, the guardian, Matt Chapman wouldn't make sense for the guardians anyway, cause they're base.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So Cody Bellinger and JD Martinez would both make a ton of sense on the Guardians, but of course they're not going to pay the money that it would take to get either of those guys. So we're going to go through these guys and do some like hypotheticals what it would take beyond money to try to get them to Cleveland. Before we do that, I do have one real guy that's still a free agent.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is a center fielder. Now he's not a great defensive player, he's not as good defensively.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As Miles Straw, Miles Straw is very good defensively, Adam Duvall is accurate.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But Adam Duvall is a million times better hitter than Miles Draw, and he has power. In fact, I believe he had 22 home runs last year, and he only played about 90 games. This is a guy who, if he stayed healthy, and played nearly every day for the Guardians, could easily lead them, or at the very least be second in home runs.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I respect him to hit, yeaah, he's older, he's like 35, 36.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But at this point, that guy who's below Bellinger on the market, below Martinez on the market, below Chapman on the market,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You could probably get him one year, five, six million dollars. That is way doable for the guardians. There's no reason you couldn't get him and plug him into center field and plug him as your cleanup, he'd be your cleanup hitter right now. I bet you if he stayed healthy, he'd hit a minimum of 20, minimum of 20 home runs and probably get close to 30.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't want a guy who's terrible in the outfield, obviously, but Adam Duvall is not terrible. He's an adequate center fielder. I'd rather have an adequate center fielder who can hit than a very good center fielder who can't hit at all. Miles Straw is not only a bad hitter, he is literally the worst hitter in baseball.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He, his OPS over the last four years is the worst in baseball of all qualifying hitters. And if you accepted guys who were not qualifying hitters, the worst would now be Austin Hedges. That's devastating. You've now named two people. Yes. That's the worst hitters in baseball that are on your squad.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The straw contract's terrible. They're paying him like 6 million this year. Seven and then eight. They're stuck with him for three more years. But they gotta be realistic. He's not a starter. Go sign at him. I know they, listen.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] By the way, one guy we didn't mention in the Home Run Projections, who I do have some interest in and could be a surprise power source for The Guardian, is a kid named Estevan Florial.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So Estefan Florial had been one of the Yankees best prospects. Okay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Let me tell you how we got here. So Floreal has been great in AAA with the Yankees the last couple of years, but the Yankees have a lot of good outfielders and he hasn't gotten much of a chance to play in the majors. Now, when he has played the majors, he hasn't played very well, but he hasn't had much of a chance. He's never played with any consistency.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He is battling for one of the spots, maybe a starting spot with the Guardians. There's a ton of potential. Now, he may just be one of these guys that we refer to as baseball nerds as a 4A player, which means he's too good for AAA, but he's not good enough for the majors. We don't know yet.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But the guardians are going to give him an opportunity. But in theory, if you saw, you could sign, uh, uh, Adam Duvall and put Florial in right.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I could put Floreal and Wright. You know, Laureano and straws, your backup outfielders, you mix them in a little bit.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Floreal potentially, again, he could hit 20 home runs if he plays every day. He has that kind of talent. I don't know if it's going to translate to the majors. And Duvall has proven time and time again he's a big time power hitter. That would make a big difference. Unfortunately, I don't even think they'll do that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Although there is some crossover. Yeaah. But you could sell them and make some of the money back. Okay, uhm. Let's hook them up with season tickets to the Browns. Autograph Lebron jersey. Well, does that get it done? Earl, you wanna add something to this?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, we've got unlimited corned beef. You got brown season tickets. F-150, dude. An F-150.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Unlimited shows at the Beck Center for kid performances.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Apparently, I don't know. Yes. I'll take him with me. You go. Allegedly, there was a gig. Oh.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'll steal some, I'll go to, uh, my favorite supermarket, uh, to get cold, Boar's Head cold cuts. I go to Lake Road Market in Rocky River and I'll steal some ham for him. I would commit a crime.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, here we go. I know a masseuse. I'll get him free massages. I'll get him free workouts with my trainer. I'll get him free haircuts with the woman who cuts my hair. I'll take care of all that for him.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, in these contracts we always hear about the money, but there are things in there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I saw some, some coach in college the other day. He had like a certain amount of trips on a private jet and all these things.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wait a second. 10 million's not enough. He has to deal with NIL and transfers.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's more overpaid than college coaches that whine more about their jobs.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think it's two different things. I agree with you on the NIL part. The only thing I'll say about the transfer portal is I wonder with that if some of these players are hurting themselves. They might switch in as much.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Listen, the reality is it's probably not great for a lot of kids, but I don't disagree. That's America, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] People in Cleveland, it's not probably not just Cleveland. It's probably the entire, maybe it's the entire Midwest. I learned this a few years in living here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A lot of people, maybe it's not everybody here, but most people from this area cannot tell the difference between a Boston and a New York accident. Did you know that?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because Ken Carman used to consistently on the radio do an impression.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or Chicago accent, like. Well, the Chicago accent is different from Cleveland. And Cleveland's got an accent too. Everybody's got an accent.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's a Pittsburgh, there's a Wisconsin, Minnesota. Yeah, I, I hear the Wisconsin a little bit, but. We'll see you on OT. Peace!


