Will Joel Bitonio Retire or Chase a Ring Away From the Browns?

0:00I'm Sarah Terny, and I'm Courtney Nicole, we're the hosts of the Crime House original podcast, The Final Hours. Crime has impacted both of our families, teaching us how the last conversations, the mis-bred flags can change everything. On the final hours, we examine the moments before a disappearance, and the questions that never got answered. The podcast that puts the moments before a disappearance under a microscope. Listen to and follow The Final Hours, available now wherever you get your podcasts. If he does come back, they get a double whammy, because they're already on the hook for that 23 and a half million, and then they'd have to do something to, you know, lessen his cap impact now. So I think, unfortunately, and also too, with the moves, I'm starting to think that Joel's not going to be back. And as far as whether or not he actually plays this season for somebody else,

1:00I don't know, but I kind of feel like that if he was going to return to the brown, that would have gotten resolved before the contract voided. Totally agree with Darryl. I think that he'll probably, I still think I still lean retire. I still lean retire. See, I feel like we would have been informed of that before the void, because then they could have stretched it out over a couple of years, right? If he would have retired, they could have stretched that cap head out over a couple of years, as opposed to needing to take on what they're taking on this year. And I think if Joel, now maybe he doesn't know that maybe he truly is taking his time. But I always thought this was going to be retirement, where he plays for the Browns again. And I feel like the door is more than cracked open for him to play for someone. Well, let's say we heard what John Greco said earlier this week, and you can hear that entire interview 92 through the fan.com, because if you missed a moment of the show as well, you can use a rewind feature on the free Odyssey app, powered by integrated restoration, your local experts in water, fire and storm disaster restoration. But we did already hear from John.

2:05Let's hear from Joe, Joe Thomas about Joel. I would be surprised if he goes to another team to be totally honest. I mean, he's played his whole career in Cleveland. And I think talking with him being one of my best buds, I think he understands the value that that is, to be able to walk away with a lot of pride that, hey, you know what, I started in one place and then I finished in that same spot. And I think the value for you personally is huge. But also, I've talked to him about how much it means to me that, you know, I got to go into the Hall of Fame as a Cleveland Brown. There was no question marks. There was no wondering, oh, is he going to go on in this team or that team? And, you know, even though we didn't finish successfully on top, like I had hoped, I still have a lot of pride knowing that people come up to me on the street, whether it's Cleveland or Ohio or Wisconsin or somewhere else and saying, you know what, it's pretty cool that you were loyal to one place. There's not many guys that have played their entire career for one franchise. So that's a couple of guys, because I mean, John was down in Cincinnati for week 18. I mean, John goes to NFL games, Greco, but it wasn't like he just goes to Cincinnati on a whim.

3:08So it's like, okay, that kind of gave you a feeling. But forgot like Joel, I think Joel may be coming to struggle. And I haven't spoken to Joel since the season ended. I think Joel might be struggling with the finality of giving giving it up in football. I think that there's definitely his agent. I think there's definitely scouts or general managers that are that are kind of kicking the tires on it. And I don't blame him for kind of thinking about it. I know the $23 million that they could have used or not used or spread out through two years. I should say instead of one fine, it is what it is. I agreed with Jason on it yesterday. Boy, he didn't even want to have the conversation about it yesterday. But I agreed with Jason ultimately about it. But I do think ultimately, I think he'll walk away offensive linemen or nesters, man. They are. Everything is about protecting the herd. Everything is about protecting others. They find a home. They like to stay in a home. They just do. And I think that a guy like Joel might be uncomfortable.

4:10I mean, somebody might offer him an amount of money for one season where it's like, okay, I got to come back. I got to play for a competitive football team. Do you think that's a hold up here? Do you think there's an offer out there that is making him happy? I think we'd hear about it. I think we'd hear about a real offer. But I think that there's definitely like, he finished up so well. Like when Joe was done, he was done. Well, he got his body, yeah, but his, but like we heard about everything else. Like everything else was like, I remember there would be people who would go after Joe for having the Wednesday off. And thank God I never did. And then when he got hurt, when he broke his arm, when he tore up his arm, then we heard about the back. We heard about the knees. We heard about the hip. I mean, everything. It just all happened at once. And it was like, I can't believe Joel was able to get out of bed. Right. And I think Joel saw that. And yeah, in the season, I know we had to get shot up in his back and everything like that. He ended the season relatively healthy. It isn't like your Jackie Slater out there.

5:11And it's like you're, you're trying to get it one more year just to say you played 20 years. Right. Jackie Slater was a great offensive lineman. I use him as an example. Like Joel finished up at the top of his game. And when you're at the top of the game, it messes with you. Because why give up on this when you love this, when you don't have to? It's a very tough decision to make a walk, to walk away from something. And like I even go back to like a guy, we've talked to guys who retired and we talked to guys who retired to young. I use it. I'll use a different example. I use Rusty Wallace. Like he came on the show. And I know always going to roll his eyes and laugh because I'm using an ask. I drove my car, man, I'm good. But what he said, he goes, I walked away. I left too early. I don't know why I left. I agreed to have some retirement thing. And I shouldn't have left. I should have came back. You know, should have kept doing it. Mark Martin decided he should have kept doing it. Other guys, Michael Jordan decided he wanted to come back. What's up, little psychos? I'm investigator Slater, host of the Psychopedia podcast. Psychopedia is a true crime podcast, delivering raw, real, and absolutely gripping episodes every single week.

