McCown to Browns - Not a Bad Move

Well, that was quick. The Browns have at least started if not finished this off-season's process of resolving their QB situation. Hopefully this isn't it, though. Make no mistake about it - this is not the Browns plans for the future. They are still in the hunt for their franchise QB. There's just not one available this year in reach. Winston and Mariota are the only consensus two who have a shot at becoming franchise guys, but there are serious doubts about both.

I suspect that the Browns will try to take a QB in the draft who they think could become their franchise guy in a couple of years, which means they probably won't take Petty in the first round. If he's available in the second or third round, they could still take him and I hope they do. They'll probably take a QB by the fifth round, though.

If you're one of those fans who doesn't like the move, what would you do? Is there someone else out there who's better? Would you rather stick with Brian Hoyer again and/or Johnny Rehab?! Let's look at the amazing (sarcasm) list of free agent quarterbacks available:


Michael Vick... He's never been a great QB. Now, aside from not being able to throw the ball, he's 34 and slow.

Brian Hoyer... I had hopes that he would work out in his hometown, but it doesn't look that way.

Matt Hasselbeck... He's even older than McCown, so would he be a better choice at age 39?

Shaun Hill... Another perennial backup, he will probably stay in St. Louis to back up the always-injured Sam Bradford.

Jason Campbell... I actually would have been okay with him if he hadn't already played here. I don't think he'd want to come back. Also not a franchise guy.

Christian Ponder... Please. I live with Vikings fans. They would have paid the Browns to take him he's that bad.

Colt McCoy... See a pattern? This is the third former Browns QB on the list. Not a franchise guy.

Tarvaris Jackson... Backup everywhere he's gone. Horrible accuracy.

Matt Flynn... Backup. Very rich backup, though.

Blaine Gabbert... Backup. It's a shame he had to start his career earlier than he should have rather than take a back seat to a good player to learn. 

Matt Moore... Not a franchise guy. Good backup, though.

Ryan Mallett... This is the only guy who I think a small argument could be made for taking. His upside is really unknown, although he didn't completely win the starting job in Houston: a good team who's also just a QB away from being really good again. As a Browns fan, I'd rather not take someone who can't beat out other backups. He's got a big arm but a ton of question marks.

Jake Locker... No thanks. If the Titans are giving up on him, that's saying something.

Mark Sanchez... The Sanchize. He's not as bad as he showed in New York under the QB-killer, Rex Ryan, but he's not the answer, either. Especially as a California kid playing in Cleveland's weather conditions.


So in looking at this list, is there anyone who you'd say is head and shoulders above Josh McCown? Not that I see. The draft is still coming up, so depending on what they do there, we can judge how solving the QB problem went this off-season. The signing of McCown means that Brian Hoyer is probably not coming back and they've given up on Manziel (the best news to come out of this signing) and Shaw. They may keep Shaw and Manziel for the time being, but Manziel may be a trade piece to someone like Oakland who thinks that he'll be a great QB in the league.

There's always the thought, too, that since Manziel is in rehab (are you kidding me?! How many great QB's have spent their rookie year in rehab?), signing Josh McCown will give him some time to get his act together if the Browns want to keep him as their main guy down the road. Senior ESPN reporter has said that the Browns really don't know what to do with him at this point. If he is able to turn things around and show he can play in the NFL, sitting behind a veteran would be very helpful. 

It's a three year deal, but he may not be the starter for all three years. He's a really good backup to have, and a great locker room guy. While he's not the answer at QB, in a year where there doesn't seem to be an answer for anyone who's looking for a QB, hes a good stop-gap. The Browns haven't done this before; sign an interim QB. They've always taken chances on who they think the guy is: Brady Quinn, Derek Anderson, Colt McCoy, Brandon Weeden, Johnny Manziel. I like that they're not rushing to go out and get the wrong guy; it seems like they're waiting for the right guy. Even if that doesn't pan out, they're not doing the same things as former Browns regimes. THAT is something to be applauded for. Let's not try to solve the same problems by doing the same things.

I really believe that for an organization to be great, they need greatness (or at least really good) at the following positions: owner, GM, head coach, and quarterback. The Patriots, Ravens, Steelers, and Seahawks are all great examples of this. Look at the dysfunctional organizations aside from our own: Raiders, Jaguars, Titans, Cowboys, Jets. There's at least one, usually more, person in those positions who creates the chaos for the team. We have an owner, Jimmy Haslem, who is committed to winning, who comes from good football pedigree in Pittsburgh. Our GM, Ray Farmer, has done a great job at a few things. Last season, he was great when it came to free agency. He may prove to have hit some gems towards the end of the draft along with the second round. He's also not afraid to make some moves, to shake things up. In the draft, the Browns had the most trades. I didn't agree with all of them, but the fact that he's willing to go out and get what he thinks would be best done, that's a good sign for the team. Mike Pettine fits the culture of the city of Cleveland and I think is a good coach. He improved the Browns dramatically without having a solid QB and recognizes that's what the team is missing.

