Current Status

Policy Leaving, Collins Coming: Whatever. Policy seems to me to have been middling along for the last year and a half. Really since he retracted his initial comments following the bottle-throwing incident he just hasn't been much of an assett in my eyes. Why? I guess because it was an indication that he just didn't have the guts to be a Cleveland football giant. Instead, he was more cut-out for a slicker, cleaner role where he didn't ever have to get dirty, at least not in public. In short, he tried to hide his toughness at times when he should have relied on it. SOmething like that anyway.... So now COllins comes aboard and I don't know that this is a welcome change either. I guess it's good, but am going to wait and see. I think Collins' presence is interesting in what it says about Randy Lerner and Butch Davis. One, Lerner is serious about the Browns being a successful business, and that's a good thing as long as the Browns focus on being in the _football_ business and not get stupid with marketing tie-ins and trying to be "entertainment" over competitive. And I think that is a real risk. We're already subjected to so much crap that takes away from the football -- the often questionable environment at CBS is the biggest offender. More on this in a bit.

Two, Butch Davis is obviously the undisputed football voice in the organization. OK. I'm of the mind that Butch is on the line in 2004 even if Policy were still around. Now, it's just amplified and simpler -- if Butch produces a winner, awesome. If he doesn't he's gonna be under fire and really in the hotseat. Right now it's a mystery whether Butch's way is trending good or bad -- the honeymoon really ended in 2003 and lots of questionable things have since taken place, with the concensus seeming to be that things are not going well. But it's not clear. Cycle back 10 years and imagine if Bill Belichek had remained coach of the Browns -- ow wait, it doesn't matter cause he helped drive the team away from this town. But the point is, was Modell's faith in Belichek justified when Belichek won a couple Super Bowls 6-7 years later? Maybe. It's a tough sell, but the Belichek experience probably affords Davis the chance to make a lot of unpopular decisions in trying to build a winner. Right or wrong, Randly Lerner is placing his bet on Davis and giving him the resources he wants.

Northcutt -- As Jerome Stanley continues to make a fool of himself, the Browns appear dug in. This is the right response. In fact, anything less would be pretty dissappointing. Now Northcutt has filed a grievance. There are only two possible outcomes -- Northcutt, and especially Stanley, get humbled. Or there's a trade before a verdict is mad public, which would allow Northcutt and Stanley to save some face. The first option would seem to be very likely. And I think it's in the Browns interest for that to happen, as anything that softens Northcutt's stupid stance is likely increase the number of potential suitors and increase the Brown's eventual compensation.

Couch -- I have to hand it to Green Bay; they are driving a hard bargain, waiting for the Browns to blink and give up Couch for a 4th or 5th rounder (which wouldn't be too bad, really). But it's kind of a high stakes game now. Green Bay runs the risk of losing a backup QB and possible Favre successor because they won't pay what, in most QB markets, would be a pretty fair price. The Browns run the risk of the market totally bottoming out and being forced to release Couch and get nothing. As I've said before, I think this is a gamble worth making, even if it's annoying to see it drag out. If one other team enters the fray I think the Browns could parlay Couch into a pretty nice pick. It's a big if, but the difference between a 2nd/3rd rounder and a 4th/5th rounder is pretty big. And I think as time rolls on Couch's 2004 contract expectations will necessarily come down. We'll see.

Draft -- I have a sick feeling the browns are getting pushed out of the Gallery sweepstakes. That really sucks. And, as expected, it's unknown just how likely it is the Browns could trade down (I'd guess it's about 50/50 if a guy like Roethlisberger drops). Barring those possibilities, the prospects at #7 still seem to be: Winslow, Taylor, D Hall, R Williams (my wishful thinking probably), and a few others. It's a mystery.

And right now, would you have traded last season's finale win over the Bengals (and Lee Suggs great performance) for a move up to the 4th pick? We'd certainly have more question marks at the running back position, but we'd also be guaranteed one of the best prospects and a decent shot at Mr. Gallery.

Mike Williams -- he's not going to go before the #7 pick, and people aren't going to be clamoring to trade up for him. That's what I got out of his workout. It's one of the reasons our chances at Gallery seem to be dimming. In fact, after FItzgerald and R Willaims I don't think we'll see a run on receivers until about pick #12.

C Brown restructuring -- sounded good until we heard this wasn't a very significant change. I guess this isn't too surprising -- Brown had a comparatively good year last season, and given his injury history he'd be unwise to give back too much money.

12 days until the draft.... here's hoping for the dark skies to clear.