Cavs Beat Knicks, Extend East Lead, Keep Pace Overall
March 16, 2009Miami Police Awaiting Stallworth’s Results
March 16, 2009
While Fridays are typical paydays for most of the working world, it was no different in the National Football League as the roster bonus for Browns (backup?) quarterback Derek Anderson was paid in full. A payment that we all wish would not have had to have been made, but one that we all saw coming.
I like to think of it as the sunk cost necessary to increase trade value. The thinking is now that the Browns have paid his bonus, all another team would be responsible for if they were to trade for Anderson would be his base salary – $1.5 million. Any team out there that considers Anderson as a capable staring quarterback would be foolish to not acquire him given the fact that the most QB salaries are considerably higher.
But is he on the market? Don’t expect to get that answer from the current staff. From what we continue hearing, Eric Mangini has yet to name a starting quarterback. Anderson obviously had a down year, so his trade value will not be very high. Brady Quinn, the so-called “future” of the Browns has yet to prove that he is in fact capable of carrying this team forward. But given that he did not have an absolute awful season like Anderson, his value would be considerably higher in the trade market.
The Akron Beacon-Journal recently listed Anderson’s value as an “early day two” selection. This would hopefully signal that the Browns could get a third-round selection for him, though many fans are still hoping for a second-rounder. A wish that is looking more and more like a pipe dream at this point, but something which the team may be longing for. The Browns do not have a third-round selection after the trade that brought Shaun Rogers to town, so it wouldn’t hurt to have that added to the arsenal. However, three second-round selections are never a bad thing to have.
And while we’re discussing quarterbacks, I would be remiss to not mention Denver’s Jay Cutler. Recall the Bronco fan-based rumors that started not all that long ago that had Cutler coming to the Browns. And now with the Denver play-caller unhappy at Mile High, I would expect that to fire to rekindle once again; hopefully with different trade pieces leaving Cleveland. However, given the malcontent that he has become in Denver, is this something that we would want to even consider having in orange and brown regardless of the cost?
“You know, even after the meeting, I hung around town, kind of expecting him to call me and say, ‘Hey, let’s just me and you get away and have lunch or a cup of coffee’ and mend things, but that didn’t happen. So, I get it, really, it’s a business. I’m disappointed because I love being a Bronco but I think it’s run its course.”
Another player that needs to be taken out to lunch? Or coffee, for that matter?
There are obviously other teams in the NFL that have a bigger hole at the quarterback slot that the Browns at this point. But I think it may speak volumes to the lack of belief that is being portrayed to both of our current quarterbacks that any media outlet would perceive us as a possible destination for Cutler’s future services.
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30 Comments
Get the third/fourth round pick for the bumbling mumbling stiff that DA is and be done with it. Why do fans in Cleveland continue to think the NFL is not aware of what a flat footed, horrible accuracy, lack of leadership, lack of presence “QB” that DA is? Get the pick and move on, write off the loss as a business expense and learn from it.
There’s no way Mangini would have a gun-slinging QB like Cutler playing for him; he’d never let him throw downfield at will. And……please, can we give Brady a chance before he keeps getting deemed as “yet to prove he’s capable” of carrying a team forward-the kid played barely two games after sitting for almost two years. I’ll take that performance anyday from a kid who sat literally for two years due to no fault of his own and was thrown into the fray. We know he’s a leader, tough mentally and physically, mobile-give the kid his shot; he’s more than deserving.
I don’t know what to think about any of this. Considering the luck this franchise has had, I really don’t see any choice but to let ManKok run it’s course. Before the wheels fell off last year, I thought Savage was doing a fine job. Apparently I know nothing, so I’ll let the the people that know more than I do make the decisions and see how they pan out.
Well, this is just the natural progression for DA. He had no trade value with that impending bonus. Now that it has been paid as of Friday, I expect the offers to come in (if they are coming at all.)
Randy, I don’t think any Browns fans think DA is worthy of a 2nd rounder because of his skills. I happen to think he is worth a low 2nd rounder because he has starting experience and he happens to cost almost nothing for a QB at $1.5 million.
JT O’Sullivan who was signed to back up Carson Palmer carries a $2 million cap number. Chris Simms’ deal was for 2 years and $6 million in Denver. So, thanks to this whole deal being a business and all, trading DA to a team is like sending the player and probably somewhere in the realm of $1-3 million in cash right along with it.
And if there happens to be a team out there that wants DA to be their starter, it is like sending a player and at least $5 million in cash.
This is one of those times that I really miss Matt Millen.
“And if there happens to be a team out there that wants DA to be their starter, it is like sending a player and at least $5 million in cash.”
Like trading Jason Michaels, AND paying his salary for the year.
