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Cousins would "seriously consider" the Browns

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  • Why is the assumption, if we sign Cousins we dont draft an elite QB? We have enough draft and cap capital to do both.

    If the rookie beats out Cousins in year 2 or 3, you trade Cousins to a QB-needy team, or you front-load the guaranteed money

    Cant see giving up a 2 for Smith- basically a 1-2 year rental...

    @thenew23 said:

    Why is the assumption, if we sign Cousins we dont draft an elite QB?

    Because of the substantial 'investment' in getting him.  -  It would be 'almost' comparable to drafting QB's at 1 & 4.

  • Pure hypothetical. But if you’re the Browns in FA and manage to land Bell and Cousins ... wouldn’t that make the draft even more exciting? You could trade #1 for a ransom to a QB needy team and just load up across the board. Not to mention you’d probably go from 0-16 to 9-7 purely by adding Cousins and Bell and allowing the rest of your team to progress ... throw in all those draft picks and you could be set for years.

    Then the Steelers for as well as they’re run, are down Bell and soon Big Ben. Ravens are pretty meh right now. Cincy is average. There could be a window for the Browns to dominate. And this is an assessment from an outsider.

    could you imagine the AFC being taken over by the Browns and Jags for the next 4-5 years? Lol

  • Based on the conversations in here, it's clear many of you would steer clear of Cousins. There's some talk in DC right now of giving Cousins the 3rd franchise tag at $34.5 million and trying to negotiate a trade. Of course, Cuosins has to be a party to that and willing to do a long-term deal with the trade partner. Talk here is that Denver is of mutual interest. But the Browns, simply due to the cap space and plethora of picks, have also come up. Given that you'd have to pay the man, what picks would Browns fans be willing to part with? I think it's safe to sa that #1 and #4 would be off the board. By the sounds of it, many of you would be against any trade given you'd be against signing him for "free" ...

    As a Redskins fan, I want Cousins back. But if we're not going to get him to a long-term deal, I'll take anything that can help us move the franchise forward. In the case of the Browns, I'd jump at getting 33 & 35 ... and if that's too rich, 33 & 61.

    Browns would have Cuosins as their long-term solution at QB. If he completely bombs for whatever reason, you've got Kizer who can still be groomed. Then you can go BPA at 1 & 4 and continue to load the defense and probably add Saquan.

    I will say, Saquan + Cousins + Gordon, Coleman, and whoever you add in FA at WR (Allen Robinson?) ... would make for a suddenly potent offense to go with your extremely young and loaded defense.

    The Browns remind me a bit right now of Jacksonville 2 years ago. I think with Cousins, you could accelerate the timetable from 2 years from contention to immediate contention. in one off-season.

    @jamesmadisonskinsfan said:

    Based on the conversations in here, it's clear many of you would steer clear of Cousins. There's some talk in DC right now of giving Cousins the 3rd franchise tag at $34.5 million and trying to negotiate a trade. Of course, Cuosins has to be a party to that and willing to do a long-term deal with the trade partner. Talk here is that Denver is of mutual interest. But the Browns, simply due to the cap space and plethora of picks, have also come up. Given that you'd have to pay the man, what picks would Browns fans be willing to part with? I think it's safe to sa that #1 and #4 would be off the board. By the sounds of it, many of you would be against any trade given you'd be against signing him for "free" ...

    As a Redskins fan, I want Cousins back. But if we're not going to get him to a long-term deal, I'll take anything that can help us move the franchise forward. In the case of the Browns, I'd jump at getting 33 & 35 ... and if that's too rich, 33 & 61.

    Browns would have Cuosins as their long-term solution at QB. If he completely bombs for whatever reason, you've got Kizer who can still be groomed. Then you can go BPA at 1 & 4 and continue to load the defense and probably add Saquan.

    I will say, Saquan + Cousins + Gordon, Coleman, and whoever you add in FA at WR (Allen Robinson?) ... would make for a suddenly potent offense to go with your extremely young and loaded defense.

    The Browns remind me a bit right now of Jacksonville 2 years ago. I think with Cousins, you could accelerate the timetable from 2 years from contention to immediate contention. in one off-season.

