Za'Darius Smith now a Brown
After months of waiting out the market, Andrew Berry is executing a deal to bring a complementary edge rusher to Cleveland.
The Browns are acquiring Za'Darius Smith via trade with the Vikings, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported on Friday.
The full trade will see the Browns acquire Smith and 2025 sixth- and seventh-round draft picks in exchange for sending 2024 and 2025 fifth-round picks to the Vikings, Pelissero reported.
Smith has also reworked his contract, which guarantees him $11.75 million in 2023 and he'll be a free agent in 2024, Pelissero and Rapoport reported.
@"Knucklehead" said: Signing these former packers has rarely worked out for us.Jennings and Longwell were both good signings. Favre had a hell of good first year, the second not so much, but I think by then he really was retired mentally to start with. I know there have been a few more, but isn't that really about the same with all free agents, crap shoot?
@"purplefaithful" said:@"medaille" said: I don't think it's that he didn't want to be here as much as we weren't going to pay him the money he was expecting. And the $ he was expecting was not the contract he signed? I'm still trying to put my finger on what caused this relationship to hit bottom and who's @ fault for the divorce?
That's one thing I've been very confused on. Since when do players get to dictate whether they want to be on certain teams or honor the contracts they signed? Not just football, but basketball too. Players simply "unhappy" or "wanting out" of the contracts they signed and teams appeasing their wishes. Talk about a transition of power to the players. Yes, it's always best of the player wants to be on the team that owns their rights, but what happened to teams telling players to "shove it" and if they want to hold out or are unhappy, they will fine them the maximum amount while they sit home and decide they want to play or not. I just don't get this new trend in sports
@"purplefaithful" said:@"medaille" said: I don't think it's that he didn't want to be here as much as we weren't going to pay him the money he was expecting. And the $ he was expecting was not the contract he signed? I'm still trying to put my finger on what caused this relationship to hit bottom and who's @ fault for the divorce?
He signed a super cheap deal after not playing at all in '21. Then went on to have a very good year, earning player of the month in October and the Pro Bowl.My guess is he thought the Vikings should revisit the contract. Clearly they had other ideas. I think his mid-season injury and subsequent decline probably played a part in the Vikings position.
One may smile and smile and be a villain.
@"MaroonBells" said:@"purplefaithful" said:@"medaille" said: I don't think it's that he didn't want to be here as much as we weren't going to pay him the money he was expecting. And the $ he was expecting was not the contract he signed? I'm still trying to put my finger on what caused this relationship to hit bottom and who's @ fault for the divorce?
He signed a super cheap deal after not playing at all in '21. Then went on to have a very good year, earning player of the month in October and the Pro Bowl.My guess is he thought the Vikings should revisit the contract. Clearly they had other ideas. I think his mid-season injury and subsequent decline probably played a part in the Vikings position.
One may smile and smile and be a villain.
Mama always said "dont listen to what people say, watch what they do."
I think this trade was dictated by one major consideration: the need for cap space. That Smith did not want to be here is largely irrelevant. Peterson wanted to be released and his agent created a huge stink, even getting into a shouting match with Brez at the Combines to force the Vikings to release him. The Vikings told the agent that Peterson will play in Minnesota next year or he won't play anywhere. End of story. Early this off-season Lamar Jackson said he wanted to be traded. The Ravens promptly slapped the franchise tag on him.
The Vikings are not a better team without Smith. Their D is worse now than before the trade. I also suspect Kwesi gave his mentor Andrew Berry a sweetheart deal. A little gift for helping KAM get this job.
So what exactly is the plan here? We can try to compete - but this roster is not good enough to go very far. We can try to position ourselves for a QBOTF in the next draft - but this roster is too good to get a really high pick. I like Cousins OK but we have put ourselves in cap hell with him and there is no real exit ramp. We will be living with the Cousins cap problem even after he is gone, and we have no idea when that will be. I really do wonder if Kwesi has any coherent plan for this team.
@"dadevike" said: I think this trade was dictated by one major consideration: the need for cap space. That Smith did not want to be here is largely irrelevant. Peterson wanted to be released and his agent created a huge stink, even getting into a shouting match with Brez at the Combines to force the Vikings to release him. The Vikings told the agent that Peterson will play in Minnesota next year or he won't play anywhere. End of story. Early this off-season Lamar Jackson said he wanted to be traded. The Ravens promptly slapped the franchise tag on him.The Vikings are not a better team without Smith. Their D is worse now than before the trade. I also suspect Kwesi gave his mentor Andrew Berry a sweetheart deal. A little gift for helping KAM get this job.
