Browns Replace Winslow by Signing TE Robert Royal

by Chris Pokorny on Mar 4, 2009 10:36 PM EST in General News Comment 13 comments

A word of caution: by "replace", I simply mean "taking the roster spot left vacant by".

The Browns signed Bills TE Robert Royal to a contract Wednesday, according to Royal himself. Royal stated that he would be in Cleveland Thursday to finalize the deal.

Overall, the signing is one that should not draw criticism. Royal has largely been a blocking tight end over the past three seasons with Buffalo, but he has experience playing a lot of downs. If veteran TE Steve Heiden doesn't recover well from his surgery, then we'll have a similar tight end. While I would rate Heiden as the better pass catcher, Royal was productive as a receiver with Buffalo.

Over the past three seasons, Royal accumulated 832 yards receiving and 7 touchdowns. During that stretch, the Bills have really struggled to find a consistent quarterback between J.P. Losman and Trent Edwards. Their offense in general, particularly their passing game, has been lackluster for several years.

Perhaps the best news of all is that this could mean the team won't re-sign veteran TE Darnell Dinkins. Many of us agree that Dinkins was not a threat as a receiver, and would far too often be on the receiving end of a special teams penalty.

Royal, who also visited with the Jets, said he met Sunday and Monday with the Browns staff, including offensive coordinator Brian Daboll. "It's a terrific staff and I'm excited to come to work with them," he said.

Link

On another note, I'd like to point you in the direction of a well-written piece on former Browns LB Andra Davis over at Mile High Report, our Denver Broncos affiliate. I still believe they are giving Davis more credit than he deserves when it comes to his gameplay, but there's no questioning his character.

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Comments

You’re entitled to think whatever you want about Buffalo’s offense in general, but trust me when I say that Robert Royal is NOT good. He drops as many passes as he catches, and when he does catch it, he’s a HUGE risk for fumbles. As a blocker, he’s above average. But the dude just straight up isn’t a starting TE in this league.

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by Brian Galliford on Mar 5, 2009 10:16 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Thanks for the feedback; its good to know from someone who is used to watching him first hand. I don’t envision him as being our starter; I’d much prefer that to be Heiden. I see his blocking being better than Dinkins’ though, with a threat to catch the ball too.

Dawgs By Nature - Find out why Pittsburgh still sucks.

by Chris Pokorny on Mar 5, 2009 11:03 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

"T"Ruck is going to be our number 1 TE receiver. Royal, I think will be in on first and second down a lot

by Roger Dorn on Mar 5, 2009 12:11 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

FYI, I didn’t make up the cheesy nickname, that is what they call him at Mizzou

by Roger Dorn on Mar 5, 2009 12:11 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Then where is Heiden in the equation?

Dawgs By Nature - Find out why Pittsburgh still sucks.

by Chris Pokorny on Mar 5, 2009 2:32 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Injured

by Roger Dorn on Mar 5, 2009 2:45 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

No matter what, we need a body at TE and he will do for now. We have to see what Rucker can do thanks to RAC not playing him.

by paulbip on Mar 5, 2009 10:35 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I don’t think Heiden is ‘the man’ or anything. It’s a completely new offense so it’s not like he has a leg up or anything. I like Heiden sure but I’d say it will be an open competition at TE.

by homerun21 on Mar 5, 2009 2:38 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

This signing does nothing for me…does anyone know the details of it?

by bellar on Mar 5, 2009 8:47 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

4 years/10 mil with 3 guaranteed

by Roger Dorn on Mar 5, 2009 9:41 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks…much worse than I would of guessed. Absolutely pointless to draft a tight end, keep 4 on your roster (last year), and then trade a productive contributor (for decent value) with this in mind as the answer. I don’t see much logic. It seems to me as if we are officially going to be rebuilding…again!

by bellar on Mar 5, 2009 10:12 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

No, we traded Winslow because A) he was a volitile personality that was going to want a new contract, B) his injury history and health outlook made a renewed commitment to him unwise, and C) TEs are not used as pass catchers often in the NE offense so he was much less valuable to us than he would be to a more TE friendly offense.

We aren’t rebuilding. It’s going to be more like a reshaping, for lack of a better term. We aren’t sacrificing the present for the future.

Carmona for Cy Young 2009

by danvail on Mar 6, 2009 9:01 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I’d say we are at least kind of rebuilding.

Less than 1 mil/year guaranteed for Royal is worth it, that is pretty cheap. I am fine with this, especially if we can get rid of Dinkins and carry another RB/WR on the roster.

by rufio on Mar 7, 2009 12:36 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs