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Just a quick look, over a $trillion. JD Rockefeller alone was over $500,000,000. I am not sure if that is adjusted dollars or straight dollars.

Charity is a good thing. I think most everybody in here could give up $200 a year to your local food bank. That's under $20 a month. If everybody did that, hunger wouldn't be a problem in this country.

I think a perfect QB room this year would be Kirk Cousins as starter, Kenny Pickett as back up, and Tyler Shough as developmental QB with potential.

Trading for Kirk Cousins is such a bad idea on so many levels.

He was on a steep decline in the end of last season. (According to himself because of an injury but the Falcons FO has given a different explanation) That’s the first big red flag.

The Falcons don’t want him as a starter any longer. Second big red flag and probably the best answer you can get why we should walk away from an injury prone quarterback.

His injury record, age (37 when the season starts) and the mileage in his body.
Achilles 2023, ankle 2024. Third red flag.

Is Cousins hungry enough for an another new adventure with one the of the weakest team in the division and maybe the worst managed organization in the NFL?

It was more than five seasons since he worked with Stefanski. At that time Kevin wasn’t the HC and he was much younger than today. There’s zero guarantee that their working relationship is functioning in a similar way as it did in Minnesota. Both is older, its different environment in Cleveland and they both ended last season with lots of question marks .

The Browns are in bad position with many holes in their roster and that’s why gamling on a QB who had two seasons in a row with injuries is a very risky idea. This team needs new blood with young hungry upcoming talents who doesn’t care about anything else than to succeed.

Kirk seems to be a great guy, a role model with honest intentions but dealing with injuries and age is abfight that it’s hard win.

We need to stop hoping for miracles and believing that past successes will repeat itself. Cleveland Browns isn’t at the moment the place that turn water into wine on a regular basis.

Much like yourself I'm not a fan of dealing for Cousins. But at the same time this rookie draft class at QB, other than possibly Ward, isn't ready to come in and start on day 1. You will need a solid veteran to come here in the role of a mentor for a rookie QB. I certainly don't see Rodgers as playing the mentor role. He'll probably be off in a yurt somewhere every chance he gets.

Cousins would fill that role nicely even though I would hate to see the Browns spend future assets for a temporary band aid at the QB position. But IMO the Browns are more looking for a mentor at the veteran QB position than they are "hoping for miracles".

I like Jaxson Dart and Will Howard. (if we can’t get Ward)
In Howard I see loads of potential. The right mentality and the necessary toughness. With the right QB coach he can easily blossom into something big.

I fully understand the reasoning behind Cousins but I just think it’s a bad gamble. We can’t just take him because he’s the best option out of a bunch elder past it QBs.

There’re probably gems in this QB class but right now everyone is looking to find the next Mahomes.
With that mindset we will never find the hidden gems that probably will be right in front of us when the time to draft is ours.

So you would rather settle for someone who won't end up being a great QB? The "anti-Mahommes" that could easily leave the Browns muddled in mediocrity? I'm not sure I understand what it is you're saying here?

The same Will Howard that had one of the worst combine performances in combine history. I know he won a Natty at OSU, but you and I could have quarterbacked that team. They were loaded everywhere and all he had to do is not turn the ball over like he did in Michigan. No thanks.

I think you may be understating what Howard accomplished. In 2024 he completed 73.1% of his passes for over 4000 yards with 35 td's and 10 int's. He also rushed for 7 td's.

Now I agree with you to a point. He was on a very talented team which helped and I certainly don't consider him a high draft pick. But he will get drafted in the later rounds at worse and would be a good gamble in that range to develop into a sold backup. Possibly more although I don't think the odds of that are high.

But "you and I could have quarterbacked that team" is a total lack of recognizing what he actually accomplished and a ridiculous thing to say.

I would definitely draft Howard as a 2nd QB in rounds 4-5.

