DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum OBJ & Baker

Just posted this in another thread but it fits here really well ... hope u don’t mind ...

To add to your post ...

VG mentioned in his presser that they all worked out together last off season ... all 3 of them spend the off season in the LA area and worked together last offseason and will again this year between now and camp ...

Here’s the article ... u refer to them having each other’s back ... OBJ has your back here ... *L* ...

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001...r-mayfields-arm

Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., finds himself adjusting to a new team, a new offense and new surroundings as he gets in work during the Cleveland Browns' three-day mandatory minicamp.

On top of all that, the three-time Pro Bowler has to acclimate to a new quarterback and the velocity of Baker Mayfield's passes after not experiencing the throws during voluntary organized team activities, which Beckham elected to miss.

"I'm going to have to get adjusted to the speed because he's got an arm," Beckham told reporters Wednesday. "He's throwing that ball hard, so just catching it from him from the first day it was like, 'Wow, this is completely different.' It just takes time. Again we play in September, so it's a good thing."

The two have plenty of time to get accustomed to each other before games count in the win-loss column, and Mayfield will also need to use the time between now and September to figure out the nuances of Beckham's game.

But once the two build the all-important chemistry, the rest of the league should be treated to offensive fireworks out of Cleveland, especially when considering Mayfield already has a rapport with Jarvis Landry.

Meanwhile, Beckham took a moment Wednesday to double-down on a previous high complimentary comparison on what he's seen in Mayfield.

I loved Brett Favre growing up and Baker has a lot of similarities to him," Beckham said. "They put the highlights together. It looks the same. But obviously he's going to have to go out and put the work in for however many years he plays. Hopefully I can help him put up numbers, whatever he needs to do, win championships. But in my eyes he has the talent to do whatever he wants to do. Whatever he wants to do with it, that's what will happen."

Beckham, who caught passes from Eli Manning with the New York Giants, also expressed an appreciation of Mayfield's willingness to speak his mind, a trait Beckham said is "definitely different" from what he was previously accustomed to.

"I know that I'm always going to back him, right, wrong, indifferent," Beckham said of Mayfield. "You know the whole T.O. joke, 'That's my quarterback'? That's my guy. Baker was a friend, a brother to me before I got on this team and now for him to be my quarterback, I'm always going to back him.

"So for him to speak his mind, it's always good for the leader of your team to kind of have that and everybody follow that lead. If he steals off, that's what this team is here to guide him on the right path. But I don't see him really doing anything too wrong. He speaks his mind. Freedom of speech. You have your right to your own opinion. So that's what he does and I personally love it."

So far, so good in Cleveland with the growing love-fest between Beckham and Mayfield.

While Beckham's presence was missed during OTAs, the duo has clearly been busy making up for lost time and have the entire summer to strengthen the relationship.

'Looking forward to getting back to the playoffs and showing what I can do'

-OBJ

If we make the playoffs, then I'd be 'giddy!!!'

I listened to OBJ's presser yesterday. I love hearing that young man speak and even more fully appreciate just how stupid the media is. He seems like a really good dude, solid head on his shoulders and a solid work ethic. He, Landry, & Baker are going to be a fearsome trio for the next five-plus years.

Listening to him and taking into account the sort of QB/leader Baker is and the fact that Landry is here..... I can easily see both him & Landry staying here until it is time to retire a Brown.

I have to wonder about that.

We have 4 "max deal" type players, above all others, in Baker, Myles, OBJ, and Ward. We almost certainly will not be able to handle 5 max deals under the cap.

Jarvis will, eventually, be the odd man out.

I agree .... acquiring OBJ makes it hard to keep VG at some point ... question is how soon does that point come ... u can’t have that much cap space tied up at the WR position ... if we can keep VG til the end of this contract that would be real sweet ...

Or OBJ may force his way out of here like he did in NY ... ...

Were gonna win so that won’t be an issue ...

That's 2 years and possibly even 3 years away.

We don't even know what the salary cap will look like in 2 years (or even if there will be one).

Fwiw, I no longer think that Jarvis will be cut, but I do think he'll take a pay cut to stay here.

How many NFL players train in So Cal? Is it the trendy thing to do, or is this where ballers ball? I understand why, just trying to understand the line between devotion and promotion.

Not sure how many, but I think a lot of them do. The weather is great. Sandy beaches are great to train on. There are mountains nearby which means foothills before them and that is also great for training. The lifestyle is awesome and there are a ton of things to do.

Odell Beckham Jr. Press Conference | 6/5

Miami, LA, and Arizona are the primary spots for winter workouts.

I agree with this but it should be a big pay cut.

