my point is just that the generally held view is that you can get really good RBs later in the draft and they should be using their 1st round pick on a higher value position - I get why the colts did it given that they lost their starting RB but I still dont think it was a good move - not a crazy one - but not good for the long term good of the team
Silliest thing I have read in a long time. He is FAR from a disappointment. Browns cannot throw the ball, every team they play against is geared to do 1 thing, stop Trent. So for him to have even had the type of season he had last year is very impressive. Colts essentially just got a steal.
your missing the point.. they drafted him high because they thought they could be competitive with that team. However, the browns suck now and by the time they can hope to be competitive again T Rich will need a big new contract. They already decided they are not going to pay him one, and smartly so. Therefore, get back what you can now before his value depreciates. Paying RB's big money is just not wise in today's game, especially for a team that needs to rebuild. There are many serviceable backs out there that can be plugged into the run game and reach 1000 or so yards in a year with enough carries. They pop up every year, take Andre Brown for example, came from the practice squad. Alfred Morris is another, there's nothing special about him, he just landed in the perfect situation. Look at Shonn Greene even when he was the main guy here he had about 1000 yd seasons. Foster or Lynch go down, I guarantee that their significantly cheaper replacements Tate and Turbin will put up more than respectable stats. Foster was a UDFA at one time btw. T Rich is much better than average but he's not a gamebreaking freak Adrian Peterson or CJ Spiller so the talent you get above average from him is not nearly worth the money above average that you would have to spend on him. Teams that build around paying big money to their backs are losers: Carolina, Jax, Oakland, etc. the exception being Minnesota and even there it's been a struggle for them to remain competitive. This is almost like the Colts letting Peyton go and bombing to get Luck. The Browns have a decent defence so this move likely ensures a bottom 3 finish, they can take their chance at a franchise QB and spend the rest of their 7 first 4 round picks building a team around him.
On a side note, I thought this would be great for fantasy, and no doubt it has boosted Richardson's value, but looking at the Colts schedule has me worried. They go face a lot of good run defences this year multiple times, SF, SEA, DEN. Considering trying to trade him after the Jax game next week. Thoughts?
I got him on FF team too. No way I'll be trading. The guy is great rusher plus catcher out of the backfield. With Luck and constant threat of pass Ds will have to respect the pass and it'll open some juicy yardage for RB. Short term his production will not be good, but in a couple of week and especially after the bye, he'll be top 5 RBs, regardless of the opponent.
Well it wasn't a cash management move. Richardson was only making $1.3M this year. Last two years of the contract were $2.2M and $3.1M.
Wow that site has an NFL thread for funny stuff and I found this golden picture I'd love to share now.
Alfred Morris is definitely a special back. No scrub just puts up 1600 yards in their rookie year. Sure, the situation he has around him helps, but he's talented in his own right. Redskins got a steal with him in the 6th round. Ben Tate was a 2nd round pick who's a talented back, but dealt with Foster coming out of nowhere. Those two are among the best 1-2 punch in the NFL. Turbin is a good back from the limited times he's carried the ball, but I don't know how well he'd do if Lynch went down.
So let me throw in my 2 cents on this too. Richardson was the third overall pick in the 2012 draft and they trade him for what will probably be a pick in the high 20's. And he played well last season on a bad team. It looks to me like they just want to rebuild with their own players instead of adding guys they draft or sign to the good players they already have. They could also be giving up on Weeden. A lot of people think they are will put together draft picks to trade up and get Bridgewater or one of the other good Qbs going into next year's draft. Last year at this time Geno Smith was considered the best Qb prospect in the draft and a probably top 5 or ten draft pick. Things do change a lot. IMO you can build a good team without a great Qb. And Weeden might be a guy who can be a starting Qb in the NFL but without a wow factor. He's a lot better than Alex Smith was when he first started playing and Smith right now is a capable NFL starting Qb. So to me the guys running the Browns are light weights. Not smart enough to use the resources they were given by the previous regime. And that includes their owner who is already in big trouble with the law and possibly with the NFL. PS getting rid of the previous regimes players isn't all that unusual esp for the Browns. They've had multiple managements the past few years (all losing). Colt McCoy was benched so they could start a rookie in Weeden who was their guy even though he didn't play poorly when he did start.
They say that Richardson does not fit into the scheme that the Browns new coach is trying to bring to them on offense. Since when does any team not need a good running back and a guy who can carry the load. Also from what I read the Browns paid all his bonus money. Which means that Indy is only responsible for his salary which is only around 2 mil per year. Since coming into the NFL Grigson has shown he knows what he's doing. And Lombardi should have stayed on NFLN. And I'm sure he'll be back soon if he keeps this up.
We dealt our best player in the offseason. The big difference Is we got a decent pick. Im not sure what the browns are Going to get. Indy might be good.
I didn't like trading Revis but it was a completely different story. He wanted 16 mil per season. And was coming off of a serious injury. Plus he had problems with the owner in terms of negotiating contracts. The thing with Richardson: he's a good young player and Cleveland had paid his bonus money. They wanted him out of there in a big way. I don't buy what some analysts are saying that in the present NFL the running back is not a big deal. Of course they don't last long. But as long as you paid for the guy and he's still a very young back and talented any offense could use him. In the future don't draft a running back so high but if he's already there and paid for keep him. Good trade for the Colts.
The pick the Browns get (around #20) is pretty much where Richardson should have been drafted. Teams prove all the time that RBs can be had without using high 1st round picks. I still think this reeks of tanking... but they got more than they would have if they had waited until the offseason to trade him.
It is when you consider Indy pick will be sub 20's. The Browns are so stupid, they deserved to lose their franchise the first time.
