Gallery & Roethlisberger

For whatever reason, I definitely get the feeling one of these two guys will be there at 7 if Manning and Fitzgerald go #1 & #2. I wonder if Denny Green is serious about not picking a QB. I wonder if the Giants could pass up Sean Taylor. I wonder if there isn't a team in the top 6 that is crazy about Kellen Winslow.

If those two guys are gone, I still wonder... there is going to be 4-6 very highly regarded players available at #7, and I think the Browns will be in the thick of some trade offers. If something comes the Browns way that keeps them in the top 15, I think it will be pretty tempting.

Here's some interestng speculation on the Northcutt thing affecting the Browns in the draft. Hadn't really thought of this...

With the 7th pick overall in this year's first round, it is very possible that the best players available when the Browns pick would include elite receivers such as a Roy Williams of Texas or even USC soph sensation Mike Williams if he doesn't run all that well in pre-draft workouts. However, if the Browns did end up retaining Northcutt's rights, they would have some depth at WR which could allow them to look at other positions.

7th Pick

Ah yeah I'm pretty psyched about the Browns getting the 7th, rather than 8th, pick. It really could be a big deal. Consider: there are a lot of players considered the "real deal" in this draft. Manning, Roethlisberger, Fitzgerald, Taylor, Gallery are the concensus top 5 at the moment, but there are a lot of players who could crack into those top spots -- DT Harris, TE Winslow, WR M. Williams are the likely candidates, and WR R. Williams and DE Udeze could also. And that doesn't even include a guy I would have been thrilled to get a month ago -- G Shawn Andrews.

Northcutt Not Free

I have to admit I am pretty shocked by Northcutt/his agent's failure to submit the proper paperwork to void the final years of his contract. It's rather amazing in this day and age, and I can't help but think which scenes from Jerry Mcguire have been playing out, somewhere, this past week.

So what does this mean? Well it's obviously good for the Browns, but it remains to be scene if they can keep Northcutt without things getting ugly. Obviously, the Browns thought Northcutt to be worth much less than Northcutt expected to command on the open market. This story may still end with Northcutt playing for someone else...

Nevertheless, that likely means the Browns get something in return for him. They are certainly in a good position to deal him since the team will not be penalized much if at all and his present contract is below market value. Heck, might there be a possibility they could get a 2nd round pick? I think a 3rd or 4th is more likely since whoever pursues him will still have to pay him like a free agent.

This whole thing opens up some interesting scenario. Maybe Northcutt stays at a reasonable price. Maybe the Browns get a nice extra draft pick. Maybe Northcutt is moved in a draft-related deal in a bid to get one of the big names on the board (the teams with the top 4 picks all could use a guy like that, IMO). Or, and I think this would have to be the most likely scenario I can dream up, we trade Northcutt to the Chiefs in exchange for rigths to restricted free agent John Tait. That would almost make too much sense...

Lots of News

Heads or tails: The celebrated coin flip to decide the seventh and eighth spots in the draft between the Browns and Atlanta Falcons is expected to take place today in front of an NFL league office representative.

The Browns have also talked with the Cardinals and Steelers about dealing Jamel White. I hope they deal him out of the North. It's easy to envision him burning us with the Steelers on a 60-yard screen pass or whatever.

Davis on William Green: "He is so excited to be back in the facility working out," Davis said. "He's in there a couple of hours every day. He's anxious to work through the issues he has and mend the fences. It's not an easy process. Credibility, relationships, he's working at them every single day." Not to be a jerk here, but I hope Green is "at the facility" more than a couple hours each day. The more time he's doing that the less likely he'll be out doing things with people he shouldn't be doing things with.

And, in very positive news regarding a new contract for Gerard Warren: "The meeting was very positive," said agent Joel Segal. "If there's a fair resolution for both sides, I think we can get something done."

Pitchers and catchers have reported, and there is hope too that the Browns will gain cap space and maybe a draft pick going into the draft.

Interest Confirmed

Browns coach Butch Davis said Friday that he has spoken to Houston General Manager Charlie Casserly to explore the "parameters" of a trade. He said he was OK with what he heard.

