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Browns Notes: Landry, Walls

May 21st, 2020 at 6:25pm CST by Dallas Robinson

After undergoing hip surgery in February, Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry has pronounced himself “a little bit ahead of schedule,” according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. Landry said he should be ready to return to field action at some point in August. At the moment, obviously, it’s unclear when/if training camp will officially get underway, but Landry figures to be ready during the preseason. Fresh off a campaign in which he posted 83 receptions for 1,174 yards and six touchdowns, Landry had hoped to avoid surgery in favor of a rest-and-rehab schedule, but ultimately went under the knife.

  • Former Packers area scout Charles Walls has joined the Browns‘ front office, reports Rob Demosky of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Walls will receive a promotion in Cleveland and will hold the title of national scout, per Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter link). Walls, who had been with Green Bay since the 2013 season, had covered the Southeast region for the Packers.

NFL Draft Signings: 5/20/20

May 20th, 2020 at 3:49pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s late-round signings here:

  • The Browns signed fourth-round tight end Harrison Bryant and sixth-round wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter). They were the Browns’ final two selections in the draft, but they’re the first picks to sign in Cleveland. Peoples-Jones was one of the country’s hottest WR recruits coming out of high school and he selected Michigan over roughly 30 other schools. However, he failed to top 650 yards in any of his three seasons with the Wolverines. On the plus side, he tallied 14 touchdowns between 2018 and 2019 and the potential is still there.

Longest-Tenured GMs In The NFL

May 20th, 2020 at 2:07pm CST by Zachary Links

When we ran down the longest-tenured head coaches in the NFL, we found that less than half of the league’s current coaches have been in their positions for more than three years. That’s not quite the case with general managers, but there have been plenty of changes in recent years.

A handful of general managers have gotten to take their coats off and stay for a long while. Among coaches, Bill Belichick had joined his team prior to 2003. Here, you’ll see that five GMs have been with their teams since before ’03 (Belichick, of course, is also on this list). Two of those five – Jerry Jones and Mike Brown – are outliers, since they’re team owners and serve as de facto GMs. But the Patriots, Steelers, and Saints, have all had the same general managers making their roster decisions for well over a decade.

Here’s the complete list of the NFL’s longest-tenured GMs, along with the date they took over the job:

  1. Jerry Jones (Dallas Cowboys): April 18, 1989[1]
  2. Mike Brown (Cincinnati Bengals): August 5, 1991[2]
  3. Bill Belichick (New England Patriots): January 27, 2000[3]
  4. Kevin Colbert (Pittsburgh Steelers): February 18, 2000[4]
  5. Mickey Loomis (New Orleans Saints): May 14, 2002
  6. Rick Spielman (Minnesota Vikings): May 30, 2006[5]
  7. Thomas Dimitroff (Atlanta Falcons): January 13, 2008
  8. John Schneider (Seattle Seahawks): January 19, 2010[6]
  9. Howie Roseman (Philadelphia Eagles): January 29, 2010
  10. John Elway (Denver Broncos): January 5, 2011[7]
  11. Les Snead (St. Louis Rams): February 10, 2012
  12. David Caldwell (Jacksonville Jaguars): January 8, 2013
  13. Steve Keim (Arizona Cardinals): January 8, 2013
  14. Tom Telesco (San Diego Chargers): January 9, 2013
  15. Jason Licht (Tampa Bay Buccaneers): January 21, 2014
  16. Ryan Pace (Chicago Bears): January 8, 2015
  17. Chris Grier (Miami Dolphins): January 4, 2016
  18. Bob Quinn (Detroit Lions): January 8, 2016
  19. Jon Robinson (Tennessee Titans): January 14, 2016
  20. John Lynch (San Francisco 49ers): January 29, 2017
  21. Chris Ballard (Indianapolis Colts): January 30, 2017
  22. Brandon Beane (Buffalo Bills): May 9, 2017
  23. Brett Veach (Kansas City Chiefs): July 11, 2017
  24. Marty Hurney (Carolina Panthers): July 19, 2017
  25. Dave Gettleman (New York Giants): December 28, 2017
  26. Brian Gutekunst (Green Bay Packers): January 7, 2018
  27. Mike Mayock (Oakland Raiders): December 31, 2018
  28. Joe Douglas (New York Jets): June 7, 2019
  29. Eric DeCosta (Baltimore Ravens): January 7, 2019[8]
  30. Ron Rivera (Washington Redskins): January 1, 2020[9]
  31. Andrew Berry (Cleveland Browns): January 27, 2020
  32. Bill O’Brien (Houston Texans): January 28, 2020

