Welcome to Free Agency

Those who already know about me know that the Browns are my favorite team of the three home Cleveland franchises.  It’s no surprise then that the start of Free Agency is first and foremost on my mind right now. 

As the Browns have tried to shed their horrible past since their rebirth under General Manager Phil Savage, the start of Free Agency has always been something to remember.  His first season in town, he spent a lot on wiley veterans like Joe Andruzzi and made a big splash by signing Gary Baxter. 

The following offseason, he trumped that by breaking the bank on stud Center LeCharles Bentley, while signing a host of other veterans like Willie McGinest. 

The fruits of those two Free Agency periods did not pay off for Phil.  His two prized Free Agents Bentley and Baxter may never play again, and barely played here.  Others were just too old to really contribute. 

That didn’t stop Savage in his 3rd Free Agent foray last offseason.  He paid through the nose on top Free Agent Guard Eric Steinbach as well as signing some other players like Jamal Lewis. 

 Apparently, the third time was the charm for Savage as Lewis and Steinbach played key roles in turning the Browns’ offense from a complete joke into one of the more dynamic offenses in the league in 2007. 

Needless to say, Savage won’t take it easy this offseason.  Savage has already struck a big deal with Green Bay to acquire talented DL Corey Williams for what is being reported as a 2nd round pick in this year’s draft. 

Williams was considered one of the top DL in this year’s Free Agent class although he was franchised by Green Bay for 6.3 million.  Instead of negotiating a long term deal though, Packers’ GM Ted Thompson decided to shop the player for a high draft pick.  He made out big by acquiring Cleveland’s 2nd rounder (57th overall) for a player that many thought would have left Green Bay anyway.  The deal will most likely be complete provided the Browns give Williams a hefty long-term deal, which will most likely resemble the deal that Tommy Kelly received in Oakland (7 years 50 million).

Cleveland hopes Green Bay’s gain is trumped by the addition of Williams who is going to help a very weak 3-4 Defensive Line.  Right now, only the two Smiths, Robaire and Shaun are penciled in on the line, which has been one of the biggest reasons for the Browns’ failures on defense over the last few years. 

Williams will most likely fill one of the starting End spots.  He’s an athletic D-Lineman who can make his way to the QB.  He had 14 Sacks over the last two years with Green Bay.  At 27, he’s entering his prime and should be a great upgrade on the line.  He’ll fill the vacated role that you could argue has been vacant for nearly two seasons as long-time Brown Orpheus Roye (recently released) battled injuries. 

That leaves the Browns with both Smiths and Williams starting on the line.  Not a bad combination, but the Browns can’t be done with the line, nor the rest of the defense.  More depth is needed in their front 7 and many names have been rumored as Free Agency is officially under way.  Lance Briggs has been mentioned at LB, who will be looking for beau-coup bucks.  Other LBs such as Clark Haggins from our enemy and Landon Johnson from Cincy have been mentioned. 

 Signing more players will certainly be done, but as we look forward, there’s a much bigger story developing with QB Derek Anderson and this all ties in with the Browns willingness to give up a 2nd rounder to Green Bay despite not having a 1st rounder in this year’s draft either. 

As many are already aware, Anderson was given the high tender by Cleveland for a restricted Free Agent at $2.5 million.  Meanwhile they stood their ground on a 3 year offer for $20 million dollars with 10 of that gauranteed for the surprise player of the last year’s NFL season as the deal reached yesterday’s deadline. 

Anderson declined the 3 year offer and will either play one more year with the Browns or will be going elsewhere to a team like Minnesota THIS year who would be giving up 1st and 3rd round draft picks to gain his services. 

In my opinion, the Browns handled this situation perfectly.  For most people, the jury is still out on Anderson.  It was well documented that the Pro Bowl QB’s season went downhill with the weather in Cleveland.  He can be partially blamed for two crucial late season losses to Arizona and Cincinnati as he threw a combined 6 interceptions in those games. 

So it’s not certain whether his stellar overall 2007 season would merit big money over a long term deal, especially with Brady Quinn waiting in the wings.  The Browns have a good problem with two good QBs on the roster, and Quinn has had plenty of time to learn and prepare for the starting role with this team unlike other rookie QBs in the past.

The argument can be made that the Browns don’t know what they have with Brady Quinn, but he’ll be in good hands if he takes over this team.  The Browns’ O-Line has gone from poor to great in one season with Joe Thomas and Eric Steinbach sealing off the QB’s blindside.  Jamal Lewis is going to at least have enough gas left in his tank to get 1 more good season under his new 3 year deal.  Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow have evolved into gamebreakers.   

Therefore, you could make a good argument that either Anderson or Quinn would excel with this offense (or any other talented QB for that matter).  With no 1st or 2nd round pick, this plays into Cleveland’s hands.  If a team like Minnesota wants Anderson that bad, the Browns will be getting back into the 1st round and gaining a second 3rd round pick.  Not a bad deal for them at all. 

And all along, the Browns played their hand well.  The 3 year offer to Anderson was a fair offer and would have worked for all parties, including Quinn.  Now that Anderson wants more, the Browns could end up benefitting no matter what.  Even if Anderson stays just for the one year, the Browns will be fine. 

Seeing this situation develop over the next few weeks will make for yet another exciting offseason for Cleveland. 

New Roster Comes Down to Earth

It was only a matter of time before the Cleveland Cavaliers came down to earth after two uplifting wins last weekend.  As we all know by now, the Cavs dropped two straight against Milwaukee and Boston, leaving them 1-2 with the “Ferry Four” as some like to call Wally Szczerbiak, Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, and Delonte West. 

