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00:00we welcome you back to this tuesday morning live in person in studio on the early line on sports
00:05grid it's a big football headlines from a tuesday afternoon drs justin tucker yeah the all-world
00:11all-pro kicker for the baltimore ravens released yesterday by the ravens organization and what gm
00:17eric da costa is calling strictly a football decision now justin tucker who has spent all
00:2313 years of his nfl career with this ravens organization is coming off by far the worst
00:29year of his career in 2024 but of course that is just a part of this story tucker currently under
00:35investigation by the national football league as 16 different women have accused him of sexual
00:40misconduct in terms of massage therapy sessions around the greater baltimore area so under nfl
00:47investigation but the ravens organization saying this is strictly a football decision what did you
00:53make of the move drs and the reasoning behind i don't mind the move itself from a football decision
00:58if that's what they're calling we'll get that in a second because it's pretty clear that he's the
01:01best kicker of all time but really fell off for the past two years i mean kicks that would be like
01:05okay cross midfield that's an automatic three points now we're like oh can't even make extra points at
01:09this point but understand this too football teams are very calculated and something has to do with
01:13like hey i want to make this move but let me contact our lawyers here of how we need to word this
01:18so we don't get a lawsuit back and they say to yourself no no no we've seen this before where
01:23guys get in legal trouble fights domestic violence gun charges and if you're not a great football
01:28player you're released immediately ben and what do they say to that franchise we will not allow this
01:32to ever happen again on our franchise we are zero tolerance but now for the past two years you're
01:37hearing some of these rumors like yeah we'll play it by ear and you even heard them say just a few
01:40months ago we're going to let the legalities play out until you get that crescendo from the
01:45famous that goes is this worth the trouble we're going to run this guy out here where he's going to
01:49have these allegations probably continuously pop up and is he worth the trouble understand this
01:53if he made all his kicks last year he would have been worth the trouble no matter what he was doing
01:57off the field until he was convicted here but i look at it and say just be honest with us we're
02:02releasing justin tucker a lot of things going into us is it football yes is it off the field yes we wish
02:07him well and so basically you know what i can deal with that but the fact that they came out and said you
02:10know what we waited this long because it's just a football decision what a football decision does the
02:15minute the season ends he's cut immediately here and you postmark it for june 1st and you live
02:19with it this was not a strictly football decision as the ravens are playing it and they tried to make
02:23it seem as such here's a statement from gm eric da costa about the decision to release justin tucker
02:29after 13 years with the organization sometimes football decisions are incredibly difficult and
02:35this is one of those instances considering our current roster we have made the tough decision to
02:39release justin tucker justin created many significant and unforgettable moments in ravens history
02:44his reliability focus drive resilience and extraordinary talent made him one of the
02:48league's best kickers for over a decade we are grateful for justin's many contributions while
02:54playing for the ravens we sincerely wish him and his family the very best in this next chapter of
03:00their lives which again if it is just a football decision you thank the guy for what he has done for
03:05nearly a decade and a half in your organization was it but it does seem a little bit nearsighted the
03:10for a guy that hey he has not been proven anything right now inappropriate behavior are the allegations
03:16against him and currently under investigation by the nfl nothing has been charged against justin
03:22tucker at this moment he does not face any discipline or punishment at this current time
03:26from the national football league office but with that said he's still under investigation there are ways
03:32to handle this from a public standpoint knowing you are going to have this with all the notoriety
03:38it's a little bit different than the statement released by the ravens yeah absolutely and
03:41understand this what a football decision means like he didn't go from the best kicker of all time
03:45which he was to the worst kicker in the nfl he's an average kicker if this was a football decision
03:49that came out and said you know what for what we're getting and how much money he makes we asked him
03:53to restructure he said no we let him go that's a football decision but you know where this is going
03:56to creep into ben justin tucker gets released today and here's the opportunity where if it was really a
04:01football decision or not i don't think anybody else picks him up not because he can't still kick a
04:04football but they don't want the baggage that comes along with a kicker who's not the greatest
04:08of all time anymore and that's what clouds the situation do i applaud the ravens for getting rid
04:13of him no you should have got rid of him when the allegations came up or at least came out with a
04:16strong statement we vehemently disagree what's going on right now we have to let the legal discourse
04:20play out we'll let you know at a further date and the further date should have been like yeah the
04:24legalities are playing out we just don't understand what's going we have a zero conduct policy here
04:28in our organization but they just come out and say hey you know what that's me hey you know what i saw him