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And if you make a mistake, you can make it, you can help it go away.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] On the other side of it, I didn't think, I didn't think people probably wanted to start hearing me complaining. I don't think it's great for the game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I also don't have a solution. So until you have a solution, I don't know if you can just sit here and complain. You know, in football, they divvy up the money exactly even because every game is


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Broadcast nationally. You know baseball is so regional.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And what the guardians get compared to maybe the Yankees, it's not even close.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I know there's some revenue sharing, but it's, you know, it's not enough to make it where everybody's even. So I don't have the answer, but, but to your question, I don't think it's healthy for the game. I don't think it's good that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, they might end up 500. I don't think that's good for the fan base. I don't think it's good for the game, but I also don't have a way to remedy that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, so tomorrow, uh, I actually have my first ever guest on The Ultimate 216 Show, a local Cleveland native stand-up comedian. He goes by B. Titty, man. Funny, funny dude. Uh, check it out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They've been aggressive in free agency, really all the years he's been here, and they need to do it again. Deshaun Watson, this is, this is it. This is the make or break season for the most important position on the team. I know that his contract is five years, but if Deshaun Watson fails,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Conference or the division are getting any easier three years from now or five years from now. All the other good quarterbacks in the EAFC outside Aaron Rodgers are young. So it's not like, well, let's wait it out here. No, there's none of that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That are, that these teams are dealing with, and who is the guy on each of these teams that we all would, that it would be best for the Browns if they left. So let's send it to Mikey to set this up further. Go ahead.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They've already replaced him with young guys that are, that showed good promise last year. Uh, to me, the biggest loss for the Bengals, assuming they franchise-tagged T. Higgins, would be DJ Reader. Now, he's getting old, but he's given the Browns some problems in the past, and, and another team certainly a lot of problems. He has been one of the best, you know, non-sack defensive tackles.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now he's one of the best in the Bengals consistently when he's not been there. In the years that he's been with the Bengals, when he's been hurt, their run defenses hit the skid. So he would be a pretty big loss. Now he's older, so I don't know how good he is at this point, but that would be a significant loss.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I can't even remember how to pronounce his first name. I think his last name is like Okafor.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okorafor. He's an offensive lineman. He's actually a decent player. He has started plenty of games and I'm not even sure why they cut him.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, for the Browns, I, I, this guy is a young up and coming player. He's the prime of his career. Somebody's going to pay him a ton of money. And the Ravens, as, listen, Lamar won the MVP.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I knew. See, I don't think so. I think he, you know, he had 29 in 2022. That wasn't an outrageous number because he hit 30 something, 36 I think, in 2021. In 2020, I think he had 17 in a 60 game season.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And even in 2019, I think he hit about 25, but he missed like 50 games that year, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, between 29 and 33 homers, I do, I think, yea, and he's had this a few times in his career. I think he, he was dealing, he was definitely, not think, I know he was dealing with some nagging injuries last year. And Jose, whether he's injured or not, he wants to be in the lineup every day.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We'll see. I mean, there's not a huge gap between 25 and 30 homers. They could use every homer though. Coming off a season, as Jay mentioned earlier, where they didn't hit a ton of homers. Alright, we're gonna take a break here. When we come back, we've talked about the Browns, we've talked about the, uh, the Guardians. The Cleveland Cavaliers, what's more likely


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Welcome back to the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show on WKYC. Before we get to the cap's quick breaking news from the NFL and it's about the salary cap and it's good news for teams that have spent a lot of money like the Browns. This is a record folks. Usually in most years the cap goes up 6 million, 8, 10, some recent years, 12 or 14.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We all don't think either one is all that likely, but here's the bottom line. The Cavs in the history of the franchise without LeBron have won four playoff series.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, so to get to the finals, they have to win three. Number two, the Cavs have won one playoff game without LeBron in about the last 20 years.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, I'm gonna say they're gonna win 12 playoff games without LeBron. It's possible, but it's highly unlikely. They are way more, I don't think it's that close, and I hope I'm wrong, but.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Miami's got that magic because they got the best coach in the league. So I think the Cavs are going to win a series. I think they got a decent shot to win two even, but I can't see them beating Boston. I think that's going to be nearly impossible. And uh, so unfortunately I think we're in a clean sweep.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The fact that it's, it's more likely. Mike, do you want to make the argument for the other or no?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I'm Mikey McNuggets. The Browns have made a ton of coaching staff changes this offseason, but...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Are they upgrades, downgrades, or the browns in the same spot? We'll find out in just a few minutes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If I had to give it a 1 right now, I think Tipitoe's 5. And I think the other 4 on that list all have compelling cases to be number 1.