NFL Draft: Ohio State’s John Simon has “positive meeting” with Cleveland Browns
February 27, 2013NFL Rumor: Is Mike Holmgren heading to Oakland?
February 27, 2013People are always talking about the Browns, it seems. Usually I’m one of the ones talking the most, but I don’t really feel like it right now. So to prove it to you, I’ll talk Browns just enough to tell you why it’s kind of boring to me right now.
Brandon Weeden’s name has been in the news because nobody can predict the future. Really, that’s what it comes down to, right? Brandon Weeden is under contract for the upcoming season. He didn’t play well enough for the Browns to not consider alternatives at the quarterback position. The Browns don’t know how all the pieces will land between the draft and free agency, so they’re not in a position to make guarantees. Frankly, unless they have one of the top seven to ten quarterbacks in the league on their roster, they shouldn’t be making anyone any guarantees anyway. So, it is natural to not have much to talk about regarding Brandon Weeden. He might earn the job. He might not. Depends on how he plays and who he ends up competing against. So what is there to talk about?
Same with Mike Lombardi. I still hear people talking about Lombardi and whether or not he was a good hire. Should he have spoken at the combine? I don’t know, but I had a tough time conjuring up enough thought about it for an opinion piece when it was happening. If I had to guess, Mike Lombardi didn’t really want to face the press this year having quotes on the record about so many different teams and potential draft picks. We’ll see how that changes going forward, but I can understand that there’s a bit of a hangover effect from his last job in the media commenting on everything and everyone. I think there needs to be some time and space put between those comments and his new role as Joe Banner’s personal personnel minion. None of this is to say I feel any better about the Lombardi hire than I did when it was announced. I’m still skeptical and interested in seeing some proof. But there’s really not much new to talk about.
Every draft is important, especially when the Browns have the sixth pick, but admit it. It’s kind of boring this year. There are good players in this draft to be sure, but it just can’t possibly live up to the hype of last year’s draft with Andrew Luck and RGIII.1 It was an almost inevitability that we couldn’t be as excited talking about this draft after the highs provided by the one a year ago. Plus, everyone expects the Browns to take a defensive player. While we know that’s not a bad thing (IE Joe Haden) there’s just no denying that it isn’t as exciting as a year when the Browns have two first rounders and need both a running back and a quarterback. Offense doesn’t win championships, but it generally wins the off-season in terms of excitement.
And so there you are. Five-hundred plus words about the Browns all related to the fact that I don’t feel like talking about them right now. How’s that for a trick?
Anything else going on with the Browns that you don’t feel is truly conversation-worthy?
- Seriously. How many RG3 posts did I do last year and the Browns never got that trade to happen! [↩]
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3. Please refer to my instructions to JK, supra, for your penance. And volunteer somewhere (per mgbode).