Off-season thoughts (Vol. XIX)

Odds and ends . . . 

It was an "Oh by the way we signed" moment at the annual National Football League meetings in Florida this week. Ethan Pocic became the newest member of the Browns, arriving a bit under the radar.

The signing of the versatile free-agent offensive lineman to a one-year contract Tuesday hardly moved the needle in Browns Nation, quite the opposite of the Deshaun Watson megawatt announcement last week. This, too, will have repercussions.

Pocic, who put in five seasons with the Seattle Seahawks after being selected in the second round of the 2017 college draft, has a very good chance of replacing center JC Tretter, who was released for financial reasons after five very productive seasons.

Pocic ostensibly will back up third-year pro Nick Harris initially at center, but General Manager Andrew Berry strongly hinted that situation is not necessarily chiseled in stone. "We think this is a good veteran signing and look forward to seeing him in camp this summer," he said.

"(He) definitely will be in the mix. We obviously feel good about Nick Harris . . . but once we get to camp, everybody has to compete for a job." A not-so-subtle hint Harris can expect a fierce battle for the job.

Pocic and Harris are physical opposites. Pocic is a legit 6-6; Harris is a thumbnail clip shy of 6-1. Both men check in around 310 pounds. Sort of a Mutt and Jeff (an old-time newspaper comic strip) twosome. They are opposites, too, when it comes to NFL experience.

Pocic, a second-round pick in 2017 by the Seahawks, has played in 57 games (the last two seasons in the pivot) and started 40. Harris, a fifth-round selection by the Browns in 2020, has started only three games in his brief career, just one at center.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski speaks in hyperbolic terms when discussing Harris. "Very intelligent player," he said. "Plays very hard, athletic, so excited about him." Can't wait to find out what he thinks of Pocic.

If he was good enough to start for Pete Carroll in Seattle, Pocic should have few problems proving Harris is best suited to remain a backup. The Browns will miss Tretter's savvy and experience in the middle more than they think. Pocic will better provide some of that experience.

***

Residue from the Deshaun Watson signing . . . 

Like it or not, Watson has become the face of this franchise. This is his team for the next five years. He needs to play well. No, he must play well. He is the linchpin. Everything on offense revolves around him. And now that he has placed himself in this unique position, he better have thick skin.

The big unknown is how he handles the enormous pressure certain to accompany him in every game. He better not have a bad game. When, not if, he does, the fans will let him have it. It will be interesting to see how he handles it. All that other nonsense comes with signing a record-busting contract.

***

The Browns proudly announced recently middle linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. has been re-signed to a one-year contract. The announcement was replete with glowing words of praise from Stefanski.

"When we brought in A-Walk (last year), we knew we were getting a smart and productive linebacker," the coach said. "He proved us right. He also possesses those leadership qualities you can't have enough of on your team. We're thrilled to have him back." High praise indeed.

Walker played in 13 games last season, starting 12, and was the runaway team leader in total tackles (113) and solo tackles (69) despite missing four games. So after all that, why in the world did the Browns sign him for only one more season?

With lavish praise like that and statistics that suggest something more than another one-year pact is ample reward for anchoring a defense that played surprisingly very well in the second half of the season, why in the world did he agree to those terms?

***

Watson got paid like a top five quarterback. He's definitely not a top five quarterback. That's rarefied air in the NFL. Top 10 for sure. Arguably top eight. FWIW, here are my top five: Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes II, Tom Brady, Russell Wilson and Josh Allen. Then Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert, Watson, and Dak Prescott with Kyler Murray and Joe Burrow closing the distance.

Off-season thoughts (Vol. XVIII)

I was sitting at the gate in Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix when I got word from my son in the form of a text. "Wowwwwwww," it read. "Wowwwwwww what?" I replied.

It was Friday March 26 just after noon. I was waiting to board a plane to take me to see our brand new  granddaughter in northern California for about a week. What was so important that he reacted like that?

He attached an Adam Schefter text that Deshaun Watson had decided he wanted to play for the Browns after initially turning them down. Clearly a Wowwwwwww moment. A stunning move. And there I was totally unprepared to react in this blog.

No equipment other than clothing and bathroom supplies. I had to make a decision. Deshaun Watson or the granddaughter (our first after three grandsons). A no-brainer. Deshaun can wait. I have more important matters to attend to. I'll follow the story on my phone and/or television.

I jotted down numerous thoughts over the next several days (adding fresher thoughts after the interesting news conference Friday) to make certain I wouldn't lose them so I could share them with you, albeit belatedly. The following is a compendium of those thoughts in no particular order.

* My initial thought centered on the non-football side of the story. The delicate nature of the Watson saga suggests this is not going to end well. In the run-up to Watson's final decision, at least one Cleveland-area poll revealed more than half of those polled wanted the Browns to move in another direction.

That they blatantly and openly recruited one of the elite quarterbacks in the National Football League, one charged multiple times for sexual assault and general misbehavior, was met with anger, disdain and disbelief by a large segment of those with emotional ties to the Browns. 

I had never seen such a reaction. Got me to thinking and wondering if I had turned a blind eye to the real issue here. This was about a lot more than football. Sexual misbehavior cannot and should not be tolerated no matter who you are.

* By signing Watson, the Browns have bought into his background as a man and as a player, all but exonerating him of these serious charges. Even though criminal charges were dismissed by two grand juries, 22 civil suits by female massage therapists are pending.

Watson steadfastly proclaims his innocence. But when more than 20 women say they were sexually assaulted by Watson in a number of different ways, that's powerful and damning stuff. Are they all lying? That would be an incredible coincidence. It's utterly ridiculous to believe that's the case. 

