Should The Browns Pay Cribbs?

Cleveland kick returner Josh Cribbs is in the news this week over a simmering contract dispute with the Browns. Last summer, Bears Pro Bowl kick return specialist Devin Hester cashed in, but are these two players similar? Today, we discuss the Cribbs situation and decide if he should get a new deal.

The Situation

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cribbs wants a new deal or he will ask for a trade.

Sound familiar? It should because we see this every offseason in multiple NFL cities. The player “holdout” usually happens during OTAs — which are non-mandatory sessions — and continues through the summer until one side blinks and everything is resolved.

But who should blink in this situation? The Plain Dealer reports that Cribbs and his agent want a deal similar to the one given to Chicago’s Hester, which is four years, $40 million and $15 million is guarantees.

Am I missing something here?

Yes, they’re both electric when they get the ball in their hands on special teams, but the reason the Bears paid Hester that big coin is obvious. He’s their No. 1 wide receiver — no questions asked. Sure, he was a “gadget guy” just like Cribbs, a player you could use sparingly on offense in creative formations to get the ball in favorable match-ups. Not much different than the wildcat attack that has taken the league by storm.

But you don’t pay “gadget guys” $40 million, and that’s why Hester is now the Bears’ main target for new quarterback Jay Cutler.

Cribbs, on the other hand, is not. Let’s examine it.

Cribbs’ Role

According to reports out of Cleveland, the Browns see Cribbs — in addition to his role on special teams — as an extra defensive back, a player they can use in nickel situations and maybe occasionally at safety, although we have no idea of how that will transpire. Production as a defensive back? Maybe, but we don’t know.

I’m sorry, folks, but safeties, nickel corners and kick returners don’t earn $40 million.

That’s just a fact of the league. I can see the Browns paying Cribbs to be a guy who can play both ways — and return kicks — but to actually believe that he deserves the type of money that Hester does is ludicrous. And that’s something we should all agree on.

I almost always take the players’ side when it comes to negotiations, and I believe that players can “outplay” their current contracts, but I still have a reasonable sense of what positions make the most cash. Wide receiver is one of them, and yes, we can argue that Hester is overpaid for his production at wide receiver. But that doesn’t hide the fact that he’s still the No. 1 guy in Chicago — and Cribbs is still a guy without a position on the football field.

Cribbs is a valuable member of the Browns and a guy they might not be able to afford to lose in the grand scheme of the 2009 season. But to expect to get Hester-type money after catching two passes for 18 yards in the ’08 season?

That isn’t going to get it done.

What Should the Browns Do?

Nothing really because they’ve been down this road before.

In 2006, the Browns did Cribbs a favor by signing him to a six-year extension for $6.7 million.

Why should they do it again? That type of money for a special teams guy is a pretty fair deal in my mind. In fact, they’re overpaying for a special teams guy.

I know I will hear it because Cribbs is special, he’s multi-talented and he’s now going to play some defense (which is a leap of faith), but it still doesn’t ignore the fact that he doesn’t play an actual position on the Browns.

Players like Cribbs are hard to get on the field outside of the kicking game. Trust me, if the Browns thought Cribbs had the ability to play a No. 1 or even a No.2 wide receiver, they would have done exactly what Chicago did — announce publicly that he’s their main option on offense.

But they didn’t. They drafted WRs Brian Robiskie of Ohio State and Mohamed Massaquoi of Georgia on the first day of the NFL Draft. The Browns knew then that Cribbs wasn’t the answer at WR, and now they’re scrambling to find a position for him.

And that’s why this entire situation has me scratching my head. Why Cribbs and his agent suddenly think he should earn top dollar in this league is beyond me, and if I were the Browns, I wouldn’t budge.

They already gave Cribbs a deal to return kicks in 2006. Has he done anything to change that?

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