DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum McCoy continued ...

Here’s confirmation ... i hope no more visits pop up over the weekend .... his choices are clear ...if winning is important to him this is a NO-BRAINER ...

GERALD MCCOY
DL, UNSIGNED FREE AGENT

Free agent DT Gerald McCoy will take the weekend to mull his options before deciding where to sign.

McCoy just concluded his meeting with the Panthers, his third free-agent visit following previous sit-downs with Baltimore and Cleveland. It's hard to guess where McCoy is leaning, though the veteran has made it clear that playing for a contender takes precedence over money. Look for the six-time Pro Bowler to make his decision early next week.

RELATED: Cleveland Browns, Carolina Panthers, Baltimore Ravens
SOURCE: Ian Rapoport on Twitter
May 31, 2019, 4:36 PM ET

Do the right thing Gerald ....

Lol!

Since they were voluntary, what is the interesting part?

Even if skipping OTAs mattered, you couldn't fault him in any way for it. OTAs are as good a time as any to go visit teams when you're a Free Agent In-Demand. It's a good way to come, see the facility, see the coaches in action, and see/meet many of the players.

Plus, McCoy was cut on the 20th. He came and visited Cleveland on the 23rd and 24th. Then this week he went to Baltimore and Carolina.


Getting a chance to be a free agent and explore other teams for the first time in his life, not sure what he was supposed to do........



That being said, the NFL needs to figure this one out. The players argued for these to be voluntary in the CBA......... I get that you want everyone there. I get that the media needs stories. But they are voluntary.

Could be. It also could be the extra visits have leveraged his position and we have already upped the amount we are willing to pay, be it total dollars, more years, or better up front money.

Baker Mayfield says he's lobbying fellow Sooner, Gerald McCoy.

https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2019/06...s-minicamp.html

Hope Baker Mayfield helps us out there! Turning his back on us to be elsewhere is kind of a strain to imagine. So let us hope it is for us. Voluntary OTA for folks on a team.

We expect to hear his decision this week, correct?

Browns minicamp (mandatory) begins Tuesday, June 4, and McCoy has said he wants to attend those sessions wherever he goes. So if the choice is Cleveland, he'll announce tomorrow, I would guess. Ravens and Panthers minicamps aren't until next week (June 11).

This is the kind of thinking that baffles me. A football player has a business decision to make. It's not personal. Yet fans will use a term like "turning his back on us" as if this is some type of insult if he signs elsewhere. It's not.

Business decision first and foremost, definitely.

But if he chooses Baltimore or Carolina over us, in the back of his head he must be thinking we truly don't have a shot at a playoff run this season. Understandable given our history, but short-sighted. He's got a few years left in him.

I'm not so sure. Maybe he feels all of these three teams has a shot at the playoffs so he should take the best offer of the three. I understand that we as fans are very excited about the prospects of this season, but a lot of teams make the playoffs. We're not the only team he's talking to that he may feel has a shot at the playoffs. I believe that's unrealistic thinking.

I mean we can all debate Lamar Jackson and the loss of talent on the Ravens this coming season, but the fact remains they made the playoffs last year with Lamar playing in his rookie season. They made the playoffs in 2015 and won a SB in 2013. They made the playoffs every year from 2009 through 2012.

Now I'm not trying to undermine our potential moving forward. But as it stands to date, we have the potential on paper. Baltimore has a proven record to look at.

Thanks to Dave for that answer. Sorry, Pit. My statement wasn't about sentiment or emotion in the phrasing you picked. It was very much a business judgment that I didn't want mischaracterized. If we can offer better money, years, terms or incentives in our package, he would have to turn his back on a competitive offer to sign elsewhere. No emotion on my part. But it would be a business decision I would have trouble imagining him making. He would have to overlook what we can match or beat to go elsewhere for less. Hopefully this is clearer. Business is business, sometimes bad biz is too.

j/c:

I think most players go where the money is unless an organization is completely toxic, like we were before Dorsey took over.

I also think that Baltimore, Cleveland, and Carolina can all make claims to have a winning team. I can fully understand why a player like McCoy might not think that Cleveland is going to be so much better than the other teams. 1-6-1 against teams w/a winning record doesn't exactly assure that a team is going to win huge the following year.

I think we need to have a couple consecutive winning seasons with playoffs to win FA players looking to win now. On paper yes things look great, isn't always indicative of being successful on the field. Honestly if Mccoy is picking based on winning he'd pick us last

Of the 3 condending teams who have the talking heads been giving the most hype too.

Ya, well the Browns have Baker Mayfield, so a couple of consectutive winning seasons with playoffs may already be a given.
If someone doesn't want to come along for the ride, it may just be, their loss.

J/C

There is no telling what McCoy will value the most in making his decision. He will make the best decision he can. No doubt we are biased in our views.

I wasn't arguing. I was trying to provide another way that players might look at the situation. I also think we have the most talent, but a few posters are acting like it's a no-brainer that we are going to win more than the other two teams. I don't know if that is the case. We have a new coaching staff that may or may not be good. We don'
t have the experience of some other teams. We have some promising young guys, but I think it's dangerous to automatically say they are going to be great. The Rats beat us in the very last game of the year and our qb threw 3 picks.

