Monthly Archives: March 2020

Adrian Clayborn agrees to two-year deal with Browns

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The Cleveland Browns have agreed to a deal with former Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons defensive end Adrian Clayborn.

One area of need for the Cleveland Browns was depth on the defensive line. Cleveland is now one step closer to having enough depth on their defensive line with the signing of Adrian Clayborn.

Adrian Clayborn is signing a two-year deal with Cleveland worth up to $7 million with incentives per reports. Clayborn was drafted by Tampa Bay with the 20th overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. After four years in Tampa, Clayborn spent three in Atlanta, followed by one in New England, and one final year with the Falcons last season. The 31-year old edge rusher had a career-high 9.5 sacks in 2017. Clayborn only managed 6.5 sacks in the last two seasons combined.

The last time Clayborn started in the majority of the games he appeared in was back in 2016 with Atlanta, starting seven of the 13 games he appeared in. Adrian Clayborn should slide in nicely with the Browns rotation on the defensive line. Working with Myles Garrett and Olivier Vernon to put together a competent pass rush.

Ideally the signing of Clayborn does not impact the roster status of Olivier Vernon. Vernon is someone who has essentially had a target on his back for quite some time and many expected the Browns to go in a different direction. If Vernon stays this signing is great. If Vernon goes and Clayborn is expected to replace him as a starter, that would be a problem.

Browns trade up to take Isaiah Simmons in mock

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The Cleveland Browns are going in a different direction in the latest mock draft from USA Today, trading up for Clemson’s Isaiah Simmons.

This might not be the most popular selection for some, but the reality is the Cleveland Browns have a giant hole at the linebacker position. Trading up for Isaiah Simmons needs to be considered and that is just what Nate Davis of USA Today has the Browns doing in his latest mock draft.

Davis has Cleveland trading all the way up to 5th overall and taking the talented Clemson linebacker. Speculating that the 10 and 41 picks would be able to make the trade up possible. This trade is the result of a different trade that happened before it. The Chargers moving up to 3rd overall to take Tua Tagovailoa resulting in Miami looking to trade down for the right package.

Most mock drafts right now have Cleveland taking tackle prospect Andrew Thomas out of Georgia. While taking Isaiah Simmons does not address the vacancy at left tackle, taking a difference maker on defense can go a long way . The team has too many holes to limit their draft plans to just one position with their first pick. Right now Cleveland needs quality over quantity. High quality talents instead of a lot of average to good talents. If that means bypassing tackle at 10 and trading up in order to get what many view as a blue chip player in Simmons so be it.

There are other avenues to improve the offensive lines besides the 10th overall pick.

Cleveland does have other picks in the draft and maybe they could find a way to trade a player in order to move up with one of their 3rd rounders to get back into Round 2. Free agency and the trade market are also options for Cleveland, but they may not be all that realistic at this point in time. Cleveland already spent heavy in free agency and the potential lineman available via trade seem to have a steep asking price.

If the Browns somehow comes away with a player like Isaiah Simmons that would be a huge win. Cleveland needs help on the defensive side of the ball in the worst way and this would certainly address that. Some longterm stability on defense besides Myles Garrett is desperately needed and Isaiah Simmons could certainly provide it.

Indians switch-hitting infield could be fun

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The Cleveland Indians infield consists of switch-hitters at first base, second base, third base, and shortstop positions.

As many know, I am a huge fan of switch-hitters. Always have been, always will be. There is just something about a hitter always having an advantage of sorts when it comes to whoever he is facing on the mound. Especially in a game when a player needs to take every advantage they can get (within the rules of the game obviously). The Cleveland Indians have four switch-hitters in their infield and it could be a very entertaining group to watch once the season begins.

Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, Carlos Santana, and Cesar Hernandez are all able to hit from both sides of the plate. Each Indians infielder is better from a power perspective on one side and better in the average department on the other. That is usually how it goes with switch-hitters, being proficient in one aspect of hitting over the other. Some trade-offs are more drastic (Santana), while others are closer in comparison (Lindor, Ramirez).

The switch-hitting fun does not just stop with Lindor, Ramirez, Santana, and Hernandez. There are two other switch-hitters on the roster. Sandy Leon and Greg Allen. The possibility exists that Cleveland could very well trot out six switch-hitters on a given day. This would cause headaches for the opposing manager. With the new three-batter minimum rule, it causes problems when it comes time to make a switch on the mound. Sprinkling in a few switch hitters in the bottom of the lineup will prevent the opponent from going to lefty or righty specialist type. They will need to consider all of the options available to them. They are now longer able to go with someone who would have been good for one to two batters in the past.

