...a tradition of hope, passion, and misery
The Browns possess their first winning streak of the year heading into Sunday’s matchup vs. Kansas City. Cleveland has won two in a row, and four out of their last seven.
The Brownies are 6.5 point favorites against the 2-12 Chiefs. The Chiefs have been the NFL’s worst team, but played their best game in a 27-21 win last week over Carolina. [Read more...]
When Mike Holmgren stated that sometimes it is good for both sides to have a fresh start, he really meant it. Right or wrong, there should be no question going forward just how little the Browns wanted Peyton Hillis back. The Chiefs got themselves a really good speculative bargain in their reported 1-year $3 million deal.
Per a source with knowledge of the contracts, Hillis receives a fully-guaranteed base salary of $1.4 million, along with a $1 million fully-guaranteed roster bonus that comes due over the weekend.
The only fluff comes from $400,000 in per-game roster bonuses. If he has, say, strep throat and can’t play in a given game, he won’t earn $25,000.
PFT are the masters of getting down to business when it comes to NFL contracts. The good news for Hillis is that $2.6 million of the $3 million is guaranteed. The bad news is that it is a far cry from the offer the Browns reportedly offered to Hillis during this past season.
Remember that Tony Zarella reported the Browns wanted to sign Hillis to a 3-year deal guaranteeing $3 million, but dangling as much as $16.5 million total in front of him. Granted those incentives could have been hard to earn, but it sure sounds better.
Just goes to show how much the Browns soured on the distracted, injured back.
[Related: Browns offer to Hillis guarantees $3 million]
NFL Network is reporting that Peyton Hillis’ visit to Kansas City was productive for him and the team. Hillis has reportedly reunited with Brian Daboll for the 2012 season.
The Chiefs then made it official, but no contract terms have been reported yet. Adam Schefter reports that the Chiefs got it done for one year and $3 million, obviously guaranteed.
Back in Cleveland, expect the Ben Tate trade rumors and Trent Richardson draft talk to heat up immensely. Between the Hillis signing and the Eric Steinbach release, the Browns’ running game took an immense hit, crushing dreams that it could ever return to 2010 form.
[Related: NFL Trade Rumor: Browns seeking Houston's RB Ben Tate in trade]
Finally some Browns free agency news. Oh wait.
Peyton Hillis might be looking to re-unite with the only guy not named Shanahan who made him successful as he’s reportedly set to meet with Brian Daboll’s Kansas City Chiefs.
The Peyton Hillis saga has been a roller coaster for a long time. The Browns have most recently been on record saying they’d be interested in bringing him back despite not getting a deal done before he became an unrestricted free agent.
Hillis is also on record saying he wants to be back in Cleveland. Whether he decides to give the Browns another look after Kansas City remains to be seen.
Hillis might be a nice counter-balance to Jamaal Charles for the Chiefs.
[Related: Peyton Hillis Tries to Set The Record Straight, Professes Love For Cleveland]
While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.
The Kotchman signing and what it means for Shelley: “However, I can’t shake the feeling that the Indians have found real value with Shelley Duncan and it’s a shame to not take advantage of it somehow. I don’t mind the Kotchman signing but this was not a case, as it has been portrayed most of the offseason, of a club with no first basemen or right-handed bat available. When I really sat down and looked at this, I’m surprised there wasn’t more of a push to simply hand Duncan the job and see how it goes. I certainly hope Duncan’s on the roster on opening day, and I wouldn’t predict he’ll be cut. The Indians are generally pretty smart and the smart thing to do would be to find Duncan at-bats. If I were Michael Brantley, I’d be wondering where, and if, I’d be playing most of the season.” [Let's Go Tribe]
While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.
A quick note in the LA Times on Saturday has Laker fans buzzing about Baron: “The Lakers are curious to see if veteran point guard Baron Davis gets cut by Cleveland. He has two years and $28.7 million left on his contract, though he can be signed for substantially less than that.” [Mike Bresnahan/LA Times]
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The Browns Joe Haden endorses his former coach, Eric Mang…Urban Meyer, to become Ohio State’s next coach. [Daryl Ruiter/92.3 The Fan]
Throughout this season, Cleveland fans had heard whispers and anecdotes of former offensive coordinator Brian Daboll’s rough, and perhaps extreme, treatment of then rookie Colt McCoy last season. An article by Michael Silver on Yahoo! this holiday weekend provided a bit of color to the story, with plenty of quotes from Browns players who seemed all too willing to talk about their former coach and his over-the-top treatment of McCoy. Browns players described in detail a number of incidents to Silver, most notably Daboll’s penchant for screaming at Colt through the headset in his helmet while the quarterback tried to call plays in the huddle and line up the team.
