NFL Musical Chairs at 1 Billion Dollars Per Chair: London or Los Angeles?

     I'm sure you remember the game of "Musical Chairs," in which there are fewer chairs than players. When the music stops, someone is going to be left without a chair.  This same game is being played on a much larger scale with NFL franchises.  The NFL had previously announced that one or two current NFL teams would be welcome to move to the Los Angeles area.  This is a sound business move for the NFL, since the Los Angeles market is the number two TV market in the country and it is currently vacant.  Roger Goodell's instructions to teams wishing to move to Los Angeles are contained here in the following link from our friends at ESPN.com:  goodell-sends-los-angeles-relocation-memo .  The memo indicates that the new stadium in Los Angeles must be suitable for not one but two franchises to occupy.   There must also be some reasonable attempt to stay in the original host city, though this is probably just lip service.  Al Davis and the Raiders proved that it is possible to defy the league wishes as they moved from Oakland to Los Angeles and back again, and that this can stand up in court.  

This week Commissioner Goodell gave a clear signal that the NFL will move into London, England as well as Los Angeles:  los-angeles-vs-london-nfl-wants-both .  In other words two to four current NFL franchises are going to move.  The most frequently mentioned teams are habitually poor teams such as the Jacksonville Jaguars, San Diego Chargers, Buffalo Bills, St Louis Rams and the Oakland Raiders. When that happens, the cities that are abandoned will attempt to obtain franchises to fill the new vacancies, no doubt upping the ante in the process.   

Basically, in the Village Elliot's view, the NFL believes it can blackmail American cities into paying outrageous fees for NFL Franchises, and they are probably right.   Supposing that the Jaguars move to London, say, then the City of Jacksonville will be willing to pay just about any price to replace their team with some other team.  So Jacksonville will try to lure the Rams out of St Louis, perhaps. It is possible that franchises will appreciate in value by about 100% if this kind of bidding war emerges. There could easily be a half dozen franchise shifts in the next five years.  

And it is certainly possible that the Cleveland Browns will be added to the list of candidate franchises to move if Mr. Haslam can wriggle out of his stadium lease.  Die-hard Browns fans are convinced that the lawyers can rescue Haslam despite the fact that the cash register at Pilot Flying J was found to contain tens of millions of dollars that wasn't actually supposed to be there.  However the same fans figure that those same lawyers will be unable to break the stadium lease with the City of Cleveland.  Those two bits of logic elude the Village Elliot entirely.  I think that if Mr Haslam is in fact successfully rescued by his attorneys, that seem legal team will try to break the current lease with the city.  The Browns will try to leave for greener pastures if they can.

   

This week

Browns Cheapskate Ways Coming Back to Haunt Them

   The Cleveland Browns are the cheapest team in the NFL, judging by the amount of money under the salary cap.  The Browns are $26 million dollars under the salary cap. They most famously unloaded Trent Richardson's salary by trading him to the Indianapolis Colts.  This may be a good move in 2014, but it is just another sign that the Browns have given up on 2013.  

    Other signs include the failure to retain a quality wide receiver like David Nelson, a 6'5" experienced slot receiver who recently signed with the New England Patriots after being cut by the Browns.  The Village Elliot has repeatedly pointed out that the Browns have been unloading payroll ever since the rebate scandal erupted at Pilot Flying J.  This has recently received national media attention (see Forbes.com http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2013/09/18 Did the Browns Trade Richardson Because of Haslam's Legal Problems? ), though most Cleveland Browns fans still seem to believe that the Browns are just fine except for the quarterback position.

  In any case, the Browns saved themselves upwards of a hal million dollars by cutting Nelson and signing an undrafted rookie free agent to take his place.   Nelson is not an All-Pro, but he did catch four balls for 80 yards for the Jets yesterday. Ditto for blocking tight end Kellen Davis who is playing well for the Seattle Seahawks.  Both Nelson and Davis were signed as free agents earlier this year and then cut after the Pilot Flying J scandal broke.  Then too, Josh Cribbs was shown the door after last season, but after rehabbing an injury he has resurfaced with the New York Jets and looked good returning punts.  Perhaps that is just a coincidence. And perhaps it is a coincidence that the Browns are $26 million dollars under the salary cap, right?
  