Craig……the fact that DA has starting experience doesn’t upgrade his value if said starting experience produced both the results and tape exposure that DA now has. We’ll see……….I will truly be shocked if anyone is dumb enough to fork over a second rounder for that stiff.
On the free agent front, the Browns are now talking to yet ANOTHER 31 year old 11 year veteran on the offensive line to complement Pork Chop. They are looking closely at a lineman the Bears were moving to a backup role and who has been a sporadic (very) starter with three teams over his journeyman career. I guess if teams won’t pay the big bucks to keep their aging backups, the Browns WILL.
I can understand the frustration Randy, but if this means the Browns are saving their money to develop starters from the draft then I am happy. All those giant free agent signings that Phil Savage had didn’t really work out all that well, and hampered the current cap situation.
These signings are all about depth right now. I don’t think anyone (including Mangini) would prefer these guys to be starters, but there were gaps in the roster that couldn’t be filled with high priced free agents due to the cap situation.
Also consider that it appears a great many free agents (gasp!) didn’t want to come to Cleveland and play for a 4-12 team. Like every other franchise in the league, this one will eventually be defined by their ability to draft and draft well. Let’s hope Georgie boy can draft better than Savage who drafted slightly better than Butchie.
The Browns need picks now more than ever with the way Stallworth saga seems to be unfolding. With him (presumably) gone the Browns are even less talented at the WR, meaning they will probably have to blow their first pick on a WR instead of a LB/DE they had originally decided to draft.
Craig….I’m all for depth, but why does it have to be all about 31 year old washouts? Why not develop depth with younger talent that is potentially less expensive on the market? I have no issue with not spending big dollars at this point, but understand the dollars the Browns are paying for these journeymen do add up and will take cap space in ensuing years; they all come with mult-million dollar contracts and bonuses.
You’re going to be saddled with lots of OLD “depth” in future years.
Randy, I have no issues with your argument. Gimme names though. I don’t know who Mangini is missing out on. I look at the Scout.com free agent availability page and it just looks like a wasteland to me right now.
The somewhat exciting DB’s they wanted like Greer and Carr chose not to come here. Nothing you can do about that given the past record. Phil Savage would have overpaid for guys like that in the past and as we are seeing now that isn’t a sound strategy.
Mangini won’t even meet with players on his own team, so I don’t expect him to start meeting with players that aren’t.
I am not impressed with the Eric Mangini area so far.
Craig, I really like your “Gimme names, though” point…..this is always a problem i have when people criticize GMs of any sport. If you don’t like it, what would you have done differently?
I really do not see how any Browns fan can be overly disappointed with the offseason moves (or lack thereof) that the Browns have made. No one was looking for this to be a “big splash” year, and we need depth at a variety of positions. Before we complain about the new regime, I think we really need to see what kind of quality players we get this year in the draft.
Wow. The payment of a signing bonus by the city’s floundering pro franchise to its future back-up QB/ trade bait – 6 months before the regular season starts! – generates more comments than anything else today. This really is a football town.
Matt geniouis……..I DID say what I would do differently. I’m also not an NFL scout or talent evaluator so I’m not gonna “give you names”, sheesh. Do your homework and you’ll see there are plenty of younger free agents and street players available. If you’re ok being saddled with a roster of over 30 year old backups and your reference point is “gimme names”…….so be it.
As Windy City said in #10, why should we expect Mangini to meet with other players (other than his pet Jets) if he won’t even speak to his own roster. Take four years if you need………fine.
“This really is a football town.”
Squeaky wheel gets the grease…
If all I can find is over 30 year old washouts, I’ll hold the cap money and space for another time.
Better get used to what you are seeing in free agency. Seems like the plab is going to be to bring in a bunch of vets to teach a bunch youngs guys the ropes. May be a disappointing year record wise but hopefully there will be a lot of learning going on
Randy if your advice is “sign good young players to long term contracts for low money”……let me know when you get away from Fantasyland.
I suppose your mind has been made up, and that you’re gonna subject us to your negative comments before the team has played one game under new management. To each their own…..i guess i’ll give the management the benefit of the doubt until i see the product the field is worse than the one last year.
I don’t see what is so wrong with signing a couple of decent priced veterans for depth. Randy keeps freaking out all the time about this, but I would just say look at the successful teams over the last decade, and most of them off the top of my head did somewhat similar things. Remember how the Pats won 3 Super Bowls by signing old “washed up” vets in their low 30s? The Cardinals make it with mostly vets and an old man at QB. All of these teams building and then only playing young guys are teams like the Lions, Chiefs, etc. I would rather have some guys with experience to help tutor the young guys who don’t. This isn’t Madden on the PS3, where you can just get a bunch of young guys and then use your own skill, or lower the AI difficulty, and run with it. You need vets on the team.
