read my damn mind. Pats vs Vikings and I'm in Minneapolis for two nights. Tickets are too expensive but the hype would be far too real to ignore.

I would be surprised if Hue isn’t at the Browns still in 2019. Dorsey will spend a load of money this offseason, they have a load of draft picks and they were unlucky this year by the Pythagorean scale

My guess would be they’ll finish in the 5-8 win range and there’s no way they fire a coach who improved by that much

Their Pythagorean wins were the same as last year, the difference is they had an easier schedule this year.

Who could they possibly get in the draft/free agency that turns them into an 8 win team? They play the AFC South and NFC West next season, and the only teams from those divisions they could possibly beat (Raiders, Bucs, Broncos) they're playing away from home. Although maybe Chargers can bail them out again

There's no way a competent coach/GM combo couldn't win 8+ games with the Browns next year.

As it is, they'll probably win 5 with a pythag of 8 because Hue is that clueless, & they'll give him an extension.

One would think a good coach would outperform Pythag.

How does Pythagorean work? And do we really need to shorten that word?

Ryan Pace being extended til 2021 seems rather extravagant. I guess they are all really excited about Mitchell T still and also that they want the new coach to know they will need to partner with Pace etc etc but I hope they force him to have big pics of John Fox, Mike Glennon and Kevin White in his office to remind him of a few of his mistakes

Ted Thompson bumped upstairs in Green Bay. No longer to supervise personnel

It seems overlong to me, but functionally I imagine it's going to be "Okay, you got your QB, you're getting to pick your coach, here's your assurance that you'll get to see it through as to whether it works." If after 3 years it isn't working (or 2 if it really isn't) he'll probably be let go.

Wish there was some way this would happen because I would bet infinite against it

Are the Kevin White injuries on Pace? Was there something in his medical history that should have been a red flag?

On what grounds? Their roster is legit fine outside of QB, their only decent FA is Crowell, they have $110m to spend, & have picks 1, 4, 33, 35, the Eagles 2nd & 65.

QB - Kizer/Kessler

Sucks, but I think they probably would have won 2 or 3 games with Kessler. I said from the moment they drafted Kizer they should play him all year to ensure the #1 pick & it worked out.

Have the 1st pick & maybe 1 of those guys is ready, or maybe they could give FU $ to your boy Kirk & put the ceiling at 11 or 12 wins.

RB - DUKE

Duke is a fine 3rd down back. They could easily bring in another RB to complement him via free agency or draft. Crowell was fine, but in terms of athleticism & skillz he's a JAG, but they could bring him back if Hue didn't piss him off too much.

WR - Gordon/Coleman/Higgins/Louis

Gordon was ~fine. 18.6 ypc, 1k pace after sitting out forever. 42% catch rate is bad, buuuuuut Kizer. He's an ERFA so they can either bring him back for like nothing, or trade him.

Coleman has shown some flashes, embarrassing 0-16 loss ensuring drop notwithstanding.

Higgins/Louis & the other guys on the roster are nothing special, but they're not totally useless. Definitely some reasonable free agent options out there to strengthen this unit.

TE - Nkoku/DeValve/Telfer

Njoku is raw, but he doesn't turn 22 until July & had a perfectly reasonable rookie TE season. He should develop into a really dangerous weapon. The other guys are whatever.

OL - JThomas/Zeitler/Bitonio/Tretter/Coleman

Seems like they have the ability to be one of the better lines in the league.

DE - Garrett/Nassib/Ogbah

Garrett had an excellent rookie year besides injury & Nassib/Ogbah both seem fine. All 3 are 24 or younger & solid contributors.

DT - Shelton/Coley/Ogunjobi/Brantley

Shelton is also 24 & has been a reputable run stopper. The other 3 were all rookies this year & all were at least somewhat passable. Could upgrade there.

OLB - Collins/Kirksey/Orchard

Collins only played 5 games this year, but he's a versatile effective player who should make a difference next year if healthy.

Kirksey was a fairly effective WLB after moving from ILB when Williams took over.

MLB - Schobert

Schobert seems fine. 144 tackles, pro bowl after switching from OLB.

CB - McCourty/Taylor/Boddy-Calhoun/Jordan

Some ok depth guys, but they could definitely use a top end corner. Could draft one and/or add in FA.

S - Peppers/Kindred

I mean they weren't like good, but Peppers could be someday.

K/P - Gonzalez/BColquitt

Gonzalez wasn't great, but should be fine. Colquitt was good.

So yeah, some good building blocks, lots of young guys who should be improving, some good places for clear upgrades, & tons of resources to make it happen.

Mainly because the legit fine roster outside of QB still won zero games, and it's really hard to find a good QB. Backing the truck up for Kirk or one of the draft QBs being the next Watson as well as going to the Browns is the only way they can get close.

New GM going to fire McCarthy after 1 season of evaluation? He's such a bad coach, but people like him for some reason so did the GM end up taking the fall for Rodgers being injured and the team looking terrible? When will people realize that he's awful?

Hard to overcome terrible QB play + terrible coaching.

Yup, and the terrible coaching might be another understated worry when trying to get free agents.

Basically just sorting by QB matchup?


What I'm curious about is how matchup is going to affect ticket price.

I assume anything involving pats/steelers/vikings/eagles is going to be the most expensive matchup but not really sure. In my mind with the game being in Minnesota I think the vikings being in the game would inflate prices a lot due to elimination of the travel aspect but I've had friends argue that everyone in MN is too poor for that to matter.

Tough to see people from the more southern states dying to go to sub-zero degree minneapolis imo.

Head asplode...

Browns are also searching for an OC to replace HUE.

Can someone hire Herm Edwards so he doesn't coach ASU? Thanks.

Only idiots who don't watch football were doing that with Foles.

Here are some lists of head coach interviews teams have planned:

Giants
* Eagles DC Jim Schwartz.
* Patriots DC Matt Patricia.
* Patriots OC Josh McDaniels.
* Panthers DC Steve Wilks.
* Former Broncos assistant HC/RBs coach Eric Studesville.

Other names associated with the job include Mike Munchak, Pat Shurmur, Matt Nagy, Mike Vrabel & BOB if he becomes available.

Lions
* Texans DC Mike Vrabel.
* Panthers DC Steve Wilks.
* Patriots DC Matt Patricia.
* Vikings OC Pat Shurmur.
* Lions DC Teryl Austin.

Bears
* Panthers DC Steve Wilks.
* Eagles QBs coach John DeFilippo.
* Vikings OC Pat Shurmur
* Patriots OC Josh McDaniels

DeFilippo is supposed to be the leading candidate.

Colts
* Patriots OC Josh McDaniels.
* Panthers DC Steve Wilks.
* Texans DC Mike Vrabel.
* Patriots OC Josh McDaniels.
* Chiefs OC Matt Nagy.
* Chiefs ST coach Dave Toub.
* Seahawks DC Kris Richard.

Tom Cable is also supposed to get serious consideration, but it might be Nagy or Toub because of the GM's ties to KC.

Cardinals
* Vikings OC Pat Shurmur.
* Eagles QBs coach John DeFilippo.
* Eagles DC Jim Schwartz.
* Patriots DC Matt Patricia.
* Patriots LB coach Brian Flores.
* Steelers OL coach Mike Munchak.

Shurmur might be the leading candidate.

& I guess Gruden to the Raiders is basically a fait accompli.

Would be the Pats' fourth SB appearance in seven years, surely everyone who was gonna blow live savings on attending one will have done so by now

Or people trolling BOIDS

(clickable smirk-face)

Nice smirk-face link!