Anderson blasts the fans!

Derek Anderson had some not so kind words for Cleveland Browns fans, writing in an e-mail to the News Herald,

"The fans are ruthless and don't deserve a winner," Anderson said. "I will never forget getting cheered when I was injured. I know at times I wasn't great. I hope and pray I'm playing when my team comes to town and [we] roll them."

He made a half-assed apology later saying it was out of character and he was just frustrated. I have 2 HUGE problems with his apology and about several million problems with his performance as a Cleveland Brown. With regard to apology, he has known he was getting cut for some time. He had all sorts of time to come to a realization and brace himself for the ending of his Cleveland Career. Secondly, most of the time that people say something they regret and don't mean, it is in the heat of the moment and is a spoken quote. Most people do not sit down think about an email and write it, without thinking about what they are saying.

DA had his moments in Cleveland, he did not play well (with the exception of 2007). However, he made MILLIONS of American dollars, and because of what we did for him, he will have a chance to play somewhere else. He may be a backup, but that is what he is in this league.

I will never understand an athlete bashing fans when they leave. What is the point? Why piss a bunch of people off? Grow up, its a job, appreciate that you get to do what the rest of the population would do for a tiny fraction of the money you "earn". Have a little class.

Derek, I also hope you are playing when your team comes to Cleveland. Its nice to know that we will be playing a team that has a JV quarterback, who can't read a defense, can't throw an accurate pass under 25 yards and is a quitter, a whiner and an all around jackass.

I understand DA's problem with getting cheered while he was hurt. I certainly don't condone the behavior of the fans. I believe the fans were cheering for him getting off the field so that Brady could play, most fans were not hoping that DA was injured or anything personal. NOW IT IS PERSONAL! If DA is ever lying on the ground in Cleveland again, he will here a roar of the crowd, and I can't wait to be part of it.

Finally, I take extreme pride in being a Browns fan. I think we are the BEST fans in sports. And it takes very little for us to fall in love with a player. Try hard, be open and honest and you will be adored. Josh Cribbs understands this, LeBron (at least for now) understands this.

Derek Anderson, you don't deserve us!

SUPERBOWL!

DA to be Cut in the Next 24 Hours!

UPDATE: Its official, DA has been cut. It will certainly be interesting to see whether the Browns can acquire a starting quality quarterback prior to next season.

John Taylor from http://www.theobr.com/ is reporting that DA will be released within the next 24 hours. While this is certainly no suprise, DA's tenure with the team is over. It will be interesting to see where he ends up, but I could see him in Oakland or Carolina.

Quarterback Speculation

So the more I think about the quarterback situation in Cleveland, the less I like what I think. DA is as good as gone. (Good, get outta here, scram, who needs you, beat it! I'm sorry baby, I didn't mean that... Sometimes I just get so scared, scared of being a nobody.) Looking ahead, I do not feel comfortable with only Brady Quinn and Bret Ratliff on the roster.

I also do not feel comfortable with drafing a rooking QB, especially outside of the first round and if we draft a QB at 7, that will send me into, well, crazy.

So looking at possible solutions that may be available via Free Agency or trade here are my initial thoughts.

Chad Pennington - I actually would really like to see Chad in Cleveland. He has had success in NY and Miami and is apparently pretty familiar with starting for a little bit til someone else gets his shot. At this point in his career I do not see him being an expensive singing and even if he is, who cares, its about to be an uncapped year. He would be an instant upgrade and would offer some veteran leadership and stability to the offense.

Donovan F. McNabb - Great QB and would be a great addition to the Browns. Well acquainted with Heckert, McNabb would surely be a huge upgrade at the most important position. However, I'm not sold on bringing him in for the high cost it would take to get him. Charlie and I talked about giving up the 2nd rounder for him, but I'd rather see us draft a player that can play for 6-7 years and not a great QB on the downside of his career. Obviously its a different story all together now (its a different story) if we were in contention and just needed a QB (See Minnesota).

Kevin Kolb - McNabb's repalcement in Philly could also likley be had for the right price. If Holmgren and Heckert decide he is what is advertised in Philly, I'll buy it, but until then, I think I'm out on this trade. Again it would take valuable draft picks that I think we desperately need to take a QB that has not done a whole lot on the field in Philly.

Matt Hasselbeck - Not a chance in hell I give up anything for the former pro-bowl QB, but if he gets cut, I'd give him a smell. (You can smell me, without the Hennigans!) An obvious upgrade with ties to Holmgren. The big guy thought enough of him to acquire him from the Packers.

