DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Question: Why do the Browns continually struggle?

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After yesterday's debacle, I felt I needed to see a real football game. So, I watched some of the Packers/Cowboys game. That got me thinking.

Why is it that other teams, like the Packers, the Cowboys, the Patriots, the Steelers, the Colts, can continually have success, and we continually struggle?

Now, this isn't meant to be a thread about RAC or about DA or anything like that. I guess what I'm talking about are the organizational problems that we must have. What do those other teams have that we don't?

Now, I understand that the Colts have a Peyton Manning, which helps a lot. So, there are those things out there. But why can a team like the Packers keep having success even after losing Favre?

Why is it that since 1999, we have sucked so bad for most of the time?

B/c there is an international conspiracy to eliminate all sports from Cleveland, and eventually as soon as sports leave and the cities economy begins to collapse; you will see Islamic schools popping up left and right, and the poor and weary Clevelanders convert to Islam and dedicate their meager lives to Allah.

I don't think it's complex. bad drafting, not the right free agents, and terrible coaching. savage has done his part to turn it around for the most part, but crenell is going down in approval rating every game this year.

you look at the cowboys and packers, they have had great drafts the past 3-4 years. the boys got romo and barber in the later rounds. they also added a 2-3 lineman via free agency. they took leonard davis and put him at his natural position. getting T.O doesn't hurt. those 2 teams seem to have stabilty at the most important position, which is qb. you're always going to be average at the very least if you have a stud qb, see indy and new england.

We have no attitude...no identity..no plan...its just a free for all from our HC down. NO ACCOUNTABILITY is reason #1...instead of stopping problems..."knee-jerking" "over reacting".....we let stuff go...

We dont have any leadership at all from our coaching staff....

Until we get a real HC...nothin will change....the teams with stud HC are the ones that win year in and out...diff players...etc.

Our problems are much more than talent and execution as some simple minded might try and say.

Romo was an UFA, if I am not mistaken. There is a lot of luck in this success...just look at us last year, we had a guy we claimed off waivers go to the Pro Bowl from the QB position.

Dawg , I understand you pain ... I really do; but you have become a broken record ! .. Take a break and relax ...

What ya think broke it? and I am not the only one..

j/c

I guess what I'm asking, though, is why have we struggled as a whole since our return?

You can blame RAC all you want for when he was here, but why did we suck so bad in the pre-RAC years? We had bad coaches, ok. But why do we hire only crappy coaches?

Why do we have such bad luck with QBs? Why do we have such bad luck with injuries? Why do we not hire good coaches? What is it about the Browns that causes these things?

Nobody wanted our jobs...no talent, way too much work.....it started off on the wrong foot! We were rushed...the whole beginning doomed us.. Had we started with a good coach/gm we wouldnt be here now. Maybe had the new Browns not been so rushed it be different...i dont know.

losing breeds losing....but now atleast theres enough talent maybe we can lure in better canidates.....the whole culture and attitude must change first.

if you want specifics, we never drafted well in the trenches. butch missed badly in warren, he never drafted o-lineman high except for faine. clarke was even a bigger moron. he got couch slaughtered back there. courtney brown, well, who knows why he never panned out. he got injured, but don't think he ever had the passion to be great.

All of our Head Coaches were "rookies" at being the Head Coach. Sometimes that works...for us it hasn't.

At some point, this has to be a consideration.

Cowher, Shott, Haslett - guys who have been there and done that and have some degree of respect around the league.

For better or worse, our next Haed Coach needs to be someone who has done it before..yes, even if they got canned the last time they did it.

This ones easy ....

it started when Al Lerner decided he wanted the franchise at all costs and to ensure this handcuffed us with the "Don" (that would be Policy who was best buds with Tags and as soon as Policy was put on Lerner's team, Al was gauranteed the franchise) ... Policy RUINED the 9ers ...

and of course the first thing Policy did was bring his culprit in destroying the 9ers with him Mr. Clark ... that DOOMED us for as long as he was here ...

then the "Don" went out and gave the reigns to a college recruiting supervisor and a snake of a human being and as it turns out a guy that was in way over his head in the NFL game in bOtch davis ..

he SEALED the fate of our franchise and quite frankly bOtch's fate by giving him so much power and control .. the org. and bOtch were DOOMED cause Policy had no clue ...

since then we have righted the ship .. were having a ROUGH YEAR right now for two reasons ..

