Todd Monken might have taken away my creativity (he and I had a terribly one-sided fallout when he spurned the New York Giants for the Cleveland Browns), but he cannot and will not take my pancakes!
Earlier in the offseason, the Giants signed former Baltimore Ravens fullback Patrick Ricard to a market-setting two-year, $7.63 million deal, making him the highest-paid fullback in NFL history by average annual value ($3.815M). It's an expensive move for a fullback, but sometimes you gotta pony up top dollar for former All-Pro, six-time Pro Bowlers.
And Monken knows that all too well.
According to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, the Brownies' new head coach said he was on the hunt for a fullback, and tried to bring in Pancake Pat in free agency earlier in the offseason, even calling him a unicorn:
#Browns Todd Monken said he'd like to have a fullback. A source said they tried to sign former #Ravens FB Patrick Ricard in free agency. "Pat's a unicorn," Monken said.
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) March 31, 2026
Well, you know what they politely say when someone misses out on something special: Nana nana boo boo...
Patrick Ricard leaves Todd Monken with syrup and no pancakes
My heart. It nearly felt like deja vu -- just last year, Joe Schoen and the powers that be robbed fans of the preseason duo of Elijah Chatman and Cam Skattebo, cutting the defensive tackle-turned-fullback ahead of the 53-man roster deadline. While he did get re-signed to the practice squad, the two were an absolute wrecking crew in their short time together during the offseason.
Luckily Monken didn't get to sneak his way in and play fun police this time.
Ricard is a massive person. He stands at 6-foot-3 and weighs 300 pounds. He was brought in to be the battering ram for Harbaugh's new big-boy football play style. And he and Skatt are going to feed families, pummeling defenders through the earth. We're talking must-watch television, especially in short-yardage and goal-line situations. NFL RedZone will have to be on bandwidth overload watch.
It's not hard to see why Monken wanted to bring the enforcer to Cleveland with him. Monken was his offensive coordinator in Baltimore for the past three years, building one of the most physical run games in the league with Ricard leading the way for Derrick Henry the past two.
Well, good luck finding a diner anywhere close that serves pancakes this good. Cleveland's pain is Big Blue's gain.
For what it's worth, Ricard was never going to leave Harbaugh's side. He spoke with the media after he was signed and told reporters that as soon as Harby got the Giants job, he was immediately interested in joining the team. As for what he thinks the offense is going to look like with him and Skatte-boom out of the backfield: a lot of yards and a lot of touchdowns.
Bring me Week 1.