Footnotes:

  1. Jones has been the Cowboys’ de facto general manager since former GM Tex Schramm resigned in April 1989.
  2. Brown has been the Bengals’ de facto GM since taking over as the team’s owner in August 1991.
  3. Belichick has been the Patriots’ de facto GM since shortly after being hired as the team’s head coach in January 2000.
  4. Colbert was initially hired as the team’s director of football operations and received the newly-created general manager title in 2011.
  5. Spielman was initially hired as the team’s VP of player personnel and received the GM title in 2012.
  6. While Schneider holds the title of GM, head coach Pete Carroll has the final say on roster moves for the Seahawks.
  7. Elway was initially hired as the team’s executive VP of football operations and received the GM title in 2014.
  8. In 2018, the Ravens announced that DeCosta would replace Ozzie Newsome as GM for Ozzie Newsome after the conclusion of the season. The Ravens’ ’18 season ended with their Wild Card loss to the Chargers on 1/6/19.
  9. Technically, the Redskins do not have a GM, as of this writing. Rivera is, effectively, their GM, working in tandem with Vice President of Player Personnel Kyle Smith. Smith may receive the GM title in the near future.

Longest-Tenured Head Coaches In The NFL

May 16th, 2020 at 1:55pm CST by Zachary Links

Things move fast in today’s NFL and the old adage of “coaches are hired to be fired” has seemingly never been more true. For the most part, teams change their coaches like they change their underwear. 

A head coach can take his team to the Super Bowl, or win the Super Bowl, or win multiple Super Bowls, but they’re never immune to scrutiny. Just ask Tom Coughlin, who captured his second ring with the Giants after the 2011 season, only to receive his pink slip after the 2015 campaign.

There are also exceptions. Just look at Bill Belichick, who just wrapped up his 20th season at the helm in New England. You’ll also see a few others on this list, but, for the most part, most of today’s NFL head coaches are relatively new to their respective clubs. And, history dictates that many of them will be elsewhere when we check in on this list in 2022.

Over one-third (12) of the NFL’s head coaches have coached no more than one season with their respective teams. Meanwhile, less than half (15) have been with their current clubs for more than three years. It seems like just yesterday that the Cardinals hired Kliff Kingsbury, right? It sort of was – Kingsbury signed on with the Cardinals in January of 2019. Today, he’s practically a veteran.

Here’s the list of the current head coaches in the NFL, ordered by tenure, along with their respective start dates:

  1. Bill Belichick (New England Patriots): January 27, 2000
  2. Sean Payton (New Orleans Saints): January 18, 2006
  3. Mike Tomlin (Pittsburgh Steelers): January 27, 2007
  4. John Harbaugh (Baltimore Ravens): January 19, 2008
  5. Pete Carroll (Seattle Seahawks): January 9, 2010
  6. Andy Reid (Kansas City Chiefs): January 4, 2013
  7. Bill O’Brien (Houston Texans): January 2, 2014
  8. Mike Zimmer (Minnesota Vikings): January 15, 2014
  9. Dan Quinn (Atlanta Falcons): February 2, 2015
  10. Doug Pederson (Philadelphia Eagles): January 18, 2016
  11. Sean McDermott (Buffalo Bills): January 11, 2017
  12. Doug Marrone (Jacksonville Jaguars): December 19, 2016 (interim; permanent since 2017)
  13. Anthony Lynn (Los Angeles Chargers): January 12, 2017
  14. Sean McVay (Los Angeles Rams): January 12, 2017
  15. Kyle Shanahan (San Francisco 49ers): February 6, 2017
  16. Matt Nagy (Chicago Bears): January 7, 2018
  17. Matt Patricia (Detroit Lions): February 5, 2018
  18. Frank Reich (Indianapolis Colts): February 11, 2018
  19. Jon Gruden (Las Vegas Raiders): January 6, 2018
  20. Mike Vrabel (Tennessee Titans): January 20, 2018
  21. Kliff Kingsbury (Arizona Cardinals): January 8, 2019
  22. Zac Taylor (Cincinnati Bengals): February 4, 2019
  23. Vic Fangio (Denver Broncos): January 10, 2019
  24. Matt LaFleur (Green Bay Packers): January 8, 2019
  25. Brian Flores (Miami Dolphins): February 4, 2019
  26. Adam Gase (New York Jets): January 11, 2019
  27. Bruce Arians (Tampa Bay Buccaneers): January 8, 2019
  28. Ron Rivera (Washington Redskins): January 1, 2020
  29. Matt Rhule (Carolina Panthers): January 7, 2020
  30. Mike McCarthy (Dallas Cowboys): January 7, 2020
  31. Joe Judge (New York Giants): January 8, 2020
  32. Kevin Stefanski (Cleveland Browns): January 13, 2020

