@ballpeen said:

I agree, it is all projection at this juncture.

Yea, we will have like 4 months for draft blabber. Maybe the Browns go 8-8 and end up with like the 18th or 20th pick?

@canton-mike said:

Unless one of the prime guys is there when we pick, I agree. Right now the Browns are a top ten pick & we'll see how they end up, but that's a way down the road.

Mike

I agree, it is all projection at this juncture.

@ballpeen said:

I think this is a prime year to trade down 8-10 slots to about 20 or so and gain a 2nd round pick.

JMO.

Unless one of the prime guys is there when we pick, I agree. Right now the Browns are a top ten pick & we'll see how they end up, but that's a way down the road.

Mike

JMO.

@ballpeen said:

It just brings new positions in to play. I suppose we will win a few more and possibly end up about 12th in the draft. We can still find a player who is a top player and will fill a hole.

Absolutely. They may miss out on the likes of Jones/Milliner/Teo/Moore/Werner,.....but, the following are projected in the next 10:

Barkevious Mingo LSU LB

Sam Montgomery LSU DE

CJ Mosley Alabama LB

Jonathan Banks CB Miss. St.Absolutely. If the Browns are out of the Top 10 they may miss out on Jones/Teo/Milliner or even Damontre Moore and Bjoern

Maybe even Alex Okafor DE Texas or Eric Reid FS LSU who are projected from like 20-25.

@hoorta said:

I think they said the same things about Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher. We win a few more games we're drafting middle of the pack- and the super studs are all going to be off the board.

It just brings new positions in to play. I suppose we will win a few more and possibly end up about 12th in the draft. We can still find a player who is a top player and will fill a hole.

@mdmusch said:

I really want Te'o in the sense that he seems to love football and he brings intensity. Even though he probably won't blow anyone away with elite agility or speed, he will work to get better. And the guy is large and intimidating at 6-2, 255.

I think they said the same things about Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher. We win a few more games we're drafting middle of the pack- and the super studs are all going to be off the board.

@the-gipper said:

As much as we criticized the Browns for not going after FAs last year, the additions of Frostee Rucker and Juqua Parker have been contributory to this team. Now, that doesn't mean the Browns don't need another killer DE, but if they get one it will probably be a draftee. On the other hand, I see that first round pick going for either an OLB to take the place of Maiava/Gocong or a CB or FS.

Right now, the Browns may draft as low as 9th. With a couple of more wins they may end up near the middle of the first round....and the top players they may like to have, Jones, Milliner, Teo et al may be gone.

If they had say a pick from 12-15 then their second pick would not come until like the 75th-80th overall pick.

They would need a FA to make up for the lack of a second rounder.

No doubt.

I didn't intend for it to sound like we totally neglected the FA option, but we weren't exactly in the running for Peppers as an example.

Maybe we are ready to make a splash of sorts to bring in a proven stud.

@jrb12711 said:

Actually I do see the Eagles paying DRC and giving Nnmandi the boot. He's been nothing short of awful this whole season and is on that huge contract. DRC would save them as he's not going to yield the same contract. I mean Im just spitballin here but I've heard from mock drafts and the like that there a lot of rumors going around about that exact thing.

I agree 100%...I wouldnt be shocked to see Nnmandi get released.

Just imagine though if the browns could sign a big time CB and draft a LB in the first round...our defense would be stacked! All that would be missing is coverage safety.

As bad as our record is and as poor as our offense has played in stretches, I really dont think we have many holes. We are set at RB, offensive line appears strong, and I actually like our WR corps with the emergence of Gordon and improvements of Little. Maybe we could use a shifty/speed RB and a gamechanger at TE.

I'm not saying make moves like the Eagles did a couple years ago, just make SOME. Sign some starters.

@ballpeen said:

It's hard to comment on free agents until you actually know who becomes one. Most of the good ones sign with their team, or get tagged making it prohibitive to sign them.

