Browns Should Interview Ashton Grant of the Patriots

 

Ashton Grant is currently on the Patriots' staff working for Mike Vrabel, but prior to that was on the Browns's staff as an Offensive Assistant for Quarterbacks. 

What about a young quarterback coach that worked with Mike Vrabel and Jameis Winston in Cleveland and in New England under Vrabel as his Quarterbacks Coach? Plus, if you feel like he is not quite ready to be Head Coach, you could make him an offer to be the Offensive Coordinator. Ashton Grant is the young Coach I'm talking about.  Remember that name.  Remember also that these hotshot offensive coordinators from other teams are not eligible to jump ship and join the Browns unless they are promoted.  However Grant could join the Browns as either Head Coach OR Offensive Coordinator, and he also complies with the all-important Rooney Rule for minority interviews.  

You might as well also accept the fact the Browns get last choice anyway because candidates are turned off by the disastrous salary cap situation and the automatic quarterback controversy generated by Shedeur Sanders. 

The next person who says "Controversy? What controversy?" gets a pie in the face. Sanders can not help who his father is, but you might as well accept that that 50% of the fan base loves him and 50% hates him and that is not going to change.  The new Head Coach will have to navigate that automatic controversy. It's not an ideal situation in Cleveland.  Then there is the minor issue of a fellow named Deshaun who is still on the roster and is owed $130 million dollars.                                                                                                                         

The master plan of complying with the Rooney Rule by interviewing two and only two candidates--Mike McDaniel and Nate Scheelhaase--blew up on two counts. McDaniel turned them down before interviewing and Scheelhaase cannot be interviewed until after his team is out of the playoffs.  Even then, how do you know he won't get hired by another team before interviewing with the Browns?   As of Jan 24, zero Rooney-compliant interviews means the Browns cannot hire a Coach.  

Like Scheelhaase, Ashton Grant cannot be interviewed until his team is no longer in the playoffs.  That may be okay once you accept that the Browns are going to select last anyway.  Grant did a great job for the 2024 Browns, working with Jameis Winston on an otherwise poor offensive team with a weak offensive line and no running game. Nevertheless, Winston had some impressive games.  Grant must be given some credit for that. Winston's mental lapses which resulted in interceptions are not the result of coaching.  

Grant definitely impressed Mike Vrabel, who you will recall was on the Browns' staff that year.  Vrabel took Grant with him to New England and Drake Maye has responded with an outstanding year.  

Thus, Grant knows the Stefanski Offense as well as the Vrabel Offense with Josh McDaniel as the Offensive Coordinator.

Other candidates who are already OC's on other team such as  Scheelhaase or Grant Udinski of the Jags, are not eligible to laterally transfer to the Browns as OC, but can only change teams if it is a promotion to Head Coach. 

So, the Browns should at least interview Grant, maybe hire him as Head Coach, but he is also eligible to be hired as Offensive Coordinator for the Browns. 

Cleveland May Have Botched the Rooney Rule

 

When asked to count to two, Mr. Haslam held up only one thumb, indicating a lack of fundamental understanding of mathematics. 

The Cleveland Browns cannot hire a coach.  At all.  The reason is that they have not complied with the Rooney Rule, which requires the team to interview two (2) black or minority candidates from outside the organization.  Currently their total stands at zero, with one interview scheduled. Let's see, is one equal to or greater than two?  No it is not, Mr. Haslam.  One is fewer than two, and therefore your team is out of compliance. 

Right now, Los Angeles Rams pass game coordinator Nathan Scheelhaase is the only African American scheduled for an interview.  However, this must await the end of the Rams' season, which has not happened yet.  Last time we checked, they are still in the playoffs.  The Rooney rule may not be satisfied until after the Super Bowl if the Rams wind up going to the Dance.  

Worse, they scheduled an interview with Mike McDaniel, who refused to interview with the Browns, opting instead to be the Offensive Coordinator for the LA Chargers.  Hence the number of Rooney Rule interviews is zero at this time.  

