PFF's Sam Monson says that former Vikings EDGE Everson Griffen could be had for a song on a one-year deal like the ones that secured 2 safeties, a DT, etc.
You guys know me: I don't like signing old geezers as a rule, but in this case they're not paying much, and it's only for one year.
Griffen was still playing at a high level in 2019 with 8 sacks. Like the much, much younger Jadeveon Clowney, he wants top dollar, but the market is teaching him a lesson about that.
While I would personally like to land the 27 year-old Clowney for Olivier Vernon money longer-term, Griffen for a lot less is more doable.
I actually like that Hubbard renegotiated in order to stick around as a swing tackle. This was actually his role (as well as backing up at guard) for the Steelers before John Dorsey paid him like a top 5 Right Tackle (wow, John...) Hubbard is not a good starter, but he's good depth.
Pete Smith has been all over the Browns lately (almost like me), and is the most educational guy I've found in re football and individual players.
In the linked article, he talks about how two (pass-catching) Tight Ends make the offense way more flexible.
My regulars won't find anything new in this article, but I just can't help showing you this stuff just to say "See? That's what I said last year and when they signed Hooper! See?"
Jake DelHomme really only stated the obvious when he said that Kevin Stefanski wouldn't hesitate to replace Baker Mayfield with Case Keenum if Baker were to stink up the joint (again).
For some guys (like Chad Porto), Keenum is a mediocre Quarterback who got lucky with a loaded Vikings offense and defense for one season, then fell on his face in Denver.
They certainly make some valid points. Case Keenum can't carry a team on his shoulders, but if you support him, he executes as well as anyone.
Keenum executed for the Vikings in a nearly identical system with similar talent. He had a carreer year then, and could have a carreer year again in Cleveland. Tell me why he wouldn't.
Jake isn't predicting another Mayfield crapfest, of course. He expects Baker to thrive. But he and other experts who are objective think Keenum is the perfect insurance policy for the 2020 Browns.
Pete Smith strikes again with a new mock draft.
Everybody else has the Browns simply drafting a Left Tackle at 10th overall, but here they trade with the Dolphins for their 26th overall, 24th in the 2nd, and 6th in the 3rd round.
There are a few more prominant Left Tackles who could be there at 26th, but Pete picks Ezra Cleveland.
The highest I've found Cleveland listed among tackles was 11th (Walter Football), and I suspect that 10 won't go before 26th, so I guess Pete just disagrees with the consensus here.
I'm not qualified to argue, but I would place a freindly wager with Pete that 3 years from now Josh Jones will be better than Cleveland.
Anyway, Ezra Cleveland is a very talented and promising player, and is 99.5% likely to be there at 26th, so I would roll with that.
Cleveland has some work to do, both technically and mentally, but Pete figures Coach Callahan is the perfect guy to whip him into shape.
Like I have 20 or so times, Pete tells you that the 2020 Stefanski Browns don't need a Joe Thomas.
This is not a drop-back vertical offense. The deep passes come off play-action. This is why a trade-down like this (in this particular draft class) is a definite option.
I won't get into the rest of Pete's picks here, since I didn't like them much, and I think this mock prededed the FA signings of 2 safeties.
Vincent Frank writes a good article on why he thinks the Browns rebuild has failed.
He makes a good case, but it's all out of context.
Sashi Brown was here for 2 seasons, then was fired. Paul DePodesta remained on the staff, but was locked up in the basement.
Dorsey had his own philosophy and way of doing things, and changed the process. Dorsey was responsible for Hubbard and his contract, Austin Corbett, Chad Thomas, (and yes Chubb, Ward, Mayfield, Avery---who he got rid of--)...
And more importantly, John Dorsey threw away Nassib, Ogbah, Orchard, Shelton, Fells, etc.
Vincent doesn't bother separating one regime from the next, and ignores the human hand grenade that kicked the majority of Brown's draft picks to the curb in 2018, and overpaid journeyman free agents.
The "rebuild" was over the moment Haslam hired John Dorsey.
Look at this: We got Pegleg Vernon at 15.25 mil/year instead of Emmanuel Ogbah. We HOPE we just signed a guy like Shelton. Where is DeValve? We still need a long-term Jabrill Peppers, and what would Berry have done with the first and third rounder Dorsey traded away? Where is Zeitler?
The "rebuild has failed"!?!
Better late than never, it was good ole Pete Smith who tipped me off about the compensatory picks part of the one year free agent signings on defense.
I'm not sure of the exact formula (niether is Bill Polian or anybody else), but when a team loses a player to free agency, and doesn't replace him with a new free agent, they get a compensatory pick.
*this only applies to vested players, I think*
Where they were drafted and how much they played matters. The highest compensatory picks are at the bottom of the third round, and many are bottom 4th-rounders.
Note the rounds in which some of these one-year bandaids were signed.
Meanwhile, I stand corrected on Sandejo; he's a good FREE Safety, so safety is covered (including quality depth) heading into the draft.
Linebacker is trickier. Mack Wilson is a 3-down guy, but Goodson and Takitaki are mainly run-stuffers.
Most fans think in labels, so they don't get that "SS" JT Hassel was a linebacker in college, that the nickel is the default defense in the modern NFL, and nickel linebackers are mostly safeties.
After Isaiah Simmons, there are 4 other linebackers who can cover, and none of them project in the first round.
Ok I just read a crappy article I need to correct:
1: You can't run a 2-TE offense without 2 Tight Ends.
2: You can't replace a Kareem Hunt with a journeyman Tight End.
3: You can't play a Tight End with a broken wrist.
4: Baker Mayfield historically converts 3rd and longs; delivers under pressure.
Baker Mayfield was forcing passes to OBJ and personally screwed up in his second season. The defense sucked too.
Freddie Kitchens made some mistakes yeah, but only simpletonians blame it all on him.
In point of fact, as interim OC in 2018, Kitchens ran 2-TE offenses as often as anybody in the NFL. In 2019, John Dorsey traded for OBJ H I N T. H I N T, Njoku broke his wrist, Hunt was active for the last 8 games, and Greg Robinson well...
If John Dorsey hadn't brought OBJ here (and OBJ hadn't played hurt the whole season)...
Starting over: If Zeitler had been here, the Browns would have returned one of the best Offensive Lines in the NFL. If Jabrill Peppers had been here, the defense wouldn't have been trampled so badly.
Who would Dorsey have drafted 17th overall? A Wide Receiver maybe? An OT? An EDGE?
Mayfield would have done what he did as a rookie: Hit the open receiver, quickly, period.
I can't prove this, but believe that John Dorsey pressured Kitchens to feature OBJ. Kitchens, who OWED Dorsey big-time, altered his scheme to make this happen.
Baker Mayfield cooperated. He shouldn't have. He probably wanted to raise hell, but was already under fire from fans just for doing some stupid commercials and duking it out with Grossi and stuff.
It screwed him up! It was mostly Dorsey, ok? Then it was Freddie and yes, Baker Mayfield himself.
The good news is that the new regime isn't invested in OBJ and the new coach isn't either.
Stefanski's scheme is even better for Mayfield than it was for Kirk Cousins, he just got Conklin and Hooper, and he's about to get a stud Left Tackle.
Power ranking the Browns 21st at this point doesn't bother me that much. Simpletonian analysis drives me nuts.
YOU STAND CORRECTED
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