New Sheriff Dorsey Cuts Kenny Britt!

The Cleveland Browns announced the hiring of former Kansas City Chiefs general manager John Dorsey to the same position today and it didn't take long for Dorsey to make his presence felt in his new role as he sliced Sashi Brown's biggest failure in free agency off the roster as the Browns released Kenny Britt after just twelve unproductive games.

I plan on a larger piece on the Dorsey hire later this week, but the move to quickly dispose of the divisive Britt showed that Dorsey has been watching this team and has some thoughts on just what he has in mind in how to improve the franchise under his guidance.
Britt was a surprising sign by the Browns coming off his career year in 2016 with the Rams where he barely topped 1,000 yards and the team was rumored to have been warned about him by Gregg Williams that Britt was difficult to deal with.

Signed to a four-year deal for over thirty-two million dollars, Britt struggled with drops. knee injuries and a general lack of effort that brought to mind another Browns receiving bust of the past to mind in Dwayne Bowe.
The 29 year old finished his Cleveland career with just 18 catches for 233 yards and two touchdowns and might be best remembered for the towel that he kept over his head constantly as he sat on the bench or one might say that he threw in as far as effort goes as soon as he signed his fat contract.

I questioned the signing of Britt from the start as I wondered about giving a large contract to a player that had a track record of knee injuries, laziness,off the field problems and Britt managed to stay out of legal problems off the field, although he did miss curfew when the Browns visited Houston.
Britt's tenure proved to be a complete waste of time, which is much like the Sashi Brown tenure in a nutshell in itself.

As for John Dorsey, who I'll write more about next week, he immediately establishes that he isn't going tolerate mistakes and will be willing to cut losses no matter who they are as he attempts to use the current "in" phrase "Culture Change".
There are few places that need more change than the Cleveland Browns.
Kenny Britt was a good place to begin.

Browns fire Sashi Brown, Keep Hue Jackson

Photo Credit: John Kuntz, The Cleveland Plain Dealer

The Cleveland Browns made my Thursday, but raised a few questions on a day where they could have made at least a little public relations, if not personnel advancement.

Sashi Brown was fired from his role as head of football operations, but Hue Jackson will return as head coach for the 2018 season.

Hue Jackson's hiring was applauded by me, but he has been a disappointment in Cleveland.
Odd play calls, strange personnel decisions, and awful clock management have marked Jackson's two years.
I can understand giving Jackson another year since his roster has been so weak, but his performance has been so bad, I could see firing him as well.
Jackson will likely have a short leash in 2018.

The firing of Sashi Brown was one that I strongly agree with.
Brown was never qualified to run a football personnel department, and the various maneuvering that has resulted in just one win in two years can mostly be laid at his feet.
Brown's rigid decision to stick to a plan even when given opportunities to keep players outside his box (notably Mitchell Schwartz and Terrelle Pryor) in free agency, signings of players such as Kenny Britt to large guaranteed contracts and his questionable use of numbers to evaluate college talent sent the Browns careening deeper down a hole that was deep to start with.

I was not in favor of Sashi Brown being hired from day one, and not because I was against his plan.
Teams in all sports have executed plans that saw teams tear franchises down to the floorboards and attempt to build them back up, and Brown shouldn't be ridiculed for that.

What he should have been was for the lack of talent that he selected to make his plan work.
Other Browns regimes have mastered the trade-down method as they attempted to emulate the building plans of the New England Patriots among so many, but Brown took it to an extreme, passing on elite-level talent in order to select quantities of mid-level talent.

Many Browns slaughter Brown for the trades that saw the team bypass Carson Wentz in 2016 and DeShaun Watson in 2017, and rightfully so, but there are other mistakes that show the limitations of Brown's evaluation of talent.

The Browns had tons of cap space and yes, Joe Haden and Demario Davis were overpaid for their production, but both would have helped this team and to give them away (Haden released, Davis traded for Calvin Pryor, who eventually was released) for nothing when the team could have afforded them was nonsensical.

