NFL News: Browns Tender Jordan Norwood, Extend John Greco
March 13, 2012NFL Free Agency: Peyton Hillis to visit Chiefs
March 13, 2012The first hour of NFL free agency has had it’s moments. DE Mario Williams and WR Robert Meachem arriving in Buffalo to speak with the Bills. Pierre Garcon announcing through Facebook that he’s signing with the Redskins. Report after report of players visiting with or talking to certain teams. What hasn’t been reported is even a rumor of a player visiting or talking with the Browns.
And that’s just fine with TJ Ward–
“We obviously are developing our team through the draft. Big name free agents can be good but often aren’t the solution.”
Talk about toeing the company line.
Building primarily through the draft is necessary. Some would argue the Browns have more holes than draft picks though. Hope that when Ward becomes a free agent someday he will still be toeing the company line…
[Related: One area the Browns need to improve through free agency]
84 Comments
How do we feel about Hillis meeting with the Steelers?!
http://www.brownsgab.com/2012/03/13/hillis-is-meeting-with-the-steelers-at-4-today/
@TSR.. No… God no…
I called Hillis @ the Steelers months ago. Lordy I hate being right…say it ain’t so.
Saw it coming for a couple of months. Mendenhall got hurt on the last game of the year (in CLE) and will not be ready by Week 1, the Steelers have made it clear they want to return to their classic ground-n-pound running game and I’m sure they can find a way to get Hillis on the cheap. Without even reading the article you posted, I knew this was a possibility.
Forget RGIII, can you imagine the yolk H&H would have to wipe off their faces if Pittsburgh was able to sign Hillis to a reasaonable deal before the Browns?
DC gets Garcon and Morgan?
yeah, I thought Cinci (w/ Benson likely leaving there). But either way, it’ll hurt to have to root against him.
So much for them having no money.
I wonder if TJ Ward will think the same way if he is ever a big name free agent…
What a joke… The top SIX unrestricted free agent WRs of 2012 all sign somewhere besides, and I can’t find a single sign anywhere that the Browns so much as even made an offer to any of them. Oh, and add another kick in the balls with Vincent Jackson signing with the Redskins. Say what you want about Dan Snyder and the Redskins, but at least they’re trying. The Browns could just as easily be announcing the addition of RG3 and Vincent Jackson right now too.
Why are we still buying this product?
Solid signings, still need to see how much they paid. But those are they types of deals that can be good in free agency, targeting young players. It’s one thing for the Browns to avoid overpriced, old free agents. It’s another thing to go hard after young, somewhat proven talent – there are only so many draft picks.
I think the front office would appreciate a little patience, people!
Ummm… Vincent Jackson has not signed with the Redskins. At this time, it looks like he’ll sign with the Bucs. Pierre Garcon and Josh Morgan are reportedly the new receivers in DC.
It would hurt to see him hang 120 and 2TDs against us
Alex Marvez
@alexmarvez
Source told @FOXSports.com that #Colts WR Pierre Garcon signed 5-yr, $42.5M contract with #Redskins. Roughly $21.5M guaranteed.
You want to give 21 Mil guaranteed to Garcon who is a #2 WR? V Jax is going to Tampa, undoubtedly for way too much money.
I agree we should sign some players, but not these guys.
TJ keeps going…
Alex Jackson
@AlexanderJacks
@BossWard43 Do you agree with the draft build philosophy? I mean, yeah, we’ve drafted well with you, Jabaal, Phil Taylor and so on..
T.J. Ward
@BossWard43
@AlexanderJacks and this year won’t be any different. Heckert is a genius
$8mil/year for Garcon? thats WR1 $$. wow, I’m a bit surprised (and I like Garcon)
What guys, then?!?! Who in the hell should we sign? This is so frustrating, the lack of movement with the Browns. It’s pathetic.
Garcon was talked about so much as the “under the radar” signing and he became the first over-priced FA guy. great job by his PR department 🙂
Why does it have to be a forgone conclusion with us? God this makes me angry.
I can’t think of a single thing the front office has done or said since they arrived here that would lead me to believe that statement. And I’ll tell ya what, Heckert’s infamous “Who cares?” remark the other day doesn’t exactly help your argument either.
I totally cool with building primarily through the draft. But we HAVE to go after Eric Winston, in my opinion.
it doesn’t. there is nothing saying that we won’t bring him in still. tea leaves are not reading that way though.
we are less than 2 hours in. we will likely let the crazy $$$ go the first few days and swoop in after that.
Long after the dust/good players are gone, eh?
That a team should be built primarily through the draft does not mean it should be built exclusively through the draft. The teams that are already better than the Browns are going to try to improve through the draft too, and of they’re also willing to augment their teams with the occassional free agent, I don’t see how the Vrowns can catch up.
Roberto,
“It’s NOT like . . .”
swoop in to solidify our bench…what a great idea
Any hope that H and H are more competent than previous regimes will go up in smoke when Hillis rushes for 1600 yards for Pittsburgh while we spend our #4 on Richardson, who will go on to be a bust. Write that down.
Tell me the key free agents the Steelers have signed? How about the Packers? Or the Giants? Or the Pats? All built through the draft.
Now tell me how many Super Bowls Dan Snyder has won? Did the Eagles win the Super Bowl last year?
I agree. We need to find FAs to help build our team too. I don’t want to pay Garcon $8mil/year, but there are other guys we can go after. If we can get Meachem for $4mil/year, then I would do that. There are plenty of other guys I would go after as well (I would go after Mario too, but we aren’t doing that).
elite $$ to elite players only is my philosophy. the only elite player out there is Mario (Peyton too if healthy of course).
