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Browns Looked to Deal for Chiefs QB Alex Smith Before He Was Dealt to Washington

January 31st, 2018

CJ

Posted in News

The Browns interest in Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith was real for sure, but in the end the Chiefs decided they would rather deal with a team from the NFC, trading him Tuesday night to the Washington Redskins.

Mary Kay Cabot of the Plain Dealer reported after the deal to the Redskins was done that indeed the Browns attempted to get Smith, but the Chiefs decided to deal with the Skins instead.

This last season was the best for the 33-year-old Smith, who started the season 6-0 before falling on hard times but still winning the AFC West.

Smith threw for career-highs in passing yards (4,042), touchdowns (26) and passer rating (104.7), throwing just five interceptions this past season for the Chiefs.

The move for the Redskins to get Smith could mean the door is open for Kirk Cousins, who obviously won’t be back in D.C. after the Redskins also agreed on a four-year extension with Smith.

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Video: Tiki and Tierney of CBS Discuss Josh Allen Wanting to Be Drafted by the Browns

January 25th, 2018

CJ

Posted in Opinions, Video

Tiki and Tierney discuss the comments of NFL Draft prospect Josh Allen on wanting to be the next franchise quarterback for the Browns.

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Browns Coach Hue Jackson Says No One Forced Him to Hire an Offensive Coordinator

January 24th, 2018

Randy Ward

Posted in News

SI.com

Todd Haley was announced officially toady as the new Browns offensive coordinator, and with it comes the hope that he can take the play calling duties off the plate of head coach Hue Jackson.

Many felt it was time that Jackson brought in someone to help with the dreadful Browns offense, but if you ask the coach who has gone 1-31 in two season if he was forced to make a hire of an OC, he will flat out tell you no – the very thing he said today to Mary Kay Cabot of the Plain Dealer.

“No, let me say this and let me go on record and you guys can write this: No one ever told me I needed to hire an offensive coordinator,” Jackson said via Cabot. “I could still be calling the plays for the Cleveland Browns. That is what I thought was best for us.

“I made a decision that I thought the best thing for me to do was to become the CEO of this organization in that way. No one forced me, no one asked me and no one told me I had to. This was my decision and what I thought was best for us moving forward. Did I lean on people to ask them advice? Yes, I did. Was John Dorsey one of those people? Yes, he was. Was Jimmy Haslam one of those people? Yes, he was. That is what you do. You use your resources, but nobody, no one, whether it is John or Jimmy, ever told me that this is what I needed to do. Nobody.”

So you can debate if Jackson simply wanted to have someone else to take the fall if the offense goes south, or he’s lying. Either way, Haley is aboard so the team will have someone to give their input as to how to make the Browns better once the 2018 season begins.

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Baker Mayfield Doesn’t Want to Be Compared to Former Browns QB Johnny Manziel

January 24th, 2018

Stephen Schindler

Posted in News

Baker Mayfield has no plans to show anybody the money here at the Senior Bowl, Mary Kay Cabot of the Plain Dealer reports.

He’s also not here to talk into his money phone, float on an inflatable swan or masquerade as Billy Mayfield.

The Oklahoma product is determined to shed the inevitable comparisons to fellow Heisman Trophy winner and former Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel, who’s out of the NFL and trying to make a comeback in the Canadian Football League.

?Like Manziel, Mayfield has been arrested and this season taunted the Kansas sidelines with his infamous crotch grab. Both incidents went viral on the Internet, including the arrest in Fayetteville, Ark., for public intoxication, disorderly conduct and fleeing and resisting arrest. Mayfield was ultimately tackled hard into a wall by a police officer during the arrest.

“(I want to show) the type of guy I am,” he said. “Everybody wants to portray the bad boy, the Johnny Manziel stuff, but I love the game of football. There’s no doubt about that. Emotional player. I’ll do anything it takes to win. I love being around my teammates and I love leading and having responsibility.”

Is it annoying and frustrating to get lumped in with Manziel?

“It is what it is,” he said. “If I paid too much attention to it, then I’d be focusing on the wrong things. But I came down here to play the game and show them that I love playing it.”

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Browns OT Joe Thomas Still Not Sure About His Future in the NFL

January 18th, 2018

Stephen Schindler

Posted in Injuries, News

After missing a good chunk of 2017 due to injury, Browns fans might have to get use to not seeing Joe Thomas line up at tackle anymore, as the future Hall of Famer still isn’t 100 percent sure he’s coming back in 2018.

