Taylor Gabriel
Taylor Gabriel has settled in nicely with the Falcons this season.
(John Bazemore, Associated Press)
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- I'm not here to harp on the Browns letting Taylor Gabriel go, I promise.
No matter how much you might have liked Gabriel -- and I thought he had a really nice training camp and wrote it a number of times -- no one knew he would go on to become a key contributor to a deep playoff run. Even with my complimentary words, I didn't put up much resistance to the Browns letting him go.
The reality is Gabriel lost a numbers game. The Browns were determined to keep their four rookie receivers, one of whom is 5-foot-11 Corey Coleman. It appears they valued the leadership of Andrew Hawkins, who measures in at 5-foot-6. Head coach Hue Jackson told the team's radio show shortly after he was hired, "we've got the Smurfs here," referencing the group of receivers collected by former GM Ray Farmer.
So the deck was stacked against Gabriel to begin with and, on top of that, he was coming off of a disappointing 2015 season after playing a key role to the team's hot start as an undrafted rookie in 2014.
That said, there's a lesson to be learned here and there's a reason letting Gabriel go was a mistake. It has nothing to do with wins and losses. This team wouldn't have suddenly been playoff-bound had they kept Gabriel.
Where the Browns went wrong is in undervaluing a player who is young (he's 25), cheap (he made less than $1 million this season and will be a restricted free agent this off-season) and fills multiple needs (on top of wide receiver, he can return kicks, an area in which the Browns struggled).
This is where instability hurts. He was brought in by a different regime and the new coaching staff had little invested in his development other than what happened during the off-season.
How does this apply to the future? If this plan is going to work, it goes beyond drafting. The Browns have to develop their young talent and then work to keep that talent in Cleveland.
The 2016 draft class will get their first opportunity to test the team's player development investment. The steps players like Carl Nassib, Corey Coleman and Spencer Drango, among others, take will determine the success or failure of the class.
Another example: Finding an undrafted corner in Briean Boddy-Calhoun who appears to be able to contribute is a win, developing him into a reliable player is the next step. Then they'll do it all again with this incoming class of draft picks and undrafted free agents.
What happened with Gabriel happened and it's good to see him succeeding. One of the tests of this front office and coaching staff is to make sure valuable players like Gabriel don't get away too often.
Following up on Jimmy G: I received some great feedback on my post last Friday breaking down Jimmy Garoppolo's six quarters this season. You can read the whole breakdown here.
I said in the accompanying video that I would be willing to part with a second round pick and another pick or two down the line for Garoppolo. Trading for him also wouldn't prevent me from drafting a quarterback.
One of the issues in acquiring Garoppolo, of course, is his contract -- which is also the reason why the Patriots might consider trading him even though their starting quarterback is almost 40. Garoppolo is set to hit free agency after next season.
Patrick O'Donnell, The Plain Dealer's fantastic education reporter, sent me this note:
"He is under a cheap contract for 2017 and then you can franchise him for a year if you don't reach agreement. You don't have to sign him right away. You can bring him here, test drive him for a year and then sign him. Or, you can franchise him year 2 if you need another evaluation year before committing big money long term."
Garoppolo's cap hit for next season, according to Spotrac, is around $1.1 million. I threw out Brock Osweiler's contract as a possibility for a contract extension when discussing Garoppolo on Friday since he was a recent example of a backup quarterback cashing in, though under different circumstances. Osweiler received $37 million guaranteed as a free agent.
The franchise tag option is interesting, but expensive. Washington took this approach with Kirk Cousins last off-season. It meant that Washington had this season to really figure out how they feel about Cousins, but it also cost them nearly $20 million. They're also back in the same position now with Cousins.
Personally, that's not the approach I would take. If the Browns are willing to give up draft assets as high as, perhaps, the second round (and that's all speculative at this point), they should be willing to give him an extension. If the Browns brass were to have questions about signing him longterm -- or at least for an additional two to three years -- that should give them pause about acquiring him in the first place.
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