Browns continue to commit to O-Line by inking Kevin Zeitler
March 9, 2017January comes to March: Cavs vs Pistons, Behind the Box Score
March 9, 2017The Cleveland Browns are making things happen. Nobody’s sure exactly what these things are at this point, but they are happening nonetheless. Adam Schefter reports via Twitter that the Cleveland Browns are acquiring Brock Osweiler and a 2018 second-round pick from the Houston Texans. There’s no word on what the Browns gave up for that “haul,” but Schefter indicates it is a cap-cutting maneuver for the Texans. You might remember the Texans signed Osweiler away from the Broncos last off-season to the tune of four years and $72 million with $37 million guaranteed.
For the Browns, this might be their version of taking Baron Davis from the Clippers. In that case the draft pick was a lottery pick which turned out to be the lottery winner and someone you might have heard of named Kyrie Irving. Presuming Schefter’s report is true, the Browns will have to wait to find out just where the Texans’ second round pick ends up being slotted, and it’s not likely to ever be as valuable as Kyrie Irving is to the Cavaliers, but the comparison remains. I can’t remember a deal like this in the NFL where one team provides financial relief for draft compensation.
The Twitter reaction to the news tells the tale.
they gave osweiler away. literally. put a pick in his pocket and left him on the curb.
— bomani (@bomani_jones) March 9, 2017
https://twitter.com/AllbrightNFL/status/839939690757226496
The #Browns are expected to move on from Robert Griffin III. The Brock Osweiler acquisition should clear the way for that
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 9, 2017
I'll be surprised if Osweiler makes the roster. Browns wanted the pick, not the player.
— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) March 9, 2017
There’s a lot of information baked in there, and a lot of it is probably speculation. Well, other than Bomani Jones’ take. That visual is forever burned in my brain of Brock Osweiler standing on a sidewalk waiting to get picked up by the Browns with a second round pick in his pocket. We’ll also have to see if this means the Browns are moving on from RG3 officially.1 It’s hard to imagine a scenario where the Browns would just cut Brock Osweiler and RG3 loose with only Cody Kessler on the roster. That’s not a vote of confidence in either Osweiler or RG3 to be long-term solutions for the Browns on my part. It’s just to say you need bodies to play QB, even if they’re protected by a shiny, re-tooled offensive line.
So, what of the $72 million that Osweiler is owed? It doesn’t hurt the Browns too much, to be honest. Osweiler’s guarantees were $37 million. In his first season with the Texans, they paid him a signing bonus ($12 mil,) a roster bonus ($5 mil,) a base salary ($4 mil) for a grand total of $24 million. That means that his contract only technically owes him somewhere in the ballpark of $13 million more. According to Spotrac, his 2017 cap number is $16 million and the Browns would have to put $16 million in dead money on their cap if they cut him, but the penalties are gone after 2017. So if the Browns do keep him for one season, he’ll be expensive either as a backup or a one-year starter. If he doesn’t make it out of camp, it will be an expensive draft pick.
The Browns might officially have some swagger. And I’m not talking about the mascot dog (dawg?) they trot out on the field every Sunday. The Cleveland Browns are aggressively spending Jimmy Haslam’s money to buy draft picks in the future. They take on a bad contract in the style of the NBA or MLB, and maybe shift the landscape of the NFL trade market forever. I don’t think I’m overstating things here. I don’t know how much better the Browns got in 2017 with this maneuver, and I’m not willing to get excited because, well, it’s Brock Osweiler. However, this is the kind of creativity and aggressive use of cap space that you’d expect an innovative organization to execute.
Could that be the new Cleveland Browns? Marc Sessler thinks it could be.
Paul DePodesta's fingerprints all over the Browns-Texans trade involving Brock Osweiler.
New-age front-office maneuverings in Cleveland.
— Marc Sessler (@MarcSesslerNFL) March 9, 2017
- We know that would make Bode really happy. [↩]
77 Comments
Welcome to Cleveland, Myles!
The monies are being spent!
Is there any reason NOT to keep him on the roster? In other words, what’s the risk in keeping him?
Super Bowl!!
Success?
I bet Griffin is secretly on the payroll.
Unlikely
HBT playing seven dimensional chess!
Griffin is on the roster. The big secret is that all the payments made to “Mr. Griffin” didn’t actually go to the quarterback.
Browns gave up a 4th this year and picked up the Texans 6th.
Now just nail a few of those draft picks, please.
Assuming we still want to draft a QB and see Kessler as a backup worth keeping, then it depends on if Hue thinks Brock > RG3 or not.
I’m assuming RG3 is gone. Maybe not, but if so, I see no reason to just cut Brock.
haha. I heard pick in the back pocket and had a different point of view:
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/877e041dbeace31a9f248f287da8ef8d3b21800348cf31b86f9f0f5ce0b2a685.jpg
Guys, it’s all happening.
He gone. (ugh, i feel dirty) https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4c4128514789038baa275e1ca6bb290543e70c49d967ce022d6e7d3b21d47658.jpg
The Browns made a trade and its the OTHER team that looks like a dumpster fire. That’s at the very least, a step in the right direction.
