Mangini: “No Interest in Moving Josh Cribbs”
Written By: Scott | Category: Cleveland Browns | Comments: 20
Serving as an update to yesterday’s report, Eric Mangini stated today that he has no interest in moving Pro Bowl return man (and wide receiver) Josh Cribbs.
The basis for any of this commotion appears to be stemming from Cribbs’ agent J.R. Rickert, who claims that the Cleveland Browns are holding his client back. Obviously not among the best teams in the league, he – perhaps rightly so – feels his client is a big portion of this team and should be paid as such. In regard to the player, he has reportedly not asked for a trade.
Cribbs has been looking for a contract extension for a little over a year now, and Mangini stated that talks are ongoing. It comes as no surprise that teams are “interested” in a guy that can single-handedly change the game. And while Mangini’s words can always be taken with a grain of salt, unless the team is absolutely blown away with an offer (unlike their baseball counterpart), they have little reason to trade Josh Cribbs.
It goes without saying that the collective fan base will feel a lot better about the Cleveland Browns after the trade deadline passes this Tuesday.
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(image via Flickr)
Author: Scott
Scott is a co-founder/editor of Waiting For Next Year who resides in Cleveland, Ohio. Feel free to follow him on Twitter or email him at scott@waitingfornextyear.com.Scott has written 2013 articles for Waiting for Next Year.
PAY THE MAN!!
don’t pay the man.
hold him to his contract.
all he does is return kicks.
if and when we get a better team going it wouldn’t be worth wasting bigger money on a one trick pony
I echo Steve’s sentiments. Honor your darn contract. If you’re that upset about it fire your agent.
Wah!!
To be fair, if you think he’s a one-trick pony (which I do not), you still have to admit: it’s a damn good trick. The guy is literally the most exciting player we put on the field, and with an offense like ours, field position is critical. Pay the man, then find an OC willing to work him more into the offense.
@ steve.. im not saying he needs to get a contract worthy of a #1 WR, i just think he deserves more than he is getting now. this man is all out hustle every play and a threat to score every time he has his hands on the ball. his attitude (with the exception of his unhappiness with his contract) is always good and i think this is the type of player and leader a team like the browns needs. however, i wouldnt be opposed to waiting until at least the end of the season to renegotiate his contract so we can see how he looks for the rest of the season.
Just think of all the horrible, horrible contracts the Browns have given out and then tell me with a straight face that this man doesn’t deserve a raise. That’s the way I like to think of it, people get raises all the time for doing really good work and although he’s not a #1 receiver or a starting safety, he’s certainly worth a little bump in pay.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nujL7mptAJc
B-bo is correct at#5. This man is so grossly underpaid it’s rediculous. Aside from his kick returning prowess, he brings a football passion every game/every down second to no-one on the team. He is arguable the team’s MVP, regardless of his “one-trick” pony show. He is dangerous anytime he’s on the field, wherever or whenever that may be. He signed an absurdly naive contract with good intentions; he had more than earned a market value upgrade to his contract.
This needs to come to resolution quickly, if not-Mr. Cribbs and his agent will rightfully force the issue in the off-season. At that time, those who want to hold him to the ludicrous contract he’s got will regret life on the Browns without such a steady and relentless football player. There’s the exception to every rule, and this is one of them-period.
First and foremost, I agree that Cribbs is underpaid. I do not, however, feel that he is “grossly” underpaid (and I don’t mean to single Isis out, as I know some others probably feel he is as well; just using that modifier term for the purposes of the discussion).
You don’t pay someone a huge sum of money based on hustle. You just don’t. Hear me out.
Cribbs is probably the second best person in the sport at his one job. That job, however, involves him touching the ball 5-6 times a game (more, if the Browns can force more fieldable punts on defense). He’s shown thus far that he’s not yet ready (notice I’m leaving room for further improvement) to be paid like a starting receiver.
So, I wonder: how much of a raise do most people think he’s due? I think if he gets to $1.5 mill per year, that’s about right. That’d be a raise of about $700K or so. Percentage-wise, that’s huge. Money-wise, it’s not. But, I think it’s about what he’s worth.
As much as I like Cribbs–and I do, don’t misinterpret what I’m saying; I would also agree he’s probably the best player, pound-for-pound, on the roster, though I would argue someone like Rogers is more important to the team’s success, and thus more “valuable”.