* I wondered how Watson would handle his first news conference when he knew he would face a withering number of questions with regard to his off-the-field activities. He did well. Kept his composure, It was almost as though he was well coached on how to handle those questions. Claimed his innocence with a straight face.

* For those who believe the national media picks on the Browns too much, buckle up. This little saga will linger for much longer than you think. You are going to get sick and tired of it. It will be brought up directly, sometimes obliquely. What the Browns have done has elicited such adjectives as despicable, slimy, sleaze. Ultimate deal with the devil. Get used to it.

* The statement owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam III wrote to the public when news broke that they were in the Watson sweepstakes and explaining why was nothing more than word salad. Very defensive. Almost as though they knew there would be pushback.

"We spent a tremendous amount of time exploring and investigating the opportunity to trade for Deshaun Watson," it read in part. Also: "We are acutely aware and empathetic to the highly personal sentiments expressed about this decision."And then: "Our team's comprehensive evaluation process was of utmost importance due to the sensitive nature of his situation and the complex factors involved."

Nice to know empathy and sensitivity were factors. One other factor not mentioned: Watson is a hell of a football player who immediately makes the Browns one of the favorites to play well into the postseason in the immediate future. Think that might have been a good reason to pursue him? 

* With Watson now on board, is it unreasonable to think head coach Kevin Stefanski will change his philosophy on offense? Watson is a gunslinger. Based on his first two seasons as head coach, playcaller and de facto offensive coordinator, Stefanski does not like gunslingers. 

Baker Mayfield, a gunslinger, was reined in by Stefanski, who prefers an offense that runs the football almost as much as it throws with as many as three tight ends in the formation. He became a game manager. Watson is not a game manager.

In his last three seasons with the Houston Texans, he averaged 515 passes a season and threw for 12,840 yards and 85 touchdown passes. That is not Stefanski football. He sort of acknowledged that in last Friday's news conference and hinted he just might change. 

"We are going to work through it," he told the media. "We are going to spend a lot of time with Deshaun and the coaches. Sit down and make sure we are doing what he is comfortable with." I'll believe it when I see it.

* In order for Watson to be effective, he needs a solid offensive line. Right now, I don't see one with this roster. It used to be one of the best in the NFL. Not anymore.

Jedrick Wills Jr. has not worked out at left tackle. The third-year pro is decent as a run blocker, but it is especially weak in pass protection. Right tackle Jack Conklin is reportedly ahead of schedule rehabilitating a torn patellar tendon. The All-Pro returning in time for the regular season would be a huge plus.

The real strength in the line is at guard, where Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller form arguably the league's best guard tandem. Nick Harris, the guy who plays between them at center is the X factor. The third-year pro is the smallest center in the NFL at barely six feet tall and replaces the solid JC Tretter. Massive dropoff in talent and experience.

* The line is not the only problem area. Right now, newly acquired Amari Cooper is a solid No. 1 wide receiver. That's pretty much it.  That will change once General Manager Andrew Berry massages that part of the roster through either free agency, the college draft or trade.

Watson is going to need a lot of help from this group, but won't get much from disappointing Donovan Peoples-Jones, inconsistent second-year man Anthony Schwartz and practice squader Ja'Marcus Bradley. 

* How will Berry handle the Baker Mayfield situation? He's pretty much backed into a corner as he tries to unload Mayfield's nearly $19 million contract. It's not him other teams don't want. It's his contract. Unless Berry gets creative in an effort to move him, looks like he is going to hang around -- on the roster, that is -- for a while.

* As for the 22 women, do I think they are lying about what happened? No way. Do I think there is another side, a genuinely good side to Deshaun Watson? Absolutely. I am conflicted, but not to the point where I would vehemently take sides. It's not worth it.

* Now do I believe the Haslams have been insincere in how they have handled the situation? Uh huh. It's almost embarrassing the manner in which they grope for reasons to justify what they are doing. Bringing in their two adult daughters to help with the justification is gobsmacking.

*So what side am I taking in this whole Deshaun Watson situation? Normally, I don't take sides. When it comes to journalism, I always root for the story. So I gave this one a little more attention because of the nature of the story,

Initially, I remembered how the Pittsburgh Steelers handled it about a dozen years ago when Ben Roethlisberger and rape appeared in the same story. I thought how stupid could someone in the public spotlight be. 

Watson, his claims of innocence notwithstanding, joins Big Ben in that small circle of stupidity. Roethlisberger paid the price with a six-game suspension for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy. Watson most likely will face the same punishment once the league reaches the adjudication stage.

I am taking the coward's way out on this one. I write about football and other sports. Something like this spoils the fun aspect of doing that. Yes, the Browns didn't exactly cover themselves with glory. What they did was repugnant and showed no shame. It was all in the interest of winning football games.

No, I'm not going to stop writing about the Browns. They are the team I grew up with. I love football too much to slink away. If I stopped because of all this nonsense, it would be doing the wrong thing for the wrong reason.

Off-season thoughts (Vol. XVII)

For the better part of Friday's news conference that introduced Deshaun Watson to the media and Browns Nation, it looked and sounded like nothing one would expect for welcoming an elite National Football League quarterback. 

It was supposed to announce the signing of a fully-guaranteed $230 million contract that binds Watson to the Browns for the next five years. A preponderance of the nearly 40-minute session dealt precious little with football and the record-setting contract. 

Watson has been under a microscope for the last year after 22 female massage therapists accused him of sexual assault and inappropriate behavior. This was his first venture out from under that microscope. He faced a relentless barrage of questions dealing with those accusations. 

