Now that the Franchise and Transition Tag period has ended, the “illegal” tampering period goes into high gear. Rumors will run rampant, players will post cryptic messages on social media and people who say they have reliable sources, don’t. The voices in their heads aren’t reliable sources. Clickbait season has begun. Just remember, Browns GM Andew Berry can be unpredictable. No one knew the Browns were going to trade for Amari Cooper before it happened. With new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz on the coaching staff, Berry will go heavy on the defensive side of the ball. That’s no surprise, the uncertainty comes from how he’ll attack the situation. Conventual wisdom tells you, he’ll spend the free agency money wisely, t0 maximize the value of the money. But there’s a nagging feeling he might just swing big for a “name ” free agent. All I know, if a signing doesn’t happen right away, I’ll have to scroll past a lot of memes on my twitter timeline. Like a stick figure poking a Browns helmet or pictures of Mr. Bean waiting.
The Browns aren’t going to trade Nick Chubb. Not this year at least. Sure, the Browns have to clean up their salary cap, they’re currently $ 14 million over. But trading Nick Chubb doesn’t help that situation. As for acquiring more draft picks for this year, who knows what you could get for Chubb. All I know is this is a deep draft for running backs and if a team needs one, financially a rookie contract is much more affordable. Like I’ve said before, the Browns are in “win now” mode and Chubb helps that mode. Finally, the Browns are going to restructure Watson’s contract. Recently he said he would agree to it, however he already has, it’s written in his contract that the Browns have that option. The public will find out about it prior to the start of the league year.
The Deshaun Watson contract is starting to look like a good deal. Daniel Jones is going to get $40 million a year, $ 6million less than Watson. Just a reminder, Jones is 21-23-1 as a starter. As for Lamar Jackson, he should have hired an agent prior to last season and worked out a contract then. If he didn’t get what he wanted, he could have held out. It doesn’t help his case that the last time he played a full season was 2019 and hasn’t played in December the last two years. It’s amazing how so many quarterback needy teams, within an hour of the announcement Jackson was being tagged, said they weren’t interested. Yep, the NFL loves to collude. My problem with all this mess, some experts are blaming the Browns. First of all, if Baltimore is in disarray because of the Browns, GOOD. Second of all, why blame the Browns for doing something the other 31 teams could have done. Thirteen teams inquired about Watson and there were three other teams to make the cut. These teams knew his contract demands and were willing to do the contract. Watson chose the Browns.
The legal tampering period begins Monday March 13 at noon EST. The official signing period starts Wednesday March 15 at 4:00 pm EST. Enjoy the ride. Stay safe and Go Browns.