Dawgpoundsouth

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.

The Browns have been busy since I wrote my last blog. They hired veteran coach Bill Musgrave as an offensive assistant. Personally, I would have preferred someone who is more familiar with quarterback Deshaun Watson, but I’ll take a fresh set of eyes looking at the offense. Especially someone who head coach Kevin Stefanski knows and respects. Musgrave spent 19 seasons in the NFL as either a quarterback coach or an offensive coordinator. The team also made some minor moves on the coaching staff.

The Browns started the process of restructuring contracts with WR/KR Jakeem Grant. They took the remaining two years on his contract and turned into a one-year contract with a voidable year. They saved $1.7 million and made his cap number the same amount. It was also announced the team will cut safety John Johnson, III and designate him a post June 1 cut. This wasn’t a surprising move as I’ve said it might happen and saves the team $9.75 million in cap space. I thought at the time this was a great free agent signing, however I don’t think they Browns utilized Johnson’s talent properly.

As expected, Washington franchised tagged DT Daron Payne. No surprise and still don’t believe he was ever a free agent target for the Browns. There’s a lot of talk about the Browns and Bengals safety Jessie Bates. Just don’t see the Browns spending $15 million on Bates when they could use that money on two or three much needed players. Just a reminder the Franchise & Transition designation period ends March 7. Expect the Browns to announce a Watson restructure after the Ravens tag Lamar Jackson.

The combine has started and the only player I’ve heard who has talked to the Browns is Michigan DE Mike Morris. Other possible targets for the Browns: Adetomiwa Adebawore, Northwestern, Zach Harrison, Ohio State and Tuli Tuipulotu, USC. All would be potential third round picks. Yesterday, Browns GM talked to the media. My takeaways are: Would not name Nick Harris as the starting center, a Watson restructure is on the table (Yes), there are other options for restructures (no surprise), kicker Cade York will have no competition and the age guardrails for draft picks is still in use. For those who don’t know, Berry doesn’t draft players over the age of 22.

Finally, it was announced the Browns and the Jets will play in the Hall of Fame game. Again, no surprise. So the Browns and the Jets report a week early to training camp and play four pre-season games as opposed to three. The start of the league year is two weeks from today, March 15, so expect a lot of articles stating the Browns have this free agent or that free agent on their radar. They should have every free agent on their radar. Stay safe and Go Browns.

Fire the defensive coordinator. Check. Fire the Special Teams coach. Check. Hopefully the Browns will hire a couple of coaches who are upgrades. Big check. It’s being reported today that the Browns have hired former special teams ace Bubba Ventrone. Just like the Jim Schwartz hire, this is a major upgrade. In his five years as special teams coach with the Colts, they finished in the top ten four times. If Cleveland’s special teams had been average last year, I contend they could’ve won three more games. Been then again, both Joe Woods and Mike Priefer would probably be still employed by the team. The Colts wanted to keep Ventrone, so the Browns also added assistant coach to his title. The Browns this week also hired Ephraim Banda as their safeties coach. Now the emphasis is on hiring a QB coach (Sean Ryan or James Urban) and some defensive coaches. They should have the staff complete by the start of the NFL combine on February 28.

In other news, the franchise tag period started on February 21. So far there’s only been speculation on those getting the big money tags. There have been reports DT Javon Hargrave, DT Da’ron Payne and DT Dre’Mont Jones may be tagged. I’m not concerned about these players because I’m of the believe they aren’t Browns targets. Too expensive. Think Matt Ioannidis, David Onyemata, Sheldon Rankins and Jarren Reed.

The first fire sale started yesterday. The Tennessee Titans released LT Taylor Lewan, WR Robert Woods, K Randy Bullock and LB Zach Cunningham. There are rumors edge Bud Dupree maybe designated as a post June 1st cut. Of these players, I know Browns GM Andrew Berry tried to acquire Woods before the Rams traded him to the Titans and I might take a flyer on Cunningham on a cheap contract. Because Jim Schwartz was employed by the Titans last year, players from the Titans will catch the eye of Browns fans. Of their free agents, LB Rashann Evans would be an upgrade as a starter, center Corey Levin, edge DeMarcus Walker and safety Andrew Adams would be good backup/rotational players. I have no interest in Lewan, he’s missed 18 games over the last three years and as for Dupree, only as a situational pass rusher at the league minimum.

As I said the combine starts next Tuesday. I’ve heard rumors the Browns are scheduling meetings with agents of pending Browns free agents. I’m not interested in how the draftable players perform; I’m interested in who the team meets with. Always a good indicator. Stay safe and Go Browns.

With the completion of Super Bowl 57, the 2023 NFL season has officially started. As for the game, one play didn’t decide it, but the field conditions really hurt the Eagles. The league spent $800,000.00 growing the grass specifically for the Super Bowl. The NFL should ask for its money back, what a mess. It naturized the Eagles pass rush. You can’t give Pat Mahomes that much time. I hope Browns Kevin Stefanski was watching the Chiefs redzone offense because it was a thing of beauty. A lot of motion, a lot of speed and a franchise quarterback who has time to throw.