This seems to be the reaction of all the coaches and GM's who've inquired about Drew. Which probably means the choice will ultimately be made by Drew himself.

Price is Right

The Texans are seeking: 1) a second-round choice, or 2) a conditional third-round selection in the 2005 draft that could subsequently escalate to as high as a first-round choice.

The Browns are crazy not to try.

QB

The more I think about it the more I believe the Browns need to acquire a young quarterback this offseason. Not a first-rounder, but a guy that can be counted upon to be a competent backup/possible starter in a year's time.

Ricky Shaves

Hehe, I think this is kind of entertaining. I'm not a huge fan of Ricky Williams the football player, but he sounds like a pretty good guy to me. Backpacking in Australia? Cool.

A Less Grey Lining

One good thing to consider, however, is that the Browns will still be in better shape than last season in terms of the salary cap and it's effects on the roster. We won't be jettisoning our linebacker corp, or really anyone. When it comes to continuity within the competent starters and role-palyers, the Browns are in great shape. I know it sounds kind of lame to say such things, but it's true that having a foundation like that is likely to be a better asset than, say, a healthy Holcomb or a sober William Green.

What the Hell

So now Holcomb AND C. Brown are under the knife. I'm no doctor, but doesn't it seem incredible that Holcomb is facing a 4-6 month recovery from a surgery done in February when, it would seem, he could have had that surgery over a month ago?

And C Brown, man will the injuries ever end? I wonder what kind of position this sort of thing puts the Browns when trying to renegotiate -- can they really guarantee Courtney enough money that he'd be willing to resign without overcommitting themselves to a guy who, at this rate, won't be able to play for many more years? I hope I'm blowing this out of proportion though. Forgive me if I wonder if what Butch calls "a little cleanup" might actually be knee-replacement surgery...

Finally, I'd have to think Holcomb's surgery is making Couch take a somewhat more aggressive stance on renegotiating. It might not be easy for this deal to happen. Heck, the Browns could very well be looking at starting the season with a free agent quarterback, Hybl or another free agent as second-string, and a recovering Holcomb in third-string while he also tries to assimilate a new offense. Yikes. The Browns, perhaps expectedly considering this front office, see it otherwise though -- they are saying Holcomb should be able to _better_compete come training camp cause his shoulder will be feeling SO good. Well, I guess you have to think positive.

Henson, More

A renegotiated Couch will likely be around for 1-2 years, and unless the front office really thinks he's the long term answer, making a pitch for Henson would make a ton of sense. Do we really expect (or want) to 1) have an early first round pick in 2005 or 2006 or 2) spend a first round pick on a QB? Combine that with the fact that Couch's long-term future is on shaky ground and I think you have to make a late-run for Henson if the price is right.

The right price would be something less than a first round pick. Perhaps this year's second rounder. Perhaps a mid-level pick this year and a 2005 second. Or perhaps sending our 1st to Houston for Henson and a 2nd, which would allow the Browns to get two good players and have enough money to pay Henson enough to agree to the trade.

The only really downside to the deal that I can think of is that Couch 1) might still play well and we may want to keep him, or 2) might play poorly with the home fans constantly cheering Henson's name. I think #1 is a good problem to have as long as his new contract is reasonable, and #2 is avoided by Butch sticking to not playing Henson in 2004. Or, the Browns deal Couch for a song and go with Holcomb for year.

Wise Words

Listen to Carolina's GM -- "It was important, after what's happened with this franchise in recent years, that we get those guys at a price we felt was right."

Remember this when you think the Browns should go hard after Orlando Pace. Or when you hear Northcutt may sign with someone else. Or when we are outbid for John Tait, or whatever free agent we are chasing. The bottom line is the best player in the league will not help if he is being paid too much.

Making the Big Money Less

Well this would be nice. For the moment it seems like the Browns just might be able to pull off the triple renogiation with Couch/Warren/Brown. Is that admitting that these guys haven't quite panned out as planned? Uh, yeah.

