DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum 2022 Browns FA/Roster

We have a pretty big list of Free Agents right now. (20)

* Expected cap should be 208 million**
** We would have 39 mill in cap space
*** We can cut Landry and save 15.1 mill, Tretter for 8.25, Keenum for 6 mill)
**** I don't think we can churn more than 25% of the roster in one season
***** We have 8 picks in 2022 (1-6 are the Browns) a 4th from the Lions + conditional 7th round swap with the Lions)

Here is a list of UFA
Clowney -DE- will be 29
Hubbard -OT- will be 31
McKinkey - DE- (achilles)
Jackson -DT- will be 32
Walker -ILB
Njoku -TE- will only be 26
Higgins -WR
Stewart -DB
Smith OLB- will be 33
Colquitt -P- will be 40
Hairrison -S- will be 25


Here is a list of RFA

Odenigbo - DE
Meander - S -
Carlson - TE
McLaughlin -K will be 26
Johnson - RB - will be 26

Here is a list of ERFA
Froholdt - G
Dunn - T
Hance - T
McDowell - DT



Off the UFA, I'd put contract offers to (3)
Clowney (he's still oft-injured and should come at a favorable 1 or 2 year contract)
Njoku - still young and really changed his opinion of CLE and played way better
Harrison/Stweart (if the price is right and they know the system and are decent in spot duty)

RFA (2)
Johnson - no questions- he has filled in nicely
McLaughlin (if he gets it back together- he is super young


ERFA (3)
Dunn
Hance
McDowell

That would leave us with about 12-15 (5-7 from the draft) new players on the team which seems pretty normal in the NFL

I agree with your list.

Higgins. You have to get him a contract. There are a few others I would like to see back if the price is right.

Why would we get Higgins a contract when we only play him when we are forced? I don't agree with it because the guy does nothing except catch 1st downs, but the Higgins enigma has gone on for however many years and regimes.

We MUST re-sign Clowney, McDowell. Those guys showed a lot.

I'd be fine letting Keenum go. We're going to go into 2022 with Baker in the "put up or shut up" stage of deciding to keep him here... and if we wouldn't put in Keenum after the litany of injuries to Baker, then I see zero reason to have such a highly paid backup. Plus, we need the roster spot for a cheaper backup and/or a potential replacement.

I would be surprised if Hubbard were brought back. Dude has been great, much respect to how he's rolled with the punches these 4 seasons, but age, injuries and cost are working against him. Hance has really stepped up in the primary backup/utility lineman role. I think Hance has earned it and we continue to backfill with young talent.

I really want Landry back. I hope we bring Landry back. His performance dip is directly related to injuries, but more importantly I really don't think we can afford to lose his leadership heading into this off-season. I know we can save money on him, but I think we should look for savings elsewhere.

I feel for Takk. I hope we can maybe, somehow do him a solid on his way out.

I could see Tretter as a cost-saving move. Harris has been groomed as his replacement for a while.

I hope we find a way to keep Njoku. A TE-matchup nightmare should thrive in this O.

"A TE-matchup nightmare should thrive in this O."

but yet, he does not.

The only guy that’d I’d say we have to re-sign is Clowney.

Anytime you can re-sign a fourth receiver that no one else wants and gets buried every year you have to do that.

Besides Clowney, I'd really like to keep Malik McDowell. I think he could be a real force on the DLine. I'd also like to keep D'Ernest, OL and DB depth wherever possible. Last, I still think there's a chance McLaughlin could be a good kicker.

Hollywood Higgins. A tradition unlike any other.

I'm starting to wonder if Landry would want to come back. Obviously, its a big payday for him if he is on the same contract next year. He's been conspicuously absent from media availability for quite some time now. He has not done a postgame interview since Oct.31st and the last time he met with the media was at his charity event in mid-November.

This may be a situation where both parties are looking to move on from each other.

I have been wondering about Landry for a few weeks, because something is "off" about him. Maybe he's still hurting, but it also occurred to me that he might be disenchanted with his role here. Maybe its something to do with Beckham's release, I don't know.

I'd pursue Clowney, Walker, Njoku, Higgins, Johnson (at least offer a tender that will net something for the Browns), and McDowell.

Give Clowney, Njoku, and McDowell healthy contracts. Walker seems like an intelligent, fundamentally sound leader that won't cost much, which is good since the FO seems to prioritize other positions groups (as they should) w/ financial resources. I'd like to sign Higgins, but for his sake, go somewhere else that will ulitilize his hands, route running, efficiency etc.