This is like Christmas morning with no toys while the neighborhood kids play with new bicycles, PS3s, etc. etc. etc. C’mon Browns show some sign of life.
AMEN Dan been saying it for two years now. I never thought this type of thing was possible under Holmgren but it appears it’ll be the case again.
Um Mark the Patriots and Giants have signed many free agents and so have the Packers. The Steelers don’t have to sign free agents because they develop players and have tremendous depth. I’ll give you Washington but hey, they keep trying. Philadelphia didn’t pan out last year but they started playing well it was just to late. I’d rather have any of those rosters then the Cleveland Browns.
ummm, well:
NE – Vrabel
Pitt – Harrison & Farrior
Giants – Plaxico & Pierce (both huge in the ’07 SB run)
Packers – Woodson
all those guys were key contributors in SB runs. I agree on building through the draft, and I agree on picking your spots in FA to get a few key guys. It’s possible to do both.
Just have to make sure you don’t pay elite money for marginal talent.
Any hope of signing top WR FA’s for some price not WAY beyond market value went out the window after losing out on RGIII.
No WR is going to come to Cleveland. Why would they? Reasons:
1) we overpay them
2) …
3) …
Yeah, there aren’t any others.
drops too many easy ones for that kinda money
Getting FAs would be great, but lets take a dose of reality.
FA just started 2.5 hours ago! Oh, and Cleveland is NOT a dream destination for anyone right now, so it’s a bit much to expect FAs to be lining up to interview today without considerably overpaying. Is that a good plan? Getting Free agents to sign merely by paying too much for them? Bad financial sense, and do we want players coming here that would have no desire to if it weren’t for excess $$$?
Expect another smart draft,l a lot of signings like Patterson & Young, and maybe a trade. Otherwise you’re just going to get frustrated.
True. And I’ll certainly wait to see what happens in the next few weeks. But I do hope that there are some improvements made. FA sometimes seems like a race, and there are a lot of teams off and running already while the Browns still seem to be in a crouch. What’s important is where they are when the tape breaks at the finish line.
Good point, we’ll never get anyone who wants to come to Cleveland so we should just give up. We should stop holding the owner and front office accountable, because it won’t ever matter. We should never expect any return on the billions of dollars we have forked over to this franchise over the years. Let’s all give up all hope, but keep throwing money at these guys. Sounds reasonable to me.
Exactly. We would all love if Cleveland was a able to attract big names, but right now it just isn’t realistic. Hopefully Heckert can fill some holes with solid talent. Then a good draft. Then, hopefully a breakthrough season.
I know LeCharles Bentley is a not a flashy name, and in hidsight he was an injury disaster, but that year he was the #1 FA. He signed with Cleveland after that breakout (ahem fluke?) season. That’s how it has to work. Free agency will be an exercise in treading water and filling blanks until the wins come.
We just need to stay patient. expecting the highly unlikely is just going to make you frustrated.
Exactly. We would all love if Cleveland was a able to attract big names, but right now it just isn’t realistic. Hopefully Heckert can fill some holes with solid talent. Then a good draft. Then, hopefully a breakthrough season.
I know LeCharles Bentley is a not a flashy name, and in hidsight he was an injury disaster, but that year he was the #1 FA. He signed with Cleveland after that breakout (ahem fluke?) season. That’s how it has to work. Free agency will be an exercise in treading water and filling blanks until the wins come.
We just need to stay patient. expecting the highly unlikely is just going to make you frustrated.
My problem with that is we are discussing the Browns not the Indians. The Browns have the money so who cares if they overspend? Lerner can pay off all these ex-head coaches millions.
Its been like 3 years since the Packers have signed a free agent or something crazy like that. Not saying thats the only way to do it – they may be the exception, just saying though that lately they have not signed many, if any, free agents.
Well, there is the Salary Cap, but besides that I have to believe it’s easier said than done. Free Agency is far from a safe bet. The Eagles flopped big time last year, and the Skins seem to be players every year and they aren’t doing much better than the Browns.
I haven’t looked into this much, but I can’t think of many examples of big FA signings that have really made HUGE impacts. I know this is old, but Reggie White?
Free agency sounds like a magic bullet, until you start thinking about the details: not many FAs are available in their prime, with no injury history. FAs would rather go to successful teams in warm weather cities. Why would a WR want to come here with the offense the way it is? And the constant coach turnover has to be a concern too. Why would a player want to come here when there are new coaches hired every two years and the fans are already moving onto the next one?
I hope we get a FA that really helps the team. We ALL want that. I just think a big name is unlikely and it’s not wise to start getting fired up about it in the first 3 hours of free agency.
Omar Kelly is reporting that the Browns and the Dolphins are submitting bids for Matt Flynn.
How exactly do we hold them accountable? By posting in message boards? By being angry? I’m sorry, but they don’t care. Not until you stop spending money on them. That’s the only way you can hold them accountable.
And giving up hope on something completely unrealistic isn’t a bad thing (I’m praying on this lottery ticket though!). It can save you some frustration. Do I give up hope for the Browns? Never. Do I have no hope they will sign a big name in Free Agency (especially now, in the first 3+ HOURS)? Yes, I have no hope in that.
Maybe there will be a pleasant surprise, and that would be quite refreshing.
I still have yet to see a source for this rumor besides Grossi, who isn’t even employed.
Bruce Drennan just reported this as well on ABAO