Blocking Tight End Kellen Davis was mysteriously cut after signing as a free agent with the Browns, thus saving Jimmy Haslam some money.  He is doing okay for the Seattle Seahawks.  


Photo credit: http://ww1.hdnux.com/photos/24/31/13/5346028/3/628x471.jpg
Wide receiver David Nelson caught four balls for 80 yards against the New England Patriots yesterday.  He was also signed as a free agent and then cut by the Browns after the Pilot Flying J scandal broke.  Haslam pocketed a half a mil after Nelson left. 



http://cbscleveland.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/150710197_8.jpg?w=300

Brandon Jackson is another mid tier backup who was re-signed by the Browns and then cut, saving a few bucks for Mr. Haslam. Jackson is still available, which might be of interest to a team that lost Trent Richardson.  

Photo credit: http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1488042.1381978438!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/jinsider17s-1-web.jpg
Josh Cribbs was signed by the Jets and yesterday was used as a wide receiver and took a direct snap on a wildcat play. He had three carries for 14 yards in addition to returning three punts for 44 yards and a kickoff for 17 yards

Understand, none of these guys are going to make All-Pro.  But over the course of the season, players like this can make a difference. But this is small potatoes, frankly. Signing all four probably costs about $2 million bucks.  If you figure an NFL starter is worth 3 million dollars, the Browns could have signed about 8 or 9 starters in 2013, but instead elected to trim salaries as much as possible. 

    Perhaps it is a good strategy for 2014, but for 2013 it is tantamount to giving up on the season.  To see it otherwise is just naive.  Meantime Browns management is said to be salivating over rookie quarterbacks in the 2014 draft.  Will it be Bridgewater?  Or Manziel?   It's hard to know.  But the Browns typically act as though there are no other problems except at the quarterback position.

     Well, Browns fans, there you go.  It looks like the Browns are simply trying to position themselves for the 2014 draft.  They have no running game and refuse to sign any players that might help for 2013.  Might as well shut off the TV until next year.  

Patriots-Jets Officiating Raises Questions

     This blog is usually about the Cleveland Browns, but their pathetic play against the Packers is not worth writing about this week.  Hence, I am writing about the Patriots-Jets game, which I watched this afternoon. 
Photo Credit: Boston Globe

Um, I guess someone pushed.   Tsk tsk.  

     
As a fan, I have no qualifications to criticize the officiating, and for the most part I tend to believe that the officiating is pretty good, and that the process of critiquing the officiating is beyond my pay grade.  However, in this game I was struck by the apparent absurdness of the call which decided the game in overtime.  Namely, the Jets kicker was attempting a 56 yard field goal, which is very tough to make.  His attempt was off line.  But wait! 

     An official threw a flag and called a penalty that no one had ever heard of before.  The penalty was for unsportsmanlike conduct, in which a Patriots lineman allegedly pushed a Patriots player, causing him to make contact with a Jets player.  What? 

    This was the game deciding play, and the defending team normally tries to block the field goal attempt.  Nobody was injured or caused any obvious discomfort on the play. All that us fans could see was 11 Patriots trying to block a kick. 

    While watching the game with my friends, I had remarked that several non-calls on pass interference by the Jets were unusually blatant, and that to my amateur eye it looked like the Jets defenders were being permitted unusual lattitude in defending against Patriots' receivers.  The stats look about the same for both games, but nevertheless that was the impression that I received while watching the game. But the ultimate weird call was pushing your own player, which caused the game deciding kick to be moved forward some 15 yards, with an additional first down thrown in for good measure.  

    I know that the NFL always reviews its officials and discusses each game.  I hope that they review this one in particular very closely, and that they can offer an explanation to the fans on what happened.  

