REPORT: Joe Flacco working out with the Cleveland Browns | Improvement over DTR & PJ Walker?
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kick off the NFL season. Fanduel, an official partner of the NFL, an official partner of the ultimate Cleveland sports show. And we talked about all the different things fanduel offers. Well, how about this bet you couldn’t bet on yesterday? And our guy Kyle Schuler won, he bet $5 on both teams to score in every quarter of Thursday night. Football. 12 to 1 bet. 5160 to Kyle Schuler. That’s what Vanel has, player, props and fun. Little oddball bets like this. That would make me nervous as hell. But it’s a fun one. You get it. It’s very
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the Browns yet. He’s coming in for a workout and let’s go around the horn here and see what we think about that. Bill. You like it. Uh I mean, listen, am I excited? Those would be excited about Joe Flacco. So he’s, he’s not got, he doesn’t have much left in the tank, however, he’s probably better than what they got. So, yeah, I do like it. Uh He’s a veteran again. I, I said what I said about, uh Matt Ryan the other day holds for Joe Flacco even though I think Matt Ryan is a little better,
but he’s been, you know, Joe Flacco is not doing TV. So you bring in the veteran, you say to him, hey, listen, we may need you in a couple of weeks. We’re going to see what DTR guys DTR plays well. I start in the rest of the year if he’s terrible in the next week or two. I go to Joe Flacco. I love that stat at the bottom. He likes playing in Cleveland. Now, my goodness. Last year he started, he played five games for the Jets. The team was one and three in the games. He
started, of course, the one win was a great comeback. He threw five touchdowns and three picks, but he lo he fumbled five times. So in total, he had five touchdowns and seven picks, uh, turns seven turnovers last year turnovers. He fumbled five times but only lost four in the last four years and pull tag back up real quick. But he’s been in and out of the starting lineup. He’s got a couple of gigs. He’s been out 20 touchdowns, 19 turnovers. That’s bad. But it’s a lot better than PJ Walker and so far better than DT
RJ. I just don’t get why they wouldn’t have done this earlier. That’s what I like. You knew PJ Walker Phillip, what wasn’t it? So why didn’t you make this move three weeks ago? And that’s why I thought I, I, when I was on with you guys, whatever day outside the facility, I thought they would go practice squad off another team only because Flacco’s been out there all year. So if you wanted to go this route, you should have done it a month ago when you saw that Philip wasn’t quite it. I do like what a
veteran like that can bring just in terms of the, of the film room and what he can, how he can help DTR on the sidelines on film. He’s a veteran. He’s seen it all. So that sort of leadership and mentorship is far more important than I think he, anything he can contribute on the field. He doesn’t fit their mold. You know, the Browns have tried to keep all these quarterbacks the same in terms of what they can do their abilities. Flacco is a statue. He can’t move at all. He’s the antithesis of what they have.
Absolutely. So, the protection really has to hold up if, and when he ever gets in there. Well, that’s why he’s had so many fumbles because he gets hit. Yeah, he just, he can’t move. Yeah, same thing in New York. So he was a target and maybe they didn’t bring him in earlier. Maybe he had no interest in being on the practice squad. Maybe he’s got an ego and a veteran. He’s been around this long and thinks I’m not going to come back in for a practice squad spot or whatever else. Maybe he was thinking well,
with Watson healthy, I’m never gonna play. I don’t know. Now he’s got a chance to play. Well, we talked about that when I was on the other day that, hey, these guys have to want to do it. I don’t think Matt Ryan ever had any interest in coming back to an NFL team? Why, why should he look at the money? He’s making the money he’s already made. He has no interest in it. Uh, Flacco has made a ton of money too, but clearly, I guess he’s still interested. So, we’ll see. I think it could be
very helpful just in what he can provide and experience. I don’t know if he’s really gonna be impactful on the field. Yeah, I think, I think the Browns did this for multiple strategic reasons. One of them is they know that Joe Flacco can get hot. He’s shown it before. Joe Flacco wouldn’t won the Super Bowl. They were the team that went on the road as a wild card team three straight weeks, got it done and went to the Super Bowl and won played great. That post played great that postseason Campbell himself. Two on top of
that, we just saw Joe Flacco smoke us here. We just saw him lead a come back here when we, I thought derailed our season last year when we lost to the Jets in the way we did 10 and one over here. Second of all or third of all. Now, number three, he knows the division, he knows exactly. He’s played against our ball, he’s played against the Bengals. He understands the division, he understands what the climate is like and he knows what it feels like to have to be able to play these, these teams. And then,
