Moving Already

Die Hard Cleveland has moved to its own domain with forums.  Visit www.diehardcleveland.com to see the site.  It’s in its infant stages, but the site is ready to roll and cosmetic improvements will follow.  I hope to see you there.  Also, visit the forums.  We look to make that a fun place to talk Cleveland sports, and much much more!

Twists And Turns Define Browns’ Offseason

Before you could catch your breath as a Browns’ fan on the first morning of Free Agency, the team provided more twists and turns in Day 1 than just about any other NFL team.  Not long after I posted my little summary of the start of Free Agency, Derek Anderson agreed to terms with the Browns after it was widely reported that he turned down the 3 year deal on the table going into Friday. 

To make matters more interesting, Shaun Rogers, the hefty DT for the Detroit Lions, ended up going from Detroit to Cleveland.  He was originally being reported as going to Cincinnati for a 3rd and a 5th round draft pick.  Now, he’s going to Cleveland for our 3rd rounder and Leigh Bodden.   

As if acquiring Rogers after the deal fell through with Cincinnati wasn’t surprising enough, it was even more surprising to see Leigh Bodden get moved.  The Browns’ CB unit is considered one of the strongest parts of the defense, so seeing the Browns subtract their best player from that unit to strengthen the line was a little questionable.  However, the play of Eric Wright and Brandon McDonald last season may ease the notion of seeing the sometimes brittle Bodden leave town. 

The hope is that exchanging Bodden for Rogers will help balance out the talent up front with the secondary.  Shaun Rogers has been known to be a force in the middle of the Lions’ defense, but fans of Detroit will be quick to point out the wild inconsistency with him.  One minute he’ll look like a stud out there, the next minute he’ll look like former Browns’ bum lineman Gerard Warren…listless, out of shape, and underachieving.   

Rogers will join recently acquired Corey Williams on a remade Browns’ 3-4 Defensive Line that also includes talented holdovers Robaire Smith and Shaun Smith.  The 4-man group greatly improves the Browns DL on paper and puts one starting calibur player on the bench and first to rotate in the game…giving the Browns’ more flexibility. 

The move left the Browns without a draft pick in the first three rounds of this year’s NFL draft, so Browns’ fans looking forward to the draft this year will have to make other plans on day 1 and the start of day 2.  It is an interesting strategy from GM Phil Savage, who bypassed the typical notion that you build through the draft this year to gain help on the Browns’ extremely weak Defensive Line. 

Combined with last year’s deal for Brady Quinn, the Browns have virtually gutted themselves in a year where the draft is considered pretty deep.  The first inclination after the Corey Williams trade that saw the Browns lose their second rounder had some believing that the Browns may inherit draft picks from someone willing to step up and give Derek Anderson a big signing sheet offer, but all that speculation went away when the Browns upped the ante on Anderson and got a deal done with him for 3 years at 24 million with 13 million of that gauranteed. 

In all honesty, signing Anderson may not have been my prefence after he went into Free Agency without a deal, but it helps the Browns nonetheless.  After all, a team willing to give up a 1st and a 3rd rounder for Anderson may have been more of a pipe dream after rethinking the situation.  Anderson’s Pro Bowl season with the Browns was well documented.  He had some of the highest highs we’ve seen from a Browns’ QB in quite a while, but at the same time, he showed some things later in the year we didn’t like either. 

But most importantly, it keeps the Browns’ QB stable a position of strength.  It puts the cannon armed QB back under Center for Cleveland for 2008 which will promote continuity as the Browns’ offense looks to remain one of the league’s better units…and as we all know, injuries happen.  If Anderson goes down for any reason, the Browns feel very comfortable with the guy sitting behind him waiting in the wings. 

With day 2 set to begin, you would think the Browns will move forward away from the trade front and perhaps sign a few guys like Donte Stallworth or Landon Johnson.  Nevertheless, it will be hard to top all the crazyness that surrounded day 1.