1. its the 3rd year of building . U don't start from scratch and build an NFL team in 3 years unless your given all kinds of concessions like the Jags and Panthers were ...

2. INJURIES are KILLING us this year ...

not that anyone wants to actually admit to this .. cause well then they couldn't pooint the finger at whoever they dislike .. be it RAC or Opie or DA ....

put that is why we've struggled since our return .. give Opie another year or two and give RAC some more time to see if he can lead us or is the bafoon most of U believe he is cause your frustrated and impatient ..

I coached some, dad did, too. We feel this is huge. It is the practice, first of all. We seem unready to take a bunch of punishment, and we do not tackle and crunch a bunch. I think we need to end the "country club" conditioning one broadcaster on Channel 3 alluded to. More hitting. Show up hostile. Do we LOOK dangerous? Or do we have to tell people we are, endlessly? same for talent, BE, DA, and more.
I also believe we are not mentally prepared. Catchable balls dropped; holding it too long, or taking sacks. These are mental. Way too many flags, week in and out. For some teams it is the exception, the rare bad game. For us, it is a lifestyle. Week in and out, season after season. The part that gets me is it doesn't seem to matter. Nobody gets reamed, at least not enough to help avoid it.
More broadly, we agree that a lot of bad habits and bad play is apparently taught, encouraged, ignored, or at least condoned. How bad do you need to be to get Vitamin B(enched). And erson must be there now, or it is impossible short of injury. Tackling is at least 50% wanting to cut their guy in half. Ours has all the ferocity of a 12-step group hug in support group. Flags are usually mental, at least thebulk of our way too many are such. We see bad habits in players, poor play, weakness; my biggest evaluation that I feel really will end RAC as a Brown is this: Have the players grown, improved, eliminated mistakes, play sharper as a result of being 'coached up'? I agree with his gut: "It is what it is" and that is unfortunate for Browns fans; if he has the goods, we should have seen better by now. I feel cheated and duped; I know horrible ball when I see it. yesterday was it.

Well I have commented several times in the past that since our return ; We look more like a Yuppie Wine and Cheese team ( Think West Coast ) Than a Blue Collar Smash Mouth Team ..

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1. its the 3rd year of building . U don't start from scratch and build an NFL team in 3 years unless your given all kinds of concessions like the Jags and Panthers were ...

2. INJURIES are KILLING us this year ...

not that anyone wants to actually admit to this .. cause well then they couldn't pooint the finger at whoever they dislike .. be it RAC or Opie or DA ....

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We are in the 4th year of rebuilding, are we not?

Are you not seeing the confusion, the lack of effort, the mistakes, the penalties, the emotionless performance, poor game management and play calling? All of that is due to injuries. Riiiiiiight.

To say that calling for Romeo's head is a knee jerk reaction or spewing hate is so far off base it's laughable.

your confused like most ... just because its the 4th year these guys been here don't make it the 4th year of building ... they spent the 1st year TEARING IT DOWN ... we ate alot of cap space and basically picked up JUNK at bargain basement prices in year 1 in FA .. year two was only slightly better ..

so we've had 4 years of the draft and 2.5 years worth of FA's to BUILD then team ...

to bad alot of U have your heads so far up your butts U can't see that ..

and yes .. I see what is going on .. I said it here or somewhere else .. I have two main issues with RAC ..

1. PENALTIES .. direct reflection of coaching ..

2. clock mgmt. ..

U guys equate not being prepared and not being ready to play with a LACK OF TALENT .. and thats sad u can't tell the difference ...

at least most of U now have your heads of DA's butt ... that damm wind ,,,

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to bad alot of U have your heads so far up your butts U can't see that ..

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I'd rather have my head up my own butt than up the Nutty Professor's huge, dark orifice. It appears your stuck there despite all the stinking evidence.

To me, I blame the Lerners. They put the first team of losers out on the field led by a crap coach and terrible President/GM.

This goes back to 98 and 99. I wish so bad that the ownership would have gone to the Kosar team. I really don't think we would be having this discussion if that would have happened.

I've said it a million times in reference to non-football things:

Momentum counts for a lot in this world. Habits, expectations, productivity, discipline ... there are so many things in this world that follow from the existing momentum of what immediately preceded it. Both good and bad traits that gain momentum are vastly easier to maintain than any kind of change in that momentum, regardless of will and force.