With question marks in regards to some parts of their roster, Cleveland needs every advantage they can get. This apparently includes utilizing four switch-hitters on an every day basis. The fact that their switch-hitting infielders are actually good at the plate just makes things that much more entertaining. When the season actually begins this will be a fun group to watch.

Colin Cowherd thinks Browns have Top 8 roster

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Colin Cowherd of Fox Sports believes that the Cleveland Browns have one of the best rosters in the NFL ranking them sixth overall.

This came completely out of left field. Colin Cowherd believes that the Cleveland Browns have the sixth best roster in the NFL.

Yes, the same Colin Cowherd who has gone back and forth with Baker Mayfield believes that this team has one of best rosters in the NFL. This is complete nonsense. There are a few players who are among the best at their position (OBJ, Landry, Chubb, Garrett), but there are plenty of question marks across the roster.

The team currently does not have a left tackle. They do not have a reliable safety or third cornerback at the moment. How about their linebackers? This is a group that appears to be the weakest on the entire roster. Finally the quarterback. What is Baker Mayfield? There comes a point in time that he needs to produce consistently, he has not done that yet and nobody is sure if he ever will. Did he have some stretches where he looked really good? Yes, but there were also stretches where he looked really bad. At some point he has to show what he truly is and whether or not he is actually a franchise quarterback.

Colin Cowherd did add that he believes the team will underachieve again and I have to agree.

There are lots of outside factors that will come into play. The coaching change, new offensive system, Beckham and Landry recovering from surgery and what is sure to be an abbreviated offseason. They really are set up for failure before they even have a chance and it could be too much for them to overcome to be successful next season.

Chris Hubbard and Browns agree to restructured deal

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The Cleveland Browns and former starting right tackle Chris Hubbard have agreed to terms on a restructured contract.

To the surprise of many Chris Hubbard will be in a Cleveland Browns uniform next season. Their former starting right tackle has agreed to a restricted deal that keeps him in town for the time being.

Chris Hubbard could have been on his way out if he did not agree to a new deal. Cleveland recently signed Jack Conklin who will replace Hubbard as the Browns starting right tackle.

When evaluating this deal it’s not about the dollar figure that matters. It is the details. If Hubbard plays 90% of the snaps he can void the 2021 portion of the contract. Well, barring a series of unfortunate events there is almost no chance he plays anywhere near that amount. Cleveland has three starting spots on their offensive line locked down. The Browns are almost certainly going to draft a left tackle and appear to be content with Wyatt Teller at right guard for the time being. There really is not a clear path barring injury for Hubbard to see anywhere near 90% of the snaps. So why would Hubbard agree to this deal? It’s simple, because he knows he would not get anywhere near this amount of money elsewhere.

Remember when Cleveland completely mismanaged the Joe Schobert and Christian Kirskey situations resulting in them going elsewhere? They knew that they had a market and other teams would pay them. Hubbard was so atrocious last season that nobody in their right mind would pay him anywhere near what Cleveland was willing to offer. This is the flip side of how things are working in Cleveland right now. They play games and push out players they really need in order to save some money on someone who should have been let go a long time ago.

Indians option four more to Triple-A

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The Cleveland Indians have optioned outfielder Bradley Zimmer and pitchers Aaron Civale, Zach Plesac, and James Karinchak to Triple-A Columbus.

The Indians have made their second wave of options (the first wave coming earlier in March). Cleveland optioned multiple players who many expected to be on the Opening Day roster. Bradley Zimmer, Aaron Civale, Zach Plesac, and James Karinchak will all begin the 2020 season (whenever that is) in Columbus.

Bradley Zimmer really didn’t have much of a chance

The news of Bradley Zimmer being sent down is not unexpected. Cleveland’s outfield was crowded to begin with and a player who has barely played the past two seasons was going to be hard-pressed to make the team. The team obviously just wants Zimmer to get more reps in the minors before giving him a chance at the Major League level.

Rotation and bullpen arms being sent down is interesting

The pitchers the Indians are sending down are a bit of a surprise. Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac may have very well made the Opening Day roster had the season began on time. With the delay and other pitchers more than likely being able to return from injury for the late start to the season, Cleveland felt it was better to send them down to Columbus for the time being.

