June 20, 2013

Raiders sign former Browns safety Usama Young

April 9, 2013 by 7 Comments

The connections between the Raiders and Browns seem to keep getting stronger, or at least more strongly anecdotal. First the report that the Raiders badly wanted to keep Desmond Bryant, whom the Browns signed in free agency. Now, Pro Football Talk is reporting that the Raiders have signed former Browns safety Usama Young. Details of the deal aren’t available yet.

Darin Gantt of PFT makes the connection that Usama Young will rejoin his former Saints secondary coach Dennis Allen, now with the Raiders.

So, even if the money is nowhere close to being equal, I’ll still take the Desmond Bryant for Usama Young swap. Young was expected to nail down a starting spot for the Cleveland Browns, but ultimately couldn’t stay healthy for parts of his two years with the team.

Young originally signed a 3-year deal with the Browns for $5.9 million. He earned $1.7 million in 2011 and $1.8 million in 2012 before the Browns decided to save the approximately $2.25 million in cap space by cutting him loose.

[Related: Raiders "badly wanted to re-sign Desmond Bryant, per Peter King]

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Raiders “badly” wanted to re-sign Desmond Bryant, per Peter King

April 8, 2013 by 4 Comments

The Oakland Raiders yearned to re-sign defensive tackle Desmond Bryant but could not match the salary cap flexibility of the Cleveland Browns. A report by Sports Illustrated’s Peter King states that Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie was forced to keep his team out of “salary cap jail,” and had no choice but to let the Browns take the mauling defensive lineman.

Bryant inked a five-year, $34 million deal with the Browns earlier this off-season, adding considerable quality to what was largely considered a strength of the team in the defensive line. Bryant, 27, also drew interest from the San Francisco 49ers before being scooped up by Cleveland on the first day of free agency.

Last season, Bryant recorded 36 tackles, four sacks, and one forced fumble. He was also tied for 7th among defensive tackles with 12 quarterback hits. He is expected to join Phil Taylor and Atyba Rubin on the starting line within Ray Horton’s 3-4 defense.

[Related: Breaking down Paul Kruger’s and Desmond Bryant’s Browns contracts]

 

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Peter King loves Phil Dawson too

November 5, 2012 by 10 Comments

There’s just no doubting how great Phil Dawson is at this point, and Peter King has his ticket for the bandwagon.

Twenty-three straight field goals, 21 of them this year, and his consecutive kicks of 32, 28, 29, 33 and 41 in a 32-minute span between the second and fourth quarters gave the Browns a 15-14 lead late against Baltimore. Dawson’s an unsung player, in part because so often his kicks are in losing causes. But a kick’s a kick, and he did his part Sunday against a division rival that owns the Browns.

Phil Dawson. What else is there to say, really?

[Related: Cleveland Browns Game Nine: Winners and Losers]

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Peter King says Shurmur could be next Gary Kubiak

October 16, 2012 by 25 Comments

Peter King’s column sometimes takes me two days to finish. Still, with the owner’s meetings happening in Chicago today and with Jimmy Haslam getting control of the team, it is worth noting that Peter King is pretty wary of the “blow it up” strategy with regard to the Cleveland Browns. From his ten things he thinks he thinks…

4. Jimmy Haslam’s purchase of the Browns will be approved Tuesday in Chicago. Then Haslam will get on with the business of deciding who will run his franchise in 2013 and beyond. I hope he looks long and hard at Pat Shurmur, who I think is a good man and coach. Not saying Haslam should keep him — just saying he should think very seriously about it, because Shurmur’s the kind of smart young coach, like Gary Kubiak was in Houston’s rocky times, who is growing into a tough job.

You have to wonder whether or not King would have written this had the Browns not beat the Bengals this week for their first win of the season. Would he have thought he thought that had the Browns not outlasted the Bengals?

