Browns sign Ben Watson - 3 years, $12M ($6.35M GTD)

[pats1]

Re: Ben Watson To The Browns

So BB is now up to 10 picks for the 2011 draft? Nice!

Not necessarily. If the Pats sign UFAs then it offsets.

 

[BritPat]

Good luck Ben. A stand up guy on and off the field.

 

[tanked_as_usual]

Re: Ben Watson To The Browns

Not necessarily. If the Pats sign UFAs then it offsets.

heh......don't have to wrorry about that :singing:

 

[Sicilian]

Wouldn't have minded keeping him for that kind of money. But as has been said, in our scheme the TE is not a receiving focal point.

Good luck Ben.

 

[letekro]

Re: Ben Watson To The Browns

Amen. This is a classy human being who worked very hard and always put in 100% effort. He was simply a square peg in a round hole in the NE system.

The guy actually fired his agent in order to agree to NE's hardline 6 year rookie contract (something that is no longer allowed to be done by the league). He never complained in his 6 years about anything in NE and was an active member of the community.

Yeah, but he has paddles for hands.

 

[Clonamery]

Re: Ben Watson To The Browns

heh......don't have to wrorry about that :singing:

it appears not significant enough to offset the ones lost already.

 

[BelichickFan]

Re: Ben Watson To The Browns

That he didn't even get a sniff from any of Bill's protogees speaks volumes. And Eric doesn't count since he is out of the offensive loop in Cleveland and likely out of a job once Holmgren gets through his re-tooling season.

It really does, you would have thought that McDaniels and Weis would have been interested but, evidently, not and that does speak volumes. And you're right about Mangini, they have Brian Daboll learning the Holmgren offense this season; which seems weird, you would think they'd bring in a WCO OC as opposed to having a non WCO OC learn it on the fly.

 

[Kimimar0]

I think Bill always expected a bit more from Ben because he has great physical attributes and is a hard worker but it never quite worked out. Still though he had a fairly productive 6 years here and will be remembered.

 

[sieglo]

Watson made some big plays over the years. He was a solid guy, team player, and was also probably the best TE available to the Pats. I figured he'd be retained....

Now the Pats are in horrible TE shape.

 

[tanked_as_usual]

Watson made some big plays over the years. He was a solid guy, team player, and was also probably the best TE available to the Pats. I figured he'd be retained....

Now the Pats are in horrible TE shape.

you can't say that on March 12th

 

[JoeShmoe]

Watson made some big plays over the years. He was a solid guy, team player, and was also probably the best TE available to the Pats. I figured he'd be retained....

Now the Pats are in horrible TE shape.

Agree. I think he was a lot better than people give him credit for. The three or four times the offensive play calling actually recognised him he made some nice catches and valuable TD's

Another good player gone

 

[blackcat54]

nice guy, decent blocker, and a team player, but I cringed when he had the ball in his hands. Layed the ball on the ground way too often! That is if he caught it to begin with. They need a TE that can block and catch. Too many one dimensional TE's over the years.

 

[tanked_as_usual]

nice guy, decent blocker, and a team player, but I cringed when he had the ball in his hands. Layed the ball on the ground way too often! That is if he caught it to begin with. They need a TE that can block and catch. Too many one dimensional TE's over the years.

and d%#*!@t!!! if they can't find one of those, they're not going to carry any TE's at all!!!!!

just like the LB's

 

[spacecrime]

Re: Ben Watson To The Browns

Watson should bring us a 6th (possibly 5th) round comp pick in 2011.
We should get a 5th (possibly 4th) for losing Jarvis Green.

Depends on whether we sign any FAs or not and how many. We only get picks if we lose more FAs than we sign.

 

[NYCPatsFan]

Re: Ben Watson To The Browns

Amen. This is a classy human being who worked very hard and always put in 100% effort. He was simply a square peg in a round hole in the NE system.

The guy actually fired his agent in order to agree to NE's hardline 6 year rookie contract (something that is no longer allowed to be done by the league). He never complained in his 6 years about anything in NE and was an active member of the community.

Good luck, Ben and best wishes to you and your family for the future.

Well articulated that voiced the thoughts of many.

Good luck Ben!

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Congrats for getting some serious dinero and moving on to a very good player who just never seemed to fit in with how the Pats wanted to do things.

Cleveland got better with this addition, no matter how much we want to dis them.

Good luck and thanks, Ben!

 

[PatsFanSince74]

nice guy, decent blocker, and a team player, but I cringed when he had the ball in his hands. Layed the ball on the ground way too often! That is if he caught it to begin with. They need a TE that can block and catch. Too many one dimensional TE's over the years.

well, let's wait and see whom they replace him with. right now, I have this as a "minus" in the Pats' offseason "pluses and minuses" book.

 

[patsfan-1982]

Re: Ben Watson To The Browns

They are supposed to be running the West Coast Offense. Is that an offense that uses its TE much as a passing option?

Just askin

eagels Brent Celek, 76 rec 971 yerds 8 TD's


and i remeber the 49ers all ways useing there TE's in the 80's and 90's

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Re: Ben Watson To The Browns

It really does, you would have thought that McDaniels and Weis would have been interested but, evidently, not and that does speak volumes. And you're right about Mangini, they have Brian Daboll learning the Holmgren offense this season; which seems weird, you would think they'd bring in a WCO OC as opposed to having a non WCO OC learn it on the fly.

Mangini and Daboll are just space retainers and scapegoats for season one of the Holmgren era in Cleveland. Once Mike evaluates the roster and gets a couple of offseasons of his system personnel in place via FA, draft and trade, he will choose a new HC to fit his scheme and that guy will bring coordinators in who suit him... No sense giving the Dawg Pound a season to build frustration with his own guys when he has scapegoats available that his boss was going to have to compensate either way...

Josh who is still installing this offense in Denver, Pioli and Charlie who have a QB who played with him, and even Dimitroff whose young QB is depending on an aging elite TE in their offense had no interest in a guy drafted and developed on their watches. He simply was never a great fit for this scheme. Too complicated and functioning within it sapped whatever natural ability he may have had. He was always at least slightly out of place as a rookie, but he could still do damage when Brady did locate him. He used to run over people with abandon when he did catch a ball. That evaporated as he struggled to master all the nuances this system demands. He was always forced to overthink because it didn't come to him instinctively. A guy like Welker on the other hand was just born getting it... We need more guys like that because they maximize our QB's best attributes.

 

[Rob0729]

I always felt that Brady never trusted Ben. He could make a highlight reel catch with easy, but dropped some of the easiest passes in the world on a consistent basis. He had all the talent in the world, but it never translated on the field. In 2006, the Pats made it a point of emphasis to try to turn him into an Antonio Gates type of TE and he just couldn't be consistent enough to do it.

I wish him luck with the Browns, but I thought it was time for him to move on. Could have been a great TE if he worked on his consistency in his catching.