Is Brian Hoyer the Answer?

It's very unfortunate that Brian Hoyer got injured.  He looks like a guy who can play at a high level in the NFL, and in the eyes of the coaching staff perhaps he is rated even more highly than Brandon Weeden.  



 http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2013/09/18/browns-qb-brian-hoyer-to-start-sunday-in-place-of-injured-brandon-weeden/

Does that mean that Hoyer will be the starting quarterback in 2014?  

I don't think so.  From a pure football point of view, Hoyer has many of the same deficiencies of one Colt McCoy.   Namely, he is undersized, slow and does not have a cannon for an arm.  That means he is going to get pounded, especially on a team like the Browns that thinks that pass blocking is for sissies.  As of game 5, Weeden and Hoyer have been sacked 22 times already, which puts them among the league leaders in that category.  Anyway, check out the similarities between Brian and Colt:

                  Brian Hoyer       Colt McCoy
Age                   27                     27
Height             6 2                     6 1
Weight            215                     215
40 time           5.02                    4.79
Draft          undrafted                3rd Round, Browns

     For the record, the Village Elliot has never really been of the opinion that quarterback is the worst problem on the Browns.  McCoy is probably a decent NFL quarterback, whose best asset is a good football mind rather than fantastic physical skills, and he may get a chance to show it in San Francisco if Colin Kaepernick should be unavailable and miss a few starts.  

That said, Brandon Weeden has a better arm and is a little bigger, at 6'4" and 220 lbs, meaning that he might be a little better able to survive the pounding that Browns require of their quarterbacks. Not sure if he was worth a number one pick, but he can play.
 
Despite their inability to protect a quarterback, my belief is that the Browns are interested in obtaining a strong draft position in order to draft a name quarterback in the first round, possibly with the aid of a trade.  This is desirable from the standpoint of increasing the value of the team when it is sold (hopefully sooner rather than later).   A sale of the team may be necessitated by the poor financial health of Pilot Flying J, the truck stock firm owned by the Haslam Family, which also happens to own the Cleveland Browns.  

Having decided to draft the stud qb next year, the Browns are seeking a slew of draft picks to trade up if they have to (although by losing enough games, this might not be necessary).  The Browns saw how the Redskins seemed to improve their team dramatically by trading up for Robert Griffin III, and they would like to do the same thing.  Hence they are after other draft picks for trading stock, but they might be in the top 10 anyway simply by losing enough games. 

Based on this logic, Hoyer is not going to be of interest for the top spot, but might make the team as a backup.  Similarly, Weeden and backup Jason Campbell can also be had for the right price, but neither figures to be the starter in 2014.   

According to Ryan Wilson at CBSSports.com, the Browns are also willing to trade Josh Gordon for the right price also ( cbssports.com ).  I also think that Weeden and Jason Campbell were considered expendable prior to Thursday night's game.  The Browns have continued to seek ways to trim 2013 salaries.  They are currently $26 million under the 2013 salary cap, which ranks them first in the league.


http://footballsickness.com/blog/2013/05/20/josh-gordon-tales-of-feats-to-come/
The Browns are said to be open to trading Josh Gordon.  It's hard to understand why unless you assume that the Haslam family is just short of cash right now.  
 

The Fozzy Whittaker Era Has Begun!

The Fozzy Whittaker era has begun in Cleveland. Today the Browns cut Montario Hardesty, another well-loved draftee from former GM Tom Heckert, and they signed rookie free agent Whittaker who returned some kicks for San Diego this year before being cut. Whittaker may replace Greg Little who was drafted as a wide receiver but now is mainly a kickoff returner.
http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/ykMEkEs2Rue/Cleveland+Browns+v+Oakland+Raiders/AuWkj9ibhuf/Montario+Hardesty
Montario Hardesty had a few good runs with the Browns.  But he and his veteran's salary are gone now, as the cost-conscious Browns cut him today.  