[Related:Browns’ Mike Holmgren a no-show in Chicago for NFL owners meetings]

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King: Haslam to be ‘Much More Involved’ in Browns’ Day-to-Day

August 7, 2012 by 22 Comments

While he won’t likely tip the scale in the way of Jerry Jones or Mark Cuban, Cleveland Browns owner Jim Haslam is going to be around the city of Cleveland and his new football team a lot more than his predecessor. Sports Illustrated’s Peter King penned a column following a 30-minute conversation and, like most that have crossed the new owner’s path, came away impressed.

“It’s very important to thank your customers for their loyalty,” Haslam told King. “In my business, I go to the stores unannounced fairly often to talk to my employees. It’s important to assess your business often, and to ask the people out in the field for ideas. I ask, ‘What are we doing wrong?’ Ninety-five percent of our new ideas come from our employees.”

King adds that Haslam yearns to learn. Far from an expert on the Cleveland Browns, it’s Haslam’s job to learn the ways of the Orange and Browns. It sounds as if the new owner plans on bringing a lot of what he learned through his years as partial owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers — stability, consistency, leadership — across state lines. In his discussion with King, Haslam appeared adamantly concerned about the coaching carousel that has plagued the Browns since their return in 1999.

“They’ve averaged a new coach once every 2.8 years [since the franchise returned to Cleveland in 1999],” Haslam said, “and that’s just not a good recipe. One thing I learned from watching the Steelers is the importance of consistency in coaching, and how much it sets you back when you’re always making a change. When you change coaches, it can be a three- or four-year deal to get back.”
 

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King: I think the Browns should hang onto Colt McCoy, But…

June 19, 2012 by 17 Comments

In his most recent Monday Morning Quarterback Column, Sports Illustrated’s Peter King (once again) weighs in on the Colt McCoy situation in Cleveland, this time, giving the third-year quarterback a vote of confidence.

“I think the Browns should hang onto Colt McCoy,” writes King. ”I do like Brandon Weeden, but how sure a thing is he? And if he plays poorly over the next two years, you’re happier with Seneca Wallace than Colt McCoy? I’m not.”

It was just last week when King had a one-on-one interview with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell where the two men discussed the concussion and subsequent mishandling which would ultimately serve to prematurely end McCoy’s first full season as a the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback. Given McCoy’s record and relative regression in his second season, the Browns went and drafted Weeden to be the quarterback of the team’s future, leaving McCoy’s status in peril and his family’s mouth agape.

In the event that the Browns do look to cut ties with McCoy, a result which many forecast as the inevitable, King thinks that Tom Heckert’s former team is one of two perfect landing spots.

“I think if I’m Andy Reid or Mike McCarthy, I’m calling Cleveland GM Tom Heckert and sending a 2013 sixth-rounder to Cleveland for McCoy,” writes King. ”Perfect backup quarterback who, in time, might be good enough to start for your team for multiple seasons. Take out the tape of his game at Pittsburgh last season, before he got blasted by James Harrison, and tell me he doesn’t have the poise, decision-making and presence to have a chance to be a good player.”
 

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Peter King: Richardson “Not a bad trade by Cleveland”

April 30, 2012 by 45 Comments

Peter King is giving everyone a pass on the deal that the Vikings and Browns made to move up from four to three.

I’ve been hearing GM Rick Spielman of the Vikings took advantage of a Browns team that didn’t want to risk losing Trent Richardson, which is true. I’ve been hearing Browns GM Tom Heckert got snookered into throwing fourth-, sixth- and seventh-round picks. That’s a load of crap. This is the easiest Monday Morning Quarterbacking to do (hey, that’s trademarked!) after the draft.

There’s no way Heckert could know what real offer Spielman had on the table. Spielman, as it turned out, had talked to Tampa Bay about the pick, but the Bucs were never seriously interested in it. But Heckert had no way of knowing that at the time. General managers making vital decisions for the long-term cannot sit there and say, “I wonder if Spielman really has something, or if he’s bluffing.” They have to make decisions on the fly. The Browns kept the top five picks of a vital draft intact and got the guy they wanted, Trent Richardson, and still had 10 picks to work with. I don’t castigate Heckert. I applaud him.

At 11a, you’ll be seeing the WFNY discussion of the Browns draft wherein most of us feel the same way. There are certainly things to be critical of the Browns at times, but using their well-earned bullets to ensure they got the biggest potential difference-maker this Browns team has drafted in a decade isn’t one of them.

