Browns trade for Kenny Pickett, move DTR

       The Cleveland Browns didn't leap into action on the first day of free agency as it was more of a short jaunt with the surprising acquisition of quarterback Kenny Pickett from the Philadelphia Eagles.

Cleveland traded reserve quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson and a fifth-round draft pick which originally belonged to the Detroit Lions and was obtained for Za'Darius Smith at the trade deadline, for Pickett, who will turn twenty-seven in June.

Pickett was the first-round selection by the Steelers in the 2022 draft and started twelve games in each of his two seasons as a Steeler.

Pickett won fourteen of those starts but threw thirteen interceptions with thirteen touchdowns and was viewed as a disappointing selection with Pittsburgh trading Pickett to the Eagles before last season with a fourth-rounder in 2024 in return for a 2024 third-rounder and two 2025 seventh-round choices.

Pickett appeared in five games (two touchdowns, one interception, two hundred ninety-one yards) for the Eagles championship-winning squad, starting the season's final game against Dallas, winning a meaningless game to avoid injury to Jalen Hurts.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson was the Browns fifth-round selection in 2023 and started five games in two seasons as a Brown, throwing one touchdown and a jaw-dropping ten interceptions.

Thompson-Robinson completed only fifty-two percent of his pass attempts and showed an inability to get the football downfield, so with the Browns tossing in the towel on the DeShaun Watson regime, Thompson-Robinson's skills aren't in sync with whomever the Browns would decide to start at quarterback next season.

The Browns basically traded Dorian Thompson-Robinson and a few games of Za'Darius Smith for Kenny Pickett and while those few games weren't a loss, trading a fifth-rounder  (even if it is near the end of the round) seemed a bit much, especially when the Browns are expected to add a few compensation picks in the sixth round, which would have been a bit more palatable.

I'm assuming the Browns are bringing Kenny Pickett in as a backup and not as a challenger for the starting position, so the trade is nothing I'm going to scream about, especially since Cleveland found a taker for Dorian Thompson-Robinson.

Under these circumstances, I'm okay with the trade, although not in love with it because of the loss of the fifth-round draft pick.

I don't expect to see Kenny Pickett taking many snaps for the Cleveland Browns but if he is things are really problematic in Cleveland.

Browns sign Myles Garrett to extension

     On the eve of the new league season, the Cleveland Browns won one battle as they walked down Myles Garrett from his trade demand and re-signed their star defensive end to a four-year contract extension.

While the Browns can say they won the battle by retaining Garrett, Garrett was also a winner as he received a contract larger than any in football history for a player who is not a quarterback.

The extension will pay Garrett forty million per year for each of the next four seasons with one hundred twenty-three million fully guaranteed.

The twenty-nine-year-old Garrett collected fourteen sacks last season, making him the first player to post four consecutive seasons of fourteen sacks or more/

Garrett also became the youngest player to reach one hundred sacks in a career.

The Browns aren't expected to make any splashy signings in the free agency period, which starts on Monday, due to limited space, keeping Myles Garrett in town and hopefully happy will be the Browns biggest move.

The extension could have some impact on the Browns second overall selection as Cleveland had been rumored to be considering Penn State defensive end/edge rusher Abdul Carter along with a potential quarterback.

While I do like Miami's Cam Ward at quarterback and could live with him as the pick, I'd rather see the Browns tab Carter and allow Garrett and Carter to get after quarterbacks with a pass rush that would put some fear into opposing offensive lines.

Most think that re-signing Garrett is the signal that Andrew Berry is taking a quarterback or trying to build some interest for teams to trade up, but I still wouldn't rule out Carter.

Andrew Berry's drafting has been less than dazzling and it's hard to find a pattern in what he looks for in the draft other than he leans on SEC and Big Ten players more than the other schools and Carter coming from Penn State, I could see Berry making the decision on the defensive end.

Cleveland took care of one problem in making Myles Garrett happy, now the work begins to surround him with talent that could improve an aging team before the next bad run causes Garrett's attitude to sour. 

