Over the course of this year, the Cleveland media and some in the national media have reached the point absurdity. It started with the season ending news conferences by Browns GM Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski. As is the annual tradition, neither said anything the media wanted to hear, because they never say anything. Surprise. The Myles Garrett drama was really simple to figure out, he wasn’t going to be traded because of the potential destroying of the team’s salary cap. When media members don’t or don’t want to understand one of the most important parts of the league, they say stupid things. Every team in the NFL functions under the same financial limitations. Some teams take advantage of every benefit in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and some don’t. Since Berry and his staff have been running the Browns, the team has used what is allowed to continue to maintain salary cap stability. They Spend more than $50 million more on the roster than any other team. You call them nerds all you want, but this is how the NFL works.
Some of the imaginary trade proposals by imaginary league GMs bordered on insanity. Some moved closer to stupidity. Garrett didn’t help himself by going on a media campaign to push his case, which proved he had no leverage. Stefanski, Berry and team owner Jimmy Haslam held their ground and insisted Garrett wasn’t going anywhere. When Garrett’s side leaked the news that the owner wouldn’t meet with the player, the Cleveland media made ass’s out themselves by claiming it was a “bad look” for the Browns. No, a team owner should never involve themselves in the daily business of the team. That’s why you hire general managers. A NFL owner should only smile and wave to the fans and sign the checks. That’s it.
Leaking the Haslam news was the last desperate attempt to force something prior to free agency beginning that was never going to happen, a trade. Two days later, Garrett signs the extension he and the team were working on prior to the season ending. Great, now everyone is happy, right? Nope. The media tried to push the narrative the contract makes him easier to trade. Or he’ll be gone in a couple of years. Or the team still sucks, so what’s the difference. Or they should’ve traded him anyway. Immediately after the news last Sunday, local media members started complaining Garrett hadn’t issued a statement yet. Well guys, the start of free agency was the next day, Monday, and the team was a little busy.
On Friday, the media finally got its chance. A Myles Garrett news conference. Of course, the focus quickly turns to the decor his agent set up, toy dinosaurs and cupcakes. Here we go. It’s the team’s fault; they’re an unserious franchise. Or maybe the agent used the decorations because that’s what their client wanted? The man just made the agency a crap load of money, he gets whatever he wants. Of course, he was late, when is comes to players, these things never start on time. Prior to the news conference, reporter Jason Lloyd reported Garrett was always late to team meetings and skips mandatory team events. Wrong. After Garrett signed, Lloyd concluded Haslam was a bad owner because the way he solves problems is by throwing money at them. See my above-mentioned description of what a team owner should do. Someone in the Browns office peed in Lloyd’s cereal, because he’s been on an anti-Browns binge for a while now. The question-and-answer period really didn’t provide any earth-shattering news because after it was over, the media was still talking about the toy dinosaurs and the cupcakes.
The real news came later that afternoon when Garrett appeared on Andrew Siciliano’s podcast and confirmed he knows who the next Browns quarterback is going to be, and he agrees with the plan. Here’s the link, https://x.com/Browns/status/1900653247032856737. Now, before you go off the deep end and get your hopes up for certain players, in my opinion this confirms what I’ve been saying, the Browns gave Garrett a general idea on what the plan is moving forward. They probably gave him a list of names and assured him the QB problem was going to be solved soon. The Browns don’t have a trade with Tennessee, they don’t know who they are drafting, or they don’t have a secret deal with Russell Wilson or Kirk Cousins. They have a plan, and they have options. If there was trade for the number one pick, the Titan’s would’ve leaked it already. The Browns will know who they are drafting after the first pick is chosen. Wilson is going to take his time to decide, as he should. By the way, the Wilson visit went well, he impressed with the team and their openness. The Cousin’s situation will be determined on Monday when he’s due a $10 million bonus. Stay tuned.
Just a reminder to choose who you believe very carefully. The Cleveland media right now is at their worst and it won’t get any better anytime soon. Stay safe and Go Browns.