[Related: NFL Draft: Holmgren Urged Browns First-Round Trade with Vikings]

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Another view of Peter King’s stat of the week regarding running backs

April 23, 2012 by 29 Comments

Peter King does great work and his Monday Morning Quarterback column is a must-read. He has some really enlightening information in the column even if you sometimes question his sources. Obviously Tom Heckert does, as he blatantly told the Cleveland press this week that he hasn’t talked to King in years. Be that as it may, King was talking about the 2012 NFL draft and the Browns’ potential for taking running back Trent Richardson.

I know it’s fashionable to give Trent Richardson, far and away the best back in this draft, to Cleveland at No. 4 in round one Thursday. But with the game becoming more and more of an aerial show, the Browns should be thinking hard about their choice before Thursday.

Six teams in the NFL won 12 or more games last year. Here are those teams, and where the leading rusher on each ranked in league rushing stats last season:

Team Record Leading Rusher NFL Rank
Green Bay 15-1 James Starks 39
New England 13-3 BenJarvus Green-Ellis 27
New Orleans 13-3 Darren Sproles 33
San Francisco 13-3 Frank Gore 6
Baltimore 12-4 Ray Rice 2
Pittsburgh 12-4 Rashard Mendenhall 21

 

Ack! That is terrifying. Maybe the Browns should just draft Justin Blackmon! [Read more...]

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Tom Heckert Talks First Round as the NFL Draft Inches Closer

April 19, 2012 by 115 Comments

With the draft exactly one week away, Cleveland Browns general manager Tom Heckert took to the podium for his pre-draft press conference, fielding questions about headlines, smokescreens and the pressure to perform given the draft history of the team under which he presides.

While he would understandably not get into specifics, reacting to all draft board questions with body language that ranged from slight chuckles to belly laughs, Heckert discussed philosophy and where, exactly, the front office is when it comes to analyzing specific players.

[Read more...]

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Peter King: Heckert thinking Blackmon and Holmgren thinking (about) Tannehill

April 16, 2012 by 211 Comments

Are you still having fun yet? I am. Peter King has some juicy bits about the draft in his MMQ column today. First of all, he doesn’t think there will be much action on the third pick because people won’t fall enough in love with anyone not named Luck or Griffin to make a big offer. That leads to Matt Kalil probably heading to Minnesota as most people have suspected from the beginning. That leaves the Browns.

I heard different things over the weekend from people I trust. GM Tom Heckert loves Blackmon and that would be his pick; president Mike Holmgren is still trying to decide with finality if Tannehill is the franchise quarterback worth taking here. The safest pick? Richardson, at a need position, even though receiver is a bigger need.

Joe Lull of 92.3 The Fan is still the (only?) engineer for the Tannehill express, so this probably makes him happy that the man at the top of the Browns pyramid is still even contemplating Tannehill. Regardless of whether you like Tannehill or not, there’s no denying that his rise has been hype-based and meteoric over the last few months. Oh yeah, and he hasn’t done anything new on a football field in that time unless you count a scripted pro day workout.

He didn’t even knock over a Browns position coach. Enjoy the ride people!

[Related: Bill Polian says Trent Richardson is the real deal]

Hey! Come to our draft party!

 

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Peter King: Rams GM Les Snead details how trade with Washington went down

March 23, 2012 by 59 Comments

Buried at the bottom of a Peter King Monday Morning QB column, (which I never would have seen without Cleveland Frowns’ post today) comes this about the Rams’ trade with Washington-

“But according to Rams GM Les Snead, that’s not the whole story. He confirmed to me Sunday what I’d heard the night the trade broke. Snead said he told all teams interested on March 8 that he was going to have the trade done by the end of that day, and he was going to ask each team to give its best offer for the trade. At that point, he said, after listening to all the proposals, he was going to take the best offer — unless the offer was not anywhere near what the Rams wanted for the pick.

