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#361481 03/04/09 09:59 PM
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http://www.cleveland.com/browns/

Bills free agent tight end Robert Royal told the Plain Dealer Wednesday night that he had signed a contract with the Browns earlier in the afternoon and overnighted it to the team.

"Everything should be official by (Thursday)," Royal said. "I'm definitely excited to be a member of the Cleveland Browns and start a new chapter in my life."


Royal, 30, is an eight-year pro and three-year veteran of the Bills. At 6-4, 255, he's known more for his blocking, but is also a good receiver. He caught 33 passes for 351 yards with one touchdown last season. Overall, he caught 81 passes with seven TDs with the Bills.

Originally a 5th-round pick of the Redskins out of Louisiana State in 2002, Royal signed as a free agent with the Bills in 2006 and was cut Feb. 26 in a salary-cap move.

Royal, who also visited with the Jets, said he met Sunday and Monday with the Browns staff, including offensive coordinator Brian Daboll. "It's a terrific staff and I'm excited to come to work with them," he said.

Royal said he didn't know exactly what his role would be "but whatever it is, I'm all for it," he said. The Browns also have tight end Steve Heiden, who's coming off surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament and 2008 fourth-round pick Martin Rucker.

Royal is the first free agent to agree to terms with the Browns.


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At 6-4, 255, he's known more for his blocking, but is also a good receiver.




Sounds good to me!

Anyone know anything more about the guy?


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Nice, solid move.

It'll be interesting to see how Rucker develops this year. For the moment, no pressure.


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He's average, but at least he gives us some depth. Makes drafting a TE not a definite need


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And lining him up doesn't scream pass or run.


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I like Royal, actually. Not going to be a playmaking TE like Winslow was. But will be solid, IMO.



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This is a solid addition. Royal can block and catch passes equally well. To me, he is an insurance policy in case Heiden can't get back in time; they seem like similar players.

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I hope they re-sign Sean Jones next. Adams also, A return of the db's from last year, would bring a year of experience working together and that leads to stability and players knowing where to be. A good thing.


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Steve Heiden v 2.0


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Steve Heiden v 2.0






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I know who he is, which is a good thing, I guess...remember him from WAS and BUF.

Always seemed like a lunch pail guy.

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Quote:

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Steve Heiden v 2.0









My thoughts also.
I like Heiden and anyone who plays like him.
Not a big name or playmaker like Winslow, but a good hands, reliable know he will be there for you type of player. Solid signing.


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not happy... not disappointed...

I'm cool with it..


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Serviceable and, hopefully, inexpensive. With Heiden coming off ACL surgery, this makes sense to me.

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Nice pickup.


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I really like the move. We don't need dynamic divas at the tight end position. We need guys who consistently get the job done beyond just catching passes...

Now I'd be interested in seeing what else we may be able to do in order to improve the running game with this little improvement... this is the first of more steps to come IMO


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If he plays like Heiden, I'd be beyond stoked. I remember him playing well in Buffalo. Nice depth signing and mitigates the loss of Winslow.


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Quote:

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At 6-4, 255, he's known more for his blocking, but is also a good receiver.




Sounds good to me!

Anyone know anything more about the guy?



I know he's not a meaningful addition, which is something I'm seriously miffed about.


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I think he is the missing piece this team needs to get over the 4 win hump and get to 5 wins.

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Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

At 6-4, 255, he's known more for his blocking, but is also a good receiver.




Sounds good tÔ me!

Anyone know anything more about the guy?



I know he's not a meaningful addition, which is something I'm seriously miffed about.





We only have two starting LBs. We have no FS (if we move Pool to SS). We have a very troubling problem at the receiver spot from our #1 down. We also are extremely thin at CB. Oh yeah, RB also needs to be addressed with someone.

That is simply too many spots to fill in one draft, even if we can manage 4 players who can start day 1. I'm not talking about filling all weak spots. We can get by with our lineman and QB. We probably can get by with our RB situation this year. TE will be ok. The rest...Not so much.


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Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

At 6-4, 255, he's known more for his blocking, but is also a good receiver.




Sounds good to me!

Anyone know anything more about the guy?



I know he's not a meaningful addition, which is something I'm seriously miffed about.