Now begins the Browns quest to get to Super Bowl 58. First up, hiring new coaches to replace Jeff Howard, Chris Kiffin and possibly Drew Petzing. The Colts and the Cardinals have decided on their new head coaches, so the Browns can finish out their coaching staffs. I have a feeling new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz knows who he wants to hire, and it’ll be happen pretty quickly.

Next up for the Browns will be contract restructures. Remember, a restructure is not a pay cut if the owner can afford to pay the upfront money. Jimmy Haslam can afford it even after he buys a 25% stake in the Milwaukie Bucks. The date to watch is the beginning of the Franchise tag period. Once Baltimore officially tags quarterback Lamar Jackson, the Browns will restructure Watson’s contract. The Browns want to force the Ravens to pay the full tag for quarterbacks, $32.42 million. It doesn’t matter if Jackson signs the offer or not, once the team applies the franchise tag, the amount is set. The Franchise and Transition period begins on February 21 and runs through March 7.

Now that Joe Thomas is in the NFL Hall of Fame, as if there was any doubt, I know a lot of you are wondering if the Browns will play in the Hall of Fame Game. We should find out sometime during the NFL combine, which is February 28 through March 6. My money is on Jets vs. Browns and no there isn’t a rule that teams who play each other in the regular season can’t play in the pre-season. It’s happened before.

The fun really gets started on March 13, when the legal tampering period begins. The illegal tampering period begins at the Combine. Shh, don’t tell anyone. Then on March 15 free agency begins and large amounts of money will be thrown around. Day one is always big contracts for big names and day two is always what I like to call “fool’s gold day.” Big money given to average players. As I’ve said before, Browns GM Andrew Berry will attack the defensive line first. The team needs at least a DT1, DE2 & DE3. A trade for a wide receiver wouldn’t surprise me either.

Next year is officially here Browns fans. Stay safe and Go Browns.

With both the Shrine Bowl and the Senior Bowl played last week, I thought I would start messing around with some mock draft simulators. In the past, I usually start looking at mock drafts in November. Now I wait until free agency as started. The Browns big needs in this year’s draft are defensive line, wide receiver and safety. Throw in possibly a running back, offensive tackle and tight end and with eight picks, GM Andrew Berry might be able to fill in some needs. Here goes.

Pick 42, Mazi Smith, DT, Michigan.

Pick 98, Nick Herbig, DE, Wisconsin.

Pick 111, Roschon Johnson, RB, Texas.

Pick 126, Tyler Scott, WR, Cincinnati.

Pick 142, Quindell Johnson, S, Memphis.

Pick 144, Jaelyn Duncan, OT, Maryland.

Pick 190, Luke Schoonmaker, TE, Michigan.

Pick 237, Kahlef Hailassie, CB, Western Kentucky.

Like I said, this is a way too early mock draft and I think I covered all the Brown’s needs. Berry may surprise everyone and make a big splash in free agency, especially at defensive tackle. He’s been pretty damn good at trading for players, so he could make a deal for a wide receiver. The free agent wide receiver market is average at best as are the players in the draft. Let me know what you think. Stay safe and Go Browns.

After watching Sunday’s conference championship games, I wondered how close the Browns are from playing in the AFC championship game next year. Pretty close. The Eagles are built like the Browns with one exception, quarterback. Their franchise QB is still on a rookie contract. Their front office basically values certain positions the same way the Browns value positions. Philadelphia’s defense line doesn’t have any high-priced players. Their starting defensive line and their cap figures are Brandon Graham ($9.6 million), Fletcher Cox ($4 million), Javon Hargrave ($11.9 million) and Josh Sweat ($6 million). The Eagles big offseason move was trading for WR A.J. Brown. A move that paid dividends all year.

San Fransico runs a similar offense, but they started the game with their third string QB and ended up having to play their fourth string QB. Who knew Josh Johnson was still in the league. They made the playoffs by running the ball and having a dominating defense, especially their defensive line. Kansas City has one of the best quarterbacks in the league. In the offseason they lost one of their best offensive players (Tyreek Hill) and one of their best defensive players (Tyrann Mathieu). The Chiefs put their best pass rusher (Chris Jones) in the position to change the game. As for Cincinnati, they turned into the Cleveland Browns at the end of the game. With eight minutes left and the score tied at 20, they tried two long passes. One was incomplete and the other was intercepted. Run the ball and eat the clock (sound familiar). On their last possession, Burrow is sacked, and they have to punt the ball. Did they try and punt the ball out of bounds? Nope, big return. Then they commit the stupid penalty to put Kansas City in field goal range to win the game (sound familiar).

The Browns need to fix one of the worst run defenses in the league and get QB Deshaun Watson playing like he did in 2019. The class of the AFC North are the Bengals and they’ve struggled to beat the Browns, so a divisional crown is within reach. This is a huge offseason, get it done Andrew Berry. Stay safe and Go Browns.

