DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Browns Sign Jameis Winston

If Flacco wasn't about to be 40 years old I think this would be a different discussion. If he was 29 instead or even 34 the Browns front office would have had to look at the possibilities with Flacco. At 39 there is no long term solution there and the front office went into a different direction.

So, if he was better then what? He is too old to be the future. I don't get your take. Flacco thew for quite a few yards but he also threw quite a few picks. I don't think our Front Office wants to continue to just wing it like they did down the stretch. Although, they did just bring in a QB that threw for 5,000+ yards in a season with 33 TD and 30 INT's.

I'm not trying to argue with which choice between the two QB's was the best option. But one thing I will comment on is that if Winston was someone that is being considered as a part of the future why would he have only been signed to a one year deal? You don't sign a player to a one year deal you see as a part of the future.

You didn't see him between games which I think has to have some consideration. How many snaps was he taking during the week? Or was he spending it all in the cold tubs struggling to get his aging, out of condition body to a place where it could function again the next Sunday?

How many of the INTs were in part because he was unable to fully bounce back from hits?

Could he handle a full season of prep and games or would his arm wear out? He looked good until he didn't. Unfortunately, the not looking good could very well come earlier in the season if he started sooner. Maybe he's a better option "off the couch" without the wear and tear and off-season grind. Perhaps Winston is a pseudo-Flacco, keeping the team used to the things Flacco does well while keeping the actual Flacco well rested. If we need a starter, perhaps Flacco will be ready and waiting.

A totally uninspiring and underwhelming pick up. Hopefully he never sees the field unless it is in mop up duty when we are miles ahead for have secured a playoff spot. I guess I can understand not resigning flacco as it would definitely add pressure to the situation if watson Struggles. Meh.

What's so stunning about that? He even gave plausible rationale, which would make it the opposite of stunning.

Hopefully he’ll play QB 3 this season. I’d rather have Flacco, at least we know he can still ball out in our O. I’m not a fan of this signing.

It's not stunning at all.

Honestly, I was kind of assuming they would come back with DTR as the primary backup. It all depended on how much a backup would be.

Flacco did all you could ask for from a backup and plus some. A few of us have echoed this for some time, besides age, possible price tag, one of things is the media and fans. Just look at during the season last year, we were winning games and media/fans wanted to fire Stef, talking about trading or releasing Watson, then the whole Flacco love story. So weird.

Anyways, signing Winston is a solid signing. He is pretty much what you want in a backup QB. He was a starter, been around the league for quite a few years. Loves the deep ball and has an arm to throw it. He can come in and you still have a chance to win some games. Let's be honest, if you are playing your backup QB for an extended period of time; your chances are significantly lower to win games (especially in the AFC).

One of the things I like is the same reason I liked watching Flacco play for us. He is a wildcard. The dude might throw a bad int or two, however the dude can wow you with a big-time throw. I would rather know we have a chance in a game then knowing our offense will be throwing 10 or less yard passes all game.

Flacco wasn't our backup last year, either, so it doesn't really matter. We can just sign him off the couch later when we get to that point.

Flacco himself said that one of the main reasons he was able to perform that well in the playoff run was that he was spared the wear and tear of training camp, preseason and 10 games. He was able to come in fresh and ready when we needed him.

STUPID TO SIGN WINSTON OVER FLACCO. Browns doing stupid crap because they are still all-in on Deshaun Watson. Yet, wataon has failed to stay on the field and barely performs when he is on it. SMH stupid if you ask me.

I am pretty sure that Flacco already hit his peak. Plus, I'm sure the FO knows that signing flacco would just cause a QB controversy that the team doesn't need.

And signing Winston weakens the room, which is stupid. Thanks for proving my point.

Yeah heaven forbid we have a QB controversy. We'd rather finish dead last and keep losing with a bum. But hey, no controversies!

If having Flacco on the team created such a controversy, and we're SO hell bent on avoiding those (which is bunk) - then cut the bum Watson and move on.

You produce, you stay. You suck, you go. It's not rocket science. Except in Berea where we care more about avoiding bad press than winning games.

I can't believe there is this much discussion over a player, Flacco, very few want to see him play!

Can Flacco play as effectively under Dorsey as he played for AVP?

Can Winston beat DTR for the #2 QB?

Your parting shot makes no sense. If they cared about bad press they wouldn't have signed Watson and would have signed Flacco. Fortunately, they want what's best for the team on the field rather than trying to placate emotional fanatics.

No.

Not a Jameis fan. Too many head scratching int and poor decisions…

I will admit that I enjoyed Flacco’s year with the Browns. I thought the offense was much more productive…

I will wonder what it would have been with a healthy Chubb..

And DTR should be off the roster too! We have one good QB (maybe ), and jack crap behind him, same as we had gong into last year. We all saw how that was going before Flacco signed. How hard is it to find three decent QBs with at least one being starter quality. We had Baker who we could depend on to play, but he wasn’t enough. We had Flacco come out of nowhere to lead us into the playoffs and stop the end of our season tanking on us. But he wasn’t resigned.

DTR and the turnover machine 3rd guy should never have been the plan going into the season. They were awful. And DTR is too damn small framed. He’ll get killed every year in the AFCN. I just don’t get the love affair with DW or running QBs. Give me three tall bigger pocket passer QBs who can scramble when they have to and color me happy. At least some guys that can take the hits the AFCN dishes out. It’s not rocket science. I’d rather have Justin Fields than DTR or Winston, tbh, and I think he’s been horrible in Chicago! But I bet he’d be a better backup than Winston, all day.

j/c

I guess this is really simple -

Forget age. If either choice was forced into action because Watson gets hurt - who do I think would [1] Play better [2] Be most likely to stay healthy. . . . . the answer to both is Flacco.

