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DW4 Traded to Cleveland

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If I’m the Browns….I’d execute the perfect (4) year tanking effort for better draft picks.

Trade off all tradeable assets. Eat dead money till it hurts, so Watson and his agent fully understand his contract will be paid as the sole priority. The team around him may suffer but he’ll get paid.

Browns could rebuild through the draft b/c they would easily suck through the next (3) seasons while enduring only (1) life sucking contract.

From what I hear both Lovie and Culley are available to help the Browns successfully execute such a plan. Hail….they’d probably work together to ensure the Browns finish picking in the top 5 over that three year span.
 
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OptimisticTexan said:
If I’m the Browns….I’d execute the perfect (4) year folding for better draft picks.

Trade off all tradeable assets. Eat dead money till it hurts, so Watson and his agent fully understand his contract will be paid as a priority. The team around him may suffer but he’ll get paid.

Browns could rebuild through the draft b/c they could easily suck through the next (3) seasons while enduring (1) life sucking contract.

From what I hear both Lovie and Culley are available to execute such a plan.
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Or just let the economics play themselves out. The more he takes, the less the team will be around him. And as was painfully obvious in 2020, he's not good enough to carry a team beyond 4 wins.
 
No mandate, but it's easy to read between the lines. Of course, no direct mention of Watson and his expected play. Watson has built-in excuses for last year's questionable performances and next year's performances if they match 2022 . I have no doubt, that despite the Browns having tried to load up with talent, not making the playoffs will be everybody else's fault except Watson's. No doubt, the first finger he will point to will be Stefanski. With a guaranteed megacontract, if things go South, Watson's going nowhere. But Stefanski, and probably even his sidekick Berry will be the only significant move/sacrifice that Haslam will be able to make to try to calm the natives. :popcorn:

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Jimmy Haslam: No playoff mandate for Kevin Stefanski, but that’s the expectation
Posted by Josh Alper on March 29, 2023, 8:13 AM EDT

Missing the playoffs two years in a row is a good way for a coach to find himself on the hot seat, but Browns owner Jimmy Haslam stopped short of igniting a blaze under Kevin Stefanski this week.

Stefanski took the Browns to the postseason in 2020, but they’ve gone 15-19 over the last two seasons. The 2023 season projects to be the first with quarterback Deshaun Watson on hand for the entire campaign and Haslam was asked this week if that meant the Browns have to advance beyond Week 18 in order for Stefanski to return for a fifth season in Cleveland.

Haslam didn’t issue an ultimatum, but did say that “everybody has a sense of urgency that we need to play well this year.”
“I don’t want to say that, but I think that we have expectations to go to the playoffs,” Haslam said, via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. “But I’m not going to say if we don’t make the playoffs, X, Y, Z happens because that’ll be the headline tomorrow. Listen, the AFC is tough. You’ve all been around. Our division is tough.”

Haslam declined to talk about extensions for Stefanski or General Manager Andrew Berry, who both signed five-year deals when they joined the team. Given ownership’s expectations, it seems likely that topic will remain on the back burner until the results of the coming season are in.
 
Do all those other coaches have a star QB that missed two+ seasons due to sexual assault charges by two dozen women, too?
 
Double Barrel said:
Do all those other coaches have a star QB that missed two+ seasons due to sexual assault charges by two dozen women, too?
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Huh? Watson missed 12 games while with the Browns. I don't get your point. Coaches get fired every year for not meeting expectations. Not always their fault, entirely. In that case, Stefanski's case is no different.
 
Lucky said:
Huh? Watson missed 12 games while with the Browns. I don't get your point. Coaches get fired every year for not meeting expectations. Not always their fault, entirely. In that case, Stefanski's case is no different.
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More like 1.75 seasons missed by the sexual predator. Sure is a lot of games, but he should be able to bounce back now that he’ll have a full off-season worth of OTAs, TC, and preseason. Stefanski and The Browns might be ok. (As much as I hate to admit it.)
 
More control is accompanied by more accountability for success...........or failure. Accountablity for the bad has not seemed to be a strong suit for Watson in any aspect of his life.

