DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum browns 2015 free agents

Sherman had 3 in the regular season and 1 in the post-season.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SherRi00/penalties/2014/

Just a FYI, Haden struggled with 11 last season. It's getting tougher for smaller CBs to defend when they can't touch the larger receivers and Skrine is tiny.

What team in our division has a better CB2 than Skrine?

It sounds like Skrine is going to get paid:



Link

Please prepare your hearts for when we don't re-sign him.

I would love to have him back, but not if he is making more than $6 million a year.

EO you are right and I heard it in game as well (announcers broke that Skrine was the most penalized corner in the NFL last year...then when the totals were figured in he finished #4) I think several as his penalties were in play when we had another penalty on defense too, so Skrines penalty was declined for the other Browns penalty)

It just seems a lot of Browns want out of Cleveland (Mack, Cameron, Skrine, Hoyer) which I don't think bodes well for this team

I'd be very disappointed if we don't resign him. I think he is the best #2 CB in the NFL.

I hate to see him go but he will get somewhere between 30 and 45 mil on a 5 year deal and we arent gonna invest that much into a guy we wanted to replace anyway. I like buster but he is gonna hit the lottery in a few weeks.

The Transition Tag is either all or nothing. It gives you the right to match any offer, but no compensation if you don't.

We used that tag on Mack, so I am not sure if it is available to us for another player or not.

I would bet that both Gipson and Robertson receive high tenders.

I don't know if that is true, but Skrine is pretty good.

How much is a pretty good #2 corner worth? I don't know. But a team that doesn't have any good corners will likely be willing to pay Skrine more than us. There are a lot of teams with cap room.

I would guess that we don't want to pay Skrine the money that goes along with the transition tag. Corner is among the highest paid positions in the league (fourth highest behind QB, DE, and LB).

I would actually be inclined to use that tag on Skrine, if available.

It's the average of the top 10 CB, and would allow us to keep him for one season and work out a long term deal, or else just keep him for one season as a bridge.

The one year salary would be something like $13 million. I don't know if we would be willing to commit that much of our cap to a #2 corner.

There are usually some pretty good one year contracts out there for corners. Last year guys like Brandon Flowers, Antonio Cromartie, and Walter Thurmond all signed one year contracts.

My point is that we have the space to do that if we want/need to. Maybe we want to see how Gilbert does in year 2, so we bring back Skrine for one year on the tag, and see if Gilbert develops.

The Browns have a ton of cap room. Spending $6 to $6.5 million on Skrine is a lot better investment than what they gave McCown.

It shouldn't be anything we'd be willing to commit. That's a ridiculous sum for Skrine. Absolutely ridiculous.

I'd be cool with the reported $6M avg figure floating around but still think that is high- oh well. But I think there is another factor here if money being offered is relatively the same by interested teams--actual playing time/ perceived role.

I have no evidence, but I do think Pettine sees screen as a nickel. The team also drafted Gilbert who will get his chance to be the #2 (i'd imagine) and K'wan Williams played very well last year. And couple in the fact how much Pettine values a deep stable of CBs, one or two could be looked at in the draft/FA.

I think outside of money (again, if all things are equal regarding market value) Skrine will also take into consideration how the Pettine and McNeil view his role. Physically, he is limited and I think that is a big issue for him regardless of his growth as a player and his seemingly hard work. I'm am really interested to follow his FA come next Saturday.

j/c

I really hate to see Skrine go. Kid is hard working and improved every year, but I think they let Skrine walk if they can't sign. Key keeping Cap control is balance. Paying Skrine and drafting Gilbert #1 last year really skews things on defense. Farmer drafted another and bought in UDFA. To me, I can't believe they are willing to pay Skrine.

I am really surprised all the turncoats. This time last year Skrine was a determent. He was a slot CB at best. The few who backed Skrine was chastise for even thinking Skrine could play in the NFL. Now look at all you acting like Farmer would be idiot for letting him walk.

Watching Pierre Desir this year reminds me a lot of Buster Skrine when he entered the NFL. I see fans already labeled this kid. I don't get why so many think if a fourth round can't start bust. Kid worked hard showed improvement by seasons end on a team going nowhere. Yep, it looks like Desir is our next Skrine.

That's my thinking. Since Gilbert turned out to be fools gold at least in his first season, the FO is in a position where they are almost forced into paying Skrine.

Pettine has made no bones about how much of a priority the secondary is in his D scheme. Without Skrine, as of now, this secondary would have a major hole. For the importance this team puts in the secondary, that would be a bargain considering the price CB's command in the FA market today.

Hey bugs, I think your timing is a bit off. It was two years ago that people were criticizing Skrine. He has had two very good years in a row.

I think he is most certainly worth $6 to $6.5 million on today's market.

What did you see in Desir? What improvement? Because he actually got some playing time? He gave up SIX passes that resulted in FIRST DOWNS in that game. I don't think he is a bust because he didn't start. I just think that his coverage was awful. He had stiff hips and didn't come out of breaks very well. He may improve, but we have questions at corner and I think it would be very wise to keep Skrine, especially in today's passing league.

