1: Clay Matthews III is 33 years old. He did have 10 sacks and 50 tackles with the Rams last season, so he probably has some tread left.
The only way that DePoBerry would "bring him home" would be on a one year contract that he'd probably find insulting.
And listen, Kiddies: Clay III never played for the Browns. His father, should-be Hall of Famer Clay Jr did...(man, what a gene pool.)
The Browns 2020 FA signings so far are different types.
Conklin, Hooper, and Janovich are core players. They join Chubb, Bitonio, Mayfield, Landry, and Tretter on offense.
I left out OBJ because he is on the trading block (shhh!) and Njoku because, while he will be extended, they will field trade offers for him as well. And Kareem Hunt could well be traded too.
A few notes here: Javovich is ideal for Stefanski to run the offense he ran in Minnesota last season with. While Kareem Hunt is a much more of a playmaker, he can't block as well, and (after 2020) will be massively cheaper.
The Janovich trade makes it clear to me that Kevin Stefanski (perhaps in consultation with DePoBerry) isn't determined to keep the Hunt/Chubb 2-back going.
Economically, it makes sense. And this is why the second round tender they put on Hunt was really smart.
And give John Dorsey credit for this one: He drafted Hunt (cheap). Then he signed him almost for free, and Andrew Berry is very happy about that right now.
If somebody makes Hunt a serious offer, and the Browns don't match, it's a free second round pick.
Janovich is a bargain for what he can do. Here, he will catch a lot more passes than he ever has before, and blocking fullbacks are always undervalued.
That's "alignment", all right! Let everybody else pay twice as much for a third wide receiver--we'll take the fullback.
The Browns did technically overpay for Austin Hooper, but not by all that much. Two years from now, he'll be a "bargain" on this contract.
PFF says he doesn't do well vs man coverage, but Ellis L Williams explains how tough it's going to be for opposing defenses to match up in man vs Hooper (or any non-wr) in the Stefanski offense.
He takes us all the way back to when Kyle Shanahan ran Atlanta's offense, and what Hooper did then.
I want to add that Kyle didn't have a Njoku or a Chubb on that team.
The most important thing about Austin Hooper is that he will be where he is supposed to be, when he is supposed to be there. (In fact, Ellis seems to think that he's kind of obsessive about it, and doesn't deviate from his routes by a step or 2 even when he should).
David Njoku (and everybody else) needs to get close to that outstanding route discipline (and ability to read coverage). That's another reason why you pay a little more for an Austin Hooper, see?
Timing offense. Remember?
The other free agents so far are all "Hold the Fort" guys (as Bill Parcells called them).
DT/NT Andrew Billings was a sneaky-good addition. He shouldn't start in the modern NFL, but definitely needs to be near the center in short-yardage situations (instead of Ogunjobi). He may ultimately play around 30% of the snaps, and get Richardson and Ogunjobi some time off.
SS Karl Joseph is another young guy on a "prove it" deal. Karl doesn't cover well, but excels vs the run. He's really kind of a really tiny linebacker.
He never lived up to his first round draft status, and gets hurt all the time, but Defensive Coordinators find ways to use guys like this...
...I don't understand it as well as I should yet. I mean, a Strong Safety who is smaller than many cornerbacks and is weak in coverage but stops the run?
I'll get back to you on it.
SS Andrew Sedejo is 32 but has become good all around. SS looks adequately covered for one season (especially the tackling part).
Erreh...Sedejo isn't a free safety, by the way. Free safety is not covered, ok?
32 year old Vikings DE Everson Griffin is a real possibility as another Hold the Fort guy.
This could all come together nicely ahead of and during the Draft:
1: OBJ should fetch at least a low 1st round pick in a trade.
2: Kareem Hunt will probably be signed away from the Browns and return a 2nd round pick.
*pause: At this point, I'll wildly guess that the Browns have #10, #18, 10 and 20 in the second round, and their 2 3rd round picks. That's SIX top 100 picks*
Hmm...there are a lot of variables here. 4 QBs could conceivably go in the top 9 (more realisticly only 2- maybe 3).
Young is gone, you people, so just forget about him. Nobody will trade down from that beast.
However, Superfreak (I just invented that position btw) Isaiah Simmons could be there at 7th overall, and the Browns could trade up for him.
It would cost the top 2nd round pick, even if any team was willing to pass Simmons up.
But the Browns could pull this off, and still get a stud Left Tackle with the OBJ pick, and have lots of ammo to move up for a stud Free Safety (if neccessary) in the 2nd round.
OR, they could trade down from 10th overall. No Simmons, but still the stud Left Tackle.
Having secured 18th overall, they can simply take the best deal in this scenario. This definitely includes 2021 and 2022 draft picks, 1 and 2 rounds higher respectively.
A key to what dumbasses call "munnyball" is long-term planning.
Coaches need immediate results, because they get fired so often. GMs think longer-term, but they still get desperate after a couple bad seasons.
(Redundancy alert): They will trade a next year 2nd rounder for a this year 3rd rounder in a heartbeat, since they're libel to have been fired next year anyway, see?
Exploiting market flaws like these is what Paul DePodesta does. He most famously did it with the double trade-down from Carson Wentz.
The eventual results (after subsequent trades etc) yielded (I think but could be wrong) 22 picks over the next 3 drafts.
Ahh, shaddap! DePodesta wasn't actually picking those players, ok? He's the strategy guy--not the personnel guy.
DePo got the Browns all those draft picks, and other people squandered the majority of them DO YOU UNDERSTAND?
Anyway, assumimg that the Browns do the obvious with Hunt and OBJ..waitaminnit:
OBJ for Anthony Harris is a real possibility. The Vikings just lost Stefon Diggs to free agency. They're in "win now" mode. OBJ is under contract for 2 more seasons, is better than Diggs, and they know they can't afford Harris anymore (they got cap issues).
The Browns can afford to make Harris the highest paid FS on a multi-year contract. The Vikings would have to pay around 3.5 mil more for OBJ in 2020, but it's an elite WR vs an elite FS, and with Kubiak running the Vikings offense now---
Ok too deep, but there's a very real player-for-player trade possibility here.
No I don't hate OBJ, and in fact think the "diva" label on him is bullshit. He's NOT a "me-me-me" guy. He just wants to WIN, and is a whole lot smarter (at least in football) than anybody except me and his teammates give him credit for.
He played though a core muscle injury (I suspect groin) in 2019, and has now had surgery on it. He should be 100% in 2021.
Sigh...yes the offensive schemes between the Browns and Vikings will be nearly identical, but the Browns didn't just lose Stefon Diggs, and aren't in cap hell.
Just spitballin here.
Anyway now you guys know how to think about thinking outside the box, hopefully...
Nah! Well stay tuned I'll do it for you. Okbye.
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