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Sanu would, Davis might be more. That said, I don't disagree about drafting a receiver. I think what happens with Gordon and the league might sway exactly where we might target a receiver. I know you don't trust the guy, neither do I to be honest, but I'd like to give it another go. I think his talent dictates that much.

Agreed. Everything they did played off of Green. I don't expect us to have Gordon past this year.

I agree Vers. Sanu is very meh. He's just a dime a dozen guy. Lacks a vertical threat. We already have a Sanu on our team, his name is Brian Hartline.

Of the two, Marvin Jones would bring some big play ability, but nothing to get to excited about.

They need to draft some WRs. I'd love to see someone like Josh Doctson at 32.

Yes please, draft a WR. Early rounds. A Vince Mayle like pick is just a waste. Counting or relying on Gordon is, imo, a waste. No FA WRs are really mega intriguing. Bowe is in fact a waste. Taylor Gabriel played like crap. Hawkins is hurt, and ineffective when not. Travis is stick waiting to get broken in half.


We need a deep threat target that is RELIABLE! Reliable both on and off the field.

Personally, I don't have a problem with getting a guy in the 4th if it's the right guy. I just though Mayle was a terrible choice and had him I think as a 7th rounder (I'll have to go back an look to say where I had him for sure.)

Benjamin, Browns Negotiations Hit Snag
Wednesday, Feb. 23
Rand Getlin of NFL Network reported Benjamin "will hit the market," as contract talks between Benjamin and the Browns "have broken down," according to his agent, Ronald Butler.

Butler was previously optimistic the sides would get a deal done, per Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer on Feb. 3:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/26137...ure-with-browns

man i sure hope we keep him

I'm at the point that I don't care who goes or who stays.

But if they let someone get away that was considered good, I sure hope they have a plan to replace them with an upgrade..

Just speculating, but maybe the FO thinks they can work on Taylor Gabriel and have him fill Benji's shoes (speedster role-player type WR). He may not be as quick as Benji (few are), but he is a little more stocky. Maybe they are taking a calculated risk letting Benji walk and expecting Gabriel to up his game and be a cheaper replacement?

That would be nice. I'm not sure that I see that guy in this draft.

Travis Benjamin is a good player.

If you have a good player, you should want to keep him, we obviously had interest in keeping him.

The NFL is riddled with "good players" that went onto a different team, and slowly disappeared into nothing..

Benjamin, like Skrine and Sheard, are guys that could go to another team and be "good players" there.. But nothing to look back at and say letting them go was a "terrible" choice..

Also.. Travis' best games were with Manziel at QB. So...

j/c

I don't believe this FO is concerned with signing the Smurfs. I don't believe that's the direction they wish to continue. So yes, I believe they're being cheap when negotiating with them.

I don't blame them.

I have to disagree. Gabriel is 5'8" and 167 lbs. He is not an NFL receiver. The best move would be to pull Gabriel into your office, tell him thanks for his participation and send him packing.

Nothing against the guy, but he just doesn't have it to make it long term in this league. We need less of those kind of guys on the Browns. Our roster has a long way to go.

I must agree with you Tab. There have been drafts where WR would have been a position of value to us. This draft doesn't appear to be such a draft.

"We will come out of this draft with a quarterback," Jackson said, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. "I can guarantee you that."

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/26193...and-josh-gordon

came across this and thought hmmm....what QB? what round?...kinda vague but it'll stir up some speculation

Been some stuff about Treadwell being unable to run under 4.7 and then he decided not to run at the combines, thats gonna hurt his stock a great deal. Who knows he may fall to the end of the first or even to early 2nd. I think the kid is a Boldin clone but his stock is nose diving. He is a top 5 talent and will be a steal for someone.

I am also very intrigued by Michael Thomas. I beleive he may be one of those kids that are better pros than college player.

Unless its an Alshon Jeffery, I just aint wowed with the fa receivers either.

I do however like that the free agency period is now before the draft. it has completely changed the value of NEED picks. I have always been hell with need take BPA but thats no longer the case. If you dont fill in FA you gotta fill in the draft.

I read today Chicago is aggressively working to keep Jeffery. He too, even if Marcus Colston is released by the Saints, was the only FA WR I was even remotely interested in.

man if Treadwell was there at 32 I'd be all

Hope he runs a bad 40.

FWIW, Boldin ran a 4.72 40 and Fitgerald a 4.63 40 at the combine.

He's not going to run one till his pro day. He wants the extra time to train for it. He thinks it'll be 4.4 or 4.5.

I'm not a fan of not doing everything at the combine, but in his case it could make quite a difference if he runs what he thinks he can.

