(Yahoo Sports)
The best place to start this week’s Four Verts column is with the Cleveland Browns, who apparently decided to punt for the next few seasons after signing the worst contract in NFL history.
Brown quits quietly, it’s their own fault
Let’s call what’s happening in Cleveland “embarrassing.” Total embarrassment.
The Browns have decided to forego the 2024 season entirely by continuing to start the lowest and most expensive quarterback in football, and now they have a giant-sized albatross in the lineup while their future We have to think about what the roster will look like. Deshaun Watson. The Browns, who are 1-5 and have no hope of accomplishing anything this year, traded wide receiver Amari Cooper to the Bills for a third-round draft pick in their first trade of the season this week, making their roster available for draft picks. began to reduce. It’s a move that makes one of the worst offenses in league history even worse, and it’s a move the Browns were almost forced to make due to the horrific payoff from the Watson trade.
The future outlook for the Browns is bleak.
Deshaun Watson leads a Browns offense that lacks punch and loses its leading wideout. (AP Photo/Chris Zagora)
Based on his contract, the Browns will need to play Watson for at least one more season before he can begin to move on from his $230 million contract. According to Spotrac, the Browns can’t even consider releasing Watson unless it’s in a trade after June 1, which would carry a hefty dead cap charge of $81 million over two seasons. It turns out.
This plan comes with one big problem. That said, who in their right mind would trade for Watson? This is a PR disaster and he’s now a bad quarterback. He will likely remain on the roster in 2025 unless the team is willing to do a Brock Osweiler-like deal and send a first-round pick or two along with Watson.
That puts a cap on what’s possible on the field before getting to how actual salary cap space works. According to Spotrac, the Browns are $40 million over next season’s projected cap, and trading Cooper would result in a fixed $22.5 million dead cap charge for next season. This means the Browns still have a lot of work to do before becoming cap compliant and will need to avoid a large cap hit on players who are no longer on the team. This is incredibly damaging to their ability to actually add reliable players this offseason.
They are well over the cap, with Watson carrying a cap hit of over $72 million in 2025, and they have done a horrible job drafting over the past few seasons (giving them a B grade for this year’s selection). Taga). They have a lot of young, inexpensive talent they can rely on. The only way to start building a team for next year without many big-name free agents is to start stockpiling draft picks for cheap contracts to add to the 2025 roster. Terrible team.
They’re not going to bench Watson, so this is what it is. The Browns are a bad team with poor infrastructure and one of the worst starting QBs in league history. They created this bed, it will take away people’s jobs, and they face a long road back to positive relevance. Even after the Watson story ends, the quarterback of the future still needs to be drafted and developed, which in itself takes a long time. For the sake of the fans and the league, I hope the Browns can get back to proper shape before the start of the next decade. It might really be that long.
Hey! Some of these departments need to wake up.
The 2024 NFL season was a lot of fun, with characters old and new leaving their mark on the league’s evolving landscape. While there were plenty of great individual performances, many teams are currently stuck in the mud and some divisional races feel like they’re coming to an end this early in the season.
The tight division races make the middle and end of the regular season a lot of fun. Unfortunately, some sectors have not been able to hold up their end of the bargain.
The Texans are 5-1 behind in the AFC South, while the rest of the division is fighting to keep their seasons alive. The other three teams have a combined five wins, with the Titans and Jaguars having one win each. The Texans’ only rival is the Colts, who have been 3-3 with inconsistent quarterback play for much of the season. Unless Indianapolis’ passing game takes hold, Houston will likely survive the division on the back of its pass rush and elite quarterback play in CJ Stroud. Wake up, Colts. Don’t decide on this race before Halloween.
The Jets made a last-ditch effort to save the AFC East this week, but were quickly rebuffed by the Bills. Shortly after the Jets traded for star wide receiver Davante Adams, the Bills acquired Amari Cooper from the Browns to strengthen their own wide receiver room. It was the perfect big move by the Bills’ front office after riding into MetLife Stadium and defeating the Jets. They have strong command in this division after leading 2 games to 4-2 and defeating the Jets in the tiebreaker. If the Jets gain momentum following the Adams trade, they have a chance to bounce back, but they’re in a deep hole right now. Dolphins or Patriots? No, no.
