May 25, 2013

Cleveland Browns hit reset button on media relations

May 25, 2013 by 2 Comments

Banner and Haslam

Chuck Klosterman’s Grantland expose was just the tip of the iceberg. For years, perhaps shrouded by arrogance and pomp, the Cleveland Browns – yes, that awful football team – have nearly been just as awful at media relations.

For one, maybe it wasn’t the true fault of Neal Gulkis. I want to give any person the benefit of the doubt. And I certainly never enjoy cheering for any person losing their job. But with the Browns announcing on Friday that they’re letting go of Gulkis, maybe, just maybe, this new era, this new front office and this new team can truly begin their regional makeover. [Read more...]

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Brian Hoyer, Brandon Weeden and what it all could mean

May 17, 2013 by 16 Comments

Hoyer PatsA fictional conversation that could have taken place in Berea over the last couple of days…

Michael Lombardi: “Hey. Have you heard of Brian Hoyer?”

Ray Farmer: “You mean the journeyman Michigan State guy who went undrafted in 2009, with one career NFL start who was cut flat by the team, the Arizona Cardinals, with some of the worst quarterback play since Kurt Warner retired as an arthritic old man?”

Michael Lombardi: “Yep! He’s available! Go get him!”

And scene…

Look, the jokes that were going around yesterday had more to do with the fact that almost everything that’s ever been rumored about Michael Lombardi has come true. The only thing that hasn’t happened (yet) is the Browns trading for Patriots backup Ryan Mallett. With that lens, of course it’s somewhat comical that Brian Hoyer finally became available and signed with the Browns. That’s really where the comedy ends. In all, the Brian Hoyer signing is a good one for depth for a team that has question marks at the quarterback spot. [Read more...]

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NFL draft talk, Browns talk, Lake Erie Crushers and a contest! – WFNY Podcast – 2013-05-14

May 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment

WFNY Podcast LogoRick is running a contest for a free WFNY t-shirt. He will be posting a link of the show on his twitter page @RickWFNY and you need to RT it for a chance to win. We will pick a winner at random. (There is no purchase necessary. There are no guarantees of winning, but we guarantee we will make an attempt to give someone a free t-shirt. Please don’t sue us for trying to do something nice.)

  • Just how open are the Browns right now in terms of their public face

  • The Chuck Klosterman article on Grantland

  • What was the lead time of the trip to Cleveland?

  • Where is the split in the Browns home building?

  • Is there a split in the Browns building?

  • Jimmy Haslam’s trucking company troubles and how it changed Klosterman’s access

  • Missing the opportunity of having Chuck Klosterman in the room

  • Grading the front office on the pass rush should be easy

  • The Browns front office casts a vote against Pat Shurmur by bringing them all back

  • Brandon Weeden and his ability to get incrementally better

  • The possibility that Chud and Norv Turner will try to put guys in abilities to achieve

  • Finding the next Darren Sproles or finding a true change of pace back

  • Are the Browns going to have a third down back, or a second featured back?

  • What are Montario Hardesty’s chances of making the Browns?

  • The Lake Erie Crushers in the independent league

  • The Frontier League and their 14 team league

  • CONTEST WIN T-SHIRT PRIZES PRIZES PRIZES

Check out this episode

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In 2013 the Browns are betting on defense and hoping for offense

May 14, 2013 by 18 Comments

Kruger jerseyThe off-season isn’t over, but it’s not time to look at what the Browns have put together to try and figure out how they’re going to compete in 2013. When you’re caught up in all the details of free agency and the draft it’s much more difficult to get the overall picture, but now more than ever it seems readily apparent what the Browns are trying to do. It’s also apparent what this team could look like in 2013 as they look to improve on their 5-11 season with a whole new coaching staff and brand new looks on offense and defense.

It starts with the defense. The Browns spent almost all of their resources in free agency and the draft on defense. The combination of switching schemes and the defensive performance in 2012 demanded some serious attention. The Browns were second-worst in the NFL in terms of number of offensive plays that opposing teams ran against them. The Browns allowed opposing teams to run 1095 plays showing an inability to get off the field. They gave up the fifth-most number of first downs and the 14th most points. The Browns were truly middle of the road in terms of pressuring the quarterback with their 38 sacks and 6.0% sack rate. 1

So take that group of defenders, put them with an aggressive coordinator, add Desmond Bryant, Paul Kruger, Quentin Groves and sixth overall pick Barkevious Mingo and all of a sudden I think we’ve seen pretty much exactly where the Browns hope to be able to compete in 2013. [Read more...]