We only have two starting LBs. We have no FS (if we move Pool to SS). We have a very troubling problem at the receiver spot from our #1 down. We also are extremely thin at CB. Oh yeah, RB also needs to be addressed with someone.

That is simply too many spots to fill in one draft, even if we can manage 4 players who can start day 1. I'm not talking about filling all weak spots. We can get by with our lineman and QB. We probably can get by with our RB situation this year. TE will be ok. The rest...Not so much.





Don’t forget a there is a second round to FA and the draft. These positions can be easily be filled. We’ll probably pick up a few draft picks over the next few weeks.


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Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

At 6-4, 255, he's known more for his blocking, but is also a good receiver.




Sounds good to me!

Anyone know anything more about the guy?



I know he's not a meaningful addition, which is something I'm seriously miffed about.






I won't say I am miffed, but no doubt this is a bottom of the roster builder, but....you can't always build the team from the top down....sometimes you build from the bottom up and address the middle portions of the roster when and where you can.

I am sure he is better than the worst player on the roster and probably better than the worst TE on the roster, so in that respect it was a good move.


But no...it doesn't make me proclaim we are finally on our way.


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A huge upgrade over Dinkins. We need a good blocker to help the bum Shaffer Royal fits the bill.

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Scout.com’s Adam Caplan: Royal signed for four years, and ten million dollars. Three million of that is in guaranteed money.

http://cle.scout.com/2/844405.html


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These positions can be easily be filled. We’ll probably pick up a few draft picks over the next few weeks.




O.k. Deac..lets see who is traded..not that I would be shocked...

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It would be nice if we added someone who was "meaningful", but who really is out there that would fit that bill? Maybe Ward was, maybe Bart Scott, but who that's remaining?


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I'm having trouble finding my Robert Royal Browns jersey. If anybody finds one, I would like one.

"Royal, who turns 31 in May, failed to solve the Bills' long-standing tight end problem in three years with the club. His catch totals, starting with 2006, were 23, 25 and 33. He was on a good pace the first half of the 2008 season but managed just nine catches the second half. The Bills have not had a tight end catch 50 passes since 2001. Royal was a great influence in the locker room and was a high-character team player. He had two years left on a deal worth $2 million a year." --- yahoo source

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I know it's sounding like sour grapes, so my apologies in advance *L*

There were numerous players out there that could help this team which didn't cost an arm and a leg, and no I don't mean players who were vastly overpaid such as Bart Scott. (I was seriously interested in Scott, but he isn't going to be worth what they paid for him).

Beating an old horse here, Matt Birk signed for peanuts, and is steps beyond Fraley as a center.

Ward didn't sign for a bunch of dough, and would have given us a good, not great, but good, back for several years.

Housh would have allowed us to move either himself or Jurevicius to the slot on passing downs.

And yes, Mavin Harrison would make a fine slot receiver. He's not the guy he was, but match him up against any nickel backs in this league and watch what happens.

However, setting that aside, it's the lack of interest we've shown that bothers me, and here's why......

With my hectic life I haven't kept up with all the drama-crap with Mangini and the new FO, but I recall a quote of his saying he could win with this roster.

Bouldercrap.

Sure, getting a 2nd rounder for Winslow was a good move, and one I'm pleased with, but that's a move which reeks of rebuilding. Considering we're in good, if not great, cap space, we could have easily afforded to go after a good player. We have one "proven" *cough* receiver on the team who's physically reliable. Our new/old starting TE is coming off a rebuild knee, and with all due respect to Robert Royal, he's pretty much a nobody as a starting TE. Despite the reports, he's not that great of a blocking TE. He's a shield-blocker, not a power guy. So maybe he's a good receiver? So he set a career high with 33. Whooptie-doo. Our offensive line with rickety parts is a year older. Fraley and Tucker are our two best players at those two positions, yet Fraley isn't anyone's idea of a starting center in this league. No team in their right mind would walk into the year with Tucker as a lock for a starting position. We don't have an ILB and we don't have an OLB (I would argue we don't have TWO OLB's). While I'm in the minority when I say Lewis is fine when mixed with Harrison for another year, we had a crack at a good back without wasting a draft pick on one.

Where are my ramblings going? Pdawg, I read what you wrote, and I disagree man. I can easily see us not only staying in good cap shape with a signing or two, but filling most of the other holes via the draft.

