While We’re Waiting… Byron Scott and the hot seat
April 5, 2013Travis Hafner bombs and so does John Sterling
April 5, 2013The Cleveland Browns struck quickly in free agency with Desmond Bryant and Paul Kruger before executing some more conservative signings, presumably for depth. Of course as they continue to cut players like Usama Young and Chris Gocong loose, many fans wonder if the Browns were too conservative in their free agency signings with holes all over the field still.
If you believe respected NFL journalist Adam Caplan, the Browns have done the right thing. When asked on Twitter what his opinion was of the Browns’ off-season, he stated the following.
(The Browns) Signed a few impact guys, as expected. But this year’s free agent class was one of the worst in recent seasons, so the approach was the right one. Build through draft as much as possible.
I don’t think a lot of NFL fans think in terms of where an overall free agent class ranks in terms of overall quality as much as front offices do. Either way, it’s one man’s opinion (a well-informed opinion) that the Browns’ approach was right. One thing’s for sure. Assuming Caplan’s assessment is correct, this really puts the pressure on the Browns to get some things done in the NFL draft.
[Related: WFNY Podcast – 2013-04-02 – Terry Pluto talks Twitter, Facebook, tailgating culture and more]
9 Comments
I agree. I just would have liked to see us sign a CB2 (as we tried w/ Grimes). I hate going into the draft with an obvious hole and only 1 top50 pick.
The way I see it is:
– This team already had a bunch of holes
– Switching (back) to the 3-4 created even more holes
– They patched some of them
– It was really unrealistic to think all of the holes would be patched.
I agree mgbode, but I think we will honestly end up with 2 top 50 pick. I believe we trade down and get a 2nd rounder.
I think we probably do as well (if Milliner is there at #6, then all bets are off). But, it went from a “nice thing to do” to a “we really need to do that” if presented. I just don’t like added pressure on decisions in the draft as they tend to lead to foolish ones.
The problem with free agency (and the draft) is that there are 31 other teams also trying to improve their team. If we had sole negotiation rights with every free agent and they had to accept whatever we offered, then I would expect the browns to fill every hole perfectly every season – assuming every player produced as expected
The fact remains that almost nobody solves 1/2 their problems with free agency yet alone all of them yet fans expect it every year for some reason. If both Kruger and Bryant have good years, this will be a remarkable free agent effort for the 2013 Browns even though we still have a huge gap in our secondary.
Well said. You never want to show your hand
I’m only convinced of one thing: Lombardi will try everything to recoup a second rounder, whether by trading someone like Sheard or moving down. It’s real hard for a new GM with an iffy rep not to have that pick his first year when he knows everyone is skeptical and watching him. If his first rounder turns out to be just ok and he has no more picks until the third he knows the kind of heat he’ll face.
Don’t be surprised if we don’t have #6 overall.
1000% agree all of these coaching changes have made the considerable holes bigger. QB is the perfect example followed by the constant defensive scheme changes.
Sssssssssssh stop jinxing it! 😉