Orion

A couple (or a few now) years ago the New Orleans Saints came to play us in one of the coldest football games on record. Watson had 3 TD passes go by the boards because they either slid right through frozen fingers or the receiver slipped and fell as the ball was just about to get to him. The Saints had a crippled offense and had to run the Wild Cat about half the time...but that southern dome team beat us...in OUR house...in what was supposed to be OUR weather...and killed our playoff chances. It is NOT a home field advantage. The human beings playing on our team hate it as much as the human beings on other teams. Anthony Walker told his agent to find him somewhere warm to play because he's sick of playing in the Cleveland weather. And you know darned well that he's not the only player telling his agent that they don't want to play in Cleveland's weather. Watson was about to become a Falcon or a Saint. Cleveland was stated as OUT of the running for Watson. So Halsem had to guarantee him a quarter billion dollars to come to us. Here's an idea, build a dome, but enclose one small section and pump in COLD, SNOW & RAIN so the numb-nuts who want to sit in that weather can enjoy the games their way.

I hear ya!

Ask the Ghoul if games should be played outside of the US.

(I saw your Just Kidding comment) - Being pessimistic means you won't be disappointed. But I think that I'm being a realist.

Sure, we can come up with lots of exceptions. Brian Sipe was drafted in round 13. That would make him an undrafted free agent in today's draft. And there's Brock Purdy and Don Nottingham. But exceptions do not make up 'the rule'. I would wager that the vast majority of players drafted in the 6th & 7th rounds do not go on to help their team very much. I'd guess that most of them don't last in the NFL for more than a year or two. I've said before that 7th round players are basically UFA's that you don't have to coax to come to your team for training camp. Donavan Peoples-Jones was a 6th round pick. And he turned out to be a cornerbacks dream receiver. He was a 2 receptions per game guy...in today's pass-happy NFL. (forgive me DPJ as I did like your effort and the contested catches that you did make) And YES, ideally you would like to find gems in the last 2 rounds. But realistically that doesn't happen all that often. And to have 6 picks in those rounds.....I think I'd try and trade some of those picks for a couple of veterans where you know what you're getting and they can man a position that you really needed help at. And even if those veterans are stop-gap players, it buys you time until the next draft. All that said, we don't turn down compensatory picks...even if they're just 7th round picks. And if ya don't trade any picks, you draft the best guys you can and hope you found a gem.

According to draft value charts, 6th round picks don't carry much value. Certainly more than the lousy ONE draft value point that is the majority of the 7th round...but not substantial draft value points. Even in your scenario, you'd have to be using a pretty high 4th round pick to be getting yourself above the bottom of the 3rd round. Of course, the reality is, draft day trades are not governed by some sites' draft value chart. So, if you can find a sucker, er, I mean a trade partner, well, you're golden. And that does happen at every draft. Just not very often. But I do see veteran players being traded for 6th round draft picks. That's why I say we'll probably do something like that with one or more of those low value draft picks.

Possibly. But I don't think that 6th & 7th round picks have much 'move up' value at the draft. They do seem to have some value before and during the season when trading for a player. (moreso for the 6th round picks) The 2025 draft is obviously a long time off but I don't see the Browns wanting to draft 10 players...especially with 6 of 'em coming in the final 2 rounds of the draft. I mean, that's 20% of a team (almost).

6 picks in the bottom two rounds. Not much to get excited about there. I'm thinking that some of those picks will be traded away before next April.

Ya know, I never watch pregame shows. I turn on a football game when it's time for kick-off. But that's just me.

I understand the power of benching the player. It's humiliating. But I just don't like punishing the whole rest of the team, which is what taking out your starting QB does. The fine affects just the player. I would just tell Watson, If you take on tacklers instead of sliding we're going to fine you and we're going to let Roger GoToHell calculate the dollar amount.

^ Thank you. I've said pretty much that, except I chose to Fine and not bench the player.

As it relates to the QB I would prefer RPO be PROB. Pass, if ya can't pass then Run and slide if it's safe, or throw it OB.

Why is it sticking in my craw that somewhere I read Stef commenting on Winston and saying something like he's much more capable on the move than people think?

Maybe you're right. But I'm not sure it matters....because I don't think that Haslem & DePo care what fits Stef better. I think those two have their vision and Berry & Stef have to march in that direction. - Plus, Flacco is too old to hitch a wagon to.

Ya know, I just don't think that they entertained that idea. Flacco is a very old school QB. As much as I (perhaps you, and others) would like/love that, it doesn't match the current organizational mindset. They want backup QB's to have traits to more match Watson and the rpo style.