So what exactly is the plan here? We can try to compete - but this roster is not good enough to go very far. We can try to position ourselves for a QBOTF in the next draft - but this roster is too good to get a really high pick. I like Cousins OK but we have put ourselves in cap hell with him and there is no real exit ramp. We will be living with the Cousins cap problem even after he is gone, and we have no idea when that will be. I really do wonder if Kwesi has any coherent plan for this team.
Its'a legit question and we're not unique as fans wondering this about a GM.
If its being run like a corporation, there is a short-term plan and a LRP that had to get envisioned and sold into ownership.
I can take a step back, look at some of the moves made (or to be made i.e. Cook) and say they are setting themselves up to be more competitive in 24/25 on the field and with more cap flex to boot.
22/23 were all about taking what they inherited and doing the best with it. Only time will tell if this is right or not.
They got some big talent to sign in JJ, Hock, Darrisaw so it aint gonna be easy - but those are nice problems to have.
@"dadevike" said: So what exactly is the plan here? We can try to compete - but this roster is not good enough to go very far. We can try to position ourselves for a QBOTF in the next draft - but this roster is too good to get a really high pick. I like Cousins OK but we have put ourselves in cap hell with him and there is no real exit ramp. We will be living with the Cousins cap problem even after he is gone, and we have no idea when that will be. I really do wonder if Kwesi has any coherent plan for this team.
It's the question I've been asking since Adolfo-Mensah walked in the door; what is the plan here? It seems to me the plan is just to be competitive and hope we eventually catch lightning in a bottle and land a young, franchise QB somehow, someway. To me that's not a plan, that's wishing, and thats why I was and have been in favor of rebuilding the roster instead of continuing this charade of shuffling cap dollars, taking on contract void years, drafting mid round, and not being competitive in free agency all so we can hopefully compete for the playoffs. We weren't better then Philly, Dallas, San Francisco, or the Giants last season. Most feel the Lions have overtaken us in the division. So have we done enough to overtake those teams by swapping Thielen for Addison, bringing in Flores in hopes of revamping a putrid defense, and hoping the infirmary of a secondary actually holds up this season? Throw in losing Dalvin Cook and I'd say that answer would be a solid...no.
@"purplefaithful" said:@"dadevike" said: I think this trade was dictated by one major consideration: the need for cap space. That Smith did not want to be here is largely irrelevant. Peterson wanted to be released and his agent created a huge stink, even getting into a shouting match with Brez at the Combines to force the Vikings to release him. The Vikings told the agent that Peterson will play in Minnesota next year or he won't play anywhere. End of story. Early this off-season Lamar Jackson said he wanted to be traded. The Ravens promptly slapped the franchise tag on him.The Vikings are not a better team without Smith. Their D is worse now than before the trade. I also suspect Kwesi gave his mentor Andrew Berry a sweetheart deal. A little gift for helping KAM get this job.
So what exactly is the plan here? We can try to compete - but this roster is not good enough to go very far. We can try to position ourselves for a QBOTF in the next draft - but this roster is too good to get a really high pick. I like Cousins OK but we have put ourselves in cap hell with him and there is no real exit ramp. We will be living with the Cousins cap problem even after he is gone, and we have no idea when that will be. I really do wonder if Kwesi has any coherent plan for this team.
Its'a legit question and we're not unique as fans wondering this about a GM.If its being run like a corporation, there is a short-term plan and a LRP that had to get envisioned and sold into ownership.
I can take a step back, look at some of the moves made (or to be made i.e. Cook) and say they are setting themselves up to be more competitive in 24/25 on the field and with more cap flex to boot.
22/23 were all about taking what they inherited and doing the best with it. Only time will tell if this is right or not.
They got some big talent to sign in JJ, Hock, Darrisaw so it aint gonna be easy - but those are nice problems to have.
This. Not sure why anyone would expect to recognize a coherent plan one year in, when, like any successful plan, it's going to be built on contingencies.One thing that is sort of becoming clear to me is that we're avoiding putting money into 2024 and beyond. The Vikings could've easily pulled money from O'Neill's contract, but haven't. They didn't extend Cousins or Hunter (yet). Davenport and Reeder signed one year deals. And the two-year contracts for Murphy and Lowry have zero guaranteed in 2024.
@"medaille" said: I don't think it's that he didn't want to be here as much as we weren't going to pay him the money he was expecting.I will add, he wasn't worth what he wanted either. When healthy, he was a force, but looking at his recent years, he hasn't been healthy all season for a while.
