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With time passing since the front office change over – let’s take a look at the moves. I’ll have my evaluation at the end – curious to hear everyone else’s take.
When hired they said “we will build through the draft.” Please bear this in mind.
Here’s a list to literally every move (if you click on “date” at the top you can sort it to see January first) http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/team/transactions.html
I’m going to highlight “key” moves (the list is ginormous).
January 13 – named Hue Jackson head coach – A+. He was on my short list of guys I wanted. He knows his shit. Incredible hire.
March 7 – Gave a qualifying offer to Terrelle Pryor. Ask me when they did it and my answer was “he’ll be cut by camp.” Ask me know and it’s “He’ll have a minimum of 750 yards this year receiving.” – A+ credit to the staff and to his work ethic.
Gave qualifying offer to Austin Pasztor – currently winning the RT job.
March 16 – terminated the contract of Dwayne Bowe. A+ – I tore this move in half when we signed this bum. So glad the new guys made him an immediate dump.
Terminated Karlos Dansby contract. Dansby was high level, high integrity – fantastic leader. When you go back to building through the draft – this was a good move. Let the youngins develop through playing time.
March 24 – signed Robert Griffin. I still give this a huge thumbs up. It’s a cheap 2 year deal. If he blows ass – we lose nothing.
April 2 – terminated the contract of Donte Whitner (or as i affectionately refer to him, Donte Missner). I have no issue – again – old and taking time away from youth to develop. That said – our safeties can’t cover for shit. They can tackle – but zero coverage skills. But – in draft mode I can’t fault this.
April 20, Cleveland acquired the 2016 8th, 77th and 100th picks and a 2017 first round and 2018 second round pick from Philadelphia’s for the 2016 2nd pick and a conditional 2017 fourth-round pick. – A+++++++ move. They knew Wentz was fragile trash and got away fast. He sucked in his only appearance and got hurt.
The biggest motivation for beating the Eagles game 1? It helps our own draft.
NFL DRAFT:
04/28/2016 Drafted WR Corey Coleman 15th overall.
04/28/2016 Traded 2016 first (8th overall) and sixth (176th overall) round picks to Tennessee for the Titans’ 2016 first (15th overall), third (76th overall) and 2017 second round picks.
04/29/2016 Drafted QB Cody Kessler 93rd overall.
04/29/2016 Traded third (77th overall) and fifth (141st overall) round picks to Carolina for the Panthers’ third (93rd overall), fourth (129th overall) and fifth (168th overall) round picks.
04/29/2016 Drafted OL Shon Coleman 76th overall.
04/29/2016 Drafted DL Carl Nassib 65th overall.
04/29/2016 Drafted LB Emmanuel Ogbah 32nd overall.
04/29/2016 Waived WR Saalim Hakim.
04/30/2016 Drafted LB Scooby Wright III 250th overall.
04/30/2016 Traded seventh (223rd overall) round pick to Miami for the Dolphins’ seventh (250th overall) round pick and DB Jamar Taylor.
04/30/2016 Drafted DB Trey Caldwell 173rd overall.
04/30/2016 Drafted WR Rashard Higgins 172nd overall.
04/30/2016 Drafted OL Spencer Drango 168th overall.
04/30/2016 Drafted WR Jordan Payton 154th overall.
04/30/2016 Drafted TE Seth DeValve 138th overall.
04/30/2016 Drafted DB Derrick Kindred 129th overall.
04/30/2016 Traded fourth (100th overall) round pick to Oakland for the Raiders’ fourth (114th overall) and fifth (154th overall) round picks.
04/30/2016 Drafted WR Ricardo Louis 114th overall.
04/30/2016 Drafted LB Joe Schobert 99th overall.They get a B for the draft, mainly because I still loathe taking a slot WR at #15. He also was pure trash in his first game. During time off from practice for his injury, he clearly didn’t study the playbook as in his first appearance he lined up wrong numerous times. The rest of the draft was fantastic as far as value and positional choices. Obviously it’s too early to grade it overall – but with all the picks they acquired – this office actually gets an A for staying true to their word on building through the draft.
May 23 – Terminated the contract of Brian Hartline. A for this move. Taking time from young WR – and he’s no threat at all at the position.
