The Jacksonville Jaguars

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

At least we didn't spend $72M on a QB only to ship him off a year later with a 2nd & 6th round pick in exchange for a 4th...

The only way that this could get better is if the Browns cut him before the regular season and just take the meaningless hit on their cap number. 

#fleeced

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

AJ Bouye will now play opposite of Ramsey...

Calais Campbell picked Tom over John.

Marks is no more.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Brandon Albert / Julius Thomas trade is now official.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

On paper, Jags secondary looks unbelievable

On paper, the entire defense looks unbelievable.

Pop some bottles tonight fellas, we just won the offseason (again)!

[KenFSU]

THAT D.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

THAT D.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Let me put on my coach's hat for little while.  (Actually literally since baseball practice starts in about 30)

Now that we have 2 legit #1s on the corners, Gipson can do what he says he does best and we'll also have Church filling in down low - the back of the field should be completely covered.  Blake is going to have to practice against that every day.  Robinson, Lee and Hurns are going to have to run routes against these guys every day.  If nothing else, we should get better just by practicing against better players, and if Blake can't cut it in practices and 7 on 7s...  well then the decision to move on gets easier to determine and we can start looking for QBs before September gets here.

Edit:  And I think this is more true than what you can get from guys blocking and hitting because they're not going 100%.  No one wants to get hurt.  But these guys playing flag football is a different story.  They can push it a bit harder than, say, a DT.

[Keith-N-Jax]

WTH was Cleveland thinking?

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

WTH was Cleveland thinking?

That at the worst we just bought a second round pick for $16M.

At best, we can trade him and most of his bullshit contract for a player we want and get a player and a 2nd round pick for less than $16M.

[Keith-N-Jax]

You always pay more in free agency but why trade for Brock, haven't we seen enough?

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

You always pay more in free agency but why trade for Brock, haven't we seen enough?

From what I've read, they don't really have any intention of playing him.. I wasn't kidding when I said that they paid $16M for a 2nd round pick.

This is more of a baseball move, which makes sense with the new analytics department, but in baseball contracts are guaranteed.  So you work out a deal to be a partner in the trade to take the salary hit off of another team, and by accepting the cost of player A, they will usually throw in Players B and C from their farm system.  Then you shop Player A, knowing you're going to offset some of his contract to make him more enticing to other teams.

With football contracts not being guaranteed, they are only on the hook for at most $16M.  Osweiler has the offset clause in his contract, so they would only assume partial responsibility for his contract if he gets dropped and someone else picks him up for less than $16M.  They have plenty of cap space, so that's not an issue.  And if they can dump him to another team, then all the better.  The absolute worst thing that can happen would be to play him, practice him or let him train with the team and have him sustain a major injury - then they're on the hook for a greater portion of his contract past the first year.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/03/09/browns-will-trade-or-cut-brock-osweiler/

[Steve]

You always pay more in free agency but why trade for Brock, haven't we seen enough?

It had nothing to do with Brock. They basically bought a couple draft picks. Osweiler was the envelope the pics came in. The Browns will see if someone wants to buy all/part of the envelope (they might find someone willing to pay for part of the envelope), but if not, they'll throw the envelope in the trash. You see this more in the NBA than the NFL.

Now, they did buy two draft picks for $16M which isn't cheap. The key is how they use them. If they pick the next Johnny Football, then they might as well have set the money on fire.

[spuwho]

You always pay more in free agency but why trade for Brock, haven't we seen enough?

It had nothing to do with Brock. They basically bought a couple draft picks. Osweiler was the envelope the pics came in. The Browns will see if someone wants to buy all/part of the envelope (they might find someone willing to pay for part of the envelope), but if not, they'll throw the envelope in the trash. You see this more in the NBA than the NFL.

Now, they did buy two draft picks for $16M which isn't cheap. The key is how they use them. If they pick the next Johnny Football, then they might as well have set the money on fire.

They are currently shopping Osweiler for more draft picks and $8million cash to offset the $16 million they took on from the Texans.

If I understood all the commentary correctly, the Jets, Broncos and unnamed team were interested in Osweiler for what is essentially backup QB money. The issue is what kind of draft picks can the Browns amass as part of flipping him.  NFL rules prohibit the use of cash only to dispense just a player or just a draft pick.

Word was Haslam was willing to absorb around $6 million of Osweilers salary if it gets the Browns more draft power of equilvalent value.

This where analytics have taken over football and personnel decisions.  They are rating draft picks with cash values and risk ratios to determine their worth to a team.

Essentially Cleveland has taken it where no team has before in thr NFL.

Since the NFL so far has permitted this type of "trade", Dallas technically could do the same thing with Romo, but they would have to find a willing partner for all the horse trading.

[Steve]

If they get another pick and not have to spend $6M, then hats off to them-played it well.

[I-10east]

I'm loving the Jags free agency signings so far. We gotta find a way to shore up that O line though.