Those were the rules, Snead said Sunday, that he made clear to each team. Snead asked for everyone’s best offer in individual phone calls. It’s unclear what Cleveland’s offer was, but Washington offered three first-round picks and one second-round pick. That offer, Snead said, was better than Cleveland’s offer. So he told Washington officials that they’d won the bidding and told the Browns they’d lost. At that point, Snead said, Cleveland tried to make another offer, and Snead said the window was closed; the Rams were taking Washington’s offer.”

Read the whole piece. It may be a little “he said, she said” but someone is most certainly not being honest about the exchange.

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Peyton Manning Sweepstakes Heating Up

January 23, 2012 by 4 Comments

A few weeks ago, Adam Schefter spawned a couple of days of talk about the Browns and Peyton Manning with mere speculation that the Browns could be a suitor should Manning get cut before he is owed a $28 million roster bonus in March.  It has been mostly quiet on the Peyton Manning front since then as Indianapolis has shaken things up by hiring GM Ryan Grigson, firing Jim Caldwell, and interviewing head coaching candidates, possibly even former Buckeye Jim Tressel.  It is not so quiet anymore.

Yesterday teams seemingly started using the media as a mouthpiece to express interest in a player that they are certainly not legally allowed to speak with or about.  The Dolphins got out first with a report in the Miami Herald.  That report pulled a double whammy by also mentioning Packers backup Matt Flynn, who also isn’t available yet.  That makes some sense since Miami just hired former Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin to be their new head coach.  With all the talk started, the Cardinals didn’t want to be on the sidelines. [Read more...]

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While We’re Waiting…NBA Jam, Drafting Clausen at 7, Cavs Playoff Projections, Tribe Bullpen

March 21, 2010 by 14 Comments

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

NBA Jam Screen Shot

Narrowing down the choice for Cavs players in the upcoming resuscitation of the classic NBA Jam: “LeBron? No explanation necessary. Shaq? Too legendary to even think about snubbing, especially after he famously made Orlando cart around the original arcade version on road trips so he could get his NBA Jam fix. The final vacancy? Williams and Jamison obviously have to be considered strongly, but who doesn’t think about Varejao when they think about the Cavs? Varejao might be Cleveland’s second most influential player, has great chemistry with LeBron and has scrapped his way straight into the Sixth Man Award race with Atlanta’s Crawford.” [Marc Stein/Weekend Dime]

[Read more...]

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While We’re Waiting – The Return of Bernie, Starbury on LBJ, and The NBA’s New Traveling Rule

October 18, 2009 by 7 Comments

jobernieWhile We’re Waiting is a daily link roundup for you folks to enjoy.  Read the links.  Love the links.  It’s a little cold out, or I’d tell you to go play a round of 18 on the links.  So instead, just check these out.  I worked hard to find them to share with you.  If you find things you want to share with us, hit us up at the tips email hotline.

–

No word on whether Bernie will suit up today in Pittsburgh, but he’s back with the Browns. “Former Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar has reached a working agreement with owner Randy Lerner to serve as a team consultant… According to a league source, Lerner values Kosar as “another set of eyes.” Kosar essentially reports to the owner.” [Tony Grossi/PD] [Read more...]

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While We’re Waiting… Peter King on Browns, Big Ten Review, and LeBron’s Nicknames

October 14, 2009 by 34 Comments

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 in the sidebar.

Browns Fans“The ire of the fans is understandable. This is Year 11 of the Browns’ reincarnation, and it’s hard to say the team is very far ahead of where it was 10 years ago, when the expansion Browns finished 2-14. [...] By the way, Lerner’s not going to cave after a year and sweep clean. He’s tired of the coaching and front-office chaos, and I’m not saying he’s going to give Mankinis three seasons like this one, but to think he’ll fire the building again this winter is just not happening. This is what I’d say to Browns’ fans: It took you years to get into this mess, and it’s going to take you at least two years to get out of it.” [Peter King/SI.com]

[Read more...]

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Browns (kind of) Join Indians in the Cellar

September 24, 2009 by 14 Comments

Sad Browns FanJust as the Indians have found their way to the bottom of the standings in the AL Central, the Cleveland Browns have followed suit and find themselves at the bottom of Sports Illustrated’s Power Rankings for week three of the season.

