DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Free Agency (Cont.)

No, I saw that...which is why I said what I did. I thought he was being sarcastic. Anyway, I think this is gonna be a total teardown and it won't be pretty, I don't know if I have enough yrs. left in me to see us win again. My son just bought me a new Browns Jersey and I would like to go out a winner.

I don't think he was being sarcastic. LOL

I hope we all see a winner, bleeds. Best of luck to you.

Have been away for past few days working and was not expecting much, maybe keep Benjamin and Schwartz, but there gone,
My question have we even contacted any outside free agents with regards bringing them in.

Yeah, we low balled Marvin Jones and etc. Sanu probably got low ball offer (but then again both those average players got paid well ahead of their skills imo) so.

Its been an awkward free agency overall, and an extremely disappointing one for us in specific.

Rishard Matthews, too.

So in essence we've played moneyball with everyone, lol. I hope they realise soon this isn't baseball. Capable starters dont grow on trees.

Obviously an hyperbole, as I don't think Barnidge, Duke Johnson, Bitonio, and others are going anywhere.

None of the players we lost were irreplacable (and they didnt want to be here anyways). We do have a lot of holes, but hopefully one of the biggest holes (coaching) was fixed. If we fixed the coaching hole, then we can find players in the latter stages of free agency and in the draft that will plug some of those other holes.

...and I don't think vastly overpaying for "slightly above average" to "average" players was the answer anyways.

Sometimes you have to go backtrack before you can go forward, especially if you've been going in the wrong direction for a long time.

Who would you say could replace Alex Mack?

The fans are CLEARLY not tired of the dysfunction. When the Browns are averaging around 35,000 at home, then I would say they're getting tired.

I don't care how many fans show up for games, I want to know that ticket sales are plummeting before I start to believe that fans are REALLY getting pissed off at management.

Buying tickets and staying home proves nothing. The front office still gets their money. That needs to stop if the product on the field CONTINUES to suck.

Mediocrity? Where? I think most Browns fans would have settled for mediocrity over the last 15 years. This team has flat out sucked. There's no other way to put it.

Do you mean like when you tell people they have "lame ass comments" because you don't like their opinion or do you mean a different kind of making fun and insulting?

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Mike KlisVerified account
‏@MikeKlis
Broncos acquire Mark Sanchez from Philly for conditional draft pick. Process has begun #9news #9sports


https://twitter.com/MikeKlis/status/708358234440990720

..

Mark Sanchez, just hahahahahha @ that.

Browns sign OL Alvin Bailey; LB Justin Tuggle

Posted 1 minute ago

Clevelandbrowns.com@Browns Facebook



Both players are entering their 4th season




The Cleveland Browns have signed free agents offensive lineman Alvin Bailey and linebacker Justin Tuggle.

Bailey is 6-3, 320-pounds and entering his fourth NFL season out of Arkansas. Originally signed by Seattle as an undrafted free agent in 2013, Bailey has appeared in 42 regular season games with eight starts for the Seahawks. He also appeared in eight postseason contests with two starts. He has earned starts at RT, LT and LG and appeared as a reserve at RG during his career. He appeared in 15 regular season games last season with three starts. Bailey started five games in 2014 and helped the Seahawks lead the NFL and set a franchise record with 2,762 rushing yards. As a rookie, he appeared as a reserve in 14 regular season contests and all three postseason games (one start), while helping Seattle win Super Bowl XLVIII. Bailey started 38 games at Arkansas and blocked for the school’s first single-season combination 3,000-yard passer (Ryan Mallett) and 1,000-yard rusher (Knile Davis). A native of Broken Arrow, Okla., he graduated from Broken Arrow High School.

Tuggle is 6-3, 245-pounds and entering his fourth NFL season out of Kansas State. Originally signed by Houston as an undrafted free agent in 2013, Tuggle has appeared in 42 games with 11 starts for the Texans. He has logged 52 tackles, two fumble recoveries, one forced fumble and one interception, while adding 19 stops on special teams. Last year, he started two of his 11 games and registered 13 tackles, one fumble recovery and five special-teams tackles. Tuggle started his collegiate career as a quarterback at Boston College and played one season on defense after transferring to KSU. A native of Alpharetta, Ga., he graduated from Northview High School. Tuggle’s father, Jessie, played 14 seasons as a LB with Atlanta and was selected to five Pro Bowls. His brother, Grady Jarrett, is a DL for the Falcons.

http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/arti...f8-339bd3f2abdc

I mean, they're young, perhaps this is the begining of finding their "on base" guys?

