3.) Farmer Might be the Worst GM in the Browns Tenure
Farmer might be the worst GM the Browns have ever had. Fans may even want to erect a statue of George Kokinis compared to him. For those who forgot who Kokinis was, he was the Browns GM that was hired AFTER we hired Mangini to be coach. He was escorted out by security during his first season after a 1-7 start and the true reasoning for his firing was never understood. That was the draft that saw us take Robiskie, Massaquoi, and Veikune in the second round but was also the draft we got Alex Mack. Now back to Farmer. Let’s start with his free agency moves. Last season he let D’Qwell Jackson walk, used the transition tag of all things on Alex Mack, signed K Billy Cundiff, RB Ben Tate, TE Jim Dray, WR Andrew Hawkins, WR Nate Burleson, and OL Paul McQuistan. Cundiff was awful, Tate didn’t even make it halfway through the season and McQuistan could make Erving look good. This past off-season he signed QB Josh McCown, P Spencer Lanning (eventually released), WR Brian Hartline, WR Marlon Moore, CB Tramon Williams, DL Randy Starks, TE Rob Housler, and gave WR Dwayne Bowe NINE MILLION GUARANTEED.
He also let Sheard, Cameron, and Rubin walk. Moore has done absolutely nothing, Bowe has been a healthy scratch most of the season, Housler went on IR after doing nothing, Starks has made a bunch more dumb penalties than big plays. There is not one of these signings that almost two years later I am happy with. For a team that has had among the most cap space for two years and a ton of holes, that statement is hard to swallow. His drafting ability has a huge question mark too. He traded up to take CB Justin Gilbert 8th overall last year. This past week he was a healthy scratch with a special teamer starting over him. Manziel has ridden the bench for two years behind Hoyer and McCown. West was traded in the off-season because of his attitude and lack of production after trading up to get him. Desir was a total gamble on a small school guy.
The only two from that draft that have been alright are OG Joel Bitonio and LB Christian Kirksey. This past draft saw us take a bunch of players. We went Danny Shelton with the first pick who doesn’t even see the field for half the snaps and always seems to jump on the pile after the play is over. Just watch these vines, one and two to let Erving speak for himself in how bad he is. Orchard has been invisble and finally is seeing playing time as they give up on Mingo a former 6th overall pick. Cooper, Campbell, and Johnson have yet to see much of the field playing in a reserve role. The last three picks from the draft haven’t even been on the field once. Gaines our sixth round pick finally came off IR and was getting burned consistently. Mayle our fourth round pick and only receiver drafted couldn’t even make the team and lost out to Pryor who never played WR until this offseason. The lone bright spot has been RB Duke Johnson and even the Browns have misused him by not giving him the majority of the carries and leaving him on the bench in the second half especially in passing situations. The Browns have struggled to find starters on the worst team in the NFL despite having a large amount of cap space and ten picks in the first three rounds the last two seasons. Farmer gets a big fat F.
4.) Browns Free Agency Should Be Interesting
Going into the season, I thought the Browns should have resigned Tashaun Gipson. It is not every day you can find a great cover free safety out there on the market. Yes, he’s dealt with some injuries this year but so has every player in the Browns secondary. Literally just about every player (Haden, Desir, Gaines, Gilbert, Whitner, Gipson, Ekpre-Olomu, K’Waun Williams). He still gives you that Pro Bowl value that forces quarterbacks to rethink where they are going to throw the ball. Well the Browns are still going to have to think about whether they are going to pay him or not. Now with the way the season has gone, the Browns top two players this year, WR Travis Benjamin and TE Gary Barnidge are both in contract years.
The Browns are going to have a tough choice on whether to pay them the money that they are going to demand or walk in free agency. Benjamin is going to be the more costly of the two. He’s had a great year receiving but at only 5’10” 175 pounds, durability is a concern and even those numbers seem generous. Last year was the first year he played in all 16 games, but up through last year he never had more than 18 receptions in a season. The track record is not there and I don’t know if the money is going to be worth his one season and punt return ability. At the same time, it’s going to be hard to justify to the fans not bringing back your top WR when that group is already probably the worst in the NFL. Barnidge will be the other interesting choice. He is in his eight year and at 30 years old, his best years are likely behind him. Up until this season, he never caught more than 13 passes in a season. With Benjamin and Barnidge the Browns are left with a tough choice of whether to bring back their top weapons from this year that have absolutely no track record. It’s a choice I wouldn’t want but should be interesting what they do with it.
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