This time of year, Browns fans tend to get a little silly. It’s their right if you write articles, blogs or have podcasts. And some of the stuff on social media is out there. But let’s all take a breath and think about it logically.

Outrageous trades. Sure, propose a trade of a Browns player. Just remember, the Browns, because of the Deshaun Watson trade, are in a win now mode. So, trading away core players really isn’t an option. Especially proposing trade that isn’t financial logical. Here’s an example, defensive end Myles Garrett. A trade of Garrett would result in $35 million in dead cap space. Just a reminder, the Browns are currently $9 million over the cap. Another example is left tackle Jedrick Wills. Yes, he had a down year, but if the team is in a win now window, you don’t create holes at key positions without having a legitimate replacement. I expect the Browns to pick up his fifth-year option.

Paul DePodesta. Browns fans always have to have a scapegoat and I thought it was DC Joe Woods. Yes, he deserved to be fired. But wanting to fire the Chief Strategy Officer is just weird. DePodesta does not run the team, he does not design plays and he does not call plays. He helps the front office on personnel decisions. No GM is perfect, Andrew Berry wasn’t perfect this last off-season. He totally missed on the defensive tackle position. He hit on his first pick last year, cornerback Martin Emerson was a steal. Just a reminder, GM John Dorsey, no fan of analytics, picked DE Chad Thomas with DE Sam Hubbard still on the board.

Jim Schwartz. Schwartz was hired by head coach Kevin Stefanski. Again, the Browns are in a win now mode, so the defense needs to be fixed NOW and he is the perfect hire. He was not hired as a backup plan if they fire Stefanski. Think about this logically, why would Stefanski hire his replacement? Why would Schwartz take a job, move his wife to Cleveland only to be an interim head coach for part of a season and be fired in January? And yes, he’s going to hire his own assistants and have a say in the players he wants to keep and add.

Free Agents. The Browns will need to create cap space as explained in this article https://clesportstalk.com/fixing-the-browns-2023-salary-cap/ I wrote for the website. Two Browns players they have to resign in my opinion are center Ethan Pocic and linebacker Anthony Walker. Make Pocic the starter and Nick Harris as the backup. Pocic was a top five center in the league when he played. The defense started to go downhill after Walker got hurt. I would like to see them resign LB Sione Takitaki, but he got injured so late in the season, he might not be ready. Bring back LB Reggie Rageland as LB five or six. As for the glaring hole in the defense, defensive line, be realistic in the players you want to sign. The Browns already have seven players making over ten million dollars on the roster, they won’t be adding any more. Javon Hargrave and Daron Payne would be great additions, however unrealistic. Think more like Dre’Mont Jones, Sheldon Rankins, David Onyemata or Matt Ioannidis. The Browns will need to sign two.

All Browns fans, except the “Baker Bros” want the Browns to succeed. This off-season is very important, especially because of how good the Bengals are playing right now. Fix the defense, take the off-season to bring Watson back to his 2020 form and challenge for the division and the playoffs. Make it happen Browns. Stay safe and Go Browns.

The Browns have hired Jim Schwartz as their new defensive coordinator. Excellent choice. If you read my blog, you know Schwartz has been on my “hope they hire list” for a while. This team has been in a must win now frame of mind since the acquisition of quarterback Deshaun Watson. So, hire the guy who most fits your scheme. Jim Schwartz is a known quantity in the league. His defenses stop the run, sack the quarterback and create turnovers. Schwartz has already worked in Cleveland as a scout for Bill Belichick in 1993, so he knows the town and the fans.

Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reported the Browns wanted to hire someone with previous head coaching experience. The only two candidates with HC experience they interviewed were Schwartz and Brian Flores. Apparently, they didn’t want to wait for Flores to conclude his interviews with other teams. Good. Make the hire and start targeting the players Schwartz will need to be successful. I still maintain the Browns will need to sign two defensive tackle free agents and possibly a safety. I wish I was a fly on the wall during the interview to know how Schwartz felt about the current roster, because that’s a question the Browns have to ask.

As mentioned earlier, Jim Schwartz defenses have been very good. I’ll highlight two of his 14 seasons as a DC. In his one year as the Buffalo Bills DC, they led the league in sacks, were fourth in the league in yards allowed and were third in takeaways (30). In the year he won a Super Bowl ring as the DC of the Eagles, their defense was number one against the run (79.2 yards per game), were third in the NFL in opponent third down success (32.2%) and fourth in takeaways (31). Hell, as a head coach he took the Detroit Lions to the playoffs. The Lions. He became head coach the year after they finished 0-16. That snapped an eleven-year playoff drought.

Finally, Schwartz isn’t going to put up with any crap from his players. They’re going to work and work hard. I don’t want to see any drive extending penalties by the 2023 Cleveland defense. All in all, the Browns got this hire right.