Free Agent possibilities for Cleveland

[tsteele316]

Originally Posted by aurorabuckeye13

I like the pickup of Taylor... this will make Suggs fight for the job and if Suggs wins it and gets injured we have a high quality backup


By the way... I think this guy has a very good chance of winning the starting job

willie green may be gone before next season.

if the browns somehow manage to sign ed hartwell, i'm going to have to say that they are either trading down or drafting a qb.

[AKAKBUCK]

William Green May be gone.. even if he's not... he might as well be.

Taylor is a very gifted back, but he's always struggled with injuries... but he may turn out to be a heck of the 3rd down back... You MAC fans out there know what that guy can do.

On drafting a QB... its not if... its when- I guess you might have meant with the 3rd pick... and I'm not saying that's going to happen... but they will draft one in the first 3 rounds.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

I would have to agree that with the signing of Taylor......Green's days in Cleveland are numbered....they have been trying to trade him for a few weeks and I don't know his salary cap number but is it possible they will release him if they don't get any offers?


Taylor could be a very good third down back at the minimum. I like what Savage is doing, get rid of the dead weight and bring in some guys who have the heart and dedication to work towards a team goal.

scout.com

<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 width="98%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>Owl: Savage Blitzing the NFL
By The Owl
Date: Mar 18, 2005

The Browns new General Manager has blitzed the NFL (and his old team) since taking charge on January 7th. So says our wise old friend, The Owl, who offers his take on the Browns offer to Chester Taylor, and the likely fate of William Green...
</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=3>
If the Browns defense can blitz opponents half as well as Phil Savage has blitzed the National Football League free agent market the 13 opponents on the Browns schedule are in for a long season.

Savage hit the ground running when he was hired Jan. 7 and he has not stopped. His first day on the job was spent with team owner Randy Lerner and team president John Collins interviewing Romeo Crennel, the man that would become head coach.

Savage obviously had free agency mapped out well. He signed guard Joe Andruzzi on the first day, filling one gaping hole on the offensive line and six days later landed Cosey Coleman.

The latest Savage Salvo was to sign running back Chester Taylor to an offer sheet. Savage knows Taylor well, because Taylor played the last three seasons for the Baltimore Ravens - the team Savage worked for for nine years before taking the job with the Browns.

Taylor is a restricted free agent because he has been in the league only three years. That means the Ravens can keep the 5-11, 213-pound running back if they match the Browns offer, but it is a steep one. The Browns are willing to pay Taylor $2 million in salary and hand him a $1 million signing bonus. The Ravens have a week to decide what to do.

The Ravens like Taylor as a backup to Jamal Lewis, but they tendered him a low-ball offer of $656,000, which means the Browns would have to compensate the Ravens with a sixth-round choice if Baltimore does not match - a cheap price for the Browns to pay considering Taylor rushed for 714 yards as a sub last season with only two starts. In that regard, he is much like Lee Suggs, except Suggs began the season behind disinterested William Green, not Lewis.

The Ravens are in a pickle and will likely take until the deadline next Wednesday to decide what to do. They're going to look kind of silly matching - not that we'd mind - because they could have guaranteed Taylor returning by tendering him $1.43 million, as the Browns did with Andra Davis. A team signing Davis to an offer sheet would have had to fork over a first-round draft choice if the Browns did not match. Davis got no offers and signed his tender. No way would the Browns have risked losing a first-round pick by signing Taylor to an offer sheet. The reason they would have to give up a sixth-round choice is Taylor was a sixth-round pick (from Toledo) in 2002.

Savage's all-out attack in free agency has taken the pressure off reaching with the third pick in the draft. They do not have to take a quarterback because they traded for Trent Dilfer. They do not have to take a linebacker because they signed free agent Matt Stewart from the Falcons and re-signed two of their own, Ben Taylor and Davis.

Crennel wants to use a 3-4 defense and Savage gave him building blocks to do it with defensive tackle Jason Fisk and Stewart. Fisk, a 10-year veteran, will play nose tackle and Stewart outside linebacker. He can play inside, but prefers outside.

Are any of these guys marquee players? No, they are not. But what of it? As Savage himself says, if you break down the Patriots individually they aren't that great, but put them together as a team and you get three Super Bowl champions in the last four years.

Savage is trying to build the same sort of unit here - good, unselfish players who understand their role.

