DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Browns' Offseason Activity Part 2

yeah, it looks like he’ll be waiting until TC to sign again

I think this draft class is pretty weak at edge rusher. Even if some of the top rated edge rushers fall to us I don't think it means they are more talented than what the #26 position would bring us in strong edge rushing class.

Edge rushers are a position very much in demand and valued. Much like the QB, CB, LT positions are. I believe they will be over drafted based on position and by the time we get to #26 it will be hard if not impossible to find any value at the position. I certainly hope I'm wrong about that.

I thought I read where this draft class has a lot of good edge rushers as well as other D players.

That's not what I've seen but that's coming strictly from the point of edge rushers. There is no "Myles Garrett" in this draft. Actually there's nobody close to that category. From what I see the top talent at edge rusher in this draft may not have even been considered in the top 10 of some recent drafts.

I see teams in need possibly reaching a little. Which if that happens, won't bode well for us at #26.

Beware the Kool-aid. Everybody is a world beater in HypeLand at this point. Without the Combine, I have less ideas about the Draft than I usually do.

The Edge class is weird this year.

It's possible none go in the top 20...and then have 5 go between 21 and 30.

That may seem like an impossible occurrence, but...that's what this class is.

Paye, Ojulari, Phillips, Oweh and Rousseau.

Ossai is still more of a 3-4 LBer to me. Tryon may be OK on day 2, but the top 5 above are pretty universally liked. Saying the class is weak because it doesn't have the blue chip guy at the top is king of unfair, IMO.

This years class is lacking the blue chip pass rusher(s) and a lot of the players are either better suited as 3-4 OLBs or need to add weight to be every down players.

The numbers are available. Most are listed in the pro day thread.

While there may some standard deviation from location to location v all numbers derived from one testing location, they are close enough. I don't think some locations measured off a 37 yard 40 yard dash, or used 50lb bar weights that actually weighed 40 lbs. to inflated their players numbers.

That’ll do.

Meh. I'm not thrilled about the signing

I love the signing if it comes to fruition. He's an underrated player who is both very good and consistent against the run, and he's a disruptive pass rusher who generates pressure.

He doesn't rack up the sacks but pressure means more to me than sacks because pressures are more common than sacks. I love that Nick Chubb can take it 80 yards, but I love Nick Chubb because he can consistently churn out those 4 or 5 yard runs, y'know?

Clowney is a victim of the hype which surrounded him. He's a very good football player. We're not spending the first overall pick, so I'm thrilled to be getting a very good football player on the cheap. He doesn't have to be generational.

The scheme fit is there. He's all the more lethal playing across Garrett. And, best of all, he'll probably be on a one-or-so year deal while we develop a young talent behind him.

I'd hate the signing if we needed him to be "the guy" but we just need him to be "a guy" and he's that and then some.

Ehh,, I'm not sure he's the right fit.. We all know that when healthy he's pretty darn good.. But there are too many buts mixed in with him... Not sure he's worth it.

Is there anything left in the tank?

I think at this point it's the best we could do. I just hope it's a relatively cheap rental and they double-dip in the draft.

Whatever he has left in the tank is better than whatever else we have to put out there, so I think it's definitely worth it.

He is an upgrade on Takk, he is far and away better than any other DE we have on the roster. He makes the team better.

If we can sign him for our price and term, (not his) I'm all for it.

j/c:

Fixed for you

When he left the first time we were not together on Term, price per year, or guarantee. We let him walk and let him know we were still interested but not at his numbers. We wished him luck and told him to come back if he didn't get an offer from another team that met his wants. So apparently nobody else agreed with him on his worth.

I guess this means that they don't believe there is a chance that the EDGE they like will be available @ pick 26.

The way I see it--what is there to lose? I've read that we have ~12.5 million in cap space, and only ~6 million when you reserve rookie deals from the draft. It doesn't seem like there's many other options at DE at this point in FA, so if we held off from signing Clowney with our remaining cap, what will we spend it on instead?

