Browns Free Agency: Making Sense of Day One
Feb 18, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Cleveland Browns coach Mike Pettine speaks to the media during the 2015 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Free agents don’t want to come to Cleveland because the team is dysfunctional!
This last one is the most interesting one. Have the Browns been dysfunctional? Depends on your definition but we can all agree that the Browns have not been stable. Could that impact a free agents decision to come to Cleveland? Sure but that does not mean that is the cause of the problem, it is a symptom.
Much the way that sneezing is not the problem of having allergies in Spring, the constant transition is caused by losing. In some order free agents make decisions, historically, based on four factors: Winning, money, location and comfort. Will address those in backward order as we consider winning most important and comfort last, but still important.
By comfort we mean simply this: Players tend to stay with the teams they are with if the team wants them and the money is similar. The other factors play an important role but all things being equal comfort helps players make decisions. Jerry Hughes chose to stay in Buffalo partially based on comfort, as the other factors were similar with the Browns and other teams interested in him.
Location is not something the Browns can do anything about. Cleveland is what it is but if players are choosing between similar teams a team in New York, Miami or soon to be LA will win out. State tax laws also play a role in that. Florida and Texas do not have them, where California’s is huge and Ohio is somewhere in the middle. Location can play a role.
Most would say money is #1 and we would agree to a certain extent. Players are going to go where the most money is most of the time but the teams that are likely to “overpay” for free agents are not likely to, down the road, fill the factor of winning. Players will go where the money is but that tends to build a bad culture and often a bad team on the field. The Browns want to build a winning team and do not believe in paying far more than a player is worth.
Winning is simple. Players are not coming to Cleveland until the team is a winner. Also, when the Browns are a winner they will have players on their team that they want to keep. If the Browns can put together two straight winning seasons the team will start to become a destination place. If we are honest with ourselves, Green Bay and New England were not destinations until they started winning. Reggie White when to the Packers because “God told me to go to Green Bay.” Unless that happens, the Browns will need to start to win before players “want” to come to Cleveland.
For those multi-sport fans I give you the Cleveland Cavaliers as an example. LeBron James wasn’t committed to Cleveland, and didn’t recruit other players, his first time in Cleveland. Now that he is doing both Shawn Marion, Mike Miller, James Jones and Kevin Love all wanted to come to Cleveland. In the NFL, the quarterback is that guy who helps make sure the team is winning. Once the Browns show that they can win consistently, they will be a player for a number of players.
The funny thing about winning is that winning teams rarely touch free agency and if they do they are very picky. The Patriots have re-signed one of their own free agents but haven’t done much, and never have. The Ravens are similar, generally finding a bargain veteran free agent at the right price. The Bengals haven’t been a player in free agency for years but are limited by their quarterback in how far they go. The Seahawks were aggressive in the trade market to get Jimmy Graham but gave up a Top 3 center (we can’t lose Alex Mack again) and a 1st round pick to get him. They are rarely aggressive in free agency.
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Who is the last team to build a consistent winner via free agency? Do you want a Derek Anderson led 10 – 6 team that falls off quickly? Do you want to be the Eagles, Redskins and Dolphins of recent years? Last week the media and fans were laughing at teams like the Dolphins who were cutting bait on free agent signings from the past few years. This week the same people are lauding spend even more money. The Dolphins (repeat offenders) and the Jets are “winners” but are both seriously flawed teams.
Looking forward to the discussions we are going to have in the comment sections, on Facebook and on Twitter. I know it may not be pretty but very much okay with it. Let’s talk!