2016 preseason
Reigning champions, finally! Head Coach K.C. Hanson rests on the laurels of his second straight Coach of the Year award, and we are finally on top of the football world.
Here is the path we took from rags to riches:
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GM Performance for QuikSand of the Cleveland Browns
Year Team Eval Perf Diff Proft FrVal Record Playoffs
2015 CLE 92 100 74 100 60 17-2-0 Bowl Winner
2014 CLE 89 90 75 100 58 16-2-0 Conference Final
2013 CLE 86 83 75 100 51 13-5-0 Division Final
2012 CLE 89 95 77 100 51 17-2-0 Conference Champion
2011 CLE 79 66 77 97 44 13-6-0 Conference Final
2010 CLE 80 83 78 91 37 12-5-0 Division Final
2009 CLE 83 83 79 99 31 12-5-0 Division Final
2008 CLE 73 69 79 90 22 9-8-0 Wild Card Round
2007 CLE 66 28 79 100 17 7-9-0 None
2006 CLE 58 2 77 100 20 3-13-0 None
2005 CLE 57 17 74 86 28 5-11-0 None
2004 CLE 61 5 71 100 33 4-12-0 None
Seven straight double-digit win seasons, and now a league title to cap it off. It’s been fun reaching the top, but now we are clearly there.
Transitions and League Observations
As I expected, RB Daniel Newman has retired. It’s nice to see him get a championship ring with us )he already had one from San Francisco, when the beat us in the SB), even though he missed the latter part of the season. He goes out at 15th on the all-time rushers list with 7,401 yards on the ground. He also is 3rd on the Cleveland career list – though the fact that Gus Stewart has already passed him speaks volumes, really.
Front Office Decisions
Offensive Coordinator Willie Schiffer gave us a good season, and bowed out. That’s fine, we’ll bring aboard a new face to run the offense this season. (or more correctly, to oversee offensive player development – I still don’t get that)
We bring aboard Earnest Carlisle… and before the loyal followers balk at that name, I can assure you that this is a different guy than our former head coach Ernest Carlyle. Names sound the same, but no relation.
OC: Earnest Carlisle, 61
EX: RB,OL,PK,Young Talent
VG: WR
GD: QB
Our bottom line was down last year – and I don’t know why. Ticket and Suite revenues dropped over 30% each – I must have dropped ticket prices again, though I don’t recall doing so. Regardless, our margin is a bit tighter than before.
Roster Review
We start off the FA period, and again have a walk through the roster.
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Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Houston, James 7 QB 6 64 64 1 yr.
Brock, Deion 2 QB 4 39 50 ---
Treadwell, Mo 3 QB 4 37 46 ---
Ward, Ray 16 QB 2 18 35 1 yr.
James Houston served us pretty well last year, and Deion Brock was solid when it counted under pressure. I’ll try to re-sign Brock to be our #2 again – he can remain a sentimental player for us. His initial demands are about $2m per season – so I may need to wait him out a bit, as that’s a bit more than I want to pay for my backup here.
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Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Stewart, Gus 39 RB 3 85 85 3 yrs
Baker, Joe 36 RB 2 34 49 1 yr.
Aguilera, Danny 30 RB 6 33 33 2 yrs
Gus Stewart is the real deal, the main concern here is having complementary players around him. Baker got 4.5 yards per carry in reserve last year – that’s not too bad, but I might look for a more well-rounded #2, just in case.
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Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Goodwin, Ian 23 FB 8 45 45 2 yrs
Brandon, Dean 45 FB 2 15 57 1 yr.
Norton, Devin 6 TE 8 76 76 ---
Chambliss, Todd 85 TE 3 34 49 ---
The big issue here is Devin Norton who is listed as questionable basically every week, but has been very, very productive for us. About 2,300 yards and three trips to Hawai’I in three seasons – it’s incredible. He’s asking for $6m per year – and that’s pretty incredible, too.
At FB, I like Brandon, who didn’t play at all last season – he might be ready to come in and start at FB for us this year. I like Goodwin, okay, but he’s not a great blocker – Brandon might end up being a better fit in time.
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Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
**Blair, Zach 81 FL 8 46 46 ---
Tilton, Cornelius 83 FL 4 38 38 ---
Garcia, Alex 88 FL 13 35 37 1 yr.
Causey, Marvin 86 SE 7 51 51 ---
Harmon, Van 89 SE 6 49 51 1 yr.
We have trouble here. Garcis and Harmon were new faces last season – both are fine, but neither is really a star player. Zach Blair will miss this whole season with an injury—and his future is very much in doubt after that. Causey and Tilton have both been fine – if we could re-sign them, I’d be okay with that foursome for starters. I think we need to make an addition here, though – maybe an early draft pick, maybe just a free agent. We will be looking carefully.