Flanked by Browns General Manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski, Watson maintained his innocence, not just with those allegations but his behavior in general toward women. "I never disrespected any woman in my life," he said.

"I never did anything these people are alleging. I was raised (by a single mother and two aunts) to be genuine. I respect everyone and everything around me, I have always defended that and will continue to stand on that."

He was asked if it was intention to settle these cases out of court. "My intent" he said, "is to clear my name as much as possible."

He calmly answered all the questions about the numerous civil suits he is contesting (two grand juries in the Houston area separately declined to bring criminal charges against him) and the reasoning, after the Houston Texans placed him on the trade market, he chose to sign with the Browns.

Initially, the Browns, Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers were permitted to meet with Watson. The Browns reportedly were the first team eliminated. Carolina then was dismissed when they, again reportedly, declined to guarantee the last two years of a contract.

Next thing we know with Browns fans lamenting yet another failure to lure an elite quarterback, Watson stunningly chose the Browns after the Cleveland front office added $80 million to the original offer and guaranteed the entire five years, an unprecedented move in the NFL.

"The (contract) was secondary," Watson said. "That had nothing to do with me choosing the Cleveland Browns. . . It wasn't necessarily a turndown. The media was rushing me to make a decision.. . . . I knew Cleveland was the best from a football standpoint."

OK, stop right there.

The contract was secondary? Really? A fully-guaranteed lengthy contract that would pay him $46 million a year, $2,705,882.35 a game and $676,470.59 a quarter was secondary? C'mon. That's stretching the boundaries of credulity. 

"I didn't know about the contract until I told my agent I wanted to come and be a Cleveland Brown," he argued. 

And the media rushed him? No kidding. Since when is the media that powerful they can influence players to make decisions, especially important ones like this? When in trouble, the playbook says always blame the media. 

Because of the seriousness and sensitive nature of the charges, the Browns have been heavily criticized for dealing with an alleged sexual offender and then rewarding him handsomely. The sensitive nature of the allegations was bound to stir both sides of the controversy.

Once Watson and the Browns were initially linked, a Cleveland.com poll revealed nearly 60% of the voters were not in favor of the move. That's an astonishing number considering the huge number of devoted Browns fans in the area. Sides were clearly taken.

The malodorous aroma of the whole situation has also drawn national attention. Peter King, a prominent national sports columnist with NBC Sports went so far as to declare "the Browns sold their souls" to go after and then sign Watson. 

When it was announced the Browns traded six draft choices for Watson, half of them first-rounders in the next three drafts, Lindsay Jones of The Athletic wrote a piece headlined "Browns gave away a lot in trade for Deshaun Watson -- including their morals."

The Browns strongly suggested they conducted an extensive investigation of Watson the man and Watson the football player before deciding to go after the quarterback. Berry, who called it a five-month odyssey, said, "We feel very comfortable with Deshaun as a person and have a lot of faith in him.

"If we didn't get comfortable with Deshaun the person, it wouldn't have mattered how talented he was. We wouldn't have pursued the trade."

A check of the calendar indicates the odyssey began midway through last October in the early stages of a season that ended disastrously in early January with Baker Mayfield undergoing surgery on a badly injured left shoulder. 

So why, then, did Berry at the conclusion of last season declare, "We fully expect Baker to be our starter and bounce back" when he knew Watson was still being vetted? Inquiring minds want to know. The question was not asked Friday.

Any regrets, Watson was asked. "I don't have any," he said. "The hardest part is having everyone come at me from different directions and not being able to speak about it because of the ongoing investigations." 

One of his main goals in Cleveland, he said, is "to show people who I really am." That could prove more difficult than leading the Browns to the playoffs and beyond.

(Next: Explaining my recent absence)

Off-season thoughts (Vol. XVI) 

What in the world were the Browns thinking when they aimed their crosshairs at quarterback Deshaun Watson in an attempt to pry him loose from the Houston Texans?

The fact the Texans did not discourage them from trying was a land mine waiting to go off because this little adventure had no chance, at best, of succeeding. It was folly, pipe dreaming to think the Browns would pull this one off. 

Of course, that's easy to say now that Watson has dismissed them from the four-team sweepstakes seeking his services this season. As a result, the front office has squeezed themselves into a very uncomfortable corner with regard to Baker Mayfield.

Technically, Mayfield is still the club's starting quarterback. Says so right there on the active roster. He is under contract for one more season for nearly $19 million. Problem is he doesn't want to be. Under contract and on the roster, that is. Starting quarterback in Cleveland, too. 

He has had enough with the team that made him the first overall pick in the 2018 National Football League college draft. Said so in what appeared to be a goodbye letter posted Tuesday on social media to Browns fans and the city. 

Reportedly, the Browns had informed Mayfield's people at the Indianapolis Scouting Combine recently that they would investigate making a move at quarterback if an elite candidate became available. That became Watson after he was cleared of criminal sexual assault charges last weekend in Houston.

That's when the Browns struck, entering the sweepstakes for the "elite" Watson surreptitiously. They conveniently failed to inform Mayfield's people once Watson had entered the picture. 

The Browns apparently didn't bank on social media eventually outing them. Their Tuesday face-to-face visit with Watson went viral and ratcheted up the interest from a Cleveland standpoint. Mayfield responded with his goodbye letter.

His ego was bruised. His feelings were hurt. That's when he struck with his letter, which had to upset the Cleveland front office. At that point, though, he probably couldn't care less what they thought.

He reportedly asked to be traded. The Browns reportedly said no. A conundrum orchestrated solely by a bumbling front office that had to know what the repercussions would be if the Watson plan failed. And yet nobody spoke up and said this would not turn out well.

