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2017 Browns Off Season Thread

Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Soda said:
You need to read and post in the threads designated. We will occasionally have unique threads if a big signing is made and definitely for guys we end up drafting, but there need not be threads for random free agents. There is a thread about the Browns off-season and free agency.
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Have you even read this guy's posts? I doubt there is any reasoning with him... :chuckle:
 
SixPACK said:
Depending on the $, but Trumaine Johnson from Rams. Didn't have a crazy year. I am assuming Gregg Williams will pursue him. Would be big signing.



A.J. Bouye - CB, Texans



No point in even mentioning Berry. No way.
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AJ Bouye would be a dream signing. He was an absolute stud last season.
 
sportscoach said:
We will have Pryor for 2017 I am pretty sure since we have a ton of cap, they only way we do not resign Pryor, is if he asks for more money than any other WR in the league. He doesnt merit that amount of money to be sincere since he doesnt have a good enough track record just yet.
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I feel like we have 2 crucial ingredients to this:

1. As you mentioned, he is a year short of being called "consistent" or "impact" or anything of that nature. He just doesn't have the track record, you nailed it.
2. I can't remember what I read, but I think Pryor really appreciates Hue Jackson and the impact that Hue had in helping him turn the corner. It was the belief that Hue had in him, the coaching, and the mentoring (IIRC).

This is where you go for a long-term deal. You lock this guy in right before he gets better QB play and refines his technique.
 
With the Browns having somewhere in the vicinity of $105 in cap room this year, I'm hoping large signing bonuses make a lot of these in house negotiations go smoothly and quickly. If a player wants to be in Cleveland, it shouldn't take a lot of back and forth.

The problem will come when a player doesn't really want to be in Cleveland and uses the franchise to get a better offer somewhere else. We saw that with the Jordan Cameron negotiations, and then Mitchell Schwartz tried the exact same ploy a year later.
 
Report: Terrelle Pryor “instructed” agents to get a deal done in Cleveland

For some players, Cleveland is a place you try to escape when your four years of drafted servitude expire.

But it appears Browns wide receiver Terrelle Pryor not only doesn’t mind it there, but is actively hoping to stay.

With his agents in the process of negotiating with the Browns, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports he has “instructed” his agents to get a deal done because he wants to stay.

Pryor became the team’s top priority once they finished hurling money at trade acquisition Jamie Collins, and they could always use the franchise tag on Pryor between now and March 1 if they can’t reach a long-term deal. But he genuinely sounds like a guy who wants to stay for much longer.

“I know this is an important month,” Pryor said last week. “But I do love being with the Browns and like I said before, this thing isn’t about joining a different team because a different team’s good. That’s not what it’s about. I love the building process here. I started out in my career never coming in the front door. I’ve always got to go in the back, the hard way and the longer way. . . .:gfight:

“I have no problem with, just because we were 1-15 or whatever this year, coming back. I don’t mind starting fresh next year and continuing to grow, because I think it’s more exciting when you’re on the bottom. I’m always citing starting from the bottom and getting to the top, and I think it’s a greater feeling and it would be great to give Cleveland what they’re looking for.”

Pryor emerged as not just a legitimate wide receiver last season, but a very good one. He led the team with 77 catches for 1,007 yards and four touchdowns, which is pretty good considering the revolving door at quarterback which wasn’t exactly conducive to statistical excellence.

And more importantly for the Browns, he found a patron in coach Hue Jackson. While wins (plural) have so far escaped Jackson, getting a guy who would have a market elsewhere to pledge his allegiance to the Browns is a victory of its own. And perhaps more significant than anything else they achieved last year.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...veland/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
 
From Bill Barnwell at ESPN. Very interesting argument for trading out of #1.




i

Cleveland Browns
1. Franchise WR Terrelle Pryor. The Browns have $108 million in cap room even after re-signing Jamie Collins, and their only other impending free agent who might justify the franchise tag is punter Britton Colquitt. Pryor had a stunning season during his debut year as a wideout, catching 77 passes for 1,007 yards on a team that had five quarterbacks attempt 20 or more passes and cycled through three starters. Cleveland should be in no rush to commit long term to Pryor, and with this cap situation, the team doesn't need to be.

2. Wade into free agency. The Browns are more likely to be players in free agency this year, given that they are unlikely to lose anybody who would generate a compensatory selection and won't incur that sort of opportunity cost by making their own moves. They are projected to pick up four compensatory picks in the 2017 draft after letting key contributors walk in free agency last year, though they sent one pick to New England for Collins and another to the Eagles as part of the Carson Wentz deal.
Sashi Brown shouldn't be heading into free agency to try to reach toward mediocrity, but the Browns will need some help building the infrastructure necessary for their future stars to succeed on either side of the ball. Cleveland would be smart to look at what the Raiders did in rebuilding through players at the line of scrimmage.
Joe Thomas. 2015 first-round pick Cameron Erving has been a mess on the interior and moved to right tackle for the season finale in 2016, where he looked competent against the Steelers. If the Browns want to keep Erving at right tackle, they could consider moving guard John Greco to center before going after one of Hue Jackson's old players from Cincinnati, Zeitler, to play guard. If Erving is going to stay at center, the Browns might look at Rick Wagner of the Ravens on the right side.
Defensively, the Browns might want to try targeting risky players with upside. As they move to a 4-3 under new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, the Browns will want a penetrating tackle next to the massive Danny Shelton, who held up well as the nose last year. Nick Fairley has had injury issues in the past, but he was productive for the Saints last year and certainly possesses the athleticism to create havoc on the interior. If the Panthers let Kawann Short hit the free market, which seems unlikely, he would be another fit for the Browns. They also might consider trading their third-round pick to the Jets for Sheldon Richardson.