How can you guys be this stupid? The first thing you should do is comply with the rules, especially if your plan the entire time is to hire from the inside; e.g., Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz.  

Now, if they hurry out and find some minority candidate for Head Coach, it will be altogether obvious that it is only for compliance purposes.  The Browns will look terrible and stupid (as usual).  Don't forget, the Browns are being sued by Brian Flores and other coaches on the grounds that the Rooney Rule is a sham, and this episode will probably become Exhibit A. 

Alternatively, the Browns may have little choice but to hire Nathan Scheelhaase to avoid looking like idiots and getting in trouble with the league.  In that case, they do not have to find a sham interview to comply with the Rooney Rule. 

Ironically, Northeast Ohio and the Browns have historically been way out in front in terms of allowing African Americans and other minorities to participate in professional football.  The Browns have had way more black GMs (Ray Farmer, Sashi Brown, Andrew Berry), black/minority HCs (Terry Robiskie, Romeo Crennel, Hue Jackson), black quarterbacks (David Mays, Spergon Wynn, Seneca Wallace, Jeff Garcia, Thad Lewis, Jason Campbell, Robert Griffin III, Deshone Kizer, Tyrod Taylor, Jacoby Brissett, Deshaun Watson, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, P.J. Walker, Jameis Winston, Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders) than any other NFL team.  Don't forget that Jim Thorpe played here, and Fritz Pollard played and coached in Akron Ohio from the get-go in 1920.  This, however, is not an excuse for not being on top of the rulebook. 

The Browns may have little choice but to hire Nathan Scheelhaase to avoid looking like idiots and getting in trouble with the league. 

The Browns were racially integrated from their inception in 1946, but nevertheless have had trouble complying with the Rooney Rule in 2026.  

Let's Pump the Brakes on Mendoza

What is it that compels us to believe that Fernando Mendoza is vastly superior to other college quarterbacks? 
https://www.instagram.com/p/DSQHEcgka-K/?img_index=4

Fernando Mendoza is a College Superstar, but does he have to be the Number One overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft?  The Cleveland Browns, the most quarterback fixated team in the NFL, may be considering whether they should move up in the draft in order to select Mendoza, despite still have $130 million left to pay Deshaun Watson, and having used 11 draft picks on quarterbacks  depleted roster after donating six draft picks to the Houston Texans and incurring a $230 million dollar due bill for Deshaun Watson.  If the Browns trade their two first round draft picks in the 2026 draft, plus a few more high round picks in 2027, they could probably move up to first overall.  Would it be worth it? 

Mendoza will surely get his shot to be a starting quarterback in the NFL.  That is not in question. However, there are 32 starters in the NFL, and not all of them were first overall picks.  So how many of the boxes does Mendoza check off?

First, the good: we like the physical attributes.  6'5" 225 lbs is hard to argue with. He also has good speed and running ability though not exactly at the level of former Hoosier Antwaan Randle El.  We like that he led the known world in completion percentage with 73.0%.  We love the fact that he had a very low interception rate (only 6).  But how much of this is team and how much of this is Fernando?  The major mistake sportswriters make is confusing quarterback performance with team performance. 

Indiana has been consistently dominant in college football this season with no real weaknesses.  Indiana was great through the air. But, wait a minute, they were super-great on the ground, leading the Big 10 in rushing yards with 218.0 per game.  Mendoza averaged 223.3 passing yards per game, good for eighth best in the Big 10.  QBs with more yards per game include Jayden Maiava 285.5 (USC), Athan Kaliakmanis, 260.3 (Rutgers), Julian Sayin, 257.9 (Ohio State), Malik Washington, 246.9 (Maryland), Dante Moore, 237.7 (Oregon), Demond Williams Jr., 235.8 (Washington), Luke Altmeyer, 231.3 (Illinois).  Fernando is 22 years old and has 35 games to his credit. Most of his rivals are younger and not ready to enter the draft yet.  So,  you want the number 8 QB in the Big 10  from the top rushing team, and you think he is the best prospect for the long term?  That doesn't sound quite right, does it? Indiana had two second-team All-Big 10 wideouts, and a third team All-Big 10 tight end, plus a sterling defense to get the ball back in the hands of the offense quickly.  

