rmcjacket23
Ravens Ring of Honor
I guess my point is... why is it viewed as "throwing picks away"?. Basically, the only way they wasted those picks, is if the NFL basically goes well and above any suspension they've handed anybody, basically ever, and does something indefinite or for many years. And so far, that doesn't appear to be on the table for anybody who's even discussing it.we are going to have to agree to disagree on this one. You have some valid points but you just don't go throw high picks away even if they are the last pick in the 1st round. You make it seem like they aren't valuable picks unless they are top 5 picks and a 7 to 8 win team is top half of the round easy. Those picks could be some very good players. Just this this year they traded #13 and next yrs first with Watson suspended the year is still going to be a very good pick. Besides the Browns were only able to structure 45m signing bonus because they guaranteed the entire contract and protected Watson from suspension. Don't make the Browns out to be like they were wizards in the structure of this deal, because they weren't. They were in fact desperate to land him.
Honestly, if they suspended him for 2 years, I'm not sure it's wasting picks. They'll still have a high-end QB on their roster, for three more years, at a prime age.
If we're being objective, it doesn't appear like the trade compensation was a hang up for anybody that wanted him. It was the fact that the Browns gave him a fully guaranteed contract that pushed it over the edge. I have zero doubt that multiple NFL teams would have given up the same. Pretty much anybody who needed a QB and could afford to pay one.
We certainly disagree on the structure. I would have bet a deal that size gets a BIGGER signing bonus from most teams, because they'd want to prorate it longer. $45M on that size isn't a lot. Especially true when they didn't go the typical route of several annual roster bonuses, much like Allen and Mahomes deals are.
I'm saying they did great in structuring that deal that way because a) it allows them to restructure annually and b) it hedges against multi-year suspensions. You'd be hard pressed to find a franchise QB deal structure that looks like this one. That's by design, and I'm not just talking about year 1. Most year 1 QB contracts are heavy bonus, light on salary.