It harkens back to the bad, old days with Sashi Brown, Carmen Policy, Butch Davis, Phil Savage, Mike Holmgren, Joe Banner (for a little while), Ray Farmer and Mike Lombardi calling the shots. There were other culpable lesser lights, but you catch my drift.

Can't wait to hear this crew explain away this embarrassing screwup as if nothing happened. Their accountability quotient will be challenged. 

Incompetence, which had taken a vacation with the arrival of General Manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski, is back. Vacation over. They, presumably with the approval of owner Jimmy Haslam III and Chief Strategy Office Paul DePodesta, really screwed this one up. All are culpable.

Their sales pitch to Watson no doubt focused on the quality talent on their roster, most notably on offense with an improving defense. He would be the missing piece that would take this franchise deep into the playoffs not only this season, but the next several.

But the New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers entered the competition with similar offensive weapons and nice defenses, which probably made it easy to eliminate the Browns when other factors entered into the decision process for Watson, who was born about an hour from Atlanta.

In doing their homework, the Browns' brass failed to take into consideration four very important items that gave them the longest odds of succeeding. 

Watson had the power of the veto in his trade clause. He used it on the Browns. All of the remaining competitors played in the NFC. The AFC Texans would have to face Watson only once every four years. With the AFC Browns, it conceivably could have been every season.

And then there were geographic and weather issues. The Saints and Falcons play under a dome. So did Watson for four seasons in Houston. As for the weather, who in his right mind wants to play football in Cleveland in November, December and beyond if he didn't have to?

Let's face it. Cleveland isn't nearly as exciting as New Orleans or Atlanta. I was born in Cleveland. Lived most of my adult life and raised a family there. It's not New Orleans or Atlanta. That Carolina didn't make the final two also lends more credence to that notion.

So how does the Mayfield situation end? Do the Browns wait him out and try reconciling between now and training camp in hopes of changing his mind? That depends on how adamant the Mayfield people are of moving on. 

From an unrealistic standpoint, about the only way to mollify Mayfield now during these difficult times would be to offer him a multi-year contract extension worth nine figures. But that's not going to happen, either. The Browns' dysfunction goes just so far. 

The guess is the Browns will relent, get as much as they can for Mayfield on the trade market -- they should be happy if they get as much as a second-round draft pick -- and turn the offense over to a quarterback best suited to operate a Stefanski offense.

Case Keenum, who should have played more last season for a badly banged up Mayfield, is still on the roster. And he knows how to run a Stefanski offense.

Off-season thoughts (Vol. XV)

For those of you who believed stability finally arrived at the top of the Browns' chain of command with the arrivals of Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski, along comes the Deshaun Watson Saga, a.k.a the Deshaun Watson Sweepstakes, The Courtship Of Deshaun Watson and The Hunt For Deshaun Watson.

When the Houston Texans quarterback escaped criminal prosecution for numerous charges of sexual assault and inappropriate behavior over the weekend, it signalled a rush by several National Football League teams needing a quarterback to obtain his services by meeting the Texans' trade demands

It's widely known Watson no longer wants to take snaps in a Houston uniform. And the Texans are willing to accommodate him if their stringent trade demands -- at least three first-round draft picks -- are met. That's where it gets messy from a Cleveland standpoint.

Right now, it's a four-team race to win the big prize. New Orleans, Carolina and Atlanta -- all NFC teams -- join the Browns as the challengers thus far. The Browns and Atlanta theoretically do not need a quarterback.

Berry has one in Baker Mayfield, of course, but that didn't stop him from trotting out his gambling gene and blowing his image of being level-headed, not prone to making wild and crazy decisions.

The intoxicating thought of Watson commanding the huddle for the Browns in the near future and beyond seems to have messed somewhat with the aforementioned stability. It definitely would be a massive upgrade, though, and reenergize Super Bowl talk.

If I'm not mistaken, the Cleveland general manager as recently as two months ago strongly indicated  Mayfield was going to be club's quarterback in 2022. And he looked for a big comeback from his miserable 2021 season. 

So why were Berry, Stefanski and owner Jimmy Haslam III down in Houston basically worshipping at the throne of Watson face to face the last couple of days?

Because that was then and this is now. Situations change. So do plans. Back then, Mayfield was the man. Not anymore. A grand jury in Harris County abruptly changed the landscape.

The Browns have not addressed the story publicly, even though it's been widely reported they have met the Texans' trade demands for Watson. Radio silence by the Browns suggests the reports are factual. It appears the Browns are willing to mortgage their future to bring Watson to Cleveland.

The biggest hurdle for the Browns right now, it would seem, is the no-trade clause in Watson's contract. If the Texans choose the Browns' trade offer, for example, Watson can crush it refusing to be traded to Cleveland. It appears he and the Texans must agree on the package and destination.

It would also make sense for the AFC South Texans to prefer one of the NFC teams. That way, they would have to face Watson just once every four years. 

Adding to the drama is an open letter via Twitter by Mayfield to the city of Cleveland and Browns fans Tuesday night. Sure read like a goodbye letter. He, perhaps correctly, senses his turbulent time in Cleveland is over. That would be the case if Watson chooses Cleveland.

If not, though, what happens?  Do the Browns trade him anyway because their lack of faith in him has eroded to the point where he would be better off somewhere else? Or does he return if everything else falls through?

Can't imagine how difficult and uncomfortable it would be if the final act of this bad soap opera winds up with Mayfield back at training camp in Berea this summer, acting as though nothing happened. Just the residue of doing business. 