3. Sign QB Tyrod Taylor. The one free-agent move the Browns should force is for their quarterback of the future. Taylor isn't your prototypical QB, but the former Ravens backup was wildly productive in a scheme built around his strengths in Buffalo, where he was both a running threat and a viable downfield passer. Jackson has shown the ability to craft offenses around quarterbacks with atypical skill sets, and he made the most out of Andy Dalton in Cincinnati.
Picking up Taylor doesn't preclude the Browns from drafting a quarterback in the first round over the next two or three years, but he's the best option they're likely to get without using a top-five pick on a passer, especially in 2017. He also won't cost the Browns any of the draft picks they would need to send to the Patriots to acquire Jimmy Garoppolo, which is a massive savings in itself.

4. Trade out of the first overall pick. It might drive Browns fans crazy, but if somebody offers Cleveland even a moderate ransom for the first overall pick, the Browns are going to make the correct move in trading down more often than not. If this were a draft with an obvious quarterback to take at the top of the first round, the Browns would be smart to hold onto their pick, but that doesn't appear to be the case in 2017. We know that NFL teams are each more confident in their own ability to pick players than they should be, and given how aggressively the Browns went after extra picks to start their rebuild last year, I suspect they feel the same way.
Presumed No. 1 pick Myles Garrett looks to be an excellent player, but we won't know whether he's the best player in the draft until it's way too late. Anecdotally, here are all the No. 1 picks who weren't quarterbacks since 1990 with two comparable lists of players: the second overall picks in those drafts and the next player chosen at their respective position, regardless of whether it was with the second pick or the 25th.
Bill Belichick in New England to Ted Thompson in Green Bay.

Year No. 1 Pick No. 2 Pick Next Player at Pos.
2014 Jadeveon Clowney, DE Greg Robinson, T Khalil Mack, LB
2013 Eric Fisher, T Luke Joeckel, T Luke Joeckel, T
2008 Jake Long, T Chris Long, DE Ryan Clady, T
2006 Mario Williams, DE Reggie Bush, RB Kamerion Wimbley, DE
2000 Courtney Brown, DE LaVar Arrington, LB Shaun Ellis, DE
1997 Orlando Pace, T Darrell Russell, DT Walter Jones, T
1996 Keyshawn Johnson, WR Kevin Hardy, LB Terry Glenn, WR
1995 Ki-Jana Carter, RB Tony Boselli, T Tyrone Wheatley, RB
1994 Dan Wilkinson, DT Marshall Faulk, RB Bryant Young, DT
1992 Steve Emtman, DT Quentin Coryatt, LB Sean Gilbert, DT
1991 Russell Maryland, DT Eric Turner, DB Eric Swann, DT

5. Continue to trust the process. The Browns will be better next year. They were unlucky to go 1-15, in terms of their Pythagorean expectation (3.5 wins), their record in close games (1-5 in games decided by seven or fewer points) and the sheer fact that they needed five quarterbacks to take meaningful reps to make it through the season. They're probably not going to be good in 2017, but there will be signs of progress, and Cleveland is doing a lot of things that bode well for the team's future. With more draft capital to invest than anybody else in football, by a comfortable margin, the Browns can control the draft in years to come. They will likely continue to take advantage of teams undervaluing future selections by trading picks from this year's draft for better selections in future drafts. There's no guarantee it will work, but the alternative is no guarantee either, to which the Rams and Jaguars can currently attest.[\QUOTE]
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Triplethreat said:
From Bill Barnwell at ESPN. Very interesting argument for trading out of #1.
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That article tells me not to trade out. Mario Williams vs Wibley? Maryland vs Swann?

When you hit on a defensive linemen pick (seems about 50%), you then become an absolute beast.

So basically we have a 50% chance of having a top 5 defensive player if we stay at 1?

I like those odds.
 
SixPACK said:
. I love the building process here. I started out in my career never coming in the front door. I’ve always got to go in the back, the hard way and the longer way. . . .:gfight:
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Interesting to see what they get done, I give him credit for sticking it out when normal logic would have him exploring his options leaguewide. A deal with an out in two years would be the best option for both- if he can't stay healthy the team can move on and if the Browns go back into another FO cycle he can bail while still in his prime. If he and the team grow they can ink him for longer and have a building block. Let's see how this FO, one trained under a great deal maker/bridge builder like John Hart, does in not only selling players on staying here but working out 'win/win' contracts. I'm mildly optimistic in this one.

Would also be awesome if the Browns end up with the first openly gay star in the league. The league clearly still has homophobia issues and seeing the Browns have the first guy to truly break that barrier- be an actual contributor and team leader- would be refreshing.
 
Lee said:
That article tells me not to trade out. Mario Williams vs Wibley? Maryland vs Swann?

When you hit on a defensive linemen pick (seems about 50%), you then become an absolute beast.

So basically we have a 50% chance of having a top 5 defensive player if we stay at 1?

I like those odds.
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If they can slide down a slot or two and still snag Garrett, awesome. Otherwise the '3 quarters for a dollar' move hasn't worked in over a decade for this team, if they think Garrett is a stud/leader for this defense they need to stay and pull that trigger.
 
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