Bill Simmons admits to his irrational and completely inaccurate beliefs regarding Kyrie Irving
March 16, 2015Kyrie Irving named Eastern Conference Player of the Week
March 16, 2015The Cleveland Browns have agreed to terms with defensive tackle Randy Starks, formerly of the Miami Dolphins, and cornerback Tramon Williams, formerly of the Green Bay Packers. According to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, the Starks deal is for two years and is worth roughly $8 million with little in the ways known about guarantees. Williams has signed a three-year deal worth a reported $21 million.
Due to make $5 million this coming season, the Dolphins parted ways with the veteran after cutting a gigantic Happy Gilmore-sized check for Ndamukong Suh. The 32-year-old Starks could foreseeably line up at the defensive end spot within the team’s 3-4 alignment and would provide some pass-rushing to the team’s interior, something that was sorely missing in 2014. Â A Pro Bowler in 2010 and 2012, Starks tallied 4.5 sacks and 28 tackles over 15 starts last season.
Williams joins a Browns secondary that was among the NFL’s best in 2014. The unit placed three players—Joe Haden, Donte Whitner and Tashaun Gipson—in the 2015 Pro Bowl, led the league in opponents’ quarterback passer rating (74.1), completion percentage (57.1) and passes defensed (99), while finishing second with 21 interceptions.
“It’s going to be awesome,” Williams said via press release. “I’ll be glad to join those guys and help those guys with whatever they need. I see where these guys are going and I think I can help them go to where they want to go. They had a great defense last year with a lot of young guys on the team. I’m a veteran guy and I hope I can take them to another level.”
Williams’ addition may very well be the biggest of the free agency period as the team has been coveting a cornerback throughout the process.1 He was hosted this past weekend and reportedly also entertained interest from the Baltimore Ravens. Williams has played his entire nine-year career with the Packers, missing just one game while starting for the past five seasons. The 5-foot-11-inch veteran had 70 tackles and three interceptions last season and for his career has 464  tackles and 28 interceptions. He’s signing this deal on what is his 32nd birthday.
“Tramon is an experienced, versatile and productive corner that has played at a very high level throughout his entire career,” Browns coach Mike Pettine said. “He is a good fit for any defense because his impressive ball skills have made him an accomplished playmaker. He can play man, press or play off and be successful. Those are attributes that are very important for our defensive backs. Tramon is a high-quality person who comes from a winning tradition and we look forward to seeing the positive impact he will have on our team.”
- It’s worth noting that Williams, who is better in press coverage, is getting more per year ($7 million) than Skrine ($6.25 million) on their respective deals. [↩]
47 Comments
With the way the offense and defense are going, we’re going to see plenty of 13-9 final scores for Browns games :/
Hmmm, WR in the first round, maybe?
http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/webdr01/2013/4/18/14/anigif_enhanced-buzz-7480-1366310132-10.gif
From what I’ve read, Williams had an okay season last year playing CB1 in Green Bay. Should slot in nicely next to Haden.
PFF has him at 1.6 compared to Skrine at -6.3. And I don’t think PFF takes into account quality of opposition. So Williams was better against better competition. So an upgrade at CB, though I’m sure the narrative will be something about paying more for an older CB or missing out on Cox or some other negative spin.
PFF has Starks at -1.1 compared to Fua at -11.4 and Rubin at -14.3. So not a world beater or anything, but some replacement level depth that is an improvement over what we had.
Of course, the real contract numbers will say whether these guys are a deal or not, but they definitely seem like upgrades at positions of need.
Skrine was also paid 25M for 4 yrs to be a 3rd CB
WHY WON’T THE BROWNS SIGN ANYONE???
OH.
Farmer, you’re alive!
Those are good signings. I think they are stopgaps that afford us the ability to see what we have in the youngsters (Gilbert, Williams, Hughes, Winn) while keeping open the possibility that we might draft at that position (at least on the D line). Most importantly, they are starting caliber (or seem to still be).
Now as for filling our starting holes at TE, LB, WR and QB….come on, you late rising Farmer. Get back to work.
… that means we should be in every game.
hi RGB … even if the browns DO NOT sign dwayne bowe , they probably will NOT take a WR in the 1st round , unless farmer does a 360 on his WR philosophy.
we could possibly gets starters at 12 & 19 , ala shelton , dupree or l.collins.
hi NATE … i wonder how happy skrine is now … he signs with the jets & then the jets bring in revis & cromartie. sure , he’s still gonna make good money , but now he has to win a starting job.
…IO!!!!
Fan of both of these signings. A veteran, productive, upgrade at CB will be important. It’s not out of the question for the Browns to have 5 legit, starter quality CB options next year. That’s talent AND depth. I’m sure 1-2 will be injured or underachieve at some point, but that’s why being able to go 5 deep is huge.
Speaking of depth, that’s how I view Stark. Depth signings tend to underwhelm in the first week of free agency, but in December everyone will be glad we are deeper on the D-Line.
And speaking of D-Lines, did anyone see that the Texans signed Wilfork? Glad the Brownies played them last year. Watt, Willfork, and Clowney are terrifying.
GROSSI:
“…agreeing to deals on Monday with two old hands…”
“…came after the Browns missed on Perrish Cox…”
“…the void left in their secondary caused them to spend more than pocket change on Williams…”
http://espncleveland.com/common/more.php?m=49&post_id=43371
http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view2/2289630/omg-lol-cat-o.gif
180!
