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NFL Offseason Thread - Who cares who won we got a draft to prepare for!

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W

Wolfgunblood Garopa

Member
Colasante said:
Swapping 4th and 5th round picks for Bess, a 4th, and a 7th is a fireable offense? The RB position was a win for the Browns. They got a first round pick for Trent Richardson. That's something to be lauded for.

I just feel like criticizing Mike Lombardi is so lazy and obvious, and there is very little to actually criticize besides perception. Why would it make sense to fire Lombardi and not to fire Dave Caldwell or Reggie McKenzie? Rebuilding teams are rebuilding teams and if Haslam somehow thought the Browns were legitimate contenders last season, then he's a god damn idiot and he's the one who deserves the blame.
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It's much worse than the picks. We went into the season counting on him, and he was a disaster. The TR trade was good, but Lombardi filled the void with practice squad backs and McGahee. If you were to evaluate the reasons why the season went the way that it did, that's up there on the list.
 
D

DeaconKnowledge

Member
Wolfgunblood Garopa said:
It's much worse than the picks. We went into the season counting on him, and he was a disaster. The TR trade was good, but Lombardi filled the void with practice squad backs and McGahee. If you were to evaluate the reasons why the season went the way that it did, that's up there on the list.
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That seems pretty silly.

Jettisoning Trent Richardson early for a 1st round pick is the smartest thing the Browns have done in a decade and if Lombardi is responsible then he should be credited. Sure they had shit to replace him with but what's the rush? There was obviously a huge amount of emphasis on the upcoming draft.

This seems to all trace back to the Chud fire. Who was ultimately responsible? If it was Haslam, then he's a buffoon who wants to Jerry Jones up the Browns. If it wasn't, then Haslam was probably embarrassed by the entire debacle (though he still made an oafish decision by firing them after taking on a new coach, but them's the Browns.)
 
W

Wolfgunblood Garopa

Member
DeaconKnowledge said:
That seems pretty silly.

Jettisoning Trent Richardson early for a 1st round pick is the smartest thing the Browns have done in a decade and if Lombardi is responsible then he should be credited. Sure they had shit to replace him with but what's the rush? There was obviously a huge amount of emphasis on the upcoming draft.

This seems to all trace back to the Chud fire. Who was ultimately responsible? If it was Haslam, then he's a buffoon who wants to Jerry Jones up the Browns. If it wasn't, then Haslam was probably embarrassed by the entire debacle (though he still made an oafish decision by firing them after taking on a new coach, but them's the Browns.)
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It's not silly, and it's not about if the trade was good or not.

Haslam doesn't want to be Jerry Jones, but he didn't want to be one of the Three Stooges, either. As soon as that stuff was getting traction, their days were numbered.
 
D

DeaconKnowledge

Member
Wolfgunblood Garopa said:
It's not silly, and it's not about if the trade was good or not.

Haslam doesn't want to be Jerry Jones, but he didn't want to be one of the Three Stooges, either. As soon as that stuff was getting traction, their days were numbered.
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You don't get to choose. Either you're a meddler (Jerral) or not.

Haslam has sealed it anyway since he said he will be the acting CEO.
 
J

jakncoke

Banned
DeaconKnowledge said:
That seems pretty silly.

Jettisoning Trent Richardson early for a 1st round pick is the smartest thing the Browns have done in a decade and if Lombardi is responsible then he should be credited. Sure they had shit to replace him with but what's the rush? There was obviously a huge amount of emphasis on the upcoming draft.

This seems to all trace back to the Chud fire. Who was ultimately responsible? If it was Haslam, then he's a buffoon who wants to Jerry Jones up the Browns. If it wasn't, then Haslam was probably embarrassed by the entire debacle (though he still made an oafish decision by firing them after taking on a new coach, but them's the Browns.)
Click to expand...

Fuckers got our 3rd , hope shark turns out.

Also Browns fans really need to realize you were never going to win anything last year. Regardless who you had at RB. You are in rebuilding mode and still dont have a franchise qb.
 
B

Bread

Banned
RBH said:
Hello friend. :)



dog-stroking-cat-stop-nope-13587860563.gif
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wow that's a lot of responsibility, good luck rbh!
 
T

The Artful Dodger

Member
Man, this is surreal...watching BrownsGAF justify the moves their owners make reminds me of the last 10 or so years with Al Davis...so this is what it's like on the other side...
 
W

Wolfgunblood Garopa

Member
DeaconKnowledge said:
You don't get to choose. Either you're a meddler (Jerral) or not.