I will say with no 2nd rounder and a new owner in town, I do believe we will start to view free agency as a way to augment our talent rather than sit it out every year. By sitting it out, I mean on solid players many teams would like to have rather than the few we do sign that are simply after thought players rounding out the bottom of the roster to provide a little camp competition and maybe cling as one of the last few to make the squad.

As much as we criticized the Browns for not going after FAs last year, the additions of Frostee Rucker and Juqua Parker have been contributory to this team. Now, that doesn't mean the Browns don't need another killer DE, but if they get one it will probably be a draftee. On the other hand, I see that first round pick going for either an OLB to take the place of Maiava/Gocong or a CB or FS.

Right now, the Browns may draft as low as 9th. With a couple of more wins they may end up near the middle of the first round....and the top players they may like to have, Jones, Milliner, Teo et al may be gone.

If they had say a pick from 12-15 then their second pick would not come until like the 75th-80th overall pick.

They would need a FA to make up for the lack of a second rounder.

I will say with no 2nd rounder and a new owner in town, I do believe we will start to view free agency as a way to augment our talent rather than sit it out every year. By sitting it out, I mean on solid players many teams would like to have rather than the few we do sign that are simply after thought players rounding out the bottom of the roster to provide a little camp competition and maybe cling as one of the last few to make the squad.

Mike Wallace WR - He is having a down year. But the guy can play and it would be nice to steal him from the Steelers.

Dwayne Bowe WR - Beast and a #1 WR. Bucs signing of a #1 WR can really change your offense. These type of players almost never become FAs.

Jared Cook TE - We need to get Weeden all the targets we possibly can. Cook is a fast TE who can stretch the defense.

Michael Johnson DE - Having a great year. Cincy and Mike Brown are known for not paying their FAs.

Derek Cox CB - One of the more underrated DBs in the league. Would love to see him across from Haden.

Draft-

Round 1 - Jarvis Jones or Manti Teo

Round 3 - Tank Carradine or Travis Frederick

Round 4 - Tyrann Mathieu

Rest is a crap shoot.

@canton-mike said:

I may be wrong, but it just seems to me there are more "busts" in free agency than in the draft. A whole lot more expensive too.

Mike

Busts are relative to what you pay for them, I'm not throwing out 100 mil to anyone.

These are just a few ideas, and the draft provides enough busts.

I'm sure there is something negative to say about any free agent brought up, but at some point the Browns will need to stop getting younger and start adding proven players to help our young team grow. And sure, free agency is risk taking but teams don't win superbowl's playing it safe.

And the Eagles would have to cut Nnamdi, pay his guaranteed money, then resign DRC. I don't see them doing that.

Mike

2) Avril is a liability in run support.. just like Sheard. He has exactly 28 tackles this year.. yes, 8.5 are for sacks but he gets essentially only 1 or 2 tackles each game. By way of comparison, Sheard has 35. I wouldn't pay Avril.

3) After the win, we're drafting 7th. Walter's latest mock still has us getting Te'o.. and at that spot, I'm more than comfortable with finally having a good linebacking corps for the first time since the Ravens left town.

Bottom line: I don't see any players who are COST EFFECTIVE in FA. The Bills are not at all happy with the bill for Mario.. we don't want to be that team next year.

@dab7291993 said:

Forgot about the second round, damn. It's fine though.

The CBS guys have Jones at 5 and 8. And those are just targets, if one is taken you take the next best available player.

The thing is other than Geno Smith being projected to go to KC there are no top flight QBs or RBs coming in this draft. If you have some top QBs, the defensive players will slide. But if no QBs then the premium picks will be used on defense.

Having looked over various mock drafts, there is absolutely no consensus on who...or when the Browns will pick.

Various names mocked include Jones, but also: Manti Teo, Bjoern Werner Damontre Moore, Barkevious Mingo, Milliner, Warcmack etc. (almost all LBs and DEs)