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  1. Sack rate is the number of sacks divided by pass attempts + sacks [back]

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NFL News: Michael Lombardi sheds light on Cleveland Browns’ present and future

May 14, 2013 by 23 Comments

Yesterday Mike Lombardi spoke to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Luncheon Club and fans and media were in attendance as he spent nearly an hour talking about the Browns. He took questions and it seems was intent on explaining how he could simultaneously plan for the future while also not giving up on this year. It isn’t an easy thing to explain.

“I’m just saying we’re going to build this thing the right way so we can sustain success,” he said to the big crowd. “We’re certainly, by no means, thinking about giving up on the season – I’m too competitive – Nor, is Rob Chudzinski.”

We’ve heard all that before, but it’s been very difficult to sell for the the Browns thus far. Many continue to point to the past record of the team and clamor that adding more talent today is exactly what the Browns should have done in the draft, rather than trade picks for future ones. That’s where Lombardi finally gave a glimpse into why he might have been willing to trade for future “value.” Maybe, just maybe, he likes a lot of the young players on this team right now.

“We’ve got some pieces to compete with. This team last year was in a lot of close games had a lot of opportunities in the fourth quarter. I think we can build on that.

There’s a lot more from Lombardi in Nate Ulrich’s report over at Ohio.com

[Related: Indians weekend, language police, Redskins, Cleveland kidnappings, Gatsby, Goldthwait and more – WFNY Podcast – 2013-05-13]

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Michael Lombardi: Two different interviews, one set of answers

May 1, 2013 by 29 Comments

Michael_LombardiMichael Lombardi used the official launch day of the new Cleveland Browns radio homes to reach out to both 92.3 the Fan and ESPN 850 WKNR. He called in to The Fan’s “Kiley and Booms” first and later called KNR’s “The Really Big Show,” with Tony Rizzo and Aaron Goldhammer. I listened to both interviews because I wanted to hear some insight into what the Browns did this draft, and maybe what the mindset was regarding certain decisions. Now that it has all sunken in over the course of the day, it is absolutely amazing how different the two shows ran their interviews to basically arrive with the same, minuscule amounts of information.

Kiley and Booms (conspiuously named after the show’s hosts, Kevin Kiley and Chuck Booms) seemed to operate like attorneys complete with Kiley injecting a “Can I finish?” when Lombardi started to speak too soon. Booms followed it up by listing all the players that the Browns had in for visits that they didn’t end up drafting, insinuating that because they were brought in for a visit that the team had interest in acquiring their services. The two hosts seemed more interested in reading their questions 1 than what Lombardi would provide as an answer. Contrast that with Tony Rizzo who asked questions and then shut his mouth and let Lombardi talk. 

[Read more...]

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  1. Booms started the segment prior to the interview by saying he had his “list” ready but didn’t want to “tip” Lombardi on the questioning in the event he was already listening. [back]

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NFL News: Dee Milliner claims he won’t miss training camp

April 24, 2013 by 5 Comments

A storyline that seems to have appeared almost out of nowhere in the last week or so was questions surrounding the health of one of the top corners in the 2013 NFL draft, Dee Milliner. It seems that a story like this comes out every year, and it’s always a bit suspect to try and figure out where it came from and what agenda it might be serving to potentially push a pick down the board a bit. According to a report by Clark Judge at CBS, Milliner is telling anyone who will listen that he’s fine.

“I’m doing great, and I didn’t miss any time with the injuries,” he said. “All of them are minor. I don’t even how all this got started, but I’m not really worried about it. Whatever teams takes a chance and picks me, I’ll go out there play for them and play on. (What teams should know is that) I’ve been fine, I had minor surgeries and I missed no games.”

We don’t know if Milliner is truly the top corner on the Cleveland Browns’ official draft board, but we do know with a high level of certainty that corner has to be up there in terms of draft need. We also know that if they happen to pick as high as number six without trading down, Dee Milliner could and should seemingly be a potential candidate for the team to pick there. As Clark Judge points out, Milliner is a popular match for the Cleveland Browns in mock drafts all over the Internet.

