boxed in

[Goaldeje]

We can match/exceed anything they offer - as long as it's a future pick. That's just a fact. You're right - it will come down to who wants him more - but it's not just what the Browns decide he's worth that matters. I think the other two factors we're ignoring are players we might throw in to sweeten the deal (the Rams could be looking for help in an area where we can help them more than the Browns can), as well as the relationships the front offices involved have with each other. Friendships run deep in the NFL and sometimes teams are just more interested in dealing with some teams vs. others. Not saying that is a powerful influence on draft trades, but it's certainly another factor.

Agree completely on players, I think that is something that is a wild card. Say, maybe they need a loud mouth corner who makes plays against Jay Cutler?

I think the friendship thing only goes so far. If both offers are close, I can see friendship swaying things. But that extra first round pick, this year, may trump friendship.

 

[Goaldeje]

The Browns second first round pick this year is in the 20's. The Rams would rather have another early first round pick. If they feel like we will suck again next year they might believe that our pick next year might be higher than a pick in the 20's this year.

The fact is the Browns have to actually land Flynn to be out of the running for RGIII. If you were Matt Flynn would you go the Cleveland? Don't get me wrong I would love for Cleveland to sign Griffin but I think Flynn will have two or three options and Cleveland will be at the bottom of his list.

If I were Flynn, I would care about two things: money, and the fact that Mike Holmgren has done well with Packers QBs in the past. Very well. If the contracts are more or less equal, his "magic touch" might be enough to sway me.

 

[Nobody]

I don't see how Cleveland having an extra 1st rounder this year makes them a lock for anything. Cleveland is only getting their guy through free agency (Flynn).

I think everyone is overlooking the fact that RG3 could go number one. Shocking things happen on draft day, and leading up to it. Peyton Manning and his family are friends with Luck. He very well could tell Irsay that he will not compete against a family friend, which I suspect will happen. Then, where Luck goes will depend completely on what Irsay wants to do.

Here's a scenario for you to ponder - say Manning and Irsay have their meeting, and Peyton makes it clear that he will not compete against Luck, but that he will in fact compete against/mentor Griffin. The Colts then have 2 options. Option 1, they let Manning go, we pick him up, and we draft a QB later in the draft for him to mentor along, and Griffin goes to Cleveland.

Option 2, the Colts decide they want Peyton to finish his career in Indy, and groom their future QB. They draft Griffin, and just about every other team in the league offers to unload the biggest prize in NFL history on the Rams to pick up Luck. In this scenario, I see us going for Flynn instead of Luck, and using our 1st rounder on OL, and draft solid to finish it out.

The fact is, until they are drafted, nobody knows where Griffin and Luck will end up. If history has taught us one thing, it's that the experts are no more experts than you and I when it comes to draft prognosticating.

April 26 will be a wild day indeed. Expect the unexpected.

 

[Goaldeje]

Interesting scenario, Ex. But I think Flynn will have a new home before the draft. The other wild card that could work against us is if GB franchises Flynn. All of a sudden, if Holmgren likes Flynn, he may not want to pony up draft picks for him when he could just draft his guy with one of those picks.

I think we will know a lot more about things once the initial free agency period is over.

 

[Skinsfan76]

Newest reports that I have read have said that Flynn will not be franchised. I think that would be a huge gamble on their part. Flynn would be set to make 16 Million dollars if the Packers couldn't get a deal done.

If the Browns really like Flynn then they could really load up on skill position players in the draft. You could say that the Browns would take Matt Flynn, Trent Richardson and a WR at #22 like Floyd or Jeffery over RG3. If the Browns want skill position players they will have to draft them. I just don't see any free agents wanting to go there and maybe Holmgren knows that.

I still have a feeling that the Browns will not get Flynn and will be in on RGIII but what I mentioned above does make since.

I think step one to the "Flynn to Cleveland" idea would be Peyton going to Miami. Flynn has been connected to Miami since since Coach Philbin was hired there. I have also heard that he is connected to Seattle due to the fact that the G.M. for the Seahawks was part of the front office that drafted him. Best case scenario is that Philbin and Schneider (g.m of Seattle) know that Flynn is not starting QB material and aren't interested. So that leaves Cleveland to take him. I guess another idea is that Cleveland could offer him more money. Flynn was a six round pick money could be the motivating factor as Goaldje mentioned.