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Browns expect Deshaun Watson to take more control of the offense, return to form in 2023
CHAREAN WILLIAMS
Wed, Mar 29, 2023, 5:45 PM CDT2 min read

The Browns gave up a lot in draft compensation, money and reputation in acquiring Deshaun Watson. For better or worse, richer or poor, the Browns are married to the quarterback for at least four more years.
So, they have no choice but to make the most of the relationship.

Watson had not played in almost two years when he returned to the field last season after an 11-game suspension. He did not play like a quarterback worthy of the largest guaranteed contract in NFL history, throwing for 1,102 passing yards, seven touchdowns, five interceptions and posting a 3-3 record in six starts.

The Browns, though, are confident that, after knocking the rust off, Watson will return to the Pro Bowl-level form he showed with the Texans.

“I think confidence for me comes from seeing it, and I’ve seen him do it,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said, via Anthony Poisal of the team website. “I saw him do it in those games last season. I know it wasn’t perfect. I certainly wasn’t perfect. We weren’t perfect around him and as we all know, it’s not a one-man show. It’s a team game and we didn’t have as much team success as we would’ve liked late in the season there.

“But I’ve seen it from Deshaun in games. I’ve seen it from practice. I’ve seen it in his career, so that’s why I’m confident.”
The Browns upgraded the weapons for Watson, adding receivers Elijah Moore and Marquise Goodwin and tight end Jordan Akins. Improvement from Watson, though, is the biggest reason for optimism in Cleveland.

“I think we’re all very excited about Deshaun, excited for a full offseason with the guys he’s already built chemistry with and some of the additional players that we’ve added to the offense,” General Manager Andrew Berry said. “I think just even familiarity with Kevin and the offensive staff and just honestly even settling into a new environment. We’ve seen him obviously in practice and game settings. We’ve seen his talent, seen his ability, but it’s an adjustment period, and we feel really good about him getting a full spring, a full summer, and perhaps a more normal start to the regular season boding well for the team.”

The Browns expect to give Watson more freedom at the line of scrimmage this season because of the quarterback’s “comfort in the system.”

“He did it sometimes last year. I think that will only grow the more reps he gets in our system,” Stefanski said.
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
I always thought that guaranteed monies were placed in escrow by the owners to also potentially limit owners as to how much they are willing to take out of their pockets without the money working for them.

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NFL’s Funding Rule Isn’t Mandatory; Did The Browns Make Escrow Payment For Deshaun Watson Deal?
Last Updated 8:42 AM, April 2, 2023 EDT – Mike Florio
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Florio got it wrong on March 23, 2022, when he wrote:

As it relates to Watson’s contract, it means that the Browns will be required, per a source with knowledge of the formula and policy, to place $169 million into escrow as of March 31, 2023. As the source explained it, the league takes a snapshot of all fully guaranteed salaries on January 31 of each year. Any fully guaranteed payments not made by March 31 must be placed in escrow, up to 75 percent of the total contract value. Also, each team has a $15 million annual allowance. Under the terms of Watson’s current deal, it works out to a major chunk of cash that Haslam must set aside next year.
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CloakNNNdagger said:
Florio got it wrong on March 23, 2022, when he wrote:
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I too thought it was mandatory, interesting to know that it says:

Section 9. Funding of Deferred and Guaranteed Contracts: The NFL may require
that by a prescribed date certain, each Club must deposit into a segregated account the
present value, calculated using the Discount Rate, less $15,000,000 (the “Deductible”), of
deferred and guaranteed compensation owed by that Club with respect to Club funding
of Player Contracts involving deferred or guaranteed compensation; provided, however,
that with respect to guaranteed contracts, the amount of unpaid compensation for past or
future services to be included in the funding calculation shall not exceed seventy-five
(75%) percent of the total amount of the contract compensation.
 
Browns decline comment on whether Deshaun Watson’s escrow payment was made
Posted by Mike Florio on April 3, 2023, 10:35 AM EDT

The NFL’s funding rule, as applied to the Deshaun Watson contract, required the Browns to pay $169 million into escrow by Friday, March 31. Over the weekend, both the Browns and the NFL were asked whether that actually happened.

The NFL did not to respond to two emails on the matter. The Browns, on Sunday, declined to comment regarding question the escrow payment was made. However, a Browns spokesperson did say this, on the record: “When we signed Deshaun to a new contract we understood the obligation that comes with guaranteed dollars and planned accordingly.”