and then finally, I think that the Browns are saying something to us. Look PJ Walker could be more. He want, he still throw picks and he still, he still, he still could get sacked and drop the football. I think what, what’s best for the Cleveland Browns if they want to move forward is you need somebody that people understand where you’re gonna be at. Joe Flacco will throw on time. Joe Flacco will get to his third or fourth progression or second or third progression. He’s not gonna add lib a bunch. And when you have the weather
getting bad and you just want somebody not to turn the football over. I’d rather have a guy that knows where to throw the ball immediately and get it there rather than trying to extend plays and have turnovers. Exactly. Two other things, if the Browns are dealing with a patchwork offensive line, which they have a little bit of right now. If Flacco goes in there, at least with that, the offensive linemen know he ain’t going nowhere. They don’t have to worry about. Oh, what if he scrambles out there? He’s not moving at all. He’s gonna be
on the spot the whole day. And I would think, and I’ve never been a fan, a big fan of Joe Flacco even when he was good in Baltimore. However, I gotta believe that he’s got a couple of decent games in him a couple. Uh, he ain’t playing great. He’s not gonna be consistently solid 10 games in a row. I don’t see any way. But if they have to play him, he’s probably got 23 serviceable games in him. Even if he has some that are a little below that PJ Walker’s got none zero zip. We don’t
know about DTR. Yeah. Um, I, if, if, if you build a continuum you got really, really like on one side and you really dislike on the other side. I, I’m pretty much in the middle, I’m ambivalent on it. And I think your point of having a player coach on the sideline that can calm DTR down. I think it’s invaluable. I think my only question here is this isn’t a signing, this is a workout. Why just Joe Flacco II? I agree with you. If I’m the Browns and I’m car shopping, I’m not just test driving one
car. I wanna kick the tires on a lot of guys. I wanna see what does Matt Ryan physically look like? Does he have a desire to your point? I also, I, I would, you know, think that there’d be four or five guys names between Nick Foles is one of them guys that we’ve talked about that they would bring in kick the tires on all of them and then instead of choosing, yeah, he’s it or he’s not, you’ve got four or five to look at and say you know, of all of these guys considering the body
of work, how long they’ve been out of the game? This person fits what we’re looking for best. So I’m a little surprised that it’s just you Flacco now in fairness. Maybe I agree with you. I’m surprised they’re not looking at options. You know, they may look, maybe they’re considering some guys on practice squads, those guys they can’t bring in for a workout, obviously. So that might be it. Maybe, you know, maybe Ryan just has no interest, maybe Folds has no interest in this. Have you heard Jay that they are calling anybody else? No, I haven’t,
but I haven’t asked that. But usually how this goes. My guess is yesterday was not the first time they talked to Flacco. My thought is that they’ve probably been in contact with him for the last couple of weeks. They’ve probably settled on that. And these guys say what you want. They’re proven older guys with egos and you’re not gonna bring in Flacco and put him next to. We’ll use Matt Ryan and say, ok, now go compete. No, I don’t think you do it at the same time and, and that’s where I was going there. So
if they don’t like what they see out of Joe today, well, then they’re not gonna sign him and maybe they go number two next week, but clearly Flac Yeah, but you were going to play this week anyway there was something that was said, I think I read it yesterday that said, um, because Matt Ryan was cut, um, they still owe him money. But if Matt Ryan was to come back and take another job, he would get whatever league minimum they gave him and he got cut for a substantial amount of money. So if he stays
in a booth, he gets that money. But if he doesn’t, I, I think the coach are off the hook for it should be that they would be prorated all the rest of it is. I’m 90% sure it is. He would still get the money. But I mean, at this point, at this point, Matt Ryan, I doubt he’s not coming, he’s coming back now. Maybe Nick Foles who wasn’t a career starter in signing franchise deals, maybe a guy like that might sit on the sidelines and collect a big paycheck as opposed to coming here and working
for league minimum. I don’t know, this is what I, I, I’ve immediately said the things I love about Joe Flacco and the things I don’t love about Joe Flacco and the guy won a Super Bowl and he did it betting on himself. I thought that was one of the ballsiest things I’ve ever seen a player do. He decided to go into the final year of his deal and he said to the Ravens, I’m good. I’m betting on myself knowing that he had a great defense. I can do enough to get this team over the top.