Another issue is Peyton Hillis, whether they resign him or not could play a part in how much they like Richardson. We could use a bigger back in DC I say we sign Hillis. He would be a nice complement to the RBs we have and it would possibly change Cleveland plan with their top pick in the draft. That might big a little weak but I think it sounds good to me.

 

[fansince62]

heard something yesterday on NFL Radio from the combine...came from NFL Radio reporter at the combine who has been talking to GMs/scouts from the various teams: apparently..."3 teams think Tannehill will be drafted in the top 10...of these 1 actually thinks Tannehill is a better prospect than RGIII. none think he makes it to the second round"

for what it's worth.

 

[fansince62]

on the flip side...the Browns basically have nothing on offense.....they need players at all the skill positions and o-line. Flynn just might be more attractive seen in that light. it all boils down to whether these teams see RGIII as a franchise difference maker for the next 10-12 years....

 

[Skinsfan76]

One idea that you hear is that Tannehill is basically one year behind RGIII in his development. There were scouts (McShay) that thought that RGIII was a WR before this past year. He developed his game this past year to an unbelievable degree. Some may think that Tannehill could do the same thing if he had a year to learn in the NFL.

Not sure that I am buying that but that is what I have heard. The fact is I wouldn't spend a high first round pick on Tannehill to find out. If he is around in 2nd round okay but not that high in the first. And this is coming from Ryan Tannehill fan.

 

[Boone]

Interesting stuff from an independent Browns fan board.

http://thebrownsboard.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=21842

Consensus seems to be that there's no way the Browns will throw the kind of picks at the Rams that the Redskins are reportedly willing to offer.

 

[Canadian Hog]

Interesting stuff from an independent Browns fan board.

http://thebrownsboard.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=21842

Consensus seems to be that there's no way the Browns will throw the kind of picks at the Rams that the Redskins are reportedly willing to offer.

I call B.S. on this report.

One of the best attributes of the Shanahan/Allen regime and one of the most welcomed changes in Washington has been the secrecy surroudning team operations. Information doesn't leak as easily as it did under Vinny. All in all, we are much more professional in terms of how things are run. All of a sudden though, information is disclosed and apparently "known" regarding what we are potentially offering the Rams for the second overall pick? This just doesn't seem to jive for me, based on how we've been going about business recently.

 

[Ax]

I call B.S. on this report.

One of the best attributes of the Shanahan/Allen regime and one of the most welcomed changes in Washington has been the secrecy surroudning team operations. Information doesn't leak as easily as it did under Vinny. All in all, we are much more professional in terms of how things are run. All of a sudden though, information is disclosed and apparently "known" regarding what we are potentially offering the Rams for the second overall pick? This just doesn't seem to jive for me, based on how we've been going about business recently.

I could well be, disinformation.

Floating the idea that we're willing to go "All In", might be a way of trying to convince the Browns to go the way of Flynn, and keeping their 2 1st's to add more weapons. Thereby eliminating one competitor for the biggest potential franchise boom/busts of all time.

 

[burgold]

An advantage we have might be in players. Gregg Williams is now the Rams D coordinator and he may fondly remember some of the players here. So, while we can not beat the Browns with draft picks we might being able to use a combo of draft and players.

At the same time, it's a shame that Rocky and Landry are free agents. Landry esp. might be well thought of by Williams. Rocky doesn't fit here, but is a pretty good 43 linebacker. Williams said that Landry was one of the most talented guys he'd ever coached.

Perhaps, the answer if a trade is your goal... is a package of players and picks. Maybe we have some ammo that the Rams would dearly want.

 

[Nobody]

An advantage we have might be in players. Gregg Williams is now the Rams D coordinator and he may fondly remember some of the players here. So, while we can not beat the Browns with draft picks we might being able to use a combo of draft and players.

At the same time, it's a shame that Rocky and Landry are free agents. Landry esp. might be well thought of by Williams. Rocky doesn't fit here, but is a pretty good 43 linebacker. Williams said that Landry was one of the most talented guys he'd ever coached.