Yep, I don't understand the lack of love for Higgins. The staff must not like his red carpet celebrations or something. When he gets enough playing time to get some targets, he always performs, and often clutch. Yet, he rides pine or sits at home most games. And I think he made DPJ better by making him step it up in the last game, catching those balls.

How many FA WR (i.e. those we didn't draft) willingly want to hook their wagon to Baker and Stefanski?

My guess - none. And that includes Higgins and Landry.

I am not going to get all inclusive with this post. My initial thought is I don't get all the love for Walker. I wouldn't put him on any must sign list.

Clowney is a must.

After that in the UFA - Higgins. Especially if Jarvis Landry is a salary cap causality.

Yeah, I've resigned myself to the fact that I'm just not going to understand whatever the deal is with his standing on the team.

Do you we know the kind(s) of receivers they're looking for on this team? I would think reliable receivers (good routes and good hands) would be the main things (which Higgins has) in an offense that seems to emphasize not taking too many risks and maintaining possession. But then we keep giving reps to Schwartz, who (at this point) has speed and little else to his game... I just don't really understand our offense other than letting Chubb go to work.

Defense has been killing it in the second half of the season. I'll never understand the blasé attitude we had in giving away games earlier in the year after not playing defensive players in preseason games when they obviously weren't up to speed. Woods gets an 'X', or a frowny-face or whatever assessment they use for the start of the season, but seeing how far we've come and how the defense has performed despite the dead weight of the offense puts Woods on pretty strong ground at this point. Our secondary is covering extremely well, which was our killer weakness early on. I'd like to see our D add turnovers to their game as well as more of a killer mentality to close out games, but I'm much more confident we can get there.

Walker is what we have in the absence of anything better. His play is pretty lackluster, but so is the contract we gave him so I hope that means we're going to continue looking to upgrade that position group. I think our LB group is on the cusp of being really strong with the emergence of Wu and the plethora of solid depth pieces.

I just want to reiterate how important I think it is for us to retain both Clowney and Landry. Clowney has been the real deal on the field and in terms of his attitude (one of his main criticisms prior to signing here). As far as Landry, it would be nice to have him restructure, but if he doesn't I still hope we keep him and look elsewhere for savings (namely Keenum).

My pie-in-the-sky hope for the offseason is to trade away Hooper, keep Njoku and/or add a legit TE receiving option.

Clowney has to be re-signed IMO. There’s a stark difference when he’s not on the field.

Quoted for truth. But they have to point the finger at somebody.

I'm not upset about the Defense because they don't play well. I'm upset about the Woods' bend but don't break attitude when it's time to close out a game. For every 4th quarter comeback Baker failed at this year, there is a late opposition rally that Woods allowed to happen. If we're thinking about shipping Baker for any reason, Woods definitely must go, too.

And I understand that feeling. But feelings don't tend to change the numbers. I try to use what I've considered a relatively neutral way of looking at both the offense and defense. Those are points allowed and points scored. My gauge used to be 21 points by either one. If your defense gives up more than 21 points, they failed. If your offense scores less than 21 points, they failed. But the rules have changed so much since I fist began using that formula to protect the QB and punish defenders I had to adjust it somewhat in order to compensate for that. So now my gauge is 24 points as a gauge for both the offense and defense. I don't think anyone can reasonably argue that the rules haven't changed quite a bit over the past ten to twenty years that favor higher scoring in the NFL.

Thus far our defense has given up 24 points or more a total of four times. By contrast our offense has scored less than 24 points nine times.

Sign Colquitt only. It's been so nice to have a reliable vet at punter again. I wish we could find the same at K.

Higgins is one of my favorite players in the entire NFL, but we don't use him, so might as well stop wasting the roster spot and let him go have a chance at a career elsewhere.

Clowney + Njoku, I'd resign both, but I don't see why they'd want to sign here. Njoku was totally correct in requesting a trade, if he were on a team with a good QB and offensive scheme that passes he could be a top 5 TE. Clowney might stay if we upgrade at QB (and I'm a big Baker fan, but he blew it by insisting on playing all year at 20-30% health, might be done in CLE unless a miracle happens).

Landry is also one of my favorite players, but I again don't see why he'd want to play here.

The rest are JAGs, if they sign for a cheap rate, sure keep 'em, otherwise replace.

Njoku a top 5 TE - LOL. Seriously? He's the 4th best TE in the AFC North - so there's that.

looks like we have some upgrading to do