Are You Ready for Some Free Agency???

[Brown Warrior]

Assuming it'll be an open market in a few weeks, here's a really good list. It's expected that the rules will return to four years in, so I guess anybody on this list with a 4 or a 5 is free? Not entirely sure but that's what I think.

The Browns will be one of a few teams with the most to spend, from what I've read (our roster certainly looks like it), so enjoy the window shopping...

Top 50 - 2011 NFL Free Agents: NFL Rumors - NFLTradeRumors.com

[Flugel]

Originally Posted by Brown Warrior

Assuming it'll be an open market in a few weeks, here's a really good list. It's expected that the rules will return to four years in, so I guess anybody on this list with a 4 or a 5 is free? Not entirely sure but that's what I think.

The Browns will be one of a few teams with the most to spend, from what I've read (our roster certainly looks like it), so enjoy the window shopping...

Top 50 - 2011 NFL Free Agents: NFL Rumors - NFLTradeRumors.com

I've heard that so many times over the years and we've ended up with nothign but a collection of players with best work in the rear view mirror in lieu of the upside required for progress and development:
Jason Fisk, Ethan Kelly, Derrick Alexander, Rashaan Salaam, Abdul Jabbar, Terry Kirby, Curtis Enos, Errict Rhett, Jerry Ball, John Jurkovich, Jim Pyne, Irv Smith, Roy Barker, Ted Washington(the fossil), Turtelle Smith, Joe Andruzzi, Matt Stewart, Antwaan Peek, Shantee Orr, Kenny Wright, Shaun Smith, Robert Royal, Cosey Coleman, Gary Baxter, LeCharles Bentley, Willie McGinest, Donte Stallworth, Kevin Shaffer, Joe Jurevicius, Shaun Rogers (Dunks & Doughnuts), Robaire Smith, Seth McKinney, Reuben Droughns, Anotnio Bryant, Jamal Lewis, Orlando Brown, Lomas/No Mas Brown, Tony Pashos, John St Clair, Roman Oben, etc. I could go on for years about how many AGENTS have gone Robin Hood on the Lerner family while our fans were left thinking how disappointing free agency has remained here.

While SOME of those guys brought some sporadic good - MOST were epic disppointments up against dollars committed. I have to admit I was excited about Bentley but what year did his injury occur? Around that SAME shelf life they say the average career ends? You HAVE to account for that or you end up with a bunch of guys heading toward IR like Robaire or Dunks & Doughnuts. Believe it or not, Joe Jurevicus was with us for 3-4 years so it seems like he wore blue jeans to alot more games than his uniform. Whenever he and Willie McGinest could overcome wear and tear they were rock soilid just like Robaire.

Then there's 1 FA that our media loves to HATE and he was a Pro Bowl alternate named Steinbach. He was crucial to the quick developments of Mack and Thomas and keepign them out of trouble early and often. Speaking of Steinbach, he was like George in the story "Of Mice and Men." Without George, that story never gets off the ground if ya know what I mean. He's been my favorite FA here thus far.

I don't know if there's alot of guys headed toward upside on that list when we factor in how long the average NFL career lasts up against guys with a (5). The time to want a DeAngelo Williams isn't after he's been plagued with nagging injuried over the last couple years. It's when he's entering his 2nd and 3rd season.

I'm not saying I don't WANT us to explore some free agents. I'm saying I want us to do it better than we have or we wouldn't be in this boat right now. Not to sound like Mr Meoggi but your buddy Flugel is "Sicka-sucky!" As Bronx Cheer noted, Weddle is intriguing at a position we need to improve. There's also some intriguing OT names on that list (and Alo has mentioned Clabo before) as long as they research injuries/wear and tear on players. We've been shuffling overpaid FAs on the right side of our line since before Tucker went AWOL after Nicholson inspired him in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." The star WRs aren't gonna choose a new Head Coach, new QB and new playbook after averaging 5 wins a year for a decade. Can't see it and neither will the 30 year old corner from Oakland as his window closes.

[Brown Warrior]

I think there's gonna be a "salary floor," so the Browns are likely to be pretty active. Thing about that list, you go down it and struggle to find a player the Browns WOULDN'T want. You see DEs and LBs and safeties and RTs and WRs... it's a nice aisle to shop, really.

Obviously, I agree: We need to do it much better. The Eagles, for instance, are pretty openly saying they're going to be extremely aggressive and they're a better team than us. You don't get better by letting better teams do better in free agency. Sitting back and saying, "We're building through the draft" is a meaningless statement.

Everybody builds through the draft. You don't see a lot of teams doing what Phil did, or those old Redskins teams, trading away high picks. They're treated like gold. But if you sit back and let the best free agents (based not just on production but age and potential) go to competitors... you're screwed.