Haslam has sealed it anyway since he said he will be the acting CEO.
Click to expand...

I really don't see him as that type of owner, and there's no indication that he is (other than taking charge of the Pettine hire, which was understandable after seeing how things went this season). He's somewhere in between Randy Lerner and Jones.

To add to the previous point- Haslam obviously had expectations for this season. If Lombardi was sacrificing winning now for the off season, he severely misrepresented the owner's intent, which is more evidence that he's not the right GM here.
 
L

LJ11

Member
DeaconKnowledge said:
That seems pretty silly.

Jettisoning Trent Richardson early for a 1st round pick is the smartest thing the Browns have done in a decade and if Lombardi is responsible then he should be credited. Sure they had shit to replace him with but what's the rush? There was obviously a huge amount of emphasis on the upcoming draft.

This seems to all trace back to the Chud fire. Who was ultimately responsible? If it was Haslam, then he's a buffoon who wants to Jerry Jones up the Browns. If it wasn't, then Haslam was probably embarrassed by the entire debacle (though he still made an oafish decision by firing them after taking on a new coach, but them's the Browns.)
Click to expand...

On the flip side, they were dangling their best offensive talent as if he were some easily replaceable player.
 
W

Wes

venison crêpe
@WillBurge
#Browns source: Lombardi knew Farmer was taking GM role & Banner was gone. But he thought he was taking CEO job. Thats y he was so surprised

Haslam you crack me up.
 
S

squicken

Member
I can't really condemn Haslam until I know his role in hiring and firing Chud. It does seem clear, though, that he did not like Lombardi as his General Manager
 
P

PenguinPoacher

Member
Wolfgunblood Garopa said:
I really don't see him as that type of owner, and there's no indication that he is (other than taking charge of the Pettine hire, which was understandable after seeing how things went this season). He's somewhere in between Randy Lerner and Jones.

To add to the previous point- Haslam obviously had expectations for this season. If Lombardi was sacrificing winning now for the off season, he severely misrepresented the owner's intent, which is more evidence that he's not the right GM here.
Click to expand...

:kas
 
L

Lee Chaolan

Member
jakncoke said:
Fuckers got our 3rd , hope shark turns out.

Also Browns fans really need to realize you were never going to win anything last year. Regardless who you had at RB. You are in rebuilding mode and still dont have a franchise qb.
Click to expand...

Good thing we have a ton of draft picks. Time to see what Farmer can do.
 
S

squicken

Member
I can see why coaches wouldn't have wanted to play for Lombardi/Banner. They traded out of the 2013 draft, traded Richardson and shopped Gordon all year. Then when the bill came due for a poor finish, it was Chud that got the axe

Not many coaches are going to want to work in a spot where the GM is hamstringing the short term ability of the team to win games while the coach is the one responsible for making the players buy in
 
L

Lee Chaolan

Member
WanderingWind said:
Watching the Browns self destruct is basically my Super Bowl
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A team upgrading its GM position is your superbowl? :jnc

squicken said:
Not many coaches are going to want to work in a spot where the GM is hamstringing the short term ability of the team to win games while the coach is the one responsible for making the players buy in
Click to expand...

Makes ya wonder how the coach search would have went had they made today's moves first.
 
D

darkside31337

Tomodachi wa Mahou
squicken said:
I can see why coaches wouldn't have wanted to play for Lombardi/Banner. They traded out of the 2013 draft, traded Richardson and shopped Gordon all year. Then when the bill came due for a poor finish, it was Chud that got the axe

Not many coaches are going to want to work in a spot where the GM is hamstringing the short term ability of the team to win games while the coach is the one responsible for making the players buy in
Click to expand...

So a team traded away a shit player and stockpiled picks for the future and that somehow makes potential coaches less interested?

The idea that Gordon isn't tradeable is laughable. Dude is one more fuck up away from being done and his value now is higher than it will be at any point. Putting him on the market at least forced him to get his head on straight.
 
C

chuckddd

Fear of a GAF Planet
darkside31337 said:
So a team traded away a shit player and stockpiled picks for the future and that somehow makes potential coaches less interested?
Click to expand...

The fact that they fired a coach after one year for not getting results with a depleted roster makes the next potential coach less interested.
 
S

squicken

Member
darkside31337 said:
So a team traded away a shit player and stockpiled picks for the future and that somehow makes potential coaches less interested?