04:33last week he missed a 47 yarder practice at the facility we're just going to let him go that
04:36didn't happen part of it could be what the ravens did in the nfl draft they drafted a kicker out of
04:41arizona tyler loop in the sixth round the first time in the three-year history of the ravens franchise
04:47they drafted a kicker in the nfl draft it's part of the roster construction we understand that and if
04:53it is a football decision that's the ravens priority but again with the circumstances around it
04:59knowing this guy is under investigation by the national football league you have to at least be
05:04wary of those decisions you know by the way also ben because i thought you were going here with the
05:08draft as well they drafted a defensive end that had some questionable past that who's a very talented
05:13kid that slipped into a second round here because of what the allegations would be and as soon as they
05:18drafted him what was the first point most people brought up well that's interesting for the ravens
05:22they already have one you know issue here and now you're drafting another guy and again we're not saying
05:26that's going to repeat it or it's even going to be finality in in the court of law but that's a bad
05:30look for an organization maybe saying all right yeah we can have one just not two and hopefully it
05:34works out in our favor i kill that player drafted by the ravens late in the second round graded by many
05:39with first round talent but does have some very serious allegations against him dating back to sexual
05:45assault allegations during high school and at his first stop collegiately at virginia many people
05:51cited drs a quote from john harbaugh around the deshaun watson trade and large contract given out by
05:57afc north rival the cleveland browns where harbaugh said he was glad to work at the ravens organization
06:01where they have a zero tolerance policy for anything of that conduct and yet here we are so we'll see
06:09what the future is for justin tucker still under investigation by the national football league some other
06:15football headlines on a monday as well charone moore going to be suspended by michigan's self-imposed
06:23discipline in terms of the sign stealing scandal around connor stallions moore going to miss week
06:29three week number four against central michigan and michigan's big tent opener against nebraska so
06:35moore can be there for game number two against his alma mater in oklahoma oh the self-imposed
06:42discipline for a scandal he all said was nothing it is pretty good like we chewed on this pretty
06:47good yesterday particularly on tl when it came out immediately and then on money line but i think
06:51the best part of this point is like ben if you got or i got suspended from the network and you're like
06:55donnie i don't want you to miss the super bowl but we'll suspend you for the monday after the super
06:59like well how serious of an actual penalty is the fact that he played at oklahoma wants to go back to
07:03open coach like you know what you can do that you'll skip central michigan and knock it off just don't
07:08suspend them i mean jim harbaugh suspended for six games during the 2023 season trone more now for
07:14two games in 2025 back to major league baseball in just a little bit a little mlb buyer sell here
07:22live in person on this tuesday on tel but a new market has emerged oh yes it will be a story for
07:29this nfl offseason throughout the summer months courtesy of our canadian friends at fan duel canada
07:35the odds are out to be the browns week one starting quarterback a very jumbled quarterback
07:42room in cleveland here are what the odds indicate as of this moment the old wily veteran at 40 years
07:50old joe flacco is the favorite to be that week one starter for cleveland at plus 116 nearly a dollar
07:57in front of the offseason acquisition via a trade with the philadelphia eagles kenny pickett plus 220
08:03chenor sanders the fifth round draft pick plus 370 the third round selection in dylan gabriel is
08:10plus 830 the longest price you do not see deshaun watson listed on that he's not going to be ready
08:16for week one if he plays another game in a browns uniform it would be an odds upset as well drs flacco
08:23listed as the favorite to be that week one starter to our canadian friends have it correct here's what i
08:28love too like that graphic alone explains you how bad the cleveland browns organization actually is because
08:33ben was going over because like i i know the segment was coming up and i saw what it was but
08:37until it was like read out loud like yeah we drafted a kid in the fifth round who's actually way better
08:41than the kid that we drafted in the third round the kid in the fifth round should start so therefore
08:44the odds would be but understand this ben let me ask you this simple question the cleveland browns
08:49expectations outside of the head coach and the general manager and the owner is what what is it to win
08:56five games maybe exactly so then we see the favorite being joe flacco where you want your
09:02franchise quarterback to start if you're having a bad season why he's going to get experience you're
09:08going to be bad and you're going to get a better draft pick it's like a win win win we're not ready
09:12to win just yet but also at the same time now we're led to believe that flacco is going to start at 40
09:16years old for what on a bad football team make it make sense and then you see like kenny pickett
09:21like joe flacco shouldn't be there if you have kenny pickett and if you're starting kenny pickett
09:25he's not your future quarterback either so what are we actually doing i look at this and say it
09:30should be shadora sanders or dylan gabriel to find out who your starter is because you can't go halfway
09:36like they did in the offseason let's pay miles garrett let's lose football games that doesn't make
09:40sense but that's the browns and again looking at that roster it can't day one it cannot be joe flacco
