Free Agency

Canton Mike

I'm not on the Mallett train either, but I WOULD take a flyer on Sanchez, especially if we hit a FA WR or two.Keep Gipson & solidify OL, DL & LB thru lower end FA, trade & draft.

Like anyone, I like to guess, but I'm trusting the guys who REALLY know & that ain't me!

Mike

Clevfan4life

@gftchris said:

Justin Houston. Justin Houston. Justin Houston. Justin Houston.

Justin Houston.

Oh, and, Justin Houston.

That is all.

I think it's been said he's not leaving KC, they're gonna pay him it's already a done deal. I wouldn't be opposed to going after Orakpo especially if Sheard is going to be gone. I know he's over the hill but I wouldn't mind getting Freeney for next to nothing so he can come in and teach some of our guys his pass rush. Also might be nice to pull Worilds out of Pgh.

Clevfan4life

@gftchris said:
. For me, ILB isn't as big a need as OLB and DE/NT.

You think OLB is a bigger need than ILB? Please explain cause I watched us get gouged the entire season up the middle. You can argue some fo that is on the D line for sure but when it comes down to it ILB'ers are responsible for the run, period.

Vagitron

Build through the draft or continue to lose. How many of the perenial playoff teams have been built through free agency?

Osiris

I think it is very likely we sign Cecil Shorts. He'd be a legitimate #2 reciever for us opposite whoever our #1 would be. He would definitely "play like a Brown" since he is from Cleveland.

gftChris

@osiris said:
I think it is very likely we sign Cecil Shorts. He'd be a legitimate #2 reciever for us opposite whoever our #1 would be. He would definitely "play like a Brown" since he is from Cleveland.

He was one of the few names at WR I looked twice at, but I feel that might be because he's had big games against us (now known as the Kirk Cousins effect), I'm not sure how he's done outside of that?

gftChris

@vagitron said:
Build through the draft or continue to lose. How many of the perenial playoff teams have been built through free agency?

And how many successful teams add nobody in free agency and rely on rookies every year?

gftChris

@clevfan4life said:

You think OLB is a bigger need than ILB? Please explain cause I watched us get gouged the entire season up the middle. You can argue some fo that is on the D line for sure but when it comes down to it ILB'ers are responsible for the run, period.

We failed to put any consistent pressure on the QB this year, outside of Kruger. Part of that is on the DL as well for sure, but Sheard was generally underwhelming and his contract is up, and Mingo has done nothing of note in the two years he has been here. Meanwhile, Dansby has been playing at a very high level, and Robertson was very impressive in the games Dansby was out and he needed to step up.

Basically, I put run stopping on the DL, with ILB to mop up, and the DL hasn't been doing that effectively this season, nor generating pass rush. So for me, DL first, then OLB/ILB. I wouldn't be at all upset though if the FO had the priorities flipped, there's not much in it.

LondonBrown

Mingo is getting better and has basically been playing with one shoulder in use. I still have high hopes for him.

gftChris

@londonbrown said:
Mingo is getting better and has basically been playing with one shoulder in use. I still have high hopes for him.

I'm not ready to give up on him just yet, and hopefully he can get his shoulder injury behind him, but he hasn't been exactly terrifying when healthy.

LogicIsForSquares

@clevfan4life said:

You think OLB is a bigger need than ILB? Please explain cause I watched us get gouged the entire season up the middle. You can argue some fo that is on the D line for sure but when it comes down to it ILB'ers are responsible for the run, period.

They can't reliably stop the run if the D-line has already been pushed 3-5 yards upfield off the snap. When Taylor was in, the ILBs looked fine and the run defense was good. They were able to do their job.

LogicIsForSquares

@gftchris said:
I'm not ready to give up on him just yet, and hopefully he can get his shoulder injury behind him, but he hasn't been exactly terrifying when healthy.

Yeah he is still an undersized, finesse player when healthy.

DieHardBrownsFan

Mingo can't tackle worth a shit. Speak english.

gftChris

@logicisforsquares said:
Yeah he is still an undersized, finesse player when healthy.

Yet he has the size to be an ILB - I wonder...?

LogicIsForSquares

@diehardbrownsfan said:
Mingo can't tackle worth a shit. Speak english.

I was trying to be fair when talking about a Charmin soft tackler who can run fast.

LogicIsForSquares

@gftchris said:
Yet he has the size to be an ILB - I wonder...?

He would be flattened.

gftChris

@logicisforsquares said:
He would be flattened.

Most likely. DB? WR? P?

LogicIsForSquares

@gftchris said:
Most likely. DB? WR? P?

We haven't seen him throw a football. However, he appears to be able to show up for meetings so he has a leg up on the competition.

andeftw

Signing Justin Houston will take at least 15M a year and two first round picks if the Chiefs use the non-exclusive franchise tag, otherwise there is no chance of him leaving Kansas City.

The Browns will have around 50M in cap room (including the carryover from 2014), I just hope they don't go on a shopping spree like the Dolphins and Bucs did in the past couple of years and overpay for mediocre players.

Personally I'm a fan of the way the Packers do things (big surprise since I'm a Packer fan myself): build through the draft, re-sign your own players and let other teams overpay for your scrubs while getting compensatory picks in return.

gftChris

Yes, I'm not advocating anything ridiculous wrt signing big time free agents, just saying that if there was one guy I want it would be him. Of course, there's the franchise tags to deal with and everything else making it very unlikely. Can't stop me wishing though.