Confirmation was sought because the funding rule, as written, suggests it’s not mandatory. The use of the word “may” gives the NFL, on the surface, the ability to pick and choose whether and when the escrow payments will be required. And it undercuts that common argument made by teams asked to give full guarantees that the escrow payments are mandatory.

As the league apparently tries to stave off the potential trend of full guarantees for franchise quarterbacks, discretion (if there is any) likely will be exercised in a way that compels the teams that give big guarantees to make the payments. It could be very interesting to see whether the league treats the funding rule as a mandate, or whether under certain circumstances the league looks the other way on the escrow obligation.

Here’s the point. If there’s any discretion at all, the funding rule becomes a tool for collusion when it comes to resisting full guarantees for veteran players. And maybe, just maybe, the pending collusion grievance filed by the NFL Players Association will explore whether and to what extent the funding rule is being sold as mandatory for all guaranteed contracts when, in reality, it isn’t.
 
Lucky said:
I don't go for the prettiest. I go for the ones with the sharpest elbows. No pain, no gain.
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Let me introduce you to Hilda...........doesn't speak English, but she can put a great deal of weight into her sharp elbow massages. But you have to know she doesn't tell you upfront.......She charges extra if you refuse to have sex with her before you leave............:smiliepalm:

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CloakNNNdagger said:
Let me introduce you to Hilda...........doesn't speak English, but she can put a great deal of weight into her sharp elbow massages. But you have to know she doesn't tell you upfront.......She charges extra if you refuse to have sex with her before you leave............:smiliepalm:

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My wife and I are in Bangkok visiting with friends and have gotten 3 days worth of Thai massages…..I’m a broken man. Each day I reduce my requests and each day they find a way to put their elbows to use. Each day I feel like I’ve “Entered The Dragon” and proceeded to have my arse kicked.

Anyhow, NFL Draft needs to get here so we’ll have real topics of discussion…..although I like a good Mock.
 
On list of people who badly need Deshaun Watson to have a big 2023, start with Browns ownership
CHARLES ROBINSON
Thu, Mar 30, 2023, 8:57 PM CDT6 min read

PHOENIX — By the end of the NFL owners meetings this week, seemingly anyone with a stake in Deshaun Watson’s pro football future had pointed to some kind of light at the end of a seemingly never-ending tunnel.

Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski talked about giving Watson more control of the offense and the work he will do with teammates in Houston this offseason. General manager Andrew Berry expressed optimism about chemistry with teammates, talent additions on offense and continuity with the coaching staff and scheme. And finally, after a long spate of silence, team owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam talked about the contract.

In the pantheon of infamous NFL business decisions, the signing of Watson’s fully guaranteed, five-year $230 million deal has thrust the Haslams into remarkably dubious territory in their ownership ranks. It obliterate the league’s collective tradition of never forking over such a titanically one-sided deal to a player, and it created a ripple that would be felt almost instantaneously among the league’s decision-makers. That’s a big deal. This wasn’t Al Davis or Jerry Jones suing the league, or even Bob Irsay moving his franchise in the middle of the night. Those were events with fallouts that took years — if not decades — to fully recognize. That Watson contract? It began changing trajectories and pissing off the league’s ownership class almost immediately.

Baltimore vice president Ozzie Newsome said as much earlier in March, when he admitted publicly that Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti had pointed at the Watson deal as a problem creator in the cratering Lamar Jackson contract talks. That was followed by Colts owner Jim Irsay putting a finer point on it at the league's owners meetings, telling reporters, “I do not believe in fully guaranteed contracts” while referencing that very same Jackson negotiation. And none of this begins to address what franchise owners are saying about the Watson deal away from the cameras and microphones, which could be best described as a symphony of middle fingers aimed in the direction of the Browns.
THE REST OF THE STORY
 
From Cleveland.com [Terry Pluto]:

Hey, Terry: How much more financial flexibility does restructuring Deshaun Watson’s contract give the Browns management to work with? – Andy Mees.

Hey, Andy: The Browns created salary cap room to sign free agents this spring. But the renegotiated Watson contract does have significant salary cap consequences. He counts $19 million on the cap in 2023. It was supposed to be $56 million. But it’s now $63 million annually for 2024-26. There also is a voidable year. That’s according to Over The Cap. It’s complicated, but the bottom line is Watson still is guaranteed $230 million. Also, you can keep postponing it, but eventually it will impact the salaries of other players.
 