I don’t think there’s much disagreement. That was the best he’s ever looked in the NFL and C and he, he wrote the, you know, the Ravens had to write the check and he, he got paid for that. I like a guy that believes in himself so much. He’s betting on himself. So, you know, I don’t think he’s gonna be a big factor if he’s playing it all here. It’s, it’s probably a bad sign. It means DTR had more bad games real quick. And Jason, I want you to chime in on this. But do you remember
just how good Joe Flacco was in that 2012 playoff run? I just said, I know, but do you remember the actual numbers? He was, I just remember him being, he’s done anything but in the 2012 playoffs and I looked this up because I remembered it being good. I think he had a good in four games. He threw for 285 yards, a game, 11 touchdowns, no interceptions with a 147 QBR. It’s hard to play better than Joe Flacco. Did you know that? Right. They were on the road in three of the four games. That’s a guy
going to the blackjack table knowing he has a system of counting cards and knowing he can’t lose. And when you get on those roles in life, sometimes they perpetuate what comes next. And I think that was one of those instances where we watch in real time and everybody in the sport said, where did this come from? He was splitting kings and tumbling down on a, yeah, and everything worked. He’s sitting on 20 ask for a card. He gets an ace. You know, that’s, I mean, that was just the kind of a season that he had.
So, I, I, you know, I know he’s been much maligned since because he’s been bad. There’s no other way to say it, but I think he could be a good presence in that quarterback room, a veteran voice that, like you said, Jay in the third quarter after a big pick that flips the field DTR comes to the sidelines. I wanna hear what Joe Flacco has to say. Yeah, or, or helping them diagnose and break down film before it starts. Like that’s the thing like looking for little things over here, this is what you should be
doing or how you should move. They needed to get a veteran for, for a number of reasons. And one of the biggest reasons is if DC R is playing in a, in a playoff game or playing in a huge game and you don’t have, you don’t have any wherewithal to, to understand certain things, he could talk him out of certain things before he even does it and gives him a little insight. So that’s why I like the veteran. It didn’t really matter what, whether he can run or not. I just like what he could bring.
I actually, I know we’re talking about progress but it draws on both of these guys. But if I had to choose between Flacco and foes, I’d take Flacco. You would. How about you guys? Flacco or foes flip a coin? I mean, have a 5050. We have no idea what kind of shape they’re in. You know, Flacco played Flacco played a little more last year. Flacco played five games. Foes played one game, he threw four or two games through four picks and I, and I saw, and I saw Flacco lead the last second drive against the
Browns where they couldn’t get him up and that was like one of the most unlikely wins statistically in NFL and that’s his last win. I know, I know that we sort of Olay the door for that to happen, but he did it. He still had to make magic happen and he did it. Bottom line is if he’s on the field for them, no, it’s a bad thing. It really, it’s a bad thing. Playoffs are probably over unless there’s an injury to DTR, you know, I mean, if poorly and he gets replaced now you’re on your
fourth quarterback in the season, never have happened. Who knows? I listen and I’m not writing off anything at this point this year. Any crazy thing can happen. Obviously, it it’s not good that Deshaun Watson’s hurt the Browns chances of getting to the playoffs winning in the playoffs. We doing everything now, but, you know, who the hell knows defense has picked, you know, defense is. I agree. I don’t know that we’re fully in a defensive area yet, but it is at least this year and a little bit last year swinging towards defense. Now, there’s other good
teams in the AFC, like Pittsburgh and Baltimore and Kansas City who also have good defenses and in two of those cases have better, much better offenses, but you know, who knows? And, but I, I’ll throw this out there if DTR does play like absolute crap against Pittsburgh, it wouldn’t shock me if Joe Flacco started the following week, it’s gonna be desperate to know before we hit the break here and I know we’re chasing it. I just want a quick answer from all of these guys on something that hit me last night when I was watching
the Thursday night game. This is, and I don’t know how this compares to other seasons in my mind. It’s more than we’ve seen in the past, but they mentioned that here we are week 1049 different quarterbacks have taken snaps in the NFL that started or taking snaps played. Now, if they said started, I missed that, but I think they said 49 different quarterbacks have played that tells you that more than half the teams have used two quarterbacks start by the way. Ok. That’s a big word. I think that’s a bigger, right. And it’s gonna be
