Time To Embrace The Epic Failures....

Truth be told, I don't think the Browns front office considers the AJ McCarron debacle a fail. It wasn't bungled. These guys know how to make trades. I'm positive our front office sabotaged that deal intentionally. I don't think they realized the level of embarrassment it was going to bring on the franchise, and I doubt they would do it again if they had a do-over, but there's no doubt in my mind that the analytics crew never wanted to give up 2nd and 3rd round picks for McCarron....That's the bottom line. And the tenuous relationship between FO and HC in Cleveland grows ever colder.

 

Hue Jackson wanted that McCarron trade to happen because he was understandably thinking about himself. He knows he needs to win some games, and he knows Kizer isn't ready to get that done...Failing to even match last years pathetic 1-15 mark is certain to end the Hue Jackson era in Cleveland, and this squad is screaming toward 0-16 like nobodies business...

The problem is, Sashi knew that we were paying to much for a guy that can't beat out Andy Dalton. So the front office handled it in their very special way. What those guys in the FO don't seem to realize is, public embarrassments like that are frowned upon by the owners. It just might get their asses fired. Especially if, as I suspect, Jimmy Haslam had directly ordered them to get that deal done for Hue....

The bad part: We may not win a game.

Silver lining: We didn't get that shitty deal done for Hue's favorite Bengal back-up....

 

I can see something good coming from all this hullabaloo though. In the off season, I can see the FO and coaching roles being better defined; more defining of who has what powers and access to the Haslams' ears. It will ultimately lead to the hiring of some sort of "president" type role dealing with the roster. The analytics guys and the coaches will feed him their input and then a "best for the team" decision will be his decision and his alone. Is that Haslam's buddy Peyton Manning that I'm envisioning? Maybe......depends on who else is available for such a role of "team-builder".

I think the Haslams are in earnest in their desire to get this team back on its feet and restore it to its former glory. It's just that up until now, Haslam, in his Flying J experience, has been the guy in charge of his company but has let the higher ups run the show. His approach so far hasn't transferred to the NFL very well and shows him that he needs another even-higher-up to gather all the pieces and parts under a single unifying lens.

I would hope that the expected (at least on my end) new guy will also see the need to hire an OC should the current HC be retained for another season.

So, I guess I'd like to ask: Who can you see being hired for such a job? Any probable hires, wishes, best guy out their predictions?

 

I still like the Peyton and Payton plan, but that's gotta be a longshot. Plus, I believe it would cost a very high draft pick or two to get Sean Payton from New Orleans. He just signed a 5 year/$45m extension last year....And I'm not convinced Peyton Manning is ready to have final say in a war room. One would think a little seasoning would be required for such a pressure job. Perhaps an experienced NFL exec would also be needed, to help Manning learn the ropes in the FO...

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict most of your responses are going to name Peyton Manning and most will draw a parallel to John Elway.

Elway started out as simply the GM before being promoted to the top banana in Denver. As GM he was given free reign to assemble BOTH the coaching staff and the roster and he had a few misses before he finally settled on John Fox and lured Peyton Manning to the Broncos. If the Haslam's are serious about avoiding yet another complete re-boot, I doubt the new messiah will have that much freedom.

There is no doubt that Elway built a top defense in Denver. I attribute that to his ability to determine an opposing player's skills and tendancies as a result of endless hours of film study in preparing for games. There is also no doubt Peyton Manning has this identical ability. In addition, both Elway and Manning knew exactly where every offensive player was supposed to be on every single play. Again, this was a result of endless repetition in practise and game film. Neither of these traits speaks to either's ability to assess a player's potential.

Bottom line is that someone of Peyton Manning's ilk would benefit the Browns in free agency but I question if he would improve the caliber of players drafted.

 

I agree with that. I think the Haslams still want to retain some power here rather than just be the owners who show up to games and enjoy their posh ownners box seats and count the gate proceeds.

Again, I think they just need someone to manage both sides of the player acquisition conversation between the FO and coaches. I'd prefer somebody who could do it himself, but c'mon, we're talking the Browns here and who have we hired who is completely competent?

 

FWIW....From all the gossipy articles on this matter since Manning has retired, on him joining a FO in an Elway-type capacity, I've heard that he wants part ownership in a team as well. Who better to pry that little nugget from than an old friend in the Haslams.

 

Rumors are though, that the Saints are ready and willing to move on from Payton AND Brees...It may not take as much as you think. However, I also think Payton might be a little burned out and need a break after so much scrutiny lately. I don't want another coach just coming to a team for a paycheck, we've had too many of those also.

I would rather lure Payton Manning to negotiate between new Coach and front office...KEEP Sashi and company and let Peyton Manning coax John Gruden out of the MNF booth.

Afterall, the stars are lining up..