Howard also had a murderer's row of teams to get to that championship... whether he had a bad combine or not... the dude still looked good in the face of adversity.


THat's not everything. And understandable. But is also worth taking a flier on to see if he's also willing to rise to the challenge as well.

Some people seem to think throwing the ball around is shorts with zero pressure and WR's uncovered and open means as much or more than game tape. They are only fooling themselves.

In 2018 Mayfield and Darnold was picked before Allen and Jackson.
Despite tons of professional scouts and data driven analytics very few thought that Lamar and Josh was first pick material.

It’s the same almost every season.

Every class presents hidden gems who’s probably behind in development and some of them probably need the right environment to blossom.
In 2017 many thought Watson were the better prospect. Many less talented can easily make up their short comings with the right mentality, work ethic and necessary toughness. Mahomes was blessed with all of it. Mentality. Work ethic. Physicality. Toughness.

Despite he had it all not all scouts and analytics fully saw it.

What I mean is that if you can’t find the stand out candidate it doesn’t mean there’re hidden gems in front of you.
Not every prospect can be the next Brady or Mahomes but I’m perfectly happy if we find a new Jalen Hurt or similar.
His talent between his ears easily makes up for his other shortcomings.

Try looking at how weak QB drafts have worked out on the latest draft thread. Those hidden gems you speak about don't happen as often as you would like to make it sound. As a matter of fact finding great QB's in good draft classes doesn't happen all that often. What you do when trying to find that "hidden gem" in a very weak QB draft class is pitting yourself against tremendous odds that just is extremely unlikely to happen.

But if they insist on spitting against the wind at the #2 pick I certainly hope they don't get any on them.

I remember reading that year that a 4-6 or so NFL FO people were "surveyed", and each one had a different #1 choice of that QB class, but all had identical #2s. The number they were all unanimous on? Josh Rosen, who had the worst career of all of them.

I also remember Cowherd saying he wouldn't draft Baker in any round, due to character issues. Cowherd pointed out the following issues he had, and it started with running from cops during an arrest in college, planting the flag, and grabbing his crotch towards the Kansas fans while winning by a large margin.

If they don't know, I fail to see how fans can be certain.

I totally agree with you PitDAWG that this year’s QB class on paper seem to be weak but as FORTBROWNFAN mention nobody really knows, not even the professional scouts or analytics.
Tom Brady and Brock Purdy are two prime examples.

Taking Cousins (or similar) is also to bet against the odds. Two seasons with serious injuries and on a downward trajectory. Going down that road is little bit like admitting we’re putting the future on hold. With him we don’t win anything, probably not even going to the playoffs. In my book that’s a worse alternative than to go for best available young QB prospect.

At least can a young talent surprise us without costing us too much.

BREAKING NEWS: Jimmy Haslam Puts Pressure on GM Andrew Berry to Deliver in 2025 NFL Draft

https://newstd.xinloc.com/breaking-...en0-JKU5qwefA_aem_gqPAH6st1hsjAf3DNOppRA

Did you write this? Are you this writer named Tháng?

Here's another "article" released by Tháng today. It seems there's something missing though. Read the title and then read the "article"...


Deshaun Watson Breaks Silence After Browns Diss
NFL admin · Tháng 4 2, 2025 · 0 Comment
Deshaun Watson responded to the latest comments from the Cleveland Browns.
Getty Images

Deshaun Watson responded to the latest comments from the Cleveland Browns.

Deshaun Watson appears to have responded after the Cleveland Browns signaled they’re ready to move on from their $230 million quarterback.

The Browns pulled off a blockbuster move for Watson in 2022, sending three first-round picks and further compensation to the Houston Texans. Cleveland then signed Watson to a fully guaranteed $230 million deal, securing him as their quarterback of the future.

Unfortunately for the Browns, the trade has flopped epically. Watson’s tenure started with an 11-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy, setting a turbulent tone. Since then, it’s only gotten worse. He’s battled multiple serious injuries, including a fractured shoulder and now a torn Achilles that’s expected to sideline him for the majority of next season.

