Browns Use Free Agency To Balance Roster

Back in the late 70’s or early 80’s, we remember an essay in Bill James’ Baseball Abstract about the Montreal Expos. The Expos at the time had Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Tim Wallach, Ellis Valentine, and Warren Cromartie (look them up), but couldn’t get over the hump to win the division.

James’ theory was even though Montreal had these five great players, the rest of their everyday lineup was so poor, it offset how good the stars were.

You may ask what that has to do with football. We thought about this in evaluating what the Cleveland Browns did in free agency.

You see, the Browns have star players. Myles Garrett is one of the best defensive players in the NFL, and Nick Chubb is arguably the best running back.

They have their quarterback now after trading for Deshaun Watson, and have a pair of Pro Bowl guards in Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller. Amari Cooper is an upper echelon wide receiver, Denzel Ward is one of the better cover corners in the league, and David Njoku is showing flashes of becoming an excellent receiving tight end.

But after those stars, the roster fell off pretty quickly in terms of quality.

So, although many Browns’ fans felt there were no big splashes in terms of free agency (Jessie Bates or Javon Hargrave), they signed a lot of solid players with upside, so the balance of the roster went from a “2” to a “5”, and that is probably what is needed.

GM Andrew Berry redid the defensive line, signing Dalvin Tomlinson and Ogbonnia Okoronkwo initially, and then added two more defensive tackles as wild cards, low risk, high reward players to improve the depth.

They didn’t get the kind of production out of John Johnson III the past two years, so they signed Juan Thornhill, more of a pass defending safety, and one rated higher by Pro Football Focus, for whatever that is worth.

They had two solid wide receivers in Cooper and Donovan Peoples-Jones, but they lacked speed, a guy who could take a short pass and make it a big gain. So Berry traded for disgruntled WR Elijah Moore, the 34th overall pick two years ago, and followed that up by signing veteran Marquise Goodwin, late of Seattle.

Cleveland also added a tight end who has worked with Watson before in Jordan Akins.

They traded the 42nd overall pick for Moore but got a third-round pick back. Some of criticized dealing the pick, the highest Cleveland had, but moving it for someone who is 22-years-old and has had two productive seasons in the NFL already? No brainer.

They also upgraded the special teams, adding Matt Adams, Mike Ford, and Jordan Kunaszyk.

We understand all teams think they are better after the free agent period, no team plans to get worse by adding talent. But the Browns had a very top heavy roster in 2022, and Berry and the front office needed to balance it out for this year.

Didn’t they see this last season? It’s a good question, because we thought the organization seemed to punt in ’22 because of Watson’s suspension. It seems odd to do this when you haven’t won an NFL title since 1964, but…

The Cleveland Browns made a lot of changes since the end of the season. Two coordinators have been changed, and a good part of the roster has too. Unfortunately, we have to wait until fall to find out if the latest plan worked.

Browns Play Hard, Hurt Commanders Chances

Well, it’s going to be a bad week for those folks who want the Cleveland Browns to fire everyone in the front office and start fresh in 2023.

That’s how it works doesn’t it? We mean, when the Browns lose, the coach should be fired usually because a play call doesn’t work. These people do understand there is another team on the field and they can execute as well, right?

Anyway, the Browns went out on Sunday and beat a team with playoff aspirations on the road, defeating the Washington Commanders 24-10, thus raising their record to 7-9 and next week they have a chance to do the same thing to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

And if they win, they will have the same record as last season. It’s not progress, but it’s not regression either.

What the game re-emphasized to us is this team has not quit on its head coach, and for that reason alone, Kevin Stefanski should continue with his current gig.

We will say again, this doesn’t mean Stefanski doesn’t need to improve some things, and we would also say we are sure even the great Bill Belichick learns something every season.

We wish Stefanski had kept the field goal in the first half which would have given the Browns a 6-0 lead. We understand the analytics people would say the field goal didn’t mean much because a touchdown would allow Washington to take the lead, but much as we say in basketball about long twos vs. threes, taking three points is better than getting none, which is what happened.

The stars came out offensively for Cleveland. Nick Chubb ran for 104 yards on 14 carries. Amari Cooper caught three passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns, and Deshaun Watson threw three TD passes.