And it isn't just the additions Savage has made that have made the Browns better. When he dumps William Green it will be addition by subtraction. I disagree with their assessment of Gerard Warren in that regard, but obviously the Browns believe they are better off without him. Plus, Warren is going to be an unrestricted free agent after this season, and I would rather have Dilfer than nothing by 2006 considering the Browns are not likely to challenge for the Super Bowl in 2005.

Certainly, Courtney Brown does not belong in the same category as Warren and Green. You will never find a better person than Brown. But what does that mean at 1 o'clock on a Sunday? What can Brown do for you from his normal spot on injured reserve? Nothing, obviously.

If Courtney weren't so nice no one would miss him. He has been a flop. A nice flop, but a flop. Savage has shown he is not afraid to cut from the past. Of course, that must be easier when it is someone else's past, but the early results are showing Savage is a take-charge GM.

From this perch, it's a welcome sight.

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

I also like what Savage is doing in his first off season, he is getting rid of unproductive, injury prone and high priced veterans and getting the hard working, talented guys who can form the building blocks to the franchise.

Warren was overpriced for his production.....Green has not been the homerun they need at running back and Brown....well, he can't stay on the field.

I still see them taking a quarterback in the first three rounds.

BERNIESINSIDER.COM

<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 width="98%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>Levine: The Same Mold
By Les Levine
Date: Mar 17, 2005

Les notes that the Browns new additions show a number of similar characteristics...
</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=3>
At first glance, it appears that Browns GM Phil Savage and Coach Romeo Crennel have added free agents to the roster who seem to all fit in the same mold. Other than Trent Dilfer, whose injuries are well chronicled, and punter Kyle Richardson, whose arm injury shouldn’t keep him from doing what he does best, the Browns have added several veteran players, who not only are talented, but they either stay away from injuries, or play through tremendous pain. That group includes nine-year veteran offensive linemen Joe Andruzzi and six year man Cosey Coleman, as well as defensive players Jason Fisk, Gary Baxter and Matt Stewart. I have been told my someone who would know that Andruzzi has played through injuries that would have been season-ending injuries for a majority of NFL linemen.

To my knowledge, not one of the additions has had any serious trouble off the field. Crennel, of course, publicly has stated that character is important. Savage has stated it, too, although some of the choices that were made in Baltimore turned out to have some problems, although their character did not come into question at the time they were acquired.

<HR>

I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating. Not only have the Browns been a failure, except for 2002, since returning in 1999, but they haven’t been a very likeable team. This includes the style of play, both offensively and defensively, as well as from a personality standpoint. Time will tell how well the team performs this year, but it appears to be a little more fan friendly at this point in time. And that is even before the draft takes place, when the Browns have a huge chance to make significant improvements.
With the draft coming up in the next few weeks, it appears that the needs of the team have changed, at least in the first round. I think that the focus of what is needed will remain pretty much the same in the middle rounds, but Savage and his staff might be looking at something different in the first round, assuming they don’t trade that pick down to stock up on more picks. When Savage took over control of the front office, I don’t think that he thought his first pick would be a skilled position player, but it might be now. I would be surprised if he took a quarterback with the first pick, but I wouldn’t be surprised if RB Cadillac Anderson, or wide receivers Braylon Edwards or Mike Williams turned out to be the top choice. Those are luxury picks that they couldn’t even think about, until they addressed several of their needs in free agency.

<HR>

I think that Browns fans are looking forward to this draft with more anticipation than any draft since the first year back in 1999. It is easy to look back and see the failures of all of the first round picks since ’99 (not including Kellen Winslow, Jr.), but what is overlooked is the lack of success of players taken from the second round on down. Phil Savage would never say this publicly, and hindsight is always 20-20, but I get the feeling that the Baltimore drafting team had some pretty good laughs when some of the Browns picks were made. Linebacker Chaun Thompson, a second round pick is a perfect example. While Savage and Crennel might think Thompson can help the Browns this year, both men have said the politically correct things about the linebacker. If you read between the lines of what has been said at press conferences, I get the idea they might think Thompson would have been a nice pick on day two of the draft, rather than round two.
<HR>I don’t think that the Browns are done as far as picking up more veteran players is concerned. June 1 is the next date to watch for. I think it is remarkable that some of the early signees jumped on board without knowing who else was going to be added to a struggling roster from last year. I was surprised that Andruzzi decided to come here, not knowing what the QB or RB situations were going to be. But it’s almost like fraternity rush. When more players could be added after June, Savage and Crennel will have much more to sell than they had in early February.


