Month: February 2025

The NFL Combine starts Monday February 24th when NFL coaches, general managers, reporters and draftniks converge on Indianapolis. You’ll hear about 40 times, cone drills, vertical jumps, bench presses, height, weight, hand size and the all-important Relative Athletic Score (RAS). There’ll be reporting on which players talked to the Browns. What you won’t hear is which agents of free agent players talked to the Browns (I’ll let you know if I hear anything). The NFL Network will push the false narrative that the Browns are on the verge of trading defensive end Myles Garrett to every team in the NFL and possibly a couple of NBA teams. Of course, they’ll skip the part where if they do trade Garrett, the Browns will be in cap hell for two years. Why try and explain something you don’t understand when the voices in your head tell you it doesn’t matter. Biased media will try and convince you Cleveland is in a complete rebuilding mode (they’re not), and they love Shedeur Sanders (they like Cam Ward more, not at number two, as of right now). You’ll hear the phrase “generational talent” more times than potential trade partners for Garrett. The Tennessee Titans will try and convince everyone they don’t need a quarterback and some team should trade for the number one overall pick. I’ve seen Will Levis play, they need a quarterback. Now some will say so do the Browns, but this an average (and that’s being polite) quarterback draft, so why waste draft capital on an average QB, you can find one of those in rounds three through six.

Here’s the schedule for this week:

Tuesday, February 25, 1:00pm EST, Browns GM Andrew Berry addresses the media.

Wednesday, February 26, 1:00pm EST, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski addresses the media.

Thursday, February 27, defensive linemen and linebackers.

Friday, February 28, defensive backs and tight ends.

Saturday, March 1, quarterbacks, wide receivers and running backs.

Sunday, March 2, offensive linemen.

You can watch the combine on NFL+, https://www.nfl.com/plus/.

A list of the 329 invitees can be found here, https://www.nfl.com/news/full-list-of-prospects-invited-to-2025-nfl-scouting-combine.

You can view players results here, https://www.nfl.com/combine/tracker/live-results/.

For specific Browns related news follow, http://@SparkScouting, http://@CaochWilson66, http://@StainbrookNFL, http://@NoahWeiskopf, http://@dpbrugler, http://@MoveTheSticks, http://@PFF_Jordan just to name a few. For what the Titans might be up to follow http://@PaulKuharskyNFL. For salary cap news follow http://@JackDuffin and http://@Jason_OTC.

As always, if any Browns news becomes available, I’ll post it on twitter account (yes, I know it’s called X, but that’s just stupid) http://@ctownthug. Stay safe and Go Browns.

As I wait for the NFL Combine (Feb. 24 – March 3) I’m going to continue to put out mock drafts. These drafts help me with learning the value of these players based on experts’ draft boards. After the combine, I’ll start paying attention to the player’s ages and their Relative Athletic Score (RAS). Both these factors help to more accurately predict the Browns draft. I’ll also not have any trades because it’s too early in the process. Here Goes.

Round One, Pick 2, Abdule Carter, DE, Penn St.

Round Two, Pick 33, Aireontae Ersey, OT, Minnisota.

Round Three, Pick 67, Darius Alexander, DL, Toledo.

Round Three, Pick 94, Andrew Mukuba, S, Texas.

Round Four, Pick 103, Will Howard, QB, Ohio State.

Round Five, Pick 165, Devin Neal, RB, Kansas.

Round Six, Pick 181, Oronde Gadsden, II, TE, Syracuse.

Round Six, Pick 194, Mello Dotson, CB, Kansas,

Round Six, Pick 202, Jordan James, RB, Oregon.

Round Six, Pick 216, Nick Nash, WR, San Jose St.

Round Six, Pick 217, Garrett Dellinger, IOL, LSU.

Round Six, Pick 257, Shemar James, LB, Florida.

I still feel the Browns will completely redo the quarterback room by signing a veteran starter, a veteran backup and a draft pick. In this draft I went with Will Howard. He’s nowhere near being a starter in the NFL in 2025, however he can develop into at least a solid backup and maybe a decent starter. With the top three picks, I addressed both the offensive and defensive lines. Running back, tight end and safety are draft needs and this a great draft to address those needs. It seems like Browns GM Andrew Berry always drafts a wide receiver and a cornerback. It’s the state of the current NFL. I also expect him to trade for a wide receiver. Finally I decided to add a linebacker because of the uncertainty of JOK’s health. Let me know what you think. Stay safe and Go Browns.

Now That the Super Bowl is over, it’s time to fix the Browns and make them a contender for 2025. The first two questions that need to be resolved are what to do about Myles Garrett and finding a franchise quarterback. I’ve expressed my opinion on both subjects, but now that it’s officially the off-season, I’ll reiterate my thoughts.