Watson was sacked four times in the first half. His receivers couldn’t get open and his offensive line was having a problem with the Commanders rush. Adjustments were made and the second half was dominated by Cleveland, whose defense forced three turnovers.

After forcing just eight turnovers in the first 11 games, the defense has come up with 11 in the last five. That’s a weird statistic.

Also odd was Watson’s passer rating of 122, his highest of the season. We have always said QBs will have a good passing efficiency rating if they stay away from interceptions, and have a very good yards per attempt ratio.

Watson completed only half of his 18 passes but had a great 9.4 yards per throw. The league leader for the season is Tua Tagovailoa at 8.9. Watson’s best average as a Brown was 6.6 in the loss to Cincinnati.

Slowly, week by week, he is shaking the rust off.

However, back to the coach. We have said previously we would only consider a change if the team quit playing for this staff, and based on Sunday, that’s simply not the case.

It does not mean change aren’t needed on the staff. We understand this group doesn’t give out a lot of information to the media, but when they do talk, it makes you shake your head.

Joe Woods said last week the defensive tackles weren’t the problem in stopping the run. Our first thought was if it isn’t them, then do you know what the problem is, and if so, why not fix it?

One more game remains, and the Browns should have the same goal: Win and spoil another team’s playoff hopes in front of their fans. In a bitterly disappointing season, that would add some sweetness.

What Can You Say About The Browns Right Now?

Sometimes, there is just nothing more to say. That’s how we felt Sunday when the Cleveland Browns lost their fourth consecutive game, this one 23-20 to the Baltimore Ravens.

The loss dropped Kevin Stefanski’s squad to 2-5, with four of the five losses being by three points or less. If there was a gold star for being close, it would go to the Browns.

As former Browns’ star Josh Cribbs once said, the Browns almost always almost win.

Our biggest thought during the game was when Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah forced the fumble in the fourth quarter, the best bet for the team was to move the ball while using the clock, and then make a field goal to tie or a touchdown to win, leaving little time remaining.

Then on a 3rd and 2, Cleveland threw a long pass which Amari Cooper caught, but was called for offensive pass interference. So, the Browns were in a 3rd and 12, and were forced to try a 60-yard field goal after a false start penalty.

Why not either give the ball to Nick Chubb or throw a short pass on 3rd and 2, getting a first down and keeping the ball. It sounds ludicrous to turn down a TD, but they didn’t get the six points anyway.

Jacoby Brissett played well again, but did have a turnover, fumbling in his own territory, but went 22 of 27 for 258 yards. We get it’s a quarterback league, but the Browns are a rare team where the QB isn’t the best player on offense. Stefanski’s insistence on having Brissett make key plays is “frustrating” to use his word.

However, on a weekly basis, the special teams and the defense don’t provide any help in winning games.

The defense played better on Sunday and held Lamar Jackson to just 120 yards passing and 59 yards rushing. The passing total was low because he didn’t need to throw. Baltimore hammered out 160 yards on the ground, making it the third time in the last four games Cleveland has allowed at least 150 yards rushing.

It’s still a fundamental. If you can’t stop the run, you most likely will have a problem winning football games.

Defensive coordinator Joe Woods showed more blitzes against the Ravens and put pressure on Jackson in the pocket. We would like to see more of that. But again, they forced just one turnover. They haven’t forced more than one in a game this year.

The special teams gave up a 46-yard punt return and had a penalty on a kickoff return that pinned the offense back.

Even when both units play error free, they rarely do anything that contributes to a win. And occasionally that’s needed for teams to win in the NFL.

There still seems to be a lack of accountability in the organization though, and we aren’t talking about the coaching staff. It appears there are players who give up on plays and/or just aren’t very good at doing their jobs. Yet, there aren’t any lineup changes except for the ones caused by injuries.

The defense is still ranked very low in most categories, so someone isn’t doing a good job, right?

Next week’s game against Cincinnati is basically must win. Falling to 2-6 makes Deshaun Watson’s return moot. Can they do enough to get a victory?

Our eyes tell us they will do just enough to take another defeat.