I don't want to knock Hardesty personally because he worked hard and was a team player, but the facts are that his lifetime average is 3.5 yards per carry and he really struggled to catch the ball out of the backfield and did not block well either. Still many Browns fans thought it was a great move to package three draft picks to move up and nab him in the second round. This is hard to believe, but between Hardesty and Trent Richardson, the Browns gave up a

Number 1 (4th overall), 
Number 3, 
Number 4, 
Number 5,
Number 5,
Number 5, (that's right, THREE fifth round picks)
Number 7 pick for two running backs, and neither one is with the team now.

That's the equivalent of an entire year's worth of draft picks, and what we have left is a mid-to-late 1st round pick in 2014. Wow. What shrewd trading.

 Josh Cooper was also let go. He had great rapport with Brandon Weeden due to being teammates in college. I have to think Greg Little may be out also if Whittaker can return kicks. Little is averaging only 20 receiving yards per game this year, about half his career average. I can't understand why some of my friends think he is really a gifted number one receiver.

What in the World are the Browns Doing??

Nine undrafted rookies on the roster...Trent Richardson gone, third stringer Brian Hoyer quarterbacking the team....is this any way to run a football team?

 http://cmsimg.freep.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C4&Date=20130830&Category=SPORTS07&ArtNo=308300080&Ref=AR&MaxW=640&Border=0&Brian-Hoyer-leads-comeback-Browns-beat-Bears

By now, I don't think there is any other way to understand it.  The Browns have thrown in the towel on the 2013 season, and are in survival mode, trying to save as much money as possible for the future. 

  They started out with a plan to aggressively rebuild the team through free agency, signing premier free agents in linebacker Paul Kruger and defensive lineman Desmond Bryant.  But last April 15, the FBI raided the headquarters of Jimmy Haslam's main company, Pilot Flying J.  
    
My opinion is that by about late May the Browns' rebuilding project was put on hold for a year.   The Browns quit signing top tier free agents and in fact they started shedding payroll.  They started getting rid of highly paid but viable backups like running back Brandon Jackson and tight end Kellen Davis, replacing them with undrafted rookies.  

By now, the team is an astounding 26 million dollars under the salary cap.  This is the equivalent of two or three Pro Bowlers, or  if you prefer, about six starting-calibre NFL players.  

I think the Browns need to save money in order to cover the cash flow situation within the Haslam empire.   Pilot Flying J is probably going through a down year because of being over-extended (having bought out rival Flying J for a billion dollars only two years ago), not to mention the Browns.  As mentioned other times in The Village Elliot's Cleveland Browns blog, it is a reasonable guess that Pilot Flying J may be losing some customers after this recent fiasco, and moreover must be prepared to pay back something on the order of a hundred million dollars for illegally withheld discounts and fines.   I doubt if the banks are particularly thrilled about lending money to a company whose CEO is under the threat of a federal indictment.  

Getting rid of Trent Richardson made a big impact not only this year but in future years.  In addition, the deal makes the Browns an odds-on favorite to be in a very favorable position for the 2014 draft. The goal of management may be to draft a premier quarterback, which would make the team more attractive to prospective buyers.  The 2012 trade of four draft picks to move up one position to get Richardson now looks completely foolish if he is worth only a number one pick in 2014 (likely to be about the 25th overall if the Colts make the playoffs, versus number 3 overall for TRich).  This follows the tradition of packaging three picks for injured backup running back Montario Hardesty, plus a number one and a number two for Brady Quinn.  The Browns always approach the offseason as if they are loaded with talent and need only one or two key players to win the Super Bowl, but they always wind up with the thinnest roster in the NFL, and are usually in last place in their division.  


http://img.bleacherreport.net/img/images/photos/002/507/831/ScreenShot2013-09-19at9.47.59AM_crop_north.jpg?w=650&h=440&q=75

Currently, the Browns lead the NFL in salary cap room and it isn't even close.  They also lead the league with nine undrafted free agent rookies on the roster.  This is a young and untalented roster, and IT IS THE CHEAPEST TEAM IN THE NFL. This is not opinion, it's a fact, as measure by their being 26 million under the salary cap.

