No big splash signings in week two of free agency, but Andrew Berry has still gotten some things done. All the new Browns free agents have passed their physicals and have officially signed and the Browns added a back up center. Evan Brown who originally signed as an UDFA with the Giants in 2018 and played for the Dolphins in 2019 will back up J.C. Tretter. And speaking of the offensive line, tackle Chris Hubbard restructured his contract to stay with the Browns. Field Yates @FieldYates reported the details as: $1M signing bonus, $1M of a $2.15M base salary gtd, with max cash value of $5M in 2020. If Hubbard plays 90% of the snaps in 2020, he can void the 2021 year. I’m not sure how much this saves on the Browns salary cap, but I have heard it’s about 4 million. So that would put the Browns at around 52 million, the most in the NFL. Now what are the Browns and Andrew Berry going to do with all this money? A possible big name signing (Clowney or Griffen)? Probably neither, if both players don’t lower their salary demands. Could the Browns be thinking about signing Jason Peters or trading for Trent Williams? Probably not again. After William’s agent issued a statement about how Washington is not acting in good faith on a trade, It looks like Washington might not be able to pull off a trade. Why would any team trade for Williams if they know Washington might be forced to release him. Still I wouldn’t give more than the Browns second 3rd round pick, #97, for Williams. Also, if there are no OTA’s and the season starts at training camp, it would make sense to have an experienced left tackle who OL coach Bill Callahan is familiar with on the team.
Why would I want the Browns to trade for a 32 year old left tackle who didn’t play last year? First of all, a healthy Trent Williams is the best in the game. By not playing in 2019, he has one year less wear and tear on his 32 year old body. Also, signing Williams to a two year deal, would give the Browns more draft flexibility. Maybe they could move down a little bit and pick up an extra 2nd or 3rd round pick. As I’ve said before, this is a very deep tackle draft and their future tackle could be drafted in the 2nd or 3rd round. Again, if Trent Williams is healthy and would sign a reasonable deal (right now he’s due to make 12.5 million in 2020) then I say sign him and the Browns have one of the best OL in the NFL, top to bottom. As for Clowney and Griffen, both are seeking large quantities of cash and long term deals. I guess the Browns are trying to decide if they want to keep Olivier Vernon. Hopefully Vernon will do the same as Hubbard, restructure, and go with roster certainty and the Browns can move on. I still think Andrew Berry would like to add depth at the DE and LB position. LB Nigel Bradham would be a great addition. He’s had over 90 starts and can play both inside and outside linebacker positions. As for the rush position, Vinny Curry is still available, as is Kamalei Correa. Correa came on strong for the Titans as the year progressed and will turn 26 in April. I haven’t heard his name associated with the Browns yet, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.
So what about Rashard Higgins? Have you noticed not many free agent WR have signed? Higgins and the Browns are still in touch with each other, but it’s up to Higgins to decide if he wants to come back to the Browns. If not, then draft a WR and move on. Stefanski’s offense doesn’t use a lot of three WR sets and usually the third WR is a tight end. Don’t get me wrong, after watching games from 2018, Higgins made some great catches and his chemistry with Mayfield shows in every game, but after the way 2019 went down, he might want to move on to greener pastures. Speaking of the draft, if the Browns stay at 10, take the best tackle available. In the past, I’ve been really high on Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs, but now I’m leaning more to Georgia’s Andrew Thomas. One year starter at RT and two year starter at LT. He’s a plug and play guy. After the first round, I’d go safety in the second round, either Antoine Winfield of Minnesota or Kyle Dugger of Lenoir-Rhyne. If the Browns want to go LB in the second, then Kenneth Murray of Oklahoma would be a nice pick and then they could get a safety with their first 3rd round pick, someone like Jeremy Chinn of Southern Illinois or Ashtyn Davis of Cal. If the Browns want to go LB in the 3rd round, I wouldn’t object to Willie Gay Jr. of Mississippi State. Hopefully as free agency starts to slow down, I’ll start paying more attention to the draft, which is going to be held on time April 23-25. Even during a worldwide pandemic, the NFL knows who owns the room. I’m not going to criticize the NFL for keeping to their schedule, mainly because I think Roger Goodell will have me shot. But man, with no other sports happening, the NFL draft is going to have it’s best ratings ever.
So that’s it for this week. Next week I’m going to do my first mock draft, so everyone get their criticism ready. I’m going to keep it simple, no trades yet, because I’m not that kind of mock draft guy. I know every Browns fan wants more draft picks, god how we love our draft picks, but seven picks is fine by me. I think if a Browns fan saw someone drowning in a river and had to give up a draft pick to save them, they would look in the river and say “not worth it.” As a late friend Mikey, a fellow Browns fan and draft fanatic would say, “Steve, (and the Steve would have like five syllables) the NFL draft is everything.” You’re right Mikey, and I’m really looking forward to this one. Go Browns.