The 2022 regular season is now in the rear view mirror and the Browns are in an all too familiar position - 4th in the AFC North looking up at the Bengals, Ravens and Steelers. The Bengals are clearly the class of the division (maybe the AFC) and have not yet had to manage 2nd contracts for their super stars playing under rookie contracts. The Ravens are probably an exclusive franchise tag contract away from remaining a force in the division. The Steelers apparently reloaded the QB position and will return with a formidable defense. Meanwhile, the Browns have (hopefully) already made a move to begin to right the ship. Out as DC is Joe Woods. In as DC is Jim Schwartz. IMHO, that was absolutely the first move that was needed. Many of you probably feel that wasn't enough and that Kevin Stefanski should have been replaced. Early on, I was a supporter of Stefanski. He took over a bad team and, in his first year, not only took the Browns to the playoffs, but notched their 1st playoff win since 1994 and was named the 2020 NFL Coach of the year. Recently, I got to thinking and came up with a revised opinion. On TV, Stefanski comes across as a passive (maybe even introverted) head coach. 2020 was the Covid year. Most of the off season coaching heavy lifting was done through "Zoom" meetings instead of in your face personal interaction. This might have been right in his wheelhouse and he was successful where some of the "old school" coaches may have stumbled a bit. The question remains - should Stefanski give up play calling to OC Alex Van Pelt in 2023 ? To be honest - I don't know. In-game play calling lasts for 60 minutes per week. Far more important, IMHO, is the week long process of establishing a game plan. I have to believe Van Pelt was intimately involved in this process. Perhaps now that he has a former Head Coach as a DC, he doesn't need to be deeply involved in the defense during a game. {edit] Another positive on the coaching side is that the Browns have extended the contract with O-line coach, Bill Callahan. That said, Games are won or lost between the lines on Sundays and that takes players. My next three posts will visually depict players (by position) that are currently under contract for 2023 along with pertinent data that applies (per OvertheCap.com)
Nice job, Lyman. I’ll have to ponder over your posts later when I have a bit more time to look at the numbers.
Don't count out Clowney returning with the hiring of Schwartz. If they can get him to sign a similar contract as last year, they can push the dead money down and it should only effect the cap by a few million, while he plugs one of the holes in the roster. This is going to be a very interesting off-season for sure. The projected cap could be off by about $5M either way. It's really hard to know how much new TV contracts will effect them, if they only get a 10% boost, as has been the case the last few cap hikes, then it will be closer to $220M.. However, I think the gap lost due to COVID could get a boost this year when the dust settles and it could go as high as $228-229M. regardless, Berry has some work to do...
re: Clowney, Fool me once - shame on him. Fool me twice - shame on me. The single most important ability is availability. In his two years with Cleveland, he missed 3 games in 2021 and 5 games in 2022. Add those two years together and he only played in about 75% of the games. When he did play, he only saw about 65% of the defensive snaps. IMHO, he was over-rated when the Texans drafted him #1 overall and he has done little since to warrant that hype. Add in the verbal damage inflicted in the locker room when he was sent packing prior to the Steelers game, and I sincerely hope that ship has sailed. Agreed. That's why I settled on a projected cap of $225M for conversation purposes.
Meh, I see him for what he is. He sets up the edge about as good as any DE in the league... THAT's what I'm paying for and he did that very well when he was in there. The top pass rushers in the league are easily making $15K+ per year, Clowney is in the $10M range. To me, on par with his performance and availability. What the defensive coordinator did to him, I really can't speak to that.. All I know is we have bitched about him for 2 years and he is finally gone, so Clowney was probably right to think what he did, he just shouldn't have said anything about it.
Well, I've looked at your posts, Lyman, and I have to say it looks pretty grim. They are going to have to restructure some contracts and trade off a player or twoto make some room (which ones? Not sure but this will add more to the conversation in this thread). Looks like they are going to have to live with some bargain-basement deals to fill out the roster. It looks like the offense is pretty much set although they need a WR or at least need one to step up his game cause Schwartz isn't panning out. David Bell wasn't much of a factor either.....so much for utilizing his "good hands and polished route running." I think on defense is where we're going to see a problem trying to free up some cash to get some help / depth for the D-line and LB's......either that or they going to have to nail some picks in this draft. Jim Schwartz is going to have his hands full. I guess we'll see what he can do with what he's got. Overall, it's not as horrendously bleak as it first appeared to me assuming Watson and the offense can get it together. Depends on Stefanski and his play calling and the WR group. As for defense, that's a lot worse off after the starters. Depends on last years guys stepping it up and the new DC, I guess the conversation now turns to how they free up some cap room to fill out the roster.
The 2023 NFL Salary Cap has been announced as $224,800,000. I missed it by $200,000 which means we're over the cap by $19,877,273.