08/17/2016 Suspended DB K’waun Williams – the backstory shows he seemed to be a problem child. Good move to suspend him and show the coach won’t take crap from anyone.
8/25/2016 Traded LB Barkevious Mingo to New England for the Patriots’ 2017 fifth-round pick. – A++++++++++ The fact that we got a 5th for him is insane. The fact they got any draft pick for this guy without the word “conditional” is amazing.
08/29/2016 Traded P Andy Lee and a 2017 7th-round pick to Carolina for P Kasey Redfern and a 2018 fourth-round pick. A++++++. Lee was against effort. He dogged it. I know the jokes that he wins because he got sent to a better team, but the message is clear when you combine Williams attitude with Lee’s lack of effort – you practice how you play. You play hard 100% of the time – or you’re done.
These 2 messages are a definite culture shift in Cleveland.
08/29/2016 Terminated the contract of LB Paul Kruger. A+ – he sucked.
Just saw this for the first time:
08/29/2016 Waived DB K’Waun Williams. Be a bitch – find the door.
Overall I must say – I’m highly impressed with this front office so far. As much as I tore into Sashi and moneyball – I have few things I can argue with:
1. Not re-signing Benji. He was developing well. Instead of resigning him, we drafted someone to replace him in round 1. don’t get it.
2. Not resigning Gipson. Pro-Bowl safety and young. Our current safeties are abysmal. I don’t get it.
3. Mitchell Schwartz. Looking back – I only have a half argument. They used him as a “we don’t screw araound” guinea pig. They made him a great offer. He said “screw you I can get more.” Went to free agency – didn’t get any offers as much as the Browns so he came crawling back. They said, “Sorry, your ship sailed. Good luck.” I wish they’d have lowered their offer and signed him, but at the same time take his attitude, Williams and Lee – and they are all gone.
I’m much more optimistic for the future than I thought I’d be at this point – assuming Haslam doesn’t screw it all up by firing Hue after this week’s pre-season game.
Freedom!!!
There’s some good, some bad. I like a lot of what thy done, but like you mentioned with Benjamin, Schwartz, and Gipson, there’s also some of the running on ice stuff where we create holes and letting young players walk. Mack is the same case, but he just plain wanted out, so I don’t hold him against the FO.
The one big question I have is who is making money on this team??? Honestly, outside of the Joe’s, Tramon Williams worthless ass, and RG3, we don’t have any big money guys. Which is really a reflection of the past management, because all the high draft picks have sucked, but eventually the money has to go SOMEWHERE. That’s not a complaint, it’s just mind blowing. This team right now is about as lean as a team can be, financially.
The one big question I have is who is making money on this team???
Dwayne Bowe says hi.
Our top 10 paid players this season are:
Joe Haden – 13.4m
Joe Thomas – 9.5m
Tramon Williams – 7m
RG3 – 5m
Josh McCown – 5m
Justin Gilbert – 3.5m
Demario Davis – 3.1m
John Greco – 2.9m
John Hughes – 2.9m
Danny Shelton – 2.7mWe have a whopping 22.8m in dead cap, and at this point have approx 38.6m in cap space.
You’ll notice some fairly mediocre players on that top 10 list who have large targets on their backs. We also have no pass rushers on the list which is unusual.
In case you were wondering about the dead cap, here’s the largest offenders.
Dwayne Bowe – 4.6m
Donte Whitner – 4.5m
Johnny Manziel – 4.3m
Karlos Dansby – 3m
Barkevious Mingo – 2.6mIIRC ALL of them were released by the current front office. It’s obvious their plan is to clear the books now of dead weight so that in the future they have much more room to sign big contracts. We will have one of the lowest active salary numbers in the NFL this year.
To @Ice point, when building through the draft you have to be confident you are hitting so you need cap room for large contracts of your draft picks 3 years down the line.
Freedom!!!
That’s exactly how the Packers go about doing it Soup, and they’re in contention every year (when healthy of course).
I was going to give this it’s own thread, but it fits in better here.
Great article on Hue and the front office.
Fantastic read @shooter
Freedom!!!
I was going to give this it’s own thread, but it fits in better here.