First, if the Browns trade Myles Garrett it will destroy the team’s salary cap for the next two years. I doesn’t matter what the local and national media says. It doesn’t matter what former player and current Hall of Famer Joe Thomas says. It really doesn’t matter what Myles Garrett says. Facts are facts, trading Garrett will devastate the Browns roster and spending ability for the next couple of years. Salary cap expert Jack Duffin (http://@JackDuffin) estimates a trade would reduce the Browns spending power in 2025 by over $60 million. Because of this lack of funds Jack Conklin and Wyatt Teller would have to be cut, Denzel Ward and Greg Newsome would have to be traded, and Nick Chubb couldn’t be resigned. This is the business reality because the NFL is a business. Always has been, always will be.

You could blame the current situation on the decision to trade for Deshaun Watson. At the time the Browns were desperate for a franchise quarterback and no I’m not going to use revisionist history to relitigate the Baker Mayfield situation. He forced his own exit due to immaturity and thinking he was more important than the team. By the way, Garrett was for the Watson trade and getting rid of Baker. In 2022, the free agent market for quarterbacks was bad, (Marcus Mariota, Teddy Bridgewater, Mitch Trubisky) and the draft class was just as bad, (Kenny Pickett, Malik Willis). The Browns swung for the fences, as a group, they felt they had to. Now in 2025, they have a plan to get out from under the thumb of the Watson contract. He won’t play another down for the Browns and will be off the roster by the start of the league year in 2027. A Myles Garrett trade would force the Browns to extend him again and keep him on the roster. No thank you.

Speaking of the quarterback situation, this draft class is not great. The top two players have faults and right now, aren’t worth the value of the number two overall pick. You don’t take a quarterback that high just for the sake of taking a quarterback. Mitch Trubisky, Trey Lance, Josh Rosen and Justin Fields come to mind. You have to find the right one. Everyone is praising the Eagles front office while criticizing Andrew Berry for modeling the Browns team building strategy after the Eagles. Remember, the Eagles drafted Jalen Hurts the year after drafting Carson Wentz. There’s a ton of luck involved when drafting a QB. If neither Ward nor Sanders are that guy, then don’t set the franchise back again. Not drafting either isn’t over thinking the situation, drafting one when you shouldn’t is over thinking the situation.

A Myles Garrett trade would force the Browns into drafting a quarterback at two. They wouldn’t have the funds to sign a veteran quarterback and draft a developmental player later in the draft. The last and only time Andrew Berry was forced to draft a position in the draft resulted in Jedrick Wills. Joe Thomas loved that pick. Garrett recently said on ESPN that he agreed with the Browns future plans but still wanted to be traded and would do “whatever it takes” to make it happen He can’t do anything; this is a load of crap. There’s nothing he nor his agents can do to help the Browns facilitate a trade, because of the last extension he willingly signed. The only way to move forward successfully, is to make Garrett the highest paid defensive player in the league with a $200 million contract and focus on the plan. A rebuild is not in the team’s best interests. Stay safe and Go Browns.

Shocking news this morning, star defensive end Myles Garrett asked to be traded. This comes a week after Browns GM Andrew Berry told Cleveland Media Garrett was not on the trading block. Did this come as a shock to the Browns? No. According to Dianna Russinihttp://@DRussini “While Myles Garrett’s public trade request is the story of the week already, it wasn’t a surprise to the Cleveland Browns—they’ve known about this request for some time.” So when Berry made those comments, the team already knew of the request.

Garrett has two years remaining on his contract. In 2025 his salary is $19,796,125 and in 2026 it’s $25 million. If the team trades him prior to June 1, which would be the ideal situation to go through free agency and the draft, his dead money would be $36.2 million and the team would have to eat $16.5 million of his remaining contract. This isn’t going to happen. The Browns need all the cap savings they can find to navigate the next two years of the Deshaun Watson contract. As I mentioned earlier, the Browns knew about this for a while. I’ve heard Garrett approached the Browns with his request and the Browns said no, that’s why the public statement by Garrett with Berry’s own words in the statement.

Right now, it’s a public fight and Garrett has no leverage. I remember tight end David Njoku wanting a trade and ended up signing a contract extension. Like I said, Garrett has no leverage in this situation, due to Garrett having two years left on his contract. Also, the Browns are adamant about not trading Garrett. The team could franchise him in 2025 at $72 million. A hold out does no one any good, especially Garrett. I’m inclined to think this is a contract negotiation, similar to Njoku. Garrett wants to be the highest paid defensive player in the league. I understand his frustration, as do all Browns fans, but I can’t see a trade happening because of the financials. Stay safe and Go Browns.