Kirk Cousins, Deshaun Watson and Travis Hunter: Draft 2025

If the goal is winning in 2025, there is only one path I can imagine the Browns taking in the coming month.

- Travis Hunter is ready to contribute on day 1 in the NFL.  If you watch his film as a receiver, JaMarr Chase comes to mind.   

- Kirk Cousins is probably coming to the Browns.   They won't do the trade now because they are scared to death that some team that covets Travis Hunter will jump the Browns and trade up to the #1 pick.   Trading for Cousins would tip everyone off that that Browns are picking Hunter

- Kirk Cousins is a one year bridge back to.... you guessed it - Deshaun Watson.   A number of factors convince me this is true.   First, Jimmy Haslam must be loathe to concede that he was the architect of what is universally seen today as one of the worst trades in NFL history.   Second, Andrew Berry has often stated that he sees Watson as a 10 year investment not a 5 year investment.   Third, it can be argued that Watson's play in 2024 was due to his shoulder not being 100%.   If the shoulder was not 100% I would then ask, why did Kevin Stefanski play Watson, but that's the subject of another blog.

What is going to be fun to watch for the next few weeks is the flow of misinformation as the Browns try to seed the idea that they will draft a QB.  They won't because they can't.   Win now is the formula and neither Cam Ward or Shedeur are going to win now with the talent the Browns have.   That's not to say that Ward or Sanders won't succeed in the NFL.   In fact I think Sanders will win a Super Bowl or two but not in the next year and especially not with mediocre talent around them.

What is clear is that the Browns have little choice but to double down on Deshaun Watson and get him right.   A huge part of getting Deshaun Watson right would be to give him a game changing receiver like Travis Hunter.  In the meantime, they certainly can arrange a trade with the Falcons for Kirk Cousins while picking up less than $20M of his salary in 2025 which they can probably fit into their cap situation.   Cousins is comfortable with Stefanski and vice versa.   With a top flight receiver like Travis Hunter, Kirk Cousins can certainly make some noise, win some games then move on after 2025 clearing the way for Deshaun Watson to return in 2026.

Playing Hardball with Myles Garrett

 

Here is a provocative question:  "Why are the Browns playing hardball with Myles Garrett as if he is their property?"

The answer is not simple however perhaps if Myles Garrett is financially prepared to take a season off, which I believe he is, he could be a change agent by opening a conversation about fairness in employment law as it relates to professional sports.   

Fact:   In European professional sports, if an athlete wants to change employer, it works much more like it works for regular working folks.   In European soccer, players can change teams despite having multiyear contracts due to the transfer system, which operates differently from how contracts work in American sports. Here’s how it works:

• Unlike in American sports, where trades are common, European soccer teams buy out a player’s contract by paying a transfer fee to the selling club.
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• If a player is under contract, the buying club negotiates with the selling club to agree on a transfer price. Once they agree, the player is free to negotiate personal terms with the new team.

• Some contracts have release clauses, meaning if a club offers a pre-agreed fee (e.g., €100M), the selling club is obligated to let the player go.
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• In some leagues (like Spain’s La Liga), players can directly buy out their own contracts using funds (often provided by the new team).

Why is it different in the US?

Your guess is as good as mine but there's a long tradition in the US of owners seeing employees as tantamount to property.   Most American fans would get angry that I even think the thought that Myles Garrett should have the same freedom to change employer that each of us have.  Why?  Because he's well paid?   Myles Garrett is well paid for one reason.  He is the best in the world at what he does and in our capitalist system he is paid his market value, not a penny more.  The fact that he's the best of the best and paid accordingly in no way justifies him being stuck working a job that he's unhappy with. 

Myles Garrett might need to highlight that he is not anybody's property by engaging in a long holdout and maybe the absurdity of the Browns refusing to let him leave will become apparent to all of us.  Garrett can help that debate along by communicating in no uncertain terms that he is not property he is a human being.   

I for one hope Myles Garrett will go down in history as helping open the door to a transfer system that allows freedom of movement to professional athletes.