Great article on Hue and the front office.
From NFL.comYou weenis…I just got done reading that, and came here to post it lol. I look before I leap too much.
Holy novel, that article was ridiculously long!!
I do like though, how it says Hur was thinking Goff or nobody. He gets it at QB. You can’t just take Wentz or Lynch just so you have a QB. It HAS to be the right one.
The Browns historically have been terrible at that. Manziel, Weeden, and Quinn were all taken because the Browns needed a qb, and they were there. You can’t take a QB that high because you need one. It HAS tone because the right one is available.
@dawge-dawg nailed it. There is such a push to get a QB, past regimes have panicked when the draft didn’t serve one up on a silver platter. This regime knew they weren’t going to get Goff and methodically looked for alternatives.
It was telling that shortly after Goff’s workout, they had RG3 come in and do a work out. It was as close to an apples to apples comparison as you can get and apparently RG3 blew them away. The story claims Jackson says it was the best QB workout he’d ever seen. That makes it a pretty easy decision if I’m a coach.
Another plus. Whitner and Hartline are both still teamless since they’ve been cut. I read that earlier today. Finally getting rid of some dead weight cap people complaining we got rid of – and no one else wants them.
Freedom!!!
Interesting points even if I disagree with 99% of them.
I’ve read this book – what – 5-6 times in the last 16 years? New GM comes in, hires “his” coach, flips the roster, and this organization is finally on the right path!
This time, we get a baseball guy to evaluate a DBs ability to cover, the lateral movement of an Olineman, or the ability of a QB to scan the field. And surprise, surprise every single one of his draft picks makes the original 53 man roster. Really, dude??? Not one of those chump 7th rounders wasn’t good enough to make the roster? Has that ever happened in NFL history???
Jimmy Haslem is an asshat. A complete embarrassment. The only half decent thing he’s ever done is sign Hue, and I’m not completely sold on him being head coach material with 16 games under his belt. Slick Jimmy deserves what he’s about to get – potentially an 0-16, 1-15 season.
And, I’m suppose to believe NOW that we are on the right path? Been there, done that. Not buying that bullshit again. Prove it….once and for all.
@DaytonDawg I agree with your thoughts. However, IMO, this is the first time I actually understand what they are doing. I get your point on our 14 draft picks all making the team, at the same time – they weeded out all the negativity so I can see all 14 making it. A true culture change (which has never happened since 1999) takes a major sweep of out with the old and in with the new.
This si the first front office where I personally can see the plan actually being attempted instead of just empty words (and remember – this is coming from me who wanted Pettine fired the moment he was hired).
Freedom!!!
The most encouraging thing for me is still that we didn’t grab a QB just to grab a QB. Every day I look at Goff and Wentz and neither strike me as anything special. Previous regimes would have grabbed them because that gives them a pass to say “well we sucked this year because our QB is a rookie”. Then the next year they’d say “well we sucked this year because our QB sucked.”
The most encouraging thing for me is still that we didn’t grab a QB just to grab a QB.
I don’t think people really, actually, give this line of thinking it’s due. I emphatically agree with this statement.
I’ll never understand it. I don’t get why teams do it when they know for a fact it fails. “Well, we DO need a QB, and EJ Manual is the best on the board so, I mean, we HAVE to right?”
“Right”
“Okay then, let’s take him even though we know he sucks”
“Yes”
(fast forward 9 months) “Well shit, that guy sucked, now what?”
I mean what the fuck that’s just stupid. I’ve seen it all over the league year after year with every Christian Ponder, Blaine Gabbert, and Geno Smith taken. Doing it just to do it and taking a guy just to take him. It’s just stupefying to me. And we’ve seen it here countless times now. We all know damn well that Brandon fucking Weeden was garbage, that Manziel was garbage……..I give the organization a pass on Quinn because he was highly touted, had it all, was tutored by Charlie Weiss I mean, you just can’t predict that level of bust, but it happens.
Everything else though? C’mon here, let’s be real. And again it’s not just us.
I watch the draft and I’m like “really Tennessee, Jake Locker, that’s, that’s what you came up with? Are you serious?”
