There’s a lot going on tonight considering free agency officially begins at 12:01 A.M. Friday.  One such thing is the rumor that DE Corey Williams is being traded to the Detroit Lions for a draft pick… a late round draft pick.

I’ll just say that I’m not happy about this.  Corey Williams didn’t exactly play lights out for us since he’s been here, but I think he was starting to come along.  And it’s not the trading part of this rumor that I don’t like, it’s the late round draft pick.  I’m considering “Late round” to mean 4th round because that is the bare minimum requirement for me NOT to have my jaw drop to the floor and say “Whhhhhhaaaaaattttttt????”  I honestly think anything less than a 3rd round pick is a complete waste considering I don’t put much value into the draft after the 3rd round. 

There’s a rumor floating around Indy this week that the Redskins are looking to trade QB Jason Campbell to the Bills for Safety Donte Whitner and a draft pick.  Since Campbell is a restricted free agent this year, Washington could simply put a tender on him and pay him a little over 3 million, or get 1st and 3rd round compensation picks for him.  I think most likely, Campbell will end up playing for the Redskins another year. 

However…  the only reason I even mentioned all of this is because I’m wondering if the Bills would be interested in either of our QB’s.  I think it would work out for both teams if we could trade Anderson and Quinn for Whitner.  I know we’d do the trade, but I don’t know if they’d do the trade.  The Browns need a Safety and we could use one less QB, well at least one less of the two we already have.  This trade, if it were to happen, would take away the sting of missing out on Eric Berry this year, who will likely not be on the board when the Browns pick at 7.  If he is on the board, he’ll be a Cleveland Brown, I hope at least.

Ok I haven’t posted in a while here, but I decided it was time for a predictions topic.  I probably should’ve posted after last weeks win over the Steelers, but I was irritated how everyone seemed to forgive Mangini for the season because he beat my most hated team.  What those short term memory people don’t understand is that the defense won that game, not Mangini.  With that said, here’s my predictions.

Today against KC:

     Browns win 17-10

     Brady Quinn has a decent game, continuing to get more comfortable with Evan Moore.  Moore ends up with 70 yards receiving and two touchdowns.  Coincidentally, I just adjusted my fantasy football roster and started Evan Moore over KW2.  Josh Cribbs has another outstanding game with the wildcat, even though I absolutely hate the wildcat.  He has two good kick/punt returns that set up the touchdown passes to Moore.  The defense plays another good game, allowing only 10 points from KC.  Matt Cassel will be sacked 3 times and picked off twice.  Overall, the Browns build off the win last week and actually find the ability to put two wins back to back.  Both teams are bad, but today the Chiefs are worse.

Holmgren:

     On Monday, it will be announced that Holmgren has accepted Cleveland’s offer and will be the new “Czar”.  He will not take over as HC/GM/VP as some have presumed.  Mangini will stay on as head coach for another season at least and will only have limited input as far as the draft and free agency goes.  Holmgren will serve as GM/VP for this coming season, and possibly hire a GM who shares his plan later on in the season.  I see the only coaching change being made is Daboll at offensive coordinator.  I think everything else stays the same and we hopefully have a good draft with our 11 picks. 

You heard it here first.  Browns win today and Holmgren is hired on Monday.  More specifically, Mangini is still our head coach next year.

Sidenote:  Why do I hate the wildcat?  I hate it because I still see it as a gimmick play.  It belongs in college football to help a crappy team compete against better ones.  An NFL team should not run the wildcat unless it can do the basics well.  I don’t hate the Dolphins running the wildcat so much because they’re equipped to do it.  However, I cringe when the Browns run it.  Everyone and their brother knows that Cribbs is going to run the ball when he lines up in place of Quinn.  The fact that he’s successful is a compliment to Cribbs, but not the wildcat.  It just irritates me.  I hope the trend doesn’t catch on, so that in 4 years all I see when watching Sunday football is the wildcat.  Paul Brown would roll over in his grave, come back to life, then die again if he saw the NFL run that way.