It doesn't mean they can't be part of a winning team though. And the fact that they all have had a degree of success indicates that they'll be able to stick around a couple more years. And renogitating will allow the Browns to hopefully sign some competent free agents. Heck, we are rapidly approaching that point in the offseason, just before the draft, where you can envision it ALL COMING TOGETHER. Hehe.

Why Not Henson?

Reports this week had some Browns officials scouting Drew Henson for the sole purpose of giving him a ranking in the upcoming draft. I have to wonder -- why not scout him with the intention of making a deal for him? There would be a certain logic to it....

Assume the Browns resign Couch to a two-year deal. Or Couch is let go and Holcomb is the starter for a year. In either event there is a need for a future quarterback. Considering that Henson could perhaps be had for the Browns second-round pick, I think the team should be seriously evaluating Henson. Might be a good way to get a 1st-round talent for a lesser price.

Irrelevant

But damn it makes you feel good....

David Modell officially is out as president of the Baltimore Ravens.

The Quiet Zone

The Couch Renogotiation thing is ongoing still, with Policy flying to Florida to meet Couch while on vacation. Something tells me that the Browns are going to start the bidding very low, and coming to terms might take a bit longer than expected. Still, Couch is still apparently the man.

Other than that, quiet. I guess I'll stay that way as well, for the moment.

The Couch Question

Sounds like it will get resolved in the next week or so. I do think Policy is just, uh, talking here though. We'll see how it shakes out.

Nice that Holcomb sounded relatively positive too. He's a good guy, and it's too bad the whol situation didn't work out better. With any luck, perhaps the Browns can get a draft pick for him.

MLS in Cle--, er, Summit County

That's right, it sure sounds like if there is a soccer stadium built it will be far away from downtown Cleveland. That sucks.

I don't really know who to believe on this subject. Bert Wolstein is not necessarily a guy whose words I take at face value, but the silence on the part of Jane Campbell and Cuyahoga County commishioners is telling. I have no particular insight into their efforts, but I suspect these people aren't warm to the idea of an MLS team because they weren't, you know, consulted first. The effort to get an MLS team has been almost an exclusively private effort to date. Wolstein most likely came to local officials looking for a land and stadium deal after he'd done the groundwork on getting a team. My bet is local officials were not willing to rearrange their own agenda's to fit Wolstein's timeline. I can understand boths sides of such a scenario. And I blame both parties for not being able to make any apparent progress on a deal.

On top of all of that, it's kind of a shame that the region doesn't recognize the potential value of an MLS franchise in Cleveland. If you look at the country (and the world) demographically, there are lots of reasons to think having major, professional soccer here would come with some nice benefits. Nothing is guaranteed, of course, but if my job responsibilities included promoting Northeast Ohio, developing business in the region, or similar tasks.... I'd be trying to move mountains (well, big hills at least) to make this happen.

Having a stadium in Summit county will still be great. It will still provide positive PR and a degree of economic impact. It might make getting the project off the ground more feasible. But it's kind of like the different between the Gateway project and building the Lake County Captains stadium out in Eastlake. If I am Wolstein, I'm lowering my average attendance figures by a couple thousand people. And a Summit County stadium runs contrary to so many things you hear about urban sprawl and regional development.

Cavs Over Pistons

You should really be a believer in the Cavs now. Winning in Detroit is huge -- it's a statement that the team should be competitive down the stretch, and it makes a playoff run seem much more of a possibility. And Boozer = Pippen?

UPDATE: Check out comments from Dr. Jack. 15-14 in their last 29 games is not too shabby.

And I didn't mean Boozer was same exact player as Pippen, but that he has become enough of a presence that he can win some games by himself and give James enough room to grow into a superstar. (Did I just say superstar?)

Tribe

"I hope this year's team is closer to the 1993 and 1994 teams than the one in 1992," said Shapiro. "The difference is that they were able to strip the 1992 team all the way down. We haven't been able to do that because of some existing contracts."

Not to criticize Mark Shapiro too sharply cause I think he's doing a good job, but this quote begs to be commented on. Essentially, Shapiro is most to blame for these "existing contracts." Maybe some of them were tough to avoid, but paying guys like Matt Lawton and Ricky Gutierrez on a team that is not a contender is impossible to justify. And keeping Omar, while popular with the fans, is probably a mistake as well.

