Should Houshmandzadeh be High on Browns' Radar?

by Chris Pokorny on Feb 17, 2009 12:43 PM EST in General News

The Cincinnati Bengals slapped the franchise tag on kicker Shayne Graham yesterday. This is not unheard of, as the New England Patriots did it twice with Adam Vinatieri in the past. However, considering the state of the Bengals, the concept of franchising a kicker has to make you chuckle.

The more important part is that T.J. Houshmandzadeh will not be franchised, meaning he'll hit the free agent market on February 27. A former seventh-round draft pick, Houshmandzadeh will likely require a large contract. Many teams will reach out for his services -- should the Browns be one of them? Our defense needs to be rebuilt at several positions, but that also shouldn't distort the fact that our offense was one of the worst in the NFL last season, despite our expectations being high week in and week out.

I want a receiver of Houshmandzadeh's caliber, but it's probably better for Eric Mangini to take a "chance" route. We've seen guys like Houshmandzadeh and Marques Colston succeed after being seventh-round draft picks. The Browns have had their failed attempts in earlier rounds with players like Quincy Morgan, Andre King, Travis Wilson, and presumably Syndric Steptoe. The jury is still out on Paul Hubbard, but you can't like his odds under a new regime either. With our lack of scouting early on this year due to a late-hired front office though, finding one of those gems might truly be pulling a name out of a hat.

Poll

Where would you like the Browns to pursue another WR?

Big-name free agent, like Houshmandzadeh

150 votes

Lower-level free agent

104 votes

Early in the Draft

24 votes

Late in the Draft

86 votes

We're fine with what we've got

71 votes

435 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

Big-name free agent, like Houshmandzadeh

Chris, did you mean to make that statement have a double meaning?

The best thing probably is to hit [Grady] 2nd -- Jay

by Buckeye Brad on Feb 17, 2009 3:02 PM EST reply actions 1 recs

lol, I can’t help but laugh at the unintentional cleverness :D

Dawgs By Nature - Find out why Pittsburgh still sucks.

by Chris Pokorny on Feb 17, 2009 3:18 PM EST up reply actions

I’d rather not pursue Housh, too expensive for a less important position in my opinion

by Roger Dorn on Feb 17, 2009 3:40 PM EST reply actions

Unless we were planning on cutting Stallworth AND both the cap hit and the salary cap expense from that would leave room to sign targets at other, more pressing positions, then no. If those are the case, however, the sure what the heck. He’s good.

Carmona for Cy Young 2009

by danvail on Feb 17, 2009 4:32 PM EST reply actions

I really hope we cut Stallworth

by Roger Dorn on Feb 17, 2009 5:12 PM EST up reply actions

A contract restructuring would be acceptable, actually. I don’t want him gone, just at his current pay

by Roger Dorn on Feb 17, 2009 5:14 PM EST up reply actions

Yep, can’t forget some of those quality (yet quiet) years he had with the Saints.

Dawgs By Nature - Find out why Pittsburgh still sucks.

by Chris Pokorny on Feb 17, 2009 5:39 PM EST up reply actions

+1

Would cutting him actually give us cap space? I know that sometimes when you cut players you don’t actually get much or anything in the way of cap room…anyone know about Stallworth?

by rufio on Feb 18, 2009 9:18 AM EST up reply actions

See comment below, the cap hit for cutting him would be $6.4M in 2009 per that rotoworld link.

Here’s my understanding of the contract:
$35M Total for 7 Years Total
$10 M Guaranteed including the 2009 $4.75M Roster bonus

Subtracting out the 09 roster bonus that leaves 5.25M guaranteed. For simplicity’s sake and also because I have no info to the contrary, we’ll assume that all came in the form a signing bonus. Pro-rating that over 7 years give $750K per year towards the cap.

His salaries ($M) are as follows:
08: ?
09: 0.75
10: 1.5
11: 2.8
12: 4.55
13: 5.65
14: 5.95

Not worrying about a bit of rounding, that leaves about $3.8M for his 2008 salary (35 total less 10 guaranteed less the above salaries).