Craig Robertson's gone. Seattle.

Really?

Everyone can rest easy now, the season has been saved..

I am ok with this. anything is better on Def. than what we had last year. He is OK but not that good.

So, Pro Bowlers are average.

Gotcha.

Yeah, that's what's scary.

Mack is a multiple time Pro Bowler.
Benjamin made the Pro Bowl last year.
Gipson led in Pro Bowl voting when he was injured in 2014.
Schwartz really should have been a Pro Bowler last year.
Bademosi made the Pro Bowl as a special teams player.

I am not sure how losing all of these guys for nothing somehow improves the team.

a. I said "a little above average to average" I didnt say they were all average. I said average to a little above average. A player that is a little above average can make the Pro bowl, yes.

b. Mack didnt want to be here, so goodbye to him. I'd rather have an average center than an above average malcontent.

c. And I wasnt talking only about the players we lost, but the slightly above average to average players from other teams that are getting overpaid are included in that too.

I'm not going to keep mourning about the loss of those who didnt want to be here, (as evidenced by their words and actions). It wouldnt have done any good to try to keep them. We just have to move on.

The only choice we have at this point is to build through the draft. It's going to take years. We'll I've been waiting as long as anyone, and I guess I'll wait some more.

Well, some of us disagree w/takes like yours.

I really feel that all the excuses lead to the Browns knowing they don't have to do anything other than market the team. No matter how bad they or how many dumb moves they make, fans like you say, "hey, it's okay."

Enabling and entitlement are not qualities.

Cool with Robertson being gone.. He's easily replaceable.

A. The guys we lost didn't want to be here

B. this is a pretty weak fa class. And we have no way of knowing if any of the handful of difference makers would have signed with us

C. Free agent signings rarely turn a bad team to a good one

D. Let's wait and see what happens on draft day

E. I'm not enabling anyone. I'm just giving the new do half a chance, instead of dumping past mistakes on them

F lets at least give them an offseason and see what happens.

Are we all pretty much saying this since we are still fans? Anyone with half a brain moved on picking another team years ago!

pretty much...

when I go to the market with my jersey on don't matter which one I have 13. I get comments like this "wow there are Browns fans!", or "Are you really a Browns fan? or you just like the jersey?". My answer is normally "yup we're a special breed."

Deleted

Travis Benjamin leaves Cleveland Browns on a bad note
By Kyle P Barber  @KylePhoeniX34 on Mar 11, 2016, 10:00a 15


Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports
Is this a new thing?


Travis Benjamin last year was a #1 receiver for the Cleveland Browns. Forced into the starting role with Josh Gordon once again deciding drugs were more pleasurable than millions of dollars, Benjamin made the most of his opportunity, racking in a new deal with the San Diego Chargers. When asked about leaving Cleveland, Travis answered with:


Marty Caswell
‏@MartyCaswell
Travis Benjamin on if it was tough leaving Cleveland "Not at all." Said without hesitation


Really classy Travis. Professionalism isn't everything, but my goodness you don't need to toss your old squad under the bus.

Maybe he means it by saying it is easy to mesh with a new team, but come on, say it with some level of courtesy.

Travis Benjamin and Kamar Aiken's stats last year are very similar as well, take a look:

Stats Receptions Yards Average Touchdowns
Kamar Aiken 75 944 12.6 5
Travis Benjamin 66 966 14.2 5

Clearly there aren't that many differences from Benjamin & Aiken, and I have no idea why he's acting so high and mighty insulting his former franchise of four years.

http://www.baltimorebeatdown.com/2016/3/...s-on-a-bad-note

But we aren't the only team being criticized by FA's who just left:

New Raiders Acquisition Kelechi Osemele leaves Ravens with disrespectful comment
By Kyle P Barber  @KylePhoeniX34 on Mar 11, 2016, 8:30a 14


Real nice KO...

With the departure of Kelechi Osemele I was surely not happy, but this seemed to ease my head.

I want to take this time to Thank the City of Baltimore, The Ravens Organization, The Bisciotti family, My Ravens teammates as well as all of the Ravens fans for all the support they gave my teammates and me while I was in the great city of Baltimore. I was blessed to experience the pinnacle achievement in the NFL when we won the Super Bowl my rookie year and have been chasing that high ever since. I can never thank the Ravens enough for taking a chance on a kid out of Iowa State that critics said was too soft to play in the NFL because he was raised in a house full of women. I hope I was able to prove them wrong through my hard work and determination on the field and wish the Ravens and the City of Baltimore nothing but the best in the future! Thanks for all the memories!!!