‘More Sports & Les Levine’ can be seen M-F from 6-7pm and 11-midnight on Adelphia Channel 15. E-mail msandll@aol.com or www.leslevine.com

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

BERNIESINSIDERS.COM

<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 width="98%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD noWrap width=3></TD><TD vAlign=top>Passan: The Draft Debate
By Rich Passan
Date: Mar 16, 2005

Rich, a relative message board newcomer, immerses himself in this off-season's hottest topic...
</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=3>
Thirty-nine days to the National Football League draft and the speculation wagon is careening out of control.

Should the Browns draft for need? For the best player available? Shock everyone and select a quarterback or a running back? Trade down?

So many different directions the Browns can go. So many different ideas the fans offer up as they play general manager on line.

A lot of words will be uttered by NFL coaches and personnel people and general managers between now and then.

Here’s a tip on how to react to them:

Listen to and/or read every word carefully. Then read between the lines. After you do all that, forget everything you heard. All that hot air means nothing.

Coaches and GMs love to play word games, hoping their little nuggets reach the ears and eyes of their respective brethren. For some reason, all these guys believe they’re smarter than everyone else.

Butch Davis, that well-known teller of little white ones, loved to talk about doing one thing, then turn around and do something entirely different. It was almost as though he took pride in trying to fool people.

Fracturing the truth never stopped ol’ Paul Hilton from stepping way over that line. You always wanted to see both of that snake oil salesman’s hands when he spoke.

And now, all those rumors and the leftover scraps from the NFL Scouting Combine have given birth to arguments – some of them raging – in the Watercooler and Subscriber Lounge on this Web site.

It should be fun for the next several weeks. On some threads, however, the posts become downright nasty to the point where a few subscribers get bent out of shape and resort to name-calling.

Everyone is an expert. Everyone has an opinion. And no one is shy when it comes to sharing those opinions. Nothing wrong with that as long as you don’t take it seriously. Unfortunately, some do.

Subscribers here surf the Internet almost religiously. Their passion for the Browns knows no bounds. They proudly wear their hearts on their sleeves and those hearts have been broken too many times. But they still care.

For the idealistic Browns fan, there will always be hope. Always.

For the realistic Browns fan, optimism has taken a vacation. Nothing outside of a 9-7 season or better will convert him.

General Manager Phil Savage and coach Romeo Crennel have already launched the reshaping of this team. Heading out the back door are some Davis favorites with more expected to follow. And with the likes of Joe Andruzzi and Gary Baxter coming in the front door, the 2005 season can’t come soon enough.

It appears as though the disaster area known as the offensive line, a perennial target of critics, is close being removed from the endangered list. (I’m not crazy about the offensive tackles.) And based on the overwhelmingly positive response to the Andruzzi and Cosey Coleman signings, I can only imagine how rapturous everyone will get with subsequent acquisitions.

As a relative newcomer to this form of communication, I am fascinated by the passion with which you great fans attack subjects. Your strong emotional attachment to the Browns is the one common thread that binds you.

I look forward to the opinions and suggestions by the fans in the next 39 days.

Let’s keep it going with this . . .

Two of the hottest draft debates seem to be at linebacker and wide receiver, positions the Browns need to improve.

Mention linebackers Derrick Johnson and Shawne Merriman and wide receivers Braylon Edwards and Mike Williams in a thread and the debates rage. It’s possible one will be the Browns’ top choice.

If it’s linebacker, I’m a Merriman guy. And the wideout I would love to see in a Browns uniform is Williams.

Merriman is a big physical specimen who is just as fast as Johnson, but played slightly under the radar at Maryland. Johnson, a preseason All-America candidate, has a much higher profile and is the darling of draft gurus.

But I like Merriman because he can give Crennel and his new 3-4 look on defense a presence as a pass rusher and outside linebacker, much like Jamir Miller did for the Browns a few years ago.

I also like Williams, but the big wideout from USC has been branded by many as too slow because he clocked a 4.6 in his 40-yard dash at the combine. Imagine that; a 4.6 40 is too slow.

About 20 years ago, a little known wide receiver from Mississippi Valley State ran a 4.59 40 for scouts before there was a combine. Ran it at his school. Too slow? Not for one team.

