Browns taking measured, patient approach to free agency
March 10, 2015Who Shot? JR: Cavaliers at Mavericks Behind the Box Score
March 11, 2015The Cleveland Browns’ need for a cornerback just got larger as Buster Skrine will reportedly sign a four-year deal with the New York Jets that will pay him $25 million, $13 of which is guaranteed. Skrine, the full-time starter opposite cornerback Joe Haden in 2014, waited all of 20 minutes after the start of free agency to jump ship.
“Bus is a guy that really came on for us, and it’s one of those things where he could go out and get blown away in the market,” Browns head coach Mike Pettine said on Monday. “We have parameters for where we are. You always set thresholds for players. We certainly feel that Bus is the right player, but for us it certainly also has to be the right price.”
Apparently that “right price” was not one for which Skrine’s camp was willing to settle. Skrine, whom the Browns drafted in the fifth round in 2011, was the target of early contract discussions this offseason, but talks quickly ended when it became apparent that the cornerback could command more in the open market. Eight clubs had inquired on Skrine within the first three hours of the opening of the league’s negotiating period and the rest was history for the soon-to-be 26-year old.
The Browns recently extended tenders to several key members of the team’s defensive unit, but their only free agent signing thus far has been wide receiver Brian Hartline. They continue to be in the discussion for Pro Bowl cornerback Darrelle Revis, but early indications are that he too will sign with the Jets.
46 Comments
Well, looks like we’re not drafting a WR this year.
Again. >:|
Really happy for Skrine: small school, undersized guy who worked his butt off, maximized his abilities and never took a play off when many teammates did. And now he’s guaranteed himself at least $13m from this violent game no matter what happens.
And really sad for me. That the Browns have another self-inflicted big hole, that I’m mourning the loss of a just-ok player because he was our second-best corner in a pass-happy league. That I will watch a draft where, again, there are not enough picks for the many needs. This year we’re losing a corner and the starting TE while looking again for the QB and corner. We’r bailing water out of a leaky boat.
Farmer, again you have two first rounders and there’s just one way out: NAIL THIS DRAFT. Otherwise, after Manziel, Gilbert and the texting fiasco, it’s certainly crib death for your young career..
Deep breath. It’s still only March 10th.
Is $13M for two years of Skrine really that atrocious that we wouldn’t offer something similar, or, did we offer something along those lines and he declined? I wonder if he just wanted out, and wasn’t going to listen any offer from the Browns. $13M guaranteed seems fair for an average CB, especially on a team that needs one.
That atrocious? No. A far cry from what he was offered by the Browns? Yes.
Cameron is one hit from retiring. He was a shell of his former self this year. Hope he does well, but sometimes the grass is not greener on the other side. I think we will draft an athletic TE later in the draft since we already have Barnidge and Dray.
As far as CB, on the advanced analytics page (http://www.advancedfootballanalytics.com/index.php/home/stats/defensive-players/cornerbacks) Haden is ranked 2nd with a Win probability added of 1.2, Skrine with 30 with 0.8 and gilbert was 44 with 0.66. That means we had 3 of the top 44 CB in NFL according to the site. Still have 2 of top 44 with Gilbert expected to move up with more pt and experience assuming he gets better.
Stick to the board, best player available.
Skrine was tied for second in defensive penalties in the league. Guy loved to hold and PI.
how much would it have cost to give him a restricted tender of some sort?
They wouldn’t even give him Gavin Floyd money.
I’m at the edge with the Brown and Orange. They better not sign 8 bargain basement dudes or I’m gonna jump.
Or, maybe it’s ALREADY March 10th. Hmmm…?
How much can be attributed to other teams (except for Pittsburgh) throwing away from Haden? I’d like some stats on other corners who play opposite lockdown guys.
While I want to say there is a lot of time left and the money for JC and Bus was not worth it…I fear you are more right than I want to admit. I think Farmer may be completely out classed by the rest of the GM’s and is in way over his head.
Penalties or win probability added
I will continue to be upset that Ozzie is in Baltimore. Guy is a savant
hi JAMES … i respectfully disagree. wait until after the draft … then let’s judge farmer.
farmer made the biggest splash in the 1str round of last year’s draft & he is sitting on 2 first rounders this year.
i still have the hunch the browns trade the #12 pick to philly for sam bradford.
does anyone remember just how bad skrine was early in his career ?? …. constantly getting burned & penalty after penalty. then he improved quite nicely … this is what i’m expecting from gilbert.
hi NATE …. unless i’m mistaken … i’m not seeing them line-for for cameron’s services , though the saints could probably use him now after trading graham.
Penalties.
He didn’t love to. He had to. In order to save long touchdowns. Many times those penalties resulted in FGs instead of TDs, or no score at all. Look, I’m not idealizing the guy but he’s still working hard at his craft and still getting better. I like him. Maybe more than I should because I still have memories of more physically talented, underachieving and entitled corners like Brandon MacDonald and Eric Wright.
Brees could be traded to TB for #1 pick to get Winston! NO has #13 and #31. I could see them giving one up and Brees to start over. I am guessing Cameron goes to Atlanta (plucked a team out of the air)
have you heard something on brees , or are you predicting it ?? I am sticking with my prediction that the browns will send the #12 overall to philly for sam bradford.
Well tigers, that would mean you are not in line to jump off the bridge based on day one of FA, and we can’t have that… 🙂 Thinking they have a plan, or are sticking to a strategy… shame on you.
hi Jeremy … LMAO !! . i would be happy if they can get a solid DT , and there are still a few out there … get another decent WR like shorts or andre holmes , and maybe a decent OLB would be nice heading into the draft.
i heard they’re bringing in CB perrish cox (49ers) for an interview … apparently they want more than just haden , gilbert , desir & k.williams.