Thursday night at the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel Downtown, Thomas spoke about trying to come back from injury, and both the physical and mental issues that go along with it.

“Had a lot of time to think and spend some time with the family but not ready definitively to make a decision one way or the other just yet,” Thomas said.

But is he leaning one way or the other?

“I wouldn’t say so. I think there’s some days you go back and forth,” Thomas replied. “I think it’s just kind of as I’m starting to work myself back into shape, it’s just kind of how you feel.”

Thomas said he recently had a 12-week checkup on his surgically repaired left triceps tendon. His legendary consecutive snap streak ended at 10,363 and he missed the final nine games of the 2017 season after the tendon ruptured Oct. 22 against the Tennessee Titans.

As of now, Thomas does not know when he may or may not make the final decision to either come back again in 2018 for the Browns, or walk away from the game all together.

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Former Giants Coach Ben McAdoo Talking to the Browns About the OC Job

January 16th, 2018

Ryan Kaczmarski

Posted in News

Fired Giants coach Ben McAdoo is interviewing for the Browns offensive coordinator job today in Berea, a league source told Mary Kay Cabot of the Plain Dealer.

McAdoo, fired by the Giants on Dec. 4 along with GM Jerry Reese when the team was 2-10, has ties to John Dorsey and would be a strong candidate to call plays here because of his experience.

He spent seven years in Green Bay with Dorsey from 2006 through 20012, where he served as tight ends coach from 2006-11 and quarterbacks coach in 2014 and 2015.

Fired Titans coach Mike Mularkey is on the Browns’ radar for head coach Hue Jackson’s offensive coordinator opening, a league source told cleveland.com. Jackson would be willing to hand over play-calling duties to an experienced coordinator such Mularkey, 56.

He’s also interviewed Texans quarterbacks coach Sean Ryan and talked to several others for the job.

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Mike Mularkey Being Considered by the Browns for Teams’ OC Job

January 15th, 2018

Dan Taylor

Posted in News

Mary Kay Cabot of the Plain Dealer reports ex-Titans coach Mike Mularkey “is on the Browns’ radar for their offensive coordinator opening.”

Head coach Hue Jackson is expected to hire a coordinator for the first time in his tenure in Cleveland but the search has been awfully quiet. Mularkey unexpectedly became available this morning after “mutually parting ways” with the Titans and would bring 23 years of NFL coaching experience, including five-plus as a head coach and eight as a coordinator. He served as coordinator for the Steelers, Dolphins and Falcons.

That said, the primary reason for his firing from the Titans is the regression of the offense and perceived lack of development of quarterback Marcus Mariota in 2017. The Titans still went 9-7 in Mularkey’s two full years at the helm-a record that Browns fans can only dream of.

Jackson has said he would be willing to hand over play-calling duties to an experienced coordinator and the 56-year-old Mularkey certainly fits the bill. That may be why Texans QB coach Sean Ryan left Cleveland without a contract after his interview last week, as Ryan has made it clear he wants to call plays as the OC but has no experience doing so.

On the other hand, in Jackson’s other recent hires he seems to be making certain that he has no one on his staff capable of taking the reins on an interim basis should owner Jimmy Haslem decide to jettison the 1-31 Jackson if the team gets off to another disastrous start in 2018. Jackson could perceive Mularkey as a threat.

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Giants WR Coach Adam Henry Joining the Browns on a Three-Year Deal

January 11th, 2018

Stephen Schindler

Posted in News

The Browns are adding another piece to their coaching staff, as NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport states that Giants wide receivers coach Adam Henry has left the team to join the Browns coaching staff on a three year deal.

#Giants WRs coach Adam Henry signed a 3-year deal with the #Browns, per his agent Rocky Arceneaux. Cleveland hopes the former #LSU WRs coach who worked so well with Odell Beckham does the same for Josh Gordon.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 11, 2018

From the tweet that Rapoport sent out, it sounds like they have high hopes that Henry will be able to come in and motivate a wide out core that had its share of issues in 2018.

Henry had been with the Giants for the past two seasons and was Odell Beckham Jr.’s WR coach at LSU, a job he held from 2012-14.

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