But I think we agree: We don't need old free agents. Clabo, at 30, is the oldest guy of interest to me. But there are a lot of guys like Rice, Weddle, Mebane, Ray Edwards, Chris Carr, etc., who would be instant and enduring upgrades.

[Brown Warrior]

For shits and grins, these guys are interesting to me:

Rice: Big time deep threat, instantly gives us a long-term set of playoff caliber WRs.
Ray Edwards: Almost the same for our DL, along with Taylor, Rubin, and Sheard.
Tulloch: Great WSLB.
Free: A young OT rated high here... but I plead ignorance.
Gaither: Same. Any injury history?
Weddle: Great idea. Ideal for us.
Posluszny: Zombo pops wood. Tackling machine.
Steve Smith: He's all of 25... is he healed? Might be a great signing if you sit him for a while.
Carr: Very good #2 corner... and very young.
Grimes: He'll get paid. Really came on. But a very good #2 corner.
Mikell: Great fit... and an Eagle.
Kiwanuka: Pass rush!
James Anderson: Good WSLB.
Clabo: Nuff said. Very good player... but 30.
Malcolm Floyd: He's 29, but we're like 12 on average at WR. Big guy for the WCO.
James Jones: I just have a feeling this guy's gonna be a superstar and the drops will fade.

[Brown Warrior]

Keep this in mind about Floyd: He hasn't played much football. He'll be 30 next season, but he's only played extensively the last two. In those two years, he's averaged about 18 yards a catch, something we lack. He could easily play 4-5 more years at a very high level.

Some F/A blog pegged him as an ideal fit for the Browns and the WCO.

[Brown Warrior]

Florio's checklist for the Browns. You know, I love that guy and his site a little more every day. It's crack for NFL junkies.

Team checklist: Cleveland Browns | ProFootballTalk

[Alo]

Originally Posted by Brown Warrior

Keep this in mind about Floyd: He hasn't played much football. He'll be 30 next season, but he's only played extensively the last two. In those two years, he's averaged about 18 yards a catch, something we lack. He could easily play 4-5 more years at a very high level.

Some F/A blog pegged him as an ideal fit for the Browns and the WCO.

I'd be curious to see why said blogger deemed him an ideal WCO fit. On the face of it, that wouldn't appear to make sense.

[Brown Warrior]

Originally Posted by Alo

I'd be curious to see why said blogger deemed him an ideal WCO fit. On the face of it, that wouldn't appear to make sense.

It was off to the side of some part of this site, I think... said his size, mostly. Elsewhere they said his deep potential, open the field.

[Alo]

Yeah, Floyd's got size and impressive downfield ability, but the book on him is that he doesn't possess good short area quicks. I haven't watched him closely enough to know if that's the case.

He's a good player but, kind of like Jon Baldwin in this year's draft, his talents may be wasted in a Freckles WCO.

[slowmo411]

Shep, whats wrong with shooting for the best out there which is ,Asomugha? Haden looks good covering #1 WRs he'd look even better on the #2 wr. It also gives us a serious FS that can cover a #3 or #4 and he isnt bad in run support, Brown would slide to FS. That fills 2 holes with 1 signing. Hes probly high dollar but we're gonna have a cap floor anyways right????
Why hope for 2nd tier guys when we can pray for the top of the line guys we expect to be out there?
Lovin the steve smith pick. Dudes a beast!
I like weddle if we cant get Asomugha. I also love the idea of Edwards and Kiwanuka.

[Brown Warrior]

My feeling is that we could upgrade at #2 corner, but you don't draft a corner at #6 to be anything but your shutdown guy. I look around at a lot of REALLY successful pass defenses, especially in 4-3s with fairly straight up coverage, and I just don't see that kind of investment in corners.

Something always has to give... and somebody is a "second corner" whether we use that as common vernacular or not. The most common key to successful pass defenses is pass rush, not a heavy investment in corners. And Nnamde (at 30) is going to get a huge payday to be somebody's clear-cut #1 corner.

There are guys I like as seconds... and that would theoretically allow Brown to move to safety... but the better idea to me is to get a strong FS like Weddle and let Brown and Wright compete to be that guy handling other teams second best WR. Investment wise, it just makes way more sense to me.

If Wright doesn't rebound, we can draft a corner in round 2 or 3 next year... but not in 1. We did that. Keep in mind that in addition to Brown and Wright (assuming he stays), we also drafted Skrine in five and I'm fairly sure he'll make the roster.

[Bronx Cheer]

We could get two guys on Shep's list for the price of Asomugha. Why blow our whole wad in one shot? A decent WSLB and DE would improve us vastly compared to adding a (second) shutdown corner. Having Revis on one side and Samuel on the other wouldn't stop the opposition if we ran Jauron's variant of Tampa 2 with the crap we have at LB. We'd get nickel and dimed to death in the middle of the field.