LincolnBorglum79 said:

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The Hershel Walker trade involving 18'players/draft choices was indeed the only other trade in NFL history involving 3 first round picks. So this is the highest draft compensation ever received for a single player in terms of number 1 picks. Let's hope we can do what Dallas did as a result of the walker trade.

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Didn't SF basically give up 3 for Trey Lance,or is it because the trade was done prior to drafting Lanceand was a pick swap? They gave up 3 1st rounders for a draft pick and not a player?

lunchbox said:

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MookieBlaylock said:

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bilbobag said:

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It will be interesting to see if the Texans try to recoup some of the money they have paid Watson.

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On what grounds?

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LZ posted this yesterday...

After paying D. Watson $27M as a signing bonus for a contract that he never play a down under and $10.5M for not playing in 2021, it will be very interesting to see if (or can?) the Texans decided to come for Watson's signing bonus since that contract has basically been voided.

— Lance Zierlein (@LanceZierlein) March 19, 2022

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amazing reporting (or Can)

basically voided

didn't play a down

I'm no lawyer and know very little about NFL contracts but if that $27MM is a signing bonus and he signed the contract then I'm not sure what there is to go after.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/03/20/inside-the-deshaun-watson-deal/

Here's the breakdown, which is as simple as it gets:

1. Signing bonus: $44.965 million, fully guaranteed.
2. 2022 base salary: $1.035 million, fully guaranteed.
3. 2023 base salary: $46 million, fully guaranteed.
4. 2024 base salary: $46 million, fully guaranteed.
5. 2025 base salary: $46 million, fully guaranteed.
6. 2026 base salary: $46 million, fully guaranteed.

Rarely if ever has a deal looked so clear and clean. No games, no fluff. He gets $46 million each and every year. Each year, the relative impact on the cap will shrink, because the total spending limit will keep going up and up and up.

As previously reported, there's no signing bonus forfeiture or voiding of future guarantees based on the existing allegations against Watson. If he's suspended by the league, the guarantees remain.

And the current structure minimizes the financial impact of a suspension, given that he'd lose only $60,882 for each game missed. If, for some reason, a suspension doesn't happen until 2024, the Browns surely would convert most of the $46 million to a guarantee, dropping the salary to the minimum and once again minimizing the cost of a suspension.

https://instagr.am/p/CbTeaHZJSjo

Just when the browns seemed to be less brownsy they go and give this clown the most money ever.

I know the numbers go up every year but no way he should make more money than mahomes or Allen.

I haven't seen much love for Houston getting a deal done in the media, but what I have seen for Cleveland ranges from questionable to downright evisceration. I do enjoy being able to turn the page. If it doesn't work out it will be epic. They still have to play Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson twice a year. And playing the Steelers is never a gimme for them.

AustinCountyAg said:

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Can't wait to watch his Vince young collapse begin.

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Yes, I am hoping for this as well…I know the Texans have been poorly run the last few seasons, however he hasn't been an upstanding individual himself. So while he sits their and criticizes the organization, he is out there trying to get his a** played with and flying in women…so I don't know what kind of culture he was looking for, he put himself in a position where he was at and sat out a year and likely suspended next season. F him!

That's kind of what has pissed me off about Watson. He hasn't spoken much on the subject but his demeanor seems to be "no charges were filed so everything I did was A OK". The dude is a legit weirdo who has major problems. Good riddance

AustinCountyAg said:

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That's kind of what has pissed me off about Watson. He hasn't spoken much on the subject but his demeanor seems to be "no charges were filed so everything I did was A OK". The dude is a legit weirdo who has major problems. Good riddance

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Yes…I am sure there are some bogus women with all of this, however I firmly believe he knew he was messing up, but no charges…so he is good in his mind.

Now that Watson is finally been moved, should we look at starting a 2022 thread. It can be the A.W. (after Watson) thread?

For all those predicting doom and gloom in Cleveland, they are now favored to win the division. This pick at #13 is likely the highest pick Texans will get out of this.

Panama Red said:

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For all those predicting doom and gloom in Cleveland, they are now favored to win the division. This pick at #13 is likely the highest pick Texans will get out of this.

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It depends on the length of the suspension. Cleveland has a good team, and Deshaun only counts $10M against the cap this year so they have room to add pieces. But they need to win in 2022 because his cap number goes up to $55M every year after.

I think most expect Deshaun to be suspended about 6 games, no more than 8. If they can manage to go 3-3 during those games, they should be set up well to make a run, although Deshaun will likely be rusty. Any worse than 3-3 and they may have a hard time climbing out of that hole given how strong the AFC is.

