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Browns agree to terms with DE Jadeveon Clowney on one-year, $11M deal. (via
@RapSheet
,
@TomPelissero
)

Wish it was a 2 or 3 year deal because if Watson gets suspended for any length of time this season will be a wash and we'll be back in the same situation again next year.

Will help the run defense.

Love it!

This is good news maybe we can extend him during the season ...

Love that it’s only a one year deal. Keeps him motivated. Hopefully, some games played incentives as well.

Glad he’s back, kind of seemed like a given.

This is good news. Glad to hear it. I also agree w/Milk in that I like the one-year contract. That should keep Clowney hungry and he can feed on our opponents.

I am really happy he signed.

My opinion of Clowney changed after his season with us. I had mixed feelings about him before. But after a year I grew to like him.

Big smile, seems like a happy guy. Got along well with Myles and seemed like a good teammate.

He played hard for us.

Interesting that he turned down better offers to play with the Browns. I thought he was all about the money and Berry would have to pay up.

So, I am super happy he is part of this team. I think he will help the others on the DL.

IMO Perrion will have a good shot at starting. Whoever earns the other tackle spot; we should be fine with.

Today the defense just got whole.

66, I am not smart enough to figure the numbers, but with dashaun’s salary going up to 45 million or so next year we may be pinching a few pennies. Hopefully the salary cap will go up a lot . Didn’t we just sigh a new tv agreement?

We still need a DT in a bad way, but this goes a long way to ensure our D is ready to go week1. I would've thought Clowney earned himself a little longer deal, but it might not have been doable with the way some of our contracts are going to hit us hard next year.

He may also be hoping that another healthy and productive season will convince teams to throw big money his way next offseason.

This is huge. Now the young guys can learn from two of the best. It also keeps the new guys to being back ups. Should have a nice rotation at DE

My son said he turned down a couple of 2 year deals. He wanted to be here. He is good enough that he can go with 1 year deals and probably has enough he really doesn't need the security a 2 year deal might bring, and I mean might. Most teams have a easy buy out in those things.

Winovich worried me as a #2 DE but makes a great #3

yeah, can swing in for either guy when they need a blow of air.

Clowney signing also help ease the need to push one of our rookie DEs into a starting job before they are ready.

No doubt.

I don't think we would have done that. I think we would have signed some other vet, even if we had to wait for camp cuts, but at minimum we wouldn't have had to rely on the kid too much.

Very good.

We definitely have a better defense with Clowney here, than without.

Good to see, he was a good player for us last year and this eliminates one worry.

I like this move and like many others have been expecting it since right before the draft.

I believe the addition to the team Clowney brings is greater than the apparent value of Clowney's PFF grades which were more middle of the road than I think most of us would have guessed based on watching the games. Knowing the scheme - being a 1 year deal - playing with a 2nd year JOK ... I think it is all to the good. Not sure how much Winfrey will play this year - but I think it will help the DT's significantly too.

Great news. Elite D line, check.

jc..

If Clowney was a bit more sound in his tackling techniques, he could have added several big plays last year..as he left some easy sacks and tackles for loss on the field by not focusing on finishing the play. ALMOST, gets you nothing. IMO, Clowney could have lead the team in sacks had he just focused on tackling. More than once I watched him get to the QB in time for a sack only to watch the QB duck under Clowney's attempted "high tackle".

Clowney is not the only defensive player to be plagued with the same problem and that leads me to point the finger at the coaching staff and their lack of emphasis on defensive basics. The defensive coaching staff needs to put more emphasis on the simple, basic stuff, imo.

Glad to see Clowney back but I expect more from him.

Live tackling in practices has been almost non-existent across the NFL for several years now. They tackle some bags, but they don't practice taking other players to the ground.

vers...where did I say anything about live tackling?

I apologize for adding information to the thread. My bad, mac.

Didn't the players union negotiate that in the last agreement? Weren't they live tackling when Bently got hurt, or did he trip on a blade of grass? Seems that long since I've seen them do any more than touch a guy in practice.

I think it was before the last agreement. I double checked before I made my post and there was a page full of articles about that teams haven't used live tackling for several years because the risk of injury outweighed the rewards. Thus, I don't think it's fair to blame our coaching staff for not teaching tackling. JMO

Here is the link to the page I was talking about. There are multiple articles on the subject. I didn't read them all. I was just confirming what I believed to be the truth before I made my post.


https://www.google.com/search?q=do+...700j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

It should help the tackles a lot. Now we have Clowney and Garrett playing next to whoever we line up at tackle.

Unless we sign someone at some point the starting tackles are probably going to be Winfrey and Taven Bryant.

