- Browns trade their 2nd round pick for DE Corey Williams from Green Bay. The Browns would have been picking towards the end of the 2nd round with the choice they dealt to the Packers. Williams can be a difference-maker on the DL, the likes of which we would not have been able to take with that choice. Williams had seven sacks last year. Kamerion Wimbley led the Browns with five sacks last year. I can go on about this until I am blue in the face (which I have), but the bottome line is we need guys who can make plays along the DL if we are going to make the playoffs this year. With the exception of the Smith Brothers, the DL was invisible last year, and even they weren't great. This allows offenses to scheme specifically to stop Wimbley, and it showed. He was double or triple teamed in nearly every passing situation, because there was no one on the DL who could command that type of attention. D'Quell Jackson can move sideline to sideline and tackle with the best of them, but he is a smaller LB who has trouble getting off blocks, so we need DL in front of him to take on blockers and let him run free to the ball. I like this trade. You can find a corner, WR at the end of the 2nd round, but not an impact DL.
- Browns trade their 3rd round pick and Leigh Bodden to Detroit for Shaun Rodgers. I was on the record the day Detroit announced they would trade or release Rodgers as saying this was a guy the Browns needed to go after aggressively. He can be a high impact player on the DL against both the run and the pass. Its no secret he has clashed with coaches and put on a lot of weight, and he was a non-factor during the 2nd half of last season. I think its worth the risk. Look at the players we have drafted in the 3rd round under Savage; Travis Wilson and Charlie Frye (we didn't have a 3rd round pick last year). Not exactly impact players. Hell, lets even go back to the Butch era, just for comparisons sake. Davis took James Jackson, Melvin Fowler and Chris Crocker with his 3rd round picks. And those picks were a lot earlier in the 3rd round than the one we traded away. I hate losing Bodden, who I think can be an outstanding corner, but he was inconsistent last year and made some costly mental errors as well. Who can forget when he pulled a Phil Dawson after we had stopped the Cardinals on 3rd down, leading to an Arizona TD?
- Browns sign Donte Stallworth to a 7 year deal worth $35 million, with $10 million guaranteed. Its a big contract for a guy who will be playing for his 4th team in 4 seasons, but he will bring a game-breaking dynamic to the offense playing opposite of Braylon. Stallworth had a great season with the Pats playing opposite Randy Moss, and Braylon demands almost the same attention from a defense that Moss does with the Pats. Stallworth can also play in the slot, or allow Jurevicius to move into the slot where he will be about a foot taller than the nickel corners who will have to cover him. Either way, it improves the offense and makes it even more explosive.
- Which brings us to D.A. He signed a 3-year, $24 million deal. Lets hope he earns it. I like having depth at the most important position on the field. I like that Quinn is saying and doing all the right things. I hate everything D.A. has done since the Cincy game kicked off. First he played that entire game with both hands wrapped around his neck. Then he went out and layed an egg in the Pro Bowl, in both the practices and the game from all reports. Then he calls PDBMMTG and berates him over the phone for having the gall to criticize him. Crazy. D.A. has not handled his time in the spotlight well, that's for sure. Lets hope that all changes when the curtian drops on next season.
All in all, pretty good so far. We have jumped out ahead of the AFC North for now, but there will be some course correction during the draft when we don't pick until the second day. Go Browns!!!!




