Clowney obviously has some inherent risk in not living up to whatever contract he is given, but his potential seems better than the alternative of not signing anybody at all, right?

I'm not sure I agree with this take. It looks to me that this FO is taking care of needs in FA so that need doesn't dictate the draft. Going into the draft needing a [insert position] too often means not taking the BPA. Fill needs in FA, even if short term solutions, and let the draft come to you.

We have $6 million or so from this year's cap ...... but we also have a rather sizeable carryover from previous years that can be used towards, or for, a free agent signing .... or for contract extensions.

https://www.profootballrumors.com/2021/02/browns-lead-nfl-in-salary-cap-carryover

Or it means they don’t have want to be forced into taking any position because of need.

Exactly, flexibility and keeping your cards close to the vest so other teams don't know who you want. I always thought it
was so stupid of teams to "leak" who they liked. This singing could also maybe, just maybe, indicate they feel there is a guy that will be available in round two or three that can be good, but will need a year playing with guys like Garrett & Clowney so Clowney gets us to 2022.

Who knows what they are thinking. The FO & scouting guys do this for 40-60 hrs a week for at least 12 weeks. I will give them the benefit.

By the way it is less fun to wait until 26, but the reason we have to is awesome.

If we're picking at #32 next year, like we all aspire to, BPA becomes less attractive. Free agency becomes more important. Being a GM is hard. Belechik played it beautifully, while he had Brady.

Maybe what I'm saying is a bit of TomAto, tomato... but by bringing in Clowney they're ensuring that the guy they're picking this year won't be forced into the fire right off the bat. It doesn't mean they don't have to nail the pick, though. We're expecting the Clowney signing to be a 1-year rental, so by buying yourself a year you're only really giving your draft pick time to soak in the playbook and get his body into NFL shape.

Or it could be that there isn't an edge player worth the #26 pick.

Kwity Paye - looks the part but needs to develop some pass rush moves.

Jaelan Phillips - Very good player but the injury history is scary, retired once because of his health and rumor is some teams took him off their boards.

Jayson Oweh - freakish athlete but his production doesn't match his abilities, also a little on the light size to be an every down player.

Greg Rousseau - put up good college numbers but most of his sacks came against OGs, good college OTs handled him easily, not the greatest athlete for a DE.

Azeez Ojulari - Good pass rusher but he's already maxed out at 6'2" 250 lbs and his game is all speed, if he can't beat the OT around the edge he is stonewalled, no power.

Or maybe they see Clowney as a rotational player as many have suggested on here and it has zero impact on the draft. With his injury history cutting down on his plays may help insure his ability to stay healthy.

j/c:

j/c...



The saga continues...

j/c

Clowney...Houston...Kerrigan...at the right price I'd be ok with either of the three.

Don't forget they like Weaver (who they stole from the Fish last summer) and there are a lot of Round-2-projected guys who aren't all that much different than the higher rated DEs (at least to my reading).

I think the FO is all about DBs...and signing Clowney gets them in even better position to draft 'em. JMO

j/c:

There are only 4 to 5 roster spots for the EDGE.

Phillips is a guy who is in the top 1/2% as far as prospects go. He will probably go much higher then folks are thinking that he will.

For that matter, he is better than anyone we could draft to fill that position this year.

The guy is 28 years old. He has enough in the tank to play out a 3-4 year deal if we did that.

He is way better than Vernon was, and nobody complained about that.

Is he? Sincere question.

I thought Vernon was going to be our cheat code for the D lined up opposite Garrett. Pretty sure Dorsey thought the same thing as he traded a blooming Peppers (or was it our All-Pro guard? Either way...).

Clowney is being brought in late in FA on what we're assuming is going to be a cheap 1-year deal.

Dorsey traded Zeitler for Vernon on Friday after the league offices closed for the weekend. Dorsey and Gettleman continued to talk, and before the weekend was over, they traded Peppers for OBJ. When the league office opened on Monday, they combined the trades to make things easier, and the final, official trade was Zeitler and Peppers for Vernon and Beckham.