DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum A look back at 2006 Free Agency

http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=149&p=9&c=12&yr=2006&nid=83&lnid=83&rc=16

Going through my bookmarks I noticed that I still had one for scout.com which I was using to track the 2006 Free Agents.

I looked at the players we chose and the overall rankings based on the available players in the market.

Prior to the start of the season the Browns had one of the best offseasons in the way of free agent signings.

We signed 5 of the top 47 prospects including:

Overall ranking Position Rank Player
3 1 L. Bentley
20 3 W. McGinest
33 7 J. Jurevicius
34 4 O. Roye
47 1 D. Zastadil

Essentially we signed 2 players that were ranked # 1 at their position.
One ranked 3rd, one ranked 4th and one ranked 7th.

That to me was a hell of an off season.

Hind site is always 20/20 and many posters are eager to jump on Savage when a player doesn't pan out, but I remember being very pleased with his signings and draft.
I know I wasn't the only one.
He did his homework and got the best he could with the money he had to work with.
Some players just don't pan out for one reason or another.
Bentley was on IR before the season started.
McGinest battled injuries all year.
Roye was nicked up most of the year also.
Jurevicius was as advertised- quiet solid veteran. I personally thought he was underused.
Zastadil was better than any punter we had since we lost the man to the enemy.

Savage can't control injuries or if certain players just don't want to come to Cleveland.
He apparently knows what he is doing and will make more good signings than bad.
Too many people love to find fault and just beat it to death.
Savage is our GM and like him or his choices or not we should back him as long as he holds that position.

Now let's look at the same position and the players signed at those position compared to their production this season.

Give him a push on Bentley because that could not have been predicted.

Zast will be a win.

What about JJ and Willy relative to others signed and their production?