Browns Coach Confident QB Deshaun Watson Can Still Be A Pro Bowl Player: 'I've Seen Him Do It' - Steelers Depot
The 2023 season effectively marks the true beginning of the Deshaun Watson Era in Cleveland. While the Browns gave up three first-round picks and then some to get the then-embattled quarterback last year, the real talk has been about the fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract they signed him to.

That contract was structured in such a way as to cater to his obviously upcoming but then still pending NFL suspension following a series of sexual misconduct allegations. The suspension began as a full season before being reduced to 11 games—just enough to allow Watson accrue a season of experience.

The end result is that the former three-time Pro Bowler played largely mediocre football across six games, going 3-3 as a starter, sometimes dragged across the finish line by his teammates. But the Browns believe he can return to that Pro Bowl form.

“I think confidence for me comes from seeing it, and I’ve seen him do it”, head coach Kevin Stefanski said, via the team’s website, about Watson. “I saw him do it in those games last season. I know it wasn’t perfect. I certainly wasn’t perfect. We weren’t perfect around him and as we all know, it’s not a one-man show. It’s a team game and we didn’t have as much team success as we would’ve liked late in the season there”.

The 12th-overall draft pick in 2017, Watson made the Pro Bowl in his second, third, and fourth seasons. He was on pace to win at least the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award back in 2017, throwing for 19 touchdowns in just six starts before tearing up his knee.

His best season came in his last full year in 2020, in spite of the fact that the Texans finished just 4-12. Statistically, he was excellent, throwing for 4,823 yards with 33 touchdowns against just seven interceptions, averaging just under nine yards per pass attempt.

Even before dozens of sexual misconduct allegations surfaced in 2021, Watson was already refusing to play, demanding that Houston trade him. He ended up sitting out that entire season. It wasn’t until it was determined that he wouldn’t face any criminal charges that the trade market opened up. He’s since settled out of court dozens of civil lawsuits.

In his six starts in Cleveland at the end of last season, Watson only completed 99 of his 170 pass attempts. He threw for 1,102 yards with seven touchdowns to five interceptions. His final game of the season came against the Steelers, against whom he went 19-for-29 for 230 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in a losing effort. He also took seven sacks in that game and fumbled.
 
FOOTBALL
Browns GM: ‘If I Could Go Back, I’d Offer Deshaun Watson More Money’
4/15/2023


Image for article titled Browns GM: ‘If I Could Go Back, I’d Offer Deshaun Watson More Money’


CLEVELAND—Asked if he had any regrets about the fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million deal the team gave the quarterback in 2022, Cleveland Browns GM Andrew Berry told reporters Friday that if he could go back, he would offer Deshaun Watson more money. “Would I do it differently? Hell yes! I’d give him double,” said Berry, adding that, in retrospect, awarding a quarterback who had 28-26 record in his career with the Texans and missed most of his first season with the Browns due to multiple sexual misconduct lawsuits the most guaranteed money of any contract in NFL history felt like “a slap in the face to the poor young man.” “Given Deshaun’s unrivaled dominance on the field and his integrity off of it, I’m just grateful he’s willing to take the field at all. Only five years, too—that will fly by. We should have given him 20. I want to apologize to every Cleveland fan for failing to give Deshaun even a fraction of what he deserves. My hope is that, in the coming years, we’ll be able to restructure his contract to offer our face of the franchise an exponentially higher sum than the pittance we’re paying him now. There’s nobody who represents the Cleveland Browns and their fans better than Deshaun.” Berry added that he was going to speak to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell about retroactively tripling or quadrupling the league salary cap to open up more room to pay Watson.
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
FOOTBALL
Browns GM: ‘If I Could Go Back, I’d Offer Deshaun Watson More Money’
4/15/2023


Image for article titled Browns GM: ‘If I Could Go Back, I’d Offer Deshaun Watson More Money’