In the 1985 draft, the New York Jets made Al Toon the first receiver selected. The Cincinnati Bengals tapped Eddie Brown a few picks later.

It wasn’t until the San Francisco 49ers, with Bill Walsh running the show, took a chance on that slow Mississippi pass catcher named Jerry Rice.

Rice, you see, made plays in college. At 4.59, he wasn’t as fast as Brown or as big at 6-2 as Toon. But Walsh saw something in Rice that escaped the Jets and Bengals. He saw a football player.

A couple of years earlier, six teams looking for a “franchise” quarterback had the same opportunity. John Elway, Todd Blackledge, Jim Kelly, Tony Eason and Ken O’Brien fell off the board, forcing the Miami Dolphins to take Dan Marino.

Granted, Elway and Kelly are in the Hall of Fame, but how could Kansas City, New England and the New York Jets be so wrong about Marino?

Because what they saw was a big, slow, immobile quarterback with a strong arm. But the big, slow and immobile outweighed the strong arm.

Big, slow. Hmmm. Sounds like Mike Williams.

OK, now let’s meet in the Watercooler and Subscriber Lounge (with an occasional trip to Draft Brew) and discuss.

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[OilerBuck]

I would be surprised if he took a quarterback with the first pick, but I wouldn’t be surprised if RB Cadillac Anderson, or wide receivers Braylon Edwards or Mike Williams turned out to be the top choice.

It's amazing how an otherwise intelligent article can be reduced to rubbish by not taking a few minutes to look up information on a player. He left it with no hyperlink, so he wasn't even trying. Sometimes I screw up on names too, but it just makes you look bad.

Otherwise, those were some awesome articles and I admit I like Clevelands direction right now more than ever in the last few years. The only problem is that I think we've over-offered for Taylor.

[aurorabuckeye13]

what most of us are forgetting about Chester Taylor is that he started for 4 games instead of Jamal Lewis... three of them were 100 yard games which tells you immediatly that this guy was sick of sitting and wants to compete.



I think he will get a good shot here and will have a breakout year this year especially if this o-line works out the way Savage and Crennel have designed it to

Quote from Plain Dealer Article- "Taylor wound up with 714 rushing yards, a 4.5 average and two touchdowns. The yards were just 30 behind Browns leader Lee Suggs. The touchdowns matched the totals of Suggs and Green. The average blew them away by almost a full yard."

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

SCOUT.COM

The only problem is that I think we've over-offered for Taylor.

I don't think we need to worry about that now....

<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 width="98%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>Ravens Match Taylor Offer
By Aaron Wilson
Date: Mar 21, 2005

The Baltimore Ravens have elected to match the $3 million offer sheet from the Browns signed by Chester Taylor last week. The move comes as a mild surprise, but keeps Taylor from signing with the Ravens AFC North rival...
</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=3>
The Ravens had until Wednesday to match the offer on Pro Bowl runner Jamal Lewis' primary backup, but opted to act Monday. The deal includes a $2 million base salary, a $1 million signing bonus and a pair of $100,000 incentive clauses.

"This shows the continued commitment of Steve Bisciotti to win and the flexibility of our cap that we can retain a player like Chester," Baltimore general manager Ozzie Newsome said. "Over the last three years, Chester has been productive both when spelling Jamal Lewis and when he has started for him. Keeping Chester makes us a stronger and deeper team."

Taylor, who was slated to compete with Lee Suggs for the Browns' starting tailback job, would receive $100,000 if he makes the Pro Bowl and $100,000 if he rushes for 1,000 yards. It's unlikely that those incentives will be triggered in 2005 because of Lewis' presence. In four starts, Taylor rushed for 714 yards and two touchdowns last season while catching 30 passes. "The Ravens are a great organization and Chester Taylor is proud to be a Baltimore Raven," said Ken Sarnoff, Taylor's agent. "He looks forward to helping the Ravens compete for a Super Bowl ring in 2005." Taylor's contract will count approximately $3 million against the Ravens' 2005 salary cap. He is still slated to be an unrestricted free agent in 2006, when he would be free to sign with any franchise. Taylor was drafted in the sixth round out of Toledo in 2002. If the Ravens hadn't opted to match the offer, they would have received the Browns' sixth-round draft pick as compensation

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>