It’s been a several weeks since I’ve found the time and energy to post anything new. Apologies to my regular readers. Partly, it’s the adrenaline crash after a disappointing — downright disastrous — season. But truth be told, there are other priorities in life besides my Browns fanaticism. Lately I’ve been painting our spare bedroom in anticipation of our first child, due in early April. Bright orange walls with glossy white trim flanked by strips of brown.
Well, not exactly.
In any case, my life is headed in an exciting new direction, and I’m looking forward to adding one more lifelong Browns fan to the population.
In the meantime, I’ve been reading of the Browns’ off-season developments, and overall I must say I am none too pleased. To summarize the last two months, pretty much from memory:
— Ron Wolf is hired to evaluate personnel. Good. It’s on a part-time, long-distance basis, and he has no real authority over his assignments or the decisions that stem from his evaluations. Not good enough.
— George Edwards, a bright guy with relevant NFL experience and connections to defensive coordinator Dave Campo, is hired as linebackers coach. Fred Graves, mainly a college coach but with three years of pro experience in Buffalo, is hired to coach the wide receivers. Steve Hagan, another college-level coach brought in by Butch to coach the tight ends in 2001, was named to coach the quarterbacks, whoever they may be. Kennedy Pola gets his first whiff of the NFL as the new running backs coach. Entering the fourth year of the Butch Davis era, the developmental/rebuilding process appears to include the coaching staff as well.
— Despite a horrible 2003 season and two years left on his existing contract, Butch somehow bamboozled the front office into adding two more years onto his contract as “Head Coach and Executive Vice President.” Unlike the players’ deals, his money is guaranteed.
–While it’s good that backup linebacker Brant Boyer got a new deal, it looks unlikely that the Browns will keep punter Chris Gardocki, linemen Barry Stokes and Shaun O’Hara, or (given their lowball offer) quarterback Tim Couch. Backup Kelly Holcomb is hurt. Meanwhile, the best free agent tackles are pretty much locked away, and the one Grade A stud in the draft, Robert Gallery, probably won’t last until the Browns’s seventh pick. But, hey, at least we won the coin flip.
–Miraculously, Dennis Northcutt remains a Brown, not by choice, of course, but because his agent failed to file his Declaration of Independence in time. So the Browns will try to trade him in hopes of finding a slower, less-exciting, unproven player with a late-round draft pick.
What else did I miss? Do I really want to know?