Take it for what it’s worth – these rankings are just from one writer (and to his credit, a writer not named Peter King).  That being said, Banks seems to know things about the NFL, and though I haven’t watched any of the teams ranked 21-32, based on all the clamor around these parts I can’t imagine that any of the other teams can be a lot worse off than the Browns are currently.

So what say ye, folks – are the Browns the worst team in the NFL at this point.  Are they worse than the Matthew Stafford led Lions and the St Louis Rams, who lost 9-7 to the Deadskins.  At least we have tassle-laced headgear!

Note: For what it’s worth, ESPN has the Browns at 29, at least for this week. Yes we can! Yes we can!

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While We’re Waiting… More on Peter King, Previewing Browns/Bears, and Gameday Rituals

September 3, 2009 by 14 Comments

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 in the sidebar.

browns-titans-game

A little follow-up on the Peter King prediction: “Like you, I don’t think the Browns are going to be very good.  But I also don’t have my head buried in Favre’s sandhole either.  I see that there are infinitely worse football teams in the NFL with [worse] coaching, worse personnel and an even longer history of suckitude.  But I get it man…the Browns aren’t a sexy team.  They’re meat.  They’re potatoes.  They have plain uniforms in a boring city.  I get all that.  But that doesn’t mean you can completely ignore them and just throw a [crummy] record at them without giving a SINGLE REASON OF YOUR OWN as justification.” [Spencer096/Major League Jerk]

[Read more...]

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Thanks Adam Caplan – Browns Number 27!

May 14, 2009 by 9 Comments

Come on and chant it with me, people!  We’re not the worst!  We’re not the worst!  At least we aren’t the worst according to Adam Caplan.

OK, I realize how silly some of the offseason NFL conversation can get with all the “expert” talk about the unknown quantities of drafting and free agency.  Still, I couldn’t help myself when Peter King came out and broke my soul by naming the Browns the worst team in the league going into the season.  While the Browns often do seem like a pretty indefensible bunch especially after last season and what with the Donte Stallworth news.  All the same, I couldn’t leave it alone and I went on the attack against the cherubic, curly-haired King for his ludicrous prognostication.

Now that I have calmed down and had another off-season ranking come out that backs up my opinion, I am feeling really silly even if I am feeling a bit better. [Read more...]

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Peter King Thinks the Browns are the Worst

May 11, 2009 by 43 Comments

Literally, Peter King thinks the Browns are the worst team in the NFL.  Do not pass go.  Do not collect $200.  The worst. The Browns finished number 32 in King’s latest article.  Yes, Browns fans, this includes the Detroit Lions who King is predicting will win four games.  So, in essence, this means that King thinks the Browns will be unable to win four games this season.  Here is what King had to say.

Hey, thank me, all you Brownaholics. Two years ago in a column like this one, I wrote that Cleveland was the worst team in the league. The Browns went 10-6. This year I’m saying they’re the worst team again — and I can guarantee you they’re not going 10-6, unless Brady Quinn morphs into Tom Brady. Too many holes, too tough a division; write them down for 0-4 against the Steelers and Ravens.

[Read more...]

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NFL Draft Rumors: If You Fear Mark Sanchez, You May Be In Luck

April 20, 2009 by 16 Comments

mark-sanchez-6With the NFL draft less than a week away, we will likely be inundated with rumor and speculation as to who will go where and at what pick.  What GMs are talking trade.  And what wide receiver the Lions will take with the first pick overall.

Okay, that last one may be more wishful thinking than anything, but even here at WFNY have we been discussing as much “talk” as we can.  We can’t put much credence into pre-draft rumors as these are mostly a mirage.  This morning, Mike Greenberg had a great point that there is nothing to gain by telling the truth at this stage; coaches and GMs have everything to gain by telling a lie. 

But with all of this said, Browns fans that fear the team selecting USC’s Mark Sanchez with the fifth overall selection may want to choose to believe a recent piece by Peter King over at Sports Illustrated. [Read more...]

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