Browns’ Physical Play Is The Way To Go

When Deshaun Watson was officially suspended for 11 games, the Cleveland Browns and coach Kevin Stefanski needed to find a formula to win enough football games while Watson was out.

That formula figured to be run the heck out of the ball and play defense. Cleveland has two of the best running backs in the sport and an offensive line that at least in the interior is also one of the premier units in the league. So, offensively, the plan makes sense.

While neither Carolina and the Jets will make anyone think of great defenses, last Thursday’s win over the Steelers showed the Browns have the ability to push around a physical defensive unit. We know Pittsburgh was missed T.J. Watt, but Kevin Stefanski’s group still managed 171 yards on the ground, led of course by Chubb, who ran for 113 on 23 carries.

If Cleveland can continue to get the kind of quarterback play they have the past two weeks from Jacoby Brissett, we will all feel better about how things will play out until Watson comes back.

After a subpar performance in the season opener, Brissett has been very good. On Thursday night, he completed 21 of 31 passes for 220 yards and two touchdowns, following up on a solid effort against the Jets.

Cleveland has scored 26, 30, and 29 points in the first three contests this season, so the offense has been humming. And give Stefanski his props for the way he has called games, keeping the opposing defense off balance.

Helping Brissett immensely has been WR Amari Cooper. It is safe to say Cooper has been what we all wanted Odell Beckham Jr. to be? The veteran had his second consecutive 100 yard game receiving and he and TE David Njoku gave the Pittsburgh defense fits.

We remember watching Cooper last season in a game started by Cooper Rush for the Cowboys, and he took control of the game on the winning drive in the fourth quarter. We thought it would be nice if the Browns had a receiver like that. And now they do.

The defense was improved, but in the first half seemed to have a problem against the run. In fact, Cleveland did give up a season high 104 yards on the ground, but they made adjustments at halftime and Pittsburgh was not as effective in the second half.

And the secondary did not give up any of the “chunk” plays they gave up in the first two weeks of the season.

However, with Jadeveon Clowney out and Myles Garrett less than 100% due to a neck problem, the pass rush was pretty much absent. The Browns had just one sack (by LB Jacob Phillips), and that was with Garrett being doubled and triple teamed.

We still don’t understand why the Browns don’t play more man-to-man defense particularly with their corners and go after the passer more often. You have to think opposing offensive linemen are tied up with Garrett and there should be some blitzing lanes.

After blowing the game against the Jets, Stefanski and his team needed a win. They got it. If the defense can get back to playing at the level they were late last season, they may win more often than initially thought with Watson sidelined.

For Browns, Time To Win Is Now, Even Without Watson

This Sunday, the Cleveland Browns kickoff the 2022 NFL season with a game against their old quarterback, Baker Mayfield, who is now leading the Carolina Panthers.

With suspended QB Deshaun Watson sidelined for the first 11 games of the regular season, expectations by many media people, both local and national, aren’t very high and most of the experts have Cleveland missing the playoffs.

We are not one of those people.

The Browns have talent at many positions. They have probably the best tandem or running backs in the league in Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. They have two of the best guards in the NFL, and a top wide receiver in Amari Cooper.

That’s just the offense.

The defense features perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate Myles Garrett, former first overall pick Jadeveon Clowney, and Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward.

The entire defensive backfield should be very good and along with the pass rusher should deter an aerial assault from opponents.

We would like to see the defense improve against the run. Cleveland ranked 12th against the run last season, and the old adage is even in today’s pass-happy NFL, you can’t win if you don’t stop the run.

Kevin Stefanski was Coach of the Year in 2020, but his team fell to 8-9 a year ago, and frankly, we think he needs to answer some questions this season. By the way, they doesn’t mean we want him fired, but we would like to see him grow as a head coach.

We believe Stefanski lost confidence in the offensive line after injuries hampered Jedrick Wills and took Jack Conklin out for the year, and that’s why he became reactive in his play calling. What we mean is a philosophy of “the defense is taking away the run, so we have to pass”.

And we think we ask this every year, but why can’t there be a package where Chubb and Hunt are on the field together? If you ranked the offensive skill players by ability, wouldn’t those two rank in the top three?