Browns owner Jimmy Haslam acknowledged the Watson trade as a “swing and miss” while speaking to reporters at the NFL Annual Meeting in Florida. It was a rare moment of blunt honesty from the top, and the comments marked a clear shift in tone.

“We took a big swing-and-miss with Deshaun,” Haslam said Monday. “We thought we had the quarterback; we didn’t. And we gave up a lot of draft picks to get him, so we’ve got to dig ourselves out of that hole.

“… [The trade] was an entire organization decision and it ends with Dee [Haslam] and I, so hold us accountable.”

You know like when a Coach takes the blame after a game for a poor performance. That means the next week in practice is going to be "hell". I think the same thing here. When the Owner takes the blame for a swing and miss in the past, he is 100% telling Berry to win in this year's draft and Stefanski to show marked improvement on the field next season. I think that is fair. As an Owner he has spent the money and shows willingness to put a winner on the field. He should have high expectations on his staff. I am excited to see how this does play out. in the next month Beery will remake the QB room, the rb room, and add pieces to other positions. I expect trade up's and trade down's and maybe if Berry is secure enough trading to secure another 1st in 2026.

Examples of how miracles can happen. Did you bother to look at how many 6th and 7th round QB's drafted have failed to try and get any perspective?


If you're trying to say that both options suck so we should take the least suckiest of those two options I don't know how that's presenting a good argument.


Yes, it could only cost us 3-5 more seasons if they get it wrong.

I agree with all that. I just think this writer, known as Tháng, takes an extreme amount of artistic license with his headlines.

Maybe my English isn’t good enough because it seems like you misunderstood my point a little bit?

Just so we clear the easiest part. Cousins is a bad option because of his injury history and age.
To trade for his services is a poor choice no matter the idea behind it.

I’m not advocating that we should take a young QB with our first pick, unless Ward is available.
It’s tempting to try but I agree with how you present the odds to fail/succeed. It’s more often misses than hits and desperate GMs probably has even worse stats.

What I’m trying to put forward is that there’re hidden QB gems in this class too, the hard part is to find them. We’re in agreement about that point.
The problem we have is that we don’t have a starting QB, so we probably must gamble a little bit, even if I don’t like it.

We’re on a really bad spot because of years of incompetence and extremely bad decision making.
That’s the bitter truth and it’s so hard to swallow without being emotionally invested as a supporter.

There’re no given way to draft or find a starting quarterback from what I can see. We have to gamble one way or another and doing nothing is probably our worst option.

I don't have an issue drafting a QB by trading back into round 1 later. I don't have an issue drafting a QB in round 2 or beyond. In fact I think they must take a gamble on a QB the same as you. It seems we agree on that.

Any way you slice it no matter which of them they draft they will not be ready to start right away. They will need to sign a veteran QB to start and help mentor the kid. Pickett certainly isn't the answer there IMO.

But we agree that Cousins is not that guy. It would be far too expensive to pay what it would take to get Cousins as a temporary band aid. I don't think he is the "win now" guy and to me it would be another act of desperation on the part of this FO.

It is VERY MUCH more likely there are zero gems in this class than there are 1-4 gems. This class doesn't grade out very good. It is hard enough to succeed when you grade out, even more likely to not do well when the grades are lower.

I am not confident in any way that we can find our future in a QB in this class.

I think FATE had a point on Haslam, which is why I think Haslam took the blame...basically because it was his fault. I think he directed Berry to make the trade no matter what.

I agree with your take Irish. In QB classes rated good only 2 out of 5 will become good NFL QB's. In a lesser rated class like this the odds go down dramatically. The example's Pit posted on this subject for the last 10-15 years or so tell the story. Numbers don't lie.

If a 36 year old banged up veteran QB is our best option then the Browns are in an awful position, to put it mildly.