@"MaroonBells" said:@"purplefaithful" said:@"dadevike" said: I think this trade was dictated by one major consideration: the need for cap space. That Smith did not want to be here is largely irrelevant. Peterson wanted to be released and his agent created a huge stink, even getting into a shouting match with Brez at the Combines to force the Vikings to release him. The Vikings told the agent that Peterson will play in Minnesota next year or he won't play anywhere. End of story. Early this off-season Lamar Jackson said he wanted to be traded. The Ravens promptly slapped the franchise tag on him.The Vikings are not a better team without Smith. Their D is worse now than before the trade. I also suspect Kwesi gave his mentor Andrew Berry a sweetheart deal. A little gift for helping KAM get this job.
So what exactly is the plan here? We can try to compete - but this roster is not good enough to go very far. We can try to position ourselves for a QBOTF in the next draft - but this roster is too good to get a really high pick. I like Cousins OK but we have put ourselves in cap hell with him and there is no real exit ramp. We will be living with the Cousins cap problem even after he is gone, and we have no idea when that will be. I really do wonder if Kwesi has any coherent plan for this team.
Its'a legit question and we're not unique as fans wondering this about a GM.If its being run like a corporation, there is a short-term plan and a LRP that had to get envisioned and sold into ownership.
I can take a step back, look at some of the moves made (or to be made i.e. Cook) and say they are setting themselves up to be more competitive in 24/25 on the field and with more cap flex to boot.
22/23 were all about taking what they inherited and doing the best with it. Only time will tell if this is right or not.
They got some big talent to sign in JJ, Hock, Darrisaw so it aint gonna be easy - but those are nice problems to have.
This. Not sure why anyone would expect to recognize a coherent plan one year in, when, like any successful plan, it's going to be built on contingencies.One thing that is sort of becoming clear to me is that we're avoiding putting money into 2024 and beyond. The Vikings could've easily pulled money from O'Neill's contract, but haven't. They didn't extend Cousins or Hunter (yet). Davenport and Reeder signed one year deals. And the two-year contracts for Murphy and Lowry have zero guaranteed in 2024.
It feels like we tried to capture lightning in the bottle in 2022. 2023 is a year where we hope to compete as much as we can with limited resources, while we plan our window for 2024 and beyond. Just add young players that will be here for a while and cheap stop gaps to be good enough if our offense blows up.
@"medaille" said:@"MaroonBells" said:@"purplefaithful" said:@"dadevike" said: I think this trade was dictated by one major consideration: the need for cap space. That Smith did not want to be here is largely irrelevant. Peterson wanted to be released and his agent created a huge stink, even getting into a shouting match with Brez at the Combines to force the Vikings to release him. The Vikings told the agent that Peterson will play in Minnesota next year or he won't play anywhere. End of story. Early this off-season Lamar Jackson said he wanted to be traded. The Ravens promptly slapped the franchise tag on him.The Vikings are not a better team without Smith. Their D is worse now than before the trade. I also suspect Kwesi gave his mentor Andrew Berry a sweetheart deal. A little gift for helping KAM get this job.
So what exactly is the plan here? We can try to compete - but this roster is not good enough to go very far. We can try to position ourselves for a QBOTF in the next draft - but this roster is too good to get a really high pick. I like Cousins OK but we have put ourselves in cap hell with him and there is no real exit ramp. We will be living with the Cousins cap problem even after he is gone, and we have no idea when that will be. I really do wonder if Kwesi has any coherent plan for this team.
Its'a legit question and we're not unique as fans wondering this about a GM.If its being run like a corporation, there is a short-term plan and a LRP that had to get envisioned and sold into ownership.
I can take a step back, look at some of the moves made (or to be made i.e. Cook) and say they are setting themselves up to be more competitive in 24/25 on the field and with more cap flex to boot.
22/23 were all about taking what they inherited and doing the best with it. Only time will tell if this is right or not.
They got some big talent to sign in JJ, Hock, Darrisaw so it aint gonna be easy - but those are nice problems to have.
This. Not sure why anyone would expect to recognize a coherent plan one year in, when, like any successful plan, it's going to be built on contingencies.One thing that is sort of becoming clear to me is that we're avoiding putting money into 2024 and beyond. The Vikings could've easily pulled money from O'Neill's contract, but haven't. They didn't extend Cousins or Hunter (yet). Davenport and Reeder signed one year deals. And the two-year contracts for Murphy and Lowry have zero guaranteed in 2024.
It feels like we tried to capture lightning in the bottle in 2022. 2023 is a year where we hope to compete as much as we can with limited resources, while we plan our window for 2024 and beyond. Just add young players that will be here for a while and cheap stop gaps to be good enough if our offense blows up.