So we’ll see if the injury news or subsequent rebuttals have any impact on the Browns’ draft thinking tomorrow. When our own TD wrote about it, it was a consideration that represented a 30% swing in likelihood that he thought the Browns would consider Milliner.

We have heard his stock had been dropping over the past week, but these injuries could potentially add to his slide. NFL teams however, have had access to this information for a while now. The Browns still need a corner desperately and Milliner is still the best on the board.

If asked for a percentage of whether the Browns will take Milliner at six, I originally gave it 65% chance. After these latest injury reports, I would lower it to 35%.

 

[Related: The Browns and the First Round: Dee Milliner]

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Browns’ Joe Banner, Michael Lombardi hold pre-draft press conference

April 18, 2013 by 17 Comments

The Browns held a pre-draft press conference today in Berea to answer questions about the Browns plan heading into the NFL Draft which starts next Thursday.

As expected, CEO Joe Banner and GM Mike Lombardi spoke mostly in generalities and were careful not to divulge any strategy. Perhaps the biggest take away from the press conference is who will be in the “war room” for the Browns during the draft. The draft team will be Joe Banner, Mike Lombardi, Rob Chudzinski, Ray Horton and Jimmy Haslam.

Joe Banner said the decisions made will be a “collective effort” and that they will seek a unanimous opinion on the player the want to take. If they don’t all agree on a player, Banner says they will likely move on to the next guy.

One person notably not in that war room group is offensive coordinator Norv Turner.

They did say that they would consider any trade “that makes our team better”, but they won’t ‘chase a second round pick’ for fear of over paying. Banner also mentioned that any trade that happens would like take place while the team is on the clock, not before.

When pressed about the starting QB and the potential of drafting one, Banner and Lombardi said they approach the draft with the idea that Brandon Weeden is the starter.

[Related: NFL Draft Rumor: Browns a wild card for Geno Smith]

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NFL News: Browns’ Michael Lombardi to have title changed to General Manager

March 5, 2013 by 28 Comments

It was a bit of a tongue twister for Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam to say “Vice President of Player Personnel” in the news conference when Mike Lombardi was hired. At least that’s what I assumed when he kept referring to Lombardi as the Browns’ new GM.

Well, now it appears that the confusion will be gone as Pro Football Talk reports that the Browns will change it.

As for Ray Farmer being the new Assistant GM, here’s the scoop. Farmer is a former 1996 fourth round draft pick out of Duke. He played for the Eagles from 1996-1998 and was most recently the Director of Pro Personnel for the Kansas City Chiefs.

[Related: The Browns, analytics, and finding market inefficiencies as an organization]

 

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Rob Chudzinski to speak for Browns at combine

February 21, 2013 by 2 Comments

Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan reports that Michael Lombardi will not speak to the press on behalf of the Browns at the combine. The Browns instead will opt to have head coach Rob Chudzinski speak for the team. The Browns always said they wanted a coach to be very involved in personnel, and in one of the first opportunities, they appear to be proving it.

In the end, it probably means very little in determining who has the power in the personnel department, but it is at least symbolic early that the coach won’t just be a bystander. Either that or they’re looking to extend the grace period for Lombardi as he continues to try and separate himself from his most recent media past that already had him commenting on this upcoming draft.

No matter who is speaking for the Browns, I expect them to reveal very little. The team has a good amount of time to mold the current roster via free agency before the draft itself. Common thought around media circles (of which Lombardi was recently a big part) is that the Browns will look to address defense, specifically the pass rush, with their first draft pick this year.

We’ll see, of course, but I’ll wait a bit before I start slotting names onto the mock boards.

[Related: NFL Rumor: Browns not planning on re-signing Phil Dawson]

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2013 NFL Draft: Jarvis Jones’ value falling, so what?

January 21, 2013 by 17 Comments

Jarvis JonesThe Super Bowl matchup is set. But for the Browns, despite the meaningless Pro Bowl next week, the next truly meaningful event on the schedule is April’s NFL Draft.

Of course, there will be the combine and several other related activities until the three-day draft begins on Thursday, April 25, but let’s just go for the imagery of this magical, franchise-defining moment in the middle of spring for the Browns and their new front office/coaching staff.