Cleaning out the Inbox: Passings

  When you take a hiatus of length as I have, things can fall behind quickly, so I will try to churn out some content as quickly as possible.

Goodbye to Greg Haugen at the age of 64. 

Haugen twice held the IBF lightweight title and the WBO junior welterweight title in a career filled with memorable fights and verbal altercations.

Haugen won one of three close fights with Vinny Pazienza, handed Hector Camacho his first career loss, and won his first IBF title with an upset over Kronk Boxing's Jimmy Paul. However, he may be most remembered for playing the heel against Julio Cesar Chavez in Chavez's homecoming fight in Mexico City, which drew a world record for an outdoor fight event with an attendance of over 136,000.

Haugen entered the fight with outbursts towards the record of Chavez as built on knocking out "Tijuana Cab Drivers".

An incensed Chavez punished Haugen before finishing him in the fifth round.

Goodbye to Mike Lange at the age of 76.

The long-time voice of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Lange spent all but one season with Pittsburgh from 1974 through 2021, and other than that one missing season (Lange left as at the time, the Penguins looked on financially shaky ground) when Lange called games for the Washington Diplomats of the NASL, Lange would work for the Penguins.

Lange was beloved by Penguins fans for his unique calls including my favorite as an excited Penguin would celebrate after a goal as being "as happy as a butcher's dog!" 

Goodbye to Mike Collier at the age of 71.

Collier was the main kick returner for the 1975 Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers and would play two seasons with Buffalo before ending his career in 1979.

Collier was Pittsburgh's fifteenth-round pick from Morgan State in the 1975 draft.

Collier would work in Hagerstown as a manager of a local Martin's grocery for several years following the end of his football career.

Goodbye to Eddie Fisher at the age of 88.

Known for his knuckleball, Fisher's best season came in 1965 when he made his only All-Star team, winning fifteen games in eighty-two appearances for the White Sox.

Fisher pitched fifteen seasons in the majors for six teams, spending seven of those with the White Sox in his longest tenure.

Goodbye to Scott Sauerbeck at the age of 53.

Used as a lefthanded reliever in a seven-year career (1999-2006) with four teams, Sauerbeck spent most of his career with the Pirates.

Sauerbeck was involved in the 2003 trade that sent him to the Red Sox at the trade deadline in return for future batting champion Freddy Sanchez.

The Last Crescendo

    The story of my time away has yet to be told and that time is why I was unable to write about or have the greatest one-day card in boxing history involved in the boxing challenge.

I wanted to write something about the Last Crescendo event, so here are a few thoughts about the card.

Just like their first fight, I scored Dmitry Bivol's majority decision win over Artur Beterbiev even at 114-114 but unlike the first battle, if I was forced to choose a winner I would select Bivol this time.

I thought the second bout had a bit more action than the first and the practice flipped from the first fight with Beterbiev starting quickly and Bivol finishing stronger.

I'd like a third fight quickly to settle the series before the forty year old Beterbiev ages out of his prime but I am understanding of not wanting the division to go on hold to do so immediately.

I'm not sure to feel bad or not for heavyweight contender Martin Bakole, who took a huge paycheck to step in for the ill Daniel DuBois, days before the scheduled fight with Joseph Parker.

Parker knocked the out of shape Bakole out in two and cost Bakole his scheduled IBF eliminator against Efe Ajagba.

The money was substantial but the loss will send Bakole sliding though the ratings.

As for Parker, the former WBO champion continues his revitalization with his third straight impressive win and currently is the most deserving contender for a title match.

If Parker isn't the most deserving then the honor has to go to unbeaten German Agit Kayabel, who won his third bout in a row by knockout as a underdog, with his sixth round stoppage of Zhilei Zhang.

Kayabel was knocked down in round five before rising and finishing Zhang with a liver punch.

The best fight on the card was the first as former super middleweight champion Callum Smith outslugged previously unbeaten Joshua Buatsi to win a unanimous decision and slide into a possible mandatory challenger position for Dmitry Bivol's light heavyweight titles.