IMHO if we take a running back in the 2nd round I'll believe our new personnel folks don't get it. So many other holes are more important to this team. We can solve three starting positions before we get to the 2nd day of the draft. That leaves us with two or three holes which MUST be filled in free agency. Pdawg, by my math, we could fill 6 positions by the start of camp, and that'd be enough to win THIS year, but not with THIS roster. By letting some good players who aren't expensive go without even a sniff, we're making a mistake.

Going after someone like harrison, whom Mangini would be familiar with after all the years of coaching against him, would go a long way in shoring up a shaky WR problem. Pluggin' in an Eric Barton would be a stopgap while we filled other more dire positions. Ward would have been an excellent pickup, but we didn't really go after him. That's kinda idiotic. Housh is an obvious one.

Yeah, I'm ranting. Can't help it. I get not overpaying for guys like Scott, but it's the lack of simple interest in some of these players that rubs me the wrong way. It stinks of rebuilding when we don't have to rebuild.


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I get what you're saying, Toad. I guess I just think that interest goes both ways. We may have been interested in some of these guys but they weren't interested in coming here. It has nothing to do with Mangini and Kokinis (heck, maybe it does, but we don't know). Maybe the guys just wanted to go somewhere else. I know I've read that a reason Bart Scott went to the Jets is because his wife likes it there better than Baltimore.

But, maybe our FO just didn't feel that the guys that were out there were worth it. I know that Harrison hasn't signed anywhere yet, so maybe we still get him (I doubt it, but it's a possibility). Has Barton signed anywhere?

I will agree that it would have been nice to get Birk. However, who knows, once again, what his interest was.

Yeah, money conquers all, but maybe to overcome him not wanting to come here (for whatever reason), we would have had to pay him big money. Maybe we contact his agent and found that his interest in coming here was lukewarm, at best.

I guess we won't really know that since we don't hear much out of our FO nowadays (which I am totally fine with).

From my POV, I didn't really see anyone in FA that would have really been a big upgrade for this team. Yeah, Bart Scott maybe, but like you said, he wanted a big pay day. And, I never liked the guy after he said Cleveland was built on a trash heap. However, I'd get over that quick if he came here and played well.

I was never really sold on Ward, but that comes more from just not seeing him play much. Same with Birk and a lot of the CBs that are out there. Maybe if I concentrated on them more, I'd be more upset that we didn't sign them.

JMHO


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Ward is the one that bugs me..along with Greer..I thought they were interested in both..so I don't get it ..

I know they want to sign second tier guys and thats fine..but some of the gusy we need to fill in are being snatched up..

I for one wanted Stallworthless gone..you NEVER EVER keep injury prone guys around..didn't they release Peek for that??
Why keep Dainty around?

I didn't feel they were going to go after Hushyomama..I just didn't..the Browns rarely go after reliable guys..we just want guys who have bad techniques and can't catch better than my 6 year old..

I do know they better fill the void at MLB now and not have to bank one falling to us in the draft..you know thats dangerous..playing a waiting game is tricky..
U mentioned Tucker /Fraley..maybe it's early and even though Tucker redid his contract, can he redo his body and keep it healthy for 16 games?
Dude can't hardly come out of preseason healthy..
The answer to Fraley is to move Hadnot over if they don't plan to bring in anyone..maybe they want to draft a linemen..I don't know so I can't say.

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I agree 100% Toad...and add DE D.Evans to your list...he even would have cost us less than Royal

Didn´t mind signing him but for THAT money? they might think he´s a starter? Please say it ain´t so...now 3mil guaranteed are not much and I guess the base salary goes up every year...still don´t like the deal....think about it: Royal gets 2.5mil/year, Evans 1.9/year, Ward 4/year....and now go watch their respective impact the next 2 seasons.....truly a bummer

We sure look like commited to drafting a RB with 1 of our 1st day picks, which I don´t like...we already HAVE to draft a pass rusher and DB (be it CB or S...won´t fill both needs in FA) since there´s nothing left on the market

We had the money for a Birk or even C/G Brown....easily for Ward and Evans...instead ManKok´s looking at Mosley, who will probably demand equal or more money than Evans beacuse he´s 3 years younger and has "more upside"...well, he has more upside compared to Evans because he´s worse



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There is still the question to be answered " How many players don't want to come to Cleveland " ????

