Casspi: I Feel Like I’m Turning the Corner
January 10, 2012Memo To Seneca Wallace: This is a Team Game
January 10, 2012Baylor’s Robert Griffin III and Green Bay’s Matt Flynn are all the rage. Texas A&M’s Ryan Tannehill may be the better fit. However, if the Arizona Cardinals were to release quarterback Kevin Kolb, a player who they traded for just one season ago and is due $7 million this season, The Plain Dealer’s Tony Grossi writes that the one-time Philadelphia Eagle would loft to the top of the Cleveland Browns’ list for quarterback of the future.
Kolb was a much better quarterback in the West Coast offense in which he was schooled in Philadelphia. Arizona doesn’t run it. Also, Kolb was drafted by Philadelphia partly based on evaluations made by Heckert and coach Pat Shurmur — the Browns’ top two football men.
The Kolb-to-Cleveland rumors appear to be an annual event, the Punxsutawney Phil of the offseason. Last season, the Browns were a speculated trading partner with the Eagles. A season earlier, with Donovan McNabb in tow, Kolb was going to be the heir apparent to Brady Quinn.
Arizona’s decision could be an easy one given the play of John Skelton, and the team as a whole, over the final half of the season. Kolb was successful, albeit in a small sample, within Andy Reid’s West Coast offense, but largely failed (nine touchdowns, eight interceptions and a QB rating of 81.1) in the scheme run by the Cardinals. The ties to Heckert are undeniable and the measurables are certainly in tact. Whether this speculation has any merit, however, can be debated.
33 Comments
I read this immediately and thought “WTF!?!”
…but then I remembered Heckert…
I’d be fine with this actually. I like Colt’s intangibles but he definitely regressed this year, and I’m not sure he’ll ever be able to run Shurmur’s “system.” Even if Kolb doesn’t pan out, the Browns can likely acquire him for a cheaper price than a highly touted prospect or a guy like Flynn.
Yikes.
Kolb = Derek Anderson 2.0
It would entirely depend on the price. I’d still look at him as more of stop-gap guy despite still being pretty young.
I basically look at him and see Jake Plummer or Kyle Orton, which isn’t terrible but at the same time won’t likely win you a lot of playoff games.
Kolb’s stats coming into the season were very similar to McCoy’s.
And Kolb, while not awful, certainly didn’t do anything special this year with Arizona, and that was with having Larry Fitzgerald to throw to. I don’t see a Larry Fitzgerald currently on the Browns.
Sounds like more of Grossi’s continued fanboy dreams for a “big arm.”
Jason Campbell had something like 7 offensive coordinators in 7 years At Auburn, Washington and Oakland, and I don’t think I ever saw him play as badly as Kolb did the couple times I saw him this past season. I’m not buying the “new offensive system” as a shield for Kolb’s substandard play this season. I don’t think Kolb has done much of anything since those otherworldly performances filling in for an injured Donovan a few years ago.
In short, I’d take Jason Campbell over Kevin Kolb. Not that I want Jason Campbell to be the Browns next QB, but hes a free agent (presumably won’t be franchised), and wouldn’t cost nearly as much as Kolb, for likely the same results
I think the Browns can and need to do better than either.
but how can a team have a stud WR and their QB be average? I keep getting told the reason our QB isn’t performing is because he has no weapons. Is Larry Fitzgerald no good?
I forgot the sarcasm tag above, fwiw
I’m cool picking up Kolb for dirt cheap as someone to pressure Colt. Otherwise, I would prefer to bring in most anyone but him.
I am not in love with Kolb, necessarily, but if he is a free agent and it doesn’t kill the cap, I don’t see a lot of downside in seeing if he can be comfortable in a familiar offense. The Browns will need at least an alternative to Colt McCoy this year in training camp. We don’t know exactly how the draft will fall, so I’m keeping all my options open, Kolb included. Just be happy the Browns won’t have to trade a talented cornerback for the opportunity to bring him in.
Matt Flynn = last year’s Kevin Kolb.
Let’s not get all carried away by mediocre QBs just because they’re free agents. If Kolb was The Guy, teams wouldn’t be letting him go. Ditto for Flynn.
Yeah, there has always been a degree of nepotism/he’s my guy in the NFL, but I think this would be pinning our hopes to a falling star. I don’t see much more in Kolb than I see in Colt. I’d like to take a new direction.
