CLEVELAND, Ohio – Believe it or not, Andrew Berry is still new to this GM thing. He did a lot of work, first reinforcing the offense last season and then strengthening the defense in the spring.
Each move is an opportunity to learn something new about the team’s top staff. Here’s what we learned from him after we signed Jadeveon Clowney.
He is persistent
Berry tried to get Takk McKinley’s defense four times last year – once via trade and three other times via pardon. After all four, as McKinley put it, missed, the fifth time was the charm.
A year after aggressively pursuing Clowney, the Browns landed him, too.
‘I felt the same [of relentlessness] he has me for him, ”Clowney said Wednesday. “That’s why I said, ‘This man is very relentless. ”
Berry is strong in his beliefs when he believes a player can help his team, as these two specific signatures show.
He’s smart with his money
This is not a surprise, since Paul DePodesta plays a major role in the operation, but it’s not Moneyball. Instead, it is a clever allocation of resources.
The Browns already have their expensive price tag in Myles Garrett, which earned a $ 125 million 5-year expansion last year. While some of me – OK, I – pleaded for the payment of another leading rusher, it became clear that Trey Hendrickson and Carl Lawson were simply too expensive. Of course, the browns have a hood, but even they feel the pinch of a pandemic-expressed cap and need to be smart with how much they tie in different positions.
So they did the next best thing: drawing McKinley on a flyer and Clowney on … well, a kind of flyer. McKinley’s deal is $ 4.25 million, with incentives that could increase it to $ 6 million. Clowney’s is $ 8 million with incentives to increase it to $ 10 million.
Hendrickson signed a $ 15 million four-year deal with the Bengals, while Lawson inked for three years and $ 45 million with the Jets. This is not only the cost of these contracts, but also the commitment after 2020.
The Browns have added two edge-rushers for about the same price and on one-year deals, offering them flexibility. They also still have the chance to add an edge rusher early in the draft. (Yes, I still made Houston’s Payton Turner circle in the second round.) It’s an efficient way to spend money – not cheap.
He recognizes the window
The roster is still talented and relatively inexpensive. Their quarterback is on his cost-controlled rookie deal, as well as their top cornerback, while Garrett’s expansion has yet to really succeed. According to overthecap.com, Garrett is carrying a cut of just over $ 9.3 million this year and next year a shadow below $ 13 million ahead of the number of balloons at about $ 30 million.
This is the dispute window for a young team. There are phases of grilling, and this is one of them – cost-effective talent for rookie deals that release bigger dollars to spend elsewhere.
Eventually, Mayfield will earn starting quarterbacks and Ward will earn big dollars and other players in premium positions, such as Jedrick Wills, will draft new contracts. Then the grid math changes and the talent becomes top heavy and you really have to supplement with concept choices.
Berry has built a competitor while giving itself the flexibility to add long-term, affordable options to the concept.
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