I don't care about the Browns, but I'm happy for their fans. Team has sucked since 1987 but the fans still attend games. Now they'll have a reason. It will be funny watching them whip the Steelers.

Yes, that will be great :cool:

Didn't that happen when they changed back to the 4-3 and said he didn't fit the scheme? I don't think I liked it either at the time

Wow that is a young talented offense. Will be fun to watch. AFC North should look out. Did the Browns win the off season?

Yeah, they chose Hunt instead basically. Anderson has been in a 3-4 since college as a 5-tech.

KC traded Dee Ford to SF for a 2020 2nd round pick. That angers me.

Ok, I get the patience approach that Ballard takes, but we have cap money and picks, we could have easily made many of these moves.

Watching pass rushers disappear sucks

A little too quiet and reserved with that much cap room... dont want him to be stupid but damnit something!

I just hope that Turay and Lewis make the proverbial 2nd year leap, because if the don't I have know idea where the pass rush will come from !! Dee Ford for a 2nd and not even this year !!!

KC probably isn't keen on trading him at that price to a team they faced in the playoffs--even though it was a cakewalk. So yeah, out of conference discount possibly.

Browns now working a 3 year deal for Earl Thomas. They just might be pretty good.

I agree with Chromeburn, they're winning the off season so far. The Raiders thought they were, but nope.

For a freakin 7th round pick. I’m not sure who that pick was used on but I guarantee you that guy won’t help the Colts as much as Anderson would have.

That dude was a baller.

Colts are resigning Chris Milton to a 1 year contract.

Championship!!!!

Packers are doing a pretty good job too.

Looking at the Browns roster, not just the offensive fire power, but now with Oliver Vernon to go with Myles Garrett, holy smokes. I would say John Dorsey is all in & doesn't want to waste any time with Baker Mayfield. What a concept?!

It appears that they're going for it early having Mayfield at the helm, but that's a huge amount of talent/salary that won't be sustainable for very long. I hope they're successful other than against us because their fans deserve it. I actually want to watch some Browns games this season. I don't know if I've ever said that before

Who wants to give me odds on the Colts winning more games and advancing further in the playoffs than the Browns?

Adam Schefter‏Verified account @AdamSchefter

Le’Veon Bell: 4 years, $52.5 million with the Jets, per source.

:cool:

For fucks sake. Maybe we would have had to pay more as mentioned, but seriously!? Come on man.

I'm not convinced he would've done well as a hand-down DE.

I’d argue it’s worth a 2020 2nd rounder to figure that out.

It also bears mentioning that as a part of that trade, the 49ers signed him to a five-year, $87.5MM contract ($17.5M average annual value) with $45 million in guarantees. So you'd need to be okay with doing that as well if you're going to complain about the Colts failure to make this move. Not saying its a bad or good deal, since I don't know a whole lot about Dee Ford, but just that the financial aspects of these kind of deals are often ignored and the focus is only on the draft pick compensation.

Not at that salary, not worth the gamble that he can play in a 4-3 … :cool:

I read that KC thought he was a bad fit for the 4-3 they are changing to. We are "losing" the off season. Good. Its a rare duck that "wins" the off season and repeats in the real season. Keep doing what you're doing Ballard (although Luck to Beckham would have been a sight to see-I understand not having 50-60 million tied up in your qb and top two recievers)

I don't know that I would've wanted the Colts to give him that salary had he hit the open market.

But it wasn't just a 2020 2nd. It was a 2020 2nd + a 5 year $87.5MM contract. That changes the risk calculus.

That, and we already know he can't play the run very well, too. As much pissing and moaning as there is in the Funchess thread, that's a one year deal and all they lose is some of the abundance of cap space. That deal for Ford would have been awful.

Holder said the Colts were also wary of why KC would be trying to move him. Is there a locker room issue? They are also moving to a 4-3, so they may not see him as a scheme fit.

Yep - of COURSE Dee Ford is worth next year's 2nd round pick. Nobody can reasonably question that. It's the contract that makes this a harder question (and the very reason why the 49ers could get him for a 2nd in the first place).

Next year's second round pick, even if he plays well, might not make $17.5m in his first four years combined, and if he flames out the damage to the team is far less than if Dee Ford flames out at that contract.

I try to remember exactly what the plan is that Ballard has. Build thru the trenches. He has got the offensive line on the right path. We all can see that the defensive line need development. There are upgrades available in free agency but nobody that is a game changer. Does anybody really worry about Flowers when you play NE? Stay the course and don't overpay. You may lose out on a great player once in a while but the vast majority of time you're just paying a guy for the performance he gave another team. Very happy with how free agency is going. We are trying to build a balanced team. This group has earned my trust

Well said. I agree.

Ford played in a 4-3 scheme in college at Auburn. So I think all the "scheme fit" talk is a little overblown. The 49'ers run a 4-3 scheme, too.

I think the bigger concern was handing over that large of a contract to a player that has had some inconsistencies, stats wise.

Ford's sack totals the first 5 years of his career - 1.5, 4.0, 10.0, 2.0 (only played 6 games), 13.0.

Ford's QB hits - 5, 11, 17, 7, 29.

I realize that very few pass rushers become available and free agent contracts can be rather bloated but he got a very nice contract. I assume the 49'ers hope he can replicate last year's totals every year of that deal. I don't think Kansas City thought he could produce consistently at that level.

I've been assuming it for a month now--expect a DL and DE at 26 & 34. That'll give the team 4 players on the DL who were 1st and 2nd round picks of the Colts. And the grand total is 6 if you include Sheard (2nd round in 2011) and Hunt (2nd round in 2013).

Appears the Cheats and DE John Simon are working on a new deal. Expected to be finalized today.


https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/1105805792836497409

I don't think Ford was being considered. Ford has too many question marks and also he isn't that great against the run. Ballard has said he wants his ends to be able to defend the run as well. Turay was awful in run defense last year, he doesn't want another guy out there with him compounding the problem. I think he went after both Smiths but he didn't want to spend that much. I don't think he was interested in Flowers, everyone knew Miami and Detroit were going to chase him.

Good for him, we should not have cut him. But it all worked out from his perspective.

Yeah it worked out great for Simon. He won a SB and is getting a new contract. Both at the time and now, it looked/looks pretty dumb to cut him and then later cut whoever that 2nd year player is that couldn't hack it.