The Rams will be trading the #2 pick of the NFL draft to the Redskins for the #6 pick this year, a second round pick this year, and the Redskins’ first rounders in 2013 and 2014. 

It seems the majority of Cleveland fans are glad the team did not give up that much for the opportunity to draft RGIII (this is from going through Twitter, comments on related news posts and listening to some ESPN Cleveland this morning). 

The Browns have never seemed extremely high on RGIII, but it did appear there was some interest, as was indicated by reports the Browns made a late run to make a trade. What the Browns were and were not willing to give up would be interesting to know, and certainly a better gauge of just how high they were on RGIII, but the front office will probably stay silent on this point.

I, for one, believe the Browns made the right choice not trading up for RGIII. Cleveland is not and probably will never be a free agent hot spot. This team has to build through the draft and rely on keeping those individuals in house. If the Browns make this trade, great, we have our Franchise QB, but we have no other weapons on offense, other than our franchised tagged kicker. Count me in the category of people who think RGIII is a great athlete, but not totally proven at QB. He runs fast and he has a cannon of an arm, absolutely agree there. But being in the Big 12 he was able to play some of the worst defenses imaginable. I’m not completely sold on how well he’s going to do with elite athletes on the other side of the ball, and all the pressure that has been put on him with this trade being made.

I think the Browns are in position to get Morris Claiborne with the #4 pick and a WR with the #22 pick. I’d much rather go this route than lose the instant impact defensive player and what hopefully turns out to be a solid wide receiver. If the Browns make the trade to move up they are still stuck with Massaquoi as the #1 WR on the depth chart — and that’s just not right. Greg Little showed signs of promise but still has ways to go, and I think we’ve established by this point that Josh Cribbs is simply not an every down WR. As great as RGIII could be, this would seriously hinder his ability to succeed. 

So what do the Browns do at QB now? There’s talk of Ryan Tannehill or Brandon Weeden being targeted in the draft. Tannehill would probably require the Browns to use the #4 pick on him (which better not happen) or trade down to the #10 range to get him.  Weeden, despite his age, will probably be a second rounder, third at latest. Tannehill excites me more, but some of it is probably that there’s no real indication of just how good a QB he can be, as he played more games at WR in college. And I’m not sure giving up Claiborne at #4, if he is there, to trade down for Tannehill is the best route to take.

The other talk focuses around acquiring Matt Flynn in free agency. Matt Flynn had the best offense in the NFL in Green Bay. The Cleveland Browns have one of the worst, if not the very worst. I don’t think dishing out a huge contract based on two games is what the Browns should be doing. I’d rather give Colt some weapons on the offensive end and seeing what he is capable of doing. 

Any way Browns fans look at it, there is now at least the certainty that RGIII is off the table of them and it’s time to start preparing for the draft from another stand point. They also don’t have to worry about not having a pick in the first round of the following two drafts, which I think is a good thing for this franchise that seems to not want or not attract free agents.

Not Cleveland sports related, but wanted to give some quick predictions on the AFC and NFC championship games… Although it would be nice if the Browns could make it to the playoffs one day so this type of post could be.. 

AFC Championship: Ravens vs. Patriots

I don’t think (but do hope) we see the offensive onslaught we saw last week from the Patriots. Don’t get me wrong, the Patriots will put points on the board, but there’s no way it comes as easy as it did last week. That’s going to mean Joe Flacco has to put points on the board for the Ravens and I’m not willing to predict Flacco can match Brady, as weak as the Patriots defense may be. I’ll take the Patriots to cover the spread (I’ve seen -7 and -9) and win the game, 37-22.

NFC Championship: Giants vs. 49ers

The 49ers and Saints easily had the most entertaining game of last week. The 49ers escaped with a victory in large part to the amount of turnovers they forced. I don’t see the Giants suffering from the same inability to hold on to the ball that the Saints did. Last week the Giants shut down what was one of the most prolific offenses in the NFL, the only reason GB came out with any touchdowns was because of the officiating. I have to believe the Giants can shut down Alex Smith since they shut down Rodgers, the real question will be whether they can stop Frank Gore. In the end I think the Giants will prevail 24 - 13, setting up a Super Bowl rematch from a few years back.