Ironically, the Texans' decision will be made by General Manager Nick Caserio, a Cleveland-area native who attended University School and John Carroll University before eventually coaching with and then moving into the front office of the New England Patriots before moving to Houston last season.

Off-season thoughts (Vol. XIV)

Remember when the Browns' offensive line was rated one of the best, if not the best, in the entire National Football League? Of course you do because it was just two seasons ago.

Well, kiss those days goodbye. That lofty ranking is trending downward with the release Tuesday of center JC Tretter after five solid seasons in the middle of that line. Money was the deciding factor. He made too much of it.

His release cleared about $8 million against the salary cap as the club set the financial parameters for the 2022 season in an effort to wipe out the ignominy of an 8-9 season. Production, and talent, it seems, are not the deciding factors in the shaping of a roster. It's all about being fiscally wise. 

Tretter is 31 years old. Despite having the knees of a man many years older, his solid anchoring of the front five drew lavish praise from the evaluating community. More than a few ranked him among the top three centers in the league.

The importance of having a smart, tough and reliable center cannot be emphasized enough. Tretter embodied all of those characteristics. COVID-19 caused him to miss his only game in those five seasons against Green Bay last Christmas Day. Nick Harris, who filled in for Tretter that day and will succeed him, will soon see he has a tough act to follow.

Not only will the quality of the offensive line go down with his departure, so will the average age and size of the unit. Harris, drafted a couple of years ago with this move in mind, won't be 24 until November. He reaches 6-1 on his tiptoes and looks up at the 6-4 Tretter.

An exhaustive (pardon the hyperbolizing) search of the NFL's depth charts reveals Harris is, by a scant quarter of an inch, the shortest center in the league. He is that much shorter than Brian Allen of the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams, who checks in at at 6-1 and an eighth. A majority of the others average out to between 6-3 and 6-4.

One would think Harris' relatively short stature, especially for a pivot, will be a problem. A majority of the defensive linemen he will see are tackles, who check in anywhere from 6-4 to 6-7 and between 300 and 370 pounds. A clear physical mismatch.

In his lone start at center against the Packers, Harris' quickness off the snap enabled him to get to the second level in the ground game. But -- and here is where his size comes into play -- his pass sets showed his main weakness. 

Pass protection was a Tretter strength. Rarely did he need help from either of his guards. Judging strictly from the Packers game, Harris is not nearly as strong asTretter at protecting the quarterback. Baker Mayfield was sacked five times (not all Harris' fault), knocked down another half dozen times and hurried on numerous other snaps.

With an obvious weakness at left tackle with Jedrick Wills Jr. and the uncertainty whether right tackle Jack Conklin will be ready for the 2022 season following patellar tendon surgery in late November and now the Tretter release, offensive line moves up with regard to areas of concern and need.

***

In another roster-massaging move Tuesday, the Browns and New England Patriots swapped linebackers, shipping inside backer Mack Wilson to the Pats for outside linebacker and edge rusher Chase Winovich.

After a nice rookie season, Wilson apparently fell into disfavor with the Kevin Stefanski defensive staff the last two seasons and did not see much of the field. Winovich experienced the same fate in New England. After recording 11 sacks in his first two seasons with the Pats, starting nine games, he was virtually ignored last season.

At 6-3, 250 pounds, the former Michigan star is better suited to play in pass defense packages with the Browns. Expect him to become a fan favorite with his long blond mane flowing outside his helmet.

Off-season thoughts (Vol. XIII)

It's not official yet and won't be until the Browns, if they choose to do so, are ready to announce they have joined the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes. The silence from Berea is deafening.

It's not even official they are investigating the possibility of trading for the Houston Texans quarterback now that he will not be criminally prosecuted after charges of sexual assault and inappropriate behavior were filed by 22 women against him last year.

Rumors persist, however, that's exactly what the Browns are doing now that Watson is halfway home to becoming the most sought-after quarterback in the National Football League despite 22 civil suits still pending. 

Watson, who has made abundantly clear he no longer wishes to continue his career in Houston, still faces  disciplinary action by the NFL, which is holding its own investigation under its personal-conduct policy and a suspension of undetermined length is expected.

That hasn't stopped at least two teams from publicly expressing interest in the high-profile quarterback to the point where they have made trade offers to the Texans, who reportedly are demanding three first-round draft picks and other considerations for the fifth-year pro. 

The New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers, who have serious quarterback issues, submitted those offers recently. It has reached the point where Watson has been given permission by the Texans to speak with those teams to determine where he'd like to land.

Right now, the only other teams being prominently mentioned, again reportedly, are the Seattle Seahawks, who shipped Russell Wilson to Denver last week and have a vacancy, and the Browns, who maintain Baker Mayfield will be their starter this season.

But that dynamic has changed with the latest Watson news. It is assumed -- a rather huge assumption at this point -- that if the Browns do, in fact, choose to join the party and make a trade offer to the Texans, Watson, should he choose to, will be permitted to place them under his microscope. 

He has a no-trade clause in the four-year, $150 million contract he signed in 2020. Guessing Cleveland right now is on that list, but he can always change his mind.

The question is whether Cleveland General Manager Andrew Berry believes strongly enough that Watson could be the missing piece for an offense that seriously underperformed and underachieved last season at the cost of sacrificing valuable draft capital and at least a starter or two to achieve that goal.

Watson's off-the-field problems aside, he would be a perfect fit for a Browns offense that struggled mightily most of last  season because Baker Mayfield was banged up throughout it, piling up injury after injury on a weekly basis.

Hypothetically speaking, is there any question the Browns would have sailed to the postseason in 2021 -- maybe even won the division championship -- had Watson been in charge of the huddle? 