At this point, I don't care who our franchise QB is. I really don't; I just want one. Once we get our franchise QB, if we ever do, then and only then can the Browns be a great team. We have a ton of other pro bowl pieces, we just need the main entree. This looks like it could be a step in the right direction at a time where there aren't any obvious answers. Keep up the good work, Browns. Fans, it's a lot to ask of you, but let's be patient and give these guys the benefit of the doubt. Throwing management under the bus when we don't become a great team overnight, as we continually do, won't get us to where we say we want to be: tops in the NFL.

Browns Facing Off-Season Challenges: Draft

The Browns have a league-leading ten draft picks in this years' draft. They may be subject to a loss of one of these draft picks as a consequence of textgate, but here they are as they currently stand:

Round 1: pick 12 overall 12
Round 1: pick 19 overall 19 (from Buffalo)
Round 2: pick 11 overall 43
Round 3: pick 13 overall 77
Round 4: pick 12
Round 4: pick 16 (from Buffalo)
Round 5: pick 11
Round 6: pick 13
Round 6: pick 26 (from Baltimore)
Round 7: pick 12

The Browns should be able to put together some players as six of the picks come in the first four rounds. The compensatory selections will be decided in March, so the overall numbers won't be known until then. The draft will take place on April 30. Last year, these were the picks by Cleveland:

Round 1: Justin Gilbert, CB from Oklahoma State (the other OSU)
Round 1: Johnny Manziel, QB from Texas A&M
Round 2: Joel Bitonio, OG from Nevada
Round 3: Christian Kirksey, ILB from Iowa
Round 3: Terrance West, RB from Towson
Round 4: Pierre Desir, CB from Lindenwood

Looking back on this year, which isn't a ton of time, I would give out one A, two B's, one C, one D, and one giant F. Bitonio gets the A. He's done a good job at solidifying the left side of that O-line. With Joe Thomas and Alex Mack there, it's not asking too much. Still, to come in as a rookie and be a solid addition to any O-line, that's impressive.

Kirksey and Desir get the B's. Both had limited playing time, but in part thanks to lower expectations, did fine as subs. West got injured but did well up until then, so he gets the C. Gilbert did well at times, but it took him a while and a lot of bad plays to get there. He underperformed massively for being a top ten pick and the #1 corner in the draft. D. Obviously Manziel gets the F.

Heading into this season, the Browns biggest needs are at QB, O-line depth (especially on that right side), WR, D-line, OLB, and CB. Cleveland will need to grab a QB at some point in this draft, especially if they let Hoyer go. Winston is a long shot, Mariota just below that, and every other QB will probably be available to them. It all depends on when they take which QB. They should be able to address either the O-line spot or WR with their first pick with the option of taking a QB with their second. Both picks again are in the first round. Their next four picks will probably be determined by what happens with their players who are free agents this season. If we lose Jordan Cameron to the Chargers as many predict, we'll probably grab a TE. If we can't re-sign Rubin or Sheard, then we'll probably grab a pass rusher or two with these four picks. We have enough of a rotation at RB and our safety spots aren't priorities (unless we can't re-sign Gipson), so you probably won't see those go early. With ten draft picks and a lot of free agents potentially leaving, a lot of the draft depends on who we keep in free agency.

But Pettine is a defensive-minded head coach. If we keep most or all of the players, especially on offense, we can expect a defensive-heavy draft this year. Plus, Farmer has proven he can go out and get good players in free agency so we may be adding some from other teams. It'll be hard to sell offensive players on coming to Cleveland with the current QB situation, but the defense is tops in the league. McQuistan didn't work out as well as the Browns hoped, so we may land a veteran O-lineman to strengthen that right side. The more the Browns can grab in free agency, the more likely they'll put some kind of package together, even if it's just to move up a round or two in the draft, to get a player that they're keying in on. That's what the Browns should do; we have a lot of really good pieces, pro bowl level players. Thomas, Mack, Cameron (if they keep him), Taylor, Kruger, Dansby, Haden, Whitner, and Gipson (again, if we keep him) are all pro bowlers or at that level. That's almost half our starters! What keeps us from being a great team? None of those players play QB. We need a QB, and I think the front office realizes it.

I love Farmer and Pettine. I think they're both doing a great job, aside from Farmer's illegal texting. I think the owner, Haslem, is doing a tremendous job as well. He comes from Steelers pedigree; let's face it, Browns fans. We may hate the Steelers, and we do, but they know how to run a successful organization. We need more people like the people they have in management. Haslem is one of those guys.

If the Browns can manage to find a QB and stick with him this year, we can do okay. We play in a tough division, but the wild card isn't out of reach. We've shown we can beat all the teams in our division, and if we can beat them, we can beat others. Aside from the obvious six divisional games, Cleveland has a tough schedule: Denver, Oakland, Arizona, San Fransisco, and Tennessee at home with Kansas City, St. Louis, San Diego, Seattle, and the New York Jets on the road. Looking at the schedule before the off-season, I'd say that the Jets, Titans, Raiders, and Rams are all very winnable games. We finished ahead of all of them. San Fransisco has a new coach and barely finished ahead of us. San Diego and Kansas City aren't that much ahead, either. We won two divisional games last year while being close in others, so saying we could win three isn't a stretch. Those are fairly to very winnable games next season without any big upsets. For years, the Browns beat the super bowl champion of the year before: Giants, Saints, etc.

