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Moved to a more appropriate thread

Had the Browns actually done "their due diligence" into the depth of Watson's legal issues, they would never have gone through with the deal to make Watson their guy.

Just 23 lawsuits..what could go wrong..? With the circumstances of those lawsuits hanging over Watson's head, that wouldn't mess with football player's head..would it?..it wouldn't affect a QBs play the field, would it?

Between legal issues and injury issues the Watson trade is a disaster imo.

j/c…

Pretty direct from Garrett. Wouldn’t blame him one bit if he wants to get away from this mess that’s been created.

I’m half expecting a Russini or Wickersham article at some point on went down in Berea during this abysmal season.

That just doesn't sound great for the Browns in my opinion.

Interesting comments:

Myles Garrett might want out if the Browns can’t show him a plan for winning now: ‘I’m not trying to rebuild’

https://www.reddit.com/r/Browns/com...t_want_out_if_the_browns_cant/?rdt=60481

The real issue is the manipulation of the cap by Berry and the situation he has the Browns facing. Though it is true the cap number for Watson is $72,935,000 the next two seasons, people seem to forget the void years that were added by Berry to get his cap charge down the last 3 years. A pre June 1st cut would bring all that money due to the cap accountable and the price is $172,734,000. That's right my friends; Berry has manipulated the cap to the point where the Browns have only recorded paying Watson over the last 3 years a grand sum of $57,266,000. The Browns still have to account for 75.1% of Watson's fully guaranteed deal of which they have only recorded 24.9% the first 3 years.

Another player in that mess is Wills. Assuming that the Browns don't resign Wills, the Browns are still on the hook for $11,812,056 for deferred accounting of 4 void years on his deal. The Browns are accountable for that dead money in 2025 if Wills walks.

If the Browns decide to part with Conklin, his cut pre June 1st cost is now $14,471,000 on the 2025 books.

Letting Bitonio go leaves the Browns with a $14,532,000 cap charge in 2025.

Letting Teller go leaves the Browns with a $19,178,300 cap liability in 2025.

Just these 5 players alone carry a dead money cap hit of $232,727,356 in 2025 pre june 1st if the Browns decide to move on.

"Kicking the can down the road" is coming home to roost. Doesn't seem quite so brillant anymore, does it?

How dire is the situation? Right now, even with a $43,535,477 carryover from 2024, the Browns have a $336,149,072 cap liability and are projected to be $17,362,572 over the projected 2025 cap. BREAKING NEWS FOR GARRETT: Hard to build a winner now with no cash to do it. Wait, I know the answer, restructure Watson again - JUST KICK THAT CAN DOWN THE ROAD!

This’s another reason why we can’t continue with Berry.

At some point this kind of accounting will backfire and Garrett’s comments is a taste what will happen quit soon when our star players and talents stop to believe in Berry’s “successful” $230m project and will flee the sinking ship before it’s to late.

To get out of this mess every move we make from now on has to be the right move. We have to hit on all of them whether it's a salary cap move. FA or the draft. Does anyone have confidence our FO can do this with our track record? I don't blame Myles. We've had 2 good seasons in the 8 years he's been here. He'll be 29 in a week. In all likelihood we won't be competitive in the next few years. I don't blame him for how he feels. We wasted a great players career with Joe Thomas. I'm sure Myles doesn't want that to happen to him.

We need to be aggressive and smart
The DW trade was aggressive - not smart


Make good personnel moves and coach the players - is absolutely correct
Unfortunately I see little of either

Are you trolling or are deliberately trying to avoid facts?
Making the worst trade in the history of team sports isn’t “average” or “some …..mistakes”.
Secondly his job is accumulating talents. Not failures.

I can’t take you serious in this subject after a comment like that. I’m sorry bone but you’re better than this.

What we are seeing now didn't magically happen. It's certainly the fault of one or more people.


And yet the product we see on the field is far less than average and that's not debatable. Your math isn't adding up here.


Therein lies the problem. No GM that anyone can hire worth a damn will keep the HC of the previous regime. If Haslam hires a GM who is the GM in name only that is forced to accept Stefanski as the HC we won't be any better off than we are now.

And don't get me wrong. I like Stefanski and want him to continue as HC. But if a team hires a new GM that GM will name his own HC and it won't be the current guy. That's simply the way the process works. IF AB goes so does Stefanski. And as of this moment few if any of us trust AB to make draft picks.

In a NFL organization is it the General Manager who has the ultimate legal responsibility to trade, fire and sign all players and employees.
The only decision the board/owner can do inside the organization is to hire or fire their GM.

Everything else is speculation.

I fully understand that without Jimmy’s approval and him presenting an escrow this trade wouldn’t have happened but a GM also had the ability to say no and present facts that would support that position.

The Browns FO didn’t do their homework, that’s a undisputed fact. If they had done it as professionals this deal would have never happened, and if the Haslams still pushed it thru then any GM with integrity had resigned with immediate effect. What else?

You can’t first present facts that support that this was a bad deal and then change your mind because the owner thinks differently and then continue as nothing has happened.

Andrew Berry tried to take a short cut and failed, but not only that, he has also handled the Browns salary situation extremely badly and crippled our chances to recover by years with his so called creative salary manipulation.

The smartest guy in the room….
That’s inexcusable.

jc


based on the cap, the QB's in the draft, and other factors, do y'all think we're stuck starting Watson next season as the best worst case scenario?

Watson is on the roster next year unless he decides to void his contract and leave. That said I can't imagine him starting.

We cannot cut him.

My guess is Cousins might be the cheapest option on the list for us.

This 100 million times. I said it till I was blue in the face and then pretty much gave up... as the arguments continued... much like the one you just got from Flo.

To me, anyone that doesn't understand this is almost purposely trying not to. Understanding this also leads one to understand that because of this, Berry is basically insulated from the results of it. He's not going anywhere until it's of his own failures, and he hasn't failed yet. He hasn't failed a draft, he hasn't failed a free agency, and he certainly hasn't failed managing the salary cap.

Do you think Cousins is weakest choice in the group? Any feel for ranking them? Not sure Fields would fit well here, but should throw fewer picks. Is there life after DW? I do not feel a heartbeat with him. Turn this corner.

Not at all. I understood that if Cousins is cut a team can sign him at minimum and he still gets paid by Atlanta. We aren't going to out pay what he is due to make next year with the tightness in cap space, but for a veteran minimum and let Atlanta pay him I am good.

I think Darnold and Fields might end up being too pricey.

Seems like we’re paying someone….. but that person is according to well known insiders insulated from the results… and not only that…. he’s also unaware of what’s going on inside the organization.

According to unverified reports he’s apparently the smartest guy in the room and rumors says he like to be called the General Manager.
But take it with a pinch of salt because as you know rumors and results most often lies …

Good answer! Pretty much the same one as the last 50 times the obvious has been stated. Add a little wiseguy rhetoric and jump to ridiculous conclusions that were never stated or even hinted at.