Browns Add Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, Ryan Grigson To Front Office

May 15th, 2020 at 10:42am CST by Rory Parks

The Browns have hired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as their new vice president of football operations, as ESPN’s Seth Walder was among the first to report (via Twitter). Adofo-Mensah previously served as the director of football research and development with the 49ers, and as Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal writes, he will essentially serve as assistant GM to Andrew Berry.

Adofo-Mensah, a Princeton graduate, adds to the Ivy League talent in the Cleveland front office (Berry is a Harvard grad). Adofo-Mensah spent seven years in the San Francisco organization, and according to his bio, he “led the 49ers’ efforts to develop and implement advanced quantitative methods for game strategy and personnel evaluation” (h/t Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com). He will presumably continue to expand his personnel resume with Cleveland.

In addition to the Adofo-Mensah hiring, the Browns have also hired Ryan Grigson on a full-time basis, per Cabot. The club brought on the former Colts GM in an advisory and consulting role back in February, and it sounded at the time as if the hire would become permanent after the draft. That has now happened, though Grigson’s formal title remains uncertain. He and Berry have a long-standing professional relationship and hold each other in high regard.

One year after being hyped virtually non-stop as a Super Bowl contender, the Browns have mostly flown under the radar this offseason. Though they made several major signings in free agency, and though Berry’s first draft was widely considered to be a successful one, Cleveland is not being talked about to nearly the same degree as it was in 2019. And that probably suits the team just fine. After shoring up the O-line and adding another weapon for Baker Mayfield in tight end Austin Hooper, the Browns may realize their potential just one season after they were supposed to. If Mayfield can return to the form he showed in his rookie campaign, things could get interesting in the AFC North.

Seahawks, Browns Discussed Russell Wilson Trade In 2018

May 15th, 2020 at 8:54am CST by Rory Parks

In 2018, the Browns were armed with a very rare assortment of premium draft capital: the No. 1 and No. 4 overall picks. Ultimately, of course, they used those picks on quarterback Baker Mayfield and cornerback Denzel Ward, but they were reportedly involved in trade discussions that would have sent at least one of those selections to the Seahawks in exchange for superstar quarterback Russell Wilson.

In a recent appearance on the PFTOT podcast, Chris Simms says that Cleveland and Seattle discussed a trade wherein the Seahawks would have acquired the No. 1 overall pick from the Browns while sending their Super Bowl champion signal-caller to Ohio (story via Mike Florio of PFT). And according to Florio’s source, the discussion did indeed happen, though the source couched it as being more of a conceptual conversation.

These sorts of discussions certainly happen all the time, and they never really get anywhere because the teams involved have no real intention of trading their assets but simply want to exercise due diligence in case their prospective trading partner is willing to make an offer that’s impossible to turn down. But the fact that the Seahawks even considered trading Wilson is notable, especially given that he was only 29 at the time and had already established himself as one of the best QBs in the game.

As Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times writes, the ‘Hawks would not have traded Wilson for just the No. 1 pick; they would have demanded the No. 4 selection as well. Even that, however, seems like a small price to pay for a player of Wilson’s caliber, and one would think that the Browns would have pounced on the opportunity if it had truly presented itself.

At the time, Wilson and the Seahawks were in the midst of contract discussions that would culminate with Wilson becoming the highest-paid player in NFL history. And he has more than lived up to that deal thus far, posting back-to-back MVP-worthy seasons with an average QB rating of 108.6 and an average triple-slash of 3,779/33/6. He has added 718 rushing yards and three rushing scores for good measure, and he has yet to miss a game in his career.

