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Hue said Cooper is an option at RG. I thought we were just keeping him until after the season where we'd get a comp pick when he signed elsewhwere. We'll see

Schwartz's new wife is from the Cleveland area, and he has long said that he loved the area, and the team. I think (and this is only my opinion, but it is based on what I have read) that he wanted to come back, but also wanted to get an idea of what he might get on the open market. When he saw his value, he immediately wanted to come back to the Browns, and they slammed the door in his face so they could sign Bailey a few days later. not signing Schwartz was probably the biggest mistake this front office made.

tab, that is not true and I have posted an article several times that proves my point. I ain't posting it again.

Also, some people brought up we wouldn't have made the playoffs w/the free agents we lost.

That is such a ridiculous statement and not one poster challenged it. Not one..........until now, of course. LOL

So, we don't want to keep, sign, or draft good players because we can't make the playoffs the next season? How freaking dumb is that?

I'm not a fan of the slammed the door in his face description. They came back with an offer in line with the market. If he truly loved Cleveland, why didn't he take it? If he wanted back, I'm sure they could have worked out the numbers similar to what he got in KC.

The words say one thing, the actions don't necessarily align. Maybe he felt disrespected, but since when is paying someone the going rate disrespectful? We have/had a whole team to build.

One of Sashi's selling points was being a consensus builder, which leads me to question the characterization of the Browns side of things. Negotiating (re-negotiating) doesn't constitute slamming the door to most reasonable people (The "reasonable person test" is a common thread through most areas of law, I'm not trying to call you unreasonable)

I wish we'd got him signed to a reasonable deal, but it takes two.

That is not what was posted you are twisting posts to fit your agenda. That is why you didn't quote from the post it self.

Getting caught in a lie, How freaking dumb is that?

But mac, why would the Browns want to keep a player when they knew they couldn't make the playoffs this year?

Our FO is so smart. They understand letting talented players go when you can't make the playoffs is the way to build the team.

Schwartz turned down Cleveland's offer because he thought he could get $8 mill per year on the open market and when he started negotiations with KC he found out otherwise so he went back to the Browns but the Browns pulled the offer because they thought Schwartz was just using them to drive up KC's offer.

People keep putting all the blame on the players. It's much easier to believe that each player was a complete jerk and the FO was an innocent victim in this scenario.

And some people just want to blame the FO even when they did nothing wrong.

Well, I am not one of them.

I try to judge each move based on its own merits. I like some of the things they have done and disliked others.

I argue more for the ones I disliked because the sheer volume of posts that excuse each of their bad moves completely dwarfs the negative comments.........excluding mac, of course. LOL

I'm not sure if that is supposed to be sarcasm, but I think everyone knows they wanted Schwartz back.

There are the haves and the have nots. Players are willing to go to contenders for less. We're not a contender right now. Overpaying for players is a good way to stay at the bottom.

Can Hal Hunter develop OL? ...We'll see how it goes. I think there is still some feeling each other out going on amongst the offensive coaching staff.

NRTU

I think we need at least one addition to the OL. I feel Pazstor (sp) is probably a better fit at OG. Irving has improved as the season wears on. A legit OT is what we need.

Question from me - I have heard nothing on Coleman (S)? May have missed that but what's the deal? I know he had an injury but Drango has come in and not done too bad a job as a 5th round rookie.

I agree with a lot of the folk on here - our DBs need to be targeted. If we went CB and S with 2 of the 1st 4 picks, I'd be quite happy although I hope we start going BPA and not chasing positional need with the picks in Rounds 1 and 2, especially if we stick at #1.

I'm hoping that the year 1 to 2 leap will really help the DL and LBs we drafted last year. If only 1 or 2 could do a "Shelton", it would help the secondary.

Shelton has been very good this year. Really impressive strides made, he deserves credit for that.

The Cleveland Browns have signed OL Anthony Fabiano to their active roster from the practice squad.

In addition, the team signed OL Zach Sterup to the practice squad. OL Dan France was signed to Carolina’s active roster off the Browns’ practice squad.

Fabiano is a 6-3, 303 pound rookie out of Harvard. Originally signed by Baltimore as an undrafted free agent, he was waived on Aug. 29 and has spent 11 weeks on the Browns’ practice squad. He was active but did not play against New England on Oct. 9. A native of Wakefield, Mass., Fabiano graduated from Wakefield High School.

Sterup is a 6-9, 318 pound rookie out of Nebraska. Originally signed by Kansas City as an undrafted free agent, he has spent time on the Chiefs and Jets practice squads. A native of Hastings, Ill., Sterup graduated from Hastings St. Cecilia High School.

Posted 4 hours ago

http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/arti...5b-933a7cd5ec31

Jonathan Cooper hopes to rewrite story of his career starting this week

By Dan Labbe, cleveland.com
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on December 05, 2016 at 8:30 PM, updated December 05, 2016 at 8:40 PM

BEREA, Ohio -- Jonathan Cooper has followed a convoluted path to his shot with the Browns. The upside is that, to this point, it's happened early in his career and his life.


"Fortunately, I'm not married. I don't have kids," Cooper said on Monday. "I can make the transition. I can't even imagine having family and having to make this transition."