Take a look at the Mendoza highlight film and tell me if you see him make an NFL style progression. His first choice is almost always open, so Fernando can afford to wait behind a stud offensive line until his receiver can get open and then throw him the ball. This is perfectly fine in College ball, but not the way they play in the NFL.  This is the same problem that many of us had with Shedeur Sanders last year.  We want to see a QB with "head on a swivel" making his progressions; being able to look left and throw to fool the defense; moving up in the pocket under pressure instead of running backwards and other Master Class tricks.  It sounds easy, but it takes time and many many practice and game repetitions to master the process.  If you have not heard Tom Brady talk about the rookie transition process, he can tell it way better than I can:

Tom Brady on Rookie QB Development

If Mendoza gets drafted by a good team and can be the number two or number three quarterback for at least one season, he has an excellent chance to succeed in the NFL.  However, if he is drafted by a team like Cleveland, where they play rookies very early in the season and expect one man to transform the offense, he will likely fail.  Look for Sam Bradford 2.0.     

So, yes I would draft Mendoza in Round 1, but it is far from obvious that he should be first overall. I might rather have an edge rusher or an offensive tackle or even a running back like Jeremiyah Love, who I think is an outstanding talent, comparable to Leroy Kelly or  Greg Pruitt.  There are other QBs that do not have the supporting cast the Indiana has, and thus maybe cannot produce the same QB stats, that might have similar talent at the position. You know who they are. Ty Simpson and Trinidad Chambliss lack ideal size but might be better passers than Mendoza. Nobody thinks they should be at the top of Round 1. Let's blame Drew Allar and  Garrett Nussmeier for getting their Coach fired (rather than blame the Coach for inadequate offense), and so these guys are Day 2 candidates.  Carson Beck, okay, threw too many interceptions, but if his Miami team pulls off the upset against Indiana, he might propel himself into Round 1.  Is it silly to base a draft on one game?  You bet.  Is the NFL Draft silly for QBs?  Yes. 

But back to Mendoza. Unfortunately, you don't get to draft the entire Indiana team with just one draft pick.  You just get one player from that team with one pick, and I do not believe that one player will transform a bad team into a good team.  Just pray for him not to wind up with the Jets or the Browns.  

  

The Cleveland Browns Have $77 million of Potential Dead Money in 2026

 

Fans, the Browns are getting their butts kicked in the Front Office, and current players scheduled to depart  as free agents could cost the Browns up to $77 million dollars in additional Dead Money charges if they are not re-signed.  This is on top of the $31.7 in "Dead Money" that the Browns are paying off to players no longer with the team such as Dalvin Tomlinson, Juan Thornhill and others.   

Nothing can be done about the 2026 Dead Money. It comes out of the 2026 Cap and it is gone, gone, gone.  But let's talk about the impending Voidable Years money that is scheduled to turn into dead money but isn't quite there yet. 

Jimmy Haslam, Andrew Berry and the Browns are fond of using "Voidable Years" in player contracts to allow them to sign players at a reduced rate, with cap charges due when the player leaves the team and the contract expires.  That is, teams are allowed to defer bonus money until AFTER a player's contract expires.  But if that player leaves the team (retires, is traded or is cut), that money gets charged to that year's cap.  

So for example, Joel Bitonio signed a contract for 2023, 2024 and 2025.  Great.  He got paid $46 million in bonus money.  Great!  That check is cashed and in his bank account.  However, the cap charges are spread over 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028 and 2029.  If Bitonio is not signed to a new deal, the charges for 2026, 2027, 2028 and 2029 are going to be deducted from the 2026 salary cap.  That's an appalling $23 million for a player who would not be playing.  That makes no sense, granted, but we're not talking about sense, we're talking about the accounting rules for the NFL salary cap.  