Perhaps, the answer if a trade is your goal... is a package of players and picks. Maybe we have some ammo that the Rams would dearly want.

I would be more than happy to package Landry and send him packing. It would not hurt us one bit to lose a guy who's only played in about 60% of games he could have, and is statistically anemic. He wouldn't be missed, I assure you.

 

[Goaldeje]

This is good effing news. If the Cleveland coaching staff really doesn't know how to use RG3... heh.

It’s late February, which means the rumors and speculation surrounding St. Louis’ No. 2 overall pick have only just begun. In this infant stage, the Browns aren’t showing their hand by showing great interest in the pick.

John Czarnecki of FoxSports.com reports the Browns have been showing “weird, uninterested signals” in the pick. Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com reports that Washington, Miami and Seattle have shown more interest in trading up for Robert Griffin III.

We’re not sure this means a lot at this point. Perhaps the Browns really would prefer to go after Matt Flynn in free agency. Or perhaps they just don’t want to show their hand this early in the process, which makes a lot more sense.

Czarnecki, however, writes the Browns coaching staff “remains confused on what to do with RGIII.” If that’s true, it says more about the Browns coaching staff than it does Griffin.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...browns-cautious-about-griffin-trade-thus-far/

 

[servumtuum]

This is good effing news. If the Cleveland coaching staff really doesn't know how to use RG3... heh.



http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...browns-cautious-about-griffin-trade-thus-far/

I dunno G., to me it still seems too likely that misinformation/disinformation is the rule of the day and putting a lot of credence into the rumors, "leaks", pundit prognostications and the like is a bit risky right at the moment-especially involving teams known to be among the "serious players" in the QB hunt.

 

[Dead Money]

For all of you worried about the Browns on draft day, contemplate this:

Is Griffin really worth more than Flynn, two first-rounders and whatever else they would have to give up to get him?

The Browns have more ammo this is true, but they have Holmgren sitting there looking at the above shaking his damn head. I don't think the Browns are in this gentlemen. I think we'll be bidding against ourselves to the Rams and we may be better off playing it semi-conservative and hoping for the Vikings pick at 3. Holmgren may be able to add a top of the line WO and OL right out of the gate. It just makes more sense to me than getting into a bidding war with us.


I'm not saying they wouldn't take him at 4, but taking him at 2 just doesn't seem to make sense to me for them.

 

[Goaldeje]

Yep. I keep saying that Holmgren has had success trading for QBs, not drafting them (Favre and Hasselbeck).

 

[romberjo]

One interesting question is why are the Rams leaking that they're definitely going to trade the pick? On the surface, you'd think they'd have more bargaining power if they keep alive the possibility that they might stay put and take Kalil, so would need a bit more to be willing to trade.

The fact that they're leaking that they're going to trade suggests to me that we're pushing to get the trade down now, before the Browns have a chance to find out whether they can land Flynn, and that's how we plan to escape any boxing in arising from the Browns's greater ready ammunition. I.e., we're confident that we're not going with a FA agent qb who's young (i.e., only Manning is on the table), we think the Browns are differently situated (like Flynn, and are ok w/ McCoy), we're thrilled with either Luck or RG3 at 2, so we think we're better off trading now than waiting for the possibility that the Browns don't land Flynn and then are willing to outbid us down the road.

Given that we're pushing hard to trade now, and the Rams are ok with that (and we're presumably telling them that once Peyton is on the market/FA hits, we may satisfy our qb needs elsewhere) but want to get the greatest value possible, the Rams are leaking/floating the inevitability of a trade to try to get other teams (Browns, Seahawks, Dolphins, etc.) to get in the bidding now to drive up the price.

That's also consistent w/ our apparent leaks that we're willing to pay insane picks for RG3, designed to scare off other potential suitors with the perception that Crazy Danny has greenlighted Allen to outbid them anyway, so why get involved.

 

[Om]

Nice post, R. I've been a little surprised at all the open talk about the Rams' pick auction as well. Not sure how much of it has been simply media driven versus anything actually from the Rams themselves, but still. As you suggest, it would seem that the best thing the Rams can do is allow/feed/fan the flames and hope to cash in on the feeding frenzy.