I'll assert that we are continuing where we left off last year. We had about an 6 or 8 game break from the pattern last year where we racked up 5 or 6 wins we wouldn't have gotten otherwise but the old pattern returned with the same gravity and same results. I've found that the only way to break out from that kind of force, especially when that force is bigger and older than you are, is dynamite.... a big blast or break. And what comes after it has to be a single minded, calm but relentless focus on the change. We had the big blast with Savage coming in etc but RAC was a misstep. An understandable one but a misstep all the same.

I think, from hearing him talk over the years that Savage understands the "culture of losing". I think we, and I suspect he, are starting to really understand that RAC is the wrong guy at the wrong time. Toad put it well, he doesn't have this team's attention. He's just not strong enough, he's the Jason Fisk of head coaches. A care taker who every now and again gets totally exposed. That said, if we found a coach that work with the tools we already have, the team could make the change in a season or two. The talent is there, the leadership is not.

What makes me ill is just look at the Stealers. They pick an unknown and he looks like the real deal. We on the otherhand pick a coordinator with 5 rings and .....

Because were in Cleveland, seriously look at all the years we had the Browns, they move to Baltimore and win a Super Bowl in what, 5 years?

I swear, god hates Cleveland.

Oh yeah, and our injuries, coach, and team is playing horrible.

biggest thing has to be talent aquisition.. and for the most part, outside of our ridiculously high draft picks (#6, #3, #3, etc) and massive free agent contracts, we havn't done a good job. It shouldn't be too hard to find quality players when you're picking near the top of the draft every year, and you have so much cap room because none of your players are worth re-signing to long term deals.

Teams like the Pats don't have that luxery and they have to make their drafts count. Matt Light in the 2nd, Mankins with the last pick in the 1st, Brady in the 6th, Moss for a 4th, Watson with a late first rounder, Rodney Harrison in the 5th, Asante Samuel in the 4th, Mike Vrabel in the 3rd, a stud defensive line with all 1st rounders *that panned out due to good drafting and good coaching*, see where I'm going with this?

We pick guys like Braylon (a stud but playing like he shouldn't have a job through 3 games this year), Pool, Frye (how you take a noodle-armed QB out of the MAC with a first day pick is beyond me, i don't care what ESPN had him rated), Perkins, McMillan, Speegle, Hoffman, Wimbley (nothing wrong with the guy, but compare him to LB's like Ware and Merriman drafted around the same spot), Jackson, Wilson, Williams, Sowells, etc.

Yeah we've had a few good picks the last few years but I credit that mostly to just having such good draft position because we've been bad. Joe Thomas is an absolute stud, but there's no way Savage finds a player half that good if we're picking middle of the pack.

Coaching has been lights-out bad.

sorry for the rant, just never been more frustrated with football than I am now.

For the most part, Dawgs could stop reading right here.

Succinct summation- and a reasonable explanation for our current woes.


.02

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When we were good, we had good coaching and good players. Ya gotta have both. Good players will make a bad coach look good.....BUT NOT FOR LONG. A good coach will get the most out of his players...so the better the players...the greater the 'most'.

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I think what makes it so hard for some Dawgs to see is that the talent is better than it has been at any time since The Return... but it's still a work in progress. Savage's tear-down "savaged" the core of our D (which wasn't much to speak of) and we had virtually no O talent worth keeping either.

Dawgs forget just how pathetic we really were because of our team's mishandling from 99 through 04.

Make no mistake- THIS WAS A HUGE RECLAMATION PROJECT... just about the biggest I've ever seen in all my years of NFL fandom.

Like I said in another thread, it's the beginning of Year Four in what Phil said would be a 5-year plan. Despite the losses this year, it seems to me that we're pretty much on schedule with talent acquisition and player development.

Why do we look so much worse this year? Combo of things:

1. Unfinished roster: our holes (plus all the injuries) have exposed us.
2. Stronger opponents who have an entire season's worth of film on DA, the team and Chud's schemes. If we played the same type of competition as last season's, we'd probably be sitting at 2-1, while still playing no better than we have. This year, we weren.t going to surprise anyone, and all the good teams we play know all about us. Makes a huge difference.
3. Undeveloped team chemistry/character: It's easy to have team chemistry when you're winning against cupcake competition. It's quite another thing to develop it during times of adversity. This year is the real test of where we are, with next season paying the dividends.

Last year, we looked better than we actually were. This year, we're better than we've actually looked. The truth lies somewhere in the middle- and we won't start seeing the truth until we field a team of healthy starters like we had last year. Given the violent nature of the game, it may not happen at all in 08.