The idea that Gordon isn't tradeable is laughable. Dude is one more fuck up away from being done and his value now is higher than it will be at any point. Putting him on the market at least forced him to get his head on straight.
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Stockpiled picks by trading away 2013 picks as well. The Browns lack of depth, including RB, hurt them last year. Banner and Lombardi ran the team like it was built for 2014 but Chud got fired for not winning in 2013
 
S

squicken

Member
Grossi Warning

Jimmy Haslam paid $1.05 billion for the Cleveland Browns. Since the time the deal closed in October of 2012, it seemed that Haslam gave away operation of the club to Joe Banner.

On Tuesday, Haslam took it back.

In a stunning repudiation of the way the Browns were being run, Haslam fired Banner as CEO and Mike Lombardi, Banner’s hand-picked general manager.

----

Banner’s reputation as Eagles’ owner Jeff Lurie’s top aide was mixed. He was a tireless administrator and a ruthless negotiator who dreamt of dabbling in football operations more than critics felt he was qualified to do. In Cleveland, Banner appointed himself the No. 1 football authority. Haslam allowed it.

-----

But there is no getting around the fact that Banner’s insistence on running the football side and his out-of-the-box hire of Lombardi as his primary sidekick brought about his own meteoric demise.

On the day Lombardi was introduced roughly 14 months ago, Banner conceded he was “going out on a limb” by hiring Lombardi, who had been out of the NFL for five years as an analyst for various media companies.

The Browns proceeded to have one of the worst drafts in their own sorry recent history. And although the moves by Banner and Lombardi set up the Browns with 10 draft picks and more than $35 million in salary cap room, the fact is the franchise suffered a 4-12 season – a game worse than the previous regime’s lame-duck year. Haslam and Banner pinned the reversal on the Chudzinski coaching staff. But, again, Haslam’s actions spoke louder than words.

Lombardi’s controversial reputation in the 1990s as a career-climber under Bill Belichick – and then with the Oakland Raiders -- ultimately harmed the Browns’ ability to attract coaches they most desired.

-----

Lombardi’s very presence in the organization was so “toxic” that he was sequestered from routine press conferences and made unavailable to media except for three appearances – his introduction, a Q and A session before the 2013 draft, and a one-day availability in training camp.
Click to expand...
 
Y

yankeehater

Member
squicken said:
Stockpiled picks by trading away 2013 picks as well. The Browns lack of depth, including RB, hurt them last year. Banner and Lombardi ran the team like it was built for 2014 but Chud got fired for not winning in 2013
Click to expand...

I thought that Chud got fired for not playing the guys that Lombardi wanted him to play like Hoyer, and fighting those guys over cutting trash like Weeden. I think if Chud had been on board then he would still be the coach.
 
S

squicken

Member
yankeehater said:
I thought that Chud got fired for not playing the guys that Lombardi wanted him to play like Hoyer, and fighting those guys over cutting trash like Weeden. I think if Chud had been on board then he would still be the coach.
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Yeah that was also something that was mentioned. But I remember the big thing being the loss to the Jags, where like in Houston, the owner wondered why they were losing with better talent to a team (Jags) that was getting better as the year went on. It does seem like Haslam turned over the team to Banner, and realized he didn't like that setup

---


The Pro-Lombardi side from La Canfora

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer...one-man-stooge-left-in-charge-to-blame-haslam

(Let me make a personal disclaimer here as well: I worked with Mike for three years at the NFL Network, and he was someone I came to consider a friend as well as a co-worker. I cannot quantify how much I learned about football from him during that time, and I value his football IQ very highly. However, in his year on the job in Cleveland, we spoke, maybe a half dozen times total, and rarely if ever about his team. He pretty much had zero media presence, in a public or private capacity, literally from the time he took the job until now. He was not a source for me -- or darn near anyone else as best I can tell -- as he essentially went underground and focused on scouting, and at one point at least four months passed between even a casual conversation with him during the season.)
Click to expand...
 
D

darkside31337

Tomodachi wa Mahou
yankeehater said:
I thought that Chud got fired for not playing the guys that Lombardi wanted him to play like Hoyer, and fighting those guys over cutting trash like Weeden. I think if Chud had been on board then he would still be the coach.
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Yeah and the fact that Lombardi didn't hire Chud in the first place.

I think Lombardi got a pretty raw deal in the end. Browns will suck from now until eternity so whatever.
 
L

Lee Chaolan

Member
darkside31337 said:
Yeah and the fact that Lombardi didn't hire Chud in the first place.

I think Lombardi got a pretty raw deal in the end. Browns will suck from now until eternity so whatever.
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Lombardi is no big loss. With Farmer I finally feel good about the direction they're in with their offseason resources.

