BROWNS CHOOSE QUANTITY OVER QUALITY AT THE BARGAIN STORE

By STEVE KING

I love the dollar store — er, excuse me, the dollar and a quarter store since their prices went up. I think everybody loves those stores.

You can get a lot of cool stuff at bargain prices. So, who doesn’t want to do that? In fact, at the store near me, I recently found a great buy on packaged wipes to clean the lens on your glasses. You get 12 in cellophane wrap for … well, $1.25. They do the job. I highly recommend them.

But the quality at the dollar and a quarter store isn’t great sometimes. You have to be careful.

The quality at other stores — Target, Kohls and the like — is better. But you pay more for it, and you expect to do so and are willing to do so.

Let’s say you have $20. You can use it to buy a lot of items — of lesser worth — at the dollar and a quarter store, or you can go to the better-quality stores and get one nice item. Sometimes, it’s the better value to get that quality.

You can liken shopping at both kinds of stores to making picks in the NFL Draft. The Browns, for instance, went into Friday night’s second and third rounds looking to make their first pick after having traded away their first-round selection on Thursday as part of the package to get a really expensive, high-quality talent in quarterback Deshaun Watson. It was a steep price to pay, but the Browns thought it was worth it because that’s what it costs to get quality.

When it came time, though, to finally make that pick, all the way back at No. 44 overall, the Browns decided to eschew going to Target and Kohls by trading with the Houston Texans to go all the way back to No. 68. They got more picks in the deal, but at that point of the draft, the they were in the dollar and a quarter store and the quality of the players you’re able to get there isn’t nearly as good. Yes, more players, but lesser quality.

What happened to Browns General Manager Andrew Berry’s desire to get top-of-the-line goods? All of a sudden, just when it came time to put some talented, high-quality players around Watson, he instead strolled into the dollar and a quarter store trying to find a bargain. He sifted through the pile of stuff attempting to come up with a gold nugget. The chances of that happening are not good.

Disappointing? Oh, yes, and in fact very much so. Surprising, frustrating and confusing, too.

Happy shopping.

Or not.

See you in the bargain basement of rounds four through seven — where everything is of the quality of the dollar and a quarter store — on Saturday afternoon as the draft concludes.