Buckeye Six Pack: Badger Beatdown Forces A Shift In Expectations
February 20, 2013Box Score: Hornets 100, Cavaliers 105
February 20, 2013Mary Kay Cabot of the Plain Dealer reports that the Browns will meet with Josh Cribbs’ agent J.R. Rickert at the scouting combine in Indianapolis. This doesn’t necessarily fly in the face of earlier reports that the Browns were cool on the possibilities of bringing the special teams standout back. It is reasonable for any team to perform their due diligence with all their free agents. Rickert also represents Browns restricted free agent Chris Ogbonnaya.
Even with the Browns meeting, I fully expect Cribbs to have an opportunity to test his market value on the open market. If the Browns do bring someone like Cribbs back, I expect it will be a very favorable deal for the club only after Cribbs is unable to garner interest in a substantial multi-year deal elsewhere.
Cribbs will go down in history as one of the greatest Cleveland Browns of all time due to his record-setting performances as a special teamer and return man. Still, in a league where Peyton Manning can’t find a way to spend his entire career with a single team, it remains a longshot that a special teams player like Cribbs would be able to do so either.
[Related: Ben Watson, Mohamed Massaquoi listed as free agents not likely to return]
5 Comments
I thought Cribbs has lost a step on PR, but he was #6 in the league in PR average, 4th in KR avg, and 2nd in league in total return yards. Love Cribbs, but I think Benji would look good returning punts too. Guy is quick. There are probably numerous reasons why, but Cribbs attitude has changed in the last few years.
As much as he’s been a great player to root for the last couple of years, it makes much more sense for the guys to go out and get a younger, cheaper option late in the draft (Denard Robinson or Tyrann Mathieu anyone?).
So you’re saying there’s a chance.
You gotta love Cribbs, but he doesn’t really help the team anymore. If you keep him I say it’s for a big discount, hopefully he remembers that when he was performing he got paid and the fans fought for him. Would love to have him back & retire a Brown but it wouldn’t take me very long to get over losing him.
Cribbs would be an upgrade at safety over Usama Young.