Reported today that the Raiders agreed in principle to a contract with Pat's offensive left tackle, Trent Brown. Brown is listed at 6'8" and 380. Good lord!!! There are also reports that the Raiders are one of the teams with whom La'veon Bell is considering signing. Paying premium dollar for FA running backs has been shown to be unnecessary, but the Raiders have not been one of those teams that has been able to find discount help at the position. We also traded former all-pro guard, Kelechi Osemele, to the Jets, but don't know what Seems like Gruden's plan is to use FA for the offense so perhaps defense will be addressed in the draft (3 first rounders and a second). As much as I rode Gruden last season for some of his more controversial decisions, gotta be honest, so far, I like what he's been doing in the off season.
So, Joe Flacco is heading to Denver. Didn’t see that one coming, honestly. Well, at least he’s walking in the door with a ring, which is more than I could say for most of the QB flotsam that Elway has been taking in since Peyton left. Maybe there’s a chance there.
I don't know about the Jets, but so far, the Raiders' signings have been at positions at which they were weak last season and it doesn't appear that they have wildly overpaid for anyone. How is that "throwing money at the wall?" Looks to me like Gruden has a plan, which at this point, is all anyone can ask. The only question is, will it work out. LaMarcus Joiner at safety is another position of need. Although on Mason and Ireland today, Mason said Joiner was a disappointment last season. Mason is a Rams fan who hates the Raiders so, grain of salt. But regardless he is still going to be an upgrade for us.
Plenty of signings and moves today, but the biggest are Le'Veon Bell to the NY Jets and Odell Beckham traded to Cleveland. I'm loving the way the Browns look this year just as a football fan who appreciates talent. Yes, the Browns actually seem like a talented roster. The Steelers and Ravens both seem weaker, the Bengals are starting over with a totally green head coach... good time to be a Browns fan, methinks.
Alex, I'll take "statements I never thought I'd see before hell froze over" for $1000 Seriously though, should be interesting to watch the Browns this year
The Browns are the #1 most dysfunctional organization in the NFL, possibly the world, and the Raiders are a close second. It'll be interesting to see if either team, with all the draft picks, signings & trades can get into +.500 territory and have any sustained success. They both certainly looked better at times last year than they had in years.
This is an espn story I posted a while back about the Browns. That's epic levels of dysfunction to overcome. Even if there is overall improvement at some point, I'm not sure they're the right team to turn Kareem Hunt around.
They've got a first time head coach that now has one of the most volatile players in the league on his roster. I'll wait to reserve judgement.
Al was definitely the tops when it came to crazy, but Mark doesn't seem to be too far behind his dad. And it doesn't fly as well these days as it did when Al was alive. As always, time will tell.