It apparently became so bad that Daboll’s treatment, and his constant dressing-down of the QB, became a running joke in the Browns locker room. When pressed by Silver, McCoy said that the treatment was for the best and made him a stronger man, even if it was hard to apprehend that last year. Browns players, however, took a different approach.
I didn’t have a chance to transcribe it word-for-word, but in case you missed it here is what “The Big Show” said during his press conference today. And before I go any further, you need to understand the tone that he used the entire time was light with a lot of chuckling almost as if he couldn’t believe how big a deal everything is underneath the microscope right now.
Let’s go right to the meat and potatoes. Holmgren indicates that the Browns will probably sign an offensive coordinator this off-season. In fact, he can’t believe that Pat Shurmur won’t want one in order to take some of the game planning pressure off of himself going forward. Holmgren light-heartedly said, “No one was better than me and I wanted one.” before smiling and laughing.
Holmgren also chided the local media in a good-natured way. After the radio interview blew up, he said, “I’m so aware of pronouns and adverbs and things…” and he said it in such a way as to poke fun at the media and fans that were hyper-analyzing it all. Later he told the media as a note for them to remember, “This is not rocket science. There are not giant conspiracy theories. We need good players and good coaching.” By this I take it to mean that the wild theories about tanking or letting contract situations affect playing time is all blown out of proportion from his point of view. [Read more...]
While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.
Balancing the bulk for the backs: “While Hillis is one of the Browns’ best offensive weapons, it would be in their best interest to lighten up on his carries when possible, not only to keep him healthy, but to see what they have in Hardesty. Before Hillis burst onto the scene in 2010, and before Hardesty blew out his knee in that preseason, the rookie out of Tennessee was deemed a potential starter for the Browns. Developing that potential and operating a successful two-back rotation will do wonders for the Browns offense, paying bigger dividends later in the season.” [Steve DiMatteo/Dawg Pound Daily] [Read more...]
If you ranked all the running backs in the NFL, where would you put Peyton Hillis? Obviously the cover of video games isn’t indicative of the truth. The real answer here is that nobody really knows for sure. The stats are incomplete and he really has only played meaningful snaps in two seasons. One of those was with a Broncos team coached by Mike Shanahan. The ghost of Reuben Droughns tells us to take those results with a grain of salt. For some reason Cleveland fans and media want to talk about it. Rizzo, Hammer and Fedor were discussing it last week on WKNR and the conversation leaked onto Twitter where we discussed it there. Here are the questions.
How good is Peyton Hillis amongst all NFL running backs?
Where does he rank in the AFC North between Rashard Mendenhall, Ray Rice and Cedric Benson?
Where does he rank in the NFL?
Does he fumble too much?
Is he durable enough?
Is he a one-year wonder?
When there are no actual football issues to discuss, these are the issues that take up our time. Here’s my take. It is a simple one. Based on what I saw last year, Peyton Hillis is good enough. [Read more...]
According to reports by Mary Kay Cabot announcing the hiring of quarterbacks coach Mark Whipple, it was noted that the Browns might go without an offensive coordinator. I won’t say that this is my worst nightmares realized, but it gives me pause.
(Update: The hiring of Pat Shurmur is official)
As the Browns are reportedly on the verge of hiring Pat Shurmur to be their next head coach, most Cleveland fans don’t get it.
The hand-wringing and sniping reminds me of all that TV footage of Jets fans complaining about their team’s draft picks live on TV over the years. Point being, just because you don’t know anything about Shurmur doesn’t mean that he isn’t the right guy for the job.
“But he doesn’t have a track record that we can look at like Jon Gruden or Bill Cowher!” Neither did Mike Tomlin or John Harbaugh to name two men who we see a combined four times per year.
“I can get real excited about finding the right, young guy and letting him run with the ball.” – Mike Holmgren
There was plenty of talk throughout Mike Holmgren’s meeting with the media today, but the above statement is the one that I would use to describe it if I had to choose one quote.
Mike Holmgren will not say that he will “never” coach again, because he just doesn’t want to make a promise he can’t keep. Simultaneously, as I told you here earlier in the season, I just don’t think Holmgren was making ovations toward the sidelines.
“I was hired to be the President of the Cleveland Browns,” said Holmgren.
For the first time in his career, Browns Quarterback Colt McCoy was facing a team for the second time. Unfortunately for him, it was the Pittsburgh Steelers. They had a book on him in his eighth and final start of his rookie season and it showed. It was not the kind of send off McCoy was looking for to end the year on a positive note.
