03-12-2017, 05:53 PM
(03-12-2017, 11:56 AM)Beaker Wrote: Bold does not mean smart. What other team in the NFL will be paying a 2nd round draft pick $16M + his salary next season? This is essentially what they did since by making the trade they said they were buying a 2nd round draft pick. On top of that, they have to figure out something to do with Brock Osweiler....lol. Yup, pure genius.
Paul DePodesta, the team’s “chief strategy officer,” comes from the MLB world, but this is a move straight out of the NBA. The Browns are eating Osweiler’s contract in order to get the Texans’ second-round pick. Cleveland will owe Osweiler $16 million in 2017, but can part ways with the free agent bust after next season with no penalty. Or they can just eat that dead money now, which doesn’t matter when you have more cap space then you can realistically spend, as Cleveland does now.
Browns: (1) It allows them to sweeten a possible trade offer for Patriots QB Jimmy Garoppolo and (2) it helps the team get closer to the salary cap floor (teams have to spend at least 89% of the cap, per NFL rules) without having to hand a risky long-term deal out to a free agent.
The Browns are still sitting on over $50 million in cap space after this move, so this move does not affect their spending power (this year or in the future) in any way.
Essentially, Cleveland picked up a second-round pick for a conditional fourth-round pick. That’s been the front office’s MO this past year-and-a-half. It has acquired a ton of assets without giving much in return.