There's a lot optimism in Cleveland concerning the Browns, there always has been. In the past, though, our hopes were demolished around week 4. This time we have a foundation to build off of. We have some players, we have a good owner-GM-coaching line. We just need to find the guy to lead the franchise into the sunset. 

Browns Facing Off-Season Challenges: Free Agency

Breaking news, right? When are the Browns NOT facing off-season challenges? When are they not in a continual search for a quarterback?

On March 10, the NFL off-season kicks off with free agency. Last year, the Browns brought in some really good free agents. I think Ray Farmer is great in free agency and horrible in the draft. I texted that to him one game. Last season, we picked up Karlos Dansby, Donte Whitner, Ben Tate, Billy Cundiff, Paul McQuistan, Andrew Hawkins, Jim Dray, and Miles Austin. There were some others who we picked up but who didn't do much like Trufant, Pressley, and Burleson. The most important part of free agency is re-signing your best players and we did that in Alex Mack.

This year, the Browns once again have a list of free agents hitting the market. Here are the restricted free agents:

Johnson Bademosi, S
Shaun Draughn, RB
Tashaun Gipson, S
Ishmaa'ily Kitchen, DT
Craig Robertson, LB

Restricted free agents are able to pursue contracts elsewhere, but the Browns have the ability to match it and keep them. Here is the list of unrestricted free agents who can just go wherever they want:

Miles Austin, WR
Jordan Cameron, TE
Sione Fua, DL
Brian Hoyer, QB
Jim Leonard, S (going to retire)
Marlon Moore, WR
Ahtyba Rubin, DL
Jabaal Sheard, OLB
Buster Skrine, CB
Ryan Taylor, TE
Tyler Thigpen, QB

Of these lists, I think there are three players they absolutely need to re-sign, no question: Tashaun Gipson, Jordan Cameron, and Ahtyba Rubin in that order. I would also like to re-sign Kitchen, Robertson, Austin, Sheard, and Skrine. I wouldn't mind keeping Fua as well. If we can keep those players, especially those first three, the Browns will be in good shape to sign others.

So which positions should the Browns sign? I think they're all up for grabs if only to solidify things with the exceptions of LT and safety. We have a pro bowl center, but once he went down, our line really struggled. Tight end and running back probably won't be big focuses, but don't be surprised if the Browns grab someone either in free agency or the draft.

While the Browns have never been an exotic location for free agents to land, they have a shot at landing some of the better free agents this year. Last season, the Browns were in talks of landing four of the top 25 free agents (Mack, Bird, Ward, and Whitner). They only landed two, but it's nice to have a fighting chance for the best. Let's see who they might be able to nab this year.

Randall Cobb, WR Green Bay... Elliott Harrison of CBS Sports identified the Browns as one of the landing spots that makes sense for Cobb. I personally don't believe we land any free agent wide receivers with our QB situation.

Jerry Hughes, DE Buffalo... This one is Pettine's call. If we don't re-sign some of the D-linemen on our own team heading into free agency, Hughes may be a nice pickup. Pettine coached him in Buffalo, so if Hughes really liked Pettine, the Browns have a great defense he could definitely contribute to.

Julius Thomas, TE Denver... This is one of those situations where, if the Browns can't re-sign Jordan Cameron, they could throw a lot of money towards Thomas' way. But again...going from Peyton Manning to whoever the Browns start? That will be a huge consideration.

These are some of the top free agents heading into this upcoming season that the Browns have a chance in landing. The only one I really think they'll have a real shot in landing is Hughes, but Buffalo will not be letting him go easily. I do have confidence in Farmer getting the most out of free agency this year. The draft is another matter altogether though.

The biggest needs the Browns can address in free agency (or the draft for that matter) this year are quarterback, O-line depth, wide receiver, defensive line depth, outside linebacker, and cornerback. The Browns desperately need a QB. Not just any QB; we're all tired of the seemingly-eternal search for our franchise guy. I don't see any game-changers in free agency, and that includes Brian Hoyer. I'd like to keep him as our #2 guy, but I don't think he'd be too happy with that as he sees himself as a starter. Josh McCown is an older, less productive version of Hoyer. Sanchez? I'll admit he's better than what he showed under Rex Ryan, but he's not our franchise QB. I don't even know if there are anyone franchise guys in this years draft. I don't know what to do this coming year at the QB spot. Our guy isn't on our roster and he isn't somewhere in free agency.

After quarterback, our #1 need is probably O-line depth, then wide receiver, then cornerback, then outside linebacker, and then D-line depth. I don't think we'll get as many players in free agency, at least not ones who will get major playing time. Some special teams along with second, third, and fourth stringers. With ten draft picks (possibly nine from the textgate sanctions), the Browns will probably find a lot of their new players from the college ranks.