I generally don't destroy teams for passing one guy for another in the draft, mainly because positional need does come into play and if you need a cornerback, it's hard to criticize years later for not taking a tackle, but the exception to that rule is when you miss on a player that turns out to be a star at a position that you chose another player over that player.

An example of this was when Brown's front office selected in the first round, wide receiver Baylor's Corey Coleman, who has struggled with drops and staying healthy, over Ohio State's Michael Thomas, who has become a star in his two years in New Orleans after the Saints selected him with a second-round selection.
That isn't excusable because that comes down to talent evaluation, and that is where the vaunted 'analytics' came up short.

It wasn't the battle plan; it was the generals executing that battle plan.
Brown's defenders claim that his drafts were so strong because so many players are on the team, but keep in mind that they are a one-win team in two years.

Only Emanuel Ogbah and Joe Schobert have shown anything more than average production from the 2016 draft and the 2017 draft has been better with Myles Garrett and the rare trade up for David Njoku, but even then the overdrafting of the tweener Jabrill Peppers has been a miss thus far and missing on Desmond King in favor of Howard Wilson (Injured in camp, to be fair) loomed large in the 2017 draft.

In the end, Sashi Brown seemed to be a nice guy who was simply miscast in a job that he was unsuited for and never should have been hired for to begin with.
I'm not sure who I blame more- Brown for wanting the job or Jimmy Haslam for thinking Brown was the right man for the job.

Back later with the boxing challenge and some words on the man who will be replacing Sashi Brown in charge of football operations for the Browns.

Another day from the worst organization in sports

I started to write this about the failures of the Cleveland Browns to land Jimmy Garoppolo after the San Francisco 49ers acquired the Patriot backup for a second-round draft pick, only to have the Browns attempt to make a move for a lesser quarterback at a higher price and only a paperwork snafu kept a ridiculous and panicky deal from happening with a division rival.

With minutes remaining before the NFL's trade deadline, the Browns thought they had come to an agreement to trade inside the division with the Cincinnati Bengals for their backup quarterback A.J. McCarron.
McCarron, he of the few average late-season, starts in 2015, has been coveted by Hue Jackson, who coached McCarron in Cincinnati since he left, and being that the Browns QBs range from inexperienced to pop-gun armed to one-dimensional scrambler, the Browns (or at least Jackson) were interested in McCarron.

The reporting wildly varies on whom to blame for this, but the result was that a ridiculous overpay for McCarron in a 2018 2nd and 3rd round pick was avoided by the paperwork not being filed by either the Browns or the Bengals.
This organization is dysfunctional beyond belief- seemingly uninterested in Garoppolo, Hue Jackson pounding the table to overpay McCarron, botching the trade, and clearly pitting the coaching staff vs the front office- Precisely what yours truly foresaw on DAY ONE that Hue Jackson was hired!!
If the rumors (and there are plenty of different ones) are correct, Jimmy Haslem stepped in with an order to make the McCarron deal happen.
Haslem, who has a wonderful track record with quarterbacks having told his team to draft Johnny Manziel over Derek Carr, Teddy Bridgewater, and the aforementioned Garoppolo, may have decided to back Hue Jackson over Sashi Brown in this talent battle.
Considering that Jackson is a dazzling 1-23 as Browns head man, he clearly has done a fine selling job on Haslem about the incompetence of Brown, which is true, but Jackson hasn't helped himself with a set of other erratic game/personnel decisions that often border on bizarre, yet as of now, it's Jackson that appears to be winning a battle that both sides should lose.