Well, this doesn’t mean a whole lot, but Profootballtalk.com reported that Jim Brown let some of the Browns plans be known today.  He apparently said that Randy Lerner was currently meeting with one of the greatest football minds.  When asked if it was Holmgren, he basically gave a non-confirming confirmation. 

Here’s the link:

Jim Brown on Holmgren

This adds a bit of excitement to an absolutely crap season.  I’ve been waiting for any kind of change to be made and I seriously hope this gets done.  Holmgren would give the team some credibility.  Not to mention that if he gets in soon, he can prepare to nail some of our 11 draft picks coming up.  And on a brighter note, I’m nearly positive that Mangini will be gone.  I’ve got to think that Holmgren would want to hire his own head coach to run the team.  Why would he want to risk his success on a guy he didn’t pick himself to be coach?  It makes a lot of sense to me. 

And for all the fans out there who’ll complain about starting over yet again, you can take solace in the fact that we didn’t make any progress this year so dismantling things changes nothing.  You can go another step further and say that the team has regressed horribly this year.  Starting over will do absolutely no more damage than letting the current regime stay in place.  I was on board with ManKok and I said I’d stick by them through this year… well that changed.  Say I’m fickle or a flip-flopper, but I say I just realize when enough is enough.  Mangini was a mistake, Daboll was a mistake, and Kokinis was a mistake in that Lerner allowed Mangini to hire him.  I still say Rob Ryan is awesome though.  That guy has taken a bunch of under achievers on defense and made them competitive. 

Bring on Holmgren and the promise of a new season.

“There’s always next year”

… and I don’t necessarily buy it.

Here’s the link from Pro Sports Daily

www.prosportsdaily.com

Quinn’s basically saying that his house is just too much for a single guy.  I might even believe this line if it wasn’t for the fact that I’m a single guy and I’d be thrilled to live in a house like that.  Quinn says that it’s just too much upkeep for him and he doesn’t like the 30 minute drive to the Browns facility.  Does he really expect us to believe that he mows the lawn himself?  It’s nearly an acre and I’ll bet he’s hired someone to do that for him.  What’s he going to do, move into a one bedroom apartment right next to the facility in Berea.  That way he has no lawn to mow, minimal rooms to clean, and he can walk to work.  It doesn’t make much sense to me.  If you’ve got money, which he most certainly does, you can afford to live nicely.  His home doesn’t overwhelm with extravagance, but it’s very nice and I would say it’s fitting for a young NFL player.  Here’s some pics from the listing on HowardHanna.com

Now that you’ve seen it, tell me, would you live in this house if you could afford it?  Maybe I just put too much stock in superficial things, but this house would be great compared to my apartment.  This all sounds too coincidental to me.  His house just happens to go on the market when his job here in Cleveland isn’t looking too great.  Yeah, I’m not swallowing that BS, especially since there’s a huge difference between Avon Lake and Berea.  Not that there’s anything wrong with Berea, but it is definitely a step down, and that’s just not Quinn’s style. 

In my opinion, he’s preparing for a quick exit from Cleveland and doesn’t want his money tied up in a long drawn out house sale.  If he takes care of this now, then whether he’s traded now or during the offseason he’ll be ready for it.  His comments and Mangini’s comments are the typical excuses to try to keep from distracting the team.

It’s been reported by profootballtalk.com that Brady Quinn’s has been put up for sale. Here’s the link.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/10/13/brady-quinns-house-is-for-sale/

This will only help to further the rumors or speculation that Quinn may be traded. Afterall, it usually is a pretty good indication that there’s some trade talk going on. Most of the experts say that IF a trade does happen, it is unlikely to happen during the season. I’m not so sure about that though. There are teams out there that have a need at QB, but we’ll see whether or not they think Quinn is good enough to trade for. In my opinion, we’re not going to get much value for him at all… BUT I say trade him anyway. We’re not going to get much more value for him in the offseason either and it’ll do my stress level some good to quiet the QB controversy. Of course when DA throws a pick I fully expect all the Quinn lovers to chime in with "I told you so man!" But I’ll just smile at them and say, "Oh well, go cry somewhere else".

