Month: May 2021

Now that tax season is over, my brain is starting to get back to normal. Constantly thinking about the Browns. Just kidding, I think about the Indians and Vanderbilt baseball as well. But since the NFL is a 365 day a year sport, I always have the Browns on my mind. But unfortunately it’s a real quiet time right now. The Browns have signed five of their eight draft picks, OT James Hudson, DT Tommy Togiai, LB Tony Fields, S Richard LeCounte and RB Demetric Felton. Only the top three picks remain unsigned, but that should happen soon. Team OTA’s are kind of going on. Some veterans have shown up as the players union and union president Browns center J.C. Tretter continue to tell players to stay away. The Browns are honoring Tretter’s stance, however when I see the Browns first opponent, the Chiefs, have 81 players show up for their first OTA, it’s time to work out an agreement. It’s going to get interesting when the Mandatory Mini camp starts on June 15.

Because I was bored this week, I decided to open Browns twitter to see what was going on. Big mistake. First time I missed doing tax returns after the deadline. Apparently this week there is no honor among thieves, bathroom selfies while wearing Browns gear should not have a toilet in the background and the new flavor of the week is Atlanta WR Julio Jones. Like I said, I should have never opened Browns twitter. Let’s look at the Julio Jones situation. First of all, the Browns are not trading for Julio Jones. I’m sure the Falcons would like to trade Jones, but it would be for draft picks, not players. Right now their cap situation is a mess. Depending on which cap website you use (Overthecap or Spotrac) Atlanta has $410,351.00 or $1,691,125.00 in cap room. Currently they can’t sign a draft pick. The Falcons could wait till after June 1 and trade Jones while only losing $200,00. Jones’s cap hit of $23,050,000 comes off the books and the dead money would be $23,250,000. The problem is Atlanta is going to want a ton of draft picks for a wide receiver who’s on the wrong side of 30 and been injured the last two years. No thanks.

Finally, a new episode of “Building The Browns” will air Sunday May 23 at 10:30 am CST on the YouTube channel. This show is the perfect fix for Browns fans as we wait till late summer to see real Browns football. Yes I said late summer. After last year, I now have a greater appreciation for pre-season games. What kind of appreciation? I can’t wait to watch one appreciation. I guess the pandemic has changed me. Everyone stay safe and Go Browns.

Let the schedule games begin. Today in every city with an NFL team, sports talk radio will be occupied with guessing the final record of the local team. It’s amazing how every NFL team will have a winning record. I quit playing this game after the 2019 Browns season when they went 6-10. I didn’t do it last year and the Browns went 11-5. You be the judge. Hello my name is Steve and I’m an overly superstitious Browns fan. So if you’re looking for a schedule prediction, you’re looking in the wrong place. What I will do is give a quick analysis of the schedule. So here goes.

The main attention is on the opener vs. the Chiefs in Kansas City. A quick history lesson, the Browns are 1-20-1 in opening games since 1999, have never beaten a team coached by Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes has never lost a game in September. Still, I would rather play Kansas City early then late in the season. If, and it’s a big if, the Browns can beat the Chiefs, their next three games are very winnable. At home vs. Houston and Chicago and on the road against the Vikings. The Minnesota game might be tough, but winnable.

The second quarter of the schedule has its good points and its bad points. First the Browns travel to L.A. for a game against the Chargers. Knowing both team’s fanbases, this will be a Browns home game. The Browns then play three consecutive home games, Arizona, Denver and Pittsburg. The bad, the Browns will only have four days after the Cardinal game to prepare for Denver, but then have ten days to prepare for their first divisional game against the Steelers. The ten days is a nice little mini bye week.

The next quarter of the schedule features three road games. At the Bengals, at New England, home against the Lions and the big Sunday night a game in Baltimore. This is an interesting part of the schedule because of what follows in the final five games. After the Ravens game, the Browns get their bye week and then face the Ravens again at home. So the Browns have three weeks to concentrate on one team, Baltimore. On a side note, while the Browns are on their bye, the Ravens play the Steelers.

The final four games are tough. At home against the Raiders, Christmas in Green Bay, Monday night at Pittsburg and at home against the Bengals. Another brief history lesson, the Browns have never beaten a team coached by John Gruden. Here’s where it gets interesting. Prior to playing the Browns, the Raiders have to go to Kansas City, the Packers have to go to Baltimore and the Steelers have to go to Kansas City. The Steelers game will probably Big Bens last home game. As for the Bengals, their two games prior to the Browns are at home versus the Ravens and the Chiefs.

Last year the Browns never lost two games in a row and looking at this years schedule I don’t see them losing consecutive games. Some fans don’t like the bye week at week thirteen. I like it. Like I said earlier, they have a mini bye week after the week seven Thursday night game. It also helps that during the three week span of week twelve through week fourteen, the Browns play one team, the Ravens. Plus, week thirteen is a nice time for a rest for a possible final playoff push. Everyone stay safe, get vaccinated and Go Browns.

Didn’t the city of Cleveland look great during the NFL draft? Wow. The Browns emerged from this past weekend an even stronger team than they were prior to the draft. All hail Andrew Berry. I still can’t believe they got Greg Newsome and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah in the first two rounds. In the first round they let the draft board come to them and in the second round they traded up slightly. Then the Browns added speed at WR (Anthony Schwartz), OL help (James Hudson), DL help ( Tommy Togiai), and immediate special teams help ( Tony Fields, Richard LeCounte & Demetric Felton). If I were Chris Hubbard, Jo Jo Natson, Mack Wilson & D’Ernest Johnson, I would be worried. The Browns also added UDFA DT Marvin Wilson, free agent DT Malik McDowell and free agent DT Damion Square. McDowell is the only player I question because of his checkered past, but Andrew Berry said the Browns are going to give him a second chance. Low risk, high reward.

According to all the talking heads the Browns graded well for their 2021 draft. Add the drafted players to the free agents signed and the Browns have one of the best rosters in the AFC and the NFL. Pro Football Focus has them rated fifth in the NFL and second in the AFC behind the Chiefs. I’m still trying to figure out why the Ravens traded OT Orlando Brown to Kansas City. Why help a future playoff opponent? Speaking of PFF, they graded the Browns secondary as the most improved in the NFL. Here’s a link, https://www.dawgsbynature.com/2021/5/6/22423189/cleveland-browns-secondary-nfl-most-improved-pff. PFF also ranked the Browns as one of their most improved teams. Here’s a link, https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-most-improved-teams-free-agency-2021-nfl-draft. It’s a good time to be a Browns fan.

So what’s next on the NFL calendar, besides ESPN endlessly trying to trade OBJ and Baker Mayfield. Hey ESPN, go back to showing “The Drive” and “The Fumble” I’m finally numb to you showing those. The NFL Schedule announcement will be Wednesday May 12th. I can’t wait. Looking at the Browns home opponent’s, they should be favored in every game. I’ll wait to judge the away schedule until the Aaron Rogers saga plays out. I bet the NFL schedule makers are sweating that decision. Offseason workout dates were also announced. Rookie Minicamp: May 14-16, OTA Workouts: May 25-27, June 1-3 and June 7-10 and Mandatory Mini Camp June 15-17. Finally, episode three of “Building The Browns” will air Sunday at 10:30 am CST on YouTube. This episode will feature the draft picks. Everyone stay safe, get vaccinated, happy Mothers Day to all the Moms and GO Browns.