Conversely, if the Browns can talk their players with expiring contracts into signing a new deal, they can continue to spread the bonus money charges five years into the future.

In the case of the Browns O-Line, all five starters plus backup Teven Jenkins have expiring contracts and everyone except right tackle Cam Robinson has "Voidable Years."   Tight end David Njoku and  defensive end Shelby Harris are also scheduled to leave with Voidable Years.  In all, if nobody re-signs and restructures, the "Dead Money" charge to the Browns amounts to $77 million and would come out of the 2026 salary cap.  

Jeepers peepers, that would make $108 Million in Dead Money if nothing is done about it.  

How do you get out of this?  Well, one way would be to re-sign some of these players for one more year, and once again restructure their deals and push the Voidable Year money into the future one more time.  If a player wants to retire, you could even convince a retiring player to sign a contract anyway for a token amount of money, occupy a roster spot, but never show up for work, and that would allow the Browns to once again extend the voidable year money into the future.  You would lose the roster spot, but in effect obtain a loan. This is a horrible way to run a football team, but the Browns are a horrible team.    

"Voidable Years" money is like Crack Cocaine. Haslam  and  Berry seem to be terribly addicted to the concept.  

Not counting the Voidable Years issue, the Browns are currently on the hook for a $301 Million payroll (Top 51 salaries), according to Overthecap.com.  To that you have to add several million for the NFL draft, plus the practice squad, plus in-season injury replacements.  In all we might project $320 M right now.  Prior to refinancing, the Voidable Years adds $77 M, or potentially close to $400 million in commitments.  However, the cap limit will be around $295 million, meaning they must restructure or cut about $105 million.  Needless to say, this will be a very painful process, but it is barely possible.  Restructuring most of these "Voidable Years" is essential, one way or another.

It will mean, however, that more talent will leave the team than will be brought on board.     

Now, to my fellow sportswriters and fans who are fantasizing about expensive free agent wide receivers that are going to come flocking to Cleveland for 2026, you might as well stop deceiving yourselves and the public.  It is not going to happen.  There is no money for free agent extravaganzas like in previous years. Plus nobody with a career wants to come to Cleveland now.  

The Browns Jimmy Haslam III: Galactic Scale Quarterback Meddler

Jimmy Haslam has done many good things for the Cleveland Browns, but he has also been a major league meddler, especially at the quarterback position. On a great team, the players play, the Coaches coach,  the General Manager manages, and the Owners own.  That's not the way it works in Cleveland. At times the Coaches try to do the GMs job, the Players do the Coach's job, and the owner meddles in damn near anything he pleases, including drafting, signing free agents, selecting the starter for a particular game as well as placing players on the inactive list. In particular, he is in charge of quarterback acquisition and development. Sometimes, give him credit, it actually works, but most of the time it blows up, with the Johnny Manziel and Deshaun Watson fiascos as cases in point. 

This article seeks to enumerate the times when Mr. Haslam has subverted the process in the front office.   Mr. Haslam claims that these decisions are made via a group process, and perhaps this is so to an extent.  In that case his General Managers--Ray Farmer, John Dorsey and especially Andrew Berry deserve to share at least some of the blame.  But in many cases, I infer that Mr. Haslam is to blame on the grounds that the moves have been so egregiously bad that an NFL General Manager, is extremely unlikely to have made them.  For example, signing Deshaun Watson was not completely crazy at some price, but giving up six draft picks and $230 Million in guaranteed money cannot be completely blamed on Andrew Berry. It's just too nuts.  Here then, is my list, in chronological order. 

1. Drafting Johnny Manziel, the wisdom of which was reinforced by the wish of a homeless man who urged Haslam to draft Manziel on Draft Day.  JH3 evidently believed it might have been some kind of omen speaking through a prophetic personality.  No, Jim, he was just a drunk. So was Johnny, by the way. 