However, we feel the time to win for the Cleveland Browns is now, and frankly we don’t care if Watson is missing the first 11 games this year. The organization put themselves in this position, so if Cleveland winds up 7-10 this season, the blame should be put at their feet.

As for the coaching staff, come up with a scheme that moves the ball, puts points up on the scoreboard and keeps the other team off of it. That’s why they are coaching in the NFL.

The challenge for the coaches is to minimize Jacoby Brissett’s weaknesses, so the Browns can remain in contention when Watson returns to the lineup. Put players like Garrett, Ward, Chubb, Hunt, Cooper and TE David Njoku in situations where they can make an impact.

We don’t want to hear that missing the playoffs is okay because of the Watson suspension, the organization can’t be alright with writing off another season.

Winning is necessary. The Browns have the better team in our opinion this Sunday and should win the game. We won’t excuse them if they do.

The Browns aren’t an average team hoping their quarterback can lift them to playoff contention, they are a very good team that needs the QB to go along for the ride.

If Watson Is Out For A While, Browns Can’t Sit Idle

As the Deshaun Watson saga continues, the thing that keeps creeping into our minds is what happens if the NFL decides on a full year suspension for the recently acquired quarterback.

Or really, any suspension longer than eight games, a little more than half of the season.

If Watson would be out of action for a span of more than 50% of the league’s schedule, it would seem GM Andrew Berry would be back in the market for a QB. There is too much at stake for this franchise to have to play Jacoby Brissett for a majority of the schedule.

This isn’t a knock on Brissett, who is a very good back up signal caller, and perfectly capable of guiding the Browns to some wins in a limited time span. However, we don’t think anyone believes he’s a guy who can lead a team to the playoffs.

And why is it important for the Browns to be able to be in the playoff mix this season? Simple, look at the roster and the number of great players in the prime of their career. Nick Chubb is 27, Myles Garrett is 27, Denzel Ward is 25, Amari Cooper is 28.

Add another year to all of those guys if the 2022 season comes and goes without a long playoff run.

Three of the oldest players on the squad are offensive linemen in Joel Bitonio (31), Jack Conklin (28) and Wyatt Teller (28). We saw first hand what happened last year when Conklin went out after the Chargers game.

There is no question this is one of the strongest units on the roster. Will they still be able to play up to the 2020 standards in ’23? Maybe, but the wear and tear takes its toll at some point.

The Browns were the fourth youngest team in the NFL a year ago at 25.61 years of age by average. Let’s just say Cleveland would be at 26.61 this year. They’d be the seventh oldest relating to the ranking for the 2021 season.

Now, we know that won’t be the case because rookies will make the team and some veterans on the end of the roster will be replaced by younger players. But it does show how closely bunched the age of the men on an NFL roster is.

You can be a young team one season and a grizzled veteran team in a span of two years.

And that’s why if Watson is ruled out for most, if not all of the 2022 season, the front office has to find a better option than Brissett. And no, it won’t be Baker Mayfield, the Browns have napalmed that relationship, although we understand why to national people it would make the most sense.

We have suggested before, could Mayfield be traded for another QB? A proven one? Outside of Jimmy Garoppolo, there probably isn’t one out available, but could the Browns be interested in bringing in the veteran for one season?

You would think they most definitely would.

No doubt Berry is already doing some groundwork in the event the ruling is a one year suspension for Watson. With a talent laden roster, wasting a year isn’t an option for the Cleveland Browns.

The NFL Draft Not Really Big For Browns’ Fans This Year.

The annual NFL Draft takes place this week in Las Vegas and as a Browns’ fan, we can’t imagine it having any less buzz.

GM Andrew Berry traded his first round pick this year and the two years following to get QB Deshaun Watson from Houston. And as we have said before, despite anyone’s personal feelings about Watson’s situation, he is (in our opinion) a top five quarterback in the NFL.

So, no debates on what the Browns need to do about that position for several years.

When you take a broad picture of this football team, it’s a pretty solid roster right now.

Berry has seven picks at his disposal, the earliest being #44, and the Browns have two more selections in the top 100, the 78th pick and the 99th pick, both of those in the third round.

Cleveland could still use another wide receiver, even after dealing for Amari Cooper earlier this off-season, and probably get another tight end, to replace Austin Hooper, who was a salary cap casualty.