I find it curious how Odell and Baker hooked up in the off-season, maybe via Damarious. I think I answered my own question, to quote OutKast,

Players Ball

Honestly I'd ask what this statement is based on - because I find it a little asinine to be talking about a pay cut in 2 or 3 years time when we have no idea of how great Landry's contribution to the team will be in that time frame ... and by that time no doubt salaries will have shot up and Landry's contract will no doubt seem quite average. I have not paid any attention to any recent in fighting over how good or over rated Landry is - is that all this post is? A continuation of other debates of JL?

I suspect that Landry will have to take a serious pay cut in order to stay with the Browns.

My reasons are above:

Baker Mayfield
Myles Garrett
OBJ
Denzel Ward

These 4 players will all demand max deals. (assuming they stay on their current paths)

Mayfield will be looking at somewhere in the range of $30+ million/year.

Myles will make somewhere around $15-$20 million/year.

OBJ, obviously. makes $15 million/year.

Ward will likely make $15 million/year.

Let's peg this total at $80 million. This year's cap is $188 million.

It is entirely possible that the cap increases significantly, but it is also entirely possible that NFL contracts also increase at a much higher rate.

Just using these numbers, we would have $80 million tied up in annual money, and only $108 million in annual money to pay the rest of the roster. (49 players and the practice squad) There simply is not room for Landry to continue to make $14 million/year.

Also, Dorsey will be looking for replacements of the highest priced players on the team as the seasons pass. He may not find them all, but he will load up on guys to possibly replace expensive veterans.

Last year we added TJ Carrie and Terrence Mitchell. We drafted Ward last year, and Williams this year. Mitchell has a 3 year $12 million deal. We'll see if he finishes it. Carrie has a $ year $31 million deal. I doubt he finishes it.

Back to Landry, Dorsey already went and got OBJ, and also added Callaway last year. We have Higgins, who has developed into a quality NFL receiver. I look for us to be in the process of developing our 5th/6th WRs to step up as needed, and when we have an opening(s) in the top 4.

This is going to be life from now on. We have 4 realistic superstar candidates, who will be paid as such. The rest of the team will have to fit in, salary-wise, around them. If the salary cap increases by $10 million every year, it won't change these economic realities.

A lot can happen in a couple of years. It would be nice if we could just enjoy what we have for a bit, especially since we have a few posters who are intent on bashing Landry every chance they get.

I don't have a problem with anyone's opinions of Jarvis Landry. I posted my thoughts on him when we traded for and signed him. So far I haven't been wrong, not yet anyway. Still time to prove me wrong.

What I find funny are the hypocritical posts. There are all these general statements made, but none of them apply to Jarvis.

Someone here once said that we were so bad we have to overpay players to get them to sign, but in the very next breath "we didn't overpay for Jarvis."

Someone here once said that they think Browns fans overrate their own players. Yet some of those same people are calling Landry a great receiver, maybe even top 5 in the NFL. 1q

You can't make blanket statements and then make exceptions because you want to argue with someone.

Don't misunderstand what I'm saying. Jarvis is known for his great hands and he is phenomenal at catching 2 yard bombs. I don't have an issue with him here, but there are far better value players in the NFL. If he were here at the right price, great, I'm ok with it, but it's not hard to see we are paying someone a lot of money to do something he's not even doing.

I fully expect OBJ to be here for a long time. I can't say the same for Landry. In the money grab era, it would be unprecedented if he stays for less money just to "win." If you are a top 5 receiver in the league, you should feel you're good enough to make any team a winner... just sayin'.

I'll quote myself in reply to the post that followed mine.

Would be great to make it thru one day without someone making things personal.

Unlike a lot of folks, I like Chris Carter.
Here's his take on OBJ. It's not as fluffy as the headline indicates. (starts at 1:09):

Like this one?

That was a good video. I liked what CC and the other guy had to say. Thanks for sharing!

I liked how they talked about how having Landry, Chubb, Hunt, and Njoku would help OBJ. I also liked how they talked about our OL and Baker being much better than what OBJ has had in the past.

One thing that will be interesting to note is if Baker and OBJ do hook-up during the time off before Training Camp. I don't know if they will, but perhaps they should.

Great piece on the Browns - thanks for sharing. I always like Chris Carter - regardless of whether I agree 100Z% with him. And that was a pretty deep dive into the team, the chemistry and it also hit on the importance (or lack there-of) voluntary camps versus the rest of the pre-season from now till Sept.

I fully expect Baker and OBJ, JL, Higgins and Calloway all to spend time working together away from Browns camp.

I agree with everything they said except for the OL. We lost a key piece in the Zeitler trade.

...

This coming from the guy that defends the dude who made Kenny Britt his 1st big FA signing ... classic ... ...