Meanwhile, the stalwart Haslam team is trying to get another 100 million dollars from the City of Cleveland in stadium improvements, and if they don't get it they may try to void their stadium lease, which would free them to move to another city.  Los Angeles is likely the first choice, but if the Jacksonville Jaguars (say) get there first, then no doubt the city will put a group of investors together to pry another team away from some other city.  My guess is that Haslam will be willing to listen.  

After all, Jimmy Haslam is  a Knoxville-based Steelers fan, a former minority owner of the Steelers.  He was approved by the NFL as the Browns new owner after he falsely promised that he would move to Cleveland to become a full-time NFL owner.  Thus far, Cleveland fans seem willing to overlook this, believing that Haslam has unswerving loyalty to Cleveland for some unknown reason.  Good luck with that, guys.  

     I predict that the Browns will continue their un-building program, and that Brandon Weeden or Jason Campbell could be offered in exchange for a low round draft pick.  This situation will continue until either Haslam is exonerated from the Pilot Flying J scandal, or else the Browns are sold.  I just hope that they can stay in Cleveland another year or two.   


http://www.knoxnews.com/photos/2011/feb/05/110898/
A former minority owner of the Steelers, Jimmy Haslam never did follow through on his promise to move to Cleveland to take over the Browns full time.  Instead his office is empty in Cleveland, but most Browns fans choose to believe he has their best interests at heart.     

Browns Pounded into Submission by Ravens, 14-6

   It's always rough being a Browns fan.  This year, it's even more difficult.  The new Browns owner, Jimmy Bedlam III, is trying very hard to avoid going to jail, and as such it appears to this observer that the team is no longer able to finance the business of playing football. 

    Today the Browns were beat up by the Ravens.  They gave up five more sacks today, on top of six given up to the Miami Dolphins last week.  That projects to 88 sacks in a single year.  At this rate, it is only a matter of time before Brandon Weeden is injured.  Weeden actually looks pretty good to me, and being able to throw for 227 yards is pretty good, especially with this terrible offensive line.

Brandon Weeden was sacked five times, as the fragile Browns O-Line could not protect him against Baltimore.  Photo:  http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1456749.1379277752!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/browns-ravens-football.jpg

   It's also clear to the Village Elliot that the Browns do not have the personnel to run the ball effectively.  The Browns did not obtain a fullback in the off season, instead moving Chris Ogbonnaya from halfback to fullback, where he is undersized.  However, he saves the team money compared to All-Pro Vonta Leach, who did not interest the cost conscious Browns when he was a free agent last summer.  The Browns also cut third down back Brandon Jackson in another cost savings move. And though Jordan Cameron has been very good as a receiving tight end so far,  the Browns did not obtain a pass-blocking specialist as a second tight end, and instead saved money by cutting Kellen Davis.    If the Browns had hoped to be a run-first team, they should have put together some road graders on the offensive line as well as a blocking fullback and blocking tight end, and then they might have been able to run.  However, that would have cost money. As it is, Trent Richardson is a good halfback but without a team to support a commitment to run the ball, it looks to me that they are going to have to pass the ball most of the time.   Behind Trent, the Browns are saving money by not keeping a short yardage specialist, and there is also no pass catching third down specialist either.  So the plan is for the injury prone Trent to get all the touches at running back, and then hope that he somehow stays healthy.   

   On defense, the Browns actually played rather well.  Their strength is in the front seven, while the secondary was neglected iln the off season, as the Browns saved money by cutting veterans Sheldon Brown and Usama Young, with third round draft choice Leon McFadden being the primary replacement.  

     Looking at the positives, the Browns actually lead the NFL in several categories, including sacks allowed, most dollars under the salary cap, and most undrafted free agents on the roster.

     At least all this cost savings is going to a good cause, as Browns fans everywhere are just delighted to help owner Jimmy Bedlam III save money in order to keep his company (Pilot Flying J) out of bankruptcy, while keeping himself out of jail.  

