Storyline: 2007 seems like a long time ago (and it is). That was the Cleveland Browns last successful season. How might the team regain that success? Decisions this off-season weigh mightily.
On December 30, 2007 the Cleveland Browns beat the San Francisco 49ers to grab their 10th win of the season, finishing the year 10-6.
Kellon Winslow (photo, Football Babble)
Winning ten games was a big achievement for the Browns. The offense was beginning to click behind Pro-Bowlers Derek Anderson, Josh Cribbs, Kellen Winslow and Braylon Edwards. The team ranked 12th in pass offense and 10th in rushing offense. Jamal Lewis, who still holds the bronze medal for total rushing yards in a single season after his phenomenal year with the Ravens in 2003, rushed for over 1300 yards that year.
The Browns seemed to have it down … or at least they seemed to know how to operate as a team. Still, though, they failed to reach the playoffs. While they knew the Lombardi Trophy wasn’t going to appear at their doorstep wrapped in a blanket and tucked away in a basket, they at least knew they were one step closer.
In order to take another step, though, the Browns knew that they had a lot of work to do. When the 2008 season came, the Browns had signed free agent Anderson. Anderson was coming off his best year, throwing for over 3700 yards and 29 touchdowns. Head Coach Romeo Crennel knew other options on staff wouldn’t work. Fans couldn’t stomach Charlie Frye, especially after his 17-interception campaign in 2006. Third string QB Brady Quinn wasn’t going to cut it as a starter.
So the Browns gave Anderson a 3-year/$24 million dollar contract. Jamal Lewis also found himself back in Cleveland after his stunt in free-agency. These two players were happy to hear that Offensive Coordinator Rob Chudzinski was returning to call the shots. There were rumors of him moving to Baltimore to take the head coaching job.
Cleveland improved on the other side of the ball, too. The Browns fired Defensive Coordinator Todd Grantham and promoting Defensive Back coach Mel Tucker to DC. The Browns also delved into the free agency pool and signed 7 more defensive players through the off-season.
Derek Anderson inaction (not in action), photo, Cleveland.com
All of this activity created hype around the brand-new Browns. Many people believed that 2008 would be THE year. But sadly–and in typical Browns’ fashion–things didn’t work out as planned.
The Browns started the season 0-3 and scored a total of only 26 points. By Week 10, Cleveland was sitting 3-6 and the team decided to start Quinn in place of Derek Anderson. The shift didn’t work. Quinn was soon lost for the season with a thumb injury and Anderson suffered an MCL injury in his first game back as starter.
Ken Dorsey then came in at QB and threw 370 yards and 7 interceptions in three games. Bruce Gradkowski played QB in the season finale. He threw for a laughable 18 yards with two interceptions on 18 attempts.
The Browns lost that last game, 31-0 to the Steelers, and finished the year on a six-game losing streak. In 2008 the “brand-new” Browns looked like the “same old” Browns–the Browns we are so used to seeing.
And the really, really sad thing? If you fast forward to today virtually nothing has changed. The Browns are 38-106 since that break-out year of 2007. Cleveland has become a resolving door for coaches and QBs. The team has four practice dummies (Joe Thomas aside) as offensive linemen. It also has the world’s biggest set of Russian nesting dolls behind center. The team’s two top offensive threats–Terrelle Pryor Sr and Isaiah Crowell–are free agents. The defense has only gotten worse over the years.
Hope seems lost and it’s hard hard to see a strong future for the Cleveland Browns. Unless, that is, the team plays it smart.
Hue Jackson (photo, USA Today)
The Browns have four picks in the first two rounds of this year’s NFL Draft. Very importantly, they have the 1st and 12th overall pick. Of first order is to secure a reliable quarterback, which means no Tony Romo or Robert Griffin III. The problem, though, is that there aren’t top-tier quarterbacks in this year’s draft. So the first pick should be spent somewhere else (namely, Myles Garrett). Then, the 12th pick should be used to trade for one of many QBs being shopped around, players like Trevor Siemian, Jimmy Garoppolo, Brock Osweiler, or Tyrod Taylor.
Doing that won’t guarantee the Browns a 10-6 season. It doesn’t even even guarantee 3 wins. But this is the year–the first time since the ’07 off-season–when the Browns can take that next, big step. How so? This team has over $100 million dollars of free cap space and 11 draft picks.
Yeah, a good off-season would undoubtedly help. But a GREAT off-season could gift Hue Jackson and the Browns with a much needed ladder to success.