Winfrey is a guy we hope will be an answer for the long haul. I suspect we are going to play him. Bryant is a 1st round pick who never latched on with the JAGS. A change of scenery should do him well since he isn't a former 1st rounder for us, thus expectations will be lower. He is still a young guy, so who knows. Maybe Day takes one of those slots and we go with the 3 as the primary guys and 1-2 like Togiai as the 4th and maybe a 5th DT in some sort of rotation.

I guess it all depends on how many total defensive linemen we keep and who shows in camp. Do we keep as little as 7 linemen or do we keep as many as 10? As usual it will hinge on how many the DC really wants or needs at each position group.

I always look at the roster and think it needs to be larger, but I suppose if we had rosters of 60 we would still think it needs to be a few spots larger so it is what it is.

Very sound signing
He can help mentor Alex Wright which is a win win for all
The AFC North is just loaded with DEs that both play the
Run and pass with equal effectiveness.

Good job by the FO. That’s a needed piece for our team

Tackling technique can be taught regardless of the practice rules that limit physical contact.

How can that be, you say..?

Because proper tackling technique is based on and begins with a "mental process" where the tackler shifts their focus from the entire ball carrier (the target) to a much smaller area of that target. IMO, perfecting the mental process of shifting your target focus from large to small is 75% of what it takes to making a successful tackle..the other 25% of the tackle is physical but can be boiled down to simply doing what comes naturally once you are close enough to take the target down.

Another point of emphasis that must be perfected by the tackler is the ability to actually "see" the smaller target they are attempting to focus on in order to complete a tackle. Many times a missed tackle happens when the tackler drops their head, losing sight of the small area (target) they are attempting to focus on. If you can't see it, the chances of making a successful tackle are reduced.

Another point of emphasis that contributes to missed tackles is "flinching"...allowing yourself to close your eyes and losing focus just before the moment of contact. You can do everything right perfecting your tackling process but if you can't overcome "flinching" (closing your eyes) just before contact, your odds of missing that critical tackle have increased.

Once the tackler perfects their tackling technique, the number of missed tackles "will decline".

Concerning the Browns, the burden for teaching proper tackling technique is squarely on the shoulders of the Browns coaching staff and the lack of live tackling can not be used as an excuse.

So much of successful football, at all levels, can be reduced to mental preparation and coaches are nothing more than teachers of the game of football.

I am going to defend our coaching staff and provide evidence that contradicts mac's claims. I looked into NFL teams with the most missed tackles. The Browns were 23rd on the list, which means that 22 other teams had more missed tackles than the Browns. The Seahawks led the league in most missed tackles and had a whopping 129 more missed tackles than our Browns did.


https://www.statmuse.com/nfl/ask/which-team-has-the-most-missed-tackles-in-2021

I think I understood what you meant with that comment. At least to me it was that it is hard to improve something you can't practice.

This is good news!

Bentley hurt his knee in a pickup basketball game a day or two before the first practice, then "went down" on the first snap of practice so that his contract was injury-guaranteed.

??? Man I must have missed that or completely forgot about it. smh. Thanks Purp.

I had no idea. Now I have to think of the guy as a POS.

Don’t forget, Clowney is a very good inside defender, so this covers two spots if needed.

I am not positive, but I find it hard to believe that any team has two more imposing physical specimens as Edge guys than the Browns do.

vers... I thought I was rather specific as I pointed out that imo, Clowney could have improved upon his 2021 performance had he not missed some sack and tfl opportunities. Clowney did all the hard work to put himself in position to make some of those big plays but failed to finish, imo. 

I mentioned that Clowney was not the only Browns player who, imo, had issues with their tackling technique...as our dbs and lbs at times whiffed on tackling opportunities that hurt the overall defensive performance. When I see our Browns defense victimized by their own poor tackling and by players at various positions, the Browns coaching staff must take a look at themselves and what they are attempting to teach their defensive students.

Those who point to some "general defensive stats" and use them as an excuse to say (hypothetically) "look how good we were last year"...that is equal to simply ignoring the problem. Every player on the Browns defense can and should improve their game every season and coaches should strive to improve upon their teaching methods to help their players improve. 

I'm more concerned about our defensive unit "making" those critical tackles especially when the game is on the line.  Paying attention to basic techniques can make a difference.

Game plan/Defensive Ends: Meet at the quarterback.
This should be really fun.

Does anyone feel N.Suh would be a good-pick-up? We can use him in D-Line rotation and he does bring some attitude.

You may have been very specific and I thought I was pretty clear that I disagree w/your take and that coaching was not a problem. Now that that is settled, we can move on.

I think Suh would help our interior defense. He is older and not the player he used to be, but he can still play at a high level in big games and would add some much needed beef to the interior of our line.

At this point, we should be able to get a good deal on a vet like Suh.

j/c...

Contract details.

I am not a cap guy, so I don't know if those numbers are team friendly or just the opposite. I will say that we desperately needed Clowney back and I'm glad he's here.