I can see where maybe McCoy might think Baltimore is better. I can also see that has ties to one of the coaches there. I also think money is a lot more important to players than many fans believe. Tampa Bay unceremoniously cut a player who has been highly productive and a model citizen.

It's not about "team," it about the "mean green."

I'd expect something very soon before teams break for the summer

Business-wise, Career-wise, Personal Goal-wise...Ithink we give him the best options. Now this is a personal opinion. But, I don't think it is far off.

Business-wise, we can offer him the most amount of money and are more able (likely) to offer him multiple years.

Career-wise, we have a rotation that will keep him fresher and more productive. The pressure is not there to carry the rest of the line. He is a good leader and can lead. And he can still set the tone...But the pressure to carry the whole line is not there. He can play more free. The others need him to be the stud he was a few years ago on a full time basis. I don't think that is realistic. He will be good anywhere he goes...but I think he will be more effective and produce better numbers for a longer amount of time with the Browns.

Personal Goal-wise, we are the favorites in the division. And there is a good reason for that. We are the favorites with or without him. Even if he signs with B'more...we will still be the favorites. If he signs with us we move up another level. And out of the 3 teams he has visited. The Browns have the best shot at a Super Bowl if he joins them. I don't see the same or better odds of that happening if he joins the other 2 teams.

This is my opinion and is speculation...but I don't think I am that far off. I can see some familiarity and comfort in joining the Ravens. Or even having a comfort level by staying in the NFC and getting 2 shots at his former team...But I do think it is in his long term interests to join with us and he can satisfy some short term interests as well...

Again...JMO...

We have "enough" money to pay McCoy.

If he's really interested in playing for a winning team, we have "enough" in that tank too.

Our rookie QB threw for 342 & 376 yards against the vaunted Ravens defense that lost some impact players on D. We added OBJ and impact players on D.

We were a missed field goal or a botched ref call at the goal line from beating the Ravens who were playing for a playoff berth while we were playing for the right to move to slightly-better-than-.500

We exposed their QB in the second half, provided the blueprint to stop that QB-as-RB offense, and were (possibly) the cause of them changing up their offense in the off-season to the point it surprised their QB/RB who can't throw the ball like a below-average NFL QB.

Carolina has better weather and a diva QB who is hurt...still. They can't beat the Saints and Brees.

If the following holds true by team, here is my opinion of how he made his choice:

Browns
Money
Winner
QB

Ravens
Money
Winning
Familiarity/More snaps to showcase for bigger contract

Panthers
Money
Weather/location
Chance to stick it to old team 2x/yr
Winning

JMO.

While it's true we certainly have more cap room, does that mean we're just going to throw money at the guy? I mean don't we have a set value that a player is worth?

There was a time I think we were so bereft of talent we were desperate to sign players. We were considered a poor destination for a players career. As such we did throw money at players to lure them here. And even at that, they sometimes still left for less. But I no longer see us as fitting either of those two categories.

I think we have a set value for McCoy and beyond that, we won't simply offer more money to win some peeing contest out of desperation to land his talent. Now that may be more than other teams can offer under the cap or it may not. I just don't see us overpaying what this FO perceives his actual value to be to land the player.

No, but it means we can make at least an equal offer to any other team - and if the money is equal and he still doesn't want to be here, then we don't want him because it means he hasn't bought in to what we're doing here.

I'm just not sure all teams see a player at equal value. As I mentioned, there was a time we would have been desperate to land a player of McCoy's talent. Now he's more seen as another piece of the puzzle. Not a desperate need per say.

How highly we value him and the length of the contract we are willing to extend to him may very well be less than another team in a different position than we are.

The bottom line to all of this for me is that I don't think we will or need to get into some bidding war to sign McCoy.

Agreed.

I don't believe there is any chance of us getting into a bidding war. What I see happening is simply us giving him a reasonable contract that lets him still get paid.... we aren't going to try to get some ridiculous low-ball deal, we'll give him a fair value for who he is, what he offers, and how we envision him being used.


I actually fully expect him to be a Browns player and here for minicamp tomorrow.


I hope I'm not disappointed by that expectation, lol

I know the Browns want to get him in under 10 mil. Where we have flexibility that is not as easy for the others is a multi year contract.
Because we are far more capable of offering a multiple years and front loading a contract. He can get his money this year and we can get him for multiple years under an average of 10 mil/yr.

The others might be able to clear room for a nice grab this year, but both have issues going into next year where they will have to make a lot of cuts again...

To me that means if McCoy goes to one of these teams it is a one year prove it deal and he is putting all his eggs into one basket to go to the post season...JMO

McCoy's best chance to go to the playoffs and win is with the Browns, I assume the dude knows whats going on around the league I expect him to sign his offer from the Browns in the AM and report to mini camp.

He may sign elsewhere but I honestly think he is NUTS if he does.

I think he and his agent are being smart and doing their due diligence.

Yup.

Money is ALWAYS a factor, even when it "isn't". Even when the player just wants to play somewhere he has a shot at making the playoffs, the money still matters because nobody but a fool will take less than their value from the table without damn good reason.

My contention is still that two of the three teams are simply fodder as leverage to negotiate a better deal.

We should have something done soon.

I guess the question remains which two teams are the fodder.

"We should have something done soon."

j/c: