It’s the start of a new NFL league year and the Cleveland Browns continue to fumble…off the field. Instead of waiving troubled quarterback Johnny Manziel as soon as possible, as was expected, the team is going to hang on to him for at least a few more days. The Browns are hoping that another NFL team will trade a late round draft pick for “Johnny Football”. Good Luck with that. Other teams know that Manziel is no longer in Cleveland’s plans for the future, so why bother? If anyone wants to take a sniff at Johnny, they will do it after he is released.
The Browns brass also made it known that it wanted to keep its own quality free agents after the 2015-16 NFL Season ended. How is that working out? As you would expect, horribly. Wide receiver Travis Benjamin bolted to the San Diego Chargers Wednesday for a four-year, $24 million deal. Benjamin caught 68 passes for 996 yards and five touchdowns for the Browns in 2015. Veteran center Alex Mack flew the coop to Atlanta to join the Falcons for a five-year, $47.5 million deal. Mack, a first-round pick and three-time Pro Bowl selection for Cleveland, voided the final three years and $24 million on his contract to get out of Cleveland. Right tackle Mitchell Schwartz, a second-round pick for the Browns in 2012, agreed to a five-year contract with the Kansas City Chiefs. Schwartz allowed just three sacks, eight hits and 32 hurries in 705 pass rush snaps. Safety Tashaun Gipson jetted off to Jacksonville, signing a five-year, $35.5 million deal with the Jaguars. Gipson was a Pro Bowler in 2014 but was hampered by injuries in 2015. Gipson had 13 interceptions for the Browns since becoming a full time starter in 2013.
Mike Silver of the NFL Network said this about the Browns front office and their start to 2016 NFL free agency: “I want to believe they are smart guys. You’ve got Alex Mack who has been a really good player for you and you let him go. Maybe they have a master plan, but right now there doesn’t seem to be a plan and if there is it hasn’t been communicated well or it’s been mis-communicated and it’s not being executed. Hue Jackson and I may disagree on this, but I think this is a horrible start for this regime.”
In a radio interview on March 5th with Cleveland’s ESPN 850 AM, Browns head coach Hue Jackson said the following: “I think what’s important is that you build a team — a sustainable team — through the draft. You don’t do it with just free agency and trying to go find players. You supplement your football team through free agency and I think we all get that for the Cleveland Browns to get to where they need to be, we need to draft our players, we need to coach them, improve them and keep them here for as long as we can. And then we’re going to see a huge turnaround, which is what we hope to do.”
Based on what transpired Wednesday, the Browns better have one hell of a 2016 NFL Draft.
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