The best thing is that Shedeur, to the extent that he is able, is trying to make it on his own and avoid the politics of the coaching situation.
The Village Elliot's Sports Blog
A blog about sports and especially the Cleveland Browns
Saturday, August 9, 2025
The Best Thing About Shedeur's Start With the Browns
The best thing is that Shedeur, to the extent that he is able, is trying to make it on his own and avoid the politics of the coaching situation.
Thursday, August 7, 2025
Browns are Praying Some Team Will Give Them a Draft Pick for a Worthless QB
So, the national media seems befuddled that the Browns are holding a four-way competition for the Browns starting quarterback job. "Gee, they are all so good, we can't decide!" Let me explain Brownspeak to those of you who are uninitiated.
The Browns do stupid things all the time, generally because of owner interference. So they need a cover story. The truth is that they are desperately hoping that some other NFL team out there is as dumb as the fan base and actually believes that there are four starting caliber quarterbacks. In that case, that NFL team might actually trade a future draft pick for one of the undesirable quarterbacks currently on the roster. Thus, the Browns are trying to not tip their hand as to which quarterbacks they prefer.
How stupid is this? Well, the hope is that other NFL GMs really are as dumb as us fans. There really is no decision at this point. Dillon Gabriel is not as good as Shedeur Sanders, and Kenny Pickett is going to be a free agent in 2026. There was very little point in obtaining his services for one season, but they did that and gave up their developmental quarterback, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who they kept rushing into battle before he was ready, plus a Round 5 draft pick that could have been better used for, say, a wide receiver or defensive back. But maybe by hyping up Pickett some team will decide to trade for him (?) Good luck with this plan, Browns, but it does not seem likely.
Next year they will be in position to draft a real quarterback in the first round while Deshaun Watson has $167 million left on his deal, payable over two years. How will they afford a big contract for Pickett at the same time? No, Pickett would be gone, and anyway he is not that good or the Steelers would have kept him.
Hence they are stuck with Pickett. The cannot afford to throw away his services so he makes the team.
Shedeur Sanders will not be traded because Jimmy Haslam loves him and also is no doubt intrigued by the idea of hiring Coach Prime to replace Kevin Stefanski if and when the Browns turn in another lackluster year this season, and that could very well happen. Should they start him Year One? Sure, if you want to ruin another good quarterback, why not?
The main problem the Browns have is their roster is depleted due to investing six draft picks in Deshaun Watson as well as the financial investment which they will not finish paying off until 2027.
Actually, the signing of Tyler Huntley as QB5 is not ridiculous. If the Browns want to manage 40-year-old Flacco's workload, installing a "Wildcat" or quarterback option would not be crazy. Huntley could run that style of offense, and he could probably be stowed on the practice squad in the early going. Of course players hate two-QB systems, but today's NFL is potentially a 21 game season, and you might rethink that and try to use your bottom-of-the-roster guys as best as possible.
The truly inexplicable move is blowing a third round pick on Dillon Gabriel who is too short to throw passes over giant defensive linemen and too slow to roll out. In college he was timed at 4.94 seconds in the 40 yard dash and he did not run the 40 at the Combine. It's hard to believe he can be successful in today's NFL. Drew Brees did it, but he was one in a thousand, and he was an inch taller and a few ticks faster. So Gabriel's chances are not zero, but something like 1000-to-1 against making it as a starter.
40-year old Joe Flacco, who proved he can take a team to the playoffs is the obvious starter. The Browns fired him in 2024 because they were frightened of a potential quarterback controversy because, obviously, the fan base loved Joe much more than the perpetually ineffective Deshaun Watson. Firing a quarterback due to fear of a "quarterback controversy" is a classic sign of a weak front office and weak ownership.
Pretending that the other three are close to landing the first string job is just a show, with the hope that some other quarterback-hungry franchise will crack and offer a draft pick for one of them. It's very unlikely.
Tuesday, July 29, 2025
Which Cleveland Browns Quarterbacks Actually Have Trade Value?
So I keep hearing how the Browns are going to trade their worst quarterback for draft picks and stuff. Which of the four quarterbacks has trade value?
