The long hug goodbye -- was there a place for Sashi Brown in John Dorsey's organization after all?

Does anyone else miss Sashi Brown -- even a little?  John Dorsey's least favorite television show has to be Antiques Road Show.  He ain't got time for that.  Dorsey's thinking is why not just slap a $1 sticker on that girly Parnian desk and tote it out to the curb -- someone will take it off your hands.  "What channel is American Hot Rod on, honey?"

Don't get me wrong.  Shelton is more like a desk from IKEA.   His signature moment as a Brown is still the bear hug that he gave Goddell at the NFL draft.   If your first thought at that moment was "oh God another soft player" raise your hand.   Yeah, me too.   He never lived up to his draft position -- not even close.  That doesn't mean that he was without value, however.

My criticism is not about moving away from Shelton the player.  It is time to give Larry Ogenjobi a run.  Caleb Brantley and Trevon Coley are also  more of the one-gap penetrating tackle types that fit a 4-3 front in Greg Williams' defensive scheme. "The Pierogi Prince of Parma," Jamie Meder is a less expensive two-gap space eating nose tackle type that can do everything that Shelton does without the overhead.

My criticism is that the Browns literally got nothing except additional unnecessary cap space for trading Shelton now.   They gave away a fifth round draft pick this year to get what is likely to be an end-of-the round third rounder next year.   The premium of trading for a present draft pick with a future pick is normally that the future pick that you are offering needs to be a full round higher -- like a future third for a present fourth rounder.   The exchange of picks itself in the Shelton deal was nearly equal value.  Shelton is a bonus for the Patriots.

Shelton is a 3-4 Nose Tackle.  He's a guy that can occupy defenders, take up space and anchor the interior of the offensive line.  There is value there. 

By Erik Drost (Danny Shelton)(Danny Shelton) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

So why not wait until cut down time to see if some NFL team running a 3-4 defense has a nose tackle go down in the preseason?  The rule change allowing teams to hoard players until the final cut down day makes stashing a player with the intention of maximizing his trade value a legitimate strategy. Dorsey would at least be looking at a fourth or possibly a third round draft pick in 2019 without sending back an asset in return if things worked out, while keeping some positional insurance against the Browns' own injuries.  What was the rush?



Say what you want, Sashi Brown knew how to sell high.   He netted a fifth rounder from the Patriots for Barkevious Mingo, another fifth rounder from the Chiefs for Cam Erving, a sixth round pick for Justin Gilbert, and a fourth-round pick for punter Andy Lee.

I know, who cares about day three draft picks?  That fourth rounder for Andy Lee was the same fourth rounder the Browns used to acquire Jarvis Landry from the Dolphins.

Trade value aside, why help the Patriots who didn't give the Browns organization the courtesy of outbidding the 'Niners for handsome Jimmy Garoppolo?

Sashi's spending Jimmy's money as severance pay, while he could be earning his bank working the phones to move the Browns' distressed assets.  Nobody did it better.   Who knows what he could have leveraged for Shelton or Deshone Kizer.

Most NFL people in the know say that Dorsey is a great judge talent.  That is the most important quality for a general manager without doubt.   Time will tell if he carries his reputation forward with the Browns.   Phil Savage came with a good reputation and inherited a cap situation that Butch Davis righted.   He squandered that opportunity by churning the roster to purge decent players for "his guys."

Dorsey's critics say he doesn't know the value of an NFL dollar.  He put the Chiefs in salary cap hell in short order.   How Doresy values draft picks in the third round and later is starting to come into focus.  It doesn't seem to be worth his time to fret about maximizing value of the draft compensation he receives if it is not a first or second round pick -- just get it done.

I understand that the Browns can't take another twelve or thirteen rookies into training camp on this already young team.  They need to use those picks to either move up in this year's draft or to trade into next year's draft.   The Shelton trade accomplishes the latter.   I can't help but thinking that the Browns left value on the table, however . . . or that there is a place at the Browns table of "football guys" for a guy whose background is knowing how to manage the salary cap, engage in professional negotiations and win trades.

Dorsey could have been brought in over Sashi as part of a restructuring of the organization.   I still think that Haslam set up this structure so that he could lure in Peyton Manning and slide him in above Brown, Berry and DePodesta.   In the end, however, someone had to be sacrificed on the alter of 0-16.   By some strange twist of logic, that guy wasn't Hue Jackson.