Put aside the ridiculous aspect of an NFL front office that has been in place for two seasons botching an issue like this- that's administrative stupidity without an excuse.
Let's focus on this- Who among this bunch that values draft choices so much that they pass up premium talent on a consistent basis thought that a 2 and 3 for A.J. McCarron, who brings a below-average arm, Brent Musberger's favorite wife, and his knowledge of Hue Jackson (for whatever that's worth, if he's gone in eight games) was worthwhile?
At best, McCarron is a stopgap for the next QB and at worst, he's grilling brats with Laura Rutledge and Paul Finebaum live from Starkville Mississippi on the SEC network in three years and yet he was valued at a 2nd and 3rd rounder level?
Add to that the reported non-pursuit of Garoppolo at a cheaper price and you would have to think that the front office evaluates talent badly, Hue Jackson must too if he thinks A.J. McCarron is a potential position changer and that someone (Brown and/or Haslem) hit a panic button to get Hue Jackson's guy.
Just mind churningly bad on about every level that you can think of.

I'm not sure any of these guys deserve to survive, but I think things are turning up in Cleveland.
The screwing up of a trade this bad is a good thing besides the overpay, you know the Browns would play McCarron (they have to after that price), avoid drafting a quarterback and continue this awful train to nowhere.
The humiliation of the ridiculousness of yesterday just might be the ticket to turning this thing around.
After all, missing on Grillin' AJ, getting the silly front office removed, and maybe the coach that thought A.J. McCarron was a quarterback worth building around to go just might be the ticket to fix the most pathetic organization in pro sports...

Steelers sign Joe Haden

On a day that the news keeps coming on and just a few hours after he was officially released,the Pittsburgh Steelers signed former Cleveland Browns cornerback Joe Haden to a three year contract with seven million for 2017 guaranteed..

Here is what I know for now-the
Browns asked Haden to take a paycut from 11 million this season to seven million.
Haden refused to take the lesser amount after which the Browns shopped his contract around yesterday and decided to release him today.
It didn't take Haden long to accept the seven million paycheck (actually Haden still gets his 11,just that seven comes from the Steelers and four million from the Browns) from Pittsburgh.
I'm not going to be one of "those" fans that now hates Haden because he signed with the Steelers.
Haden didn't leave as a free agent,the Browns released him,knowing he could go anywhere and I have no issue with his decision to sign with a playoff contender that is as close as any team in the league to his home in Cleveland.

Here's the part that I am interested to see play out.
The Browns have a big armed young quarterback and what they hope is a fast young receiver in Corey Coleman-perfect to attack Joe Haden in ten days in Cleveland.
The question is how well does Haden play in that short period of time?
Haden has always struggled in man to man coverage on the deep ball,which is why Antonio Brown and A.J. Green have regularly toasted him and that is the one thing that Coleman has shown that he can do in his short pro career.
That might be one of the few things that I wonder about entering that game.

The other question is this:Do you believe the Browns front office or Joe Haden and the Steelers on this-Did Pittsburgh sign "THE" old Joe Haden or just sign an old Joe Haden?
If the answer is the latter-that will be a huge indictment on the talent evaluating skills of Sashi Browns and his front office and might be the first domino of dissent on this front office...

Still have so much more to come later tonight as all the Browns news has shoved things back a bit!

Browns lose Terrelle Pryor

One day after Cleveland Browns fans felt reasonably decent about their team for a change,those good vibrations changed a little as Terrelle Pryor signed a one year contract with the Washington Redskins.

The departure was somewhat expected,but the surprise was the length and terms of the deal-one year and eight million,which was far lower than Pryor had been asking for from the Browns and one that the Browns could have easily matched and exceeded,had they desired.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that the Browns were not given a chance to match the Washington offer and that the team didn't make an effort to be involved once Pryor made his decision to surf the market for potential new hopes.
Tony Grossi had been writing since yesterday that the Browns had "given the deal budgeted to Pryor to new signee Kenny Britt" and were out on the former Buckeye as soon as Britt agreed to his contract of four years and thirty two million.

