The other problem with the Browns is the lack of keeping their players. I’m going to go into another comparison but I’ll start with the Browns first. Let’s look at some of the best players the Browns have had in recent years. Athyba Rubin played for seven years here before signing with Seattle. TJ Ward, played for four seasons including a Pro Bowl his final season before signing with Denver. Jabaal Sheard, led the team in sacks three of his four seasons then signed with New England. Jordan Cameron had a Pro Bowl season last year then signed with Miami after four years in Cleveland.
Buster Skrine played four years in Cleveland including two and a half as the number two corner then signed with the Jets. Among the other players that have successfully been drafted by the Browns pre-Farmer, Thomas, Mack, and Haden are all that remain and we are considering trading two of them. How are we supposed to win letting all of these guys walk?
There are reasons that great players don’t hit free agency and that’s because their teams choose to resign them. If a star player hits the market, it is usually the case of their contract can’t fit under the cap such as Ndamukong Suh or DeMarco Murray, they have a young draft pick waiting in the wing to take over (Carlos Hyde for Frank Gore), comes with off the field issues (Hardy), or just refuses to resign or play for that team.
Instead the Browns have managed to do the opposite of that. They resigned a few key players, but have let Pro Bowlers walk to sign incompetent guys. We signed Rob Housler to replace Jordan Cameron, Whitner for more money to replace TJ Ward, and drafted Nate Orchard to replace Sheard.
The Browns have managed to let their star players they draft walk after four years in hopes that they can draft a replacement. I don’t even need to go into details about how bad the Browns have been at drafting since that is self-explanatory. Teams are built by drafting well, resigning your key players, and using free agency to bring in your veteran role players or that one piece you are missing. We know they can’t draft or resign, what about free agency in general.
Let’s look at last year. WE GAVE 9 MILLION DOLLARS GUARANTEED TO DWAYNE BOWE. That should sum it up. Should we go back farther to see some of the other key free agent signings we’ve had? Sure because I need a good laugh: Andrew Hawkins (13.6 million), Ben Tate (didn’t last a half season), Donte Stallworth (35 million), Desmond Bryant (34 million), Christian Yount (five years for a long snapper than got cut), Davone Bess (6 million), Sheldon Brown (15 million), Scott Fujita (14 million), Dmitri Patterson (16 million), Frostee Rucker (20.5 million), Jake Delhomme (7 million), John St. Clair (9 million), LeCharles Bentley (36 million), Jeff Garcia (25 million).
That’s not even a full list but you get the point.
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