Yeah, I think this is about right. I think '23 is pivotal for the Vikings and Kirk Cousins. If he explodes in year two of the offense and this team goes deep into the playoffs, Kwesi likely extends him, we adjust the aperture, and focus on the short term.If he doesn't, Cousins moves on in free agency, Vikings focus longer term, and do a sort of running rebuild with plenty of cap space....but no QB. Now that I think about it, this is a precarious position to be in for a team with two 1st round WRs and a rebuilt OL. There would have to be a bridge, ala Jimmy G in Oakland.
It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
@"MaroonBells" said:@"medaille" said:@"MaroonBells" said:@"purplefaithful" said:@"dadevike" said: I think this trade was dictated by one major consideration: the need for cap space. That Smith did not want to be here is largely irrelevant. Peterson wanted to be released and his agent created a huge stink, even getting into a shouting match with Brez at the Combines to force the Vikings to release him. The Vikings told the agent that Peterson will play in Minnesota next year or he won't play anywhere. End of story. Early this off-season Lamar Jackson said he wanted to be traded. The Ravens promptly slapped the franchise tag on him.The Vikings are not a better team without Smith. Their D is worse now than before the trade. I also suspect Kwesi gave his mentor Andrew Berry a sweetheart deal. A little gift for helping KAM get this job.
So what exactly is the plan here? We can try to compete - but this roster is not good enough to go very far. We can try to position ourselves for a QBOTF in the next draft - but this roster is too good to get a really high pick. I like Cousins OK but we have put ourselves in cap hell with him and there is no real exit ramp. We will be living with the Cousins cap problem even after he is gone, and we have no idea when that will be. I really do wonder if Kwesi has any coherent plan for this team.
Its'a legit question and we're not unique as fans wondering this about a GM.If its being run like a corporation, there is a short-term plan and a LRP that had to get envisioned and sold into ownership.
I can take a step back, look at some of the moves made (or to be made i.e. Cook) and say they are setting themselves up to be more competitive in 24/25 on the field and with more cap flex to boot.
22/23 were all about taking what they inherited and doing the best with it. Only time will tell if this is right or not.
They got some big talent to sign in JJ, Hock, Darrisaw so it aint gonna be easy - but those are nice problems to have.
This. Not sure why anyone would expect to recognize a coherent plan one year in, when, like any successful plan, it's going to be built on contingencies.One thing that is sort of becoming clear to me is that we're avoiding putting money into 2024 and beyond. The Vikings could've easily pulled money from O'Neill's contract, but haven't. They didn't extend Cousins or Hunter (yet). Davenport and Reeder signed one year deals. And the two-year contracts for Murphy and Lowry have zero guaranteed in 2024.
It feels like we tried to capture lightning in the bottle in 2022. 2023 is a year where we hope to compete as much as we can with limited resources, while we plan our window for 2024 and beyond. Just add young players that will be here for a while and cheap stop gaps to be good enough if our offense blows up.
Yeah, I think this is about right. I think '23 is pivotal for the Vikings and Kirk Cousins. If he explodes in year two of the offense and this team goes deep into the playoffs, Kwesi likely extends him, we adjust the aperture, and focus on the short term.If he doesn't, Cousins moves on in free agency, Vikings focus longer term, and do a sort of running rebuild with plenty of cap space....but no QB. Now that I think about it, this is a precarious position to be in for a team with two 1st round WRs and a rebuilt OL. There would have to be a bridge, ala Jimmy G in Oakland.
It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
Agreed, and I agree it's precarious. I think the criticism that we feel a bit rudderless at the moment is fair. We're not gonna stink so we can draft a top QB, but are we going to be good enough to make missing out on a top QB worth it? Big question mark. Hopefully the answer is yes but until they start playing the games we just don't know.
I don't know how many more years I can take of-- well, the OL is bad so lets run it back... well, it's a new coaching staff so let's run it back... well, it's year two and a new DC so let's run it back... ad infinitum. I don't want the Vikings to suck for a season either but what they've been doing just has not been working. The NFC championship loss to Philly was a while ago now and we can't dine out on that forever. Hopefully this year they figure things out and we get a good sense that we have a legit good team, either this year or next. Or, hopefully the opposite happens and it's obvious major changes need to be made. I understand not blowing things up after a 13 win season I totally do. It would be dumb to do so. But this middle-of-the-road regular season team we've been fielding for the past five years (while fun at times) is not what I want the next five years to look like. I hope the Wilfs agree with that, but I'm not sure.
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