Cleveland Browns OffSeason: What’s Happened so far and What Should Happen in the Future

I want to start this by stressing the word should. This is what should happen although we all know the Browns, especially Jimmy Haslam’s Browns, don’t always do what they should. I’ll break this down into three categories, front office staff, coaching staff and players.

Front Office:

After the strange divorce between the Browns and John Dorsey, there is a pretty big hole to fill at GM. John Dorsey made some critical mistakes and it was largely his choice to leave the organization. With that being said, he has an incredible eye for talent and we need to try to find a GM with an eye that could rival Dorsey’s. Andrew Berry has been discussed and although he was here during the dark Sashi days, he’s well respected around the league and has done a good job in Philly. Another candidate is Viking’s assistant GM George Paton. The Vikings have a team loaded with talent on both sides of the ball, so clearly, the front office is well run. He’s also pro analytic and has worked with new head coach Kevin Stefanski. Lastly, thrown into the mix a bit late is New England’s director of college scouting Monti Ossenfort. Obviously, New England is the best-run team in professional sports, so poaching an exec should be welcomed. However, I will point out that they do not always draft that well and that casts doubt on Ossenfort’s skill. My pick is George Paton. Paton works for a superbly well-run team and has no ugly history with Browns.

Coaching Staff:

The Browns hired Kevin Stefanski and not Josh Mcdaniels. I gave that a few lines to sync in. Despite passing on a Canton Mckinley grad, six-time Super Bowl champion and an incredibly well-respected OC, the Browns got a good coach. Kevin Stefanski has 14 years of NFL experience and runs an offense similar to that of Pat Shurmur and Kyle Shannahan. This offense had some success in Cleveland in 2014 with half the talent we have now. As far as staff, I pray Stefanski will be able to bring Gary Kubiak from Minnesota to be OC. If this can’t happen, I’m open to Pat Shurmur coming on as OC. I believe at DC we need a seasoned, “no BS” guy, who will keep control of the locker room. Also, I think we need an aggressive scheme to rush the passer and let Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams line up in man coverage. When I think of these things my brain goes to current ESPN personality, Rex Ryan. His defenses were always excellent, he made two AFC Title Games with Mark Sanchez at QB and he’s never lost a locker room. There hasn’t been any Rex Ryan talk, so that’s just my wild theory. One DC being discussed is Wade Phillips, who has decades of experience and had most recently served as the Rams’ DC when they went to the Super Bowl. I’m very open to this because of his experience and past success.

My Perfect Fit:

Rex Ryan as DC and Gary Kubiak as OC, a ton of experience and past success.

Roster:

The Cleveland Browns have the most talent that they have had since returning. With the removal of Freddie Kitchens, the results will be better as it is literally impossible to get worse coaching than what we had last year. With that being said, the Browns enter the offseason with 55 million in cap space and seven draft picks. If the Browns cut Chris Hubbard, TJ Carrie and Olivier Vernon, they would have a tad more than 80 million to spend. I understand some may be opposed to cutting Vernon, but he didn’t produce this season and has a 15 million dollar cap hit. Cutting the first two players is a no-brainer move and doing that but keeping Vernon puts us with 65 million in cap. I would very much like to retain Joe Schobert and Rashad Higgins. This could now be a possibility with Dorsey being gone. I think the best way to do this is to list each need and the best way to address it.

Starting with Tackle

They’re three groups of tackles I’d like to address.

The first group is the group we could take with the 10th pick – this includes: Andrew Thomas, Tristan Wirfs and Jedrick Willis.

The second group is quality tackles available in free agency: Bryan Baluga, Anthony Castonzo and Jack Conklin.

The last group consists of one player and it is tackles to trade for: Trent Williams.

Trading for Williams would likely make us lose the 10th pick, but I believe that would be worth it. The Browns must get one player from each group. Draft one/sign one, or sign one and trade for Trent Williams are the most likely options. On top of bringing in these two players, the Browns should draft a tackle for depth in the middle-late rounds.

Safety

It was believed the Browns were letting Damarious Randall walk, but with a new GM – who knows? If we retain Randall, the Browns should use a second or third-round pick on a safety to be in the mix with Morgan Burnett and Justin Burris. If we let Randall walk, we should apply the same plan, but bring in a cheaper veteran.

Linebacker

Whether or not we keep Joe Schobert, we should draft a linebacker in the draft because the health of Christian Kirksey is a problem. I really wanna keep Joe, but if we don’t, a cheaper vet should be brought in to pair with Mack, Kirksey, Taki and whoever we pick.

Right Guard

I believe that Wyatt Teller may be a startable lineman when next to a decent right tackle. I would add guard at a later pick or through a cheaper free agent here.

Edge Rusher

If the Browns keep Vernon, I would simply add a late draft pick here for depth. If they don’t, I would like to bring in Jason Pierre Paul. The very talented veteran can still rush the passer opposite of Myles and wouldn’t be very expensive.

Tight End

I think we should let David Njoku play out his rookie deal, but we should add a more physical tight end to pair with him who both blocks and catches passes. These tight ends thrive in the scheme Stefanksi will run. Austin Hooper is a dream, but we have more pressing needs and shouldn’t spend that kind of money at this position unless we traded Njoku.