    🙂 thanks for the input. Regarding a tag, renegotiate sign and trade- maybe. No team is going to offer your two firsts for Cousins on an outright tag, especially in the Browns case the #1 overall.  $34 million isn't on the table. That's plain crazy, I can't believe the Redskins would even entertain the thought. Seriously front loading a contract is possible.  I doubt we'd offer #33. #35 + a 4th is as high as I'd go, and if that's not good enough- I'll see what KC wants for Smith. 

    Regarding the Brown's defense- the backfield is a disaster area. A lot of chatter taking Minkah Fitzpatrick @ #4. I'm averse (but not everyone is) to making a play for Cousins at the expense of taking Saquon and BPA on defense. We haven't drafted a QB in the top 10 since Couch- and take it from me, the vast majority of the  Natives are very restless in that regard in Cleveland. The sting of passing on Wentz and then Watson is a sore spot. We go Barkley\ Fitzpatrick\Cousins and one of the 2018 top QBs turns into another stud- I'll about puke. Unless Cousins performs like a top 5-10 QB for the next 5 years.  

  • @thenew23 said:

    Why is the assumption, if we sign Cousins we dont draft an elite QB?

    Because of the substantial 'investment' in getting him.  -  It would be 'almost' comparable to drafting QB's at 1 & 4.

    @orion said:

    Because of the substantial 'investment' in getting him.  -  It would be 'almost' comparable to drafting QB's at 1 & 4.

    Except not at all. Draft picks and cash are NOT 2 comparable assets.

    @hoorta said:

     Money is an issue if you don't want to put your team in cap hell down the road. I'll give you a couple fer instances. Garrett turns into another Bruce Smith- got some space for a Suh contract? Gordon reverts to his pro bowl form and stays off of drugs = top 5 WR money. We're going to have a bunch of guys a few years down the road coming off their rookie deals- (like Schobert) and if we want to keep them, we had better have the cap room to do so.  

    Worrying about re-signing a guy 4 years down the line is certainly one way to ensure perpetual suckage  for our beloved Browns... we can worry 1 year, maybe 2 years for a superstar, but 4 years for a guy we just drafted... should NOT influence our decision-making THIS offseason...

  • @orion said:

    Because of the substantial 'investment' in getting him.  -  It would be 'almost' comparable to drafting QB's at 1 & 4.

    Except not at all. Draft picks and cash are NOT 2 comparable assets.

    @hoorta said:

     Money is an issue if you don't want to put your team in cap hell down the road. I'll give you a couple fer instances. Garrett turns into another Bruce Smith- got some space for a Suh contract? Gordon reverts to his pro bowl form and stays off of drugs = top 5 WR money. We're going to have a bunch of guys a few years down the road coming off their rookie deals- (like Schobert) and if we want to keep them, we had better have the cap room to do so.  

    Worrying about re-signing a guy 4 years down the line is certainly one way to ensure perpetual suckage  for our beloved Browns... we can worry 1 year, maybe 2 years for a superstar, but 4 years for a guy we just drafted... should NOT influence our decision-making THIS offseason...

    @thenew23 said:

    Except not at all. Draft picks and cash are NOT 2 comparable assets.

    Worrying about re-signing a guy 4 years down the line is certainly one way to ensure perpetual suckage  for our beloved Browns... we can worry 1 year, maybe 2 years for a superstar, but 4 years for a guy we just drafted... should NOT influence our decision-making THIS offseason...

    So, from some quarters- let's spend money like a drunken sailor on shore leave this year? Fortunately, listening to Red Zone tonight- Dorsey isn't going to repeat the lessons he learned about cap room in KC....  

  • @thenew23 said:

    http://cleveland.cbslocal.com/2018/01/30/thought-of-joining-browns-does-not-excite-chiefs-qb-alex-smith/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

    For all the Smith hopefuls...

    Who gives a flying fadoodle.   All that says to me is:   I don't like the thought of going to an 0-16 team...and I have absolutely no confidence in my own abilities that I can bring any better results to that team.