Nonetheless, Florio’s sources do say that Wilson will be traded at some point in the relatively near future. By Wilson’s own admission, the inclusion of a no-trade clause in his current contract was instrumental in getting the deal done — perhaps because of the Cleveland discussions — but he could always waive it if he feels the time is right. Though a trade in the next several seasons would not be feasible because of the dead money charges it would leave on Seattle’s books, something could happen by 2022.

Indeed, Condotta notes that the Seahawks likely would have selected Patrick Mahomes if he had fallen to them in the 2017 draft, and GM John Schneider was also poking around Josh Allen the following offseason. In a couple of years, he may pull the trigger on a collegiate signal-caller and send Wilson elsewhere, difficult though that may be to fathom.

Latest On Jason Peters’ Market

May 12th, 2020 at 1:53pm CST by Sam Robinson

Connected to a possible return to the Eagles for what would be a 12th season in Philadelphia, Jason Peters remains a free agent. And he either is attempting to convince teams he can be an option for longer than one season or he believes he will legitimately play into his 40s.

The decorated left tackle has said that he feels great and views playing past 40 as realistic, according to NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo (video link). While the Eagles and Peters appear to be in a holding pattern for now, Garafolo adds other teams have engaged in discussions with the 38-year-old blocker.

Teams like the Broncos and Chargers make sense for a stopgap left tackle. Neither drafted one, and the Bolts now have a new quarterback investment — in No. 6 overall pick Justin Herbert — and a glaring vacancy at left tackle after trading Russell Okung to the Panthers for Trai Turner. The Broncos, Bolts, Browns and Jets could be suitors, per James Palmer of NFL.com, but nothing concrete has emerged on Peters beyond a potential Eagles return. The Browns and Jets drafted tackles in Round 1, and each is expected to start in Week 1.

Denver did not pick up Garett Bolles‘ fifth-year option but was also not in the mix for Trent Williams, Palmer adds. As of now, the Broncos’ plan is for Bolles and swing man Elijah Wilkinson — who started at right tackle for most of 2019 due to Ja’Wuan James‘ injury issues — to battle for the left tackle spot. The Broncos carry just more than $17MM in cap space; the Chargers hold $22MM-plus. Both teams were active in March, adding several new starters, and the Broncos loaded up on offensive playmakers in the draft. Each AFC West squad, though, has a big question at left tackle.

As for Peters’ plans of playing past 40, that would certainly be a rare occurrence for his position. Hall of Fame right tackle Jackie Slater and Ray Brown, who primarily played guard in his 20-year career, are the only tackles in NFL history to suit up for age-40 seasons. Andrew Whitworth, however, just re-signed a multiyear deal with the Rams. He will turn 39 later this year.

Browns Officially Re-Sign Rashard Higgins

May 8th, 2020 at 9:43am CST by Zachary Links

The Browns have re-signed Rashard Higgins, per a club announcement. The wide receiver will return on a one-year deal, giving him an opportunity to prove himself before trying his hand in free agency next year. 

Higgins came into the league as a fifth-round pick of the Browns and he’ll return to Cleveland for his fifth pro season. Over the past four years, he’s tallied 76 catches for 1,016 yards and seven touchdowns. Those numbers don’t jump off the page, necessarily, but he did shine in 2018 when he finished out with 39 grabs for 572 yards and four scores.

Last year, a knee injury kept him from building on that performance, but a healthy season could put him back on the right track. Most of Baker Mayfield‘s targets will be going to the likes of Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry, and new addition Austin Hooper, but Higgins could benefit from the double teams against those stars.

In addition to Landry and OBJ, the Browns’ WR depth chart also features JoJo Natson and sixth-round rookie Donovan Peoples-Jones. Higgins is the longest-tenured player of the group.

In a corresponding move, the Browns have also waived defensive tackle Brandin Bryant.

Eagles, Ravens Interested In Jadeveon Clowney?

May 6th, 2020 at 8:56am CST by Rory Parks

A number of teams have been connected in some way or another to free agent edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney over the course of the past several months. The Eagles and Ravens are two such teams, but while there was plenty of speculation linking Clowney to those clubs, there were no concrete reports on that front. However, Mark Berman of Fox 26 KRIV may have changed that last night.