By improvements, I wasn't implying replacing any starters. During season start Desir was torched. Receiver zig he zag a total handicap on the field. He wasn't able to do anything. When he returned at the end, he started moving with the receiver didn't look lost. Yea, he was still getting beat but not every play. One thing I took note he made tackles. He looked a lot more comfortable.

Don't forget Vers Desir came from a very small school. I live near St. Louis and didn't even know Lindenwood had a football team! For him to be drafted and make the field, I thought was huge. I am very curious to see him return this season. He is most likely getting some real coaching during this off season.

I hope you're right on Skrine. I like Buster right out of the gate. Him and I share same disease "short-man!" I'm a big softy when a fellow shorty can make it amongst the trees!!

Well the leagues best #2 CB (Chris Harris) inked a 5 year 42.5 mill deal...a lot of money...Skrine is one of the better #2s but IMHO I don't consider him a top 5 #2...I want him back, and I would give him the money thats fair...however he seems to want out by all accounts

I think Skrine is going to get more than $6 million a year.

I would say you're right. But at tis time, what realistic choice do we have other than pay him fair market value?

Now if Gilbert had progressed like we had hoped, that might be a different issue.

Every year there are corners that sign one year deals and people say, "Oh my gosh, how did the the [insert team name here] get [insert player here] on that deal?"

Last year it was Brandon Flowers, Antonio Cromartie, and Walter Thurmond. The year before it was Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Brent Grimes.

There are guys available every year after the frenzy of the first few days is over. We just have to find them.

While that may work, what you are proposing is that we may wind up as one of those teams who don't. Once again I propose you look at Pettines past comments on just how critical a strong secondary is to his to his defense.

Going into this season with a much stronger schedule, no real answer at the QB position combined with a weakness in the secondary is not a gamble I feel they'll wish to depend on solving based on leftovers of the FA market.

I agree with you. I am not advocating that we don't re-sign Skrine. I wan him back. I am saying that overpaying a player is never a good thing. And if some team is willing to break the bank to sign Skrine, we should let him go.

You know I love you bugs, and I am not getting on your case.

I just don't think relying on Desir to take Skrine's spot is all that smart.

Nothing else, bro.

I don't think I ever stated Desir takes Skrine's spot. You asked how I thought Desir improved.

I think Skrine is a good option. I simply think Farmer/Pettine go with Gilbert and not pay Skrine. If they need to pay, they may go Kareem Jackson, Culliver, or Maxwell.

My read was that the coaches/players disliked Gilbert more than Manziel.

I will be highly disappointed if we go into the season with Gilbert penciled in as anything more than a wildcard. Dude got benched mid-season.

Why pay Jackson, Culliver, or Maxwell money when Skrine will get similar money?

My bet is we re-sign Skrine or we sign someone like Kyle Wilson (yuck) to a one year deal.

I can agree with that. I think it important to keep Skrine.

I guess our big deciding factor on how much we are willing to pay is how confident we are in Desir and Williams?

I'm not disagreeing. GMs normally go with their guys.

Biggest knock on Skrine, ditto Hadden too, is they struggle against big receivers. I believe that is why they went bigger in the draft last year. I think to get a better mix. Farmer could go in a different direction than Skrine. Pettine may like a bigger CB.

Interesting discussion. Gilbert really put Farmer in a difficult situation. One thing to note, Farmer does reward hard workers.

I think the biggest mystery we are still unsure what type of guys or positions Farmer/Pettine covet. Did Farmer simply shore up the DB position, or he is making that the corp of the defense? I know Pettine likes two strong CB, but DBs were pretty thin in talent. This year's FA and draft should help.

I thought the knock on Joe was he had a hard time against smaller quicker WR's?

If we don't want to pony up the bucks for Buster, then I would tag him a 2nd rd tender and take the pick. I would leave JC alone, not because I think he isn't a good player, but because 1 good hit and he's gonna have to be spoon fed. Not good. Don't want to touch the guy.

he is a UFA. cannot tender him.

Cleveland Browns Free Agent Review: OLB Jabaal Sheard

Why Keeping Him Could Make Sense: You can't question Sheard's toughness -- he could have easily called it quits to let his foot heal to 100 percent, but he played through the pain instead. Perhaps a sign that he did a lot of the "unsung hero" business of the defense is the fact that he was given a grade of +8.2 on the season by Pro Football Focus.

http://www.dawgsbynature.com/2015/3/1/8129981/cleveland-browns-free-agent-review-olb-jabaal-sheard

Why Keeping Him Doesn't Make Sense: He's a 4-3 DE.

I feel like 'suffering from injuries' is the common excuse made by DBN for our own free agents.

This.

Yes bleeds, that is true. Not ragging on bugs, because he is a good guy and not agenda driven, but yes, Haden does better against bigger WRS and struggles more against the shiftier, quicker guys.