The electric Jame Karinchak starting in Columbus is a bit of a kick in the teeth. Cleveland’s bullpen is relatively unexciting and mostly are able to get by with average stuff. Karinchak would have been arm that opposing batters would fear coming out of the bullpen as he can strike anyone out with relative ease. Karinchak’s only issue is command which may be why the Indians are having him start in Columbus, although he could have been a difference maker for this Cleveland bullpen from the start of the year.

Indians rotation appears to be back to normal

The Tribe’s top four arms in rotation appear to be what many expected. Mike Clevinger, Shane Bieber, Carlos Carrasco, and Adam Plukto. Plutko being in the rotation appears to be more of a formality than anything. The 28-year old is out of options and did have a few stretches where he appeared competent. Although, there were some blowups in between which are concerning. Cleveland is essentially going to give him the opportunity to pitch until he forces their hand to with someone else.

At some point the three pitchers should be up in the Majors this season. Zimmer may make an appearance if he is raking in the minors or the outfielders on the big league roster are struggling. Cleveland just appears to be exploring any and all avenues to be flexible in what could be a trying season.

What do the Cavaliers have right now? It’s unknown

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Figuring out exactly what the Cleveland Cavaliers are is not easy and attempting to assess exactly what they have is near impossible.

Attempting to define the Cleveland Cavaliers right now is difficult. What exactly are they? Are they a team that is as bad as their record is or were their early season struggles a direct result of their former coach? The team parted ways with John Beilein and eventually hired JB Bickerstaff as their new head coach. The Cavaliers appeared to be a better team with Bickerstaff, but it is not as simple as their record.

Judging the team based off their 5-6 record under JB Bickerstaff is not only foolish, it’s irresponsible. There is more to it than what the surface suggests. Cleveland’s opponents during the 11 games with Bickerstaff as their head coach were either missing key players or sub-par overall.

Collin Sexton saw a sharp uptick in performance under Bickerstaff which is very encouraging. Although a good portion of those games were without his regular backcourt partner Darius Garland. Garland missed some time due to injury and the team looked to be a bit more competent with the experienced Matthew Dellavedova stepping in on an as needed basis. Delly helped keep the ball moving and his teammates engaged. Something that was almost non-existent during the John Beilein era. Ideally Garland would have been able to come into the lineup and duplicate something resembling Delly’s efforts when he was supposed to return.

What does the Cavaliers roster consist of?

The team is imperfect in regards to construction and the team is built in two halves. Veterans and inexperience. The veterans include the likes of Kevin Love, Andre Drummond, Larry Nance Jr., Delly, and Tristan Thompson. Although it is worth mentioning that Thompson will be a free agent and is expected to depart in free agency. The young guys include Collin Sexton, Darius Garland, Kevin Porter Jr., and Dylan Windler. There are also a handful of players who are just there. Cedi Osman and Dante Exum to be exact. Their presence should not impact the future of the team in either way.

It’s about putting together a longterm plan and with how the roster is currently constructed it is quite difficult.

What are the Cavaliers supposed to do? They have an unknown when it comes to Andre Drummond and his team option. Drummond’s decision will likely impact what Kevin Love wants as they represented by the same agency. They could be with or without both to start next season, whenever that is. Then there is the backcourt. Are they going to give the combo of Sexton and Garland another go? Will they move one of them to the bench? Will one of them be traded? These are the questions they need to ask themselves during this idle time. Cleveland needs to identify a direction and head towards it. With their current roster they are pulling in two different directions, tanking and attempting to win, (however it is worth mentioning that their efforts in the latter have been quite lackluster).

What should they do? Build around Kevin Porter Jr.

Kevin Porter Jr. has shown that he has the most promise out of any of the young Cavaliers on the roster currently. When it comes to building around one player and evaluating their future, Kevin Porter Jr. should be who they build around. Find players who compliment Porter and are able to work with his playing style. If they are able to do that they might be able to get back on the right track and shake the woes of the second post-LeBron era.

Browns: Mock drafts having same pick is familiar

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The recent surge of most NFL mock drafts having the Cleveland Browns selecting Georgia tackle Andrew Thomas is quite familiar.