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Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Nunley, Monty 54 C 6 85 85 3 yrs
Pond, Ellis 57 C 6 54 60 1 yr.
Weber, Jesse 59 C 3 18 35 1 yr.
Thornton, Mickey 53 LG 6 58 60 ---
Lyon, Edwin 64 LG 3 40 52 ---
Gruber, Lincoln 63 RG 12 51 51 2 yrs
Nieto, Claude 78 LT 8 54 55 ---
Heinlein, Bennie 71 LT 12 53 55 2 yrs
Ford, Deion 69 LT 3 19 32 1 yr.
Thornton, Donnie 73 RT 10 60 60 ---
C Monty Nunley is expensive, but excellent. Getting T Heinlein back and healthy is a real boon to us, and we look solid with three starters already returning. G Mickey Thornton has been good for us, and for less than $2m per year, I expect to re-up with him. RT Donnie Thornton is the problem – asking for $5-6m per year, and I cannot afford that at all. Might need to either slide over LT Nieto, or else fish for a free agent.
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Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Creighton, Lamont 9 P 6 56 56 1 yr.
Crain, Mo 15 K 3 99 99 1 yr.
I’m happy with both guys here. Crain is only 64 of 88 with FGs, but I think he can improve -- plus, we try longer kicks with him, since he has a cannon for a leg.
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Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Lynn, Neal 90 LDE 4 53 53 1 yr.
Fox, Jimmy 93 LDE 10 48 50 1 yr.
Coleman, Skip 99 LDE 12 33 33 1 yr.
Lane, Blake 70 LDE 2 20 30 2 yrs
Cascadden, Gary 72 LDT 10 71 71 2 yrs
Bailey, Zach 96 LDT 5 62 69 ---
Oliveira, Willie 76 LDT 12 42 44 ---
Winters, Nate 92 NT 6 44 55 1 yr.
We need to have eight playable guys at DL, and right now we return five. DT is the main concern, as Bailey wants huge money, and Oliveira is the key to our chemistry picture here (and a decent enough third DT as is). Ideally, we’d re-sign both guys, and be done with it. Bailey’s $7m demands, though, might be too much to take. Particularly with so much tied up in Gary Cascadden (the ever-injured one) it’s tough to justify another huge paycheck going to the same position. Much to be decided here.
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Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Davis, Curtis 55 MLB 11 71 71 2 yrs
Perez, K.C. 56 MLB 10 56 57 ---
Dodge, Kurt 91 SLB 6 60 60 3 yrs
Frederick, Clarence 58 SLB 7 47 49 1 yr.
Meyer, Herb 50 SLB 4 29 48 ---
Sinclair, Curtis 94 SLB 3 25 55 1 yr.
Regalado, Darrin 52 WLB 8 47 47 1 yr.
Stuff, Blake 49 WLB 3 39 53 1 yr.
Davis and Dodge return as quality starters, and Perez is next to be signed. I think Perez is solid, but is replaceable if need be. Frederick and Regalado both help with the pass rush, and the rest are basically fillers. Signing Perez, or replacing him, is the top priority here. With Perez asking for $4 million a year, I expect we’ll be looking elsewhere.
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Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Diaz, Monty 40 LCB 5 48 48 2 yrs
Freeman, Jamie 44 LCB 6 47 49 ---
Enochs, Ty 43 LCB 2 14 53 2 yrs
Douglas, Darrell 26 RCB 6 61 61 ---
Callens, Zack 34 RCB 13 34 34 1 yr.
Weed, Kirk 24 SS 8 58 58 ---
Flannery, Ricky 42 SS 10 51 51 2 yrs
Eskridge, Kenneth 20 FS 5 76 76 1 yr.
Decision time on CB Darrell Douglas, who has been a three year starter for us, and as been pretty solid. Monty Diaz is a pretty similar player, and is already signed cheaply. We’ve been getting by on cheap, decent talent here – Diaz fits the bill. Ty Enochs looks like he won’t amount to much. Zack Callens just continues to outperform his apparent skills.
S Kirk Weed has become our positional leader, and a sentimental favorite. Plug him in for 70 tackles and a number of big plays every season. He seeks over $3m a year- but I really would like to work it out with him to come back.
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Players Under Contract: 34
Salary Cap: $75,000,000
Cap Room: $22,600,000
Maximum for New Player: $19,150,000
Cap Room Lost (to old contracts): $240,000
We really don’t have all that much cap space in total – for 12 players. We’re going to lose some quality, for certain – we’ll just hope to replace efficiently the holes that we do have.