This team isn't ready for Prime Time... and they shouldn't have been expected to be, last season notwithstanding.

.02


OK... now it's time for some to erect the stake, while others scour the nearby brush for kindling. That's OK. I'm a big boy- I can take it.

well, I'm not gonna light you on fire.
Actually, I think you're one of the best posters on this board.

Yeah, we're a better team than we're showing. We have more tallent now than we've had at any other time this century...but too much of our tallent is hurt or has been hurt for so long that they're not in tune.

We used 2 backup OLinemen against the strong Rats D. - that's not gonna be good.

We've had NO # 2 receiver this season. - They're concentrating on KW2 and BE...and BE missed so much time that he's not all there yet anyway.

DA is playing like he did in the Pro-Bowl. - lousy......but the Pro Bowl tells us nothing.

We have what MIGHT be a weapon that can't get in the game. - Harrison.

We have a coach that kicks Field Goals when we need TD's and punts from the opponents 30 something.

And, we're playing STRONG defensive teams......and it's not gonna get any easier as the schedule ticks down.

These are the things that have and are hurting us THIS YEAR.

The answer is simple math.
The last Brown's championship was '64,that's 54 years of losing.
The Indians last one was in '48,that's along damned time ago.
Add those up,and u get;
Losers from Loserville.

please recheck your math before handing in your papers.

Clem, I can agree with your three talking points.

I think the Browns LOOKED better then they were last year. However I think we LOOK worse than we are this year.

I think a change at QB solves many of the O problems.

1) If Quinn lights it up, we get back the chemistry.

2) If Quinn struggles fans layoff the other players because Quinn needs time to develop.

3) Some Players seem to be having problems with DA. I think many of BE drops are due to passes being pelted at him and inaccurate odd positioning for catches to be made. BE showed alot of acrobatics last year BUT we can't expect that every week. AND if shorter passes are being thrown so hard that they bounce off you hands before you have a chance to grasp them... you bobble and drop passes.

We've seen some of this from all the WR's and RB's in the passing game. BE is just the most noticable but even KW2 has dropped a couple.

Time to make the change.

To answer your question is simple. The Browns continually struggle because this organization :makes bad business decisions" thats right...terrible ones

You look at the Steelers they make "sound business decisions" sound business decisions translates to a superior product on the field.

football franchise are here "to make money" but the Browns have continually "mismanaged" the organization.

Phil Savage "is not qualified" to be running the show. Thew man has "no understanding" of what it takes to run a business. I don't care if he is a talent evaluator or not, that is only "half" of what it takes to run a successful business. make no mistake a NFL franchise is a business more than it is a sport.

What this team desperately needs is a CEO...a "pure" business guy...someone proven, there are a number of former successful corporate CEO's out there, Randy Lerner needs to hire one. Hire a former CEO and make him the "President" of the Franchise

This President should be Phil Savage's boss...yes thats right, Savage should have to answer to a "business man" a man that understands:

1.risk assessment
2. ROI(return on investment)
3. Profitability
4. sound business decisions
5. sound investment policies

This man should be Randy Lerners "right hand" advisor and Randy Lerner should not allow a single decision to be made for this franchise without it first going through this "president" of the franchise that is strickly a business man

Randy Lerner has given Savage too much freedom, the man spends 100 million dollars this offseason, and this is the result!? are you kidding me!? any other business in the face of the planet the board of investors would be calling for his head

when is the last time you heard Microsoft losing money? you haven't..why? Because they make "sound" investment and business decisions that translate to a superior product on the market.

If the Browns want to do anything, they 1st need to hire someone, like i said a "proven" Former Successful corporate CEO to be "President" of this franchise, the guy with the final say, the guy that will make "sound" business decisions with Randy Lerner's money.

If we "had" this business man, for example we would not have signed Stallworth...wanna know why? I'll give you a low down....

Phil Savage apporaches President of the Franchise and says "Hey I just got done on the Phone will Stallworth he will sign for 35 million"

CEO replies "Let me confer with management and look over a few things I will get back to you in the morning"

Next morning CEO calls Savage

"Hey Phil I looked over the contract things look great BUT, I can't justify giving Stallworth 35 million dollars. The guy has been injured most of his career and its a bad investment. There is a great risk we will lose money on this investment and the guy has yet to prove he is worth the 35 million dollars. We can't just throw money away around here, especailly on such a risky investment as Stallworth. If you can get Stallworth to sign for much much much less money based on incetives and a raise if he plays 16 games, etc, then call me back and we will see if we can work something out, any other wise I just can't justify signing an injury prone receiver to that kind of money. Its a bad investment all around, the risk is too great."


with the above example do you realize that just that 1 time, a coporate CEO would have Saved Lerner from a bad investment worth 35 million dollars!? we could better spend that money elsewhere on the team to shore up other areas

This team "needs" a real President, a real corporate CEO a stick business man to over see the spending of money. The Browns have wasted all this money(100 million this offseason alone) and the results of that money was garbage you see on the field.