One son of an oilman to another, a marriage made in Heaven.

2. Benching Brian Hoyer when the team was 7-7 and still in contention for a playoff spot, so that Manziel could start and lead the team into the playoffs.  Well, Manziel was atrocious as a rookie, so the playoffs went up in smoke.  

3. Brokered a foolish trade with the Bengals for A.J. McCarron. Sashi Brown torpedoed the deal by not signing the paperwork before the deadline, which cost him his job, but resulted in the Browns being able to draft Nick Chubb.  In the middle of the 2017 0-17 tanking season, Coach Hue Jackson whined that he could not win with his current quarterbacks that he had previously proclaimed to be "franchise quarterbacks." Sashi Brown said, "Great, because I want the first overall pick," but JH3 felt sorry for Hue and made a deal with Hue's old team, the Bengals, to bring ace backup A.J. McCarron to Cleveland for the price of two second round draft picks. Brown "forgot" to sign the paperwork and the deal did not go through.  He was fired for this selfless act, but really, we should build Sashi a statue for this move. He left the team with nearly $60 million extra cap space and a ton of extra draft picks--including the second round pick used to bring Nick Chubb to Cleveland.

Boy, A.J. McCarron or Nick Chubb?  Hue Jackson and JH3 wanted McCarron, and when you've got a chance for a Franchise quarterback, you've got to go get him, blah, blah, blah.  Isn't that right, fans? 

4.  Launching the Post-Mayfield era cost 6 draft picks, including 3 Round 1 picks and $230 million for Deshaun Watson, the worst trade in NFL history.  Andrew Berry liked Deshaun Watson, but Jimmy loved him and thought that paying any price was worth it to buy the Super Bowl.  Watson went from $35 Million guaranteed remaining on his deal with the Texans, to $230 million guaranteed in Cleveland.  But that's not the true cost. If you could auction off draft picks, 3 Round 1's,  2 Round 3's and a Round 4 would probably be worth another $200 million. In short the Browns paid three times what Watson was worth, and he started having bad years immediately.  I don't think Deshaun is a bad quarterback, but seeking to emulate the Buffalo Bills deep passing offense was not the right move for him.  

Maybe a Quarterback at any price is not a good philosophy after all. So, did you learn anything from the experience, or shall we repeat the same mistake? 

5.  Signing former Tennessee Vol quarterback Joshua Dobbs as a third string QB in 2022, firing him, signing him again, and then trading him away after training camp.  What?  Doesn't it seem like there was an internal disagreement about Dobbs?  My theory is that Haslam, the staunch Tennessee Vol alum, was the advocate for Dobbs, the former Tennessee Vol Quarterback, and in this case Haslam was mostly right. Nevertheless, the Browns cut Dobbs for no real reason, and then the world found out that he could play when he caught on with the Titans later than year and played well with short preparation. Hey! How about that?  JH3 got one right!  So they re-signed Dobbs for 2023, but then Andrew traded him for a late draft pick to start the season, because Arizona needed a replacement for Kyler Murray, who was injured.  Wait a minute, since when is it the Browns' job to perform acts of charity for other teams' misfortunes?  But don't worry because...

6.  The Browns drafted QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson in Round 5 and he miraculously became QB2 right out of training camp, ahead of Dobbs.  This made zero sense.  Look, your backup quarterback has to be ready to play on opening day.  He cannot be a developmental Round 5 guy who needs two years to learn the NFL-style playbook.  However, the Browns made him second string right out of training camp (why? Because he completed passes in preseason games?? Really??), and the perception became that Dobbs was expendable (FALSE!). Once in a while it does happen (Russell Wilson and  Dak Prescott were exceptions, but was there really reason to think DTR was Russell or Dak?  Then they did it again in 2024, promoting him over Jameis Winston, only to have him go down due to injury. DTR ended his NFL career with 1 TD pass and 10 INTs. Only an owner could have such a great fascination for rookie quarterbacks.  

