Cleveland Browns were “unprepared” for Day 1 of free agency (Video)
March 10, 2016Johnson Bademosi lands with the Lions
March 10, 2016I can’t begin to apologize or make excuses for the Cleveland Browns anymore. I’ve been there. I’ve looked for the positives. I’ve tried to borrow that marketing phrase that adorned Cleveland Indians commercials for two years: “What if?” I did it when the Browns hired Eric Mangini. I did it when they hired Mike Holmgren. I did it when Jimmy Haslam bought the team and sat in the Dawg Pound among the fans. I probably did it when they hired Joe Banner. I didn’t celebrate the hirings of the Harvards, preferring to play “wait and see,” and after day one of their first NFL free agency at the helm, they’ll continue to get no benefit of the doubt from me.
Regardless of the machinations, one thing is absolutely true now that day one of NFL free agency is in the rear view: The Cleveland Browns got worse.
We can debate the merits of each individual player and what their worth was to the franchise, but in total, the Browns lost four starters who were desired by other teams. They lost two starters on an offensive line that were in demand for pretty obvious reasons in Mitchell Schwartz and Alex Mack. Individually, you can explain away any one of the players’ departures and how it isn’t a bad thing. I’ve made the case personally that the Browns didn’t need to hang onto Travis Benjamin or Tashaun Gipson. But to enter free agency and lose them all, with cap money to spend and at least some need to keep some players, feels disastrous.
My Twitter feed and my radio is populated with commentary about the value of the offensive linemen, particularly in relation to the Browns’ three-win season in 2015. It’s as if fans are desperate to hold onto the idea that the maybe, just maybe, the Cleveland Browns front office isn’t an unmitigated disaster even without corresponding evidence. And maybe they’re not a total disaster, but you’ve got no proof. You’re free to hold onto that opinion, but don’t do it by pretending that the Browns are better off without Alex Mack and Mitchell Schwartz. Yes, they were part of a three-win effort, but this is a team that saw its whole coaching staff get fired and had no real offensive weaponry after their Dwayne Bowe plans failed. It was a team effort losing all those games, but please don’t pretend like it’s smart football to have to replace worthy NFL starters just because all the pieces weren’t working together under bad leadership.
The evidence here is just not good no matter how you look at it. The Browns have gotten worse from a talent perspective. The agent-fueled rumor mill includes some accusations of the Browns bargaining with Mitchell Schwartz in bad faith. While that may just be agent bitterness and defensiveness because he wasn’t able to get his client as much as the Browns offered around the time of the combine, it’s not a pleasant bullet point on a fresh resume at your new job in the NFL. Again, it might not actually be a bad mark against this front office, but there’s no proof that it’s not, and there is at least some proof saying that it is negative.
And that’s why you won’t hear me talking about faith. I’ll wait for evidence that this team is headed in the right direction. It’s still early and they haven’t been given a lot of time yet, but all we can do is react to the things that have actually happened. There are no reasons for positive expectations otherwise, and I would think by this point in our collective history as Browns fans that we’d all wait for signs of positivity before we presume that it is coming.
Yes, this is a bad football team, and yes, it probably had to make loads of moves to reboot its future prospects. Just don’t tell me that a three-win season that yielded the No. 2 pick in the draft is about to be followed by an even worse season and is necessary to the process. All evidence points to 2016 being even worse than 2015, at least so far. And sure, there’s a lot of time to go with the draft and the rest of free agency. The Browns do have a chance with their roster moves and their new coaching staff. I’m hoping they make the most of it, too. I don’t want to talk you out of your faith in the Browns, but please don’t try and talk me out of the evidence either.
126 Comments
per nflpa.com, at the start of free agency, after carryover and adjustments, the Browns had the 2nd most cap space! The team with the most was the Jags and they went shopping.
Oh, and the Indians – only 2 other teams had more cap space than them, so say deal there… lousy cheap owners holding these teams hostage.
“The Cleveland Browns are worse today. Period.”???? Over the last 5 years the Browns had 23 wins and 57 losses… So, you would have the Browns pay 140 million dollars to keep players that contributed to a 23 & 57 record… Just in case you have forgotten, last year record was a blistering 3 & 16… So are the Browns really worse today? Mack is the only one that the Browns should have paid to keep, but I get the impression he didn’t want to be a Brown anymore… Josh McCown did not play that bad last year and he was throwing to a bunch of hobbitess… If the browns go out and get some receivers that are actually taller than me (5′ 10″), they may actually be better…
hi MICRO … i try to remain positive , but this is a very good post.
good post HENRY …
Weren’t you the one advocating until the final game of last season to keep everyone? Farmer & Pettine specifically? #TeamIrrational
I just picked the years that new coaches started but you are correct, those other seasons didn’t really turn out so well either.
