Matt Miller Mock: Browns get Garrett and a QB
January 3, 2017The Jason Kipnis Power Surge
January 3, 2017Following a 1-15 season and one of the worst seasons in NFL history, bright spots may be hard to find. One of the Cleveland Browns few positives from the 2016 season is the emergence of wide receiver Terrell Pryor, who is an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
Luckily for the Browns, their best receiver this season has made it known that, although he wants his agents to find him the most money and best deal, he wants to return to Cleveland and head coach Hue Jackson as long as it’s good for both sides.
Terrelle Pryor said he'll ask his agents to try to get a deal done w/ #Browns: "I love this place, I love Cleveland, I love the fans, Hue'
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) January 2, 2017
In his first full season as a wide receiver, Pryor surpassed the century mark, totaling 77 catches (140 targets) for 1,007 yards and four touchdowns, all of which led the team. The 27-year-old also completed 5-of-9 pass attempt for 41 yards to go along with eight carries for 21 yards and a touchdown. Outside of being on the offensive line, the 6-foot-6, 240-pound wideout really did do it all for the Browns’ offense throughout the entire season.
Jackson knows that plenty can change, but resigning Pryor is one of the team’s top priorities heading into the offseason. He wants the team to not only bring the receiver back for years to come, but to resign him, not just franchise tag him.
Former Ohio State and Browns wide receiver Brian Hartline may not agree, but Pryor has a chance to be a No. 1 receiver in the NFL, and he and the Browns would love for that to be in Cleveland. After losing Josh Gordon and rookie Corey Coleman not being able to show off his playmaking ability as much as he could have, plenty was placed on Pryor’s shoulders this season and he flourished. WFNY’s Joe Gilbert did a great job at showing just how No. 11 emerged as a wide receiver this season.
According to Spotrac, the Browns will have just under $108 million (!) in cap space, so money will not be an issue. Unlike last season, the team would be smart to bring back Pryor and some talent, along with showing that they’re willing and committed to spend money on good players, if they want the fans to have any sort of hope heading into 2017.
Whether it’s his height, speed, or pure talent, Pryor has the chance to be special. Hopefully, he will be in a Browns uniform during that “special” time. Earlier in the season, No. 11 was reportedly the only player on the Browns’ roster that was untouchable. If so, you would think that Cleveland would give him whatever the amount of money is that Pryor wants in order to keep him in orange and brown for years to come, right? The only question that lies ahead is how much is Pryor worth? Only time will tell.
40 Comments
“According to Spotrac, the Browns will have just under $108 million (!) in cap space, so money will not be an issue.”
They are run by Moneyballers.
Money will always be an issue.
What is Pryor? Slot WR? #2 WR?
Completely ambivalent. On one hand, Pryor has elite level physical ability for a receiver, and I have no confidence that the HBT can recognize that in a college player. So this is like HBT bowling with gutter protectors.
On the other hand: I don’t trust Pryor with guaranteed money farther than I can throw that superhero body. Don’t trust his desire to really work at the nuances he lacks at that position. Don’t trust him to not default to Full Braylon and mire the team in the me-firstness that has characterized much of Berea’s post-’99 talent. He is a poster child for the entitled athlete who physically dominated since he vaulted from his crib. Money can make those guys stop giving max effort and/or make them public experts in all team things not their business.
This is one sitch where I feel bad for the FO. Will try not to fault them no matter how they roll here.
Unfortunately, he’s perhaps the best QB on the roster.
So sad how Moneyball now just means “cheap”.
Brian Robiskie says he’s a #5 at best.
See, I don’t get these criticisms. An entitled athlete quits the league after failing at quarterback. Pryor didn’t do that. He showed some real humility and put in a lot of hard work to switch position. He’s also already made millions in the NFL. Why now is he going to stop working hard and get corrupted by the almighty dollar? I keep hearing about an attitude problem, but I haven’t seen it. And no, I don’t make much of sideline shouting and inter-unit squabblings during a 1-15 season.
i believe Terrelle does want to stay … and if he does , they can slap the franchise tag on J.Collins.
i am still predicting they will both be in Cleveland next year.
Well our version of Moneyball clearly doesn’t mean “good”.
Using 2016 numbers, the franchise tag numbers would cost this:
Pryor = $14.599m
Collins = $14.129m
For 2017 add about $1m to each. No way, no how, are the Moneyballers paying that.
Humility or a realization that his rookie money was gone; he had no payday and it was receiver or nothing. But I get your point and can add to it: he’s never shown any quit on the field and in the end that, and talent, trumps everything. I just see him as a potential for distraction because that’s how he’s wired but something particularly dangerous for an org that needs library quiet right now. Again, I won’t fault them if they go hard after him. Just guessing we’ll then be revisiting this discussion.
hi RGB … i still think they re-sign Pryor at much less than $14 million & then slap the franchise tag on Collins.
we have plenty of cap space & it’s time to start retaining the little bit of talent that we do have … and i think they will.
The NFL has a salary cap. This is not moneyball.
The Browns are more concerned with a salary floor catching up to them than the ceiling.
@ RGB – These guys intend to be smart with their money. I think it is a consensus that paying Pryor 25 over 3 and Collins 30 over 3, both would be top 15ish money, would be smart investments. This should be a fun off season, and I think we are all looking forward to resigning these guys, and seeing what other pieces the FO identifies and brings in. They shouldn’t break the bank, but they could if the want to.
There is also a salary floor. Right where our Moneyballers strive to be.