09:46i mean drs again miles garrett might be one of the funniest offseason storylines we really haven't
09:52discussed it happened during super bowl week the trade request because he wanted to be with a super
09:57bowl contender the way that andrew barry handled that saying we still want this guy here he's going
10:02to end up in canton from cleveland and then miles garrett because he was paid 40 million dollars a year
10:07with over 123 mil guaranteed you understand credible why he is with the browns franchise the dollar speaks
10:15very loudly but for miles garrett to say they told me don't worry we got a plan in place at the
10:20quarterback spot for this to be the plan is insane now when the browns traded for kenny pickett
10:27whether it's fair or not i think kenny pickett has some experience is he going to be the face of a
10:32franchise probably not is he going to live up to the hype to be a first round pick back in 2022
10:37probably not is he worth trying out i would say for a team that is not expecting to do a lot
10:44with a head coach in kevin stavansky that has done a lot with very little insert joe flacco in 2023
10:50starting the final five games of that year as the browns won 11 in reach the postseason but where
10:56exactly did that leave you if you are cleveland in a spot two years later to be drafting second
11:01overall of course trading out of that and selecting mason graham fifth overall so in the two hopeful spots
11:08i think you could say the arrest the first move cleveland made this offseason to acquire kenny pickett
11:12for very little in return back to philadelphia all right maybe take a shot on this guy we shall see
11:18entering year four in the nfl you drafted dylan gabriel over shenor sanders because clearly you
11:25like gabriel more in this draft process and yet shenor has the better price to be your week one
11:30starter both of the moves that you made with a little bit of hope are now the two guys that have
11:36longer odds than the guy that was acquired after them either by a free agent signing for the 40 year old
11:41in flacco or two rounds later for shenor sanders and again it's it's simple math too because you
11:46really cloudy or should i say muddy that quarterback room when you're trying to say okay we put the two
11:50rookies in there and who's actually better did we draft him later to show him you better have more
11:54respect about coming to the nfl but you're better football player than three let's remove that like
11:58a healthy quarterback room would actually be like you know what our game plan is kenny pickett's going
12:01to be our starter if a young rookie can beat him out that's so be it we'll put him at number two
12:05which would be shenor sanders let's leave dylan gabriel out but then we have joe flacco is that guy that's
12:09great for the room going to help everybody out and if the young quarterback at number two isn't
12:13ready to play in week number two we put joe flacco in so we don't embarrass ourselves and give us a
12:17legitimate chance to win that game but the fact that we're seeing here just based on the odds like
12:21hey flacco start uh kenny pickett's number two and then the two quarterbacks that we hope to be our
12:26franchise guys will be later understanding that we might win five or six games anyway regardless of
12:30conditions and that's why you should be betting with the lower ranks like i need shenor sanders or
12:35dylan gabriel it's an unhealthy quarterback room it's ridiculous that it was put together this way
12:39and even more ridiculous now that we see the odds on who's actually supposed to start week one he say
12:43yeah let flacco go he's 40 he's not your future you're not winning anything get your future started
12:49right now drs it's really inexplicable and i think if you're every guy in this scenario outside of joe
12:55flacco yeah because he was a late offseason signing in the free agency period you're a little bit pissed
13:01off right now if i'm kenny pickett why did you guys trade for me if i'm going to be the backup i could
13:05have been the backup on a super bowl winning team in philadelphia i want my start uh my shot to start
13:11if you're dylan gabriel why did you draft me in the third round to take another quarterback in round
13:16number five yep it's clear you can argue whatever you want about shenor sanders we'll never know the
13:21full story of his draft slide in the stock that took a large hit throughout this draft process but it is
13:27clear that cleveland like dylan gabriel a ton more in this nfl draft process than they did shenor sanders
13:33they had multiple opportunities before even selecting dylan gabriel to draft shenor sanders
13:38so sanders shouldn't be happy because he now slid to the fifth round and is not exactly in the best
13:44scenario to become a starter he's fighting to earn a roster spot gabriel should be pissed if this was
13:49college football dylan gabriel would be in the transfer portal as would kenny pickett and flacco would
13:54be there at the age of 40 hoping for just a little bit more to the point of your expectation question
13:59we had four teams on draft night with a win total of five and a half yes two of those four
14:04had juice on the over two of the four had juice on the under the most juice at the time the new
14:09york giants at minus 140 the browns at minus 135 they have flip-flop drs the browns now technically
14:15the worst win total in the national football league five and a half is the number the under juiced at
14:19minus 140 it's actually brutal what they're doing right now and i agree with those standings because i
14:22don't think they're gonna have a good football season also maybe if they just drafted shenor in the
14:25third round and gabriel in the fifth round it would make a little bit more sense now the room doesn't
14:29make any sense and neither do the cleveland browns sean watson stone we're on the early line up next