Semi-OT: Browns considered Jimmy G in the 1st round

Morning kickoff: Pettine's biggest regrets were Browns' top two picks of 2014 draft
Obviously, the news isn't that the Browns did something stupid. Although when you connect it with the $100K they spent on a report that concluded Bridgewater was the best QB in the draft, then ignored that report, well, it's the Browns. What can you do?

But I found it interesting to hear from Pettine that they were considering Carr and Jimmy G. There's an alternate universe where Jimmy gets drafted in the first round. To the Browns. Who suck in that universe too, like all universes.

Jimmy should be so thankful he ended up where he did. Actually, anywhere but Cleveland.

convertedpatsfan said:

Morning kickoff: Pettine's biggest regrets were Browns' top two picks of 2014 draft

A painful look back: The morning of his first draft as Cleveland Browns coach in 2014, Mike Pettine knew the team would take a quarterback with its second of two first-round draft picks.

“The two guys we felt good about were [Derek] Carr and [Jimmy] Garoppolo,” Pettine said Tuesday. “Just projecting the guys we thought would be there, we all thought [Teddy] Bridgewater would be gone.”

But in one of those epic draft-day surprises that changes the fortunes of a franchise, and alters the lives of so many others, the Browns wound up taking Johnny Manziel after a trade up from No. 26 to No. 22.
​

Obviously, the news isn't that the Browns did something stupid. Although when you connect it with the $100K they spent on a report that concluded Bridgewater was the best QB in the draft, then ignored that report, well, it's the Browns. What can you do?

But I found it interesting to hear from Pettine that they were considering Carr and Jimmy G. There's an alternate universe where Jimmy gets drafted in the first round. To the Browns. Who suck in that universe too, like all universes.

Jimmy should be so thankful he ended up where he did. Actually, anywhere but Cleveland.

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Why would he be thankful sitting in the bench here when he could have played there? If he really is worthy of being taken in the first he could have been the answer to turn the team around.

AndyJohnson said:

Why would he be thankful sitting in the bench here when he could have played there? If he really is worthy of being taken in the first he could have been the answer to turn the team around.

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Have you ever BEEN to Cleveland?

So was it Jimmy who decided to pick Manziel? Who's the idiot who made the decision. I'd really like to know.

Wonder what they think of him now?

So ok, let the Browns pick whomever Belichick wants this year. They get Garappolo in a trade after the draft.

Starting Patriot QB week 1-4 (GFY Goodell) Edelman/Amendola

Wheelman said:

So was it Jimmy who decided to pick Manziel? Who's the idiot who made the decision. I'd really like to know.

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The homeless guy on the corner had a say. We know that much for sure.

It's fair to say the Browns have drafted and managed their team miserably in the past several years. However, trading Trent Richardson to the Dolts for a 1st rounder was a stroke of Machiavellian genius.

TheFlyingWedge said:

It's fair to say the Browns have drafted and managed their team miserably in the past several years. However, trading Trent Richardson to the Dolts for a 1st rounder was a stroke of Machiavellian genius.

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It was. Of course, the Browns were the team who selected him with one of the first overall picks to begin with, so they didn't exactly make out in the deal.

LOL at Grigson and the Colts, though. That was priceless.

TheFlyingWedge said:

It's fair to say the Browns have drafted and managed their team miserably in the past several years. However, trading Trent Richardson to the Dolts for a 1st rounder was a stroke of Machiavellian genius.

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Wasn't the mastermind of that deal "our" very own Michael Lombardi?

Danger Zone said:

Wasn't the mastermind of that deal "our" very own Michael Lombardi?

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Yeah he fleeced the idiotic Dolts - Nice!

The Browns had a rough draft in 2013 under Lombardi, but that might have been the worst draft classes of all time. It was, in retrospect, a wasteland of busts, duds, and misses across the board. When the top QB prospects are EJ Manuel and Geno Smith, the bar is set pretty low.

Well if the Browns still value Jimmy G as a first rounder... I would be willing to give him up if pick #8 in the 1st round was on the table.

It seems so much easier to just tune out when considering Browns football.

AndyJohnson said:

Why would he be thankful sitting in the bench here when he could have played there? If he really is worthy of being taken in the first he could have been the answer to turn the team around.

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Because he won a Superbowl and his chances to win another one, even sitting on the bench, outweigh being a starter in Cleveland by far.
I'd prefer winning being part of the team 100 times out of 100. It's not that he didn't contribute at all to the win; I'm sure he worked hard in the background and on the practice field.

Helps you realize why Jim Brown always seems unhappy...

convertedpatsfan said:

Have you ever BEEN to Cleveland?

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I have. The point remains a competitive athlete would choose playing on any team be riding the pine on any other every time.

Tasco said:

Because he won a Superbowl and his chances to win another one, even sitting on the bench, outweigh being a starter in Cleveland by far.
I'd prefer winning being part of the team 100 times out of 100. It's not that he didn't contribute at all to the win; I'm sure he worked hard in the background and on the practice field.

