Browns bump Steelers out of last place

The Steelers win coupled with the Browns loss puts us in third place and the Browns in last place. They gave DeShaun Watson $230 million guaranteed, and coughed up three precious first round draft picks to get him. And he gets in legal trouble and they still end up in last place.

That has to be the most Brownian move in Browns history. Haslam must feel that if you just write a big enough check, you sit back and collect the Lombardis.

Meanwhile, if the Steelers improve the oline, dline, and linebacking corps, they should be much improved. It is probably realistic to address at most two of those needs in one year. Pickett’s third year should be interesting, it all takes luck but it could work if all the stars align. I think two years from now the Steelers contend, and the Browns will still be the Browns, unable to address needs because of DeShaun’s DeStructive contract and their lack of draft capital.

 

The Browns have never finish with a better regular season record that the steelers since the 1989 season!

Very funny to see the Browns who were supposed to be the next great team in 2019 with OBJ, Baker, etc and they only had one good season in 4 seasons despite all the hype they had in 2019!

The Browns were supposed to become a team like the Bengals have been since last year but what a failure for the Browns once again!

 

Love seeing these big time guaranteed contracts blow up in the faces of the teams stupid enough to pay them. Now come on, Rats! You know Lamar deserves $275 million guaranteed!

 

Thanks Browns

Thanks OB1 who professes to b a Brown

 

Briwn?

 

It's what I'm praying for, 5 years/$250 millon fully guaranteed.

I don't think the Ravens are that dumb, unfortunately.

 

Little brother to a Brown

Merry Christmas smarty ass

 

Their cap situation is real bad after this year as the Watson contract kicks in. They’re going to have to let guys go and they have no draft picks to backfill the roster. It really doesn’t look good on paper.

Of course Watson could start balling and he is probably talented enough to paper over a lot of cracks.

 

All the grinding and gnashing of teeth over the Steelers the last few years. Some of it deserved, some, not so much. However, compared to the Browns organization, the Steelers outlook is rather rosy.

 

Typos?
That's what you've become?
Come on man, you can do better than that.

 

What's even that much worse......is the Steelers fans that b!+ched, and complained We didn't get Sleazeshaun Watson .
They are hiding ....pretending they didn't now. LoL

 

Why would anyone want that freak? Is winning really that important? Why would an organization take a chance on someone with that sort of baggage? Someone that obviously is selfish and has an impulse control disorder? This could turn out to be the worst decision the Browns have ever made, and that's saying something when one considers their history over the last 20 plus years.

 

What is more interesting about the whole DeShaun Watson situation is how it affects everyone else.... and I mean everyone else on the Browns; namely players like Myles Garrett. Mind you that, as @SteelersFanIrl already stated, Watson's massive contract hit already presents enough problems. Adding other contracts like Garrett's only compounds the issue the Browns will have.


Myles will be the second highest cap hit right after Watson; 11.35% of the Cap Hit per Sportrac. Again, while this does not seem that much on the surface, the problem is more complicated. Mind you that thr Browns just recently extended Jack Conklin in an effort to create more space. The problem still remains in total cap space; roughly $3.9 Million. Now, a trade of Myles is possible but Cleveland will have to swallow roughly $15 Million in Dead Cap; not very nice.


However, I sadly do not see too many avenues to take in terms of what to do if I am Cleveland. I know that Andrew Berry will have his hands full this Offseason. It will be interesting to see what the Browns off-season turns out to be once Training Camp in 2023 arrives.

 

They can create a lot of cap room through restructuring contracts with guys like Watson, Cooper and Bitonio who are earning a lot of money, but that will only get them so far in terms of team building. We have seen with the Rams how quickly it can all come apart when you are totally dependent on a few stars and your roster has no young talent. At least they won a Super Bowl and would probably do it all over again. I can’t see the browns having that same success as their top guys are not nearly as good as Kupp, Donald etc

 

Make it a goal to live to see a Browns/Lions Super Bowl. You'll live well into your hundred's. There is a small chance the Bills/Vikings could meet this year. (Vikings never will win in Philly) The side story of two 4 time bridesmaids would make for talking head fun.

 

According to this guy, the Browns can create cap space by restructuring his contract every offseason and adding a VOIDABLE year to the end of it. It took me a while to understand it as voidable years are relatively new, but I believe that he is correct. However, all it does is give a slight cap relief each year in lieu of a MASSIVE hit after the end of his contract. Under this scenario, the Browns would have $89M in dead cap in 2027 and he's not on the team/under contract. He said that they could resign or extend, but that (I think) would only mean that that $89M would have to be spread over the life of the new contract before accounting for an even larger second contract from the Browns added to it. A new 5 year deal (27-31) would have to include $18M/year in cap space for his original contract + whatever the yearly cap hit would be for the new contract. That could mean $70M+ a year in cap space to him alone.

And of course this is all predicated on DeShaun Watson actually being any good again. I've been saying that while he was a very good QB in Houston, he didn't play a meaningful game in nearly two calendar years. I questioned how long it would take for him to get back to that level of QB that he was in Houston, IF HE EVER COULD. And so far, it seems I am right. For all of the crap the Kenny Pickett takes on this board, he's actually outplaying Watson by a very wide margin since his return. Everyone is assuming that he will be that guy again one day, and no one is talking about what if he doesn't. If he can't, his contract could be absolutely deadly for the Browns franchise.

 

All this is true... however, there is one major catch.


This is all assuming Watson is willing to negotiate on any of this. If anything, Watson has the Cleveland Browns at his mercy thanks to that dumbass contract. No way Watson is giving up his fully guaranteed money for any sort or form of restructure of any kind. For a man who has lost so much thanks to himself, I seriously doubt he is giving up any form of financial security as that is his only major form of back up plan remaining.

 

We are not in the clear yet. We could lose against the Ratbirds, then the Browns may get a chance to flush us down to last place.

 

Overall, while the Browns can extend/restructure players, I honestly will not be surprised to see some players be traded and/or let go as early as this offseason. Mind you, someone like Myles Garrett is not the one to do so. However.... to recoup some picks?!?!


For the right price, I can easily see Cleveland moving off of Myles Garrett. Only 26 years of age and a Top Five Pass Rusher to boot?! Any contending team with an already established QB would be willing to do so. I initially thought Seattle as they hold the number three spot but Will Anderson Jr is by far and away the best SEC Pass Rusher to come out since Von Miller. Quite the amount of praise I know but man oh man... Will Anderson Jr is an instant impact rookie.... no matter where he goes. Beyond Seattle though??.... maybe Kansas City?! They definitely need Offensive Tackle assistance but someone like Garrett to go with Chris Jones can definitely put the Chiefs Defense over the literal edge once again. Possibly Chicago though I seriously doubt they will; doubly so since Justin Fields must have more Offensive Lineman that are capable in front of him.



Beyond those three, I was going to point out the Rams but then realized that their logic of "eff them picks" has caught up to them in a big way.

 

And burdened with a huge contract that they are unsure if player will ever
return to stardom. There is a sucker born everyday.

 

Me neither, I think they franchise for 1 year and then let him walk.

 

The clowns will be clowns. The deal with the devil for Watson is perfect! They are an easy mark.

But,

We have 3 on the defensive side eating up major cap space. Good thing we don't have to pay Pickett for another 4 years after this season. But Pickens will be another matter.

 

The way their offense has been without him should have the front office agreeing to anything

 

They're not trading Garrett.. The fans would literally burn that **** hole to the ground.