Josh Edwards, Charlie Casserly, R.J. White, Ryan Wilson, Chris Trapasso, and countless others have made the connection between the Cleveland Browns and Georgia offensive tackle Andrew Thomas. Even though the number of tackles taken ahead and after him change, Thomas to Cleveland remains a constant. This is something that feels quite familiar, almost like I’ve seen it before. Mock drafts connecting Cleveland to one specific player when they do not have the top pick in the draft. It was bugging me for awhile, then I remembered where I have seen this before.

The 2015 NFL Draft

Cleveland’s first pick was 12th overall and up to a certain point the opinions changed over who they would take. As the draft drew nearer, most mock drafts came down to one option, Danny Shelton. It was a very popular choice among those who put mock drafts together, Danny Shelton to the Browns was destined to happen.

SB Nation put together a consensus of the all the mock drafts and a staggering 60% had the Browns taking Danny Shelton. Shelton was tied with Trae Waynes to Minnesota as the third-highest consensus. These two were the only picks outside side of the first two selections to be this high. Only Jameis Winston to Tampa Bay (100%) and Marcus Mariota to Tennessee (65%) were higher. Shelton even got 10% to Cleveland at 19th overall, (the Browns ended up taking Cameron Erving with that selection who did not appear as an option).

Does this increased momentum toward the Cleveland Browns drafting Andrew Thomas really mean anything? Not really. This is just an interesting parallel that I observed with what is happening now and what happened five years ago. The fact that so many people are confident that Cleveland will take one specific player when nine other selections are ahead of them is quite interesting. Will history repeat itself? Only time will tell.

Browns take Andrew Thomas in Trapasso’s mock

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This is just the lastest mock draft that has the Cleveland Browns addressing their offensive line by taking Georgia tackle Andrew Thomas.

Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports released his latest mock draft and is just the latest to have the Cleveland Browns selecting Andrew Thomas.

Trapasso explained his choice below.

This should be an easy pick for the Browns, as Thomas is a long, SEC-tested stud on the left side who’s a bulldozer in the run game and improved as a pass blocker in 2019.

Trapasso’s reasoning is a bit refreshing. Instead of focusing on where the Browns have issues, he describes Thomas’ abilities as a left tackle. Perhaps this is because everyone is very much aware that the Browns offensive line was awful last season. Cleveland already addressed the right tackle position by signing Jack Conklin, drafting Andrew Thomas hopefully fixed the left tackle position.

There are two other tackles taken ahead of Thomas in this mock. At fourth overall the New York Giants take Tristan Wirfs out of Iowa. Arizona provides Kyler Murray with some protection by selecting Alabama’s Jedrick Wills Jr. Only two more tackles are taken in the first round. San Francisco drafting massive line prospect Mekhi Becton 13th overall. The other? Washington taking the hopeful repayment for Trent Williams in Ezra Cleveland at 26.

Other mock drafts with Andrew Thomas to Cleveland

Charlie Casserly’s mock

R.J. White’s mock

Ryan Wilson’s mock

Josh Edwards mock

Andrew Thomas to Browns in CBS mock draft

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R.J. White of CBS Sports released his latest mock draft and has the Cleveland Browns making a popular selection in Georgia’s Andrew Thomas.

From a far away perspective it seems like this pick is sort of falling into place. As mock drafts continue to be released, more and more of them have the Cleveland Browns drafting Andrew Thomas out of Georgia. R.J. White of CBS Sports released his latest mock and has the Browns taking the talented tackle prospect.

R.J. White explains the pick.

The Browns land a left tackle to pair with big free-agent signing Jack Conklin and give the offensive line the upgrade it desperately needs.

White is exactly right. Cleveland needs to find someone opposite of Jack Conklin on the offensive line. Left tackle is the weakest position on the offensive line at this moment in time. Right guard is other the weak position, but left tackle is more of a pressing need.

White has three lineman going ahead of Thomas in his mock. Jedrick Wills Jr. going to the Giants fourth overall. Arizona gets projection for Kyler Murray in Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs eighth overall. Jacksonville opts to go with massive line prospect Mekhi Becton one pick before Cleveland at nine.

If the draft does see three lineman get drafted before Cleveland gets to pick they may trade down. It is about getting the best possible prospect for their draft position and if it happens to be the fourth-best tackle prospect at 10 it may have the Browns looking in a different direction.

Other mock drafts recently released that have the Browns drafting Andrew Thomas.

Charlie Cassserly’s mock
Josh Edwards’ mock
Ryan Wilson’s three-round mock