So what would it take for Berry to pry Watson loose should it come to that? Something like first- and second-round picks this and next year for sure; Baker Mayfield heading back home to Texas; and either a running back like Kareem Hunt or D'Ernest Johnson or a cornerback like Greg Newsome or Greedy Williams.

Crazy, no? Rhetorical question. Hypothetical, too. But when the player headed to Berea in this case has thrown for more than 14,500 yards, 104 touchdowns and completed nearly 68% of his passes in just four seasons, it just might be worth it.

Off-season thoughts (Vol. XII)

When word came down Saturday that the Browns had traded for Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Amari Cooper and all it cost them was a fifth-round pick and a swap of sixth-round selections in this year's college draft,  my most immediate thought did not even hint that General Manager Andrew Berry had fleeced the Pokes.

Why when Dallas owner Jerry Jones broadcast that Cooper was available didn't more teams jump at the opportunity to acquire one of the National Football League's top 20 receivers? He's in the prime of his career (28 in June) and still a deep threat.

Other teams on the NFL horizon reportedly expressed interest, but the fact Berry's relatively cheap deal was the best the Cowboys could get tells you more about what other front offices think of Cooper. Has he fallen that much since being the fourth overall pick by the Oakland Raiders in the 2015 lottery?

Is it possible the Amari Cooper who has dazzled with the Cowboys since coming over in a 2018 mid-season trade with the Oakland Raiders is approaching the back end of his career and his dazzling days are over?

Could it be he has been supplanted as the Cowboys' No. 1 receiver by two-year pro CeeDee Lamb, who is a lot cheaper? Makes good business sense and points out the fact Jones severely overcompensated his veteran receiver.

Kind of makes me -- maybe you? -- wonder why Berry's offer was the best the Cowboys could get. The seven-year veteran has a glistening résumé with five 1,000-yard seasons, 7,076 yards and 46 touchdowns, 21 in the last three seasons.

The only possibility is other teams interested in Cooper decided to wait, hoping Jones wasn't satisfied with any offers and would eventually cut him loose, which would have made him a prime candidate on the open market.

Cooper, who automatically becomes the Browns' No. 1 wideout, became available because he made too much money and had to be gone one way or the other to remove the Cowboys from salary-cap hell. His $20 million salary this season strangled them.

He signed a five-year, $100 million contract two years ago and presumably hauls the rest of it along to Cleveland with three years remaining. With a sizable number like that, restructuring the contract is a distinct possibility.

In essence, Cooper will replace Jarvis Landry, who has been given permission by the Browns, according to ESPN, to seek a trade elsewhere, ending his four-year stint in Cleveland. It almost certainly means Berry's first-round target in the college draft later next month will be a wide receiver from a loaded field.

Speculation -- guessing is more like it -- is a defensive lineman is a top priority. The defense, which came on strong in the second half of last season, is not broken, however. The offense is and a wide receiver (two would be nicer) is a much higher priority even with Cooper aboard.

Maybe it will force head coach Kevin Stefanski, whose affection for multiple tight-end sets bogs down the offense, to play more friendly 11 and 21 personnel packages and bring wide receivers back into the offensive game plans.

Cooper has been targeted an average of 117 times a season in his career, Since arriving in Dallas, that average improved to 123 a season. In his two seasons with the Browns, Stefanski has shown a reluctance to throw to wide receivers with his major usage of tight ends.

One of the Browns' major objectives this season was to equip Baker Mayfield with more weapons. Getting Cooper is a good start. 

Off-season thoughts (Vol. XI) 

Now that we know Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson are not coming to Cleveland to continue their National Football League careers despite laughingly wild speculation one of them would, time to focus on other matters leading up to the annual college football draft.

Such as the Scouting Combine that recently concluded in Indianapolis. Many in the industry firmly believe this annual event is vitally important in crafting a roster. A number of others (including me) believe it's nothing more than a meat market designed to bring the NFL back into the spotlight after the Super Bowl hype dies down.

I've maintained over the years that the only thing the league derives from it is massive amounts of free publicity. It also gives fans an opportunity to witness on national television what these talented college players can do in shorts and then form their own opinions.

It makes for great fodder on social media and keeps the NFL light burning brightly during the offseason. While it is a great public relations tool. it also is more like performance art for the league's coaches, general managers and scouts.

For the unwashed, it consists of seven drills, each designed to determine players' strengths and weaknesses, shaping the evaluations. They focus primarily on strength, agility, speed and overall athleticism. 

The (225-pound) bench press determines upper body strength. The broad jump roots out explosion and power skills. The vertical jump reveals leaping ability, most important for skill players on both sides of the football.

There are two shuttle runs -- 20 yards and 60 yards. The 20 (5-10-5) focuses on quickness, flexibility and change of direction. The 60 (5-10-15 twice) is a longer version.

The three-cone drill -- the cones are placed five yards apart at right angles to each other -- also determines agility and fluidity, the participant touching the cones while on the run, winding it up in serpentine fashion. 

The big one is the 40-yard dash, the result of which often determines where a player is drafted. It determines speed, of course, and acceleration. Getting from point A to point B rapidly rose in importance over the years, although it was originally born in the mid-1950s (by legendary coach Paul Brown) to improve punt coverage. The average punt back then traveled around 40 yards.

It's nice to know how quickly players can cover 40 yards on a football field, but how its impact on draft position is puzzling. Tenths of a second and hundredths of a second often make the difference between getting drafted in the first round or fourth round. Still trying to figure that out.