50 next week probably because Jake Browning is gonna start for Bengals. Exactly. And he hadn’t started yet. So that’s, that’s a stunning number to me. Do you guys think that that will lead to a shift in the way teams currently view backup quarterbacks because we’ve talked about it. They don’t really, I mean, everybody has said, well, if, if Deshawn gets hurt our season’s over, well, I don’t know that that should be the case when half the teams are losing their starting quarterback, at least for a stretch. It’s the reason why when you buy a mortgage
on a house, they make you have homeowners insurance. They don’t let you buy a half a million dollar house and say, well, if the flood comes, the tornado hits were screwed. No, they make you pay for it. Like if you got a top notch quarterback, you have to start allocating and thinking about what’s best for my team. If I know that the quarterback is so important, why are you devaluating the person? Do you agree with that? I think what’s happened and I don’t even think it’s about all the injuries this year. It’s more about the,
for the first time in a very long time to swing back the defense because for much of the last 1015 years, if you lost your starting quarterback, you were done. So it didn’t matter if you had a good backup because he wasn’t gonna be good enough. Now, defense can still carry it. Now, we don’t know yet. Can a team like the Browns or Steelers with terrible quarterback play win? We’ll see it happened yet. But if that happens, like he, he can’t even Foles, he played great in that postseason. If he had not play as, even
though he’s a nothing in his career, if he had not played great, they would have lost, you can’t win in the playoffs with the quarterback playing like he was the Super Bowl MVP, wasn’t he? He was great in that. Do you think that, that they’ll look at things differently? Well, no, here’s the problem. You can’t when you, when you have a top quarterback and we’re talking elite, elite status, it’s the dollars that you commit to him. It makes it really difficult to commit significant dollars to a spot that doesn’t play, isn’t it throwing bad money
after good money if you don’t have, if there’s no salary cap, but I’m telling you, it, it comes down to the, it comes down to the percentage of the assets that you’re allocating to one. It would be a better world if the quarterbacks were not on, they had their own salary that’s been talked about. And I think I would love it if, if, if, if, if that each team gets one salary that they can exempt from the cap, then you can, then you can devote more resources to it. But when you, when you’re spending the
number that you are at that one position, it makes it difficult to justify spending a massive, I agree with that. I’ll ask a question before we move on. Would you rather have a rookie fifth round corner being your fourth or fifth corner or a solid run or solid quarterback that could come in and not that it’s your, it’s your starting defensive tackle or you’re rotating any defensive tackle if you’re paying them $8 million.06 8 million dollars, which is the going rate if you’re talking like a mid tier quarterback, if you wanted to vote, what did
Jacoby get this? So if you want to spend 8 million, what’s, what’s Elijah Moore making or what’s some of these defensive tackles? Somebody else that’s the trade off. Would you rather have Maurice Hurst? Would you rather have Jacoby Brissett? I’ll take Maurice Hurst for, for example, and this is just the, the actual cat pit this year of players who make more than 12, more than $8 million. So more this year based on the restructures, then Jacoby Burette makes is only Denzel Garrett and Cooper and Deshawn that make more than eight in the cat pit according
to Spotrac right now. Yeah. So you’d literally be prioritizing your backup quarterback at that number as a top five player and, and I don’t know how teams can do that, how much Jacoby percent, $8 million. But, but you can’t go just off the cap hit. Well, there’s bonus money in there and you can restructure deals and kick the can down the road. So that’s, but the bottom line is if you have to, even if you have to pay him a signing bonus and a base salary, put that together. If that guy’s making 8 million this
year, do you really want to spend that 8 million? 10 million? 7 million, whatever it is, they should have kept Josh Dobbs. Well, or at least I think we talked, I can’t remember when I was in, you had an, you knew, you knew you had a need and you didn’t do anything about it. I don’t even, I won’t even crush him for treating Josh in the first year. I, I’m with you but, but the fact that they didn’t make a bigger effort to bring him back when they knew that that play him or him or
anyone. And I know did he was on yesterday and she said, you know, well, now we have the benefit of the results to make that argument. Well, look, being a GM and a front office employee in the NFL is all about speculation. Predicting who’s gonna hit and who’s gonna miss plays well, then none of this matters. If he doesn’t, it’s, it’s very fair to be critical of Barry. You’re 100%. Right. Let’s just move on right to the next topic here, guys.