  • @louisville-slugger said:

    Why are you guys so worried about money? We have a ridiculous amount and it doesn't roll over. If we don't sign Cousins that money probably goes to waste. Our front office has to work the contracts so we don't end up in cap hell if they can't do that they need to be fired

    Unused Cap space certainly does roll over. That may well be the error in your thinking. It's not a "use it or lose it" situation. IIRC- and Tour can correct me if I'm wrong on this- the only caveat is (I think) there's a 5? year rolling period where a team has to spend a minimum on contracts. There's not only a ceiling, there's also a floor. And like they say "it's complicated". 

    Yup. working contracts is pretty important- that's why we're going to need cap room down the road- when we (think) we're only one player away, to afford the mega contract they're likely to demand. This isn't the time to make Cousins the highest paid QB in the league when the roster still has more holes in it than swiss cheese. I'm glad you're not doing the bean counting for the Browns. 

    Case in point- the Dolphins threw humongous money at Ndamukong Suh, and they currently have very little wiggle room to go out and sign FAs. Latest stat from over the cap has the Steelers $3million over- so where you think they're going to pull $10 million+ out of their a$$ to keep Le'veon Bell on the team? You want instant gratification? There's the guy we should go after. 🙂  

    @hoorta said:

    Unused Cap space certainly does roll over. That may well be the error in your thinking. It's not a "use it or lose it" situation. IIRC- and Tour can correct me if I'm wrong on this- the only caveat is (I think) there's a 5? year rolling period where a team has to spend a minimum on contracts. There's not only a ceiling, there's also a floor. And like they say "it's complicated".

    Really getting in the grad level weeds here, h... but, yes, teams can roll cap space (albeit it does not happen automatically) and there's a min spend require that comes and goes.

    Best I know this article still captures most of these issues. https://russellstreetreport.com/salarycap/nfl-salary-cap-faqs/

    @jamesmadisonskinsfan said:

    Based on the conversations in here, it's clear many of you would steer clear of Cousins. There's some talk in DC right now of giving Cousins the 3rd franchise tag at $34.5 million and trying to negotiate a trade.

    Why would any team trade vs. simply wait one more year for Cousins to hit FA?

    @louisville-slugger said:

    Spending on a QB won't hurt us unless we get carried away in free agency. Getting a QB is the easiest way to get wins and Cousins wins games.

    @hoorta said:

    So, from some quarters- let's spend money like a drunken sailor on shore leave this year? Fortunately, listening to Red Zone tonight- Dorsey isn't going to repeat the lessons he learned about cap room in KC....  

    Let's hope Dorsey has learned his lessons, but in fairness to him a sizeable part of his KC problems came when he overpaid resigning his own players. No better example of this than he of the 22-sack-season-in-a-contract-year, Justin Houston. Gave the guy a franchise QB-sized contract and in it's first three years his sack total is shy of the one year that got him the contract. Add in Smith, Fischer, Berry, Johnson and Kelce... players that deserve sizeable paydays... and that's $88mm of KC's cap in their top six players. Cap space goes fast.

    Then there's the retention of the middle of the team. Every year you have around one-third of your players that are rolling off of their current deals. That's 18 players in round numbers. One-third to one-half of these are going to be supplanted by cap-saving draftees. For many of the rest this means moving sub-$1mm contracts towards league average deals. Bump ten contracts by $4mm each on average and there's $40mm in cap gone.

    Bottom line... there's a reason teams have cap gurus focused on looking down the road.

  • @louisville-slugger said:

    Why are you guys so worried about money? We have a ridiculous amount and it doesn't roll over. If we don't sign Cousins that money probably goes to waste. Our front office has to work the contracts so we don't end up in cap hell if they can't do that they need to be fired

    Unused Cap space certainly does roll over. That may well be the error in your thinking. It's not a "use it or lose it" situation. IIRC- and Tour can correct me if I'm wrong on this- the only caveat is (I think) there's a 5? year rolling period where a team has to spend a minimum on contracts. There's not only a ceiling, there's also a floor. And like they say "it's complicated". 