Good sound business decsions - a superior product on the field...I can't stress this enough. This is the "Exact" reason the Steelers are year in and year out a quality football team. They make sound business decions, they don't over spend, they stick to the basic of sound business management.

I fear for this teams Future if the Browns don't hire a business man to run the show. You can only mismange funds, overspend, and get crap results for so long before the team(business) goes bankrupt...Randy Lerner, while wealthy, doesn't have neverending pockets.

Savage has went unchecked wasting over 100 million dollars in bad investments just this offseason alone

We need a business man in here, to help Randy Lerner evaluate these decisions, and to give him some counsel and oversight into Savage and other's spending spree, its not about buy this player and that player, its about being patient and making sound decision on the business level that will lead to this team turning around....

The "financial guy" would be Trip McCracken, the cap guy.

I don't think Savage would hand out $100 million this offseason unless Trip could manipulate the cap correctly.

In fact, wouldn't hiring a business guy to be over Savage in the football decisions essentially be like John Collins running the show again?

Forget that. It's a horrible idea.

I wasn't a Collins fan either and I dont think many were.

So.. Savage is responsible for losing almost half his starting OLine due to injury?

Shoot, I guess thats why they have backups.. yanno the people that couldnt beat out the 1's.

Phil Savage "is not qualified" to be running the show. Thew man has "no understanding" of what it takes to run a business. I don't care if he is a talent evaluator or not, that is only "half" of what it takes to run a successful business. make no mistake a NFL franchise is a business more than it is a sport.

Well Mr.Wallstreet , tell me what it takes to run a NFL franchise..that comment was so full of crap it's covering the entire forum..

Ammo: Trip McKraken has nothing to do with this. All he does is make sure the Browns don't go over the NFL salary cap. The Relevancy of if we go over the Cap or not is irrelevant if the team is not getting a reasonable ROI(Return on Investment) which many experts say is around 10-12%

Attack Dawg: Contrary to popular belief, the reason Art Modell left wasn't because he hated Cleveland, Everyone knows i had a disdain for Modell,still do but for different reasons. Modell left because the franchise "was going bankrupt" Modell mismanaged funds and mismanaged the organization terribly. It's not a coincidence that when they went to Baltimore and the Biscotti's got their hands in it the Ravens suddenly turn around, made wise decisions, and won a super bowl. Sure they got lucky in the draft with Ray Lewis, and others, but they did not mismanage funds, waste millions on over-hyped players.

Phil Savage is not a business man, he has never even ran a small business, sure maybe he is a good talent evaluator, but he has no understanding of gross profit margins, return on investment, sound investment decisions and other things....NFL players are that...Investment decisions...this team needs a business man to ensure we make more "safe investments" then risky ones...Savage has no problem spending someone else's money.

The Browns need to do like the Ravens did, Randy Lerner needs to sell 10% of the franchise to a former Coporate CEO, heck I personally would go straight to Seattle Washington, Talk Steve Ballmer(New CEO of Microsoft) out to dinner and tell the man I need you, I need a thrifty business man like you to help mange the show here for me. He has been Bill Gates right hand man since they were in college together, that dude is sharp as a tack and understands what it takes to run a successful business

the NFL franchise is a business...making sound decisions on the business level translates a superior product(the team on the field) this can't be stressed enough.

John Collins was not the right man for that job, but Phil Savage should have a boss that is a business man only, to ensure the Browns make sound financial investments in players.....wasting money is not an options

Signing Mcginest, Washington, and some of these other over the hill bums is nothing more than a waste of money...a business man would take a young kid just drafted has less of a risk than an aged over the hill guy. The young player from the draft is making less money, has more upside, and has the chance of blossoming into a fine investment...and you watch that investment each year, if it isn't working out, then you go in another direction quickly...but signing some of these aged bums isn't the answer.


