Offseason Acquisitions: Cleveland Browns

The Browns made an attempt to turn over their roster in the first offseason under new general manager Mike Holmgren.  The team started at QB and worked its way down.  The two starters at QB last year were Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson.  They combined to throw for 11 TDs and 17 ints with an average QB rating of not even 55.  That initiated the Browns to trade Quinn, release Anderson, and sign Jake Del Homme.  But, fortunately they didn’t stop there.  They also traded for former Seattle backup QB (who played under Holmgren) Seneca Wallace.  To add some hope for the future Cleveland even spent a 3rd Round (85th overall pick) on Texas QB Colt McCoy.

The Browns not only traded away part time starter Brady Quinn for RB Peyton Hillis, but they also dealt DE Corey Williams to the Lions and OLB Kamerion Wimbley to the Raiders.  Another trade sent OLB Alex Hall to the Eagles for OLB Chris Gocong and CB Sheldon Brown.  At the beginning of free agency Cleveland signed LB Scott Fujita, who won a Super Bowl ring with New Orleans last year.  They also signed ex-49er tackle Tony Pashos.

As if that weren’t enough, to help Cleveland’s new quarterback (whomever that may be) the Browns signed long-time Patriot TE Benjamin Watson, ex-Buc Alex Smith, and more recently 14 year veteran WR Bobby Engram.

The team also wanted to continue to add youth through the draft.  One of the positions with the most need was the secondary.  So, the Browns drafted DBs with the 7th, 38th, and 150th picks in this years draft.  Most noteably CB Joe Haden out of Florida, who was the first overall pick for Cleveland.  The Browns drafted a big, power back out of Tennesse in Montario Hardesty 59th overall in the 2nd round.  There were a couple of other picks that were made based on raw talent and atleticism, like selecting South Florida WR Carlton Mitchell and DE Clifton Geathers both in the 6th round.

When you make changes in management, you can bet the employees will be turning over as well.  So, its not a suprise that Cleveland made so many moves via free agency and trades to drop off over-rraters.  But, with the continuity of Eric Mangini’s system and the NFL knowledge of a think-tank like Mike Holmgren, this team might be going places (like out of last place in the AFC North).