INDIANAPOLIS – On the first day of the NFL Scouting Combine, Browns General Manager Andrew Berry, and Bengals Head Coach Zac Taylor and his top scout, Duke Tobin, broke down their goals as the offseason gets underway and they look to build next season’s rosters.
Both teams have to contend with major threats to their salary caps as they try to hold on to the talent they’ve developed over the past few seasons, but the combine is an opportunity to check out a few of those potential new pieces to help fill any gaps that may arise as season approaches.
For the Browns, with Deshaun Watson and the most expensive contract in the NFL, Andrew Berry said all options are on the table when it comes to getting the players they need while remaining under the cap.
“There’s a lot of flexibility in terms of what we can do,” he said.
He brought up trades, free agency pickups and even renegotiating existing contracts to ensure the team has a strong roster.
“We feel really good about a lot of our key and top players being in the middle of their prime and we certainly think this is a year where we can be very competitive,” he said.
The Bengals meanwhile are working with Joe Burrow to figure out what his long-term contract will look like. It was the first question reporters asked Tobin, the director of player personnel.
He said it was still a work in progress but that it’s the team’s top priority to negotiate a contract that’s good for Burrow while also giving the team the flexibility to keep some of his best weapons like Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins who are rising stars in their own rights.
“As our players mature and earn bigger contracts and find the successes they’re after, it’s our job to keep as many of them as we can,” he said. “The reality of the NFL is it’s hard to do, but it’s not impossible to fit the puzzle back together.”
This week he and other scouts will get the opportunity to meet other potential pieces of that puzzle, through team interviews and through their on-field combine performances.
“We’re looking for cultural fits,” Tobin said. “We’re looking for schematic fits. We’re looking for physical fits.”
Taylor said those cultural fits will be important for the team as they’ve worked to build a strong rapport between players and coaches with a clear set of expectations.
“We’ve had very little turnover so I think we’ve gotten to grow together as a staff and a lot of these players in the locker room have grown with us,” he said.
On day two, defensive ends and linebackers will address the media ahead of their on-field workouts. Later in the day, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski will answer questions about his strategy to manage the offseason and set the Browns up for success.