Each of the last two months around this time, I started out WFNY’s draft coverage by looking at the Big Board for the NFL Draft. First, I professed my love for a certain underclassman turnover-machine from Georgia, and then, I squared off against my friend Jordan in the debate over picking a guard or a defensive playmaker.

So let’s take another updated look today at the aggregate Big Board. [Read more...]

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Browns questions abound

January 21, 2013 by 51 Comments

Michael_LombardiNow that the Super Bowl is set and the Browns hires are pretty much all set, there’s nothing left but to wonder about a lot of things. No, not silly already decided things about keeping a certain owner out of the Hall of Fame. That’s been decided a long time ago and as far as I can tell nothing at all (at all) has changed despite death and patches. Other than the obvious though, I don’t have a lot of answers. I have a bunch of questions that I’ll be keeping in mind as the off-season progresses.

  1. Every leak that came out over the last six months about the Browns (especially the Lombardi one) has pretty much come true. How about the one from January 5th reported by Will Burge that Colt McCoy was told he was in the next coach’s plans? Was that information based on the presumption that Chip Kelly was going to be the next Browns’ head coach? Was that more of a statement about what Joe Banner and Michael Lombardi think about Brandon Weeden? When asked about Josh Gordon’s tweet last week, Lombardi joked that the receiver had nothing to worry about, yet he needed to see more tape on Weeden before commenting. [Read more...]

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Browns Joe Haden on Michael Lombardi criticism, “People make mistakes!”

January 18, 2013 by 11 Comments

Joe Haden is far more established than first-year pleasant surprise receiver Josh Gordon. Gordon tweeted earlier “uh oh” upon hearing that Michael Lombardi had been hired for the Browns personnel department. Joe Haden apparently feels much more secure in his spot with the Browns. He seems more forgiving too of some of the pre-draft rhetoric out of Mike Lombardi that maybe Joe Haden wasn’t fast enough.

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Michael Lombardi has a lot to prove to Cleveland Browns fans

January 18, 2013 by 144 Comments

Michael_LombardiI’ve come a long way with the Cleveland Browns since I started writing about them in the Romeo Crennel era. The hope of being a fan seeped strongly into everything I did and I always looked for ways to think about things working out. I wouldn’t say all that hope and patience is gone, but it is decidedly muted from where it was. It has been replaced by what I think is a healthy dose of skepticism. It isn’t negativity, but when the risks of a situation reveal themselves to me, I now find it most important to point them out. When I wrote about Joe Banner earlier, I had concerns about him not because I don’t believe he’s qualified to be the CEO of the Cleveland Browns, but because he was overseeing another period of massive change. Today, he made another big move when he replaced the recently departed Tom Heckert with Mike Lombardi.

Tom Heckert was a General Manager and Michael Lombardi has been named VP of Player Personnel, which obviously means the position could be slightly different, but Jimmy Haslam used the two job titles pretty interchangeably in press conferences this off-season. It stands to reason that there won’t be any other significant changes to the personnel department and that Michael Lombardi will fill the void between the scouts, coach and CEO that Tom Heckert once did between the scouts, coach and Mike Holmgren. We obviously don’t know exactly how decisions were made with Heckert and company manning the draft and free agency. We also probably won’t know exactly how decisions will be made with Lombardi, Banner and Chudzinski. Point being that there’s really no reason to hit the panic button or call this thing a colossal failure. At least not yet.

Still, I think it’s fair to at least say that Michael Lombardi has a ton to prove. [Read more...]

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Browns Josh Gordon on Michael Lombardi, “Uh oh.. Am I in trouble??”

January 18, 2013 by 44 Comments

Josh Gordon was selected by the Browns with a second round supplemental draft choice by Tom Heckert. Michael Lombardi wasn’t a big fan of that move as a media NFL critic, and now he finds himself in one of the top positions in the Cleveland Browns organization on the football side. Apparently Josh Gordon has taken notice.

Now whether Gordon was kidding or not, remains to be seen. Gordon had a lot of Browns fans nervous too when he was selected. Gordon had a big rookie season, so it’s easy to go back and call Lombardi out on it now, but it’s also hard to kill him for pointing out that risk and saying a second rounder was too high.

Sometimes you’re right and sometimes you’re wrong when it comes to evaluating talent and picking players. Lombardi apparently got that one wrong. And I don’t know about you, but I think he got the Joe Haden one wrong too when he said Haden was too slow. But who knows? Lombardi never had the benefit of the scouting and personnel staff that the Browns retained from Tom Heckert’s tenure.