MCCown is pretty fragile (although you really have to admire his guts) so I predict he’ll be Couched out the starting job within 4-5 games. Then the new QB will be Couched out of the league in 1-2 seasons.
If I was Goff, Lynch or Wentz I’d be thinking about staying in College another year.
hi HOP … yes , i wanted to keep everyone together for at least 1 more season … i am weary of blowing-it-up every 2 seasons … i wanted to keep farmer more than pettine.
so , here we are , starting all over again … no looking back now. would you agree that the current coaching staff is light years better than last year ??
No.
and since we did blow-it-up again , shouldn’t the FO be afforded the opportunity to execute their plan … even it means NOT spending large sums in FA , buliding through the draft & actually signing draftees to 2nd contracts ???
hue jackson vs pettine
ray horton vs jim o’neill
hue jackson vs flip
you sure you wanna stand behind that “no” ??
100% positive. You have the memory of a goldfish but you said the same things about Pettine’s staff coming in.
until i breath my last breathe , i will support whoever is the owner , the FO , the HC , the QC , the waterboy etc. … i want to see somebody succeed … i don’t care who it is.
and i am very aware of what i said last year … i stand by it & am okay with it. this year’s coaching staff is better & has more experience … i’m not allowed to say that ??
I’d expect nothing less sir. Someone has to balance out the pragmatists around here.
Haha…don’t think Holly cares though.
OTC was saying 3x 5ths and a 6th. All the compensatory low round picks!
Comments are often more revealing of the personality of the commentator, than they are regarding the focus of the comment. The youngerr one is, usually the more impatient they are.
When you examine the “losses” the Browns suffered thusfar in free agency, they really only lost Swartz.
Benjamin and Gipson are replaceable within the Browns current roster, with even better performing players.
If Cleveland lands Kaepernick, his arrival will re-direct the Browns’s draft strategy, from focus on QB, to other positions. Mack is also replaceable, but perhaps not from the supply of players currently on the team’s roster.
Saints be Praised!
There are OL prospects who would actually upgrade the Browns line and some quality defenders to be selected.
The Brown’s new Front Office (FO) remains in the game since free agency, trades and the April NFL draft are all components of improving the team.
We’ve only begun offseason 2016. Sit back and observe it unfold, then watch the preseason games, before we begin a final judgment of the Brown’s FO, preparing for the 2016 season.
They’re s****y!
Hai!
Sorry but have to challenge this a bit. mitch put an acceptable offer and matching terms back to clev. was willing to stay. BROWNS then pulled offer off table for a 27 old future pro bowler who is one of the best. even in rebuild mode he still is only 28 to 29 when we should be shaping up…this is just a lack of a clear game plan. we are scrambling around. That’s why our pres quit, he looked at these geniuses’ ideas that were probably so diverse and id image way different from coach j’s and was like “peace out”. We have no idea where to go or how to get there. ex telling joe who’s 33 to stay and then hit reset panic button weeks later. why keep the 33 yr old and let the 26 year old go if your looking long term. im smelling something and I hate to say it but I think jimmys got a cash cow. coaches are cheaper then players and we’ve been duped into staying tuned for another 2 years. in todays nfl w the right moves, draft picks we have, cap space, and easiest sched. we could a easily been 9-9 this year. its a quicker league and u can turn things around quicker. this is bull.
preach on
and like I said, I don’t think they know the plan yet themselves. but we HAVE to believe they have one, right…right. NO, I again say this is crap. I understand strategic letting players go. Overvalued market. comp picks. different building strategies. But when you have almost everyone viewing you as a college team. 4yrs and done. someone created and maintained that image. Every year we don’t maintain our own homegrown talent=never getting anywhere but being a farm system. I get a lot of players and agents don’t exactly desire going to Cleve, but I think out f.o. has a MAJOR blame in that. If we win a few games, employ a coach worth a dookie, and create a non toxic environment by showing players we develop that they matter by resigning our vital talent (not over priced ? marks) example (Benjamin), that’s how you START to change the culture. Make a FEW depth/impact FA signing that we might have to overpay for the first couple years to turn things around and have GOOD relations with agents/players. Then we draft well and smart and it WILL all change. But you got to use and respect the WHOLE process. Not just draft focus or FA focus or coach focus or executives focus etc.
But doesn’t it strike you guys strange that EVERYONE thinks we are screwing the pooch with our F.O. Not just media, our own players who btw are lost here, and about every head coach/gm/owner in the NFL who comments on us withholding identity. Hell networks laugh about us and possible future draft picks dying here because they know….the train is far from fixed…We might of hired the worlds smartest “chefs” to fix this whole “train”
Could the Browns beat the 76ers?