Month: May 2024

Stage two of phase three of OTA’s is currently happening. Good to see WR Elijah Moore joining in this week. It’s not mandatory, but I’m glad to see him there. Tomorrow, Thursday, the local media will be in Berea and it’s also a scheduled day for QB Deshaun Watson to throw. Excellent. Now the media can give the fans their expert QB coach/medical opinion of Watson’s throwing motion. Can’t wait and by that, I mean I just can’t. I do like watching the videos on social media, only because it gets me in the mood for the season to start. In between now and training camp, I’ll occupy my time watching games from last year to refresh my memory of certain games and certain players. It really helps with future articles and podcasts.

Just finished watching the new episode of “Unleashed” on YouTube. This week’s episode features DT Michael Hall. He’s an extremely quick and powerful player. As I said in all my mock drafts, I wanted an offensive tackle with the Browns first pick in the second round, but if Michael Hall was available with that pick, the Browns have to pick him. He’s that kind of player. Other impressions for the show, the team really goes all out when they welcome a new player. Nice to see. New defensive line coach Jacques Cesaire is going to have a big influence on these players. This defensive line is already great, but he’s going to take them up a notch. Very vocal and very focused. One other thing I noticed, DT Siaki Ika is thinner and looks in better shape than last year. Good to see. Every episode of “Unleashed” I’ve seen has been great to watch.

Salary cap update. Once or twice a week I check https://overthecap.com/ to see where the Browns stand. I know, I’m a salary cap geek. This week I noticed their cap space went up to $13,988,033.00. Then I heard, they have Nick Chubbs new contract information. Prior to the new contract, Chubb was due in 2024 $12.2 million unguaranteed. Looking at the website, Chubb has taken a pay cut of $9.9 million. His guaranteed salary is $1,125,000.00 and his cap number is $6,275,000.00. There’s a roster bonus of $225,000.00, which is probably for his first game played. He received $2,275,000.00 of upfront cash and has bonus incentives of $2.05 million. I can’t wait to see the incentive breakdown, because that’ll tell me how confident the Browns are in his rehab. Easy incentives mean great confidence. All I know, Chubb and his representatives took a pay cut for him to stay with the Browns. As I’ve said previously, he’s more valuable to the Browns than any other team and he’ll get more money form the Browns than any other team. Stay safe and Go Browns.

The Browns schedule was finally released. Way to bring the drama NFL. I’ve discussed it on three podcasts and in one article, so let’s talk about it again, briefly. Bottom line, if the Browns can stay healthy at key positions and you know what position I’m talking about, the early schedule is very encouraging. The bye week is in a great spot, week ten and the final eight games will determine the fate of the 2024 Browns. Four primetime games, two Thursday night games a Monday night game and a Suday night game. So two short weeks and two mini byes. Four games against AFC North opponents, three home games and five road games. Yep, the league wants the Browns to sink or swim the last eight games.

This week phase three of the team’s OTA’s start on Tuesday May 21 and run through Thursday May 23. What’s so important about this? Every beat reporter for the Browns will have their camera phones pointed at quarterback Deshaun Watson when he throws the ball. In phase three, teams can’t hit but they can line up in 7-on-7, 9-on-9, and 11-on-11. I know it’s just practice and not even real practice, but it’s nice to see the players on a field working. Phase three continues Tuesday May 28 through Thursday May 30 and Tuesday June 11 through Thursday June 13.

Finally, according to https://overthecap.com/salary-cap/cleveland-browns the Browns have about $13.4 million in cap space and 90 players on their roster. Because of the injuries to Deshaun Watson and Dorian Thompson-Robinson, the team is carrying five quarterbacks. If DTR shows up healthy, then rookie camp QB Jacob Sirmon will be cut and another player will be added, probably an offensive tackle. Why an OT? After signing tackle Kellen Diesch, he was cut because of a failed physical. After last year, the Browns will always be looking for extra offensive tackles to put on the practice squad. Stay safe and Go Browns.