No problem having Kolb and Colt duke it out if they also upgrade WR, RB and the O-line.
Well said. The similarities are too much to overcome.
Besides, the Packers are a well-coached, disciplined offense. The Browns aren’t even in the same solar system as the Packers.
If you’re going to bring in Kolb, why not just draft a mid round QB like Kellen Moore or the current Houston QB whose name escapes me right now. At least that would be cheaper. They already have a QB as good as Kolb in McCoy.
Dislike.
Kellen Moore is barely 6 ft tall (i think this is being generous), he would get killed back there. Plus he’s a lefty, we just invested in a franchise left tackle, would have to invest in a franchise right tackle to save his life. Still don’t know about Kolb though, he hasn’t impressed me much.
I’m with you on not seeing anything special in Kolb. Larry Fitzgerald didn’t make this guy look good.
I’d argue that’s Skelton. All he did was throw the ball up for Fitzgerald and hope that he came down with it. While that’s not the worst plan in the world, I’m thinking it won’t be sustainable.
I don’t think AZ cuts Kolb (difference in record was due more to their defense than their offense).
Philly didn’t let him go. They traded their backup QB for a 2nd rounder and a starting CB.
That said, he had a bad year in AZ and was injured (much like he was injured alot in Philly).
Yes, I know they traded him. In other words, they let him go. If he was The Guy, they would not have traded him — i.e., let him go.
how tall is kolb?
regardless im leaning towards using the 1st rounders on weapons, then get tannehill and let wallace start next season
Wouldn’t hurt to take a flier on Kolb (or any other QB who has not yet succeeded in the NFL) if it doesn’t cost us much, assuming it doesn’t stand in the way of draft strategy any more than the presence of Senaca or Colt does now. That way if the planets align on draft day we can still take a QB if we think he’s ‘the guy’.
My issue is concussions. My other issue is the type of salary expectations Kolb will have even if he is released based on his current deal. We cannot afford to overpay for one guy with so many holes to fill. Is Kolb better than Flynn? He will most likely be cheaper, or at least we know he will not require draft picks since we need ours BAD. I am not all for drafting another QB and starting over AGAIN, but I am also not for a guy who could be injury prone or over-hyped and expensive. There are so many issues with this team right now, all I know is they better start making better decisions.
Kolb would probably be better to have on the roster than Seneca Wallace at this point, possibly for the same price. I doubt Kolb would blatantly avoid being a team guy like Wallace.
This is such flawed logic. Philly had Vick coming off a career season and just gave him a 100 mill contract. Regardless of how good they thought Kolb was it would be beyond stupid to NOT trade a backup for a premium draft pick and a pro bowl corner.
Similarly with Flynn, the Packers happen to have the best player in the NFL playing the same position. You really would draw conclusions from the fact that the Packers would choose Rodgers over Flynn? Really?
I’m not saying either guy is the answer, but ruling them out because their old team was willing to let them go is beyond dumb.
Well, I may be beyond dumb, but I do know that Michael Vick doesn’t play for the Cardinals.
Congratulations. But you apparently are too dumb to read a simple sentence. Unless “Philly” is short for Arizona and not Philadelphia, I pretty clearly said Vick played for the Eagles. And since your last post said the Eagles wouldn’t have traded him if he were The Guy, I’m not quite sure how you got confused.
Wow, such hostility.
Let me type this real slow so you can understand it. Kolb would not become available to the Browns unless the Cardinals decide he’s not The Guy and thus are willing to let him go.
No hostiility, just amazed at your inability to read or follow the conversation. Now let me be the one to slow it down so you can understand. You resposed to mg’s post that Kolb was traded by saying “if they thought he was the guy they wouldn’t have traded him”, to which I then replied on why that was such flawed logic and Philly would have been stupid not to trade him regardless of how good they thought he was. Then you tried to come in with your “gotcha” comment about Vick not playing for the cardinals.
All clear now?
That tears it! Sir, you force me to “respose” in kind.
PISTOLS AT DAWN ON THE VILLAGE GREEN!
Somebody tell Tony to retire. He is uninteresting, doesn’t report anything I can’t gather from press conferences, and like this story, doesn’t provide anything of actual value to us Browns fans. Great report on nothing, again, Tony.
If they bring in Kolb, that would be the laststraw for me. RG3 is such an obvious no brainer. Kolb and Blackmon = Garcia and Edwards.