That seriously gives me a great warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

I saw his interview with Nate Zugura.

He wasn't going anywhere. He wanted to be here. He likes the players, coaches, and people. He is well liked by his teammates.

DW helped because he wants to win. He believes in the team. Knows the defense and likes playing in a true 4-3.

He fits this team. I was hoping we would sign him for two years. I don't know the contract maybe there is an option for next year?

I am damn glad he is on the team. He is disruptive on every play. Sacks get the glory. But watch him come down the backside of the line and snag a runner. He does lots of dirty work. He sets the edge. Having him makes every other player on the DL better.

Myles is a creature. Having Clowney on the other end puts offenses on high alert.

Perrion should fit in a grow fast. Sheldon Day is serviceable. Elliott and Togiai need to bring it. I don't a thing about Taven Bryan. Come camp the DL will be fun to watch.

So much so that I'm skeptical. I wouldn't know any better than Rap, but I still find it hard to believe Clowney turned down a bunch of money to come back.

I don't, because the part left off is which teams were they?

If they were teams with solid rosters that were also positioned for a playoff run, then yes, that would be surprising. However, I suspect those other offers came from teams that were either fighting to get out of the cellar, or struggling to get above .500 and *MAYBE* sneak a playoff appearance..... and, I think the fact that Cleveland is as well positioned as any team to go win it all was enough to offset the couple of million dollars. Those few million basically represent the "this is how much we feel we have to overpay to try to get him to reluctantly come here".

j/c:

The link outlines Clowney's contract.
https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/jadeveon-clowney-14410/

Berry has been doing this with a lot of contracts but this one seems a bit more extreme in the sense of how many years out this deal is on the books. $8M of Clowney's contract is a bonus but it's been amortized over 5 years. You see this all the time with long term deals but not usually on one year contracts. So, essentially after this year, Clowney's contract has a cap hit of $1.6MM each year from 2023-2026 and carries a dead cap hit of $6.4M next year. Not much ($1.6M) but the aggregate of these sort of contract structures over time could add up. And yes, the cap will most like go up every year and I get that it just that Berry has a tendency to put contracts on the credit card, so to speak.

It tells me that Berry has specific plans for all the money we have available this year, even if it is just to carry it over to next year. We EASILY could have absorbed all $11 million this year and still had leftovers.
I think it also may hint that, short of negotiating a multi-year deal, this is Clowney's last season here, which I think may be a mistake.

yep. he's got money, and guys like him want to compete for titles. making the money at a certain stage of a career isn't worth it if you're constantly losing. it's still football, and guys want to win and try to become legends.

our defense is in a good position. not great, but keeping Clowney keeps everything going the right direction.

heck, not even become legends, but maybe just finish out the career with some seasons that feel like they could at least mean something. After a certain point, everyone needs satisfaction and meaning from what they do beyond the base level of finances.

Hell, just a few years back, I was trying to score private contract gigs to deploy and go stand watch at some gate in the middle of any random craphole, or do anti-piracy duty in the Indian Ocean... all because I hated my current job so much that I'd rather risk getting shot at or blown up than deal with the stupidity I was dealing with despite the fact that I had a very comfortable paycheck and stability. So, an extreme example here, but the same holds... even being well compensated has its limits; eventually a person needs more.

Ian Rapoport reported one of the teams offering multi year, more money contracts was the Dallas Cowboys. Not sure where you place them regarding playoff possible teams. I have no idea myself.

Clowney Contract
_____________________________________________________________________________________________(Cut Pre June 1)
Year__Age__Base Salary__ Prorated Bonus_Per Game_____Guaranteed Salary___Cap Number___Cap %___Dead Money & Cap Savings
2022-29___$1,250,000___$1,600,000____$750,000______$1,250,000_________$3,467,647____1.6%____$9,250,000__($5,782,353)
2023_30_______ Void____$1,600,000____ Void_______________Void__________$0___________0.0%____$6,400,000__($6,400,000)
2024_31_______Void_____$1,600,000____Void_______________Void__________$0___________0.0%____$4,800,000__($4,800,000)
2025_32_______Void_____$1,600,000____Void_______________Void__________$0____________--______$3,200,000__($3,200,000)
2026_33_______Void_____$1,600,000____Void_______________Void__________$0____________--______$1,600,000__($1,600,000)
Total______$1,250,000____$8,000,000____$750,000______$1,250,000________$3,467,647

The Browns are charged 3.75M this year against the cap from Clowney's last deal with the Browns that carried a void year for 2022. Clowney signed a 1-year deal but the Browns spread the bonus out over 5-years. If this is Clowney's last year with the Browns, they will be having yearly cap hits of 1.6M thru 2026.

If they even make the playoffs, they're nearly a lock for a first round exit. They're a nowhere team, imo.