Making Mistakes by the Lake

Introducing... the savior of Cleveland football, or so they thought.

The Fumble. The Drive. The Move. Tim Couch. Cleveland Browns fans have been beaten and broken so often that you’d think the Dawg Pound had turned into Bad Newz Kennels. They have had bad coaches, bad players and even worse management and things have only gotten worse since they returned to Cleveland in 1999. They have made more gaffes at the top of the draft than anyone (and that includes the Al Davis-led Raiders) and with no end in sight of the misery, they finally decided that they had to bring in someone with an established track record of success. That’s right: it was time to bring in the big guns. So they dumped GM George Kokinis and replaced him with Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert, who decided to retain the heartless Eric Mangini, at least for a season. Cleveland was finally going to be respected with a revered architect leading the charge and Browns fans were beaming. Finally their days of playing the role of James Caan to the NFL’s Kathy Bates were over. Holmgren was going to save Cleveland.

Boy that was a letting feeling now wasn’t it? Holmgren came in, a curtain opened, light shined down and angels sang. But then he actually started making moves and all of those bad feelings had to have rushed back for Clevelanders. Holmgren is a supposed quarterback guru and since that particular position for the Browns has been in flux for almost a decade you just knew he was going to shake things up and boy did he ever. First he acquired traded for Seneca Wallace, his former backup with the Seahawks. This move didn’t seem so bad at first because it is pretty important to have a backup that is familiar with the system being installed. That made the imminent release of former Pro Bowl quarterback Derek Anderson a little easier to swallow because now they had a legitimate backup quarterback who has proven that he could step up in a pinch and lead a team for a stretch. Releasing Anderson was a must simply because he was due a $2 million roster bonus and that was simply too much money for a very inconsistent and inaccurate quarterback that could never establish a firm grip on the starting job. But he does have a rocket arm and will probably be one of the best backups in the league once he signs a contract.

Quinn was once touted as the franchise's quarterback of the future only to be bartered for carnival souvenirs.

But then the wheels started to fall off. I know that Jake Delhomme is a fiery leader and has done some great things in his career, like leading the Panthers within a minute of winning the Super Bowl. But he is done as a starter in this league. He would be an excellent backup, but he still feels like he is starter quality and a delusional backup is definitely not a positive going into the season. So the fluid depth chart at this point looked like it would be Brady Quinn as the starter with Delhomme backing him up and Wallace serving the role as the emergency quarterback. Oh, but in the words of Lee Corso, not so fast my friend. Holmgren was far from done. He still had some TNT in his pocket. He then turned around and flipped Quinn, the former first rounder, for less than the colonists bought Manhattan for. I would have loved to have been on the phone when they were discussing this trade because I think it went something like this: “Mike, I see you just signed Wallace and Delhomme so Quinn is expendable right?” “Brian (Xanders, Broncos GM) I am definitely interested in listening to offers. Remember he has a ton of potential and was a first round pick a mere three years ago, so it won’t be easy for me to part with him.” “Okay, okay, let me think about it for a minute. Okay, I got it; how about we give you our fifth-string running back, a meaningless draft pick and a roll of skee-ball tickets.” “Brian, that sounds perfect, but can you make it two rolls of skee-ball tickets?” “Not a problem Mike.”

I mean honestly, they traded Quinn who they had traded back into the first round to get three years prior. I know that this is a completely different regime and Quinn hasn’t shown much to this point, but he has been saddled with injuries and hasn’t been on the field much, not to mention his supporting cast was less than desirable. But I think he can only improve on his 52% completion percentage and 66.8 rating. His 10 to 9 TD to INT ratio isn’t actually all that bad for a young quarterback who has played less than a full season’s worth of games. But even more baffling is that he was dealt for Peyton Hillis, a sixth round pick this year and a conditional pick next year. This was a great deal for the Broncos. Do the Browns really think Jake freakin’ Delhomme is going to turn this franchise around? The same guy who single-handedly ruined the Panthers last two seasons and was completely outplayed by the undrafted Matt Moore? I could see if they traded him with someone legitimate waiting in the wings but I don’t think Wallace or Delhomme qualifies. I actually see Quinn going to Denver and playing very well. He will never be a superstar in this league but with a solid supporting cast he can be very effective and he has excellent leadership skills.

Wimbley was one of the Browns only legitimate threats off the edge. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Oh, but Holmgren wasn’t quite finished. He wanted to eradicate any memories of the previous management so he dealt another former first round pick, Kamerion Wimbley, to the Raiders for a third round pick. Wimbley may not have taken the league by storm, but he is an extremely talented player who has been pretty damn productive so far in his career. He had 11 sacks in 2006 and put up 6.5 last year. He may not be the stoutest against the run, but he has special pass rush skills and that is something that is tough to come by in this league, especially when you run a 3-4 defense.

These could be the worst moves of the entire offseason and that is on top of overpaying Scott Fujita, who is just a regular guy and has no special skills but apparently the Browns were blinded by a ring that he very little impact earning, and they dumped way too much money on talented but inconsistent tight end Ben Watson. Boy things are looking up in Cleveland aren’t they?

It seems like the only thing Holmgren got right this offseason was giving Josh Cribbs a much deserved raise because he and Joe Thomas are about all they have left. He still has time to right the ship with the draft on the horizon, but so far things aren’t looking too good in the home of Rock & Roll. It sure is looking like its going to another long year in Cleveland. But don’t worry Cleveland at least you’ll always have LeBron. Oh, yeah, about that…

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