All signs out of Cleveland point to Jacoby Brissett handling quarterback for the 11 games while Deshaun Watson serves his 11-game suspension for allegations of repeated sexual misconduct.
Tony Grossi has been covering the NFL for 35 years and has deep connections with the Browns organization. According to his intel, Cleveland doesn’t sound enamored with the possibility of adding 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo via trade or signing him as a free agent.
Grossi joined 95.7 The Game’s “Damon & Ratto” with Damon Bruce and Ray Ratto Thursday to give his latest information on the Browns and Jimmy G.
“I’m probably one of the biggest Garoppolo fans in Cleveland, believe it or not,” Grossi said. “I get no evidence whatsoever that they will pursue Garoppolo, even when released. He does not have an advocate in the Browns building for whatever reason – whether he doesn’t score well on the analytics meter. Whatever it is, they have shown no evidence – and I’ve checked my sources on this pretty regularly – I think I would have known by now that they were poised to go after him. Maybe they will, maybe they’re hiding it really well. But I think they feel that their team is so strong that they can keep their head above water with Brissett. As long as he doesn’t get hurt, because second in line is Josh Dobbs. I don’t know how to explain it, their non-interest in Garoppolo. But it’s real.”
According to Over The Cap, the Browns currently have $49 million in salary cap space, so finances clearly aren’t the issue. Garoppolo is due to make a $24.2 million base salary in 2022, but at this point the Browns would probably be better off waiting for the 49ers to release him, as they are expected to do before final 53-man roster cuts on Aug. 30.
That’s just 11 days from now. If Garoppolo hits free agency, he will likely sign a contract for a lot less money than $24.2 million, and the team wouldn’t have to ship a draft pick to San Francisco for compensation. It would behoove the Browns – or any team interested – to simply wait for Jimmy G to get released at this point.
Grossi said the Browns would probably court Garoppolo if Brissett gets injured.
“They would have to have interest,” Grossi said. “But it may be too late then, it may be too late. They are infatuated with Brissett, who looks very average on the practice field to me. He’s only gonna play in one preseason game, that’s the third one against Chicago, he won’t play this weekend against Philadelphia.”
Grossi also gave an update on how the Browns have handled splitting QB reps since Watson’s suspension was finalized.
“Watson had way more snaps than I thought he ever would,” Grossi said. “He’s still running with the twos. And here’s Josh Dobbs, who’s gonna be one play away from being the starter once we get going, and he’s running with the threes. I can’t explain any of that. But I think it’s really odd they way they’ve done that.”
Related
