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NOW THAT ALEX SMITH IS NOT AN OPTION . . . WHAT NOW?
As many of you already know, the Kansas City Chiefs have traded veteran quarterback Alex Smith to the Washington Redskins for a third round draft pick and cornerback Kendall Fuller. With the trade, Smith also signed a four year contract extension worth $94 million . . . $71 million of which is guaranteed, so I don’t think he’ll be going anywhere else anytime soon.
So where does that leave our beloved Brownies in their search for a veteran starting quarterback? In a nutshell, it leaves them without what many believed to be the organization’s first and best option. So who’s left?
Well, we can start off with 29 year old and soon-to-be former Washington Redskin, Kirk Cousins, who’ll be free to sign with any team that he and his agent choose. He made just shy of $25 million last season and spotrac.com estimates his market value at an average salary of $25.6 million over the course of his next contract. Sure, the Browns have enough cap space to accommodate such a salary, but why would Cousins want to came to any team whose record over the past 2 years was 1-31? How much would Cleveland have to overpay in order to get him? It’s also been said that Arizona would be a much better fit for him.
Then there’s 29 year old veteran journeyman and current Minnesota Vikings quarterback Case Keenum, who made $2 million last season. His estimated market value is $21.1 million over each of the next four years. Oddly enough, there are two other quarterbacks on the Vikings current roster that could possibly end up in Cleveland. The often injured 30 year old Sam Bradford is an unrestricted free agent who made $18 million in 2017 for being injured a good portion of the season. Or perhaps you’d rather have 25 year old Teddy Bridgewater, who made just over $1.7 million last season and spent significant time on the IR. The projected market values of Bradford and Bridgewater are yet to be determined; but given their collective history of injuries, both are a substantial gamble.
Then there’s 29 year old and current Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles, who’s been filling in for the injured Carson Wentz. Foles is currently under contract for 2018 with a salary of up to $7.6 million dollars. The Browns would have to negotiate a trade in order to secure his services. So the question is, “what would you be willing to give up for him?”
Finally we have the 27 year old and current Cincinnati Bengals backup quarterback AJ McCarron. Yes, this is the same player whom the Browns tried to acquire before the 2017 trade deadline, but failed to call in the trade to the league office in time for the deal to go through. At the time of the blunder, many were critical of the fact that the Browns were willing to give up a second and a third round pick for him, and I was one of those people. McCarron has a grievance hearing over whether he’ll be a restricted or unrestricted free agent on February 15th. Depending on the decision rendered, the Browns may be able to acquire him via free agency. If not, then the Browns would have to trade for him. Again, if that’s the scenario, how much are you willing to give up for him? In 2017, McCarron made $600,413. What his market value would be if he were to hit the free agent market is uncertain. What is known at this point is that Coach Jackson likes McCarron and that he knows Jackson’s offense. How savvy a move this would be still remains uncertain because it’s all speculation and conjecture at this point. If granted his free agency, it’s uncertain whether or not the Bengals will transition tag him.
WUNKLE’S TAKE: Since we’re at this point of the game, the easiest solution would be to go after Kirk Cousins, even if you have to overpay him some. That in turn would allow the Browns to use their two first round picks (#1 and #4) on the best players available. Many (including yours truly) think that move would culminate in selecting Penn State RB Saquon Barkley and Alabama defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick. There would also be a valid argument for NC State DE Bradley Chubb at either first or fourth overall if the Browns were able to secure their veteran quarterback during the off-season. As for Bradford and Bridgewater, their injury history scares the crap out of me. I think I’ll take a pass on them. At this rate and considering his play in 2017; it appears that Case Keenum is not going anywhere anytime soon, so scratch him off my list. If the Browns decide to make a move for either Nick Foles or AJ McCarron, they’ll still need to draft a quarterback first overall. Regardless of how you look at it, the situation is still complicated at best.
Am I going mad, or did the word THINK escape your lips? You were not hired for your brains, you hippopotamic landmass!
I’m not a fan of Kirk for us. He’ll never play better than he did this year, and our team is a lot worse than Washington. He’s not going to bring us up, we’ll bring him down. Plus you plug him in at Arizona or Minnesota and you’ve got a potential Superbowl contender. He’ll go somewhere where he can win.
Get me a 2nd tier guy like McCarron, Bridgewater, or Bradford. How much we like Bridgewater or Bradford depends on how much our docs like them. Sadly that makes AJ the ‘safest’ choice.
The good news is that we have the #1 overall pick and we can get our QB of the future, grab a stopgap guy like AJ, and also keep developing Kizer.
I’d rather we sign his girlfriend.
@dude Wunkle is supposed to be the crusty curmudgeon around here, but lately you’ve been more ornery than a mule chewing on bumblebees.
Dude is very not dude like….. We go 0-16 and keep the coaches. Garbage. Can’t do your job and win 1 game losers like Loser Hue Jackson should be let go.
Hue Jackson is a loser.
Perfect video DPD.
On the FA QB front Just get J.McCown and call it a day
http://cloudassetserver.com/STL/posts/185/sp_04_976x0.jpg
BREAKING NEWS . . . We’ve already seen the Josh McCown act in Cleveland. It didn’t work with the cast of characters surrounding him. What makes you think it would work with this bunch, especially if we also need to replace Joe Thomas?
Am I going mad, or did the word THINK escape your lips? You were not hired for your brains, you hippopotamic landmass!
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