6:14I dig deep to uncover fascinating details of heinous true crime cases while exploring criminology and psychology theories. I take you into the absolute darkest corners of the human psyche, my favorite territory, and present cases like you've never heard them before. Follow and listen to Psychopedia everywhere you get your podcasts. If there's any taste left, you're going to want to try to get that feeling again. And I think for Joel, like there is still some finality that he might be going, I just want to make sure. Because when it's over, I think Joel's going to be one of these guys. He loses a bunch of weight. Your body's not going to let you do it. And then that's it. How much value do you think there is in today's world of being a one team for your entire career guy? Because to Joe's point, we don't see that very often. Not just in football, but in any sport. Like we don't see guys that have these long careers. I think it's a comfort. I think that there's guys who have been in the building that Joel doesn't even trust. He trusts him as far as he can throw him. I'm not even talking about recently. I mean, he played for 12 years. Think about the people who are in the building over 12 years.

7:16I guarantee there's people in the building who he doesn't like, doesn't trust over 12 years. But it's a region. It's an area and it's about being comfortable in an area. You're in a place for 12 years. You are offensive lineman. They are not nomadic. They're not vagabonds. They they everything that an offensive lineman does. If you're a natural alignment, everything you do is to maintain order. And so things do not create chaos. Yeah. And you become comfortable in the place that you're in. So this is what Joel knows in the NFL. He's in this area. He likes this area. His family likes this area. Why move and with young kids? Why put him through for an extra whatever? What I mean, that's the way these guys think. And that's fair. And a nice thing that that's wrong. What's so ever is just a curiosity for me. Because I do wonder if there's the one thing that Joel has not done. It's win at a very high level. He's been a part of a few good teams.

8:17But for the most part, just like Joe Thomas, he's been a part of some really bad teams. And I do wonder if there's that all over. Not only have a team, potentially having a significant financial offer to him. I wonder if there's a team that gives him the opportunity. Because you talked about him going out on top as far as how well he played. But can he go out of winter somewhere else? Because if he comes back and plays and Cleveland again, it's not going out of winter. This team's not going because I don't see him. Well, I don't see him playing more than one year. And they're not going to win this year. Let's be real with ourselves here, right? So does he want to win somewhere else? Would that matter to him as much? I don't have the answers to these questions, but they are things that fascinate me. Well, again, personal glory ring chasing. He just plays a different position. It's a total mindset. It's a total of a different one. Again, Joe, people would have had a parade for Joe out the door here. And would have probably done the impossible and actually brought themselves to hope.

9:17Like the Broncos were sniffing around. They would have brought themselves to cheer for the Broncos based on Joe's behalf. And Joe was like, no, I'm good. I'm good. Comfortable with these people. Cleveland and Wisconsin. There's not that many differences. A little bit warmer here. I would imagine during certain times. I'm comfortable with these folks. I don't need to go. I got kids. I don't need to go being two time zones away from them finishing out this year, whatever. He didn't want to do it. And I think a lot of offensive linemen don't want to do it. I mean, the majority of these guys, they even if the team's struggling and the team has struggled, they just, yep, going to keep plugging away. Going to keep plugging away until this thing works. And I'd be very surprised. I wouldn't blame Joe whatsoever if he ended up signing on with the Seahawks. Why, I'm just naming a team. That's a competitive team. That's a good team. I wouldn't blame him whatsoever. But I'd be very surprised if he did. I'd be very surprised considering what we know about offensive linemen.

10:17216474 to below 92. Okay, I want to say this about Andrew Berry coming up at 922. Okay. We got into about Joel Batonio. I want to say this about Andrew Berry at 922. He's not here to make friends. And if it were on the other foot, I would defend him like crazy if this were to go down between the Cleveland Browns and what the Ravens did earlier this week. Coming up next, Nathan Ziger, a Browns radio analyst. How would he maybe feel if the Browns did something like that? And how's he feeling where the Browns may go at six? And should we, I mean, I know John, he's looking as wounds after the eight o'clock statement. John really wanted Ty Simpson. Is he a possibility? I'll talk about that with Nathan coming up in five minutes on the. I'm emigrate host of Aspire with emigrate, a podcast where I sit down with people who don't just dream big, they build big. From culture shaping voices like Mel Robbins to leaders redefining success like Tracy Ellis Ross to gain change in entrepreneurs like Mark Cuban. Aspire is about mindset ambition and doing the work that actually moves the needle. If you're ready to raise your standards and take charge about the life and career you're building, Aspire is where you start.

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