The Cleveland Browns should avoid going after Jim Schwartz’s ex-players

The Cleveland Browns have proven time and time again, that it’s best to get younger when new coaches come in rather than getting older.

The Cleveland Browns have a nasty habit, as do other teams and coaches,  of going back to the well when there are coaching changes. For whatever reason, coaches will look to bring in “their guys”, even if they’re over the hill or don’t fit the team’s timelines. One of the big examples that fit that is when Romeo Crennel brought in Willie McGinest. McGinest played out his three-year contract with the Browns but never lived up to the lofty financials that he signed for.

He wasn’t bad by any means, but Crennel’s defense did not bring the most out of McGinest. Does the 2007 Cleveland Browns win 11 games and make the playoffs if the team signs someone over  McGinest? Who knows. It didn’t work, that’s what we do know.

Butch Davis also did this, but on a more annoying level, as he would lean on his favorite college players that he both coached and coached against. Picking names like Gerrard Warren, and James Jackson. Warren, a defensive tackle out of Florida, would have a modestly succesful career in the NFL but would never live up to his lofty draft status. Jackson, the Browns new running back, was expected to be “the guy” after all the hype he had coming out of the University of Miami, where Davis coached. Davis had a modestly successful 2001 and 2002 draft before watching everything fall apart in 2003 and beyond.

We can go through this with any coach; Eric Mangini comes to mind significantly for having done this. He brought in Eric Barton, David Bowens, Blake Costanzo, Noah Herron, C.J. Mosley, and Hank Poteet from his time with the New York Jets.

The Browns improved by one game from 2008 to 2009. That doesn’t even factor in all of the AFC East players he brought in as well, just due to his familiarity with them. Maginin is among the worst coaches the team ever had.

Absolutely the Browns should look for guys who fit into what Jim Schwartz wants to do, but the Browns need to avoid aging players he once coached.

The Cleveland Browns should avoid bringing in former players of Jim Schwartz

A new report is out from Jared Mueller of Dawgs by Nature that Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox are interested in joining Schwartz in Cleveland. Cox is 32 Graham is 34. On paper, it looks like a great idea. Both guys are putting up Pro Bowl-caliber numbers. Both guys were instrumental in the Eagles’ defense taking the team to the Super Bowl this past season. Both guys seem like good, hard-working dudes.

Both guys also will eventually lose to Father Time. They also play positions that take giant toles on the human body. It seems like a good idea on paper, it really does. But free agents, especially ones that Andrew Berry seemingly signs, don’t usually live up to the lofty expectations that come with their heavy contracts.

The Browns need to be built for sustainability and longevity, as well as for immediate success. You can justify bringing in Cox, as the Browns are desperate to improve at defensive tackle, but Graham is aging out of the league.

Even then, it’d be hard to justify Cox. He has the stats, but PFF has him declining in each of his last three seasons. That’s surely due to age, at least it is if you put any stock into PFF. And while Graham isn’t fading on paper, he is turning 35 in about a month, and the Eagles’ defensive unit as a whole was a lot better than the Browns.

If they come in super-cheap, ok, let’s see what they can do but more than likely there’s going to be a bidding war for them, and the Browns should sit that out. They don’t have the money to spend, nor the allowance to keep missing high-priced additions.