DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Browns trade for Patriots linebacker Jamie Collins

Might be?? .. *L* ... its not EVEN CLOSE ...

Hold up. Jason LaConfora AND Michael Lombardi hate a Browns move? No way.

They offered him 11 mil per year, so let's not pretend they were completely done with him and he's some bum..

They offered him 11 mil per year, so let's not pretend they were completely done with him and he's some bum..

Vintage Mike Lombardi. He's a bought-and-paid-for crap-weasel who has made a living starting whisper campaigns against players, coaches, and front office people that he thinks stand in the way of his maximizing his position in any given organization. This goes back to the "lowlights" video he put together for Belichick and Modell when they deep-sixed Kosar. Why did Banner want Lombardi gone? Because he knew what he is and will always be, a complete douchebag.

One thing I really hate about the NFL is the way teams will try to justify bailing on a player whom they don't want to pay what he has coming by chipping away at his reputation/character with back-channel BS about his "work ethic" or stuff like him being a "clubhouse cancer" (watch - that'll be next about Collins). The way I see it, we got what will be the best player on our defense for what amounts to a 4th round pick.

As Lombardi repeatedly questioned Collins’ production and praised Belichick’s decision to cut bait on him, one of the WEEI hosts told him, “It does feel like you’re doing Belichick’s bidding.” Lombardi took issue with that, but his comments did sound like he was offering an opinion he knows Belichick shares, even if Belichick won’t say so publicly.
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This part in the article is why I take the entire thing with a HUGE grain of salt. Lombardi was sent out to do PR by Bill.....not the first time and won't be the last.

This kid might work out or he might not. The talent is there no doubt, but there is also ???s as well. I do know nothing Lombardi says will make me believe he can or can not be a long term solution.

There might be hope after all, as shockingly Lombardi and me agree on something, lol. He's basically making the same arguments I deducted yesterday:

http://www.profootballrumors.com/2016/11/jamie-collins-browns-patriots-contract

After trading for the pending free agent, the Browns are obviously looking to lock Collins up for the long term. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears that Collins is looking to eclipse the $12.36MM/year that Luke Kuechly is making on his current deal with the Panthers. Collins’ camp views him as a hybrid player and will push for a deal that would put him in the top four amongst all linebackers in terms of AAV. Collins reportedly told the Patriots that he wanted “Von Miller money” at one point during talks, so it sounds like his demands have come back down to earth a little bit.

Meanwhile, former Pats assistant Mike Lombardi discussed the Collins deal on the latest edition of The Bill Simmons Podcast (audio link). During the interview, Lombardi shed some light on why New England was willing to bail on the talented linebacker in the middle of the season:

“The one thing you have to do, Donnie Walsh said this to me in 1990s, or the late 80s, ‘You’ve got to know what you’re trading before you make a trade.’ And that’s the one caveat that Belichick knows; he knows what he’s trading. He’s trading a guy who is very talented, but very moody, very inconsistent with his effort, and so for him to pay that player that type of money sends a message to the locker room that, look, I tolerate this and I reward this. He’s never doing that. And when Belichick, every message he sends in terms of a contract is a message to the locker room.”

So Collins will fit right in. Slack your way to an 8 figure contract. 12+ per year? That's more than one million for every sack in his four year CAREER.

Since he was basically available for nothing, this means the Browns were the only team willing (or dumb enough) to give him close to that kind of money.

Jesus, this is getting worse.

Collins is a FA after this season, so the Browns paid a 3rd and will overpay him, so he can go into Kruger-mode. Browns paid a high price just to be the first to negotiate with him, lol.

The Browns are getting dumber by the minute. Instead of paying Sheard and keep the pick, they do this, because of course the grass is always greener.

This team needs leaders, not mercenaries.Who was the last Pats player Belly let go that did anything close elsewhere?

Didn't like Collins out of college, all athleticism, no football smarts, which equates to the type of guy that plays to get a contract and then goes through the motions.

And comp 3rd? I thought comp picks can't be traded?

I'm definitely skeptical of WHY he was traded. There has to be something that Belichick knows. We'll find out I guess.

#Browns Jamie Collins said he never asked for Von Miller money: "I'm not Von Miller. Let's be smart"

just when you think the Browns can't get worse they do.

Trading a 3rd/4th rounder for a 27 year old Pro Bowl LB made us worse?

I'm definitely skeptical of WHY he was traded. There has to be something that Belichick knows.