Per Berman’s sources, Philadelphia and Baltimore are among the teams expressing interest in Clowney’s services (Twitter link). Of course, the degree of their interest is unclear, and it’s possible that those clubs are simply keeping tabs on Clowney in case he falls into a certain price range or in case something should happen to one of their other pass rushers. Nonetheless, the “addition” of two Super Bowl hopefuls to the market is notable and will certainly be welcomed by Clowney himself.

The Ravens’ edge rushing contingent is headed by the franchise-tagged Matt Judon, but we do not know where the two sides stand in their negotiations of a long-term pact, and Judon has been rumored as a trade candidate. Although Baltimore’s cap space as it presently stands would seem to preclude a Clowney signing without restructuring the contracts of other players, the team could theoretically trade Judon for quality draft capital and allocate his cap charge to Clowney. The Ravens did re-sign Pernell McPhee just yesterday, and while McPhee can certainly be useful as a rotational pass rusher, his presence will hardly stop GM Eric DeCosta from pursuing Clowney if he believes there’s a fit.

Meanwhile, a pass rusher is arguably the Eagles’ biggest remaining need. Philadelphia has enough salary cap room to fit Clowney into the roster this year, but the club has a lot of work to do with respect to its 2021 cap, especially if the cap should decline as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. So any rollover money the Eagles can carry from 2020 into 2021 will be hugely beneficial. On the other hand, if GM Howie Roseman thinks Clowney can help get his team back to the promised land this year, then his 2021 cap situation will not stop him from pulling the trigger.

Berman also notes that the Titans and Browns are very much in the mix for Clowney, though their interest has been well-documented. In addition, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2014 draft has not ruled out a return to the Seahawks.

“I hope we can work something out if anything happens,” Clowney said. “I did like it up there. … I love all the guys I played with. … I love Seattle. … I love everyone on the coaching staff” (Twitter link via Berman).

Consistent with what we heard last week, Clowney said he is willing to wait to sign until interested clubs can bring him in for a physical. “I know what’s going on in the world,” Clowney said. “It’s a slow process until teams can see me and see what I got and can give me physicals. I’m just waiting on the right opportunity” (Twitter link via Berman).

Those comments were the first Clowney has made publicly since the end of the 2019 season, and he has been working out at a gym in Houston four days a week since undergoing core muscle surgery (Twitter link via Berman). He says he is fully recovered from his injury, but to get the payday he wants, he will likely need to wait until teams can make that determination for themselves.

Browns Execs On Garrett, Vernon, OBJ

May 5th, 2020 at 11:46am CST by Zachary Links

Even after the initial waves of free agency and the NFL Draft, the Browns’ work is far from done, GM Andrew Berry says.

“We have four or five months until the fall until we start playing games and then probably another six (weeks) until the trade deadline, so there are plenty of opportunities to continue to improve the roster and we’re going to be on the lookout for that over the next few months again if opportunities present themselves,’’ Berry told SiriusXM recently (via Mary Kay Cabot of The Plain Dealer). “We’re always going to look to be opportunistic across the roster and if there’s something that makes sense, we’ll see if we can attack and improve the team.’’

With lots of notable names left in free agency and on the trade block, Berry has lots of options. Could those options include a certain former No. 1 overall pick? Here’s what Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski have to say about that and more, via Cabot:

Berry on Olivier Vernon, whose presence could take the Browns out of the Jadeveon Clowney running:

“Olivier is a good football player, and we like having good football players on the roster. He’s a talented defensive end. He is here and will continue to be here.”

Berry on a potential extension for Myles Garrett, who had his fifth-year option exercised for 2021:

“We do see Myles as a long-term member and pillar in our organization. Great player, great person. Obviously, he did make a mistake last year that he’s learned from. But our confidence in and faith in Myles has not wavered and we’re looking to seeing what he does this year and certainly for years to come.’’ (via 105.7 The Fan)

Stefanski on Odell Beckham Jr., who is firmly in the team’s plans:

“We’re a better team with him on the field…Odell is one of the guys I was fortunate enough to sit down with before all this stuff kind of went sideways, so we sat down and talked about a bunch of things. One of the things we talked about is how he’s going to factor in this offense, and I showed him a bunch of tape from the previous Vikings year, I showed him tape from his Giants years, and just my vision for what he’s going to be capable of doing in this offense.” (via 92.3 The Fan)

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