It looks like the Bears are going to tag Jeffery if they can't sign him to an extension.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/foo...0224-story.html

NFL.com updated their list of UFA's today and I figured I'd give it a look. Link

A few names that I found interesting:

Stevan Ridley: I like our backs, but think we could use a 3rd. He averaged 5 yards a carry his rookie year (I'm hoping he can re-gain that form) and could give Hue the bigger back he seems to like.

Dwayne Allen: We cut Dray and I think Allen gives more in the passing game, with some FB/H-Back versatility. We do have Telfer and Bibbs, that I'd like to see more of, so not really a need.

Alex Boone: If we lose Mack and Schwartz we're going to have a hole somewhere on the line. I think Boone has some potential to kick back out to Tackle potentially and he's nice in the ground game if as Hue said we're gonna run more power. I'm not sure how much money he's going to be asking.

Jason Pierre Paul: Still a freak athlete, could he play OLB? I think so, and think he'll improve his finishing over this year as he adjusts/heals.

Bruce Irvin: We need pass rush and that is Irvin's game.

Nigel Bradham: Our OLB production was bad, and we're probably gonna lose Armonty for awhile.

Morris Claiborne: Might be worth a look if the price is right. Tramon was looking slow, and we could use a "bigger" (relative to K'Waun, Gaines, and Ifo at least) corner.

I would be pumped about a Dwayne Allen signing. He'd be a great complement to Barnidge. I think he ends up getting low end Te1 money though, maybe to PIT or ATL.

Timid sucked. He held the ball way too long and made his OL look way worse than they were. He was also a goof who didn't take the job seriously enough. There are reasons the team was ready to mutiny if Butch didn't name KH the QB. There was no "gut feeling." Butch just said that to not publically humiliate Timid.

Sorry Timid. You did suck!

I did not!! LOL

I'll put up the argument for the other side.

Tim Couch had a strong arm and a quick release. There was a reason that he was drafted #1 overall. He was considered a field General that made quick reads and good decisions but also had some mobility and athleticism if things broke down.

He was drafted above guys like Culpepper and McNabb because he was considered more of a "sure thing".

Where we screwed up is that we trotted out a rookie to start for an expansion team. We had no name WR's that couldn't get open and it didn't matter cause our patchwork o-line wasn't going to give them time to get open anyway.

I'm not sure if Tim Couch took as many sacks as Dave Carr, but it had to have been close. By the time the beating was over his arm was shot. He had surgery on everything between the shoulder and the elbow.

I'm not saying that he could have been the next Peyton Manning, but we'll never know because we were stupid enough to throw the rookie out there on an expansion squad with high school talent level.

I disagree.

Most qb ready? They didn't even have a playbook for Timid at Kentucky. Timid was picked because he was supposed to be the face of the franchise. The nice white face. Who cold forget...."Got Milk?"

Timid never was able to diagnose coverages. He got better at reading defenses pre-snap over the years, but he couldn't decipher coverages.

He held the ball for a long time. He later became Captain Check-Down. It was infuriating to see him lead a receiver out of bounds for a 2 yard completion when it was 3rd and 8, 9, or 10.

He had a lot of excuses made for him, but he was a terrible qb.

Bruce Arians agrees with me.

http://www.foxsports.com/ohio/story/bruce-arians-tim-couch-cleveland-browns-110614

Bruce Arians defends former Brown Tim Couch: 'Tim was no bust'

By Rick Grayshock
Nov 6, 2014 at 12:43p ET
In an interview with Peter King of The MMQB, Arizona head coach Bruce Arians called Tim Couch the most misunderstood player he ever coached.

Arians was Cleveland's offensive coordinator in 2002 under head coach Butch Davis. The Browns went 9-7 during the regular season and earned the franchise's only playoff berth since the team returned to the league in 1999.

Arians was asked who the most misunderstood player was that he ever coached, and he answered, "Tim Couch. Hell of a player. Tim was no bust. It kills me when people call him a bust. His arm was just so torn up he couldn't play anymore. He would have been a real good one."

Couch played five seasons in the NFL, all with the Browns. He threw for 11,131 yards, 64 touchdowns and 67 interceptions. His 75.1 quarterback rating ranks him sixth in team history for all players with at least 750 pass attempts.

He was the first overall draft pick in 1999 and the franchise's first selection following Art Modell's decision to take the team to Baltimore.

Yeah, I've read that. It gets posted on here every time we have this discussion.

The rest of the NFL agrees w/me because not one team tried to trade for the guy when he became available and that was before anyone had an idea about his arm woes.

His arm was already shot and NFL coaches have film and can see that. He was also making $8 mil a year at the time. No NFL team was going to trade for that contract when they could just wait for him to be cut.

Using that as an argument is weak at best.

We reached the Tim Couch argument portion of the off-season much sooner than we usually do.

Yeah, my argument is weak. You have so many facts on your side.

Not your whole argument, just the part about nobody else in the NFL knowing that his arm was shot.