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I would go with Finch just because to what Bull said, Minnesota had the lowest expectations. They've kind of exceeded in their two years ahead of their own timeline.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeaah. It didn't work last year. I know, it did not. We'll see if it happens, but, uh, JB Bickerstaff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, we talked about, he was on the hot seat every game earlier this season. He was. He was 13 and 12 on December 15th.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So my initial headline was almost word for word bulls. It was a little more creative, but I had to change it when I saw bulls. So here's my new headline. How about a modern day miracle? 49ers blow a 29 to three lead. My home's leads game winning drive and surpasses Brady in McNuggets personal record book as the goat.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think it's the second most important coach on the staff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You may dismiss this, but this could cost them with free agents.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because one of the reasons Ethan Postic came here, he had options.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The reason he came here was Bill Callahan. That's fascinating. He told me he was the strength and conditioning staff. He really liked the Brown strength and conditioning staff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And to be coached by Bill Callahan. Wow. And look what he's done, and Oposec's turned his career around. He was just a guy when he came here. He was just a guy. Now he had a lot of injuries. Yeaah. But he's been, and he's had some injuries here, but he's stayed relatively healthy, and this is what's happened.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The job he did with Dewan Jones this year was remarkable. We talked about it before the draft. GE were all over him. I said, the talent is there, it's the maturity issue. Is he mature enough to, he had some growing up to do. Well guess what? Dewan Jones grew up this year. Big time. Fast. And he was throwing up on the field, yeaah. On his first day in a ball field.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, you can look at Jed Wills and say he hasn't reached his potential, and that's fair.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was really disappointed in that because this is the right thing to do. Let him go coach with this kid.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's such a thrill for him and you have to be known as an organization that does right by your people. That's right. You're right. And this is a really good way to get a bad reputation is to try and fight this or block this.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You get a pretty, and, and Belichick used to do that. Belichick used to like guilt trip his coaches about leaving and trying to block him and everything else. Well he refused to let them talk to the media. But, but he was also winning Super Bowls and he could get away with a little bit more.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But the Browns aren't in that position. You have to do right by the people that do right by you. And this was absolutely the right move. As much as it hurts, as much as it stings, you want to be known as an organization that has your people's back and does right by the great with that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The only thing I would end with that would be what I open with is that when players are telling me the reason they came here was because of the coach, he's pretty good. That makes a difference.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hang on, I'm gonna plug mic. Please. That sounded weird.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Mike knows his stuff on basketball and this podcast


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And, and Mike's one of those guys because he played the game so he can see the nuances that I don't see. I have the...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I have the institutional knowledge of having covered the calves for a real long time, still knowing a bunch of people in that building.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But in terms of like how it plays out, I think you're really going to enjoy listening to Mike break down basketball and break down the Cavs. It's something we don't get a chance to do on this show very often because the Browns take up so much oxygen on the show.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But, if you're a Die Hard Cavs fan, I think you're really gonna enjoy listening to Mike break down.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We look at it. It depends. It's, it's, it's a, it's a metric. It's not the end all be all by any means, but when sometimes when it is so much glaringly.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Drastically different than everyone else. Yes. That's when you notice it and say, okay, what's going on?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, right. It's just another shooter on the floor. To me, like, you know, Evan's first game back, Evan was a minus.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And Dean was a plus 20 and it has to do with the spacing of the floor, how you have to defend that and the driving lanes that it creates.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He just is, and he is a magician, and Kyrie and I did not get along at all.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He didn't get along with anybody. I was with him longer than anyone in his career and I don't know him any better than anybody else. So this isn't me. Like, like obviously I, I, I, I admit that I have bias toward LeBron because I had a better relationship with him with Kyrie. I'm just telling you, this dude was a wizard with the ball in his hands and he does things on a court that very, very, very few people can do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's not close to me and Donovan's a wonderful player. He's a terrific player. He's a top 15 to 20 player in the NBA today.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But if you are talking about you need a guy who's gonna go win you a championship, I saw what Kyrie can do. I haven't seen it yet out of Donovan.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, so, I mean, right when the show was starting, Brian put out a report, Brian Winters put out a report, he talked to Rich Paul, and Rich was like, listen, this is foolish, you ain't getting traded.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They're not trading LeBron and we're not asking for a trade. So that, that's over.