I think the Browns need to let the rest of the season play out, and then really sit down and genuinely look to re-do his contract… for two reasons that are sort of intertwined:
1) it gives him a chance to make more of an impact on offense. Unlike with what they did to Quinn, I don’t think it’s fair to evaluate his entire future potential as an every-down offensive player based on two or three games. If he can show the improvement game-in and game-out, then he does himself a favor.
2) likewise, if he shows that he basically remains purely a kick-returner, he defintely does not do himself any favors. Had the Browns paid him like a receiver this off-season only to find that he wasn’t cut out for it (and let’s be honest, he hasn’t looked cut out for it thus far), how many of you would be ticked off that we’d rewarded potential without any knowledge of the dividends?
I also agree that his contract was naive, but for a guy who was an UDFA it was certainly a huge amount of security: it was for multiple millions of dollars, and it was team-friendly enough to ensure he would be around for the duration of it. Players and agents can’t have it both ways; Cribbs got long-term security, but no one held a gun to his or his agent’s head and said, “SIGN THIS!”
Cribbs does shoulde some accountability here. It’s not like the team screwed him over and he had no recourse for himself.
Cribbs is also one of our best DEFENSIVE special teams players. He is a one-man wrecking crew on both sides of special teams. Times for the coaching staff to work the wildcat in more and figure out how to get the most out of Josh Cribbs – and then pay him what he wants.
Tsunami, you had me up until “pay him what he wants”.
I would suggest paying him what he’s worth, not what he wants. The Bears did that with Hester, and I don’t know too many people who don’t think he’s OVERpaid.
I just hate the NFL contract bylaws. My first instinct is that it’s buyer’s remorse, and Cribbs should have to honor his contract, since he entered into it freely. But since NFL contracts aren’t guaranteed, and Cribbs (and all returners for that matter) are likely to get hurt or become ineffective, I understand that he wants the security of a new contract. I guess I just don’t know.
It does suck, though, that the one player who we should be trying to make happy we aren’t. When a hometown guy who cut his teeth here wants out, it’s a bad sign. For that reason alone, I tend toward restructuring his deal.
I think the “one trick pony” argument can go both ways. I think Cribbs would be happy to be paid like Pontbriand. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/teams/cle/roster
BB makes a good point. Pontbriand get like 5 mil or something right? As to Cribbs playing defensive ST, he hasn’t done that all year. I would agree last year the man was great, and made some spectacular open field tackles. This year Cribbs is a returner and a WR. He does no work defensively, thus far.
Other then that though, does anyone else think Cribbs could be good in other positions? How about RB? He gets so much attention when he’s on the field, why not put in right next to the QB. The D would bite on just about every PA. Cribbs has the decisiveness to get the ball and cut up field also. Why not see what he has between the tackles? He breaks so many tackles on returns, and he pretty much gets 10+ yards on every reverse, I just think he could do work as a RB. Also, why not try him as safety? he used to be QB, so maybe he knows a few things on what the QB is trying to do and he can bait them to throwing INTs. Plus, he can make great open field tackles… thats more then I can say then a lot of our DBs currently. I just dont think Cribbs is being used right.
check the D… he has worked with punt coverage. But hasn’t really made tackles, just downing Zs kicks.
I love Shaun Rogers and Joe Thomas, but Josh Cribbs is the most valuable player on the Browns’ roster. He is also the best all-around special teams player in the NFL.
Pay the man or get a boatload of talent in return.
2 quick arguments here:
1. Defense, Offense, Special Teams – These are the three aspects of football. Cribbs single-handedly makes our return teams excellent.
2. Mariano Rivera – I know it’s a different sport but think of this: People mention that Cribbs doesn’t touch the ball enough. Well Rivera pitched only 66 innings this year and made $15 million. He appeared in about one-third of the games. That’s the same percentage of games that Cribbs plays. Rivera is the dominant force in his segment, and so is Cribbs.
NFL contracts are not guaranteed. I never have a problem with NFL guys renegotiating. He deserves to get paid.
@ saggy- What happens if Cribbs (but really any NFL player) starts to not perform to their contract? These contracts can carry some hefty cap hits so a team cant just cut them. Will Cribbs, or whoever, renegotiate and take less money? I didn’t think so.