Wednesday, May 4, 2005
Cleveland Browns Face Three and Out
In an NFL where analysts are quicker to toss around the word "parity" than Drew Rosenhaus' clients are to hold out, virtually any coach and ownership can pluck its team from the previous season's mire and heave it into the national spotlight.
For example, take the San Diego Chargers, who climbed from a pitiful 4-12 in 2003 to an astonishing 12-4 just one year later. Or the Pittsburgh Steelers, who morphed a mediocre 6-10 in 2003 to a league-best 15-1 in 2004. Even the Cincinnati Bengals have the SportsCenter clone army adlibbing.
Still, season-by-season, one team has proven the current recipe for NFL success is flawed — mix two or three "rebuilding" years with a handful of high draft picks, stir in a proven veteran at a skill position, fire the coaching staff, and serve. The club that is the closest to the Pro Football Hall of Fame moves further and further away.
Tough luck for a coach like Romeo Crennel, who could land in Canton one day, if given the right opportunity. Instead, Crennel is the new CEO of (formerly) Butch Davis, Inc., the worst team in football — the Cleveland Browns.
Browns fans, hear me out. You've got one of the most storied franchises in football, but it's time to fess up. Ownership and coaching decisions have devastated your roster. Since the 1999 restoration, your record is 30-66. Through no fault of your own, the Cleveland Browns have won only 14 home games in the past six seasons.
So don't get mad at me when I tell you — Romeo Crennel, regardless of his vast tactical genius, can't help you. At least, not any time soon.
Even if Trent Dilfer makes you forget about the Baltimore betrayal and Braylon Edwards shuts up just long enough to play, 2005 is already a dead year. The worst team in football faces its greatest challenge of this millennium — competing in the NFL's new toughest division.
Until 2003, playing in the AFC North and its annual flip-flop of mediocrity was a luxury for the Cleveland Browns. The Bengals or the Steelers or the Ravens were bound to challenge for the bottom of the barrel. When the new divisions were demarcated following the 2001 season, the Browns were counting themselves among the blessed.
Indeed, when Cleveland "made the playoffs" in 2002, it was thanks to the Bengals (2-14), the Ravens (7-9), and three other AFC clubs who matched the Browns' shabby 9-7, but lost out on the tie-break.
Now Cleveland is trying to improve from 4-12 in a division in which 10-6 would be a disappointment for every other team.
The Steelers know they won't repeat 15-1, but harbor high expectations for Roethlisberger's continued emergence. With Jamal Lewis, Todd Heap, and Ray Ray starting 16 games, the Ravens will do better than 9-7. The Bengals continue to receive praise from the media for their improvement and are every other analyst's dark horse to strike the 2005 playoffs.
Meanwhile, the Browns await a hideous schedule in 2005. Outside of their division, Cleveland will play opponents from the AFC South and NFC North, including Indianapolis, Green Bay, and Minnesota. With the Bears, Lions, and Texans all improving, Crennel's first winnable game might not be until Nov. 6, when his squad faces the Tennessee Titans in Cleveland Browns Stadium.
Bad news for a franchise that expects to win sooner rather than later.
Punt or Bomb?
In light of the predicament outlined above, Crennel's best option for success is to change the expectations of Cleveland's ownership and fans to "lose-now, win-later."
Though this plan has been hindered somewhat by the designs of new GM Phil Savage (see Edwards, Braylon), Crennel seems to be doing his best to cleanse the depth chart of all vestiges of Butch Davis. Getting past failures Courtney Brown and Gerrard Warren out of town was a good move.
However, the acquisition of Denver runner Reuben Droughns — an alleged "character" guy — has proven a huge headache. Droughns, under the hex of newly-inked agent Drew Rosenhaus (mentioned above), is demanding a new contract and quickly untangling himself from the good graces of coaches and ownership.
Also, running back William Green, perhaps Butch Davis' most personal bust (since he passed on former U player Clinton Portis to draft Green), remains on the roster, largely thanks to Droughns' very public whining. Many analysts expected that the Droughns trade would spell the end of Green's tenure as a Brown, but that scenario is no longer guaranteed.
Furthermore, Crennel faces an additional cancer: a guy who is possibly the most obnoxious player in the league — besides two receivers who wore green and white in Super Bowl XXXIX — appropriately-labeled "tight end" Kellen Winslow.
K2, who bragged about his contract before breaking his leg in 2004 and forfeiting much of his "guaranteed" bonus money, has made headlines again. According to ESPN.com, on Saturday, Winslow dumped a 2005 Suzuki GSX-R750 motorcycle in a community college parking lot and suffered undisclosed injuries.
Winslow, who was wearing a helmet he apparently forgot to buckle, landed hard enough to uproot a small tree. However, the pain of the crash will seem like a pinprick when Winslow realizes, as ProFootballTalk.com's Mike Florio reports, that the Browns could recoup $9.4 million in bonuses paid under Winslow's current contract, which includes language to guard the team against non-football injuries suffered by the player.
Accordingly, it seems in Crennel's best interest to rescind Winslow's bonuses and let the situation detonate. Given Winslow's past actions, particularly his fondness for hanging dirty laundry in the eye of the media, it wouldn't be long before K2 wrecked the bike.
And Cleveland fans should celebrate when it happens, even if it means watching the Browns stink for two or three seasons. After all, they're already accustomed to it.
Only in Your Fantasies...
If you're planning on drafting rookie receiver Braylon Edwards and playing him this season, think again.
In 2000, when he led the Baltimore Ravens to a Super Bowl win, Trent Dilfer produced terrible fantasy numbers, and his receivers fared no better. Qadry Ismail led the team with 49 catches for 655 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Moreover, new Browns offensive coordinator Maurice Carthon, who spent the last two seasons in Dallas, has produced only one 1,000-yard receiver in his career, Detroit's Johnnie Morton (77/1154/4) in 2001.