That said, I'm pretty optimistic about the Tribe this season. They won't win the division, but we should see some positive things and hopefully be able to imagine how this team might make the playoffs in 2005. It should be a great summer to buy some walk-up seats and enjoy good baseball.

And I wish I were heading to Winter Haven in a few weeks. If you ever can make it down, it's well worth it. It's probably enjoyable to fans and non-fans alike too.

Be Happy About This

The renogotiated deal between Gateway and the Indians + Cavs is a good story from a sports perspective, but it's better from a taxpayer perspective -- there's no doubt that if Gateway had remained stuck under the original deal it would have cost local taxpayers at least 10 million bucks, and perhaps more. The details of the new deal still seem a little unclear to me, but it sounds like the teams have let Gateway off the hook for ongoing repairs in exchange for keeping all revenue from lodges and ticket sales. In the Cavs case, it's a matter of freeing Gateway from 9.5 million in debt in exchange for the prospect of keeping more of the money made from the LeBron-years. But the bottom line is that the original deal was a joke, and this one makes a bit more sense. Though it's worth remembering that in either case the Gateway project remains a taxpayer subsidy to these two sports teams.

Diagnosing the O-Line

Great thread in Pure Football over at BerniesInsiders.com detailing how the team might be able to remake the offensive line this offseason. The jist of it is that the team perhaps needs guards more than tackles (though both are needs).

Northcutt, Going, Going...

Over the weekend Policy stated Northcutt was going to try free agency no matter what. Not surprising. Now it's a matter of whether there is one team, especially a West Coast or at least warm weather one, who will pay him like a starter. I think the odds are 50/50.

Last offseason the Redskins paid Chad Morton and it turned out to be a mistake -- Morton is a solid player but not in that class. I think Northcutt is more explosive and a team could really make a case for paying him similarly. But perhaps the Redskins experience will give teams pause when considering paying a punt returner too much. There aren't yet any teams reported to be interested yet, but it's a matter of time. I think Arizona would make a great fit.

Draft Wisdom/Folly III

Looks like Stephen Jackson + Kevin Jones are rising high enough in the draft for at least one of them to be picked in the top 8. And with Manning/Fitzgerald/Roethlisberger seemingly entrenched in the top 3 spots, the odds look pretty good the Browns will have a shot at one of the top OL prospects. In fact, no matter what happens the Browns can get an impact player.

Reading about Shawn Andrews, I wonder if he's going to be on the Browns radar when all the scouting is done. Character issues? Weight problems? Considering the questionable 1st round picks of 1999-2002, I wonder if the Browns will want to play it safe and go with someone else. But he'd still probably be my pick at this point.

Some rumors around the net say the Browns are really liking Ben Roethlisberger and Robert Gallery, though both will go before #7/8. Gallery sounds pretty awesome to me.

If Miami S Sean Taylor drops to the Browns and Andrews is gone, I bet Taylor is the pick. It would immediately make Robert Griffith a cap casualty and Taylor is probably the safest impact-player in the draft. We are dying for OL help, but it'd be tough to complain about getting a guy like this.

Super Bowl Was Good, Mostly

Great game in the Super Bowl. I was rooting for Carolina and kind of bummed about the result, but it was a good ride. It sure didn't look like Carolina would put up 29 points.

Of course, it's still hard to watch Belichek win big but now, I think, everyone in Cleveland should be able to accept that he's a great coach. And I think there are two points to be made about his years in Cleveland -- 1) that he was still developing as a head coach, with plenty of good calls (we had a defense, I recall) along with some bad calls (drafting/FA). And 2) the Cleveland fans are an impatient yet loyal group -- freaking out over losing Kosar was justified to a point, but it probably was the right football decision.

If you compare Belichek '90 to Butch Davis '04 I think you have to conclude that we don't have a verdict with Butch. He's made his share of missteps for sure, but he's occasionally insprired his teams to play quite well. If Davis develops as a coach the team could turn the corner. And I hope it's not too long until we see some evidence of this.