The CEO goal is simply, put a winning team on the field. a winning team = more profits, more money, etc

all of you that say you don't want a business man to be Savage's boss, you all better hope Lerner wises up and hires one

if things continue the way their going, i highly question if there will even be a franchise in Cleveland in 20 years...you can't just throw away money and get no results from it...this isn't the way business works

So since Savage spent 100 million this offseason, a business man would assume atleast 10 wins or 135 million (20 million in profits after taxes) to be a successful ROI...but if the Browns continue to lose, its going to be hard to meet those goals as losing teams don't get the clothing, hats, ticket, and etc and other forms of revenue...

when is the last time you see a Browns player advertising for Campbell's soup? or etc...those ads help the franchise in terms of money...this is why a business man is so important to this franchise

Savage has shortcomings in this regard....he is a talent evaluator not a business man...to be successful we need a balance of BOTH and hiring a former successful CEO to be president of this franchise, to oversee the day to day operations of this business would be a good 1st step

Savage can still do his thing in terms of the draft and what not..this CEO is not going to tell Savage who he can and can't draft, but this CEO will have a say in what Free Agents are signed and how much of Randy's money he is willing to shell out....to help this franchise in the right direction

Glad U clarified that
I don't disgree with that..
Well they do need a president..
Signing Mcginest, Washington, and some of these other over the hill bums is nothing more than a waste of money.
Disagree with that..it wasn't just about skill but this was more of Rac's request to have players who would be mentors and coaches to the younger guys..
The LB's have been quoted as saying how McGinest has coached them up..and he really is the best LB against the run..

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Signing Mcginest, Washington, and some of these other over the hill bums is nothing more than a waste of money...a business man would take a young kid just drafted has less of a risk than an aged over the hill guy. The young player from the draft is making less money, has more upside, and has the chance of blossoming into a fine investment...and you watch that investment each year, if it isn't working out, then you go in another direction quickly...but signing some of these aged bums isn't the answer.

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Some people will never get it, that signing over the hill players to be on the field coaches DOES NOT WORK...as you say...waste of money...instead of developing young talent...like a Colts, Patriots, Giants, Eagles, Steeler teams do...they dont waste money and time on players overthe hill, but rather young risky draft picks...or undrafted talent.

Then again, that takes a solid coaching staff and cordinators that know exactly where and how to inject young players with the right balance.

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Disagree with that..it wasn't just about skill but this was more of Rac's request to have players who would be mentors and coaches to the younger guys..
The LB's have been quoted as saying how McGinest has coached them up..and he really is the best LB against the run..

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Thats all fine and dandy...hire a better LB coach.....and yes Willie might be our best LB against the run.....its not biggie to be the tallest midget. I do agree that its RAC's boys, so he wants them, RAC doesnt like playing young players and again thats fine if your ok with losing, and wasting time and money on stiffs in FA, meanwhile slowing down the progress of your young players.

The Browns need a strong president/CEO in the worst way the pull the reins on Phil Savage, maybe the whole FO will go who knows, at this point the only lock change is RAC's butt at the end of the year.

Randy Lerner is a businessman himself!

And who's to say this businessman you speak of knows ANYTHING about the game of football?

If we're talking profit margins, the Browns make huge profits. The Browns can afford to throw money around as long as the cap restraints are properly managed (and it goes back to Trip McCracken).

The Browns are a business, no doubt, but to have a BUSINESS guy put restraints on a FOOTBALL guy trying to do FOOTBALL things makes NO sense.

I don't think we've overpaid for anyone in FA...in FA everyone is overpaid because that's what their market value is. Kevin Shaffer's contract doesn't look so bad anymore after the gigantic contracts given out the two years following.

Everyone throws out the $35 million contract of Stallworth, it's spread over seven years and we ALL know NFL contracts are NOT guaranteed.

The Browns are NOT going bankrupt...the cap protects that and makes sure that doesn't happen, and the Browns sell out every week, make a killing from TV rights on STO and radio rights from ClearChannel, and that doesn't even factor in merchandise sales (which exploded after last season).

Mixing business decisions with football decisions is an awful, AWFUL idea. Bisciotti did not control what Newsome did in terms of drafting and signing FA's. He still doesn't.

What the hell does a BUSINESS guy know about FOOTBALL players?

Savage wouldn't spend all the money he's spent if he wasn't sure Trip McCracken could manipulate the cap correctly. That is the ONLY financial restraint that should be given to a FOOTBALL guy. My god, it sounds like you want this team to be run like the Bengals.