Unfortunately along with that question comes: If Watson struggles to play well, which back up QB option is going to create more pressure on Watson and have the fans calling for him soomer: Answer is again Flacco.

As I said - we can all hope he JW doesn't ever need to see the field.

I don't know if he is the future or not. I don't think the 1 year deal means he won't or can't be. I think the team wants to see how he does and fits in with the team. Backups, especially the QB, need to fit in for lack of a better way of explaining it. I suppose they could sign him to an extension at any time.

I'll also mention that my feeling is DTR is the guy they see as the future, but the future isn't this season. Maybe even the future if we decide to move on from Watson in a year.

I am good with the signing of Winston. I like Flacco better, but there is no doubt in my mind he would have been a distraction. Just look at what is happening right now. Flacco would have been a distraction with players, the media, and on gameday in the stadium. Not by anything he might do or have done but rather by simply being on the team. We would have lost more games by him simply being there than any he would have won by playing.

As is said: If you have more than 1 QB, you have none.

It goes without saying that the decision-making process at the QB position in 2023 was subject at best. Truthfully, finding Flacco sitting at home (not wanted by any team) delivering the type of year he had was a stroke of luck no one anticipated. Anyone saying different is lying to themselves. That said, resigning Flacco for a possible 1-5 game stint again in 2024 at age 39 has as much a chance of being successful as it does being a repeat of the Texans game. That's not being negative about Flacco but just stating the facts and more likely a huge part of the reason he was sitting home when the Browns found him than not.

Certainly, the Browns cannot go into the 2024 season with any QB plan policy similar to the failed attempt in 2023. Questions still abound about Watson (whether you want to admit that or not). If you look at the on-field intangibles, Winston has a much higher upside than Flacco in almost every category except for playoff experience and maybe decision making though some of Flacco's decisions were head scratchers last year too. Think about this, Winston threw for 5,109 yards with 33 TD's in a single season. Unfortunately, his decision-making process also contributed to 30 INT's. If that INT total had been 15, would anyone be questioning this signing?

It's no secret that I am not a fan of Stefanski. However, considering he's been called a QB guru and has a new offensive coaching staff, it stands to reason that the expectation level would be for Stefanski to address that decision making process, Right? Imagine if you will that if Winston has to play in place of Watson and delivers the same type of play as 2019 with 50% less decision-making errors. I mean really, aren't we actually waiting on Watson to finally deliver the same type of season we witnessed in from him in 2020? If we look at the last 3-years of both players in games played, Watson age 29 has 12 starts (8-4 and giving him the Indy win he didn't actually win) and thrown for 2217 yards - 14 TDs - and 9 INT's. Winston age 30 has had 10 starts (6-4) and has thrown for 2292 yds - 18 TD's - and 11 INT's. There's really zero disparity between the two when you look at actual production on the field the last 3-years. Wouldn't Stefanski and his team be responsible for working with Winston to eliminate the singular issue that may be the difference between the 2 at this moment?

I'll give credit where credit is due, Berry has made a good decision IMHO to address the elephant in the room as to the athletic ability of the backup QB position. It is now up to Stefanski and his staff to address the issue that separates the two to deliver the team two quality QB's at the position. Whether Stefanski and his team can deliver is a topic for another discussion but as of now, the success of both players falls clearly in his lap and the future of the team is dependant on him developing both players into the players they can be, JMHO.

Yes. I would think it's safe to say he will be the backup to Watson to start the season and is not really a matter of beating him out. I think the question becomes whether or not the Browns keep 3 active QBs on the roster or risk losing DTR to another team. This FO has kept 2 on the active roster to start the season since being in charge here.

I forgot all about that. That’s a good point.

I can’t see the team risk losing DTR

Which pretty much means what I thought it did. At this point in time Winston isn't considered into future plans. As of this moment he is a one year band aid and they'll see where it goes from there.


DTR certainly has an interesting skill set. But he's very raw and has a lot of developing to go before he could be considered a starter or even reliable backup. I'm sure their hopes, along with ours is that he develops into that. But that remains a huge question mark. For mwe no less of a question mark as to if Winston will be in the Browns long term plans. Sometimes you just take a flier on a guy with that type of skill set. sometimes they reach that potential but just as often, if not more often they never do.


I don't have an issue with the signing of Winston. Where I had the problem last year is that they didn't actually have a plan at the backup QB position. Mostly a hope and a prayer. My contention was they needed a backup with starter experience that we didn't have to worry about melting under the pressure of starting NFL games. While I may have favored Flacco, to me Winston still fills the bill. It leaves us in much better shape going into this season than last season.

While I understand the point you're making and it does seem to be the model a lot of NFL teams tend to follow, players are supposed to be professionals. It's their career and not a spectator sport for them. As such whether it's Flacco or Winston on the roster, Watson is the starting QB. The only people such a scenario should be a distraction for is the fans. You are spot on that the media would help stoke that fire. And once you start allowing the fan base to influence what's best for the team you're in real trouble. Whether Flacco or Winston is in the backup position should have zero impact on a teams W/L record.

Free DTR!

Sooo....

Now we're going to finish last because we have Winston instead of Flacco? 🤣

I'm sorry, but I found this hysterical.



Gotta love the current Browns discourse.

No, we're going to finish last (maybe 3rd if we're lucky) because we have the worst QB in the AFCN. 1) Burrow (assuming healthy) 2) Jackson 3) Wilson 4) Watson.
If we re-signed Flacco I'd have ranked him 3rd in AFCN giving us an outsiders shot at finishing 2nd.

In order:
1) Burrow
2) Jackson
3) Flacco
4) Wilson
5) Watson
6) Uncle Rico
7) Jameis

Ah, so Flacco is better than Russell Wilson but Watson is not.