Here's my problem with this-for the second year in a row,the Sashi Brown led front office have won the negotiations and lost the player.
Let me explain what I mean.
Just as in the case in 2016 with tackle Mitchell Schwartz,the Browns were able to accurately gauge the market for the player and avoid overpaying them to stay with the team.
That's a good thing and shows that the front office has a good grasp on the financial aspect of dealing with talent on contracts.
However,the Browns show an inflexibility to make deals beyond their ideas for it should be and seem to be working from a scaffold of arrogance once things have moved beyond what they are willing to pay.
In other words,once a player has decided to take a look around and see what offers might be available,the Browns act like petulant children and are no longer interested in discussing.

I can understand that the team will need to explore other avenues,just as the player is,but in both cases (Schwartz and Pryor) the team pulled their offers that might have landed them the player after they had scanned available offers.
Schwartz came back to the Browns looking to accept and Pryor may have as well and the Browns weren't interested even at the cost that they were willing to pay.
In other words,the Browns were happy to pat themselves on the back for reading the tea leaves correctly,but then arrogantly let the player leave.
Imagine the offensive line with yesterday's tweaks and having Mitchell Schwartz manning what is the one weak spot on the line at right tackle.
Imagine the wideouts with Kenny Pritt,Terrelle Pryor and Corey Coleman instead of Britt,Coleman and who knows.
In both cases,the Browns could have had the players at their evaluated rate,improved their team,but were more concerned with "winning" the talks.

The Pryor case is even more glaring because had they not burned the field to the ground (Blame Pryor's agent Drew Rosenhaus a large amount here as well),they had plenty of money to sign Pryor and Britt.
The Browns collected plenty of kudos for getting Houston's 2018 second round pick for Brock Osweiler and being willing to pay Osweiler's 16 million contract,even if they release him.
I'm in agreement for liking that move,but they could have kept Pryor for half (or perhaps a little over half) of the amount that they are willing to pay Osweiler-whether he plays for the Browns or not.
The money was there,the budget could have been held (or a small upturn to get the deal done) and instead the Browns allowed the one playmaker that they had to walk away.

I agree that Pryor and Rosenhaus overreached in their original demands and the Browns earn points for not overpaying,but the rigidity that the team has shown over the last two free agent periods with players that not only wanted to stay,but would have been foundation blocks of this rebuild,makes me wonder this-If the fight to keep players and hold the line on budgets are this bad with oodles of cap space,what will it be if the team ever reaches contention?

I think Terrelle Pryor and Kenny Britt are pretty comparable,although I prefer Pryor by a hair,but unless the Browns have a plan to add another receiver from somewhere that is of solid starting level (
either in the draft or another "Waiting for Josh Gordon" event),they could have them both and instead found it more important to win the battle and take another hit in winning the war....

Editor's Note: I'll be back tonight with a note on the Browns release of Robert Griffin and just what will they might do from here at quarterback.

Browns sign Kenny Britt,Trade with Texans.

I wrote earlier on the Browns efforts to improve the offensive line and how I believe that the additions have moved those efforts forward.

The first signing of the day saw the Browns perhaps move on from Terrelle Pryor,although they still say that they would like to return Pryor to the team,Pryor has begun to take the tours and talk the talk with other teams.
The player that will slot into the place of Pryor as the presumed number one receiver will be Kenny Britt,formerly of the Rams (and Titans previously),who signed a four year contract for 32 million.

Britt and Pryor's age (28 to 27) and their 2016 statistics (68 catches,1,002 yds,5 TD's for Britt compared to 77 catches,1,007 yards and 4 scores for Pryor) are remarkably similar,but Britt comes with some baggage to consider.
Britt has suffered a torn ACL and MCL(2011),has had some legal issues and has carried a rap of not always being a top effort player.
Let's look at it this way,the Rams offense was terrible last season and they allowed Britt to leave.
I suppose one could say the same about the Browns with Terrelle Pryor,but all things considered,if I can only have one or the other and if the price is similar (and it may or may not be before all is concrete) ,I lean toward the bigger player without an injury history with the higher upside.

