Sabermetric value analysis of Cleveland Browns quarterback, receivers

Are the Cleveland Browns offensive stars earning their paychecks?

Even without sabermetrics, it’s easy to see that the Cleveland Browns are in trouble on offense, but some player investments are working better than you might think.

As in the previous article that covered Browns’ defensive players, in this article, Dawg Pound Daily uses sabermetric analysis to compare the salary of each key player on offense versus their estimated league ranking (estimated with the help of the grading system used by Pro Football Focus).

“Value” is a numerical estimate of how well the player ranks at his position, compared to the expectations for performance by the ranking of his salary. In other words, how much bang per buck are the Browns getting for each player?

As always, a caveat must be that PFF does not intend to use its grading system to set salaries or fair market view. Their grades are intended to describe how well each player carries out his assignment, so it depends on how the player is being used and what assignments he is given.

Valuation theory suggests that if the roster is full of players that overperform, that will translate to wins. Conversely, if the team is spending too much money for players that aren’t really that good, it’s going to drag them down at some point

As you will see below, the Browns have several highly paid players who are performing at a vastly lower level than expected based on the high salaries that they earn. The Browns have the highest active payroll in the NFL, and yet they are only 2-4 at the time of this article. That alone is a huge clue that suggests several players may be underperforming to earn this won-lost record.