Browns trade for Calvin Pryor

On a day when our President decided that the dollars of energy barons was more important than the first step in protecting our planet,we here at TRS are both saddened and disheartened with today's decision.
I do occasionally talk politics here,but I'm going to let emotions go a bit more evenly before I write about this issue here.

Until then,we still have sports and the Cleveland Browns decided to take a little of the spotlight away from the Cleveland Cavaliers with a trade to upgrade the secondary as the Browns acquired former first round pick Calvin Pryor from the New York Jets to hopefully team with first round pick Jabrill Peppers to comprise the safety pairing for the upcoming season.
Pryor was rumored to be on the outs with the Jets as the Jets had demoted him,passed on his fifth year option (for 2018) and drafted two safeties in the recent draft in the first two rounds (Jamal Adams and Marcus Maye).
The Browns might have been better suited to wait,allow the Jets to release Pryor and use their number one waiver claim to add Pryor for free,but instead shipped linebacker DeMario Davis to the Jets in order to save even more money on the salary cap (Davis will make 3.7 million to Pryor's 1.6,both are free agents at the end of 2017) and add to their large amount of space.
Davis was the top free agent signing on the defense for 2016 and was penciled in as the starter at middle linebacker for the upcoming season,but that isn't as big of a deal as one would think.
In the Gregg Williams defense,the large majority of the time is spent with just two linebackers on the field and with the recent extension to Christian Kirksey and the re-signing of Jamie Collins,it doesn't take a Mensa member to figure out which of the three "starters" was going to spend the most time off the field.

As for Calvin Pryor,the Jets were disappointed in him,but he is a big hitter that hasn't performed as well in coverage as hoped,but is still just 24 and if you believe Jabrill Peppers will be the playmaker in the secondary that the Browns badly need (Color me very dubious on that),Pryor's aggressive thumping style could mesh well with that of Peppers.
Pryor didn't make a lot of big plays as a Jet (two interceptions and two forced fumbles),but he wasn't a disaster either as he started 38 of the 44 games that he was active for in New York.

I'm fine with the Browns taking this risk.
It's reasonably low cost (although I did like DeMario Davis,he wasn't a long term foundation piece) and you are giving a second chance to a player that just might fit what Gregg Williams does on defense.
Remember that Mark Barron came out of college as a first round safety that struggled in coverage for Tampa Bay and was considered a disappointment to the point that Barron was traded to--the Rams where Gregg Williams used Barron as a hybrid linebacker/safety and helped Barron into being a very productive tackler as most fantasy players that use IDP (Individual Defensive Players) know.
I can hope that the Browns are able to turn the career around of Calvin Pryor and I'm cautiously optimistic that can happen.

Will try to be back later with game one of the NBA finals...

Browns sign Demario Davis

The Browns made three moves today-adding and subtracting.
I'll look at the subtractions later as there could possibly be more players released and keep this post to the one addition that the team made.

Demario Davis was added from the Jets for eight million over two years to play inside linebacker in the 3-4 defense.
Davis was a player that I really liked coming out of Arkansas State in 2012 and has been productive in his time with the Jets after being selected in the third round.
The tackle numbers for Davis dropped a hair last season,but some of that has to be attributed to the Jets hiring Todd Bowles as head coach,who used more of a rotation at linebacker and therefore limited the snaps for Davis last season compared to the previous seasons.

Davis should slot into a starting inside linebacker position with the release of Karlos Dansby (more on that in the next post) and the apparent departure of Craig Robertson,who is visiting other teams and joins the high motor of Christian Kirksey in what should be a reasonably decent position on a team that decent might rank near the top.

I like the signing,I think there is a fair chance that the Browns could receive comparable production from Demario Davis compared to Karlos Dansby at a reduced cost-analytics at work!!

As I was typing this,the Browns made another signing as safety Rahim Moore arrived from Houston on a one year contract to challenge Jordan Poyer for the safety position vacated by Tashaun Gipson.
Moore was a second round pick of the Broncos in 2011 and spent four years with Denver before leaving for Houston.
If Moore reverts to the Denver form of 2014(4 interceptions and 45 tackles),the Browns could have a steal.
The problem is that Moore signed with the Texans for three years before the 2015 season and played so poorly that he lost his starting job halfway through the years for the playoff bound Texans and was released just one year into the contract.
So which Moore have the Browns signed?
Was his struggles in Houston signs of a player in decline? Or was it simply that Moore didn't fit into the Texans schemes as well as expected and the Browns are a better fit for him?
On a one year contract,I don't mind gambling on Moore....

I expect to be back later to talk about the players that the Browns released today...