Cousins had an Achilles injury in 2023 and a shoulder injury at the end of 2024.
He ended last season with career low stats and was basically a turn over machine in his last four five games.

If the plan is to start the season with Pickett and Cousins (or similar) then I understand why some betting companies have the Browns to 5,5 wins and last in our division.

With Haslam going public about Garrett’s lack of leadership this certainly lends credence to what Jason Lloyd’s had reported after Garrett’s signing.

Garrett is who he is and $40M/yr is going to change that.

On a side note, the comments in MKC’s tweet juxtaposed against Myles sitting in front of a bunch of toy dinosaurs that the organization set up is rather funny.

Our current starting QB is Kenny Pickett. We have a ton of cap tied up in Watson who won't even play (which is probably better than if he did play). You may disagree, but I don't see any QBs in this draft that I would fee confident starting at the beginning of the year and betting on them retaining the job throughout the season.

We are in an awful position. Cousins is probably our best option.

I think this all revolves around the market for Cousins and what you would have to pay him. Not only the amount but for how long to get him to sign with the Browns. You yourself seem to indicate that signing Cousins would be a temporary band aid until a rookie QB would be ready to start. So I think my question not only to you but to others is this.......

Just how much do you think it's worth to pay for a temporary band aid?

First I think people have to consider you would have to trade for Cousins. So what draft picks do you think are worth giving up for a band aid at the QB position? Then on top of that you would have to sign him to a contract. So what will his value be on the open market and what is the top contract you would be comfortable with to get him? How many years would you be comfortable with on that contract?

There is also the fact that Cousins has a no trade clause in his contract. People don't even know if he would agree to play for the Browns or if he would need to be paid a premium to play here.

I believe those opposed to making a deal for Cousins find that all of those obstacles and the perceived cost for a band aid at the QB position may be too much of a cost to pay. Of course as it stands now, nobody knows the actual cost but it would involve most likely one of the highest paid current veteran FA contracts aside from Rogers and even at that there are no draft picks involved with signing Rogers.

But I'm very curious just what cost people who are advocating the Browns sign Cousins thinks it's worth for a stop gap QB?

To an extent he did but did he really take all of the blame? When looking at this quote I would say no......

"We thought we had the quarterback, we didn't and we gave up a lot of draft picks to get him. So we've got to dig ourselves out of that hole. (It) was an entire organization decision and it ends with Dee and I, so hold us accountable."

He certainly admitted He and Dee made the final call. But didn't we already know that? The man that signs the checks has to agree to sign the checks. It seems when looking at what he said he's still spreading the blame around. There's a big difference between "we" and "I".

Maybe "taking the blame" isn't the perfect term, but this is an easy road to navigate.

I'll say it again, I think this is easy...

Whomever decided to look under the hood did nothing before all were on board. You can't even pursue this without the owner on board.

Once they started the "odyssey", Berry, Stefanski, or both, did what human nature dictates... "I like the prospects, but I think there is an enormous risk with PR and assets required".

Now the ball is basically in the owners court. The harder he hits the return, the more you're absolved from negative results.

And then the dream scenario for Berry: "DeShaun turned down the offer, I think it may be time to move on"... Haslam says "hold my beer". Now you are nearly completely absolved from direct punishment due to negative results, at least any punishment that risks continued employment. And that's even more true if it was Haslam that made the decision to snub Baker before jumping on the plane.


These are all smart people, but none of them got here without understanding human nature. Haslam may even feel like he was "played" a bit. But he knows he made those decisions.

Berry knew and still knows Jimmy for what he is. A gambler, someone not opposed to going all in, someone who likes to throw his weight around. He may have not played on that directly, but he knew which buttons to push and how to mitigate his own risk.

And we're forgetting, because it's easy to do now that we're staring at the ashes, everybody thought (once the off the field problems were resolved) we were going to have a top five QB under center.

