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The Bayou buzzkill officially has begun.

On the same day that word emerged of linebacker Scott Fujita's decision to donate half of his 2009 playoff earnings to New Orleans charities, Tony Grossi of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that Fujita has signed with the Browns.

Fujita has started at outside linebacker for the Saints since 2006. Grossi notes that, in Cleveland, Fujita possibly could move to one of the two inside positions in the team's 3-4 defense.

The eight-year veteran also has played for the Chiefs and the Cowboys.

Injuries limited Fujita to 10 regular-season starts in 2009. He started every postseason game, including Super Bowl XLIV.

Fujita leaves the Saints | ProFootballTalk.com

Well CRAP! OK Loomis........

breesfan27

Cleveland Browns | Browns sign Fujita, Pashos

Thank you for everything Scott! We will miss you!

stockman311

I'm gonna miss the guy. First player to take a chance on NOLA after the hurricane and a real solid veteran on our D. I'm extremely interested to see the terms of the deal, and what we were unwilling to match.....To be continued.

RockyMountainSaint

9/3/05; Selected in fifth round by Kansas City (143rd overall) in the 2002 NFL Draft.


OK, so who can we sign to replace him, under this year's rules?

RockyMountainSaint

Browns announce arrival of Pashos, Fujita
Posted by Mike Florio on March 7, 2010 5:34 PM ET
It's official. The new regime led by Mike Holmgren has coaxed two free agents to Cleveland.

The team has announced the acquisition of tackle Tony Pashos and linebacker Scott Fujita.

Browns announce arrival of Pashos, Fujita | ProFootballTalk.com
"We are extremely happy that we were able to get Scott and Tony signed so quickly," G.M. Tom Heckert said in a team-issued release. "They are two players we had targeted from the start of free agency. Both are smart, tough and physical -- the type of players that the Browns are looking for.

"Scott possesses tremendous size for a linebacker, and this will allow him to play inside or outside in our 3-4 defense. He has been a starter throughout his career, has been exposed to several different defensive schemes and has been successful in all of them. He is a great leader and played a big part in the success that the Saints achieved last year.

"We like the fact that Tony has started a lot of games in this league, and has been a part of some productive offenses with Baltimore and Jacksonville. Although he's started at right tackle, he has the versatility to play inside as well, and he will come in and compete at both tackle and guard with us."

Though neither player is young -- Fujita is 30 and Pashos will join him there on August 3 -- the obvious goal is to look for ways to improve the team in the short-term, and to provide strong leadership to young players who will be the nucleus of the roster in the future. Fujita, with his brand-new Super Bowl ring, can do just that.

I'm no one.
Who are you?

stockman311

We can only sign a player to a deal of equal first year salary value to the one Fujita signed with the Browns. I'm not sure if the guaranteed portion has to be the same or not. If I had to guess it would be both the salary portion of the contract and the signing bous that would count. So say they gave Fujita a 3 year deal at $15MM with a $3MM signing bonus and a salary of $2MM first year salary, we could only sign a guy for a $2MM first year salary and $3MM signing bonus, however we could sign that deal for any position. It's not LB specific.

TheDeuce

Good luck to Scott, I always really liked him. He was a solid contributor to this organization, and a team-first kind of guy.

breesfan27

We play them this upcoming season too.

foreverfan

This will not be the last lose. Good luck Fujita.

RockyMountainSaint

Thanks stockman. Am I alone in thinking that the reason that he left is because the Browns "reached" and paid him much more than the Saints were willing to? If so that would soften the blow for me b/c it would give us more options monetarily, to sign someone.

Defensive End anyone?