THEY WAITED ALMOST A WHOLE WEEK! FREE AGENCY IS PROBABLY ALMOST OVER AND THESE GUYS WANTED TO SIGN SOMEWHERE BEFORE THE MUSIC STOPPED. THEY SPENT WAY TOO MUCH MONEY! KOOL AID!
At this rate, any minute now we can expect a column about needing to sign a fullback to avoid the apocalypse.
And I love the pocketchange comment. Now, it’s not good enough to sign a good, vet, CB – now success can only be getting one for pennies on the dollar. Grossi should hold himself to the same standard.
hi NJO … the browns current depth chart has kitchen starting at NT. at 305 lbs , does starks play DE ??? … he probably does.
Plus it’s good to see that veteran sports reporter Tony Grossi knows that the real way to get accurate NFL contracts numbers is to take the total reported value of the contract and simply divide by the number of years. You know, cause the Falcons will be paying Michael Vick $13.5 million per year in both 2015 and 2016.
https://twitter.com/TonyGrossi/status/577550896055218176
I honestly don’t know. Sounds like predominantly NT, but I think most lineman move around these days.
You are correct, he’s projected to play DE in the 3-4 defense.
The negativity train apparently sells for Grossi. He tends to be a bit of a drama queen, and enjoys wallowing in and sharing his own disappointment and misery. He bums me out!
hi CB … this is why you sometimes have to have patience during free-agency. my guess is many of farmers targets were/are still available. then there are salary cap & bonus casualties like bowe & jennings who just recently got cut … and the longer you make some of these guys wait , the more eager they are to jump on your first offer.
ray is sticking to his plan.
Which makers kicker that much more important. Who is going to be kicking? Wasn’t there talk about SF cutting Phil?
No doubt getting a couple of signees might make Bowe more eager to put pen to paper… Then we are all of the sudden the most active team in FA 🙂
After Lebron, I didn’t think it would be possible for a bigger “Return”.
LMAO !! … for farmer it will be a 360.
I agree that saving some cash in the wallet for the late cuts (after the first wave of FA) is a good idea. I do think that with that many holes to fill from all of the vacancies, that is a risky move to do nothing while the first three tiers of FAs pass by. In a draft that is weak at TE, I was hoping that would be one area where we’d land a bigger name. Not the end of the world, but disappointing there.
That said, looks like the Browns did have a plan to wait until this time (and price point) and then nab the best available for their needs. And it looks good so far. You never know going into this if a KC is going to sign Maclin and then dump Bowe (who Farmer had under him for years and supposedly likes a lot), but sometimes a little fortune might come our way. He might not have a ton left in the tank, but he could be a good signing.
All the people referencing him to Skrine is odd to me. I can only assume these people go to Denny’s when they crave a steak dinner.
comment of the day right there.
you know, I fell in line with those criticizing Bowe and he definitely is not what he once was on the football field. then again, he caught 63% of the passes targeted to him last year and 57% over the past 3 seasons. he hasn’t put up the reception numbers, but those are decent completion rates for a guy known for having stone hands.
Nah dude, Sizzler’s where it’s at.
Bowe seems like one of those guys who was constantly hyped as being the next big thing, but never really made it there.
And then this…. So if we didn’t sign a CB, would he have been writing articles about how it’s a sign of confidence in Gilbert?
https://twitter.com/TonyGrossi/status/577578675387965440
http://www.reactiongifs.com/r/hapssh.gif
No more Cleveland sports reporting for me.
Hi MG … good point. I also point to KC’s offensive philosophy … I am guessing maclin will be putting up average numbers in this offense.
hi ELD … I love Kool Aid !!!
Grossi is a whiny baby. He’s been better since the PD got rid of him, but his petulant writing still shows up occasionally.
Now if they can just get Vickers back…
Love the sarcasm fomt
Every time I give him a little credit, he goes off the rails. For some reason, not re-signing Hoyer made him go completely bat shiat crazee with the double e’s.
I’m not sure anyone with Cassel or Smith throwing to them has much of a chance of brig a big thing.
Solid moves Browns. I still miss Sheard, but these help.
…said Grossi.
And MKC is getting in on it too: “The deal is for three years and $21 million, according to NFL Network. The Packers reportedly offered two years, $8 million. The $7 million average is more than the $6.25 million the Jets are paying Skrine, 25,
per year.”
Skrine is facing the same situation he faced last season. The team obviously wants him to be an inside corner. I can’t see him unseating Revis but maybe he gives Cromartie a run on the outside.
YEAH BUTT THEIR NOT SUH OR REVIS!!!! 111! 1! 1
he may be a decent inside corner as you say. Is there a chance they put him at safety?? I don’t know who they have back there
hi NATE … as of right now they have gipson & poyer at FS … and whitner & bademsoi at SS.
I still need to see a pass rush and an (at least) average run defense before I’ll buy the “winning with defense” mantra. Fact is, we have a great defensive backfield, very average LB’s, and a weak D-line…as of now.
That said, I like how the D improved in 2014 as the year went on in Pettine’s system. And I’m thinking at least one of our 1st round picks will be on the defensive side of the ball. A very good DL/OLB could indeed put this defense over the top.