I’m all for Quinn, and I do feel that the argument that he hasn’t proven himself is completely premature. But, on the flip side, I feel RandyOSU’s comment that Brady’s “… a kid who sat literally for two years due to no fault of his own …” is absolving him a little too much. The guy held out and chose to get buff in what I assume was an Ivan Drago-style facility in Arizona instead of learning a new system and being with his team. Even in his first year on stage, I think he could have beat out Frye and Anderson in training camp and we could be in a totally different football state of mind right now. Who knows.
@ # 7 Clown Baby – If the Browns lose Stallworth for the year, what EXACTLY are they losing? A body in the trainer’s room? Someone on the inactive list?
If they ditched their plans to draft LB/DE because of the Stallworth thing, I would be irate. Draft a WR later, or go out and get a journeyman, because that’s what you had in Stallworth. The LB/DE needs far outweigh anything on the offensive end.
Randy… I did my homework and told you it looked like a wasteland to me. Just because you want younger guys with upside doesn’t mean that they are all just sitting out there waiting to be signed. I wasn’t trying to give you a hard time either. I just don’t know what Mangini and Kokinis could have done differently so far.
If I was going to be out there criticizing their every move, I would probably compile a list of things that they should have done instead.
Then again, I am the same guy who got so ticked at my RITA taxes one year that I went line by line through the budget of the town I lived in and compared it to neighboring towns so that I could effectively criticize my local politicians for spending money at a much higher rate. Maybe I am the crazy one, though.
D.A. is the best QB on the Browns roster. I hope Captain American is the starters so everyone will see this. Again, the legend of Brady Quinn is the strangest chapter in CLE sports history.
“But given that he did not have an absolute awful season like Anderson, his value would be considerably higher in the trade market.”
BQ fared no better when he played. No quarterback — not one — could have produced with a receiving corps that featured a No. 1 guy who dropped half the passes thrown his way (Edwards), a journeyman who was out half the season (Stallworth) and no servicable NFL-caliber player beyond that. Why is never mentioned that the Browns has the worst receiving corps — bar none — in the NFL. What a joke. Again, D.A. will finish with more wins as a Browns starter than Quinn, and that’s assuming D.A. never plays another game for the Browns.
I agree with you, Craig. There’s only so much the Browns can do. It’s kind of hard to sign big name free agents or young guys with a lot of upside if there are no big name free agents or young guys with a lot of upside on the market/willing to play here.
Personally, I am a fan of what the Mangini and the Browns are doing. As you said, no one expects these signings to be starters (except probably Barton), so they are filling the back up roles and providing depth just as they did on their former teams. They also aren’t sinking a boat load of money or years in to most of these players like our previous GM.
I also am getting sick of all of the negative comments about the Browns signing former Jets players. I don’t know about everyone else, but if I was a coach and I got a new job, I would try to bring over some of my old players, coaches, staff, etc. to my new gig to help the learning process for my new players as well. Rex Ryan is doing it in Baltimore. Ken Whisenhunt is doing it in Arizona. Bill Parcells is doing it in Miami.
I also agree with you Craig that Anderson should be worth a second round pick because of his low salary compared to QBs of less experience. If we have to throw in a 6th round pick with him to secure a 2nd round pick, I would be all for that.
Sorry, I meant “Rex Ryan is going it in New York.”
If we can somehow get Cutler for Brady and a pick then we will have fleeced Denver. Please let it happen!
“The Browns do not have a third-round selection after the trade that brought Shaun Rogers to town”
You’re a year late. This is 2009–Shaun Rogers was acquired for Leigh Bodden and a 2008 3rd-rounder.
Savage gave away this year’s #3 for to take Martin Rucker in the 4th round of the 2008 draft.
Good point seriously.
I must admit that I remember scratching my head on that one. I still dont understand why someone would trade a future #3 for a #4 now.
Randy: “And……please, can we give Brady a chance before he keeps getting deemed as “yet to prove he’s capable” of carrying a team forward-the kid played barely two games after sitting for almost two years. I’ll take that performance anyday from a kid who sat literally for two years due to no fault of his own and was thrown into the fray. We know he’s a leader, tough mentally and physically, mobile-give the kid his shot; he’s more than deserving” AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He should have been in the second half of 2007. He has what Mangini wants, right? Smart, passion for the game and a leader in the huddle. I just feel very strongly he’s the guy! As for the receivers, hmmmmm, I wanted Husmanzahda, just had a feeling we would be short there also.
I forgot to say Cutler is just we need…………another crybaby! I believe he was 8-8 last year. That is not even as good as our 10-6 when we should have been 13-3. We sucked last year, but a good part of that I think is we had no absolutely no leadership. NONE, NADA.