All the NFL teams know their schedules, so it’s schedule leak day. The league has already started announcing certain games. Here’s what we know. The Browns will open their season at home against the Cowboy’s in a Sunday afternoon game. Besides the two teams as an attraction, it will by the booth debut of Tom Brady. Yep, it’s going to be the national game that afternoon. As for the other games we know involving AFC North teams, the Ravens will open the season at the Chiefs and the Chiefs will be hosting the Bengals in week two. There’s a rumor the Steelers will start on the road at the Falcons week one.

Tomorrow morning on the NFL Network, the international games will be announced. I’m still of the belief the Browns will play the Jaguars in London on October 20. That would be week seven. A week eight bye would be perfect for the Browns. As for the rest of Cleveland’s schedule, week two will be on the road because of the Billy Joel/Rod Stewart concert at the stadium on September 13. I can’t see them getting the field ready in time. It’ll probably be a divisional game. Since the Bengals have their week two opponent, it’ll probably either be the Steelers of the Ravens. The Browns played the Steelers week two last year, so my money’s on the Ravens.

Cleveland has two west coast trips this year, Raiders and Broncos. Hopefully the league will break them up and not have the Browns play back-to-back games. I can’t imagine the league doing that again. If Nick Chubb starts the season on the PUP list like everyone thinks, he would miss the first four games of the season. He could be back for week six. The Browns will get a Thursday night game and probably a Monday night game. Please no Christmas day game. As for the week eighteen game, the league loves ending the season with divisional opponents. I’m thinking the Steelers. Hopefully the Browns will have wrapped up the AFC North and the Steelers will be playing for pride. Enjoy the schedule show Wednesday night and join us on http://@ElfzNetwork. Stay safe and Go Browns.

When you’re in the podcast business, you try to time your shows so they’re correct and prior to breaking news. Covering the NFL makes this almost impossible. Monday, I recorded a show discussing the air date (Thursday May 9) and the process involved in creating the NFL schedule. And then I find out last night the NFL schedule show will be Wednesday May 15. Thanks for news NFL. Usually, the league announces the schedule the Thursday after Mother’s Day, and yes, it’s pathetic I know this fact. That’s why everyone covering the NFL was sure it would be May 9. So why the delay? It seems the league is having trouble scheduling their Christmas Day games. Christmas happens to be on a Wednesday this year and to play on a Wednesday, the league would have to schedule the teams the prior week to play on Thursday or coming off a late bye week. I believe the NFL is going to have two games on Christmas, so this involves four teams. Good luck with that and knowing the league one of those teams will be the Browns.

The schedule process will be the same as any other year. Monday May 13, it’ll be finalized at the league offices. Tuesday May 14 will be when schedule leaks will start. You can follow me at http://@ctownthug, I’ll be reposting any Browns scheduling news. Here are the Browns opponents for 2024. Home: Ravens, Bengals, Steelers, Chargers, Chiefs, Cowboys, Giants and Dolphins. Road. Ravens, Bengals, Steelers, Broncos, Commanders, Eagles, Jaguars, Raiders and Saints. There’s been early speculation the Browns will play the Jaguars in London at Wembly Stadium on October 20. Then I hear the Browns won’t play overseas. It would make sense for the first statement to be true, because the Browns haven’t played overseas since 2017 against the Vikings. They were scheduled to play in 2020, but covid put an end to that. So they’re due and this might put an end speculation of the Browns playing on Christmas Day.

Besides the opener and the AFC North games, the most anticipated part of the schedule is the bye week. Thanks to “NFL Schedule Update” http://@NerdingonNFL, for the following bye week and strength of schedule post draft statistics. The average bye week for the AFC North teams the last ten years: Bengals week 8, Steelers week 8, Browns week 9 and Ravens week 9. The last five years: Steelers week 6, Browns week 8, Bengals week 9 and Ravens week 9. The strength of schedule post draft according to “DraftKings” easiest to hardest with 2023 opponent’s win percentage: Bengals 5th (.479), Ravens 27th (.517), Browns 30th (.528) and Steelers 32nd (.535). Home schedule: Bengals 3rd (.456), Ravens tied for 14th (.493), Browns and Steelers tied for 32nd (.566). Road schedule: Browns tied for 10th (.493), Bengals tied for 13th (.500), Steelers tied for 16th (.507) and Ravens 32nd (.539). As I’ve said in the past, right now strength of schedule is useless, but will become clearer Wednesday. Stay safe and Go Browns.