NFL Free Agency Rumors: Browns and Edgerrin James?
March 5, 2009Manny Ramirez Selling His Boston Condo for $8.5 Million
March 5, 2009
There are two things that the Browns are in need of. Conveniently, they both begin with the letter D: Defense and Draft Picks.
The ball started rolling in the right direction when the team dealt tight end Kellen Winslow for two draft picks on the first day of NFL free agency. Many were surprised that the team made a move on Day 1, and perhaps the team did not help themselves by doing something so soon. Especially considering that they have very little since then.
If I sound a bit cynical or even frustrated about this, I am. I don’t know what the team plans on accomplishing by having their only free agent signing to this point playing the exact same position that we just traded away; one that was considered to already be “of depth.” The only thing that I gather from the addition of Robert Royal is that Steve Heiden’s recently repaired knee may not be up to speed by the start of the season. I just hope that this doesn’t knock Martin Rucker further down the depth chart, as we’ll be reminded once again this April that we traded away our third-round draft choice for his services.
The frustrating part is compounded by the fact that the team had their sites set onthe young and still improving cornerback of the Bills in Jabari Greer. The team let him “honor his other commitments” by letting him head to New Orleans without a deal in place, and next thing we see is that we low-balled on a contract offer and he signs with the Saints to the tune of four-years, $23 million.
The Browns were slated to have a visit from cornerback Andre Goodman this past Sunday. Goodman visited Denver on Saturday, but agreed to an offer (five-year, $25 million) with the Broncos before even getting aboard a plane en route to Hopkins International. The guaranteed figure of nearly $10 million would have made any other cornerback in his 30s cancel a flight. However, this just shows what it takes to get a four-star cornerback. The Saints locked up Greer for $10 million, and he’s only 27 years of age.
James Sanders, the 25-year old safety out of New England was said to have drawn some attention from the Browns. End result: Sanders re-signs with the Patriots for three-years and $9 million.
Good news is that the Browns are reportedly hot on the trail of former New York Jet free agents David Bowens and C.J. Mosley – both defensive players. Bad news is that Bowens is having knee issues and may not pass a physical and that Mosley would not even start, providing us with some more “depth.”
Other defensive players seeing their name tied to the Cleveland Browns are Paris Lenon and Heath Farwell. Lenon is coming off of a season that saw him record over 120 tackles, and many feel that he would be a good fit in the middle of the Browns 3-4 defense. Farwell, however, is coming off of ACL surgery as is mostly known for his work on special teams.
In no way do I think that this team isn’t trying to do something. We were told from day one that they were going to ignore the first wave of signings, focusing more on the undervalued players later on. But I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t frustrated by seeing other teams locking up these high-impact defensive players.
But for now, I guess we an all welcome the addition of Robert Royal. More to come. Hopefully.
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(photo via Mr. Oliver)
12 Comments
Jabari Greer is talented, but is he worth $6mil/year? I would rather have Gibril Wilson for that $$$ (which he signed in Miami).
Actually, outside Gibril and possibly Matt Birk in Baltimore, most FA signings have seeme to be overpayments in a weak FA market.
It does not bother me that our new regime does not want to overpay for mediocre talents. We can get mediocre talents for cheap $$$ in a couple weeks.
We are not going to build through FA…how many teams win the superbowl doing that? We will continue to try to gather more draft picks, hopefully choose wisely and slowly build the right way.
More Cavs news! Less Browns!
I agree. It has been frustrating. Both Greer and Sanders were attractive, and to see them sign for somewhat low contacts really hurts. I am also a little worried about the draft. How much scouting have they done? I hope we don’t waste the pick we got for Winslow. That would be devastating. This is really a big draft for the Browns. They need to hit on their 3 top picks. If they fail to do that, its going to be a really tough time for us fans. Ug….with the Cavs playing so well, and how we were feeling a year ago, talking about the Browns makes my stomach sick.
I can see them getting experienced depth on the D-line, and Lenon looks pretty decent if he were to come and fill the middle with D’Qwell. I would rather them try to get a Safety or something in the secondary (of decent quality at least) then get some LBs in the draft, preferably 2 on Day 1. I think the core of a 3-4 should be LBs, and you have to start by getting young, good players. Back to safety though, any news on what Sean Jones is doing right now?
“Good news is that the Browns are reportedly hot on the trail of former New York Jet free agents David Bowens and C.J. Mosley – both defensive players.”
You can’t be serious. Two over thirty backups that were a low pick/FA respectively is “good news”? Wow…….guess Mankok is in for some kind of major honeymoon.
I am stepping up and giving the Browns kudos for not hitting the panic button and over-spending for name free agents. There are many holes to fix on this leaky ship and to do that you need value. Savage made many splashy moves but the results were mixed. I’m not saying the followingwill re-occur, but remember Mangini studied under Belicheck and saw him initially load up on bargain free agents and then built them from there.
Obviously we need to get some players in but I see nothing wrong with the plan so far….
Ya, I actually like that we havent gotten any huge free agents, and actually wish we wouldnt have wasted some cap on Royal (Although I will be pleasantly surprised if he proves me wrong). There is really no position that they need desperately enough to spend FA money on, with the exception of safety. I dont know why no one else sees this as a concern, but right now sorenson is a starting safety, and thats scary.
hope we’re all ready for a 3-13 season, because at this rate, it’s where we’re headed.
I’ve been pretty frustrated with the Browns’ lack of activity as well, hell I’ve been frustrated just THINKING about the Browns (go Cavs!), but this area – free agency – is one where I’ll defer to Kokinis. Pro scouting is his specialty and I think he’s got a pretty good grasp on what’s out there. They aren’t going to kill their cap for dudes who aren’t going to be productive. That said, this team as presently constituted is going to have a hard time even going 8-8 unless we add some serious talent in the draft.
I’m sorry, I don’t see that the Browns missed out on a cost-effective infusion of defensive talent. Everybody breathe. I can’t think of many teams that jump up levels through free agency. This is not a team which is just a player or two away. “It’s the draft, stupid.”
Clearly the only proper approach is to sign and overpay any and every under-30 free agent just to say we are doing “something”. That way, instead of working to free up cap space for next year and continuing to build the team up intelligently, we can further plunge ourselves into salary cap hell. We don’t need a long-tern plan for success–who uses THOSE anyway?–we need a quick fix that does nothing more than content the masses: that is until the team struggles this season, only to find nothing can be done to help next year, and the cycle begins anew. Mankok is so dumb. If they were any good they would have the Browns in the Super Bowl already. What, the season is still 5+ months away, you say? They have been in control less than 2 months, you say? Doesn’t matter. A real organization wouldn’t let that little detail stop them. Leben sie Mankok!
Other than Greer and Goodman, both of whom would have been nice additions at need spots, I’m ok with not landing anyone of note to this point. The draft is where a franchise builds for success, so that is my main concern. I don’t see sinking big money into a free agent class that really wasn’t that stellar anyway (I’m not a big believer in Haynesworth long-term, and we never had a shot at Bart Scott anyway). Trading K2 was clearly the rebuilding signal, so let’s see what the new regime will do–and yes, we will have to watch, as they won’t be telling us anything: too bad.
they are who we have, for better or worse, so let’s try giving them a chance.
Two words – Roy Williams