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You're 100% right, but there's space in there for loyalty from the players to the fans/team as well. Mack could have easily restructured his contract in such a way to stay here and still make a significant payday, perhaps even equal to what he got. Not that I'm blaming him, he doens't HAVE to feel loyalty to the town or the team, especially after he's played on such a bad team for so long but you can work with the management of a team and still realize your earning potential.

That actually brings up something I've thought about for a long time...why don't teams with cap space front load contracts so that all the big guaranteed money is in the first couple of years? As long as the total amount of guaranteed money is the same, why not just use it up. An example would be at the end of last year, why not restructure a couple of these free agents, give them huge signing bonuses to use up our cap space and then go into this year with lower salaries but longer commitments. It may even work out better for the players as well if they get cut sooner rather than later they may be able to work out another contract to get another pay day...just a thought but I think it's crazy to end any year with cap space even though I know some cam be carried over. Re do every contract at the end of every year if you have to...

Teams definitely do that.

Yea Pitdawg I don't blame him at all. he wants to further his career (make the playoff I'm thinking) and he want to make as much as possible before the ride is over. cannot fault him for either...he made the best choice for both his career and family in his mind and can't be mad about that or blame the FO for him leaving.

But not to the degree I would expect.

For example, say you sign your stud LB to a 5 year $60million contract with $30million of that guaranteed. The guaranteed money starts off at $8mil the first year, the next year is $7mil and so on until the end of the contract. In year two of the contract you see that you're coming to the end of the league year and you have $20mil in cap space not allocated why not go to your stud LB and say, "I'll renegotiate your contract with you right now, you'll get $20mil guaranteed this year and $2.5million guaranteed next year, along with the pre existing non-guaranteed payments. (Note I added $500k to the next year just to make it worth his while.)

It's a win win for both the team and the organization. They get the guaranteed money paid of in 3 years and those last two years they're free to cut him at any time with no cap hit. For the player, he gets his money early and since they're not afraid to cut him early he may be able to grab another good contract instead of waiting until he's completely washed up. Not to mention the amount allocated to the cap in years 3-5 will be significantly less than what they would have been. I would even think it would make extensions even easier as now you're able to just start off clean with fresh guaranteed amounts.

The only issue I can think of, other than league rules prohibiting for some reason, to not do this is the fear of having to constantly be negotiating with the agents and players, but if you're clear about what you're doing upfront, why not?

The Saints and free agent linebacker Craig Robertson are “working on” a deal, and head coach Sean Payton expects it to get done, according to Mike Triplett of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Katherine Terrell of NOLA.com corroborated Triplett’s report (on Twitter).

If the Saints sign Robertson, he’ll be the second notable addition to their linebacking corps since last week. New Orleans Craig Robertsonpreviously added James Laurinaitis, who is clearly the more established of the two. Nevertheless, Robertson has been productive during his first four years in the league, all of which were spent in Cleveland, and easily outdid Laurinaitis by Pro Football Focus’ standards last season. The site ranked Robertson 37th and Laurinaitis 83rd in overall performance among 97 qualifying linebackers.

For his career, Robertson – a former undrafted free agent from North Texas – has appeared in 58 of a possible 64 games and made 37 starts. Nine of those starts came in 2015, when Robertson amassed 59 tackles, a forced fumble and an interception in 12 appearances. Prior to that, Robertson racked up 85 or more tackles in three straight campaigns, including a personal-best 99 in 2014. He also has six career INTs.

Robertson was an inside linebacker in Cleveland, but the Saints already have both Lauriwhnaitis and Stephone Anthony as middle men. It’ll be interesting, then, to see how the club deploys those three (if it signs Robertson) – not to mention OLBs Hau’oli Kikaha and Dannell Ellerbe.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

http://www.profootballrumors.com/saints-craig-robertson-working-on-deal/

well looks like his is gone as well...guess it's Kirskey and the Jets guy now holding down the ILB's spots.

maybe we could get Ellerbe in a trade with them?

Why would the Browns keep Kirksey and let Robertson walk?

not a clue as to the why Versatile. my guess is as good as yours. maybe...He wanted out of Cleveland, he wanted less money, he wanted more money, he wants to play in a dome...the FO doesn't want him (he doesn't fit), the FO is sabotaging the team (as some believe), it's a complete "reboot". idk don't have that answer for you. I like him more than I do Kirksey. wishing it was the other way around myself.

Don't know - ask Horton. Maybe they see Kirksey as having more upside...who knows.

j/c

I'd guess Horton likes Kirksey's athleticism more, but he surely can't like his ability to stop the run. Yeesh.

My guess is because they usually split time at that position and Kirksey seems to put up better numbers in most cases and is a lot cheaper.

In the last 2 years:
Robertson has played in 28 games with 20 starts
158 tackles 0 sacks 3 ints 1 forced fumble

Kirksey has played in 32 games with 13 starts
144 tackles 5.5 sacks 0 ints 2 forced fumbles

Robertson earned just under $2,500,000 last year and Kirksey earned just over $700,000

Probably just because Robertson's contract is expired and Kirksey's isn't. I think last time Horton referred to Robertson as his "ace in the hole."