Smith was stopped by Artur Beterbiev in his title chance in 2024 and I doubt a rematch would be any different but judging by his win over Buatsi, he will deserve his chance.

Unbeaten junior middleweight Vergil Ortiz  earned the biggest victory of his career with a unanimous decision over slick former WBA champion Israil Madrimov.

Madrimov, as he did in his close loss to Terence Crawford, just doesn't throw enough punches against Ortiz was impressive in outworking Madrimov.

Ortiz might be the best 154 pounder in the world despite not owning a title belt.

Shakur Stevenson retained his WBC lightweight title when late replacement Josh Padley retired at the end of the ninth round.

Padley tried hard but was badly outclassed.

Hamzah Sheeraz was expected to be the next big thing in the middleweight division after recent triumphs of devastating proportions and was a strong favorite over WBC champion Carlos Adames.

Instead,it was Adames who fought sharply and should have won the decision (I scored Adames the winner 115-113)but settled for a draw and keeping his title.

Sheerez seemed a bit dull to me and with his size, Sheeraz might want to consider moving up to the super middleweight division.

Boxing Challenge: Roach wins while drawing vs Davis

  This will be a hybrid of the usual reports as I am still recovering (more on that in future posts) and still have plenty of other items to catch up with.

The biggest fight of the weekend saw the biggest story of the weekend as the top American star in the game, WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis, was taken to the brink against WBA junior lightweight titleholder Lamont Roach, and held to a majority decision draw that bluntly should have given Davis his first career defeat.

Roach was robbed of a massive victory and a paycheck for a rematch that would be far larger with a win than a majority draw that he was given.

I scored the fight 114-114, as did two judges with the dissenter tabbing Davis the winner 115-113. so the scorecards were all reasonable but the travesty occurred in round nine when Roach landed a short right hand that was followed by a soft jab that then saw Davis voluntarily take a knee, which he claimed was needed when "grease from his hair had gotten into his eye".

That may have been the case but no matter the reason, if a fighter takes a knee it should be scored a knockdown.

Referee Steve Wilks started a count and then stopped it allowing Davis to save the point- a point that would save his title.

If the proper call had been made, Roach would have won round 10-8 and flipped all three cards in his favor for a unanimous decision stunner.

While I'm sure a rematch will be signed and Roach will be paid handsomely, he should have the title entering a second fight which would have been worth even more money.

As for Gervonta Davis, this could have been an off night or overconfidence against a former amateur rival moving up in weight and isn't known for his power in the smaller division.

While Davis didn't fight poorly, he didn't look sharp either.

Despite his tremendous one-shot power, Davis isn't a physically large lightweight, so perhaps there are some reasons that Davis is consistently matched against smaller lightweights (Frank Martin, Isaac Cruz) and junior lightweights moving up in weight (Roach, Hector Luis Garcia.

Davis is among the best bangers in the sport and his skills are excellent but in a division with excellent fights to be made, Davis appears content to defend against second-tier fighters for large paychecks.

While I completely understand the goal of making as much money as possible, Davis is beginning to feel the backlash of being a fighter who is dodging the elite challenges that are available.

The problem with that gameplan is that when you eventually lose, it will be to an opponent that will be considered inferior, and the defeat usually hurts your "legacy".

It's not too late for Gervonta Davis but Davis needs a convincing win over Lamont Roach in a rematch and then set sail to finally make those matches to see just how he will be remembered.

In other bouts-

Gary Antuanne Russell dominated Jose Valenzuela to win the WBA junior welterweight title, winning by scores of 120-108 (same as mine) and 119-109 times two.

Russell, like his older brother and former WBC featherweight champion Gary, has excessive talent but falls into long periods of inactivity.

Hopefully, that will not happen this time as PBC would like to see Russell unify with WBC champion Alberto Puello, who kept his title via a split decision over Sandor Martin.

Puello won 116-112 and 115-113 to overrule the 115-113 card for Martin.

I scored it 115-113 for Martin.