7.  Firing Comeback Player of the Year Joe Flacco after a bad playoff loss in 2023.  The Browns scouting department keeps on coming up with solid veterans like Brian Hoyer, Josh McCown, Jacoby Brissett, Jameis Winston, and the Browns at the highest level keeps on trashing them.  Joe Flacco save the Browns from DTR and took the Browns to the playoffs but lost to Deshaun Watson's former team, the Houston Texans.  Well, no wonder.  We gave them six draft picks and they used those players against us.  But the main reason Joe had to go was that the Dawg Pound loved him more than Deshaun (in fact we loved darn near everyone more than Deshaun).  JH3 is fearful of the dreaded "quarterback controversy." We can't take it, so to paraphrase Hank Williams, Sr., "Goodbye Joe, you gotta go, me oh my oh!"

Joe Flacco led the Browns to the PLAYOFFS!  Does Haslam care? No. 

8.  Firing Joe Flacco again after a 1-3 start in 2025. We're sorry, Joe!  What were we thinking?  We went 3-14 in 2024 without you Joe! Please come back!  But okay, the Front Office corrected the terrible decision to fire Joe Flacco in 2023, and once again convinced themselves they were Super Bowl contenders. However, after going 1-3 to open the season, they pushed the panic button, and fired Flacco.  The solution?  Rookie quarterback! Enter third round pick Dillon Gabriel.  As mentioned above, it is very rare for a mid-round pick to start early and succeed in the NFL.

9.  Using four (4) draft picks on quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL draft.  Wait, what?  The Watson process obliged the Browns to provide 2 draft picks to Houston in 2022, 2023, and 2024, plus they used another pick in 2023 on DTR. Rather than give it a rest in 2025, they burned four (4) draft pics on quarterbacks this year.  Given that each team gets only seven per year, four is a.  This is the first year that the Browns had a full slate of draft picks after the Deshaun disaster and they had no business burning four picks on QUARTERBACKS.  A Round 5 traded for Kenny Pickett. A Round 3 used for Dillon Gabriel.  Then an additional Round 6 and a Round 5 were traded to move up in Round 5 for Shedeur. That's completely absurd. Deshaun (6), DTR (1) and the 4 for 2025 account for 11 in four years, including three Round 1 picks. Haslam can point out that he got picks back for DTR, Flacco and Pickett, but they were all worth less than what he paid.  Hence these moves were not sound.  They are more symptomatic of an obsession rather than normal football operations.  

The two veterans with winning career records are Flacco and Pickett.  They were both traded away at a loss. 

10.  Bringing Ravens QB Tyler Huntley into camp, teaching him the playbook, and sending him back to Baltimore two years in a row.  I mean, come on, you can't be giving a quarterback from our arch-rival access to our playbook as well as inside information about the team. If you're going to invite him to camp, give him a contract.  Moreover, Huntley was much more qualified to start in 2025 than either Gabriel or Sanders, given that he had six years of NFL experience including preseason 2024 with the Browns, so quit pretending we late-round rookies are better than veterans.  They were late round picks for a reason, and it was FOOLISH to expect instant success from mid-to-late round picks.  With all the talk about being willing to carry four QBs on the roster, how did the Browns wind up with zero experienced QBs on the active roster by Week 5?

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There you have it, fans.  These moves are so stupid it is difficult to believe that a professional General Manager thought them up.  Still, Andrew Berry has to bear some of the guilt because he signed off on them, and in particular, he created the insane contract that financed Deshaun coming to Cleveland. 

You can fire the Coach, you can fire the General Manager, but you cannot fire the Owner, so look forward for more quarterback madness in 2026. How many qbs will they draft this year and who will they be?  How many draft picks will they trade for quarterbacks, quarterbacks, quarterbacks?  Or will we tank the season for Arch Manning next year? Stay tuned!