Based on that kind of thinking, I figured there was no way 6-8, 345-pound offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr. had a chance of being selected in the first round of the 2018 draft after lumbering a 5.86 in the 40. It was judged "historically bad" by a television analyst.

Factor in the seeming ultra importance of the 40 to scouts and GMs, that embarrassing time dropped the son of the ex-Browns offensive tackle to the second day of the draft. In addition, he managed only 14 reps in the bench press. (Sarcasm alert) Guess he wasn't fast enough to cover punts. (End sarcasm alert)

So what, said the Baltimore Ravens, who selected Brown in the third round and plugged him at right tackle seven games into the 2018 season. He remained there for two more seasons before the Ravens traded him to Kansas City after he demanded to be switched to left tackle. He was a Pro Bowler the last two seasons.

The point here is I believe the Combine is overrated and not necessary. Personnel people and their bosses have voluminous footage of film or tape and know every one of these young men. They know what they can do in a uniform and distinguish the good football players from those who work out well in shorts but come up short in playing the game. Those who excel are called workout warriors.

Give me football players over workout warriors. Some good football players are also workout warriors. But not all workout warriors are good football players.

Off-season thoughts (Vol. X)

News: The Cleveland Browns place a franchise tag on tight end David Njoku, only the second player in club history to receive one; placekicker Phil Dawson was the first 11 years ago.

Views: Not bad. From asking to be traded in 2020, when the Browns signed Austin Hooper as a free agent and drafted Harrison Bryant, to a franchise tag worth nearly $11 million. Not bad at all.

There is room for negotiation to eventually shed that designation for a brand new -- presumably multi-year -- contract that could keep him in Seal Brown and Orange for a significant period of time. 

For some reason, head coach Kevin Stefanski and General Manager Andrew Berry fell in love with the inconsistent Njoku, a former first-round draft selection now entering his sixth National Football League season. Trying to figure out the answer to that one.

The sudden benevolence is puzzling. Who knew how important, how valuable he was to the Browns' tight end friendly offense. Paying scant attention to him in his five years in Cleveland offered nary a clue to what just happened.

Does Njoku deserve it? Is he that good where the club would go to these financial lengths to make certain no one snaps him up on the free-agent market? A deep dive into his statistical Browns résumé strongly suggests this head-scratching move makes little sense.

In his five seasons, Njoku has played in 65 games, starting 36. He has been targeted just 240 times (a meager 3.7 a game), catching 148 of them (61.7% catch rate) for 1,745 yards and 15 touchdowns. He has never scored more than four touchdowns in any of those seasons.

His best season by far was 2018, catching 56 passes for 639 yards and four scores in Baker Mayfield's rookie season. Not exactly eye-popping numbers. To put that in perspective, Baltimore All-Pro tight end Mark Andrews caught 102 passes (153 targets) this past season for 1,361 yards and nine touchdowns. Now that's eye-popping.

In his first two seasons, Njoku caught 88 passes for 1,025 yards and eight touchdowns. Under Stefanski, he has caught just 55 passes (82 targets) for only 688 yards and six scores. Hardly numbers that warrant a franchise tag.

Njoku is a No. 1 tight end in number only. In five seasons, he has shown little evidence he is a reliable pass catcher. He'll make the difficult catch and occasionally muff the routine ones, You never know what you're going to get from game to game. His biggest improvement is blocking. That's why it's difficult to understand what Stefanski and Berry see that these eyes don't.

As it stands right now, Njoku is the No. 1 tight end ahead of Hooper, who has underachieved in his first two seasons, and Bryant, who was virtually ignored this past season. And there is no guarantee the Browns will bring Hooper back for a third season. 

If that's the case, Bryant moves up to No. 2 and the Browns most likely will draft a tight end late next month or snag one nn free agency. 

So unless Njoku goes out and proves worthy of the big bucks and me wrong, this one will be filed under "Head Scratchers."

Off-season thoughts (Vol. IX )

If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? Not when it comes to the Browns' offense. It's broke and needs fixing. Prospects of that occurring are slim at best..

That's because Browns head coach and offensive playcaller Kevin Stefanski, who sits in the command seat when his team owns the football, announced the other day at the annual Scouting Combine in Indianapolis that he will not relinquish his playcalling duties this coming season.

Too bad.

It's only a guess that ego -- perhaps stubbornness? -- has something to do with not ceding control of the football to Alex Van Pelt, who is the offensive coordinator in name only. Sure, he'll help with authoring the playbook, but that's about it.

Stefanski, who had only one season's experience at calling plays prior to his arrival in Cleveland, has compiled a two-year résumé with failure outweighing success by a sizable margin. He is not the boy wonder who led his team to the playoffs in his rookie season.

It took a half season in 2020 for Stefanski and quarterback Baker Mayfield to arrive on the same page. The result was an offensive juggernaut that propelled the Browns into the postseason, overcoming an awful defense on a weekly basis.

Stefanski was hailed as a Cleveland hero. The club finally landed a head coach who got it. First half of the season, meh. Second half, gangbusters with the immediate future rife with suggestions Cleveland was finally, after all those miserable years since being resurrected in 1999, in Super Bowl territory.

And then 2021 happened. No need to go over the particulars. Fans saw what unfolded and have a pretty good idea why. The wonderful offense that helped lift Stefanski to the lofty status of National Football League Coach of the Year disappeared. A little tarnish on that one.

No longer were Stefanski and Mayfield on the same page. They weren't even in the same library. On at least a couple of occasions during the season, the besieged Mayfield publicly questioned the playcalling of his head coach. 

Stefanski stamped out the fire on that one, insisting there were no problems. Or at least problems that could actually be smoothed out. 