My point is that in a league with a salary cap and heavy handed revenue sharing, there is virtually no disparity between the teams’ ability to spend. “Moneyball” as we know it from baseball does not apply here. Maximizing positional impact per dollar within a fixed spending range shared by all teams isn’t exactly new. Nearly all teams have “cap gurus.”
Unless your assertion is that the long term strategy here is to spend as little money as possible at the intentional detriment to any possibility of success.
“Unless your assertion is that the long term strategy here is to spend as little money as possible…”
Bingo.
And for the record, I understand the difference between the NFL and MLB salary structures.
Anyone know how much we can front load the Pryor and Collins contracts to eat more in 2017 and lessen the cap impact later on?
I would expect those numbers to be a lot bigger. Our bank is almost too big to break, cap space is way up for every team, and Brock Osweiller. Like 35-40M guaranteed each. Bitonio and Kirsey should get the 20-30M long term extensions with half of that guaranteed.
They have $110M in space to sign Collins, Pryor, Kirksey, Bitonio and maybe Poyer. $50M should get that done. They can also have a huge advantage over any other team this year by flipping the formula and paying huge base 17 salaries and small signing bonus. Take the cap hit now and minimize it for 18 and beyond when presumably you may need to pay a QB.
Of course it all assumes Sashi is actually allowed to spend the money…..
The key item I see people miss repeatedly in discussions is how the Browns are set to spend, and to a larger extent – compose the roster.
Repeatedly, they have said “long-term sustainability”. This means they are going to be save money that can be rolled into the 5-year average window. It also means adding the key piece (QB) as late as possible so the roster is composed and you compete while the QB is on the first contract.
I think they will spend for Pryor and maybe Collins. But in terms of drafting and other moves, these are things to consider.
good post … i concur. many think the Browns will continue to be frugal … i don’t. i think the tear-down is now complete & the build-up begins , starting with keeping Pryor & Collins.
it will be hard to convince folks that they have a good plan … i feel like they do. and it surely wasn’t a 1 or 2 year plan.
Depodesta is largely forgotten about outside of punchlines, but a lot of that long-term stratetgic vision is where he came in for
What a team would do is perform this through roster bonuses and how they front load a signing bonus. It’d also tie into how much is guaranteed cash. Generally, it can be done but not gimmicky.
You also dont see it too often b/c many teams are really leveraged on cap space and dont have too much ability to do it. Most of the time its robbing Peter to pay Paul in terms of delaying cap hits.
I think both contracts will be about in the middle of Jeremy’s prediction and yours. I think Pryor gets somewhere around 3 for 33 with 20 ish guaranteed. I think Collins gets offered 3 yrs 42 million with 26-ish guaranteed. Both will hopefully be front loaded.
Trade him. All of his teammates hate him. Also, Coleman shows the talent of a FA.
Which teammates hate him?
All of them.
I don’t trust him, either. He’s been quick to give up in the past, so I don’t see why he wouldn’t now.
No one else really wants Pryor anyway, so he shouldn’t cost that much to resign.
If you mean the position switch I don’t see how that makes him a quitter. The league is full of people who have changed positions, although usually not away from QB. It might just mean that he really wants to play football, which sounds like a pretty good attitude to have for a football player. Sure the money is nice, but people were actually playing football before the money came in. In the 60s people had day jobs and they still played professional football on Sundays. Some people just love it. Maybe Pryor is one of them.
Btw is there a specific thread I need to go to in order to vent about how RGIII has “proven the doubters wrong” according to his Twitter statements? I wouldn’t wish to derail anything by posting in the wrong place.
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Wait, throwing his first touchdown pass in his fifth start DIDN’T prove doubters wrong?
he is not under contract haha
When I am on the road, I always try to find the Flying J or Pilot. Sometimes I just squeeze the pump handle and leave it on the ground, still running. Have to make sure the Browns can afford to keep signing guys.
I think Pryor will sign for 4 years at $40mil. I know if I was his agent I would want that extra year. Plus, I think it allows for a different cap hit because it’s spread out over 4 – but not sure on that.
As for Collins, I think that’s a good guess, but I think they might have to up the guaranteed money – even from $26m.
I do think they both return.
Good point on Depo.
I think they have to bring back both of these players – at nearly any cost.
If they want to sell to their locker room that they are ready to start winning, you can’t let 2 cornerstones leave for nothing, especially when you have an OBSCENE amount of cap space, and no replacements who actually want to play in Cleveland.
I think all those scenario’s are fair and reasonable for both sides, and I hope you guys are right. But both of these guys will be in the top 3 available, legit arguments that they are top potential available. Franchise will be well north of $15M and cap space has increased 12%.
The only leverage Sashi has is to Franchise one of them. Having the most cap space in the NFL is a distinct disadvantage with the agents. All of the we love Cleveland and Hue and Mom and Apple Pie is PR nonsense. It’s all about the money and the Browns have the most to spend. Sashi is going to have to pay big dollars to keep them from going FA. Best he can do is front end the deals and give himself options in years 3/4 (WBTW is a distinct long-term competitive advantage the Browns have right now.)
The only way to break the cycle is to sign guys like Kirksey and Bitonio to deals now. Coleman and Erving are the only 1st rounders on the roster so they will need to make their decisions on everyone else in year 3. One of the reasons they need to stay in round 1 instead of trading out, and one of the downsides of having your 1st rounders bust out.
I just found it so comical. And the worst part is that I knew he would do this the first chance he got, except it was even more laughable than even I could have imagined. He’s like the football version of Jean Claude van Damme. No matter how bad you think his next movie is going to be, it’ll be worse. It’ll be much, much worse.