It doesn’t much matter whether Quinn is traded now or after the season’s over, but the sale of his house is some pretty good evidence that it will happen eventually. We’ll know soon enough, because the Browns can’t trade him after week 6. I do personally hope he goes and I hope to get at least a third round pick for him. That’s wishful thinking though, but anything would be enough to get rid of the controversy once and for all.

What’s with all of the false sense of entitlements lately?  It seems like every NFL starter wants a new contract these days, regardless of how many years they have on their CURRENT contract.  Now it seems like even the non-position players want a new contract too.  It’s unbelievable!  Josh Cribbs has chosen not to attend the "Voluntary" Organized Team Activities because he wants a new contract.  Apparently Phil Savage and CO. had promised him that he would be taken care of.  Well I have news for you Josh…Savage isn’t here anymore!  Kokinis has stated recently that no one of the new regime was aware of any such promise.  Cribbs still has plenty of time on his current contract, and gets paid very well for a non-starting player.  I’ve heard he’s asking for 4 years and $40 million, which is unsubstantiated but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s true.  It absolutely sickens me.

YOU DON’T EVEN START!  YOU’RE A SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER AND THAT’S ALL YOU’LL EVER BE!

Yes I think Cribbs is a beast on special teams and I love having him on the team.  But NO special teams player is worth that kind of big money.  He’ll never be a starter at any position, which means his opportunities to be a game changer are few and far between.  I’m sorry to some clueless fans out there who think he’s our next savior at WR, QB, or Safety…but he’s not.  The only reason he’s so good on special teams is because he’s fearless. 

HOW FEARLESS DO YOU THINK HE’LL BE THIS SEASON AS A $40 MILLION PRIMA DONNA?

And now he’s claiming that if his contract is not reworked, he’ll ask for a trade.  I used to have so much respect for this kid, but he’s losing me fast.  Let’s see how many teams are willing to trade for a special teamer who wants big contract money.  It’s impossible to get anything near his value in trade.  Can anyone tell me one reason why we should pay this kid big money? 

He is a great player for us…because he comes cheap!  I believe his base salary this season is somewhere around $600,000.  I’d be willing to go as high as $1 million if I were Randy Lerner.  Anything more than that and it’s just not worth it for the amount he’ll see the field. 

LET ME REITERATE…TOUCHING THE BALL THREE TIMES PER GAME DOES NOT WARRANT A CRAP LOAD OF MONEY!!!

Wow, that’s some serious breaking news reported recently by Tony Grossi.  Who would have guessed that Brady Quinn may or may not be the starter?  I’ll go one step further and say that most people might have guessed that he would be the starter for sure.  But, I’ll leave it up to my role model Tony Grossi to tell the world that Brady Quinn will definitely start the 2009 season…probably. 

Apparently he’s spoken with an NFL source that is not employed by any NFL team, however is a prominent figure around the NFL and carries some clout.  It sounds to me like this source might just be Jim Brown.  But I’m obviously not certain of that since I don’t know if his role with the Browns counts as employment.  According to the source (Jim Brown???), there will be an open competition in training camp for the QB job but it really is Quinn’s job to lose.  The source says that the Browns had two substantial trade offers for Quinn, both involving a first round draft choice, and since they rejected both offers it would seem likely they would start him.

I don’t really care who starts, whether it’s Anderson, Quinn, or Ratliff.  Whichever quarterback gives the Browns the best chance to win is fine by me.  We’ve got new coaches and I have no reason to doubt their intelligence up to this point.  Therefore, I’ll respect and go along with any decision they make regarding the starting lineup.  I have a feeling that Mangini will not start a player if they don’t deserve it, regardless if they’re a rookie or veteran.  That was always a huge knock on Romeo.  He wouldn’t play rookies no matter how much upside they had over a slow worn down veteran.  So until I’m given a reason to distrust ManKok, I’m going to trust them to run this team and turn us into contenders. 