On the other side of the football, the defensive line needs bolstering, although the possibility still remains that Jadeveon Clowney could return to the team as a free agent.

Defensive tackle is a position of need, although it depends on whether the coaching staff thinks Jordan Elliott and Tommy Togiai can be starters next season. We would feel better if a high draft pick were to be used on this position.

But we would say there is no expectation any player drafted next weekend will be starters when Cleveland kicks off their season in September. Even if a wide out is picked at #44, no one will be concerned if the rookie starts the year as a third receiver.

That shows how talented this current roster is. And Berry has set up contracts so the Browns still have plenty of cap space despite the moves for Watson and Cooper, the presence of Myles Garrett, and even Denzel Ward’s new deal.

There are national writers who believe the Browns may have the most complete roster in the NFL, even though they finished 8-9 last season.

Think about it, they have arguably the best pass rusher in the game in Garrett. They may have the best running back in Nick Chubb. And they have a top cornerback in Ward.

They have perhaps the best guard tandem in the NFL in Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller.

And now, they have a top passer in Watson.

One area they still need to address is kicker. Chase McLaughlin was one of the worst field goal kickers in the league last year. When you lose six games by six points or less, that weakness is even more noticeable.

Also, they are in a division where the best in the league resides in Justin Tucker of the Ravens, and the Steelers and Bengals also have more than solid guys.

It’s something Berry needs to fix. The Browns have to know when they get inside the opponents’ 40-yard line, they are going to come away with points. It’s been awhile since that’s been the case. You have to go back to Phil Dawson.

We wouldn’t be shocked if a later round pick is used to bring one in.

It’s been a long time since Browns’ fans haven’t been obsessed about the NFL Draft. Not having a first round pick does that.

Cleveland will likely be observers on Thursday night, but the fun begins on Friday, when all fans become amateur GMs.

Landry Decision Was Made With Logic

Following a professional sports team is a very emotional experience for fans, particularly an NFL team.

The day to day nature of baseball means you can’t get overly distraught about a single game, although some losses stick with fans longer than others, and in the NBA or NHL, there are several games each week.

However, for NFL fans there is just one game per week, so a difficult defeat or a thrilling victory stays with fans for a while.

In Cleveland, with so much of the media bandwidth spent on the Browns, it is very more noticeable.

You know who cannot think with emotion about the teams? The people who work in the front office. They have to stay detached and make moves that benefit the team both now and down the road.

This brings us to the past few days for the Browns, in which they traded for Amari Cooper and released Jarvis Landry.

There should be no debate that wide receiver became a position of need for Cleveland during this past season. Landry led the team in receptions once again, but he battled through injuries basically all season, and finished with just 52 catches, a career low.

Whatever your feelings are about Baker Mayfield, we think everyone can agree the receiving corps didn’t help him out this past season.

The veteran was scheduled to make $16 million this season, and GM Andrew Berry felt the production did not and would not equal the salary, so he looked to move in another direction. Again, this decision was made with his head, not his heart.

Look, we understand Landry was a positive influence in the locker room. He helped change what had become a losing attitude (and rightly so) within the team. His first year in Cleveland, the Browns went from 0-16 to 7-8-1.

By the way, that was also Mayfield’s first year with the team.

Landry will turn 30 during the 2022 season, and that was definitely a factor in the move. Cooper is younger and frankly, better than Landry right now.

The former All American from Alabama had an off year by his standards too, with just 68 catches for 865 yards, but Berry figures at 28-years-old, he is much more likely to bounce back and return to being a 1000 yard receiver.

And with Cooper making $20 million per season, there was no way the Browns could keep Landry at what he was currently making. It would have been way too much money tied up at the wide out position.

The Browns gave Landry the option of finding his own deal after trading for Cooper, but he found out no one wanted to pay that salary for this season.

We also expect Berry to use the same method, head not heart, in judging every position on the team, including quarterback. Making decisions out of emotions rarely work out.

Browns fans should be sorry to see Jarvis Landry leave. He gave them four solid seasons, making the Pro Bowl twice and the playoffs once. But that’s the way the NFL operates. It’s a cold, at times cutthroat business.