Cheaper and better QB. I could see Atlanta bringing in Flacco and drafting a guy like Penix or Nix at the top of the 2nd rd
Big Mistake Browns! Thank you for taking him. Tampa thanks you too. Baker Mayfield 1 year / $4,000,000 2023 - 3,907 yards 28 TD / 10 INT RTG 95.9 Deshawn Watson 5 years / 46 million per year 2023 - 1,115 yards 7 TD / 4 INT RTG 84.3 2022 - 1,102 yards 7 TD / 5 INT RTG 79.1
It’s funny that Cleveland blew up an agreed upon Atlanta / Houston deal for DeShaun Watson. A deal that Houston preferred. Though I have no idea what that deal entailed. Had Cleveland just kept Mayfield, they’d arguably have been better off. But now Cleveland has committed so much money to Watson, they may not be able to afford that team that really doesn’t even need Watson to be elite. They are likely going to have 12 wins without even needing Watson The Cleveland picks may not have been as good as we may have anticipated after the trade (a bummer). But it is quite clear that without the picks the Will Anderson trade does not happen. For all intensive purposes, Cleveland didn’t need Watson to make the playoffs, and they gave up on a true franchise guy in Mayfield. Cleveland lost out on 3 first round picks, which they could have definitely used to maintain that group. But what might be the hardest hit is that they are going to lose guys eventually as opportunity cost for having to pay Watson that ridiculous contract. Getting Will Anderson with some of the pieces is a remarkable achievement.
What's crazy is that the Browns are good enough now without Watson to be like an 11-12 win team, but next year Watson's true cap hit begins to take effect, which could greatly effect their ability to hang on to the talent they have acquired to make them a 11-12 win team. Do they have any key players hitting free agency next season? I would love for them to lose some key players while they continue to pay Deshaun to give them basically nothing.
They’re not actually an 11-12 win team, they just had insane luck early in the season. Sucks we’re getting hosed this year with the pick
The Browns' defense is very obviously elite. But they have stumbled into some incredibly good luck. They drew a still very-hobbled Joe Burrow in week 1. SF missed a 54-yard game-winning field goal (and played poorly overall). The Ravens blew a 31-17 4Q lead. Dorian Thompson-Robinson led an improbable game-winning drive against the Steelers. The Bears blew a 10-point 4Q lead and dropped a Hail Mary that fell into their WRs stomach. And they've gone 4-1 with Joe Flacco as their starting QB. At some point, the universe is going to cash all the checks the Browns have been writing. I don't fear them at all.
I went to the game, brought some family my grandma and uncle are massive browns fans. They enjoyed the game a lot, but it was fun to see them too. My uncle texted me today asking “what had to happen to see who wins the AFC south, the only team he doesn’t want to play is the Texans again”
I'm growing less concerned about the pick. Would've been nice to still have ours, rather than Cleveland's - but I'll take a late 20s draft picks and playoffs *any* day. In fact, I'd take a late 20s picks and this season - however it ends - over a top 10 pick any day.
Close, but a few players are a little off. I’d still suggest Anderson needs to be a tweener of CJ/Will. Here’s how I have it thus far: Cleveland gets: Deshaun Watson, QB Texans' 2024 5th round pick Houston gets: Kenyon Green, G (trade back for 15, 124, 162, 166) ammo to get John Metchie III, WR (trade up for 68, 108, 124) ammo to get Christian Harris, LB (trade up for 80, 162) Dameon Pierce (107) ammo to get Thomas Booker, DT (trade up for 166, 207) Will Anderson, LB or CJ Stroud, QB (trade up for 12, 33, 2024 1, 2024 3) ammo to get Tank Dell, WR (trade up for 69, 191) Cleveland's 2024 4th round pick That 6th bullet really is the critical one. Stepping back from the draft, what they did for Anderson feels at least partly for Stroud. If they picked Anderson 1.2, the cost of what they paid for 1.3 is probably higher. It feels entirely possible they thought Anderson was worth 1.2 but knew they wanted both, so it's hard to assess really who to tax the 1.3 trade with. Feels best to credit half of each of them in some respects more than any one particular. With Watson on the other side, almost feels most fair to say it really feels like the tax for Stroud despite Anderson being picked there.