Seeing rumors on Brees. He is not happy that graham left. He also takes up 25M which is 1/6 of the team cap.
Browns are not trading for Bradford. Eagles got him to be their starter. There are performance objectives related to the trade in his contract. If this was the Eagles plan, they wouldn’t have gotten rid of Foles. They would have used him to trade up in the draft. Bradford is not worth #12 pick.
you’re probably right about bradford , but something just doesn’t look right about that trade … bradford will take a beating in kelly’s system & behind philly’s o-line. and bradford definitely isn’t mobile.
and i can’t get past the fact that kelly would love to get his hands on mariota , but he would need a trading partner with ammo (us) to move in front of the jets.
Hey now, we also acquired Josh McCown!
But we lost BUSTER SKRINE! I mean, will we ever recover? He was probably in the upper half of #2 cornerbacks in the league. When we need to surrender a 40 yard penalty with under a minute to go, who are we going to count on? Haslem should sell the team. We need to get Banner back – he never would have let this happen. And free agency has been going on for almost 24 hours. We don’t have time to recover! Anarchy!
I like Buster. Everyone likes Buster – he came out of nowhere, got better every year, and played hard. The Browns thought they could spend that money better elsewhere and they looked at the young CBs they have and think they are OK. Is that really so hard to comprehend?
Can we please cut down on the drama? Again – it’s Buster Skrine. He’s a nice player, but hardly irreplaceable.
Besides, let’s wait a year and I bet we can sign him back for cheap. Let’s see how he does playing opposite Revis island (he’ll see even more targets now), under the bright NYC spotlight, with even more obnoxious fans – with high expectations (something we never had for him – which is probably why we like him so much), and playing against Tom Brady twice a year. Not a recipe for disaster there. Nope. I’m sure they will love his PI penalties. It’s completely impossible to imagine him being cut after a year.
Agreed. They will add depth type players and try to get lucky on one or two of them (like Crowell) in a more conventional way. Then really hope to get it right through the draft. That’s what they preach, and I haven’t seen them waver yet…
I love how for years and years and years the refrain from the Browns faithful has been “you’ve got to build through the draft”, “you’ve got to build through the draft”, “you’ve got to build through the draft”. Now that we have a front office dedicated to building through the draft, so much so that their free agency strategy is based on getting extra conditional draft picks, everyone loses their collective shiznit and starts demanding that we overpay for free agents.
great post …
stop it … you guys are making way too much sense !!
You can say wait untill the draft to judge, but short of Joe Montana being available what will that prove? You will still have to wait multiple years to properly grade this draft. Evaluating farmer up to this point, which is all we can really do, I stand by my post. As for your “biggest splash” I hope that was just a poorly played joke about Manziel. Otherwise it’s complete nonsense. My assessment of the Bradford deal is that Chip paid to much for Sam not to be his guy. additionly factor in the connection with the OC who coached him during is ROY campaign and I think he is in philly for good. My guess is any team that wants Mariota will have to move into the 2nd spot. Just a feeling.
How are foles’ feet? Lead shoes. Seemed to work out ok for him.
… you just said it : “you still have to wait multiple years …” , so how can you say farmer is outclassed & in way over his head ?
i personally would’ve drafted LB khalil mack & QB derek carr in the 1st round last year … but that didn’t happen.
as far as last year’s 1st round (“big splash”) … the browns were the talk of day one. farmer netted gilbert , manziel & another 1st round pick in this year’s draft. we all know gilbert & manziel did not take last year serious at all. this is just me , but i think gilbert steps-up this year & shows why he was a 1st round draft pick … and i’m not holding out too much hope for manziel , but i’m at least glad to see he’s taking steps to do something about it.
and don’t you think farmer may’ve been influenced by haslam and/or pettine on those 1st round picks last year ??
good point …
foles also took a beating behind that line last year & they just let herreman go. foles also got hurt last year.
Actually, I take back the part about Jets fans’ high expectations. Instead, they might already be turning on him:
http://www.ganggreennation.com/2015/3/10/8185231/report-jets-will-sign-buster
http://thejetsblog.com/nyjets/jets-cb-skrine-have-mutual-interest/
Have a safe trip.
“up to this point”
Calm down. We’re over-valuing our own assets again. Remember when the team couldn’t survive without Phil Dawson or Josh Cribbs? The beat goes on…coming out of a 7-9 year with a whole new regime. Things are looking up, so let’s try to keep it that way!
Having spent the vast majority of my life living in southwestern Connecticut, about 40 minutes outside NYC. I can confidently say that the New York fan base is the only one which compares to Cleveland in terms of how fast they are able to fall in and out of love with players.
fair enough , i guess … i think farmer knows what he’s doing & i expect him to be in cleveland for quite some time.
did/will he make some mistakes ?? … yes, every GM does. all i know for sure is we showed improvement going 7-9 last year & as long as we continue to improve , he should be the guy.
i don’t know what game some of you Brown’s fans have been watching…but good move letting “Mr. Clutch and Grab” Skrine go. He did improve slightly last year which added to his free agency value but with nobody throwing Reveis’ way in the JETS secondary this year(Skrine will be targeted)…watch for 2-3 holds/interferences on him every game….
You say calm down, but we haven’t won the Superbowl since we let those two leave! 🙂
… philly fans are tuff as well … and they are obviously going ballistic right now.
There are two parts to building through the draft and the second part is KEEPING the serviceable guys you drafted, not letting them wander off into free-agency while you swim through a Scrooge McDuck money bin full of unspent cash.