2013 Browns: a 6-10 team?

csnbaltimore.com

   So how will the Browns do in 2013?  After all the moves they made (and didn't make), I think the Browns have not improved overall.  On the other hand the division is much weaker this year due to personnel losses by Pittsburgh and Baltimore, both of whom invested multi-megabucks in their quarterback.  The Bengals look awesome, having drafted well for several years running.  
     The Browns actually had the opportunity to improve their team, as they were way under the salary cap and had the opportunity to sign about half a dozen starters and several other role players.  Instead, however, they stopped rebuilding after signing linebacker Paul Kruger and lineman Desmond Bryant.  I think that operating cash became scarce due to the problems at owner Jimmy Haslam's Pilot Flying J.  In any case, the Browns cut several starters from last year, in hopes that they would be signed by other teams, thus weakening the rest of the league:  

PR/WR  Josh Cribbs               
K Phil Dawson                          
CB Sheldon Brown     
P Reggie Hodges             
DE Juqua Parker 

TE Benjamin Watson
S  Usama Young
DE Frostee Rucker

FB/TE Alex Smith  

plus 2011 starters

QB  Colt McCoy                    
LB Scott Fujita (IR)
LB Chris Gocong (IR)

and backups

RB Brandon Jackson  
S Bubba Ventrone 
LB Emmanuel Acho
QB Josh Johnson
LB Kaluka Maiava


They also signed but then cut 

TE  Kellen Davis
WR David Nelson   
RB Brandon Jackson (re-signed and cut again)    

In return the Browns obtained the following starters:

LB Paul Kruger    
DT Desmond Bryant     
K  Billy Cundiff

and backups 
RB Dion Lewis (IR)
DB Chris Owens
QB  Jason Campbell

LB Quentin Groves

TE Gary Barnidge

They also made a draft day trade for WR Davone Best.  Otherwise LB Barkevious Mingo may eventually start and CB Leon McFadden may be a nickel back this year.

Did the Browns improve themselves by letting nine starters go and replacing three via free agency, two via the draft (counting Best as starting slot receiver) and four by promoting 2012 backups?  I don't think so.  They have nine undrafted rookies on their roster this year, an incredible number.   

In particular the Browns did not add blocking support for the run game, either in the form of a blocking tight end or a true fullback.  As a consequence, talented running back Trent Richardson (who cost the Browns four draft picks in 2012) may not be as effective in the running game as he could be.

Nor did they bother to replace starters in the defensive backfield.

This year I look for quarterback Brandon Weeden to improve due to having more experience plus a better array of receiving talent overall.  But the Browns are not equipped to be a running team despite having a highly regarded halfback.  

I also think the Browns have a very talented front seven on defense, but they may be woeful in the secondary.  Probably opposing teams will use three or even four wide receivers against the Browns, who will not be able to cover them.  The Browns will get some sacks, but will give up a lot of touchdowns.

Had the Browns continued their rebuilding program and signed some true talent in the defensive backfield and added some muscle on offense, they might have contended for a wild card this year.  I was very disappointed that the Browns were not interested in signing a true fullback when opportunities presented themselves.  Instead by conserving cash they once again are very thin.  There is a big drop off if they have to start the backup players due to injuries (and there always are). 

On the other hand, the Steelers and Ravens also had to let several talented starters go.  In those cases the issue is the multimegabuck contracts given to their quarterbacks.  I look for these teams to also have losing records, making life simple for the Bengals, who are stacked with talent at every position.  Because of the overall weakness in the division, I think the Browns could get an extra win or two compared to last year.  It's not out of the question that they could make a run if they stay anomalously healthy.   

toledoblade.com

But the team is not going to really improve as long as they are 30 million dollars under the salary cap and continuing to shed salary by cutting veterans.  Let's get real.  

