DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Browns' Offseason Activity

Competition in the punt return game if Jojo Natson can return healthy.

JoJo is a FA, so this may be to replace JoJo altogether...but too early to tell.

Switzer was on our practice squad, wasn't he?

yeah i think he was on IR and PS

We have like 2 dozen guys on future contracts. This is just giving him an off season workout facility and coaching staff to call in exchange for essentially having what amounts to the option to keep him next year.

Future contracts are nothing.

Why the Browns will likely let Larry Ogunjobi hit free agency: Browns Insider

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Browns will likely let defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi hit the free agent market in March like they did with linebacker Joe Schobert last year, and once that happens, there’s a good chance he’ll be gone.

The Browns would like to have Ogunjobi and many other players back at the right price, but they probably won’t want to pay him what he can get on the open market.

According to spotrac.com, Ogunjobi, the Browns’ third-round pick in 2017 out of Charlotte, has a market value of $28,154,163 over three years, for an average of $9,384,721. The Browns might be willing to sign him to a lesser deal, but will likely let him walk at that price.

For starters, they should have defensive tackle Andrew Billings coming back next season at the reasonable price of $3.5 million guaranteed. Signed as a free agent last offseason from the Bengals, Billings opted out this season because of COVID-19, and his contract rolled to 2021.

Billings started 30 games for the Bengals over the past two seasons, and would pair nicely inside with Sheldon Richardson, who’s heading into the final year of a contract that pays him $11.9 million in 2021.

In 2019, his last season with the Bengals, Billings ranked No. 50 in the NFL among interior defensive linemen, according to profootballfocus.com. Ogunjobi ranked 104th last year and 104th again this year with a 53.0 overall defensive grade in 2020.

For comparison’s sake, Richardson was tied for 37th with a 71.1 grade this year.

Ogunjobi was particularly down the charts in tackling, ranking 126th with a 29.7 grade. His best mark was in run defense, where he was 87th at 55.3. But the Browns’ rankings don’t always line up with pff.com’s, and they were happy with Ogunjobi this season. Probably not $9.384 million happy, though.

The situation was similar last season with Schobert, who hit the market and signed a five-year deal with the Jaguars worth $10.75 million a year, including a $12 million signing bonus. Schobert was the No. 57 linebacker in 2019, and was No. 53 in 2020. But he was productive for the Jaguars this season, leading the team with 141 tackles while notching three interceptions and six QB hits.

Ogunjobi, one of 10 Browns headed toward unrestricted free agency, knows the Browns are prepared to let him go, and he’s eager to set his family up financially whether it’s here or somewhere else.

“It’s a new chapter and a new opportunity to continue to build on the person I am, the player I am and just continue to get better,’' he said after the season. “I’ve seen that there are things that I need to work on and things I can get better at. Now, I know what to attack and what to do. That’s why I’m so optimistic because it’s the details and the technique that can really take your game to the next level.”

In addition to a handful of big extensions the Browns must decide on this offseason, they must also determine whether or not to re-sign pending free agents such as Rashard Higgins, Kevin Johnson, Terrance Mitchell, Karl Joseph and B.J. Goodson. They will likely re-sign a number of them, including possibly Higgins, Mitchell and others. Depending on net losses in free agency, the Browns could end up with compensatory draft picks.

But Ogunjobi, one of two players left on the team from the 10 picks in the 2017 draft along with David Njoku, will likely follow in Schobert’s footsteps.

https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2021/01...ns-insider.html

I think it is a mistake letting Ogunjobi walk, but at this point he and his agent are going to FA and will most likely get overpaid, as it always happens. This team needs a solid rotation at the defensive line.

As mentioned in the article, maybe they play the compensatory pick game if their FA activity is intended to be limited.

Myles Garrett anyone?

Seriously crap journalism work.

Just occurred to me, if we lose Higgins we will have no one left from the 14-player 2016 draft "haul"


We already have no players left from the 2015 12-player lot. Heck, I don't think any of those guys were even on the team in 2019. That''s wild.

Joel Bitonio is the only drafted player who is actually on his 2nd contract. Myles is playing his 5th year option this year so his 2nd doesn't kick in until 2022.

Absolutely insane.

On a brighter note, since Higgins rookie contract was actually terminated. Then signed a 1-year practice squad deal, followed by a 2-year deal, followed by his restricted FA deal, followed by his one-year deal for last year...if we resign him I believe it would officially be his 6th different contract with the team.

Talk about having to work to get a commitment.

Browns have Andrew Billings coming back next year giving them some flexibility on what they decide to do with Ogunjobi.

Man they sure had a lot of draft picks in 2015 and 2016.

No doubt. 26 draft picks accumulated for "the rebuild" and 4 years later we had Rashard Higgins.

Mercy.

Most of our '17 draft is still in the league just with other teams. That's what happens when you have constant coaching and GM turnover.

I’m not going to sweat losing Obiwangunjobi. I was really hoping he’d make a contract year step up this year but I didn’t see it and it seems the data bears it out. It’s a safe bet we’ll be active on the DL front in FA & draft and his production shouldn’t be so hard to approximate. Even though we currently have some cap room we’re getting to the point where we need to be efficient with rewarding productivity with an eye towards the some big money layouts in the next few years. That favors youth and early contracts on believed potential over established mediocrity.

I wouldn't rule out Ogun being back. With the Cap going down, Ogun and the author of that article will realize that he isn't likely to get that kind of money out there. Even if he isn't back, he likely isn't getting $9 million per year unless it is heavily backloaded and banking on the Cap jumping back up in 2022 or 2023.

I would be stunned to see Ogunjobi back.