Panama Red said:

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For all those predicting doom and gloom in Cleveland, they are now favored to win the division. This pick at #13 is likely the highest pick Texans will get out of this.

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They're being picked over the Bengals who just went to the super bowl? That seems a bit early at this point, since the Bengals didn't lose much and are putting together a better offensive line this year.

That being said, I would think this is the year Cleveland has the best chance to actually do something so the pick next year will probably be lower. But, as Ryan34 pointed out, they're going to probably be without Watson for a number of games. So, I don't see them winning more games than the Bengals for that reason which puts them in as a wild card. So they're going to have to go on the road to probably play either the Chiefs, Bengals, or the Bills in the first and/or second round.

Past that, they are going to have a lot of cap troubles starting in 2013 and moving forward so who knows where the last pick will be.

Now that Watson is gone I do wonder if Caserio will start signing a bit higher quality free agents. There are guys out there who can help and we're in the position to sign some. He doesn't have to go crazy, but it could also help him hedge before the draft. This team could use guys at every level of the defense, we could also use another WR since Mills needs weapons.

From Draftkings:

CLE +160
BAL +225
CIN +225
PIT +900

Browns won 8 games last year and destroyed them in the game Burrow played in. I would take Bengals if I had to bet based on Watson suspension, but its not like the Bengals were way above Browns last year and Browns have dramatically improved.

What benefits Cleveland greatly is Big Ben retiring. Pittsburgh is now in QB purgatory. Maybe they strike it hot again and one of the QB's in this year's draft they get turns out to be awesome, but right now they have Rudolph. Unless they trade for Ryan then I don't see any QB options left that would help them much.

Baltimore should be good again if they can avoid the crazy amount of injuries they had this last year. But as we saw, if Lamar goes down for any length of time then they aren't even a playoff caliber team.

For us, hopefully Baltimore stays healthy and Cincinnati gets even better with their off season acquisitions. Plus, I am very interested to see how Watson plays in cold weather on a consistent basis since he has never done so before.

Not saying he is a great qb but didnt steelers sign trabisky? He has to be better than randolph

Ha, yeah. I forgot about that.

IDK if I'd agree that #13 is the "best" pick we'll get from the Browns. Things change quickly in the NFL. For example, two years ago the Texans were up 21-0 in the second round of the playoffs. Now they are on their third head coach and have been in the bottom 5 of the league two years in a row. That same year, the Bengals were the worst team in the NFL and they made the Super Bowl this year. Having sustainable success in the NFL is hard and, frankly, something I'm not willing to bet the Browns can do for the next two years based upon their history and projecting their cap situation, though I understand why some might think this.

Caserio has been very consistent in saying his approach is to build a team that can have "sustainable success". Outside of LT and maybe RT, the Texans are in a position to draft the best player available twice in the first round the next three years. Mills may not be the guy, but if you can hit on the other picks including some of those in the later rounds of the draft, you might set up a pretty solid team that is a QB away from being competitive.

I'd bet this is where Caserio is going. Build a solid team that can compete and if you need a QB, suddenly you are a place where a good/great FA may want to go for a championship run.

Texan_Aggie said:

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IDK if I'd agree that #13 is the "best" pick we'll get from the Browns. Things change quickly in the NFL. For example, two years ago the Texans were up 21-0 in the second round of the playoffs. Now they are on their third head coach and have been in the bottom 5 of the league two years in a row. That same year, the Bengals were the worst team in the NFL and they made the Super Bowl this year. Having sustainable success in the NFL is hard and, frankly, something I'm not willing to bet the Browns can do for the next two years based upon their history and projecting their cap situation, though I understand why some might think this.

Caserio has been very consistent in saying his approach is to build a team that can have "sustainable success". Outside of LT and maybe RT, the Texans are in a position to draft the best player available twice in the first round the next three years. Mills may not be the guy, but if you can hit on the other picks including some of those in the later rounds of the draft, you might set up a pretty solid team that is a QB away from being competitive.

I'd bet this is where Caserio is going. Build a solid team that can compete and if you need a QB, suddenly you are a place where a good/great FA may want to go for a championship run.

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The coaching hot seat immediately went to 9 for Kevin Stefanski. They finished tied for third in their division at 8-9 with Baltimore. They gave up the least points in their division at 371, but the other 3 teams were all close together.