Thus, Flacco is the only qb that I see having any real trade value. And other NFL teams are not like the Browns who impulsively acquire quarterbacks just because. There are going to be a LOT of decent quarterbacks on the market come roster cutdown time. Plus Flacco might well be the Browns number one option.
Monday, July 21, 2025
The Cleveland Browns Have Used 11 Draft Picks on Quarterbacks in 4 Years??!
Sunday, June 29, 2025
Is Coach Prime the Next Head Coach of the Browns?
Coach Prime, the Superstar formerly known as Neon Deion, formerly known as Deion Sanders, is probably the front runner to be the next Head Coach of the Cleveland Browns when Kevin Stefanski, two-time NFL Coach of the Year is fired.
The reason Stefanski will be fired is simple. Deshaun Watson has been employed as the poster boy on the play-now-pay-later plan, and the Browns have deferred the poison pill as far as they can. They must now swallow $130 million dollars remaining remaining on his contract over 2026 and 2027.
That means the 2026 cap will be charged, in round terms, $80 million dollars and 2027 will be charged another $50 million. No team can win that that kind of dead money taken from the salary pool.
Rather than blame himself, Jimmy Haslam III will fire Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski.
What idiot would want to coach the Browns in such a dire predicament? Only the father of Haslam's hand-picked quarterback, Shedeur Sanders.
There is a strong rumor that the Browns overloaded the quarterback room so that Jimmy couldn't draft Shedeur, but he went and did it anyway when Shedeur slid. This writer believes the rumor and moreover also believes that Dillon Gabriel was deliberately overdrafted so that there would be no roster spot for Shedeur. Gabriel is a sixth round pick who they probably should not have drafted at all based on his lack of NFL speed and size. Still, he can competently can hand the ball off the three headed monster of Jerome Ford, Quinshon Judkins and former Tennessee Vol Dylan Sampson, and throw dink and dunk passes to the likes of former Tennessee Vol Cedric Tillman and Jerry Jeudy.
By the way, why do the Brown have two former Tennessee Vols among their draftees (Tillman was their highest pick in 2023). Then the Browns also picked up former Tennessee Vol QB Joshua Dobbs twice. Isn't Jimmy Haslam III a Tennessee Alum? What a coincidence! Or not?
Perhaps Jimmy, having not learned his lesson from the Manziel affair is making draft picks for the team, making the GM and Head Coach job in Cleveland exceptionally unappealing.
Only the father of Shedeur Sanders would want to be the Head Coach in such dire circumstances. Who knows? It might be a good move. Sanders is a strong enough personality he might force Haslam to stand down and let the new GM do his job.
Saturday, June 21, 2025
Shedeur Needs to Go
Flacco has a 4-1 record as a starter for Cleveland. Why do we want to fire him in favor of an unknown rookie? A case could be made for Kenny Pickett, who has a 15-10 lifetime record. That's not terrible, is it?
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
Browns' QB Room is a Kluge
On the flip side, we all know how good Flacco was in 2023, and Pickett was a Steeler first round draft pick who went 15-10 in 25 starts for the Steelers, who have been a great defensive team, but a lousy offensive team.
Monday, May 5, 2025
The Best Help for Your Quarterback is a Running Game
Sunday, May 4, 2025
Did Jerome Ford Receive a Pay Raise, or a Pay Cut?
It's been widely reported that Jerome Ford has accepted a pay cut to remain with the Cleveland Browns. Reports claim that Ford was due to receive $3.486 million in 2025 but instead accepted $1.75 million. Overthecap.com lists a signing bonus of $80,537, which according to my pocket calculator makes his 2025 cap number $1.83 million. Get it right, folks.
Sunday, April 27, 2025
Why Shedeur Sanders Could Not Be Drafted
Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Browns Trade for Kirk Cousins Could be a Win-Win
Yes, the Browns like Kirk Cousins better than Atlanta does. So why not trade him? The reason is that the Falcons would have to pay some $37.5 million in stupidity tax (cap charges that they would incur and cannot get out of) in 2025, and there is no way you would do this for a late round draft pick. It's a bit like the Browns' Deshaun Watson contract, which is guaranteed to keep them down for three more years. Nobody will trade for Watson and his bloated salary.