Really did make me feel better, reading and hearing that this incredibly talented athlete left on a good note.

Then that changed, and quite quickly, after reading a comment from Kelechi Osemele, about the Baltimore Ravens.

Jimmy Durkin ✔‎@Jimmy_Durkin
Osemele raved about Oakland's focus on building the O-line vs. "coming from a place where that was not really appreciated."

Wait what? We don't care about the offensive line? The part where we traded for a supposedly talented (don't know without seeing him ever play healthy), and trading for a top 16 center in the league. Drafting John Urschel, and possessing a top 3 lineman in the NFL? The best guard tandem in the league two years running. I mean Rick Wagner was an amazing tackle only a season prior. Kelechi is mad we didn't match the RIDICULOUS offer that Oakland overpaid for. We gave Marshal Yanda the money, and KO threw a hissy-fit and bailed. I'm almost certain we appreciated the O-line, especially after watching Gino Gradkowski get wrecked for a full season. I understand you didn't get paid here, but you shouldn't be disrespecting a team you won a Super Bowl championship with your rookie season.

Good riddance to you and your flip-flopping attitude Kelechi Osemele.

http://www.baltimorebeatdown.com/2016/3/...ves-ravens-with

For these last two posts I suggest clicking the link to read. I did my best to post the article but the inserted tweets copy separate from the rest of the article so I had to copy separately and insert into the article. I think I put them all in the right places but know I messes at least one up the 1st time. I corrected that one and think all are in the right place but if something seems a little hinky then head to the attached linky.

Response to A: How do you KNOW that they didn't want to be here? People keep saying that like it's fact. They got better deals in other places.

And even if they didn't want to be here, wouldn't that be more of an indictment on the Browns rather than ALL FOUR good players?

Response to B: I really don't see anyone complaining about not spending big money on other free agents. Some people are upset that Browns talk about building through the draft and then not re-signing the guys they drafted. How do you "build" when you don't keep your own?





If you not only accept constant failures, but actually make excuses for them and defend them, you are enabling. What is the motivation for Haslam and Sashi to improve the team if guys like you defend their ineptness?

Mack, Schwartz, and Gipson were not mistakes. They are excellent to very good players w/years left in this league. Heck, even Benji was not a mistake. He's decent.

I wouldnt call this throwing his old team under the bus. That was his honest truth. Can't blame him.

If Mack wanted to be here, he would not have opted out of his contract and then accepted less money. Benji said it's not hard at all to leave cleveland, etc

You talk about constant failures. First of all this is a new FO. So why take the failures of other FOs and lay them at the door of this one. If you're talking about ownership, you have the right to take your business and fanship elsewhere, and I have the right to continue supporting my team. I am not enabling anyone. As if I have the ability to effect the direction of the team from my sofa in California.

I'm not going to lose hope because we lost a few players. I am going to give the NEW FO a chance before I cast past failures (some of which were in foreseeable) of past FO a on their door. That is not enabling, that is just being fair

I never said the players we lost were failures with us. They were good players. They moved on from the team by their own choice. Mack opted out of his contract,Gipson and the Browns had already had a rift, and Benjamin said it was an easy choice to leave the team. They moved on. All we can do is move on and at the very least give this new FO more than three days to fix the ship

Sashi and Haslam are NOT new.

I am not sure we can classify this as a fail. We know that Mack, Schwartz, and Benji were all offered contracts. They choose to not sign. Why? Mack wanted to leave. Schwartz and Benji wanted more money then the Browns were willing to spend. Maybe just maybe they were looking 2 to 3 years down the road. Maybe not. They could be clueless. But they might feel that the team is not positioned to win right now and if we spend too much on these players now if they get the team in position to win in 2 to 3 years those contracts could come back to haunt them.

Most teams think that their 5 biggest contracts should be spent on the 5 most important positions on the team.

#1 QB - The Browns do not currently have this player on the roster. They may trade for Kaep or draft a rookie and hope they fit that mold.

#2 LT - Joe Thomas. He protects the QB's blind side. Much more value in this spot than C or RT.

#3 DE/OLB Pass rusher - Browns do not currently have this player on the roster. Maybe if they sign Kaep for QB they can draft Bosa for this spot.

#4 Shut down CB - Joe Haden - Need to hope that last season was the exception and not the rule.

#5 Feature Receiver WR - Josh Gordon - Need to hope he comes back with his head on straight and he stays clean.

If that is the plan then signing Kaep and drafting Bosa will make perfect sense.

So Sashi held the same position last year?

Unless you are now saying Farmer was not to blame is was Sashi?