U know i remember when we first signed him and u and the other sashiettes started the overpaid BS ... i don’t think its a coincidence that the same 4 core members belong to both groups ... well one of u (may have even been U) posted an article about what a HORRIBLE TEAMMATE VG was cause of what Gase said to defend your dumb butt position on VG being overpaid ...

Well u guys sure nailed that one .... He has been an absolutely HORRIBLE TEAMMATE here ... TERRIBLE TERRIBLE example for the young cats in our WR room .... he’s definetly had a negative affect in the locker room since he’s arrived ... its clear u menZas were spot on about that ...

I was thinking about that, too. And we lost Harrison due to his own idiocy, but still, we have to hope that Robinson stays healthy and/or doesn't revert to his first couple of years in the league.

What is with all this disrespect for Landry.... I don't get it.

To put it simply, he's a decent to good slot WR, but is paid like a top 10 WR over his contact. He is a good leader, but maybe not worth his price.

To make it really short read the Duke Johnson thread but every time you see 'Duke Johnson' read 'Jarvis Landry'.

This ought to go over well.

I ran out of coffee this morning, so I'm just going to outsource its job to a few posters.

There's a little more to it than you want to admit. I like "Vice Grips", he's a good player, and I even seem to remember about a year ago saying something like Landry was about the only move at receiver I actually liked. This was in the midst of a whole lot of nonsense with Gordon, Britt, and others.

You have to remember, last off-season was a very low point for the Browns franchise. Ray Farmer and Sashi Brown didn't exactly leave the team loaded with talent, and our coach was deferring his jump into the lake after going 0-16.

The culture just wasn't very good and the team needed upgrades. Luckily, we had piles of cap space and extra draft picks to work with. Enter Jarvis Landry. Good player, sometimes you just have to take what talent you can get (too many dollars chasing too few players has its issues), he had a great work ethic, drilled the younger players, and so on.

Now, break down his contract. Technically it was 5 year, 75.5 million dollar deal, but as NFL contracts go, not all of that is guaranteed. The Browns can actually get out of the deal after this year, effectively making it a 2 year, $34 million deal. That's 17 million a year we're paying, and it will be a bit less if the deal goes longer.

Do you remember the Super Bowl? Specifically Julian Edelman running around and pretty much being uncoverable. He was on a contract making something like $5 million a year. That's value. Would you rather have Julian Edelman at $5 million, or Jarvis Landry at $17 million?

Or look at free agency this year. Many people here were desperate to land Gerald McCoy, and he ended up going to Carolina for $8 million and change. Suh went to the Bucs for $9 million and change. Would you rather have Jarvis Landry and a replacement level player, or Suh and McCoy? I get that it's not a direct comparison since we're comparing WR to DT, but I'm just trying to show what you can do with that kind of money/cap space. We're talking nearly 10% of the salary cap.

Like I said, he's a good player. I appreciate that he's a willing blocker as that's something that you can't always say about receivers, or even tight ends for that matter. I don't know how you can call yourself a tight end and not be willing to block, but I'm getting a little off topic here.

YTown made a good post about future cap implications, and probably not being able to keep everyone together at their current and/or projected salaries. There's only so much room and Garrett, Baker, Ward, and others are going to get paid. Russell Wilson just got a contract for like $35 million a year... the cap will go up but so to will the QB market, and that's just one position.

After this year, Landry will have been paid $34 million for 2 years. Next year he's set to earn $13 million. Good chance he'll still be around but he has to play at a high level. If I had to guess right now, I'd say he'll probably be on the team next year. However, it wouldn't be a huge shock if he's gone and Callaway or someone else steps in.

For whatever it's worth, PFF had Landry as their 33rd rated receiver last year. https://www.profootballfocus.com/nfl/players/jarvis-landry/8698

So at least you can admit you were wrong and I was right, I guess.

I believe the argument was when we signed him that I said if he did what he did in Miami it was a horrible deal. You insisted he was going to be better and you were basing your thoughts on the contract that he was going to be better than in Miami because we had a better QB situation. Even with Tyrod. I recall being laughed at when I said he wouldn't catch 100 balls or gain 1000 yards. I was wrong actually, he couldn't even duplicate the numbers he had in Miami. This deal was worse than I originally thought.

I also don't think he's this "great leader" that everyone thinks he is. It seems everyone bases this off his speech shown on hardknocks. Meanwhile I recall watching a game when they showed Landry pouting on the sidelines and someone commenting about how that's not how good leaders react.

Im actually really tired of talking about Landry and I'm tired of reading this board where someone has to take a jab at another poster for his or her opinions even when not engaged with said poster. It's ridiculous. Especially when some things have already been proven. Certain posters actually look foolish, but think they are on top of the world because they knocked another person down. Good for you. I guess that's how some want to play.