THE DAILY BLOVIATION
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Good morning, Cleveland Browns fans!
Many moons ago, the late Rich Passan, a veteran sportswriter and radio personality, worked with the OBR. He hosted our streaming radio show, reported from Berea, and wrote columns that frustrated fans because he wrote about bad football teams in a manner that expressed they were bad football teams. Long-time visitors of the OBR probably remember Rich with varying degrees of fondness.
As one would expect, Rich was instrumental in developing his son, Jeff Passan, into one of the best—if not the best—MLB reporters on the scene today.
I even learned some things from Rich. One of the things that Rich emphasized to me was how important the quarterback position was to team success, and, as a consequence, how much people liked to read about the quarterback position. During Rich's tenure with the Browns, he would agitate fans by telling the truth as he saw it: that the team's leadership on and off the field wasn't very good.
Rich's advice is in full effect today on the OBR Daily Newswire, a massive morning missive from a writer greatly influenced by the late Hal Lebovitz and Douglas Adams, but with a nod to Rich's belief in telling it like it is, albeit more from a point of view of someone who spent half of his life as a fan, and half of it as mogul of the OBR Empire. Today's newswire is full of stories about the Browns' new rookie quarterbacks, and little else, although I'm digging for rumors, particularly at the wide receiver position.
MASON GRAHAM VS. FOOD: So, naturally, let's start with Mason Graham ralphing up his lunch on the field during practice. As a fellow larger-than-expected human, I generally advise against physical exertion, particularly after ingesting a large meal. Graham learned this again yesterday, dutifully noted by some brave reporters able to offer their thoughts on such a thing.
Graham, for his part, is anxious to see what he can do in Jim Schartz's attacking defense, which is quite different from what he was asked to do at some unnamed school up north. Graham, as a very high pick in the draft, is somewhat fortunate to be free from the constant media scrutiny that usually accompanies such a selection, as he's buried under the media onslaught about the team's quarterbacks. Still, there are some writers out there who hate the selection, apparently based on his cone drill performance. I just go off what I've seen of him playing in actual games, so what do I know?
THE QUARTERBACKS SPEAK: About 80% of the stories I found for today's Newswire were built around what Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders had to say to the media. It was their first time speaking to the Cleveland Browns media, and with the absence of other quarterbacks around, they got the complete focus of the local beat. Both seemed able to handle it capably, since both had received a large amount of media attention in college.
Dillon Gabriel
Dillon Gabriel throws at the Browns rookie camp in May 2025 (Photo: Getty)
The quote of the day was probably from Sanders, who said that he's "here to prove himself right, not to prove others wrong", a statement which led not only the previously linked recap from Pro Football Talk, but also recaps from CBS, Chronicle-Telegram, and the Official Site.
The two quarterbacks also talked about the competition between the two, largely saying positive things about embracing the healthy competition and using it. They even went so far as to say that the two love the competition, and Gabriel said that he loved the acquisition of Sanders fifty selections after he was picked, following quarterback's much-noted draft slide.
Here are some more stories about what the quarterbacks had to say (mostly Sanders):
A NUMBER TEN TOO HIGH: One of the major issues elicited from Sanders comments to the media was regarding this uniform number, which is different from the heavily-branded one he had in college (gasp!). Sanders' #2 jersey was given instead, via the usual NFL pecking order, to free agent WR DeAndre Carter, leaving Sanders with #12.
Players will sometimes buy or trade for the uniform number they prefer, which gave Sanders an opportunity to joke about his roster bonus, and explain why he took it. Fortunately, says that studying the playbook is his priority, and doesn't seem to be obsessing about losing the number.
LET'S START SOME RUMORS!: If chronicling regurgitation isn't fun enough, let's have a go at propelling some way-too-early rumors into existence.
Let's kick if off by noting that Saints veteran quarterback Derek Carr said he would retire yesterday, an event quickly noted in the Watercooler as an opportunity for the Saints to get engaged in the quarterback market and try to screw up the Steelers' long-developing plans at the position. At this point, Tyler Shough is the de facto starter in New Orleans. It's probably worth noting that the Browns currently have five quarterbacks, which might give them an extra one, and that the Saints are in possession of a receiver who is the subject of affection on the part of several teams named Chris Olave.
I haven't seen any hard proof that the Browns are one of those teams contacting the Saints, but given Andrew Berry's approach to acquiring receivers, it wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility. Draw that line from team to player in pencil, so that we can all easily erase it and pretend I never suggested it.
A little braver than I in the rumor-starting department is Mason Cameron of Pro Football Focus, who suggests the Browns chase after potential field-stretcher Alec Pierce, who nabbed 37 passes for 824 yards (a very nice average of 22.3 yards) and seven touchdowns last year for the Colts. Pierce has been the subject of trade rumors earlier this off-season, and would be an interesting fit in Cleveland.
Meanwhile, as the Browns juggled 4-5 quarterbacks this off-season, they've already been heavily proposed as grabbing another in next year's draft. Here's yet-another mock draft showing them taking Cade Klubnik, mostly because there's skepticism that Arch Manning will declare for the 2026 draft.
Have a good one! GO BROWNS!
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