Since his 2009 cap number is listed at $6.4M (0.75 salary + 4.75 bonus + 0.75 signing bonus pro-rated + rounding error), we know how much it would hurt us to cut him now.

What we don’t know is how much it would cost us in the future:
Year: Salary + annual signing bonus pro-rated * number of years left on the contract = cap number
10: 1.5 + .75*5 = 5.25
11: 2.8 + .75*4 = 5.8
12: 4.55 + .75*3 = 6.8
13: 5.65 + .75*2 = 7.15
14: 5.95 + .75*1 = 6.7

So, it won’t save us a heck of a lot to hold on to him if we’re going to cut him eventually.

Carmona for Cy Young 2009

by danvail on Feb 18, 2009 12:23 PM EST up reply actions

Where would the Stallworth signing fall in the vote…Big name signing?
Hindsight definate makes this looks terrible. I would definately cut my losses with him ASAP because he doesn’t seem worth the money. How much $ do we have to spend on a FA wide receiver? Who are some draft names people have in mind for a late round pick (just curious)?

by bellar on Feb 17, 2009 5:40 PM EST reply actions

It will be interesting to run this survey again once we know who the Browns are ultimately cutting/trading, and the draft picks we end up with, if any. If we get mid-range (3rd-4th round) picks, there still seem to be some good WR options. I would probably vote for one of those. There’s a lot of talk of big WRs hitting the market this year, though, maybe the competition will make one affordable.

by NM Dawg on Feb 17, 2009 6:38 PM EST reply actions

It appears Stallworth will be cut soon. The Browns are not likely to pay his $4.75M roster bonus due in March. He will take a hefty toll on our salary cap, though, at $6.4M.

Depending on targeted FAs and our available cap room, perhaps we will pursue TJ.

Carmona for Cy Young 2009

by danvail on Feb 17, 2009 7:42 PM EST reply actions

Terry Pluto had a podcast on cleveland.com where he discusses the Browns near the end. He thinks the Browns pay the Anderson bonus no matter what making him extremely valuable via trade because a team could trade for Anderson and only owe him 1.5 million for next year. He thinks because of this low price Anderson might be able to fetch a low 1 or high 2

by Roger Dorn on Feb 17, 2009 7:49 PM EST reply actions

That price still seems a bith high, but I definitely agree paying the bonus is the proper stratagem.

Carmona for Cy Young 2009

by danvail on Feb 17, 2009 7:56 PM EST up reply actions

What Housh Citizenship?

Is he an upstanding citizen? I voted we are good where we are but would be willing to reconsider if I knew what kind of citizen Housh is.

Also, I like the fact that you created this story on your webiste. Browns thoughts and comments are too few / far between in the Spring!

Nice work.

by vince fitz on Feb 17, 2009 9:35 PM EST reply actions

I like this signing for one important reason……T.J. doesn’t drop passes. I used 2 give Braylon the benefit of the doubt…..However, his recent comments have just infuriated me. I say trade Edwards. We could EASILY get a 1st rounder for him. I’m thinking a 1st and a 3rd, which is not too out there in case anyone is questioning that. Continue on with cutting Stallworth and give Cribbs a LEGIT chance to play WR. That’s just my take.

by CTWN4LIFE on Feb 18, 2009 12:21 AM EST reply actions

Sign Houshamazilli. Championship!

Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.

by BringBackKosar on Feb 18, 2009 7:34 AM EST reply actions

I wanted to vote for sign a low level FA and draft one later in the draft.

A lot of WRs take time to develop in to good players. Getting young guys and trying to let them develop isn’t a bad idea. Guys with actual NFL talent, not guys like Steptoe.

by rufio on Feb 18, 2009 9:23 AM EST reply actions

We need 2 just draft like markus bennet this year so we can get a REAL 7 round pick instead of LOOSErs like little miss steptoes oh and cut braylon cuz he sux and cut winslow cuz no SOLDJAS HERE KEELLEN and GET A REAL OWNDER SELL THE TEAM RANDY YOU SUCK!