Now with that said, it really ticks me off that this source is undermining Mangini’s control over this team.  Mangini is very tight-lipped about team news and if he says it’s going to be an open QB competition then that’s it, end of story.  Don’t undermine his authority or plan about keeping team affairs secret.  Unless Mangini wanted this news leaked to try and generate some more interest in Quinn.  If he lets it leak that there were offers for Quinn, regardless of whether there was or wasn’t, then some teams might react to this with a sense of urgency and make a new offer for Quinn.  That’s all good in theory, but most likely some guy close to the team felt like running his mouth and Tony Grossi didn’t have anything else to write about.

I’ve never heard so many news stories about a retired player.  The reason for that is possibly that the guy keeps un-retiring.  Is it going to happen again?  I sure hope not, but there’s some signs that are pointing to yes.  Recently there’s been a news story that Favre asked, and was granted the full out release from the Jets.  This could mean absolutely nothing, but it also allows him to sign with any team he chooses…should he decide to un-retire yet again.  If you remember, there were rumors about Mangini wanting to bring Favre into our training camp to mentor our young QB’s.  God help us if there is more to that than mentoring.  I’m not starting the Favre to Cleveland rumor though, because I think there’s about as much chance of that happening as me winning the lottery twice in the same day.

However, and this is why I love Pro Football Talk, there’s a little tiny rumor going around that Favre could end up in Minnesota.  According to Mike Florio at www.profootballtalk.com,

Plane Flies From Minneapolis To Hattiesburg, And Back Again

Posted by Mike Florio on April 29, 2009, 10:59 p.m. EDT

It probably means nothing.

But, let’s face it, Hattiesburg-Laurel Regional Airport is hardly a major hub of transportation.

Only five flights arrived there today, and only six departed.

One of the arrivals came from Minneapolis, and one of the departures headed back there.

The plane from Minneapolis arrived at 9:11 a.m. local time, and left at 4:14 p.m. local time.

It probably has nothing to do with one of the more famous residents of Hattiesburg.  After all, he’s retired from playing football, and he has no intention of coming back.

Favre said so himself.  “It’s all rumor.  [There’s] no reason for it.”

Oh, wait.  That was last year, when Favre shot down in early July talk that he wanted to come back.

Since he was telling the truth then, he’s surely telling the truth now.

Now obviously there’s nothing concrete or substantial about this rumor, but it is interesting that it happened.  I wish Florio knew whether it was a private jet or not.  My guess is he does know, but won’t say for some reason.  If I have to see Favre’s name printed on millions of Vikings jerseys this year I’m going to be angry.  And I was so looking forward to playing Tavaris Jackson in week 1.

I really hope Favre does the classy thing and signs with Green Bay for one day so that he can officially retire as a Packer.  That’s the only way the NFL should allow his un-retirement again.

Free agent WR Drew Bennett is scheduled to work out for the Browns today (Wednesday).  He’s coming off a broken leg from last season so I guess we’ll see what kind of shape he’s in.  If he’s healthy, he can be a solid possession guy like Joe Jurevicius was, only four years younger.  However, I wouldn’t get your hopes up because no other NFL team has shown Bennett an ounce of interest. 

I think Mangini is looking for some veteran leadership to help out rookie WR’s Robiskie and Massaquoi.  It always helps if that veteran leadership can help out on the field as well.  You know Braylon isn’t very good in the leadership category and who knows how much David Patten will get to play.  I’d love to see Edwards, Robiskie, and Bennett in a 3 WR set.  Robiskie might have to play the slot, but I do believe he’s polished enough to start as a #2.  If Massaquoi can wiggle his way into some playing time that’d be cool too.

Three more thoughts:

1.  Does the possible acquisition of Bennett mean bye bye for Edwards?  At this point I hope not, unless we can get some good defensive players in trade, or first round draft picks in 2010.

2.  With Romeo gone and Mangini in place, it’s very possible that our rookies may see plenty of playing time.  Romeo seldom played rookies.

3.  Robiskie will from now on….be called Robo.