Free Agent Signings and Trades – Part 1

March 17, 2010 2:17 am
fortrouge
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With the NFL players and owners sans a working CBA at the moment…they have reversed back to the ground rules before the last CBA was agreed upon for the upcoming season, with hopes that some new agreement can be attained by the 2011 season…or we could be sans football again for a time being. So with the old agreement in place…it has made a difference for many players this year as to what their FA status is. All the players that just completed their 4th season and who could have become unrestricted FA…must now settle for restricted FA while being tendered by their present teams. Only those who have completed 6 seasons can apply for complete FA. So with that said…teams acted quickly to snapple up some of the finest talent available this year on the open market. Also with no salary cap in play this season which also means the strict complicated regulations that held teams back from trading players because of the hit you had to swallow on your overall cap…it has opened the doors for trading key players again amongst teams. Let us look at some of the major wheeling and dealings amongst teams.

Cleveland Browns Mike Holmgren and Eric Mangini

Cleveland Browns – As a devoted and faithful hard-core member of the “Dawg Pound” for my entire life on earth…My beloved Browns have not been shy in their early off season dealings. One thing is plain to see. This is now Mike Holmgren’s team…for good or bad. After their reclusive, silent owner Randy Lerner…who would rather spend a weekend locked in the trunk of his car then attend games at times, who also spends a great deal of his time with Austin-Villa of which he also owns in the English Premier League…He finally woke up and smelt the futility in which the Browns have been since his family brought them back into the NFL in 1999. In doing so he finally hired a “Big Kahuna” to overseer the entire football organization…that being Mike “The Big Show” Holmgren. He wasted no time in cleaning house from top to bottom…but he did have the smarts to leave the coaching staff alone…he seen the good things that were implemented by Mangini and his staff, mainly in discipline and conditioning as the Browns finished 2009 with a bang…winning their last 4 games of the season…a feat only matched by the Chargers. However Holmgren and his newly signed GM Tom Heckert who came from the strong Eagles program have wasted no time in changing the face of the on-field football team.

Scott Fujita and other Free Agents

Free agents brought in include the astute signings of LB Scott Fujita from the Super Bowl Saints who played such an integral part of their defense…he was their defensive Captain and called the plays. He will add much needed strength in the middle with his run stopping capabilities. OT Tony Pashos was also a smart rather then flashy signing as Pashos brings his talents to play Tackle or Guard to the Browns. A veteran who has always been a good solid O-Lineman will most likely be the bookend to All-World Left-Tackle “Big” Joe Thomas for the next several years. A solid acquisition in TE Ben Watson who came over from the Patriots. After 6 years as their starting TE he will add valuable experience to a young group in Cleveland. They then traded another first round pick of the past inept regime in which they could have selected Haloti Ngata the stellar Pro-Bowl DT of the Ravens…but chose to skip him over and sign a college hands-down DE in Kamerion Wimbley with the hopes of turning him into a OLB in the Crennel 3-4 scheme. It failed. The Raiders gave the Browns a 3rd round pick for him and hope to convert him back to a 4-3 down lineman. Then of course came the biggest bang that has shaken the foundations of the club. Both young and once promising QB’s Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn are gone! DA was released after 2 dreadful years after his Pro-Bowl surprise of 2007. The Browns would have had to pay him a bonus on Mar. 19 and felt he was not worth it after receiving a most generous contract by the former incompetent regime. Quinn the former 2007 first round pick of the Browns who dealt with the Cowboys to move back into the first round…a Ohio boy who grew up loving the Browns…and who had a stellar career at Notre Dame…was traded to the Broncos. In return the Browns received a promising tough north/south battering ram in RB Peyton Hillis and 2 late round draft picks. However what the trade does end is perhaps the most misguided, mismanaged development of a first round QB in NFL history! The previous inept regime that paid so much to get him…watched him rot on the sidelines as mind games played between coaches/management and hopes were put on Anderson’s strong but highly inaccurate arm. In the end…Quinn has only had 12 career starts on a weak Cleveland team. The jury is still out on Quinn’s ability to be a NFL starting QB and he can end up paying big dividends to the Broncos. Time will tell. If he remains a career back-up then it was a mistake to draft him so high…if he wins playoff games…then the mismanaged theory will hold water. One thing is for sure…Holmgren had to wash his hands of both failed experiments by the past regime. He is going his way and it began by first signing Seneca Wallace from the Seahawks. Another enigma at QB as he is a very athletic QB with a strong arm that has never had a chance to show his talents behind Hasselbeck but who was drafted by Holmgren when he was with the Seahawks. Then the Browns went out and signed the recently stunned and bewildered Jake Delhomme who never saw his release by the Panthers coming. 35 with a proven NFL record behind him with multiple playoff wins and a trip to the Super Bowl in which they lost by a FG to the Pats…Holmgren hopes he can bring some veteran leadership to one of the youngest teams in the NFL for the next couple of years. Like Holmgren said…”Jake is a very good proven NFL QB who after many good years had an awful year last year. And because it was not due to any physical injury, we hope he can regain his previous form to lead us during our transition period.” Transition period meaning the Browns will draft a QB early with their plethora of 12 draft picks they have accumulated over the past year of house cleaning. Holmgren and his QB guru Gil Haskell who is now a “consultant” to the offense will no doubt groom who the eventual QB pick over the next couple of years…hoping to find another Brett Favre or Matt Hasselbeck no doubt. Time will tell there also. One thing is for sure. The Browns are definitely back in the hunt to reclaim their past glory after years of spinning their tires in the mud of the AFC North. They have solid experienced leadership from the top down with people who know the NFL wars well. For once it seems the “Invisible Man” Randy Lerner has gotten his front office right. The Browns have not had good football men in charge like this since GM Ernie Accorsi ran the show in the 1980′s…and that led to much success as the Browns played in 3 AFC Championship games. Hopefully those days will now return…only this time we kick the darn door down and take a trip to the “Promised Land”…it will take a couple of years…but this will be a watershed year regarding who the Browns select with their draft picks to build a solid team for years to come.

Well those are my Browns in a nutshell…we shall take a look at some other teams in future blogs.