Michael Vick- My guess is Vick wants nothing to do with a stadium full of barking drunks and the home of the Dawg Pound. As a player, I like Vick but don't see him helping the team at QB like he once could.

Jason Campbell - If he were to get cut in Washington, which I am not assuming will happen, I would bring him in in a heart beat. A young QB with a good arm who might be a good QB under the right system and a guy like Holmgren.

Jeff Garcia - Hahahahaha, I hate him, so no. Only thought about him that are positive are TO's famous "looks like a rat" statement.

So it will be interesting to see what transpires in Berea over the next month or so as we look to fix the underperforming QB situation in Cleveland. Finally I feel like there is some hope, and as Morgan Freeman says in Shawshank Redemption, "Hope is a great thing, maybe the best of things."

So heres to hoping!

Eric

Our Best Butch Davis "GUUUUUT Feeling" On What Will Happen This Offseason

There is a lot of uncertainty heading into the first offseason without a salary cap since 1994. It is difficult to predict what will happen without a salary maximum. There is also no minimum. (Sorry Jaguar fans.) It has been speculated that the owners known for being more hands-on, like Jerry Jones and Dan Snyder, will approach this season as a one year window to spend whatever it takes to build a championship caliber team. Although I have never seen him quoted, it has also been speculated in the past that if we ever got to an uncapped season, Randy Lerner would do the same and spend, spend, spend to bring a championship to Cleveland. Say what you want about him but you have to give Lerner credit so far for hiring a proven football guy in Mike Holmgren and allowing him to have total and free reign to run the football side of the organization. Our front office is now stacked. We still may see changes to the coaching staff between now and training camp. Lerner is not being cheap when it comes to paying executives and coaches. He's still paying Romeo Crennel, Phil Savage and his scouts while dishing out who knows how many millions to Holmgren, Heckert and company.

Although it comes second in the process, I have to say that I am more confident than ever in our front office's ability to run a successful draft. It's hard to say which direction they will go in the draft, but I feel like we'll have done a better job at identifying needs and the talent available at every position and go into draft weekend with a plan that will work.

The real mystery is what the impact will be on free agency. Players across the league that would normally be slated to hit the open market as unrestricted free agents are now restricted, meaning they are a lot less likely to move. Teams also have multiple franchise and transition tags to use to keep players off the market. Teams in salary cap trouble can use this year to cut dead weight and save money without having to worry about the salary cap ramifications. This is why Donte Stallworth was immediately released and Derek Anderson has little to no chance of being retained next season with a $9 million bonus due next month.

We could see some owners looking to purge their rosters of high priced talent and see some decent names hit the open market. Maybe some unexpected big names. We could see some ridiculous overspending on these players. Similarly, we could see trades consummated that we might have never seen pulled off in years past because, again, there is no salary cap to worry about.

Berea has been quiet lately. Usually we already have an idea of who we are targeting in free agency at this point, but nobody really knows this year. To avoid being skittish, I'm going to go out on a limb and make some predictions for this offseason. I have a feeling that either Donovan McNabb or Matt Hasselbeck will be our starting quarterback next season and I'm leaning towards the former. I also believe that Chris Mortensen may be on to something when it comes to Julius Peppers coming to Cleveland. Although Peppers is somewhat overrated, he is athletic and versitile enough to transition from 4-3 DE to 3-4 OLB with relative ease. He is a natural pass rusher and can be dominant when he is motivated. Who better than Rob Ryan to get somebody fired up. I have nothing to base my predictions on other than having a GUUUUUT feeling that once free agency starts we will all be pleasantly surprised. Nobody saw the Kellen Winslow trade to kick off free agency last year coming. Randy Lerner has already invested so much that I think he is really going to try to take advantage of 2010 and allow Holmgren to assemble a winner now as opposed to waiting.

Theres a good chance I will be completely wrong but I just woke up this morning feeling a little extra optimistic and hopeful than normal. Just imagine the Plain Dealer headline: "Eagles Castoff McNabb Lead Browns to Super Bowl Victory." Picture Jim Donovan's radio call: "Brees in the shotgun, he's got Colston to his left, Bush split out wide right with Shockey, back to pass, and PEPPERS HITS HIM AND KNOCKS THE BALL LOOSE! He's got it at the 40, 45, 50, 45, 40, run Julius, run! 15, 10, 5, TOUCHDOWN! And that will do it, Cleveland, your Browns are SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS!!!" And think how excited Doug Dieken will be: "Whoahoho! Well!... (silence)"

The 2010 is going to be a blast and it all begins with the Scouting Combine in a couple weeks!

-Charlie