DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Free Agency 2015 (II)

2 first round picks for brees is to much at his age. 5 years ago heck yeah but not now. Besides without 2 first round picks and the Browns not doing. Much in free agency who the heck is he going to throw the ball to? And with as bad as our defense is we will be playing catch up most of our games anywas.

Exactly, couldn't agree with you more. That's a trade you make when it will get you in the Super Bowl. We're not even close and I doubt very much if Brees would play for us he may just hang it up.

Brees would make us a legit playoff team and one of the top 3 teams in the AFC.

2 picks for 4 years or so of Brees? Sign me up.

With that said -- Never gonna happen.

I don't think a lot of you realize how much talent is on this roster, other than the QB position.

Fitz's average stat line for the last 5 years:

266/435 (61% Comp Pct), 3034 yds (6.97 YPA), 20 TD 15 INT, 83.4 Passer Rating

Yeah, I'd say he's better.

Nor do I think you realize just how crappy of a job of roster management it would be to give up you draft for a 2/3 year guy (who is incredibly good no doubt), and then sit on a ton of cap space.

I'm all for doing it, but they should have been all in to make the team as good as it could possibly be this year. We might have a ton of talent, but if you are trading your future for a great QB who has 2/3 years left you are trying to acquire as much talent as possible....not sit on cap space for the future.

Again not a bad idea to trade for Brees in itself........incredibly bad idea to trade for him when you then have no plan to go for the brass ring this year.

I would have to agree with you on the appearance of such. I mean it doesn't seem logical to sit on all of that cap space to go all in on Brees at the same time. Doesn't seem like sound strategy.

But could it be that if you don't know if the Brees trade is possible, you wait until it does go through to do that? As far as I know there is still good talent available with the likes of Crabtree and other position players we could still add if a Brees deal comes through.

I think the entire thing is a pipe dream though.

I would be over the moon to land Brees. Even at that steep of a price, I'd do it. I know he's older, but I don't see how he's only got 2-3 years left. The guy is still playing at a high level, and our pitch would involve our o line and running game keeping him healthier and fresh.

Some would balk at that steep of a price, and I would certainly try to bring that down a bit (a first and second and third, or dip into future drafts), but the simple fact is that you're solidifying the #1,2,3 priority for the near future. I'd be most worried about keeping him here for that time.

We're not getting Drew Brees.

New Orleans isn't giving him up unless it's for the #1 or #2 pick, to draft his replacement.

That was my first thought also, similar in a few ways. Would give Johnny a few years to sit and learn (hopefully).

If we would give up our first two picks this would be my priority free agent list all of a sudden if I was the FO.

1. Andre Johnson - yes, there's a 1% chance he would sign with us, but I was annoy the heck out of his agent to come here to have a talk. He would be great for a year or two, while we either draft a mid round wr this year or next.


2. Demarco Murray - I really do like our two backs and another I know we have a very little chance to sign. But I would call him and tell him either way we will pay more. Brees, Murray (west/crow as backups), Hartline, Hawk, Gabs, and another WR or TE and our line....I have no complaints with that offense. And that's not counting what happens in the draft.

3. J. Gresham - would debate between him and Cameron, but Gresham would be my first choice then Jordan C.

4. Reggie Wayne - another old Wr that would be a lot cheaper but still knows the tricks of the trade


I know all a pipeline dream

Andre Johnson officially a Colt

I think the Colts will be the team to beat in the AFC next year. They are stacked on offense!

They're unathletic, slow, old and soft in the run game. That's not a good combination. They benefit from a terrible division and weak conference.

These Drew Brees rumors are going to annoy me..

Especially when he winds up in Buffalo...

If NO is looking to get the first pick (Winston).. I'd call up TB and NO and work out a 3 way trade, all I want is Brees, I'll give up 12 and 19, Then NO just needs to add to it and they can have the #1 pick, and TB makes out with a bunch of draft picks this and next year..

Maybe signing Brees would give JFF time to rebound?

Lol say what you will about our FA thus far, but that's just too funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For being "unathletic, slow, old, and soft and in a weak conference" last I checked they made it to the AFC championship game. The Colts will be one of the favorite contenders this year. They have made some great moves in FA that made them better.

Aaron Wilson ‏ @ RavensInsider 36s 37 seconds ago

Jabaal Sheard Patriots two-year deal, $11 million, $4 million bonus, salaries $1 million, $4 million; roster bonuses $1 million, $1 million

Wow. That is a great deal for the Patriots. I would love to have Sheard at that price.

So we just lost Sheard?

We lost Sheard a long time ago. Now we just know who his new team is.

Yeah I wish we would have had him at that price ... but he had no chance to re-sign here

If memory serves, didn't Pettine call him our x factor last summer?

Weird

farmer is going to draft some one to replace him. farmer wants no one on the team that might take the starting role from his draft picks.

Sheard was gone as soon as we drafted Mingo.

I don't know if you are joking or not, but what you said is a huge exaggeration. Is Farmer looking to replace Thomas, Mack, Haden, Greco, or Gipson?

I've read several times now that Farmer wants comp picks and is targeting player's who have been cut, since they don't count in the comp pick math. Hartline and McCown were cuts too. With that in mind, some notable cuts still on the market: RB R.Bush, RB S.Jackson, RB P.Thomas, DT V.Walker, WR Harvin, WR S.Johnson, TE Fasano, TE Chandler, TE Z.Miller, G Pollak, G Blalock, G Rinehart, LB Wheeler


It's a good approach long term, but you can't force it and just give away talent.

very simple question. are we better than we were 4 weeks ago?