Anyone here get Bravely Default? Need more 3DS friends. 0619-4526-7626
 
J

JABEE

Member
yankeehater said:
I thought that Chud got fired for not playing the guys that Lombardi wanted him to play like Hoyer, and fighting those guys over cutting trash like Weeden. I think if Chud had been on board then he would still be the coach.
Click to expand...

Let's be honest here. Joe Banner has steered one shipwreck after another. He was the football authority. No one likes him. He can't draft for shit. And he fired a coach because of one disagreement over a personnel decision?

You can't operate like that. You have to be able to delegate responsibility to people that you feel can get the job done. When you start interfering and second-guessing from the CEO position, you burn any trust you have with Chud. You damage the respect players have for their coach.

These are things you don't do when you want to run a functionally sound organization. Banner is power-hungry and can never give an inch. He sabotaged his own team.

In a good organization that has principal actors who trust each other, the Trent Richardson trade would be understandable and honest communication would mitigate any kind of animosity. In an organization with a guy like Banner interfering with daily football operations, as a coach, you can't help but feel they are readying your neck for the guillotine. How do you successfully perform your job under those conditions and that level of scrutiny?
 
D

darkside31337

Tomodachi wa Mahou
JABEE said:
Let's be honest here. Joe Banner has steered one shipwreck after another. He was the football authority. No one likes him. He can't draft for shit. And he fired a coach because of one disagreement over a personnel decision?

You can't operate like that. You have to be able to delegate responsibility to people that you feel can get the job done. When you start interfering and second-guessing from the CEO position, you burn any trust you have with Chud. You damage the respect players have for their coach.

These are things you don't do when you want to run a functionally sound organization. Banner is power-hungry and can never give an inch. He sabotaged his own team.

In a good organization that has principal actors who trust each other, the Trent Richardson trade would be understandable and honest communication would mitigate any kind of animosity. In an organization with a guy like Banner interfering with daily football operations, as a coach, you can't help but feel they are readying your neck for the guillotine. How do you successfully perform your job under those conditions and that level of scrutiny?
Click to expand...

Why would there be any animosity for this?

Trading Trent for a 1st round pick is one of the best trades made in recent times. Whoever was the central figure responsible for the deal should have got an extension, not a firing.
 
C

Colasante

Member
JABEE said:
Let's be honest here. Joe Banner has steered one shipwreck after another. He was the football authority. No one likes him. He can't draft for shit. And he fired a coach because of one disagreement over a personnel decision?

You can't operate like that. You have to be able to delegate responsibility to people that you feel can get the job done. When you start interfering and second-guessing from the CEO position, you burn any trust you have with Chud. You damage the respect players have for their coach.

These are things you don't do when you want to run a functionally sound organization. Banner is power-hungry and can never give an inch. He sabotaged his own team.

In a good organization that has principal actors who trust each other, the Trent Richardson trade would be understandable and honest communication would mitigate any kind of animosity. In an organization with a guy like Banner interfering with daily football operations, as a coach, you can't help but feel they are readying your neck for the guillotine. How do you successfully perform your job under those conditions and that level of scrutiny?
Click to expand...

But how were the Browns a shipwreck? People keep saying things to that effect, but seriously, what did Banner or Lombardi do last season that was so detestable? I thought firing Chud was their only real mistake. They pushed their chips from a weak 2013 draft into a loaded 2014 draft, gaining another 1st and 3rd round pick. They had a solid, if unspectacular free agency haul- Kruger didn't live up to his deal, but Desmond Bryant was a great addition, and their additions were in total more impressive than the Colts or Patriots, for instance.

They didn't draft a QB in 2013 and made it clear that they would be drafting one in 2014, just like the Jaguars and Raiders did. Why does it make sense to give Reggie McKenzie and Dave Caldwell another year, but not Banner and Lombardi?
 
S

squicken

Member
Colasante said:
They didn't draft a QB in 2013 and made it clear that they would be drafting one in 2014, just like the Jaguars and Raiders did. Why does it make sense to give Reggie McKenzie and Dave Caldwell another year, but not Banner and Lombardi?
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Seems like they missed on Chip Kelly b/c he didn't want to report to Banner. Chud was a curious choice as a head coach that Banner fired after one year, and when they went to find a new coach, no one wanted to deal with that power structure (have ot wonder what Chud was telling potential coaches who called and asked for his opinion). Once Haslam decided to have the coach and GM report to him directly, he didn't need Banner.

I guess he fired Lombardi since that was Banner's guy? Or that he was hated by the local media?
 
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