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Thats not a real question to me..thats a slant..

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Quote:

Where are my ramblings going? Pdawg, I read what you wrote, and I disagree man. I can easily see us not only staying in good cap shape with a signing or two, but filling most of the other holes via the draft.




Cap room is not an issue with me. I also believe we should be building through the draft.

Quote:

IMHO if we take a running back in the 2nd round I'll believe our new personnel folks don't get it. So many other holes are more important to this team. We can solve three starting positions before we get to the 2nd day of the draft. That leaves us with two or three holes which MUST be filled in free agency. Pdawg, by my math, we could fill 6 positions by the start of camp, and that'd be enough to win THIS year, but not with THIS roster. By letting some good players who aren't expensive go without even a sniff, we're making a mistake.




I agree that if we were trying to find even marginal starters we would be ok. As of right now there are way too many holes to fill by just going through the draft.

As of now we have quite a few holes. We need the following...

1 OLB... We have nobody opposite of Wimbley right now. Hall and Williams are on the roster but as of now I don't think either is a starting caliber OLB. I would be thrilled if either could step up but we do need someone that canstart at this point.

1 ILB...We have Williams and Bell on the roster. We are in the same position as OLB.

CB...We have only three who should be playing pro football. Holley is coming off of an injury and we don't know where he stands. We need to upgrade one of the starters. We need more depth.

Safety...We have only one at this point, Pool. Jones and Adams aren't signed. Even if Adams was we would need another starter and another backup.

Receiver. We were in bad shape last year. We are now even worse off. We do have BE and Stallworth. Problem is that Stallworth is not reliable and BE is so unhappy we have no idea where his head is.

RB...We have two on the roster that should be on a NFL roster. We will need a third.

OL....We need to sign a backup who has the potential to start if needed.

We can fill some of these holes with second tier players or resigning some of our own FAs. The ositions that need to be filled with at least average starters are both LBs, two receivers, safety and a corner who can at least play the nickel. That is too much to hope for in one draft, unless we make more trades.


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We sure look like commited to drafting a RB with 1 of our 1st day picks, which I don´t like...




I don't see that indication at all. I'd be really upset if we did.

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While I'm not necessarily opposed to this signing, I gotta ask "why?"

I've been fine with staying quiet this year in the FA pool as I haven;t seen alot of players that are young enough to contribute for awhile and have decent talent.

Of the top of my head, the only two players I was really interested in was Foxworth and Ward....both of which fill very big needs on the team.

But Robert Royal? WE axed Kellen and were left with one solid tight end (Heiden) and one prospect (Rucker) and a few backup/special teamers (Madsen, Cieslak).

Now, call me crazy, but why would we roll out to get a hold of another decent TE when we already have a decent starter who the incoming FA is no better than AND a prospect we're trying to develop? Makes me wonder if Heiden is going PUP to start the year or if the new regime is already sour on Rucker.

I guess I can see why Royal.... Mangini obviously saw enough of him in divisional matchups to covet him. Who knows why? I mean, the guy is respectable but he's not an upgrade to Heiden.

This move just really puzzles me....

In regards to the various marquee players available, I'm glad we didn;t make a run at a bunch of them and go for the "big splash". We're simply not there yet. You build through the draft....you supplement through FA. Right now, we continue to build the core.

The problem, of course, is we've been doing that since 2003.

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Explain please ...

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Heiden is coming off knee surgery and there is no guarantee when he'll be back, or how he'll perform once he is. Royal is an upgrade on Dinkins and provides insurance if Heiden can't go right away.

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Overtoad

How much of you being upset about lack of interest in players is a result of Fewer media leeks, and not the front office ignoring the players you wanted? I mean we had to hear about the royal signing from the player breaking the news by calling the media.

I guess what I am saying is don't draw a lot of conclusions about our lack of interest in players. If there is one thing that this administration is good at, it is running a tight ship.

You might be right about our lack of interest or pursuit of players, but that Statement is based upon a lot of conjecture as we have no definitive information as to what the front office is and is not doing.

kok may have tried to sign every player you wanted, but the only people that will know this are Kok and the flies on the wall, because this administration has been clear that they do not disclose personnel moves and or strategies with the media and fans.

To me ,without any evidence it is too early to start drawing some of these conclusions about this being a rebuilding year or not.

JMHO

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