Also, players that are signed with low annual contract rates don't usually count against the compensatory system. Which is why it would make sense for us to target one year players who are trying to reestablish their value (Browner, Cox, etc.).

Stark difference in short-term approach from Bills, Browns

The Buffalo Bills are a mere three-hour drive from Cleveland.

But the way the Bills have approached building their team in the past week makes it seem like the Browns reside in a different hemisphere.

This point was raised by Tony Grossi of ESPN Cleveland this morning, and it got me thinking. A team won’t win a championship in free agency -- it’s much more important to use it to supplement needs -- but the Bills have attacked the last week and last months with a fervor.

The Browns are taking a lower-key approach to trades and the open market.

And the difference is stark.

Consider:
The Bills had a head coach opening and quickly hired Rex Ryan, a coach who took the Jets to two AFC Championship Games.
The Browns had a head coach opening one year ago and after a protracted and painful search hired Mike Pettine, an eminently good guy and potentially very good head coach, but a coach who rode the guy Buffalo hired to his first head-coaching job.
Edge: Bills.

The Bills added LeSean McCoy to play running back.
The Browns are going with two guys who have talent but whose rookie seasons were as much about inconsistency as it was dynamic play.
Edge: Bills.
The Bills one year ago gave up this year’s first-round pick to the Browns to take receiver Sammy Watkins. The Browns would have taken him had they not traded, but Watkins wound up in Buffalo where his future looks bright.
The Browns traded down and took Justin Gilbert, whose rookie season was lost at sea. His future is in question. The Browns' best receiver is Brian Hartline, a good player but not a player teams would favor over Watkins.
Edge: The Bills, even without this year’s first-round pick.
The Bills had a quarterback opening and traded for Matt Cassel. He won’t excite many, but he did twice win 10 games and he can play smart with guys like Watkins and McCoy around him.
The Browns had a quarterback opening and signed Josh McCown, a 36-year-old quality guy veteran, but a guy whose career total in wins as a starter is less than the games Cassel won in his two 10-win seasons.
Edge: Cassel isn’t the next great thing, no, but edge still goes to Bills.
The Bills had an offensive coordinator opening and hired Greg Roman, a coordinator for four years in San Francisco. In two of those seasons the 49ers went to the Super Bowl and NFC Championship Game.
The Browns had an offensive coordinator opening and hired John DeFilippo, who has never been a coordinator or called plays in the NFL. He comes from Oakland, which hasn’t had a winning season since 2002.
Edge: Though DeFilippo could work out and he deserves a fair chance, it goes to the Bills.
The Bills had a quarterback coach opening and hired David Lee, a guy who is not a household name but a guy who has been an NFL quarterback coach for six previous seasons.
The Browns had a quarterback coach opening and hired Kevin O’Connell, a guy who has never been a quarterback coach at any level. He has been a private tutor for draft-eligible players, though. But in a strange twist of quirkiness, he also was the guy who was beat out as Tom Brady’s backup in New England by the quarterback who just left the Browns, an only-in-Cleveland saga if ever there was one.
Edge: Bills.
The Browns never really had a fullback last season, and still need one.
The Bills needed a fullback and the team’s first free-agent signing was Jerome Felton, one of the better blocking fullbacks in the league.
Edge: Bills.
The Browns have five players who became unrestricted free agents. Two have left already, CB Buster Skrine and QB Brian Hoyer. Three others are not expected back: DL Ahtyba Rubin, TE Jordan Cameron and LB Jabaal Sheard, though that could change. Teams never keep all their free agents, but the Browns aren’t really a team that needs to create more needs.
The Bills' most prominent free agent was linebacker Jerry Hughes. They re-signed him before free agency began.
Edge: Bills.

The next chapter will be written soon enough, as tight end Charles Clay is being wooed by the Bills, with the Browns reportedly interested as well.

The Browns have a long time left to build a team. It’s way too early to say one team has the clear edge going into 2015, but at this point there sure has been a difference in approach between teams with needs that share a shoreline on Lake Erie.

http://espn.go.com/blog/cleveland-browns...=espnapi_public

I really don't understand this constant comparison to the bills.

we have just a couple things in common:

we suck
no SB wins.

So two troll writers agree with each other?

Shocker.

Also, no mention of the fact that the Bills tried to sign McCown and then traded for Cassell because they didn't get him?

He is dead wrong about the draft day trade. We botched the picks, but that doesn't make the trade bad.

There is so much wrong here.

We are barely 24 hours into free agency and they are both writing doomsday articles to get clicks.

Grossi is a hack. McManamon is a hack. They are both worthless when it comes to informing fans as to what is actually going on.

very simple question. are we better than we were 4 weeks ago?

No. Another simple question: Are free agency and the draft over yet?

No.

Is there a game this week I was unaware of? Are we not allowed to sign players anymore? Is free agency over? I thought we had two first round draft picks as well, can we use those?

Why are people even considering anything written by Grossi and/or McManamon?

i doubt it. nothing i have seen makes me think we can.

So. . . you acknowledge that the off-season isn't over?

yes.