Josh Cribbs Calls LeBron James “My Boy,” Promptly Gets a Timeline of Cleveland Backlash
February 21, 2011Blast From the Past- 1995 Tribe Celebration
February 21, 2011It was seemingly a foregone conclusion that the future of the Cleveland Browns did not include one Phil Dawson. The veteran kicker, entering free agency, has been the lone mainstay of the Browns since returning in 1999 and has long been a fan favorite despite his asymmetrical role on the football field.
However, in his latest “Talkin'” column in Sunday’s Plain Dealer, Terry Pluto says that the Browns are not moving on just yet and are interested in bringing the underrated player and his right foot back for another round.
“The front office is interested,” writes Pluto. “They know Dawson remains one of the NFL’s most underrated kickers. They also know he put his Cleveland-area house up for sale, and believes he was not treated fairly by some of the other previous regimes.”
Dawson has been a holdout through non-mandatory portions of preseason over the past two seasons as he was looking to have his contract re-worked. Conveniently, those were also the same two seasons that were under head coach Eric Mangini – the latter of which was also dealing with an expiring Collective bargaining agreement where very few contracts were updated.
Pluto states that the Browns are in fact looking to make Dawson an offer despite the fact that he has put his home up for sale, but they are looking for a new labor agreement to be in place. If the current CBA expires without a new one in place, there will be a freeze on free agency so the Browns would not fall victim to another team swooping in with a contract offer in the meantime.
“Obviously, all of that can change,” Pluto continues. “But Heckert and the new coaching staff do seem to have a real appreciation for Dawson’s ability to make kicks in Cleveland’s cold temperatures and tricky winds.”
Ask Pittsburgh just how important this skillset is. Given their recent struggles at the placekicker position, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to see them make a play for the veteran Dawson – something that would only add salt into the Cleveland wounds in the event they were forced to endure a less-expensive, less-accurate kicker in subsequent years.
Other notes from Pluto’s piece:
– The Browns would like to keep Seneca Wallace as a back-up given the expected west-coast style. Couple this with the fact that the player did not get along with the recently-fired head coach, and things could actually work out for both sides.
– ProFootballFocus says that Marcus Benard could be next season’s Cameron Wake (57 tackles, three forced fumbles, 14 sacks). Benard’s per-snap numbers were on the same level as Green Bay’s Clay Matthews. Of course, he would have to make the move to a 4-3 defensive end…
– Pluto echoes a report previously made by WKNR’s Will Burge in that running back Montario Hardesty is close to 100 percent following his reconstructive surgery and subsequent rehabilitation. Hardesty is expected to take part in all team activities this offseason.
– If D’Qwell Jackson does not get re-signed, the team will look at placing Chris Gocong at middle linebacker. This is intriguing as he was an outside linebacker in Philadelphia’s 4-3, but never really made strides. His work against the run and pass in the 3-4 have the team very interested in how he can take on yet another new role – his third in three seasons.
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Image via WFNY
6 Comments
This “front office is still interested in Dawson” strikes me as a big dose of ‘cover my ass’ but Heckert and gang. Did it just suddenly dawn on them that Dawson is good? When Dawson leaves they can say, “see, we tried.” Truth is they want a cheaper kick, that’s it.
* that should be ‘by Heckert’ not but. Sorry.
I actually thought the DQwell part was interesting. I think Gocong would do fine as MLB and was under the impression DQ wasnt coming back. Fujita-Jackson-Gocong would be a decent LB set.
Alex. Henery.
Also, regarding Hardesty participating in all off-season team activities: 100% participation in potentially 0 activities = 0% participation. Math is fun.
Mark, I think “‘cover my ass’ but ” is funnier, but I am also very immature, and laugh at butt & fart jokes like a sixth grade boy…
I’m not sure I never thought Dawson wouldn’t be back. Tony Grossi continually perpetuated his beliefs that Dawson wouldn’t be back. True, there was no dialog during the season between Phil and the team. But, with this labor situation many teams weren’t locking up kickers long term. There was just no need to because, as we’ve seen, the league was going to be in a holding pattern. I hope he comes back, he’s excellent and I would love to see him retire as a Brown.