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Cleveland Browns off to a fast start on the first day of free agency

By Andrew Seibt

Mar 1, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Cleveland Browns executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown speaks to the media during the 2017 NFL Combine at the Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 1, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Cleveland Browns executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown speaks to the media during the 2017 NFL Combine at the Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Cleveland Browns front office has handled free agency masterfully thus far, and that has fans excited for what’s to come.

The Harvard degrees are paying off well in the Cleveland Browns’ front office. This regime has done something that no other regime in recent memory has done, and that is signing young, established veterans in free agency. Veterans that the Browns didn’t have before because of the constant regime changes and the talent walking out the door.

For years, the free agency frenzy left Browns fans upset, jaded, and even storming the Factory of Sadness with pitchforks. They signed old veterans at the end of their careers looking to collect a paycheck. They let homegrown players walk away in free agency and those same players went on to succeed on other teams.

But this year is different.

Let us recap the moves of the day so far:

Paul DePodesta has earned every penny of his paycheck in this Osweiler deal. He must have pulled a sheet from David Griffin’s playbook and basically bought the Browns a second-round pick to use as ammunition to go after a quarterback.

Normally, I am not a fan of NFL teams buying their team through free agency because it hasn’t worked out very well in the past (Tampa Bay, Jacksonville recently), but these moves are exactly the types of players I thought the Browns would go after. Young, established players coming off their rookie deals looking to get paid. They have solidified their mediocre offensive line with young solid talent, thus allowing the Browns to use their draft picks on impact defensive players.

Related: Browns sign Kevin Zeitler

There is still a huge hole at quarterback, but like I’ve stated before in my articles, the Browns did an amazing job of finding young talent to help accelerate, not deviate from their process of building through the draft.

Not only does this shore up a position of need, but it gives the Browns the flexibility to do whatever they want with picks No. 1 and No. 12. With two second-round picks in 2017 and three in 2018, that is a lot of ammo to go after a quarterback like Jimmy Garoppolo or Kirk Cousins. They are not locked into having to take an offensive lineman. They can move up from No. 12 and take Malik Hooker or Marshon Lattimore.

They could even trade up with San Francisco to No. 2 and get their pick of the litter of quarterbacks. They have so many picks to basically be proactive on any scenario in the draft depending on the players selected before them.

The quarterback position is still a huge hole, and the Browns will not win without one. But they have set themselves up wonderfully for going after any player that they feel can make an instant impact to this roster.

Next: Browns trade for Osweiler

Hats off to the front office so far.

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