It's easy to navigate if you invent what you think may or may not have been said as your scenario. The final decision is always up to the owner because he signs the checks. Who came up with the idea and who liked the idea is not as cut and dry as you are suggesting. Who it was that promoted this idea from the very beginning is something none of us know.

What can't be disputed is that quote.

It's true that you can't pursue a trade or trade talks without at least Haslam being on board. But you sure can look into what it would take, the plus and minuses of trading him before taking it to the boss.

Very valid questions and from my perspective I don’t value him as much as others.

Maximum trade offer a 5th rounder.
Maximum length of contract is 1+1 year, if he plays more than 60% of all the games in 2025 and he’s 100% healthy when the season ends.
Base salary of maximum $8M, incentives to reach 10M if he plays more than 80% of all games. With his injury record that’s a fair deal. If he doesn’t like it stay in Atlanta take their money and drink your morning coffee in the Georgia sunshine and play your afternoon golf at Augusta or whatever)

(Marcus Mariotta and Jemies Winston has 8M for a one season contract, Garapollo a little bit lower, Wilson a little bit higher - with Cousins injury record he isn’t worth a penny over 10M in total)

I also look at it from another perspective.
What’s Cousins ceiling if he’s 100% healthy and produce similar stats as he did in his first 10 games in 2024?

Will he have the ability to lift the Browns to compete for the division or win one or two playoff games?
Or is his only job to be a mentor for a late QB pick that has a very slim chance to become a FQB? (isn’t that what the stats tells us about late QB picks…..)

Maybe I’m blind but I don’t see the upside with what he’s probably demanding and what the Browns get in return.

Then there's the option that the Browns may move up from #33 into round 1 to draft a QB with a better chance of succeeding.

I believe how well posters think he can play and his ability or lack there of in leading the Browns to the playoffs will be a part in what each poster feels his value is.

I think that whether posters believe we will draft a QB high in this draft will play a part in what they think his value is.

I don't think any QB in this draft with the possible exception of Ward will be ready to start on day 1 and will need a veteran mentor to help in his development.

Jameis signed for $8m (I think total over 2 years?).

Wilson signed for $10.5m for one year, with that going up to his $20m with incentives.


I think Cousins fits somewhere in between those two, with the longer this continues to go on, the closer he gets to the Winston deal.

As for the trade, that's harder for me to confidently answer. I don't have a very good feel on how these trades are valued. I do think it could be affected by how much salary Atlanta eats in the process, but I'm also not sure that's how the contract would work in the event of a trade.

As for his health, I think it largely depends on the current status of his shoulder. If he's healed up, I don't see why that would be the reason to kill trade talks. At this point in FA, there's a reason why guys are still unsigned.

I think his familiarity with KS and the system we want to run here is more of a plus than his injuries (at this point) are a minus.

I just want to know what the hell they looked at to say Kenny Picket is our guy… I absolutely get him as a #2/#3 but no way I want him starting. Flacco all day for me. Cousins I’m unsure about. And I don’t care which QB they take this year IF they take one, he’s not starting out the gate.

I’m starting to wobble a little bit about my opinion on Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter.

I have followed the Sanders on YT and both Shilo and Shedeur are two ambitious and smart young men. I let my first impression mislead me because of their lay back attitude and their relationship with their father. Prime is such a character that he almost outshine everyone around him but especially Shilo is something special with his humor and lovely personality. Shedeur is a bit more private and has a lower tone but he’s quite fun too. I was first under the impression that they didn’t have enough drive and ambition but I was totally wrong on that.

These guys knows what the want.

I don’t have the proper knowledge to truly judge Shedeur as a QB but I don’t think his ambition and self discipline is a problem.
If we can’t get Ward I’m happy with Hunter as our first pick and that we trade up to get Sanders with our second pick.

Maybe I’m flipping again tomorrow but that’s the beauty with the days up to the NFL draft. Every day is a new opportunity to change my mind.