The Junkyard Mailbag: Tuesday Edition
March 16, 2010
Junkyard,
I enjoy reading your blogs - most of the time.
Sometimes, though, it seems like you make outrageous claims just to get your readers fired up.
I’d like to see the Browns draft Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain or Oklahoma State wide receiver Dez Bryant with their No. 7th overall pick in the draft.
Unless, that is, Tennessee safety Eric Berry falls to that No. 7 spot.
If that happens, I’d like to see him as the Browns pick.
Dan
Junkyard replies:
Thanks for the nice words, Dan.
Seriously, though, what we write is what we truly believe.
We agree with you on picking McClain with the No. 7 choice: the Browns need a smart, tail-kicking linebacker who can serve as the defensive unit’s heartbeat.
McClain looks like he can fit that role.
We’re not crazy, however, about using the No. 7 pick on Bryant or Berry.
If McClain isn’t there at No. 7, we’d prefer to see the Browns take the best available defensive lineman - like Derrick Morgan of Georgia Tech.
Junkyard,
Every time I think I'm going to agree with you about something, you suggest (again) that the Browns trade Joe Thomas.
I’m not trading a Pro Bowl left tackle like Joe Thomas for a chance to draft a quarterback - Sam Bradford - that’s as much a prospect as Brady Quinn was in 2007 (and Quinn isn’t even on the Browns anymore).
Plus, Bradford is coming off shoulder surgery.
Sorry, but I can't do that.
I do think you were dead-on with your thoughts about the Browns free-agent signings.
Why spend big money on marginal players? Can't we get these type of players in the draft? Or find them already on our roster?
Sometimes I really think the Browns sign guys like Scott Fujita and Tony Pashos just because it looks like we're doing something.
But, as far as your Joe Thomas thoughts, no.
Thomas. Must. Stay.
Mike
Junkyard replies:
Thanks for the good insights, Mike.
We’re willing to trade Thomas - for a shot to pick Bradford - because we firmly believe having a franchise quarterback trumps everything else in the NFL.
Everything.
And we believe Bradford is a franchise-caliber quarterback.
Bradford would certainly come into the NFL with a stronger arm and better temperament than Quinn, who was doing magazine photo spreads, attending meaningless sports awards ceremonies and shooting drink commercials before he ever accomplished anything as an NFL quarterback.
Mike, we have to chuckle at your observations on the Browns’ free-agent signings.
Why?
Because you stated it perfectly:
It DID seem as though the Browns were so flattered that a Scott Fujuta, for example, would leave the Super Bowl champion Saints - and come to Cleveland - that they'd pay whatever it took to get him.
But just because a Fujita, a Jake Delhomme and a Tony Pashos are willing to sign with your 5-11 team doesn’t mean YOU have to sign them.
And spend big money doing it, too.
Junkyard,
Why would you want the Browns to trade Joe Thomas?
An All-Pro offensive lineman who will be a cornerstone player for years to come?
Jim
Junkyard replies:
Jim, it goes back to our reply to Mike in the previous letter.
Having a franchise QB trumps everything else on a football team.
And that, to us, justifies trading a Joe Thomas for a chance to draft Sam Bradford.
If the Detroit Lions - who badly need a left tackle - aren’t open to trading their No. 2 and No. 34 overall picks for Thomas, they’re insane.
And if Detroit offers Cleveland that package for Thomas and the Browns don’t take it, THEY’RE insane, too.
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