Arizona. Please. Tell me how you didn’t know Matt Leinart wasn’t going to just completely fly your plane into the goddamn mountain. You knew he sucked. You knew it and you did it anyway. I was on my couch in Ohio going “that guy sucks”.
I’d love to get paid a few mil a year to make just dumb, dumb decisions that don’t work. I do it everyday now and all it ever gets me is a stink-eye from my wife and derision from my 7 and under children. No pay!!
Just because you NEED a QB, does not, NOT, mean that you blow a valuable draft pick on one “just because”. I’m looking at you, Denver, and Tim Tebow.
That we have gotten to this point, and DIDN’T draft one of these guys…….dayum. DAYUM. That alone is a turn of the corner for me to at least take some notice and go, “well, they still might be total idiots, but at least they aren’t THAT goddamn stupid”.
That isn’t usually the case for me here with this team. Usually I’m sitting on the couch saying “they can’t be this dumb” and then watch them draft Brandon Weeden and go “son-of-a-bitch, they still really are”.
Andrew Lucks and Aaron Rodgers’ don’t generally fall out of the sky. It takes a lot to be able to land a guy like that. There’s a myriad of pieces involved and you have to hope that most of them fall into place correctly. The Browns, at least as far as I can see right now, are actually acquiring the pieces and moving them accordingly in place to give themselves the best chance they have to get a guy of that caliber. I’m glad that they are showing the level of restraint needed, and foresight to have that level of patience.
Do I have it? Fuck no. I want to win and it’s pissing me off we don’t, and I know that this year, we aren’t. And that really sucks, and I’m sick of fucking doing it because that’s what we always do.
But I think of Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell in Apollo 13 talking about going to the moon. “It’s not a miracle….we just decided to go”.
I don’t know if the Calculator Club can do it, but I do believe that they’re shooting for the moon, and that that these guys are really, really trying.
I can’t take that away from them.
I don’t know why that posted twice. I’m hoping because it was just awesome.
I’m supposed to be a moderator here Jesus, ICE, How do I do that? How do I delete a post? I should know that but, not gonna lie I don’t.
Ahhh fuck it. Read it twice, I was being profound.
Ice your board has some Gremlins afoot as of late.
Running amok and causing general displeasure all the way around. You should fix that.
I’m drunk now but, that really shouldn’t matter. I’m trying to bestow knowledge n shit here upon our heard. When the system starts gettin all twisted it really takes a front seat to my pontifications and erodes my points.
@shooter just press submit once. If you press it twice, you submit it twice. If you’re drunk and you see two submit buttons go for the one on the left because on most people their dominant eye is the right eye. Other than that the only gremlin on this forum causing displeasure that I’m aware of is Soup.
If you’re drunk and you see two submit buttons go for the one on the left because on most people their dominant eye is the right eye.
But I have Amblyopia in my right eye. Now what? Drink less?
I can’t live like that man.
And the error message I keep getting says “405 Not Allowed”. If that helps.
I just got that too. Sent a mean note to my server people. Being the whale of a website this is and all the revenue it generates they immediately put down their ramen noodles and flipped the ‘screw up website’ switch to off again.
My thoughts on the front office – many pro’s still picking us to win only 1 game. I will go with the Pro’s who consistently say we suck and are proven right year after year. Until this team can win a few games, I will sit here with the same attitude – same old browns, there is always next year.
Hue Jackson is a loser.
My thoughts on the front office – many pro’s still picking us to win only 1 game. I will go with the Pro’s who consistently say we suck and are proven right year after year. Until this team can win a few games, I will sit here with the same attitude – same old browns, there is always next year.
No one is denying the suck. It’s the future that finally looks like it may arrive this time.
Freedom!!!
My thoughts on the front office – many pro’s still picking us to win only 1 game. I will go with the Pro’s who consistently say we suck and are proven right year after year. Until this team can win a few games, I will sit here with the same attitude – same old browns, there is always next year.
No one is denying the suck. It’s the future that finally looks like it may arrive this time.
Playing young players and building through a draft does not guarantee anything. But I will give you the fact that it seems like so far the coaches, the players, and the GM have it together. But we will see….I am still pissed with Crowell. Going to be really tough cheering for a guy who hates police officers.
Hue Jackson is a loser.
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