...this is kind of random, but did RG3 and Collins have a sleep over before his "introductory" press conference and do each other's hair?

https://www.google.com/amp/www.cbssports...-android-att-us

Here's why the Browns' rationale for Jamie Collins trade doesn't make sense
By Jason La Canfora 6h ago • 3 min read
There is some bewildering chatter in the scouting community coming out of the Browns organization in the aftermath of the blockbuster trade for linebacker Jamie Collins. Specifically, the idea that Collins might end up being more of a rental in Cleveland than a sure-fire part of their long-term future, even after trading what will likely amount to a 2017 third-round pick for him.
It's a line of thinking going around within the Browns building and outside of the building, and while logic would seem to dictate this can't possibly be an eventuality for the Browns, well, this is the Browns, so you never know. If the Browns get a third-round compensatory pick in 2017, it goes to the Pats. And it's very much expected that the Browns will get that pick after letting Alex Mack and Mitchell Schwartz walk in free agency. As for Collins, if he is to seek more money in free agency (his deal expires after the season) than Cleveland thinks he's worth, then the Browns are telling people they could just let him go and recoup that third round pick in the 2018 draft, as a comp pick for Collins departing.
But that's baffling to me on several levels.
First of all, the Browns are 0-8 and have a legit shot to go 0-16. The owner, Jimmy Haslam, has done nothing but lose football games and fire people early and often, sometimes indiscriminately. It would be folly for anyone to be sitting around Berea, Ohio, crunching numbers and firing up those super computers thinking that 2017 is guaranteed to them. And the 2018 draft? Sashi Brown and the Analytics All-Stars are still going to be kicking out the jams in 2018? That's bold -- and, for many Browns fans, probably petrifying.
Personally, I think if nothing else the Browns bite the bullet and franchise Collins at a cost of around $15M. They have more cap space than they could possibly hope to spend in three offseasons, much less just one, and they have needs all over the roster. They've also spent less actual cash on payroll than most of the teams in the NFL, too. So there would be no excuse not to sign a 27-year old linebacker who has played at a Pro Bowl level in the past.
"WHY NOT JUST KEEP THE PICK, AND JUST SIGN THE PLAYER IN MARCH? IS THAT WORTH A THIRD-ROUND PICK? DID THEY THINK SOMEONE ELSE WAS GOING TO MAKE THIS TRADE IF THEY DIDN'T?"
-- An NFL scout on the Collins trade
But, it's also somewhat shocking that the Browns didn't have at least some groundwork for a contract in line when they made this trade. Multiple sources said, however, that they hadn't had any significant talks at all with Bus Cook, agent for Collins, at the time of the trade, and there isn't anything expected to come together quickly, if at all. The Browns regime's lack of strong relationships in the agent community is well documented.
What is clear is that Collins has more leverage than ever after a team just gave up a second-day pick for him, when the Browns could've just waited eight more weeks and he would've been an impending free agent who they could have signed without parting with a draft pick.
"They haven't won a game and they might not win a game, with or without Collins," said one NFL general manager. "So I get that they can evaluate Collins in their system now, and they have the ability to franchise him ... but why not just keep the pick, and just sign the player in March? Is that worth a third-round pick? Did they think someone else was going to make this trade if they didn't?"

The Browns might counter that they always have to over-spend like crazy to land free agents since the owner is always firing people and the team is perpetually rebuilding. To which I'd counter, don't think for a second you're going to get any sort of hometown discount from Collins now as he counts the days until his pay day, or franchise tag. Regardless, I was shocked by the number of people I spoke to around the league, many of whom have chatted with Browns football people, who are convinced that if Collins doesn't wow them they'll just let him walk.
"Their scouts are already talking like, 'If we don't re-sign him, we'll get a supplemental third in 2018,'" one rival exec said. "That tells me the owner still might not be spending any money and they might not sign any UFAs (unrestricted free agents) again. What they're saying internally is that if we don't re-sign him we'll get the pick back the next year."
Again, I have to think they either sign him long-term or franchise him. Guess we'll all find out this spring. But for anyone in that franchise -- which is 1-18 since last Oct. 12 and 3-26 since Thanksgiving of 2014 -- to even be thinking about 2018 compensatory picks sort of boggles my mind. Tomorrow is not guaranteed in this league. With Haslam, the next hour isn't.

"What they're saying internally is that if we don't re-sign him we'll get the pick back the next year."

Apparently Hue and the FO shouldn't make any plans for the future, ever, because they might get fired..

Ok then..