It was a long day right from the start. His second offensive snap was a throw in the flat to the usually sure-handed Benjamin Watson. This time, the Tight End deflected the ball right into the hands of all-world Safety Troy Polamalu. One play later, the Browns were down 7-0 after a Ben Roethlisberger bomb to Mike Wallace. From that point on, Colt was behind the eight-ball. With RB Peyton Hillis a non-factor due to injury, the Steelers sent the house seemingly every passing down and sent the rookie QB running for his life. The offensive line, the right side of Floyd Womack and “The Turnstile” John St. Clair in particular, really struggled, and once the Browns were down 14-0 (after two Steeler possessions), the offense had no choice but to start chucking the ball. As we know, that is not what this offense is built to do. [Read more...]
It seems to be no better fit that the start of 2011 might bring some resolution to the long-term coaching plans for the Cleveland Browns organization. With a Week 17 showdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday, the Browns are expected to begin offseason decision-making as soon as possible afterward.
Mary Kay Cabot reported yesterday that head coach Eric Mangini expects to meet with team president Mike Holmgren and potentially others Monday about his future with the team. His job has been on the hot seat for well over 12 months now, and a current three-game losing streak en route to a 5-10 record has been unsettling after the incredible optimism at the end of last season.
Maybe someday the Browns and Ravens will have a real rivalry. Today I was given a bit of hope for the future watching Joe Haden spar with Anquan Boldin after a particularly physical first five yards. This kind of animosity is supposed to come with divisional games for the players so that they can feel at least half as desperate to win these games as the fans. Someday it might pay off for the Browns to end their season against these tough divisional foes, but not today. The Browns drop to 5-10 on the season with their 20-10 loss at home to the Ravens.
Colt McCoy had a very typical day for an NFL rookie quarterback, even if it is atypical from what we have seen from him so far this season. He threw three interceptions. Two of them were underthrown even if Mohamed Massaquoi did have a chance to bail his quarterback out. McCoy will learn, but he probably should have known better than to throw two balls anywhere near an always-salivating Ed Reed. [Read more...]
When and Where: Sunday December 26, 2010 – 1:00 PM – Cleveland Browns Stadium
Overview: The first time these two teams met, the Browns were just over 10 point underdogs. The Browns aren’t exactly playing their best football of the season right now, but surprisingly the Browns are only 3.5 point underdogs right now. At the time, I thought the spread was crazy because it was so high. During that game the Browns trailed 14-10 at halftime and even had a 17-13 lead on a Seneca Wallace to Ben Watson touchdown to start the fourth quarter. Of course the Ravens scored ten unanswered points to finish the Browns off 24-17.
The Ravens come in pretty hot. They have won four out of their last five with the only loss coming to the Steelers. Those same Steelers are the only ones ahead of the Ravens in the standings as we speak. Right now the Ravens are on track for the final wildcard spot over the Jets due to tiebreaker advantage. Of course that could all change in an instant if the Browns find a way to play spoiler.
The Cleveland Browns have two games left against the class of the AFC North. I know we hate to say it because we despise the Ravens and the Steelers so much, but they are. There’s just no denying it. The Browns are also coming off a tough stretch of games for them. The Browns went from surprising the class of the league against New Orleans, New England and to an extent even in losing to the Jets.
They followed that up by placing their coach on a considerably warmer seat (real or imagined) in the media and on the Internet. There is no mistaking that the Browns are banged up and have some excuses. How many teams would expect to even win five games and be so close in so many others with three separate starting quarterbacks? And yet, we have no idea what to expect this week against Baltimore. [Read more...]
The Browns started the Bengals’ streak, so I guess it was somewhat cosmically fitting that they would end it too. It was not fitting in any way for a Browns fan base that was elated to see Colt McCoy back under center and hopeful for a late-season explosion like the Browns did a year ago. The Browns just couldn’t seem to get anything consistently going on this day in Cincinnati. They lost the game in all three phases. The Bengals ran all over the Browns with Cedric Benson getting off for 150 yards and a touchdown. Carson Palmer wasn’t pressured into any mistakes. The Browns mustered offense in very rare spurts via Colt McCoy and Peyton Hillis, but it wasn’t nearly enough except to make it look respectable on the scoreboard. [Read more...]
When and Where: Sunday December 19th, 2010 – 1:00 PM – Paul Brown Stadium – Cincinnati, OH
Overview: I thought maybe we would do something different this week now that the Browns are down to playing divisional opponents for the second time. We already have had one “Pre-Game Intel” article for the Bengals. A lot of time has passed since then. The Bengals were 2-1 coming into the first game with the Browns. They had lost their first game to New England before beating Baltimore 15-10 and beating Carolina 20-7. Then, the Bengals faced mighty Seneca Wallace and the Browns. That was the first of ten straight losses for the Bengals. Their eleventh game of the season will be their opportunity to break the streak against the team that started it so so many weeks ago. I will use the same picture that I used the first time just in case that was the reason the Browns won the game, though. As I say so frequently, I don’t believe in superstition except when I do.
As the Bengals now sit 2-11, what were we saying back in October when the Browns were set to face these Bengals the first time?
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