Here I'd always thought it was because Kirksey played better than Robertson. But yeah, him being a FA played a factor, like all the other ones.

If we upgrade on Kirksey in the draft...wonderful.

Look, even if Craig couldn't take the starter inside linebacker role, he's a ST ace and he has done everything ever possibly asked of him and while he's not elite - he's a damn good option to have as depth and etc at ILB. I'm curious how much the Saints will be giving him. If it's a dirt cheap contract, I'll be pretty upset that, yet again, we let another guy that could help our team walk.

Keep in mind too, as a "human", Craig has been above and beyond active in our city guys. Again, I'm curious his contract numbers if/when the Saints make it official. Pissed right off if it's a bum contract and etc.

Yeah.........I kinda knew that. LOL

Just grousing.

This franchise has had too many Andra Davis.Ben Taylor's
Kevin Bentleys...Craig Robertson's at LB.
Just mere bodies barely Making impactful plays.
When was the last time the Browns had a terror at LB?
A lb in the upper echelon of the NFL?
This franchise has missed on as many LBs has it has WRS and QBs.
He won't be missed
Browns run D has been gashed since 1999 cause of its porous
LBS among other things

Kirksey from what I seen needs to have more violent hands
And he has issues shedding blocks
He has more ceiling to reach.
But yes he has improved your right

Robertson was on the market...

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/15049198/new-orleans-saints-lb-craig-robertson-reach-3-year-deal

Saints, LB Craig Robertson reach 3-year deal

Drooling to see the numbers involved. Sucks seeing that man go too. Best of luck Craig.

I find it hard to agree with your opinion here. Now I won't necessarily disagree with you if you're discussing playing for a quality organization. Yet when it comes to Cleveland, what is there to be loyal to?

Of course you could say the fan base, but have you been reading these boards over the years? The fans can be ruthless. Mack was coming off of a major leg injury last year and many fans were dogging him. Once he and Schwartz left, many fans said we lost while they were here so it's not a problem that they're gone. Fans are a fickle group.

To me, it's a career and it's about the job and your family. And as far as a job goes, nobody has been here long enough for Mack to feel any loyalty or reason for believing in. Just look at the instability in the FO and coaching staff over the time Mack has been here.

Is that really an environment you would wish to spend your career enduring? I wouldn't.

Wasn't it like $2 million per year for 3 years? Not sure why I think that

One of the main reasons our run defense was so poor is the play of the ILB's.

The Browns have ID'ed that fact & are moving on.

I would not be surprised if they have targeted 2 or 3 possible prospects in the draft. The position needs more speed & a greater run stuffing presence, something that has been missing for a while.

Replacing our ILB's was a big priority, & losing a " C " grade LB will not hurt this rebuild.

I still can't find anything from Google on the #s. Hopefully Rotoworld will get the info shortly.

This hasn't been updated, but at least we KNOW the types of guys our FO targets.

http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2016/2/8/10940004/nfl-free-agent-tracker-2016-releases-cuts

Riley Cooper might be a guy to target. He's 6' 4", runs a 4.53, and incredibly strong for a WR.

His past incidents mean that he'll come cheap and he won't cost us a comp pick.

Bruce Carter would also be a decent pick-up. He stinks in the 4-3 defense but played well in a 3-4.

I don't want no racist on our team. I felt he was sincere when he apologized for what he said, but that doesn't erase the fact he said it and the fact many African Americans play on our team/nfl.

He really hurt himself, his stock and his career. If I'm a black WR getting ready to block a safety or someone for Riley, I doubt I'm going to exert much effort for someone who hates me because my skin color. Noone seems to be lining up for his services,which I guess really is the type of people this staff targets heh.

Apparently so.

Have you ever listened to the clip or video of him?

It's disgusting. It's clear he dislikes blacks. Something along the lines of "I'll fight every ****** here", not good. Not good at all. I'd rather have Josh Gordon on this team, and anyone paying attention knows I'm 100% trading him for literally anything we could get.

I highly doubt we'll sign a FA WR. From all accounts we're in love with Michael Thomas, Treadwell, and Doctson. I'd take one of those three, hope that Gordon is reinstated, and hope Hawk/Gabriel can fill the slot duties

I would of liked to go after a guy like Reuben Randle. He's a solid #2 IMO.

Eagles already picked him up.

Bro, here me out.

i get what you mean, but did he say it with the "er" or the "a" like everybody says it.

it doesn't make it right, but you know how it is, there's a difference.

i dunno if i can say he hates black people. i know he had beef with some players, but Vick had stood up for him, and regardless of his personal problems, the players respect what Vick says.

Riley Cooper blows. Had one good season and hasn't done anything since he signed that contract.

If you've not even listened to the clip - how ya going sit there and pass judgements on it?

He's got an accent, but I think it's clear the fashion he used the "n" word was not with the a.

You could tell in the video too, he was riled up and angry. It wasn't a slippage or Freudian Slip, he meant business but that's jmo. Even if our team was all full of whites, I'd still pass on him.

I think everyone should be defined by one very public misstep.

Tell us about one of your mistakes so we can judge you on it.

Randle signed with the Eagles.

I think that's why he was using past tense.