I'm not against signing Kenny Britt,not at all,but I don't think he is a number one receiver and planning on him to be such might prove to be faulty thinking.
A top three WR corps of Pryor,Britt and Corey Coleman is pretty solid.
One of Britt,Coleman and question marks makes one think that the Browns have ran in place at the wideout position and it still might need to be further addressed without Pryor.

The final transaction of the day saw a deal that has not been seen in the NFL as the Browns took the hefty contract (16 million) of quarterback Brock Osweiler off the Houston Texans cap along with a 2018 second round pick and a sixth rounder in the 2017 draft in return for the 2017 4th round compensation pick.
I've heard different plans for Osweiler that include reworking his contract to make it easier to swap him and pick up more draft picks,releasing him to take the one year cap hit (Osweiler's deal while large is only on the cap for one season) and being done with him or even keeping him around to compete for the job with whomever is still around.

I don't think the Browns will keep Osweiler around,but honestly I'm not against it,if the offers for Osweiler aren't up to par.
I mean if you are going to eat the 16 million,you might as well take a look at him,right?
I know he was terrible in Houston,but his size and arm are a good fit for the AFC North in theory,so I'm fine with bringing him to camp,although I'd prefer moving him along for more capital.

I know 16 million is a lot of money to pay for a second round pick, (give Jimmy Haslem some credit for writing the check too),but this has no downside other than money.
You get a pick for nothing in football assets and if you get anything out of Osweiler at all (either on field or in the event that you get something for him),you get even more.

I don't grade this post quite as high as the previous post.
Britt for Pryor is a wash at best,but the Osweiler deal is not just low risk,it's no risk and I applaud the radical (for NFL anyway) thinking by the Browns.
I've been quite critical of the qualifications of Sashi Brown for running this team.
This was a excellent day and Brown looks good for now,but a caveat-All of these picks mean nothing,if you fail to take the right people.
The jury is still out for the 2016 draft,although the results early on can be questioned-the 2017 draft has to be a different story,if things are to continue to improve.

Browns fire Pettine and Farmer and who the hell is Sashi Brown?

I'm sure you know all about the firings of Mike Pettine and Ray Farmer by now and I hope that you have listened to my podcast from yesterday that involved me discussing the Browns' decisions on this and other issues.

Now that I have had a little time to go over things, here are my thoughts on the flotsam and jetsam that is the Cleveland Browns.
As I said yesterday-I'm as down as I have been in a long time.
I see little reason to feel confident in a management structure that flows through a person (Sashi Brown) that will have the final say on the roster, yet has never been involved on the football side of the organization with an NFL team and was part of the failed management structure that was somewhat cleaned out.

Give me one reason-ONE that makes any sense for ANYONE keeping their job, let alone getting a PROMOTION!
Hold on, I'll wait. Enjoy a musical interlude.



SO the Cleveland Browns now are being run by a lawyer that was involved in running the salary cap and negotiating contracts.

BREAKING NEWS-I started this earlier in the day and the Browns have made even more moves-considering a podcast tonight...

I just don't understand why a non-football person is suddenly in charge of personnel.

As far as Farmer goes, his abysmal record in drafting (Justin Gilbert and Johnny Manziel) and free agency (Dwayne Bowe) makes me fine with not bringing him back.
I want him nowhere near the draft or anything else.
As far as Pettine-I wouldn't have whined about him staying despite his awful 2015 when you consider the flotsam and jetsam that populated the roster-I don't know of anyone that could have won with this team.
Pettine's petulant attitude towards Johnny Manziel (not that he didn't deserve it) cost the team valuable evaluation time and he reminded you of the fast food boss that bullied you around because he could -not because of a real reason.
Combined with that and his devotion to his pal and defensive coordinator Jim O'Neill on the terrible defense and you could make an easy case for the firing of Pettine too.

All I know is this-After Jimmy Haslam's news conference,I felt as bad as I had for the Cleveland Browns in a long time.
And that is a lot of bad...