Both teams would like to make such a trade for Cousins, but the immense cap hit on the Atlanta side makes a straight-up deal very unlikely. A trade that could work, however, is if you upped the ante by offering to trade back from number two overall to fifteenth overall. In return the Falcons would have to provide additional draft picks.
If I were Andrew Berry I would insist on 15th overall in 2025 plus a number one draft pick for 2026 and some additional picks in 2025 in addition to Cousins.
Atlanta gets rid of a qb they don't want, and draft generational talent Travis Hunter. They improve themselves in 2025 and beyond despite an unpleasant cap hit this year.
The Browns get a QB that Coach Kevin Stefanski believes in, and re-institutes the Stefanski offense with two tight ends, a fullback and dink-and-dunk passing game. Perfect.
What will make this deal work is if there is a player at 15 that is worth drafting. This observer believes the draft is deep, just not at the quarterback position. I don't have either Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders at the top of the draft, but probably both top-ranked quarterbacks will be gone. So, are there 13 position players who would be appropriate? I think there are, and here's my Browns-o-centric list:
1. Travis Hunter, CB, Colo
2. Mason Graham DT, TSUN
3. Armand Membu OT, Missouri
4. Shemar Stewart, Edge, TAMU
5. Will Campbell, OT, LSU
6. Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State
7. Tyler Warren, TE, Penn State
8. Kevin Banks OT, Texas
9. Abdul Carter Edge, Penn State
10. Will Johnson, CB, Michigan
11. Jalon Walker, Edge, Georgia
12. James Pearce Jr., Edge, Tennessee
13. Omarion Hampton, RB, North Carolina
If we get any of these players with 15th overall, I'll be happy.
I might be interested in a quarterback in the second round, like Jalen Milroe (Bama), Jaxson Dart or Quinn Ewers if one of them survives that long. I actually like Shedeur Sanders (Colorado) over Cam Ward (Miami) on the grounds that he is the best at making decisions under pressure. I think he will go top 10, but if the Browns have Cousins, they have to curb their appetite for quarterbacks, even if he survives to number 15 overall.
I like Shemar Stewart a bit better than Abdul Carter because Stewart was out of position at DT, and yet posted Myles Garrett numbers at the Combine. I don't understand the foot injury to Carter, nor do I understand why other analysts think it's fine to ignore it. I do think you have to devalue him slightly despite his immense talent. I don't want to hear just "he will not have surgery." I want to hear, "it will be like it was before the injury." There is a difference.
Ashton Jeanty is at the list among running backs. I disagree vehemently with the notion that you can't draft running backs high in the first round, because they rarely last ten years. So what? Your commitment is four years plus a club option for a fifth, then you can tag him for the sixth year. You only need to concern yourself with six years to recover your investment. I don't see why there is a such a concern about longevity. If the time comes when he cannot play, move on and use the money for a cornerback or something. So I've got a few running backs ranked really high this year.
Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Browns are Paying $89 million in 2025 to Players Who Won't Play
"Salary cap means nothing!" So says many a sports journalist.
However, it does mean something, and the Browns are going to find that out in 2025, since they will be paying $89 million (compared to the allowance of $279 million) to players who are not playing for the team.
Although there was glee and merriment in fan circles that Deshaun Watson's contract was restructured yet again, he still costs $37 million dollars this year, and he probably won't play this season. Fans, in fact, are grateful he won't play. But the Browns will still owe Deshaun $135 million in 2026 and beyond. This is not survivable.
The prevailing philosophy of rock-brained sports analysts is the NFL salary cap allowance grows every year, so you can simply defer salaries into the future and have a good team. That's kind of like thinking that because you have a credit card, you're rich. Well, you're not, and you will have to pay on that credit card.
In addition to Watson's disastrous contract, the Browns will be charge $52 million on players they have cut or traded away. That includes $22.6 million for Amari Cooper, $14.2 million for Zadarius Smith and $11.8 million for Jedrick Wills.