1) Manning took time off, probably itching to get back in
2) Haslem is a real good friend of Manning and would love nothing more than to "partner" with Manning, giving him part ownership in return
3) Gruden has an out in his contract and if anyone can talk him out of the booth and into the coaches box, it's his longtime admiration, Peyton Manning
4) If Gruden and Manning teamed up can't figure out the QB situation, NO ONE CAN

IF we replace Hue, I want it to be with someone that is HUNGRY, I don't think that would qualify Payton who has been doing it for 11 seasons straight and would probably welcome a vaca if the Saints decide they don't need him any more...

 

Yeah, I mentioned Gruden a few weeks back. I could certainly live with that...

My concerns with Hue Jackson have much more to do with his propensity for failure on crucial decisions during games, than anything else...I like the guy, and his team hasn't quit, but he gets it wrong way to often...

 

Can't disagree with that...I see it continuing if he refuses to hire an offensive coordinator, which is why I would be ok replacing him if he refuses to give up some extra duties he doesn't need to be doing.

 

So why not just start Kessler? He gives this team the best chance to win.

 

0-9 contradicts that statement...I'm not sure any QB would help this team win...They shoot themselves in the foot in games that they seem to be winning on paper. Penalties on all sides of the ball are killing this team.

 

And Kizer is 0-7 in only 1/2 a season with arguably a better roster than Kessler had last year.

 

This team is light years better than last years team.

 

Based on what? Last yr Crowell and the run game was much better and the defense gave up 28 vs 25 this yr(slight improvement)...we all know the passing offense is down so where is it light yrs?

 

Terrelle Pryor and Gary Barnidge are the difference...Last year Pryor was reliable, Barnidge (the second option) is ahead of any receiver's pace this year. There are no reliable receivers on this offense, period. This offense is not in the crapper based on one player, no matter how much you all try to talk yourselves into it.

 

Ahhh the life of a Cleveland Browns fan...How about a quick recap of our last couple weeks? Here's some fun things for us to digest;

- We lose our 7th game in a row to push the Hue Jackson record to an eye gouging 1-23. And in the process we lose team leader, anchor, captain, ironman, HoF'r.. the legendary Joe Thomas goes down for the year with torn triceps, and one of the most amazing streaks in NFL history (10000+ consecutive snaps) comes to a sudden end....

- We find out our only ray of hope (Myles Garrett) won't even make the trip to London because he's in concussion protocol....

- We get our asses kicked on a worldwide stage with an ugly 2nd half collapse, in our only national TV game of the year, compliments of Case Keenum and the Minnesota Vikings...

- We find out the QB we've been pursuing for the last year, Jimmy Garoppolo, was traded to the SF 49ers for a VERY reasonable price, as rumors circulate that New England assumed they could have got a better deal from Cleveland, but out of respect for Jimmy G, didn't want to send their guy to QB purgatory ...ouch.

- We get word that one of the nations top college QB prospects has made it clear that if the Browns secure the #1 pick in next year's draft, he will likely stay in school... ouch again.

- We botch a horrible trade with a division foe that brought huge amount of embarrassment to the franchise, and proved once again to the world what everyone already knew. This is the most dysfunctional team in sports history...Even if that trade goes through, we look stupid....It's a typical lose-lose situation that only the Browns find themselves in...

- We get word that the QB we passed on in 2016 (Carson Wentz) just won NFC player of the month award, and the QB we passed on this year (Deshaun Watson) just won the AFC player of the month award.(first rookie QB to EVER win that award)..You can't make this shit up.

-And finally, last night we watch yet another HUGE Cleveland fail that nobody even talks about, as the guy we didn't want, Josh McCown, continues to have the best season of his career. The Jets were supposed to be right with us among the worst teams in football, but McCown is playing lights out and has them in the playoff hunt. Who could have possibly been a better candidate to bring the young Deshone Kizer along, than Josh McCown???? We had the perfect guy in the fold and we inexplicably let him go, so we could back up Kizer with Hogan and Kessler. smh. 2 guys that have never won an NFL game..Great call..It's amazing how this team can't get out of it's own way....

But hey, this is just our bye week. Still plenty of time for more fun before we play again....I can't wait to see what happens next.

 

If I missed anything, feel free to chime in...Even by Browns standards, it's been epic lately.

Word is, Jimmy and Dee are very worried about the Browns declining fan base....What can they possibly expect? When we watch Browns games on Sunday, the only thing missing is the Benny Hill music...

 

Meh. When Kizer is throwing to the receivers they will all suck. He's way too erratic at this point in his career. Plus you have a vastly improved o-line this year that allows the QB time. Obviously that took a little hit last week but having Bitonio, Tretter and Zeitler in the middle would be the envy of dozens of NFL teams.

I realize you're invested in Kizer. I liked his upside too. But right now he's just not ready and it's really not even fair to keep sending him out there. They need to get him mechanically sound first and then let him play. Sunday was the first time I really watched a Browns game from start to finish this year and I'm convinced Kessler beats the Vikings if he's on the field. Kizer couldn't sustain drives. He's just too inconsistent.