Kyrie Irving makes Zach Lowe’s Marc Gasol All-Stars
March 17, 2015Trent Richardson signs on with the Oakland Raiders
March 17, 2015In the end it really doesn’t matter what the Browns tried to do. This pertains to Larry Fitzgerald and also Sam Bradford. The information about what they’ve attempted to do is interesting in many ways, but it’s not proof of anything, nor does it give the Browns a pass if and when they fail. I’m not saying they will fail, mind you, I’m merely saying that “trying” isn’t a defense for a front office at the end of the day. That disclaimer stated, it appears the Browns did make a legitimate effort to land Sam Bradford according to Adam Caplan.
This is true. #19 overall. RT @Rotoworld_FB: Report: CLE offered 1st rounder for Bradford http://t.co/RFB7T7whhW
— Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) March 17, 2015
Do with that information what you will. If you feel better knowing that the Browns weren’t satisfied to merely stop at landing Josh McCown, then bask in this information. If you can’t believe some team didn’t take the Browns up on that, then bask in the fact that it got turned down and the Browns were saved from making a bad deal.
Just know this one thing – and all the caveats apply about what the Browns might / could do in the rest of the off-season. It’s far from over. Regardless of what the Browns have tried so far, at the current moment their QB depth chart is likely Josh McCown, Thad Lewis, Connor Shaw and Johnny Manziel.
14 Comments
Let’s sweeten this up a bit:
Browns 19th overall + 2015 4th round pick for Sam Bradford and Jordan Matthews.
If accepted I would have had no prob with that, the 19th overall for a shot that Bradford can still be a good NFL QB when given a solid OL and RBs. Guessing that his NFL future is no more iffy than Mariota’s.
The one thing that bothers me about Browns fans’ screaming that they haven’t signed the more attractive FAs is the apparent assumption that they could have had they just wanted to. Last time I checked players, like other teams’ GMs, have free will. Players don’t have to sign here even if the money is equal or better, and GMs don’t have to make the offered deal. The absence of a QB, Shanahan demanding out and Cameron Jordan fleeing while extolling Tannehill may mean that this year drafting is the only real way to significantly improve the offense this year.
Whatever the truth, rest assured that it reveals the incompetence of the front office and we as fans will make our anger known to them.
http://mrwgifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Crazy-Dog-With-An-Insane-Anger-Expression.gif
Amen as to the “free will.” When Mack was unsigned, the “people” howled that we shouldn’t just “let him walk,” as if Banner & co. had it in their sole power to whip the man back into the work line. Those same people speculated that Banner was throwing a handful of pennies on the ground for Mack to pick up. I suppose we’ll never know all of what is offered or sought behind closed doors. Yet, how the fans process it (and cast blame) I suppose is a direct function of how you feel about the management. Here, people have more trust in Farmer and give him the benefit of the doubt (by and large), whereas for Banner, not so much.
It was worth a shot. I have no problem that the offer was made or that it was rejected. You don’t know until you ask. But you can’t really offer much more than what we did.
The Alex Mack thing was thought to be (by me and others) as a combination of arrogance and incompetence that Mack needed to “prove it” for one more year. They thought they were smarter and didn’t think Mack was quite as good as the rest of the league and it cost them a drawn out – borderline ugly – process because they just couldn’t bring themselves to lock up a player who they should have. That was Banner though.
The problem with Ray Farmer is that he’s got no benefit of the doubt after a year that ended with coaches and veterans admonishing his entire first round. It may not be totally fair, but combine that with your own embarrassing texting situation and you kind of have to own it. Also combine it with the fact that Josh McCown was hand-selected over Brian Hoyer basically over what seems to amount to personal reasons and it’s hard to grant the benefit of the doubt.
I do like Farmer, by the way. I want to give him more time and see what he does in this draft. I want nothing more for him to remain as the GM for the next 10 years. I’m just unable to lie to myself enough to say everything’s going well so far.
Agreed. It’s actually pretty simple: free agency means more buyers for what you’re selling. Higher demand means you can command more money.
This is also the reason that I don’t like making Gipson a RFA. While it makes nickle and dime sense, it also means that a productive player is going to be able to test free agency (or be tagged). More than that, I think it conveys to players that the club views them as commodities rather than people.
Actually, the Browns front office is starting to remind me of the Houston Astros. Not sure how many people followed their follies, but the long short is that they’re strong at making the smart on-paper decisions & managing dollars and weak at realizing that people do not think of themselves as on-paper decisions or numbers.
I like Farmer too, don’t get me wrong. I was saying that depending on how you feel about the FO (hate burning like a thousand suns for Lombanner vs. very cautiously optimistic mixed in with suspicious twinges of same old shite from the Browns in Farmer), we judge accordingly when we “miss out” on a guy.
As a side note, it’s interesting we’re talking about Mack. A similar situation could be playing out right now with Gipson. He was clearly nonplussed about the 2nd round tender. If it was Banner, I’m sure people would be livid in thinking he’s being disrespected ala Mack. I (and maybe others) are hopeful that Farmer will be locking him up and avoiding a Mack situation. We shall see.
Spot on. Was just responding to Craig below on Gipson. I see a situation brewing there. Unless the league addresses the creative contracts given as end arounds for RFAs (Alex Mack frontloaded with options out), there will be continuous battles there. The best way is to avoid that situation altogether and sign Gipson before the season starts to a long term deal (and in fact do it now before he actually might fetch an offer).
re: McCown over Hoyer
Was it really “personal” reasons? I don’t think it was. McCown isn’t here because Farmer wants to talk to him in the halls and have lunch with him. He’s here because he isn’t going to gripe about sitting on the bench if/when that happens.
For whatever reason, maybe it’s the hometown connection or his short stint of adequate play or his underdog grittiness, fans have really given Hoyer a pass on an attitude that some might call entitled. Seneca Wallace was generally admonished and became persona non grata for wanting to be a starter for the Browns. Not so for Hoyer.
The Gipson situation is the one Farmer decision that I take issue with. That said, there’s a lot of off-season left.
The optimist in me hopes that they have held off on the Gipson re-signing because of other the moving parts that will change our cap situation – possibly taking on Bradford’s contract, possibly acquiring then signing a new deal with Foles, or whatever else you can imagine. The pessimist worries that Farmer has the same attitude of Banner and we’ll lose out on or have to overpay on Gipson. Then, of course, there’s part of me that thinks that maybe Gipson really isn’t all that good, the team has fairly assessed his talent level, and all will be fine if/when he walks. I guess we shall see.
Whatever happens, I’m sure we’ll all over-react and waste too much time analyzing it.
i have to respectfully disagree … “trying” is much better than doing nothing. it shows initiative & intent.
hi Craig … when it comes to farmer , most people point to last year’s first round & textgate when they should be looking at his entire body of work , which overall was pretty good … and we saw improvement going 7-9.
and it is always worth mentioning he is sitting on 2 first round picks this year from last year’s first round & i still think gilbert’s best days are in front of him.
Oh man… that is bleak.