This Week is Time for Winslow to Sign

Perhaps I am stating the obvious, but I think this week Winslow has to sign or else we are looking at some serious damage to his ability to contribute in the regular season. He's already behind, but another week will bury the guy in audibles and blocking schemes when he'll still be trying to get adjusted to the speed and level of physicality at the NFL level. The NFL regular season is not the place to learn this stuff. I'm not saying he can't make a diifference for the Browns in 2004 if he isn't signed this week, but he will likely flash some big-time talent between missed blocks and ro8ut-running mistakes. And while I'll cheer wildly when he makes a 60-yard TD catch, it's the ability for the Browns to avoid turnovers and get the tough yards that will be the biggest factor in the team's success.

In today;s news we saw that John Collins will likely increase the team's "best offer" to Winslow. Some people on the BerniesInsiders bulletin boards think this is a loss to the Browns, that Collins is botching things. So far I just don't see that. It seems to me that Collins wisely asserted himself by making the "best offer" public as it certainly painted the Postons in a negative light and applied some pressure where there otherwise would have been none. And, a week later, admitting the team will have to move from it's "best offer" is not an admission of defeat as much as it is realistic considering some of the other contracts that have been signed. But at least the team has played tough so far and made public it's determination to negotiate a deal they can live with. I'd probably choose this course of action over the old Policy-smooth-sell-then-show-frustration approach.