Teh Twitterz says the FO is already shopping the pick around theleague…offering Brock, a late 2017 and hoping to get a 2018 third in return (and they’re offering to eat a good chunk of the 16 mil hes owed)
Ive officially given up on work for the rest of the day today. Im just F-5’ing twitter
Lotta throws to be thrown this preseason
I’ve said this before: I’m disgusted with myself over how often I think of that catch phrase in my day-to-day life. It makes me feel filthy.
Up high!
http://media3.giphy.com/media/3o7TKTxt2c9y8wdYuQ/giphy.gif
Hmm… Trading Brock Osweiler for more picks? Interesting.
https://twitter.com/JasonLaCanfora/status/839952267394576386?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Trading those picks and more for Jimmy G? Bad. Hope this doesn’t happen.
https://twitter.com/JasonLaCanfora/status/839952072497836033?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
“Leading many to believe”…. LOL
I must of missed it when the Hoodie demanded four thirds for Grapapolo.
https://media.giphy.com/media/XEiTHRpzJWi9G/giphy.gif
For as much as we hammer the Browns front office, the fans in Houston must be crucifying the Texans FO. Bribing the Browns with a #2 in order to take their hugely expensive FA bust off their hands? Those fans must be livid!
https://media.giphy.com/media/s9bpHvRvZPXwY/giphy.gif
Maybe, but they now can likely recruit some help to get to the Super Bowl
I live down here. I’m not listening to talk radio right now, but I’m guessing they’re too giddy over the prospect of landing Romo to care.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7a0d3047cf0771b7455b393b2788920b603f88781c0e7d73a22bd0963c66e7d3.gif
The only reason I can think of is that he sucks so bad that you want to use his roster spot on a QB from the draft or another free agent.
At this point the Browns have so many picks, I wouldn’t even mind… it’s really hard to develop that many rookies in one year as Hue Jackson learned last year.
Maybe, but if we had to bribe someone with a #2 to take one of our stiffs, we wouldn’t be happy about it.
why does the Round Table of Morons over on espn.com think this is such a bad deal for Cleveland? they’re worried about paying $16million for a 2nd rounder? really? They have to spend the money at some point so why not grab a pick?
If those guys knew what they were talking about they wouldn’t be talking about it online at ESPN.
the best.
To add: there’s been a long love-hate relationship with Rick Smith, the Texans GM. He has found some amazing talent while also making enough mistakes to still have fans calling for his head. As I saw it: Texans fans viewed the Osweiler signing as a calculated risk, especially for a team that was arguably a decent-to-good QB away from a championship. I’m guessing they’ll view this move in the same way: a steep price to clean up a mess, yet necessary if there’s any hope of winning now.
As an aside, sports talk down here is way more rational and insightful than in Cleveland.
Pretty stupid, especially because their current cap number contains the $7.5M owed to RG3, which they can easily shed. So the net loss is $8.5M. But Osweiler also has offset language in his contract, so when a new team signs him, the dead cap space is even less if they decide to cut Osweiler now.
True… But I think as much as anyone, Texans fans are aware that you need a good QB to win. And they’re worth whatever the cost.
Yeah, how does that work? If he gets cut and then signs for say $5M somewhere else, does that mean the Browns save $5M? I think that’s how it works in MLB, but don’t think it ever came up in the NFL.
ESPN doesnt like it? Then we KNOW its a good deal for us
Yes, or at least a percentage of the $5M, I’m not sure exactly how much… could be the whole amount is offset. Offset language is the new reason to sit out training camp in the NFL.
I’d also like to point out that the Bears just signed a contract with Mike Glennon that guarantees him $19M. When are people going to learn: QBs are expensive. Seems quaint to remember how everyone flipped out over guaranteeing Josh McCown $5.25M just a few years ago.
And that’s why the state of football thought is so far behind the state of thought in some other sports. They just hate nerds and want to trash talk anything the Browns do that is outside the box. I bet Bill Belichick would have done it too if he were sitting on a crapload of cap space and didn’t expect to contend for a superbowl that year. He’s lead the charge in the creative acquisition of extra draft picks for years.
Daaaaaammmnnn, Browns be so busy they won’t even know if Terrell is leaving messages.
It’s ok by me if they use the Houston second rounder to move up from #13 to secure their bromance QB, or get Jimmy G if he’s their guy. The pick is an asset that only cost a bucket of money. And that’s some Dan Gilbert secret sauce they’re pouring today.
Part of me likes to think that Bill grunted approvingly when hearing about this trade.
You answered your own question. “…Morons over on ESPN…”
It’s possible they will still make a run at JimmyG, but I think it’s also possible the NFL media hive mind are all completely underestimating the value the Browns FO puts on having a ton of draft picks. Buy a 2nd round pick for $16M? Check. Flip Brock for a 3rd round pick? Brilliant. Now they bought a 2nd AND 3rd round pick for some amount less than $16M.
non-A&M season
That’s what I’ve been saying. Who knows what will happen, but trading a bunch of draft picks to overpay for an unproven player in the last year of his contract doesn’t seem like a very HBT think to do.
I’m already targeting the Browns obtaining a 2nd round pick from the Bears in 2018 to eat Glennon’s salary
Snyder bolted the doors shut in DC hoping to appease Cousins.
No, it doesn’t to me either. Unless for whatever reason they are really sold on the guy, it doesn’t feel like value-based decision making.