To be fair, the team rolls over $42 million from 2024 (money that they could have spend last year but didn't), so the net disaster is $47 million. Still, it's not wise to totally spend out the salary cap. Most teams carry $10 million or more in carryover.
The net is that the Browns will be spending probably $55 million less than the average NFL team.
Think about what you could do with that money (and no, you're not allowed to spend it on more quarterbacks. Jeez, haven't we had enough on that position?). That's five starting players.
It's hard to envision the Browns having a winning record next season.
Saturday, March 8, 2025
Who is Calling the Shots on Browns Quarterbacks?
The Browns also had Tyler Huntley, a competent backup qb, under contract, and cut Huntley to keep DTR. This analyst believes they could have kept both players. DTR could have been kept on the Practice Squad, with very little chance that another organization would sign him. Getting rid of Huntley was stupid. Huntley started five games for Miami--with very little preparation--and won two of them. That's 67% of the win total of the Browns last year.
We thought that Dee Haslam, definitely the better half of the Power Couple, had talked Jimmy out of direct participation in the team. Maybe not.
Friday, February 28, 2025
World's Dumbest Quarterback Narrative
The world's dumbest narrative in sports--and it drives me crazy--is that the final score of a football game allows sportswriter/gurus to distinguish precise differences in the calibre of the opposing quarterbacks. So, Bills 27, Ravens 25 proves Josh Allen is a better quarterback than Lamar Jackson, right? And neither of them are as good as Patrick Mahomes, as proven by the Chiefs 32 to 29 victory. Nope, Josh will never go to the Super Bowl, and the Ravens can never beat the Bills.
Until they do, of course. All this talk about legacy, stats and all falls apart, especially when KC gets their asses handed to them after being blown out 40 to 22 by the Eagles and Jaylen Hurts.
So cut me a break. Football is a team sport, and the other guys on the roster do matter. It is incomprehensible that a game with 22 men on the field depends only on the quarterback. For those idiots who think that playoff games determine who is the better quarterback, are you going to now say that Hurts is 22 points "better" than Patrick Mahomes? All the accolades for Mahomes (first ballot Hall of Famer, the best in history, blah, blah, blah) now falls to Hurts? We hear such garbage even from the most prestigious sports journalists, like ESPN and Fox Sports (I'd shut them off, but I'm a sports addict and condemned to listen on my car radio).
The obvious conclusion is that the team with the best quarterback does not always win. Sometimes Brady gets beat by Nick Foles. Sometimes Trent Dilfer and Kerry Collins make it to the Super Bowl, while Peyton Manning and Brett Favre stay home. This is proof positive that the rest of the team matters.
How about a hypothetical trade as a true gauge of value? Let's consider possible trades: Mahomes for Allen, Mahomes for Jackson, Allen for Jackson. I doubt whether any of their teams would want to make such a deal. It's not Fantasy Football where you just install your new guy in the lineup and he performs the same. Each team would have to totally revamp their offense, and it would take at least a year and maybe two to get familiar with the other players and coaches. Mahomes is the best man for the Chiefs, Lamar is the best for the Ravens, and Josh is the best for Buffalo. So, based on this reasoning, their value is greatest for the team they are on.
Now, in 2021, The trade of Matt Stafford for Jared Goff plus draft picks proved that the Rams did like Stafford much better than Goff. Not all starting QBs are equal. It does not prove, however, that the Rams had zero chance to ever win the Super Bowl with Goff (who, by the way, has significantly upped his game). It just means that they thought they were a better team with Stafford at the controls. They were right, and they have rings to prove it.
Similarly, the Browns passed up the opportunity to retain Baker Mayfield at about $30 million per year, in order to obtain the services of Deshaun Watson at $46 mil, plus giving up six draft picks including three first rounders. Just look at the value: one quarterback threw 41 TDs and had a rating of 106.8; the other guy had 5 TDs and a rating of 79.0 Unfortunately, the Browns cut the good QB and signed the mediocre one, suggesting that quarterback evaluation is not always accurate.