CLEVELAND—Asked if he had any regrets about the fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million deal the team gave the quarterback in 2022, Cleveland Browns GM Andrew Berry told reporters Friday that if he could go back, he would offer Deshaun Watson more money. “Would I do it differently? Hell yes! I’d give him double,” said Berry, adding that, in retrospect, awarding a quarterback who had 28-26 record in his career with the Texans and missed most of his first season with the Browns due to multiple sexual misconduct lawsuits the most guaranteed money of any contract in NFL history felt like “a slap in the face to the poor young man.” “Given Deshaun’s unrivaled dominance on the field and his integrity off of it, I’m just grateful he’s willing to take the field at all. Only five years, too—that will fly by. We should have given him 20. I want to apologize to every Cleveland fan for failing to give Deshaun even a fraction of what he deserves. My hope is that, in the coming years, we’ll be able to restructure his contract to offer our face of the franchise an exponentially higher sum than the pittance we’re paying him now. There’s nobody who represents the Cleveland Browns and their fans better than Deshaun.” Berry added that he was going to speak to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell about retroactively tripling or quadrupling the league salary cap to open up more room to pay Watson.
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Lmao


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
FOOTBALL
Browns GM: ‘If I Could Go Back, I’d Offer Deshaun Watson More Money’
4/15/2023


Image for article titled Browns GM: ‘If I Could Go Back, I’d Offer Deshaun Watson More Money’


CLEVELAND—Asked if he had any regrets about the fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million deal the team gave the quarterback in 2022, Cleveland Browns GM Andrew Berry told reporters Friday that if he could go back, he would offer Deshaun Watson more money. “Would I do it differently? Hell yes! I’d give him double,” said Berry, adding that, in retrospect, awarding a quarterback who had 28-26 record in his career with the Texans and missed most of his first season with the Browns due to multiple sexual misconduct lawsuits the most guaranteed money of any contract in NFL history felt like “a slap in the face to the poor young man.” “Given Deshaun’s unrivaled dominance on the field and his integrity off of it, I’m just grateful he’s willing to take the field at all. Only five years, too—that will fly by. We should have given him 20. I want to apologize to every Cleveland fan for failing to give Deshaun even a fraction of what he deserves. My hope is that, in the coming years, we’ll be able to restructure his contract to offer our face of the franchise an exponentially higher sum than the pittance we’re paying him now. There’s nobody who represents the Cleveland Browns and their fans better than Deshaun.” Berry added that he was going to speak to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell about retroactively tripling or quadrupling the league salary cap to open up more room to pay Watson.
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Y'all have heard of The Onion, right?
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
Posted to see how many have been paying attention.:)
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it s the way you link articles

when most posters link an article, you can see the source immediately - with yours, i have to hover my mouse over the link to see where it will take me (nfl.com, nyt or the onion)

not an issue when i'm using my laptop/computer
but, when using an ipad/iphone the only way i'd know it's the onion is if i clicked on your link - only reading your headline would be misleading


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Boris said:
it s the way you link articles

when most posters link an article, you can see the source immediately - with yours, i have to hover my mouse over the link to see where it will take me (nfl.com, nyt or the onion)

not an issue when i'm using my laptop/computer
but, when using an ipad/iphone the only way i'd know it's the onion is if i clicked on your link - only reading your headline would be misleading


View attachment 11913
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If you had an Android phone (mine is a Galaxy Ultra 21S), you would just have to hover over the link (not double click which would open the link) and it reveals the link origin.

I wonder why there has never been such "controversy" with all the RickRoll links that have been posted over the years.:shades:


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CloakNNNdagger said:
If you had an Android phone (mine is a Galaxy Ultra 21S), you would just have to hover over the link (not double click which would open the link) and it reveals the link origin.

I wonder why there has never been such "controversy" with all the RickRoll links that have been posted over the years.:shades:
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ok, just tried it on my iphone...if i click & hold, the source link shows up

"If you're an Apple user and somebody offers you $10,000, with the the only proviso [that] they'll take away your iPhone and you'll never be able to buy another," Warren Buffett said, "you're not going to take it."
 
This will be interesting. Likely during the rebuild, Haslam will have the team play at Columbus Crew Stadium. That should be interesting in that the stadium will only hold under 20,000 patrons!

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New Reported Stadium Plans Could Have Browns Playing Elsewhere for Multiple Seasons
Cleveland Browns will have a freshly redone stadium in a few years, it looks to be. The work could cause the Browns to play elsewhere for a period of time.
 
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