 Both losses displayed some major sloppiness on the part of the Cavaliers as turnovers became the norm and missed assignments on defense became commonplace.  Yep folks, it’s just the adjustment period that LeBron James professed would take about two weeks with half of the Cavs roster juggled around. 

I’m sure Cavs’ haters across the country have already jumped out of the woodwork and are saying “we told you so”, but the fact of the matter is that this roster needs some time before it can really gel together. 

Maybe we as Cavs’ fans jumped the gun too soon with that win over Memphis Sunday night, but you can also bet that this team isn’t as sloppy as it was Tuesday and Wednesday over the Bucks and the Celtics.  If injuries can be avoided, the rest of this season will be nothing more than a crash course in getting ready for the playoffs.  Every couple weeks we’ll be integrating a new player back into this new lineup as they take time getting their legs and their shot back as they get used to playing with new guys.  In Cleveland, we’re hoping the Cavs pass that crash course with flying colors.   

Cavs 109 Grizzlies 89

It certainly ended well for the remade Cleveland Cavaliers Sunday night.  With 4 new players rotating in and out of the lineup for the bulk of the game, the team managed to spank the young Grizzlies by 20 109-89. 

While this may not be the norm for the Cavaliers as their new guys get acclimated and face better squads over the next two weeks, it couldn’t have gotten off to a better start: 

• Ben Wallace – 5 for 6 from the field; 12 points; 10 rebounds (Double-Double); 1 Block; 1 great hustle play towards the end of regulation that prevented Memphis from getting the ball inbounds for a 5 second violation.
• Joe Smith – 6 for 8 from the field; 14 points; 6 rebounds; very active on defense.
• Wally Szczerbiak – 4 for 10 from the field; 2 for 4 from 3 point land; showed a lot of hustle.
• Delonte West – 2 for 12 from the field (apparently picking up Larry Hughes’ slack..J/K); 5 points; 6 dishes; 3 Steals; 1 Block; 1 huge alley oop to LeBron James.  Looked good at PG running the offense.

All four men helped their new team in some way and the rest of the Cavs looked to benefit.  After 1 game, it seems like this can work for the Cavs because of the following: neither of these 4 players have to do too much.  All they have to do is play within their own boundaries.  With the rest of the Cavs’ roster, it could work extremely well.

 Think of it this way. 

Ben Wallace only needs to scrap down low.  He’s not mandated to score points or be the player he was that won 4 Defensive Player of the Year awards.  He just needs to scrap.  Putting him on the court with Zydrunas Ilgauskas will allow both men to play off of each other’s strengths.  Z can do the scoring, and Wallace can clean up anything that Z can’t get to. 

 Wally doesn’t need to do much other than wait for the opposing defense to collapse on LeBron, find a spot behind the 3-Point line, and fire away.  Even with aging legs, he can do the job Donyell Marshall vacated and perhaps better.

Delonte doesn’t have to hoist up all those shots he took in game 1.  He just needs to push the ball and distribute.  He’s not bad at doing either.  Plus he gets after the ball on defense.  Gotta like his athleticism out there.

Joe Smith just needs to do what he does best: a little bit of everything.  He can pull down rebounds, shoot well around the key, and mis it up down low.  A great guy to pull off the bench right now. 

What’s even more encouraging about the 4 acquisitions is how the rest of the team has risen up since the trade.  Friday night’s win over Washington may have taken on greater importance than initially believed.  It got the remaining healthy players to play well together, which helped ease the transition and all the turnover. 

Now, it’s just a question of building on their time together.  And as they move along, they’ll be getting more help as Anderson Varejao returns soon, and then Sasha Pavlovic, and finally Boobie Gibson.  When that occurs (provided injuries keep to a minimum now), the Cavs may just be ready to go toe to toe with Boston and Detroit come playoff time. 

A New Era In Cleveland Basketball

It may not always be this pretty but the new era of Cleveland basketball with Ben Wallace, Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak, and Joe Smith in tow has certainly been a treat.  The Cavs ended the first quarter of their first game after their big 11 player trade up on Memphis 32-13.

 West has already won the hearts of Clevelanders with a sweet alley oop to LeBron James.  The team looked very active on defense as well and Ben Wallace looks fleet of foot. 

But the one player I am already pleasantly surprised with is Joe Smith.  I haven’t paid much attention to the productive veteran since his early days as a top overall pick, but he looks like a true team player who can do a little bit of everything. 

If only it went this well every night…and I guess it would also be nice to play Memphis more often than not.  Not too bad so far in Cleveland.  It will be interesting to tune in at 8 and see Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden suit up for their new teams.   

Welcome To Die Hard Cleveland

With a lack of writing help at Bitterfans.com and limited time with a new son in my life, I decided to branch off and start an old fashioned blog discussing Cleveland sports, and anything else that comes to mind in entertainment, technology, and more. 

 To put it simply, I’m not that great of a writer.  I need a lot of time to put together a halfway decent article that more natural writers could craft in much less time.  Therefore, to keep up and do all the writing at Bitterfans became too much of a commitment.  I felt as though I had to carry the writing torch and continually write good articles, with less and less time on hand.  So I needed to do something because I still like doing this stuff.

 Needless to say, that was becoming too hard.  With a 2 month old son, time isn’t necessarily on my side when at home, and at work, as I continue to try and become a better ASP.NET, C#, SQL, ADO.NET, Crystal Reports, mobile developer, I can’t be spending time on company time chugging out articles competing with much better web sites.

 So as mentioned above, it’s time to dial it down a notch.  What you’ll see here is more of an informal take on Cleveland sports with a personal touch.  I won’t always go indepth, but I’ll make more entries just talking about what is on my mind.  I’ve debated to whether I will turn this into a real web site, but for now, we’ll just see how it goes. 

It’s just me, and I hope some of this is a bit interesting.