Team Points for (per game)/ Against (per game)
Cincinnati 460 / 376 - 27.1 / 22.1
Pittsburgh 343 / 398 - 20.2 / 23.4
Cleveland 349 / 371 - 20.5 / 21.8
Baltimore 387 / 392 - 22.8 / 23.1

Cincinnati was the only team in their division that scored more points than they gave up for the season. If Burrow plays behind an improved offensive line, which looks to be the case, Cincinnati should get better numbers offensively. If then can grind the clock then that should improve the other side as well by just having the defense on the field for less time.

Baltimore has invested in their defense this offseason, they should be able to improve their defensive numbers. I also don't discount that Lamar Jackson is currently playing for a contract extension, if he doesn't have a deal done by the season he'll have extra motivation. If his deal is done first then it could either way.

Pittsburgh could be in for a rough season like they haven't seen in a long time.

I don't know if Cleveland has done anything to get better defensively, but they already have a strong core, they're in a good position.

Stefanski though sometimes forgets how to coach football, he selectively forgets that he has Nick Chubb on his team and randomly stops running the ball, which got them into trouble last year. And Watson hasn't played in a while, there will be rust.

Until Cleveland shows us they're better than everyone else in that division I still say it's Cincinnati's. This prediction is before we know if there's any suspension for Watson.

1. Cincinnati
2. Cleveland
3. Baltimiore
4. Pittsburgh

Panama Red said:

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From Draftkings:

CLE +160
BAL +225
CIN +225
PIT +900

Browns won 8 games last year and destroyed them in the game Burrow played in. I would take Bengals if I had to bet based on Watson suspension, but its not like the Bengals were way above Browns last year and Browns have dramatically improved.

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Probably a flood of people trying to get bets with the old odds caused the shift. I'm honestly not sure where to put the browns next year. If the Ravens are completely healthy they probably have the most talent right now, and the Bengals have figured some things out. So the AFC north is going to be crazy, maybe as crazy as the west.

Overall, the massive wild card here is really a suspension for Watson. If he's suspended the first 6 games then you got Jacoby Brissett trying to get through those, then you have Watson coming back and trying to shake off a ton of rust. So there's a real possibility that team might not start living up to hype until game 9 of the season? Also how is that pressure going to sit with Watson if he looks bad the first 2-3 games he plays? So even though next year is probably their best window to make a championship run, from a cap perspective, they still might not make the playoffs.

All that said, I would probably still put the same odds on them making a deep playoff run as them not making the playoffs at all. I mean, this is still the Browns, a team that hasn't won their division since, I believe, the 1989 season.

Atlanta and Colts have been talking about this trade for Matt Ryan for a few days, still a couple of hurdles to finalize but hoping it gets done here soon today.

— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) March 21, 2022

Trade!! The #Falcons are in agreement on a trade of QB Matt Ryan to the #Colts, per @MikeGarafolo, @TomPelissero and me. ATL gets a 3rd back.

Fallout from the Deshaun Watson situation, with Ryan starting over in Indy. Ryan gets a contract adjustment with more guaranteed money.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 21, 2022

Did Indy dump Wentz?

Traded to Washington

Thanks

Falcons signed Mariota.

I feel like this sums up where I'm at now that Watson has finally been traded

Aaron Wilson reported something weird: a different compensation officially from what was announced. If accurate we got a better haul…

Deshaun Watson trade officially processed today @Browns and other NFL transactions and visits pic.twitter.com/wUSTxMeWtl

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) March 21, 2022

The deal is done and official. It's all speculation until the NFL confirms it.

3 1st round picks
1 3rd
2 4ths

This year it will be picks 13 and 107

As it turns out, the compensation on the blockbuster trade has changed: Browns now are giving up six draft picks for Deshaun Watson; also instead of giving up a 2024 5th-round pick, it’s now a 2024 6th-round pick, per today’s wire. pic.twitter.com/Y98WFPmYeE

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 21, 2022

Schefter confirming

canadiaggie said:

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Aaron Wilson reported something weird: a different compensation officially from what was announced. If accurate we got a better haul…

Deshaun Watson trade officially processed today @Browns and other NFL transactions and visits pic.twitter.com/wUSTxMeWtl

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) March 21, 2022

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Yeah, that looks like we gave up a 6 in 2024 with Watson and got a 1 and 4 this year, a 1 and 3 next, and then a 1 and 4 in 2024

nvm - someone else beat me to it.

Not too shabby. #107 is the 2nd pick in the 4th round. That's actually a pretty decent pick.