The more advanced the season became, the worse it got. Very little worked. Despite getting beaten up on a regular basis and not meshing with Stefanski's calls, Mayfield soldiered on. The only way the Browns had a chance of winning was a strong showing by the defense.

When it became apparent a repeat appearance in the playoffs wasn't happening, Stefanski stuck with it rather than turning to Van Pelt to see what he could do so he could concentrate on being a head coach. It was an option to which he gave no consideration.

Instead, he seems determined to prove he is more like the playcaller of the second half of the 2020 season than the other season and a half where the offense played inconsistently and, at times, poorly enough to wonder if a change would help.

When opposing teams this past season took away the Browns' rollout, bootleg and misdirection packages, which were so successful in the 2020 surge to the postseason, Stefanski moved on to an offense that confined Mayfield to the pocket, where he is noticeably uncomfortable.

He in essence gave up on a vital part of his offense and placed his already-injured quarterback on an island with precious little help from an offensive line that underachieved and a receiving corps weakened by injuries and a general lack of talent. 

Rather than modify that aspect of his offense, he abandoned it and made his quarterback a relatively stationary target. The result was nearly three sacks a game and a pounding that forced him to skip the final game of the regular season and head to the surgery theater to get fixed and be ready for the 2022 campaign.

And what will he be ready for? A head coach and playcaller still stubborn enough to give calling plays one more shot in an effort to prove the success he experienced in the second half of 2020 was not a fluke.

Off-season thoughts (Vol.VIII) 

For some reason, many pundits around the National Football League universe believe the Browns still own one of the best offensive lines in the league. Time to quarrel with that notion.

The unit that immeasurably helped the Browns qualify for the 2020 NFL playoffs did not show up this past season. They were not the sole reason the offensive stats fell semi-sharply, but did not deliver as hoped to the disappointing group effort.

The lifeline of that side of the football lies in the trenches; the five plug-uglies whose quality of work determines the successes and failures over the course of the regular season and, hopefully, beyond. As they go, so go the fortunes and misfortunes. 

As constituted right now with the college football draft less than two months away, there are a few questions regarding the offensive line with the window of opportunity slowly closing. Their strengths and weaknesses cancel each other.

Injuries and pandemic-related absences that played havoc with the unit the last two seasons did not seriously affect the ground game, the Browns racking up third- and fourth-best rankings in total rushing yards and fifth- and seventh-best rankings in touchdowns.

Clearly, that is not where the weakness lies. These guys, whether it's the top five starters when healthy or a combination involving backups, excel at moving the opposition out of the way for the likes of Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt and D'Ernest Johnson.

And then you look at the statistics in the passing game and find the answer to the problem and an argument to push against the notion this unit is still as strong as 2020. It is not.

When head coach and offensive playcaller Kevin Stefanski dialed up a pass in 2020, the end result was invariably a success. A healthy Baker Mayfield was one of the best quarterbacks statistically in the NFL in the last half of the season. 

That's because the five guys in front of him kept him mostly vertical and his uniform clean. He was sacked just 26 tines in 16 games. They were an offensive machine, scoring 408 points, scoring 30 or more points in eight of the 18 games, including the playoffs.

Now contrast that with 2021, which saw fewer points (349) scored in one more game (17). The offense limped to an 8-9 finish, scoring more than 30 points in only three of the games. If it weren't for the much stronger defense, 8-9 very well would have been more like 5-12 or 6-11.

Last season, a semi-crippled (in a football sense) Mayfield was dropped 49 times in 15 games and barely escaped on at least a dozen and half other occasions. He was a standing target, due in large part to the multiple injuries that rendered him semi-mobile.

Time for a closer look at what to expect this season, beginning with the starting five of tackles Jedrick Wills Jr. and Jack Conklin, guards Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller and center JC Tretter.

Tretter (just turned 31) and Bitonio (31 in October) aren't getting any younger, although each has played like a much younger man the last two seasons. Both are solid in the run game and pass protection. But it bears repeating they aren't getting any younger and it's only a matter of time before their talents begin to fail them.

Teller, who at 26 gained elite status among guards with a terrific 2020 season, is still exceptionally strong at the point of attack, but slipped a bit in the passing game and doubled his penalties from five, but still ranks high in the league. The Browns recognized the worth of the two guards, rewarding each with multi-year contract extensions. 

Conklin (28 in August) is the wild card in the group. The 2020 All-Pro played just six full games last season, tearing a patellar tendon in week 12 in late November right after returning from a three-week absence with a dislocated elbow. Reports indicate he is ahead of schedule in his rehab with a good chance he'll be ready for the beginning of this season. 

And now we come to the weak link of the line. Wills (23 in May) thus far has proven an unwise choice in the 2020 draft with the 10th overall selection with three prime candidates, including All-Pro Tristan Wirfs, still on the board. 

In his first two seasons, Wills has missed five full games and played at less than 100% in numerous others with lingering ankle problems that affected his performance. He played in only 69% of the plays this past season after playing in 90% the previous season. 

He was drafted specifically to play left tackle (the second-most important position on offense) after playing right tackle exclusively throughout his high school and collegiate career. He struggled in pass protection as a rookie, accumulating a league-high 11 penalties (for the position) that were accepted. He cut that to four last season while playing about 200 fewer snaps.

Available off the bench (per the latest roster) are center Nick Harris, tackles James Hudson III, Chris Hubbard and Alex Taylor and guards Michael Dunn, Drew Forbes, Blake Hance and Hjalte Froholdt. Strengthening the line depth should be one of General Manager Andrew Berry's high priority tasks, although Harris and Dunn showed promise late last season when injuries struck.