Puello handed Gary Antuanne Russell his only career loss, so a rematch does have some intrigue.

Cuban junior middleweight Yoenis Tellez battered former WBA and IBF champion Julian Williams in winning a unanimous decision by scores of 119-109, 118-110 (my score) and 117-111.

Former IBF junior welterweight champion Subriel Matias won a title eliminator with an eighth-round knockout of Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela in Puerto Rico.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 25 Pts(6)

Ramon Malpica: 23 Pts(5)

Vince Samano: 15 Pts(0)

John Herndon: 5 Pts (5)

Boxing Challenge

 A just the facts version of the boxing challenge.

WBA Lightweight Title 12 Rds

Gervonta Davis vs Lamont Roach

Ramon Malpica: Davis KO 7
TRS: Davis KO 8
Vince Samano:

John Herndon: Davis KO

WBA Junior Welterweight Title. 12 Rds

Jose Valenzuela vs Gary Antuanne Russell

R.L: Valenzuela Unanimous Decision
TRS: Russell Unanimous Decision
V.S:
J.H: Valenzuela

WBC Junior Welterweight Title. 12 Rds

Alberto Puello vs Sandor Martin

R.L and TRS:Martin Split Decision

V.S:
J.H: Puello

Junior Middleweights. 12 Rds

Yoenis Tellez vs Julian Williams

R.L: Tellez Unanimous Decision
TRS: Tellez KO 5
V.S:
J.H: Tellez KO

Junior Welterweights 12 Rds

Subriel Matias vs Gabriel Valenzuela

R.L: Matias KO 9

TRS: Matias KO 6
V.S:
J.H:  Matias 

Cleaning out the inbox

    It's time to clean out the inbox and a few things have caught my eye recently.

The Athletic writes about Division II basketball coach Jim Crutchfield and his innovations at Nova Southeastern, resulting in a phenomenal record at the Florida school.  

Crutchfield's system looks on the surface similar to the analytics-driven systems used by many programs but in actuality is far different.

I found the article very intriguing and hope to have time to watch a Nova game on the conference website soon to gain a better understanding.

LinkedIn isn't usually a site where I find items for the inbox but this article written by James Bafaro is worth the addition as Bafaro writes of himself and his best friend in grade school's experience at free ABA basketball night in St.Louis.

Bafaro goes through the giveaway, the basketball (he still has his), the stolen basketball from his friend, and how the story had a happy ending!

ESPN writes of the behind-the-scenes decisions and problems that led to the Cleveland Browns putrid 3-14 season.

Obviously, the quarterback chaos is the main focus but it also discusses the decision to replace Alex Van Pelt before the season with Ken Dorsey, the decisions that need to be made in this off-season, and of course, Jimmy Haslam.

Yes, there is a chance of Earth being struck by an asteroid in 2032 and the latest calculations by NASA  have doubled those chances.

Before you start panicking too much, the chances of a hit have moved from 1.2 percent to 2.3 percent, so the chances have doubled but still unlikely.

Asteroid 2024 YR4 will tracked by the James Webb Telescope in March but contact will be lost as the asteroid's trajectory moves it out of visual range until June 2028 when it will begin its trip towards Earth.

The European Space Agency stated, " An object this size (likely larger than 50 kilometers wide) hits Earth once every few thousand years and could cause severe damage to a local region".

The chances of an impact are likely to increase by the 2028 approach and even a doubling of the current chance to be between 4.5 and five percent isn't likely but possible.

NBA lotteries have been won by teams with smaller percentages and imagine if you knew there was a five percent chance you could be hit crossing the street at a particular time, you would likely wait until a better chance of crossing the street came along.

Pay attention to this over the next months and then sock it away for a few years but this could be the story of our time if that few percentile chance connects and if it is projected to land in a major population area.

With this look at Bertman's Ballpark Mustard, Cleveland Magazine writes of the initial year of one of the two combatants in the Cleveland Mustard Wars.

The Bertman's (Indians/Guardians) and Stadium (Browns) battle has been referenced often here at TRS with both products having their place in my pantry!