[Related: NFL News: Cleveland Browns Hire Michael Lombardi as VP – Player Personnel]

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NFL Report: Browns ask permission to interview Vikings’ George Paton

January 5, 2013 by 5 Comments

With Chip Kelly news at a standstill for the moment, you can add another name to the GM search for the Browns, according to Jay Glazer on Twitter earlier this afternoon:

George Paton (note: just one “t”, not two like the general) was promoted to the Assistant GM position with the Minnesota Vikings in February 2012. This is his sixth year in Minnesota and he has had a long relationship with team GM Rick Spielman. The Vikings improved from 3-13 in ’11 to 10-6 and a Wild Card berth in ’12.

Previously, Paton also spent six seasons with the Miami Dolphins as their Director of Player Personnel after beginning his post-playing days with the Chicago Bears organization.

Also on the Browns reported list at the moment: former Raiders employee Michael Lombardi, San Francisco’s Tom Gamble and Seattle’s John Idzik.

[Related: NFL Report: Lombardi already scouting free agents for Browns]

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Michael Lombardi on Browns: “I haven’t talked to anybody”

December 11, 2012 by 6 Comments

The Michael Lombardi rumor just won’t go away for whatever reason. There must be at least a couple sources continuing to push this name around. The latest from this past weekend had Lombardi linked to Cleveland with Nick Saban in tow. 92.3 The Fan’s Baskin and Phelps talk to Lombardi every week, and he weighed in (barely, but a little bit) on the latest round of rumors that Andy Baskin playfully confronted him with.

Andy Baskin: “Are you coming with Nick Saban? Can you address those rumors for us please?”

Michael Lombardi: “You know, look. As I’ve said many times on the show, you know, the decisions about what’s going to happen in Cleveland haven’t been made yet. I think only Jimmy Haslam and Joe Banner know those answers. I don’t know those answers. I don’t know where the rumors start from, but I just know that what I’ve read in the papers, I haven’t talked to anybody. And so therefor, just enjoy the Browns three game winning streak and move forward.”

Lombardi went on to talk more about the Browns and where they are with three games left on the schedule.

[Related: Chiefs’ Shaun Smith fights fans on Twitter, threatens reporter]

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NFL Rumors: Report links Lombardi, Nick Saban to Browns

December 9, 2012 by 29 Comments

As if the smoke had not been billowing enough as it was, a report from The Boston Globe links media vagabond Michael Lombardi and Alabama head coach Nick Saban to the Cleveland Browns as a leadership team of the future.

Greg Bedard, citing league sources, states that there is “indeed fire” behind said smoke.

“[Browns CEO Joe] Banner, who was with [current Browns GM Tom] Heckert with the Eagles from 2001-09, also has a connection to Lombardi, who was in personnel with the Eagles from 1997-98,” writes Bedard. “Lombardi has been associated with winning teams wherever he’s been, from Bill Walsh’s 49ers, to the Browns (where he helped build the organization into a Super Bowl contender before Art Modell pulled the plug and moved the team to Baltimore), to the Eagles and the Raiders. Lombardi’s past weakness has been the cap, but Banner is an expert in that area.”

Per Bedard, it is also believed that Lombardi could provide a link to Saban, long been a target of Browns majority owner and SEC-fueled Jimmy Haslam III.

“According to the NFL sources,” writes Bedard, “Saban has let it be known that if he returns to the NFL — where he flopped, going 15-17 with the Dolphins from 2005-06 — it would likely be with Lombardi playing Pioli to his Belichick.”

The other two names listed in accordance with Lombardi were Oregon’s Chip Kelly and current New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

[Related: Tom Heckert’s future may rest in his own hands]

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Joe Haden Rookie Highlights

January 7, 2011 by 10 Comments

In honor of the fact that Joe Haden was selected as a finalist for Rookie of the Year, I thought I would hunt down some of the season highlights to send us off into the weekend with happy thoughts.  Haden is far from a finished product, but he is also far from “too slow” as Michael Lombardi reported earlier in 2010.  For the season, Haden finishes with 64 tackles 1 sack, 1 forced fumble and 6 interceptions.  Here is the video evidence.

[Read more...]

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