    Yup. working contracts is pretty important- that's why we're going to need cap room down the road- when we (think) we're only one player away, to afford the mega contract they're likely to demand. This isn't the time to make Cousins the highest paid QB in the league when the roster still has more holes in it than swiss cheese. I'm glad you're not doing the bean counting for the Browns. 

    Case in point- the Dolphins threw humongous money at Ndamukong Suh, and they currently have very little wiggle room to go out and sign FAs. Latest stat from over the cap has the Steelers $3million over- so where you think they're going to pull $10 million+ out of their a$$ to keep Le'veon Bell on the team? You want instant gratification? There's the guy we should go after. 🙂  

    @hoorta said:

    Unused Cap space certainly does roll over. That may well be the error in your thinking. It's not a "use it or lose it" situation. IIRC- and Tour can correct me if I'm wrong on this- the only caveat is (I think) there's a 5? year rolling period where a team has to spend a minimum on contracts. There's not only a ceiling, there's also a floor. And like they say "it's complicated". 

    Yup. working contracts is pretty important- that's why we're going to need cap room down the road- when we (think) we're only one player away, to afford the mega contract they're likely to demand. This isn't the time to make Cousins the highest paid QB in the league when the roster still has more holes in it than swiss cheese. I'm glad you're not doing the bean counting for the Browns. 

    Case in point- the Dolphins threw humongous money at Ndamukong Suh, and they currently have very little wiggle room to go out and sign FAs. Latest stat from over the cap has the Steelers $3million over- so where you think they're going to pull $10 million+ out of their a$$ to keep Le'veon Bell on the team? You want instant gratification? There's the guy we should go after. 🙂  

    You're right I did forgot about the new cba. I had a pretty good idea how the old system works, this new stuff is way too complicated. Isn't it like you can roll it for like 5 years then you have to meet the cap floor?

    We still have 118 millions so we can front load his salary and keep us from getting into cap issues down the road. The only team that could get in a bidding war with us is the jets and it would take almost all of their available cap space to get Cousins. I think he will not get the contract he's looking for

  • Reports are now flying that Cousins to Denver is close to a done deal...

    How? Given the start of the league year is still over a month away... I have no idea.

    One other interesting tidbit... in addition to us, NYJ, and DNV pursuing Cousins... The Vikings were mentioned. Had not seen them mentioned before, but why not? They don't have a QB signed to their roster.

  • Reports are now flying that Cousins to Denver is close to a done deal...

    How? Given the start of the league year is still over a month away... I have no idea.

    One other interesting tidbit... in addition to us, NYJ, and DNV pursuing Cousins... The Vikings were mentioned. Had not seen them mentioned before, but why not? They don't have a QB signed to their roster.

    @tour2ma said:

    Reports are now flying that Cousins to Denver is close to a done deal...

    How? Given the start of the league year is still over a month away... I have no idea.

    One other interesting tidbit... in addition to us, NYJ, and DNV pursuing Cousins... The Vikings were mentioned. Had not seen them mentioned before, but why not? They don't have a QB signed to their roster.

    Similar to the Smith deal....all done but the signing on the date they can.  And I had heard about the Vikings potential interest on Golic/Wingo.

  • @tour2ma said:

    Reports are now flying that Cousins to Denver is close to a done deal...

    How? Given the start of the league year is still over a month away... I have no idea.

    One other interesting tidbit... in addition to us, NYJ, and DNV pursuing Cousins... The Vikings were mentioned. Had not seen them mentioned before, but why not? They don't have a QB signed to their roster.

    Similar to the Smith deal....all done but the signing on the date they can.  And I had heard about the Vikings potential interest on Golic/Wingo.

    @the-gipper said:

    Similar to the Smith deal....all done but the signing on the date they can.  And I had heard about the Vikings potential interest on Golic/Wingo.

    I believe all 3 of the Vikings qb's are free agents this year maybe we can choose from their left overs ?

  • Reports are now flying that Cousins to Denver is close to a done deal...

    How? Given the start of the league year is still over a month away... I have no idea.