It's been a year of instability for the former first round pick, selected No. 7 overall by the Arizona Cardinals in 2013 out of North Carolina. He broke his leg and was placed on injured reserve before his rookie season even officially began and, from there, his career hasn't exactly followed the arc of a Top 10 pick.


Follow along: He spent his first three seasons with the Cardinals, making just 11 starts, was traded to the Patriots last March, was waived by the Patriots the day before they played the Browns this season and claimed off of waivers by the Browns the day after that game.


Now he's likely the next man up for the Browns this coming Sunday when they take on the Bengals. It appears the 6-foot-2, 302 pound Cooper will fill in at right guard for John Greco, who was placed on injured reserve last week with a foot injury.

"It's a great opportunity," Cooper said. "It's been a while coming and this whole season has been an interesting road in entirety and one I'll never forget, but to be presented with this opportunity is definitely something that I don't take for granted and I'm confident that I'll make the most of it."


Offensive line coach Hal Hunter said on Tuesday that, while Alvin Bailey, who had previously replaced Greco, will get an opportunity, it's going to be Cooper first.


"We have had a chance to work with him, and I am excited," Hunter said. "He is athletic. He is tough. He is smart. Like I talked to him today about, what a great opportunity. You get a four-week window to really build your resume and really prove that this is where you belong to be so I am excited for him because one man's misfortune creates another man's opportunity."


"That is what he is here for to get another opportunity and we will see if he will go out there and do what he is capable of doing," head coach Hue Jackson said on Monday. "That is what this league is about -- opportunity, a chance, and when you get one you have to make the most of it."


Cooper, of course, despite not living up to his first-round billing, has had the opportunity to be a part of some successful teams. His three seasons in Arizona all came with at least ten wins, two of which saw playoff appearances. He appeared in two playoff games. The Patriots were 3-1 before they waived him. Now he's on a winless team.


He said that he's had friends and family ask him about the sense he gets from being around an 0-12 team. He said that he tells them all the same thing.


"This is one of the hardest-working group of guys I've ever been around," Cooper said. "They come in day in, day out, after some losses it gets a little tough, but I know they're going to come in the next day and still put in the work and continue to stick together."


He said a lot of guys would be divided at this point with a winless record, but he hasn't seen it here.


"It's definitely not an atmosphere where everybody's dragging around, sad, puppy-dog faced," he said. "No. We're working hard and we want to win."


Besides, if this last year has taught Cooper anything, it's dealing with being part of unforeseen circumstances.


"I know that this season, as long as it's taken to get to this point, I had no idea how it would work out, so that's mainly why I said I won't take it for granted, because I didn't foresee it."


Nor can he foresee how the rest of this season or his career will play out. Right now, it's about taking advantage of an opportunity.


"Now, I am looking forward, feeling good, healthy and aiming to kind of rewrite the story or let it play out how I end up, let it go."

http://www.cleveland.com/browns/inde...cart_big-photo

Didn't pan out, so little benefit to pinning blame in the incident. But there is a third leg to include on this stool. One side blames FO; one side blames player(s); but if he was trying to use us and bend us over, I am placing a lot of blame on agents. Trying to manipulate bargaining is their job. But in this case, if there was a "slammed door" as stated, I think it might be aimed at the agents, and not handled well. Got caught being too cute and shameless and it blew up and fell through. FO needs to get its chops as well. I am OK with it.

Cleveland Browns sign Anthony Fabiano to active roster

by Thomas Moore1 day ago
link


The Cleveland Browns made a pair of roster moves on Monday, signing Anthony Fabiano to the active roster and Zach Sterup to the practice squad.

The Cleveland Browns continued the offensive line churn on Monday, signing offensive lineman Anthony Fabiano to the active roster from the team’s practice squad.

In a related move, the Browns signed offensive lineman Zach Sterup to the practice squad after seeing the Carolina Panthers sign offensive lineman Dan France off of Cleveland’s practice squad.

The moves were announced on the team’s website.

The 6-foot-3 and 303-pound Fabiano originally signed with the Baltimore Ravens as a free agent out of Harvard. (So no surprise how the Browns heard about him.) A versatile player, he made 29 starts for the Crimson along the offensive line, with 11 starts at left tackle, 10 at right guard, seven at left guard and one at right tackle.

According to his draft profile at NFL.com, Fabiano is an “athletic player who opened some eyes at his pro day with his speed and quickness. Quick lateral movement off the snap and can gain ground quickly to challenge on cross­-face blocks. Plays with desired bend and decent hand work. Draft stock could benefit from experience playing at multiple spots along the offensive line.”

Normally the promotion of a player from the practice squad to the active roster would cause a very minor ripple. But with the attrition rate along the offensive line this season – the Browns have already lost starting guards Joel Bitonio and John Greco, along with center Austin Reiter, to season-ending injuries; and had Cameron Erving miss games with an injury – it would not be a complete surprise to see Fabiano on the field as early as Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

And it was not that long ago that safety Ed Reynolds was biding his time on the practice squad and now he is a stabilizing presence in the secondary.

As for Sterup, the 6-foot-9 and 318-pound lineman was originally signed by the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent out of Nebraska, where he started 17 games. He worked in training camp at both left and right tackle with the Chiefs and spent time this season on the practice squads of both the Chiefs and New York Jets.