With The First Pick
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The Cleveland Browns Front Office: Method or Madness?

By Tom Matthews

Oct 16, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; Cleveland Browns wide receiver Terrelle Pryor (11) spikes the ball after scores a touchdown against the Tennessee Titans during the second half at Nissan Stadium. Tennessee won 28-26. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 16, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; Cleveland Browns wide receiver Terrelle Pryor (11) spikes the ball after scores a touchdown against the Tennessee Titans during the second half at Nissan Stadium. Tennessee won 28-26. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports /
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Their approach might be a little wacky, but the Cleveland Browns might have some method behind the madness.

The Cleveland Browns hold a monopoly of picks over the next two NFL drafts. Their current collection for this year’s draft is as follows: round 1 (1, 12), round 2 (2, 19), round 3 (1), round 4 (1, 34), round 5 (1, 32, 38) and round 6 (1).

With this spread, they have everything in place to build a competitive roster (they’re due another first rounder and no fewer than three second rounders to come in the 2018 draft) but with the Browns front office having been involved in so many blunders in the past, there always remains the looming probability that for all their good intentions, their recent moves may backfire spectacularly.

The Brock Osweiler Trade

Rating: Method

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The first of its kind in the NFL, this move has to be lauded as nothing short of genius. By shipping away a fourth rounder to Houston, the Browns picked up second and sixth round picks. They also landed  a quarterback to use a trading chip for potentially more picks as and when they choose.

Picking up Osweiler’s salary of $16m is hardly a concern for an organization that currently has $102m in cap room. With so many QB-needy teams (49ers, Jaguars, Jets) populating the NFL Osweiler will still have his fair share of suitors for a backup quarterback role. This is an NBA-style trade that’s a first for the NFL and the Browns may well have paved the way for trades like this to become more commonplace in the future.

They showed vision and ruthlessness to execute the trade, which makes some of their other decisions as of late seem a little bizarre.

Kenny Britt for Terrelle Pryor

Rating: Unknown

On paper, this looks like a straight swap: big-bodied receiver for big-bodied receiver. Kenny Britt is a solid NFL starter who managed to put up decent numbers last year for the Rams with sub-par quarterback play. He’s a reliable receiver and you know what he gives you.

It must be noted though, that Terrelle Pryor put up considerably more yards for the Browns with a carousel of far worse quarterback play. It feels odd to see the Browns let the former Ohio State man go after such a promising season, and his first at receiver.

Of course, his thousand-yard year may have been an anomaly, but most receivers will tell you they get better with age, and at present there is far more upside to Terrelle Pyror than Kenny Britt.

The Browns front office has worked wonders by ensuring they have £102 million in cap room, so the decision not to resign Pryor to a more lucrative deal is confusing at best.

Every Quarterback Selected by the Browns since 1999

Rating: Madness

An analysis of the Browns’ front office wouldn’t be complete without having a look at the history of selecting quarterbacks. Bud Shaw recently produced an interesting article analyzing Browns Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta’s stance on “maintaining your discipline (when) you have the need (for a quarterback).”

This viewpoint suggests the Browns may not gamble on a DeShaun Watson or Mitch Trubisky with their no.12 overall pick. They may even trade down, as they did when they gave the Eagles the no.2 last year, resulting in them selecting Carson Wentz.

Although this initially looked like a bad decision from Cleveland as Wentz made a promising start to his career. After a full NFL season some major mechanical flaws have been found with his throwing action. Given that Jared Goff has been a non-event so far, the Browns seem to have dodged two bullets there.

While they haven’t selected a bad quarterback since Johnny Manziel in 2013, they haven’t produced any good ones. Whoever the Browns next draft at quarterback will join a not-so-exclusive club. That club includes first round busts such as Tim Couch, Brady Quinn, Manziel, and Brandon Weeden.

Of the last two, Manziel has currently re-enrolled at Texas A&M and is fighting multiple lawsuits against him. Brandon Weeden spent last year holding a clipboard for Brock Osweiler and Tom Savage in Houston.

The Browns are in an incredible position to build one of the best young rosters in the league. However,  the persistent ghosts of drafts past will continue to haunt them. Things will change if the front office shows they can truly “maintain their discipline.”

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