Higgins and Mitchell, is they are affordable. It would not completely stun me to see Vernon re-signed, to a reasonable deal, if he's on a path to recovery. He could be a super high quality backup/ rotation piece.

I think a lot depends on our view of Billings and Weaver ... and of course what we think of the DL prospects in the draft.

I’d like to see both Higgy and Mitchell back too

We need to resign Higgins and Mitchell ,,, JMO

At the right price point, Keeper. But stats were short of what we need. Billings can help us IMO.

Wouldn't write Oggie out, but if here, he needs to be committed to us.

Keep Big L and Richardson.

Shop Vernon. Shop greedy. Get rid of Sendejo. Either find a quality DB in FA or 2nd and 3rd round.
1st round pick needs to be best LB on the board.

Look for another DC.

As Lane Adkins suggested yesterday on Twitter, restructuring guys like Richardson or Landry or OBJ may need to take place. Obviously everyone wants their money, but maybe we can get creative

Geez. I didn't know Richardson had a cap hit over over $13.5M.

There have been rumors going back a couple of months about Berry doing something with both Landry and OBJ's contract but, yes, perhaps Richardson is in the mix too.

I can see us trying to get both Landry and OBJ done to milk a little more cap for this year, guys like Higgins, Larry O are a dime a dozen. Larry was one of the worst at his position this year.. Billings is a lot better and it was a huge hit when he opted out.. he would have been the starter. Weaver is interesting as DE, hes def. got the physical stats to be a good DE and if flores was trying to sneak him back on the he might be worth a look. I could see us taking a one year flyer on Watt. I think the biggest problem with the draft this year is how covid really upset the competitive advantage this year in CFB. Going to be alot more swings and misses this year I believe. I'd hate to be at the top of the draft this year, you almost have to believe most are going to try to trade down to get a few more chances to hit on a few guys.

i didnt realize Richardson was that high either

Sandejo is a free agent, so he is gone. Hopefully.

Greedy is basically made out of tinker toys. I do not see anyone trading anything to have him sit in their whirlpool instead of ours.

I fully expect us to restructure Landry, OBJ, and Richardson this offseason to free up some cap space. Add Bitonio to that list as well (maybe with an extension...add a year or 2 to his current deal and let him retire a Brown, depending on how long he wants to play).

All 4 of them have very little guaranteed money left on their deals, and I think all would be willing to add some more at the expense of a lower base salary.

I see Richardson in particular doing a deal like OV last offseason. No way he gets 13M this offseason with a lower cap.

That would be ideal. The hope is that OBJ and Landry and Richardson accept it

How does the saying go? "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."

I think it would behoove all of them to get some more guaranteed money. They aren't getting any younger.

yeah that’s the angle I’d take too

I think it depends on the player. I mean if you're a much older player who sees a long term deal unlikely, you would probably be more likely to sign a deal or renegotiates your deal.

But if you're still in your prime, why would you sign a long term deal when you know once people get the Covid vaccine the salary cap will go up?

In that case I would never sign a long term deal and I would e very hesitant to renegotiate my contract. The most you would ever get me to sign is a one or two year deal so I could cash in once the cap goes back up. That's just good business.

As far as renegotiating I may agree to transfer my bonus money for a year to help the cap situation for the short term due to Covid, but that's it. So I would rework the terms of my contract.

I don't disagree. The deal is you never know how a player is going to mesh until he gets here.

Important Dates To Know For The NFL Off-Season

Below are the important dates for the off-season prior to the NFL’s 2021 campaign:


*February 7th - Franchise tag players

Teams are able to franchise would-be free agents for an extra year at this point for a steep price. Currently, it doesn’t look like the Browns will be franchise tagging anyone.


*March 9th - franchise tag deadline

The last day that players can be franchise tagged by their team.


*March 15th through 17th - free agency talks begin 4 p.m.

At this point teams can start reaching out to player agents and begin working on deals. Deals can be put in place and everything can be done besides that signature that makes it official.


*March 17th - new league year begins, free agency starts 4:00 p.m.

Teams can officially sign free agents, including the ones they worked deals out with the previous two days.


*April 19th - offseason workouts begin


*April 23rd - deadline for RFA to sign


*April 29th through May 1st - NFL Draft in Cleveland, Ohio.

Cleveland will host the 2021 NFL Draft. Currently it is unknown what this will look like and how much of it could be virtual.


https://www.si.com/nfl/browns/news/nfl-offseason-dates

Maybe I am misunderstanding your point, but I disagree. It doesn't seem like a fundamentally sound approach to begin worrying about your cap only once you realize you're in trouble with it.

Many organization that sustain success, and directly their leadership, have the ability to look ahead while focusing on the present. Only focusing on the present and not looking at the possible ramifications of decisions made today can really hurt an organization....whether it's a football club or any business in any other industry.

Personally, I hope were are looking at the cap situation of the future and how it relates to our current players we'd like to extend as well as players coming up in the future.

I would not favor waiting until you are in cap hell to deal with cap. There can be bad times to pick your parachute out and put it on; when you really need it is not that time.

An eye to your future is needed. Oddly, it would be like laying out a minefield for yourself. Cap decisions can make you or cripple you as a franchise. Some thought to this, then FA. With more success with more successful players, the evaluation and retention or release can be literal game changers. Keep worth, and shed some of the overpaid for its return folks. We will need to assess where our success came from first. Then some prioritizing in cap will tend to itself.

Get out your wallets.

Plus, our potential cap issues are not that far in the future. It's only a couple years until we're due to pay Baker, Ward, Chubb... and we're still trying to fill holes.

Do we have anyone that we could (much less would) hit with the tag?

Nope.

Wasn't it Belichick who goes by the motto of "I'd rather get rid of a player a year too early than a year too late."?