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I think jimmy G would tell you he would rather play than get a ring because he was in the team that won without him ever playing. I don't think it's even a question.

AndyJohnson said:

I have. The point remains a competitive athlete would choose playing on any team be riding the pine on any other every time.

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We got the point originally. Relax.

And I understand that every player would rather start than sit. But many players have taken lesser roles on winning teams than bigger roles on terrible teams. Jimmy hasn't had much of a role on this team, so I'm sure he would have preferred the Cleveland starting job, I agree.

But what people want and what people need are often very different. I think a few years under BB and Josh and Tom and a professional franchise rather than the cesspool of Cleveland is much better for his overall career than a few extra years of starting for the most dysfunctional franchise in the league. Bad franchises can ruin QBs quickly.

When evaluating drafts, we often place the majority, if not all of the pressure on the player. But franchises are responsible for developing talent too. The Jaguars consistently draft top-tier players that everyone thinks are great, then they suck. Are the Jaguars unlucky or consistently drafting over-rated prospects? Or do they fail to develop them?

So Jimmy G may have preferred playing the last 2 years in Cleveland, but if he gets to play 4 games to start the season and does well, he may set up a much better career path than getting beaten up and eventually replaced by the next flavour of the week in Cleveland.

TheFlyingWedge said:

It's fair to say the Browns have drafted and managed their team miserably in the past several years. However, trading Trent Richardson to the Dolts for a 1st rounder was a stroke of Machiavellian genius.

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I guess so. I consider it the sequel to Dumb and Dumber. Or Dumber and Dumberer. Or Dumberer and Dumbererer.

I mean they picked him with the #3 pick overall. They got back #26. Then they packaged it with a 3rd to move up to draft Manziel, passing on Bridgewater despite dropping $100K on a report that concluded Bridgewater was the best QB in the draft. So even when they win a trade, they lose in life.

Danger Zone said:

Wonder what they think of him now?

So ok, let the Browns pick whomever Belichick wants this year. They get Garappolo in a trade after the draft.

Starting Patriot QB week 1-4 (GFY Goodell) Edelman/Amendola

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VJCPatriot said:

Well if the Browns still value Jimmy G as a first rounder... I would be willing to give him up if pick #8 in the 1st round was on the table.

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First, I want to remind everyone that we're talking about trading our current week 1 starter. The Brady trial is ridiculous and ******** but the fact remains that if nothing changes, Jimmy is starting those first 4 games.

But these are interesting posts for another reason. If VJCPatriot's trade happened for the 8th overall pick, we would forfeit it and get our original pick back (29? 30?) in the first round instead. But if Danger Zone's scenario happened where we asked them to draft someone at 8, THEN trade, that should be fine because we're now trading for a player, not a draft pick.

It would probably be one of those little loopholes BB would expose that the league would shut down the next year.

Again, not really likely, just found it interesting to think about.

How is it that both Brady Quinn and Johnny Football got endorsement deals before ever throwing the football and both being new draftees for the worst football franchise ever?

After all, there's like 500 other football players in the league who've actually taken productive snaps for teams that have won a few games.

convertedpatsfan said:

Morning kickoff: Pettine's biggest regrets were Browns' top two picks of 2014 draft

A painful look back: The morning of his first draft as Cleveland Browns coach in 2014, Mike Pettine knew the team would take a quarterback with its second of two first-round draft picks.

“The two guys we felt good about were [Derek] Carr and [Jimmy] Garoppolo,” Pettine said Tuesday. “Just projecting the guys we thought would be there, we all thought [Teddy] Bridgewater would be gone.”

But in one of those epic draft-day surprises that changes the fortunes of a franchise, and alters the lives of so many others, the Browns wound up taking Johnny Manziel after a trade up from No. 26 to No. 22.
​

Obviously, the news isn't that the Browns did something stupid. Although when you connect it with the $100K they spent on a report that concluded Bridgewater was the best QB in the draft, then ignored that report, well, it's the Browns. What can you do?

But I found it interesting to hear from Pettine that they were considering Carr and Jimmy G. There's an alternate universe where Jimmy gets drafted in the first round. To the Browns. Who suck in that universe too, like all universes.

Jimmy should be so thankful he ended up where he did. Actually, anywhere but Cleveland.

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im sure Jimmy loves the patriots . but being drafted by Browns would have meant (1) more money and (2) probably a lot more playing time (and the ability to earn himself more money).

so i know what youre saying, but if i were jimmy i would have rather gone to cleveland

billdog3484 said:

im sure Jimmy loves the patriots . but being drafted by Browns would have meant (1) more money and (2) probably a lot more playing time (and the ability to earn himself more money).

so i know what youre saying, but if i were jimmy i would have rather gone to cleveland

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I'm sure Jimmy feels the same way. Just as Rodgers probably would have preferred being picked 1st overall and starting right away in San Fran. But his career might not have been the same.

So I agree, Jimmy definitely would feel that way. I just don't agree that it would have been the best thing for him. Both of those things can be true at the same time.