    One other interesting tidbit... in addition to us, NYJ, and DNV pursuing Cousins... The Vikings were mentioned. Had not seen them mentioned before, but why not? They don't have a QB signed to their roster.

    @tour2ma said:

    Reports are now flying that Cousins to Denver is close to a done deal...

    How? Given the start of the league year is still over a month away... I have no idea.

    seems that The Senior Bowl week now jumps deals even before combine..last night am watching the state of the Union.seemed like Trump fired the national anthem at Roger..than within 5 minutes after.. reports of Smith to DC fired right back at Trump..me thinks, the timing had a idea

  • @tour2ma said:

    Reports are now flying that Cousins to Denver is close to a done deal...

    How? Given the start of the league year is still over a month away... I have no idea.

    One other interesting tidbit... in addition to us, NYJ, and DNV pursuing Cousins... The Vikings were mentioned. Had not seen them mentioned before, but why not? They don't have a QB signed to their roster.

    Similar to the Smith deal....all done but the signing on the date they can.  And I had heard about the Vikings potential interest on Golic/Wingo.

    @the-gipper said:

    Similar to the Smith deal....all done but the signing on the date they can.

    Except the league year is not over so as of now Cousins is still a WSH employee and any talking to him is considered "illegal tampering" under league rules. There is a "legal tampering" period a day or so before the official start of the league year... and there's a more relaxed view of "conversations" with agents as that day approaches, but this is way outside that timing.

    So it can't be "similar".

    Thinking more on it... either WSH has filed paperwork to release Cousins or they've given permission to teams to talk to their employee.

  • @the-gipper said:

    Similar to the Smith deal....all done but the signing on the date they can.

    Except the league year is not over so as of now Cousins is still a WSH employee and any talking to him is considered "illegal tampering" under league rules. There is a "legal tampering" period a day or so before the official start of the league year... and there's a more relaxed view of "conversations" with agents as that day approaches, but this is way outside that timing.

    So it can't be "similar".

    Thinking more on it... either WSH has filed paperwork to release Cousins or they've given permission to teams to talk to their employee.

    @tour2ma said:

    Except the league year is not over so as of now Cousins is still a WSH employee and any talking to him is considered "illegal tampering" under league rules. There is a "legal tampering" period a day or so before the official start of the league year... and there's a more relaxed view of "conversations" with agents as that day approaches, but this is way outside that timing.

    So it can't be "similar".

    Thinking more on it... either WSH has filed paperwork to release Cousins or they've given permission to teams to talk to their employee.

    a team could still trade for him so why can't it be similar 

  • sydS syd

    @the-gipper said:

    Similar to the Smith deal....all done but the signing on the date they can.  And I had heard about the Vikings potential interest on Golic/Wingo.

    I believe all 3 of the Vikings qb's are free agents this year maybe we can choose from their left overs ?

    YAWN.

    @syd said:

    I believe all 3 of the Vikings qb's are free agents this year maybe we can choose from their left overs ?

    Idiot fukcking Browns fans going through more mental masturbation....inventing Browns football moves that have abso-Shmucking-lutely no chance of even being considered.....let alone happening.

    Seriously, don't you jackoffs get tired pf dping this same.schidt year after year after year?

    Is reality that fukcing hard for you to accept?

    NOBODY OF ANY TALENT WANTS TO COME TO SCHIDTHOLE cleveland.

    Myels Garrett made goddamned video offering fellatio to Jerry Jones to rescue him. A top rated college qb threatened to stay on college rather than come.to schidt hole-land.

    Meanwhile.  You jackoffs believe Cleveland is a mover-shaker.......top franchise.

    Do you hear players objecting to any other city?

    But hey..........go ahead.....pretend that Cleveland  is a really.cool place. EVERYONE wants to play on Cleveland. LMAO.

    I imagine this is why.the Browns continue to draft.schidt like Garrett and Coleman. Top.guys won't play here.

  • YAWN.

    @syd said:

    I believe all 3 of the Vikings qb's are free agents this year maybe we can choose from their left overs ?

