Robaire Smith agrees to contract with the Browns

[HomeBred_Texan]

Saw it reported on ESPN this morning. He signed a 4 year deal. I guess they needed a DT bad...

[Errant Hothy]

The Browns run a 3-4 D, meaning that Smith will more likely play DE there as he did here.

I'd like to see the terms of teh contract.

[ROCKY]

COOL, get him out of our division. Plus anything that may hurt the tacks is awesome. I wish him the best...he's a good guy, but we dont need any more tacks hell-bent on destroying us.

[mexican_texan]

The Browns may as well be in our division. We play them every year.

[Wolf]

I apologize for the delay in reporting, as I was quite busy this past week. The day before free agency started, I stated that I would be happy if the Browns signed defensive end Robaire Smith as our main addition to the defensive line. Several weeks later, the Browns came through by signing him to a four-year deal. Smith, originally a sixth-round draft choice in 2000 by the Tennessee Titans, played with the Houston Texans for two years before going back to the Titans last season. Smith played in 12 games last year and recorded 76 tackles and half of a sack. Although those aren't eye-popping stats necessarily, I believe he will be a much better fit in the 3-4 defense than Alvin McKinley was.

So, at the moment our defensive line looks like this:

* Right End: Robaire Smith
* D. Tackle: Ted Washington
* Left End: Orpheus Roye

For the Browns defensive line playing the run so poorly last season, it's tough to say that Smith could actually make a significant difference over McKinley. Washington won't be better than he was last year, and it's hard to claim that Roye will suddenly revert back to his prime. That means that the Browns better continue their development of young defensive linemen, which was started by the "official" signing of defensive tackle Shaun Smith on Friday. The Cincinnati Bengals failed to match his four-year offer sheet that the Browns gave him. Smith had been with the Bengals as a backup in their 4-3 system for the past three seasons, and Browns general manager Phil Savage believes he will help the team's run defense, and will even compete with Washington for a starting role.
"We feel he is a player with upside who can help us improve our run defense," Savage said.
The Browns have acquired these players since the start of free agency: Shaun Smith, Robaire Smith, Eric Steinbach, Jamal Lewis, Seth McKinney, Antwaan Peek, Kenny Wright, and Tim Carter. In that group, I believe we picked up five starters, with Smith at defensive end, Steinbach at guard, Lewis at running back, Peek at linebacker, and Carter at punt returner. McKinney and Smith should provide some much-needed depth on opposite ends of the line, while Wright is still the only guy that really doesn't seem as if he'd make much more of a difference than Ralph Brown did.

http://www.dawgsbynature.com/story/2007/3/18/153744/688

[Wolf]

mods please merge this .. I didn't see that this was posted already.

sorry

[gtexan02]

think of it like this
if smith was a starting DT on the Titans
whoever is behind himmust be that much worse.

[BattleRedToro]

Originally Posted by gtexan02

think of it like this
if smith was a starting DT on the Titans
whoever is behind himmust be that much worse.

I could easily see the Titans drafting a DT early. They just lost Smith and one never knows what is going to happen with Haynesworth after the stomping incident last season.

[HoustonFan]

Looking back the past couple of seasons - and the upcoming one - you might as well add the Browns to our division. We've played them almost every season - kind of reminds me of when the Titans/Oilers were here as part of the AFC Central.

Ah well. Beat them again, Texans.

[aj.]

Originally Posted by Vinny

An inconsistent, lazy player that disappears for long stretches? Good lord, get us more DT's to face like this. Line em up!

And we still have that Casserly relic who changed his number to 99 to honor that lazy locker room lawyer.

Quite a telling shift in role models ... from Deacon Jones to Robaire Smith.

[ledzeppelin229]

I never expected a team to pick up 3 old Texans players in a single FA period.