The AFC West isn’t full of blowouts, but they’re probably not as good as their record suggests. The Chiefs are 5-0 and still look like one of the best defenses in the league. The Chargers and Broncos both maintain their standings with three wins entering Week 7, but both teams are rebuilding and aren’t ready to get in the way in the playoffs. Neither team has enough power to make it happen, but each team has some building blocks. Meanwhile, the Raiders are preparing to embark on a true rebuild after this season, slowing toward the bottom of the league. This is still the Chiefs’ division and will remain so for the foreseeable future.
This is three of the eight divisions. Almost half feel they are on the verge of making a decision before the midway point of the season. NFL fans deserve better! On behalf of all football lovers, come together in the name of entertainment.
So what about the NFC North? this is all
The NFC North is on the opposite side of the aforementioned divisions. Every team in the NFC North is good and has the ability to win in other divisions across the league as well. Unfortunately, there can only be one winner here.
Each club has a credible reason to believe they can win the NFC North, and any team can win at least four games heading into Week 7. The number of divisional games will gradually increase from here on out, and will begin to separate the NFL’s best divisions as the playoffs approach. Closer.
Chicago fans must be in a great mood right now. After the Bears’ defense and special teams played solidly and won several games, their offense exploded, scoring over 30 points in back-to-back games and contributing to their 4-2 record. Caleb Williams also came on the scene and started touting why he was drafted No. 1 overall, without considering any of the other candidates. Arm strength, accuracy, and mobility provided the Bears defense that opponent Chicago needed to give them a sustainable winning future. It will be tougher than facing the Panthers and Jaguars, but the Bears are a big threat to win the division even with a rookie starting quarterback.
There’s a reason to howl about the bye week, as Caleb Williams and the Bears are 4-2 and ready to compete for the NFC North crown. (Photo by Vince Mignott/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
Detroit became perhaps the best team in the NFC by defeating Dallas 47-9. That offense can score against anyone, especially with the Lions moving the ball well and throwing play-action from there. An offense this good would give the Lions the ceiling for a Super Bowl appearance, with improved backfield defense and a higher defensive ceiling. Losing star edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson for the rest of the season will be a big blow, but they may have enough talent to continue without him. This roster is in a great position.
The Vikings had last week off, but nothing has changed at the top of the division. They are the only undefeated team in the NFC North. They did it thanks to an elite defense and unexpected quality play from quarterback Sam Darnold. Time will tell if Darnold is the guy who can make it through the playoffs and win a Super Bowl, but as long as the Vikings play defense this well, they’ll continue to rack up wins in the regular season. This is a fascinating coaching masterclass to watch in this sector.
Green Bay is also playing great football. Jordan Love continues to emerge as an elite quarterback, and the young offensive playmaker continues to improve each week. The only area of concern for this team is the pass rush, but the rest of the club is in a great position to make something interesting happen this postseason.
This division is as good as advertised during the preseason and will only get tougher as the regular season progresses.
What are the Steelers doing?
There’s not much to say other than confusion, so let’s keep this brief.
The Steelers appear to be seriously considering a contrarian move to bench quarterback Justin Fields after starting 4-2, tied with the Ravens for first place in the AFC North. Even at 4-2, the idea of sitting Fields isn’t indefensible. What doesn’t make sense is to put Russell Wilson in the lineup over him – not in 2015!
The Steelers could squeeze more juice out of their offense this year, but it’s not necessarily Fields’ fault, at least not entirely. While he certainly has limitations in the passing game, there’s no denying that his feet are a positive asset for the Steelers, and he just had his best game of the season on offense against the Raiders on Sunday.
The biggest reason why the Steelers’ passing game is midfield is because they don’t have many playmakers on the outside. George Pickens is OK, but ideally a No. 2 wideout on a good offensive line. His lack of attention to detail hurts Pittsburgh’s passing game, and the Steelers don’t have many weapons other than him. Wilson isn’t going to fix that. It’s a problem that can’t be resolved until the offseason.
It seemed like a smart play to wait until the end of the season to see what Fields has and then evaluate his long-term potential. Wilson is not the future. Considering his last year in Denver, he probably isn’t even now. This is a strange move to round out an already beleaguered Steelers offense. That’s because they are losing the dynamism that Fields brings with his feet.
Either way, the Steelers will probably finish 10-7 and then be eliminated in the wild card round, which is fine.