    Idiot fukcking Browns fans going through more mental masturbation....inventing Browns football moves that have abso-Shmucking-lutely no chance of even being considered.....let alone happening.

    Seriously, don't you jackoffs get tired pf dping this same.schidt year after year after year?

    Is reality that fukcing hard for you to accept?

    NOBODY OF ANY TALENT WANTS TO COME TO SCHIDTHOLE cleveland.

    Myels Garrett made goddamned video offering fellatio to Jerry Jones to rescue him. A top rated college qb threatened to stay on college rather than come.to schidt hole-land.

    Meanwhile.  You jackoffs believe Cleveland is a mover-shaker.......top franchise.

    Do you hear players objecting to any other city?

    But hey..........go ahead.....pretend that Cleveland  is a really.cool place. EVERYONE wants to play on Cleveland. LMAO.

    I imagine this is why.the Browns continue to draft.schidt like Garrett and Coleman. Top.guys won't play here.

    @ghoolie said:

    YAWN.

    Idiot fukcking Browns fans going through more mental masturbation....inventing Browns football moves that have abso-Shmucking-lutely no chance of even being considered.....let alone happening.

    Seriously, don't you jackoffs get tired pf dping this same.schidt year after year after year?

    Is reality that fukcing hard for you to accept?

    NOBODY OF ANY TALENT WANTS TO COME TO SCHIDTHOLE cleveland.

    Myels Garrett made goddamned video offering fellatio to Jerry Jones to rescue him. A top rated college qb threatened to stay on college rather than come.to schidt hole-land.

    Meanwhile.  You jackoffs believe Cleveland is a mover-shaker.......top franchise.

    Do you hear players objecting to any other city?

    But hey..........go ahead.....pretend that Cleveland  is a really.cool place. EVERYONE wants to play on Cleveland. LMAO.

    I imagine this is why.the Browns continue to draft.schidt like Garrett and Coleman. Top.guys won't play here.

    For someone giving up the NFL you seem strangely obsessed with the Browns.

  • @the-gipper said:

    Similar to the Smith deal....all done but the signing on the date they can.

    Except the league year is not over so as of now Cousins is still a WSH employee and any talking to him is considered "illegal tampering" under league rules. There is a "legal tampering" period a day or so before the official start of the league year... and there's a more relaxed view of "conversations" with agents as that day approaches, but this is way outside that timing.

    So it can't be "similar".

    Thinking more on it... either WSH has filed paperwork to release Cousins or they've given permission to teams to talk to their employee.

    @tour2ma said:

    Except the league year is not over so as of now Cousins is still a WSH employee and any talking to him is considered "illegal tampering" under league rules. There is a "legal tampering" period a day or so before the official start of the league year... and there's a more relaxed view of "conversations" with agents as that day approaches, but this is way outside that timing.

    So it can't be "similar".

    Thinking more on it... either WSH has filed paperwork to release Cousins or they've given permission to teams to talk to their employee.

    Sure...

  • A little Skin Bracer for the Cousins optimists...

    ... Cousins can pick his destination. Sure, the Browns have the most money, but unless they come in way over what other suitors are willing to pay him, Cousins will likely not choose the Browns. Last year, Tony Jefferson chose the Ravens over the Browns in free agency for less  money because he wanted to have a better chance at the playoffs.

    Cousins told New York radio station WFAN on Tuesday he wants to go to a winner.

    “Winning is everything, especially at this stage of my career,” Cousins said. “I’m going into Year 7. Because I’ve been franchise-tagged twice, it’s not about the money so much. It’s about winning. I want to win.

    “This isn’t the NBA," he said. "You can’t just get one player and now you’re in the AFC championship game or NFC championship game. There are other pieces that come into play.”

    https://scout.com/nfl/browns/Article/Will-the-Browns-pay-the-price-for-their-1-31-record-114477106

  • But on the other hand ochocinco says we're a lock... so y'all got that going for you...

    Chad Johnson says Kirk Cousins will sign with Cleveland Browns, Joe Thomas says team is the favorite

    "Don't listen to any sources out there, I said it first," Johnson added.