Final AFC North Standings:

Cincinnati 12-4

Cleveland  6-10 

Baltimore  6-10

Pittsburgh  6-10 


newsnet5.com

The Cleveland Browns Cut Players and Salaries

   For some time, the Village Elliot has been trying to explain that Uncle Jimmy Haslam and the Browns may be short of operating capital. Because of the rebate scandal that hit Pilot Flying J just at the same time that they bought out rival Flying J for a billion dollars, AND they bought the Browns for a billion dollars, AND they expanded the number of new stations AND revenues are tighter than ever as truckers become more sophisticated at selecting low price sources of diesel.  Pilot Flying J has plenty of assets, but possibly not operating capital, and my guess is that the banks may not want to give them a short term loan while they are under the threat of a federal indictment.  So far, the Cleveland media (never mind the national media) has not caught on, but the fact of the matter is that the Browns halted their free agent spending before getting the defensive backfield help that they desperately need.

   Now they cut backup running back Brandon Jackson (saving $700 K) and tight end Kellen Davis (saving another $700 K), replacing both of them with undrafted rookies at the league minimum.  No attempt to sign Jonathan Dwyer, a competent free agent running back, even though the Browns are millions of dollars under the cap.  Hence the Browns are pathetically thin behind Trent Richardson, and they have not gone out to get blockers for him at fullback and tight end.   

Trent, please stay healthy!  There is no backup plan if TRich goes down.   

   Understand, it's not that Haslam and Pilot Flying J have no assets.  They have plenty of gas stations, trucks and other great assets that are worth lots of money.  But it's operating capital that is short, and to convert assets to operating capital you need a bank to help.  I don't think the banks are going to play however, realizing that company could be under a federal indictment soon. So maybe there is no operating capital available to Jimmy Haslam right now.  

   I conclude that indeed the Browns need to save cash, and thus they are shedding payroll instead of adding it as they should.  They should be signing defensive backs, a fullback, a second running back, a second tight end, a kicker and anybody else that can play football.  But the Browns are not going to spend the few million dollars that it would take to give them depth at these positions.  Likely, this means that they will not recover if some of their key players get injured. 

   If so, we may be looking at another 4 or 5 win season, despite having some real talent in the defensive front seven and in the passing offense.   But don't worry, Uncle Jimmy is going to be all right, as they have hopefully shed enough payroll to make ends meet for a while.  


Joe Banner and Jimmy Haslam laugh at suggestions that the team is short on operating capital.  

Browns Beat Up Lions, 24-6, But Get Beaten Up Too

  Yeah, I'm an old guy, but I love it when the Browns and Lions play even if it is an exhibition game.  In the 1950s and 1960s the Browns and Lions were great rivals, so it was good to play some old friends.

   The good news is that the Browns completely dominated the Lions when the first strings were both there.   Much criticism has been thrown at Browns qb Brandon Weeden, but the fact of the matter is that he played well last year and looks a little better this year.  His receivers are significantly better.   I think they are going to get some yards through the air this year. On this day, he had an unbelievable throw to Josh Gordon, and was on the money to tight end Jordan Cameron twice for touchdowns.   Frankly the Browns looked great through the air and although they don't have All-Pros in the passing game, they don't have a real weakness there either.  For that matter, backup Jason Campbell has done nothing wrong this year either.

    On the ground, Trent Richardson was just fine, but the Browns looked a little lost in short yardage.  They got one decent block from Chris Ogbonnaya at fullback, but otherwise fullback was silent today (one thing I hate about tv coverage of football is they don't give you the opportunity to see what formation the offense is in.  I don't know how many plays used a fullback.  But I do know they didn't do well in short yardage.

Trent Richardson looked unstoppable, but Coach Chud wisely took him out early.  

Halfback Dion Lewis did well catching balls out of the backfield, and made a few yards on the ground, but was injured in the second half, breaking his leg.  He'll be out indefinitely, which is too bad because it looked like he was headed to number two on the depth chart behind Richardson.

Dion Lewis was also explosive, but injured his ankle.  

On defense, the front seven generally bullied the Lions.  Matthew Stafford & Co. were under pressure and had balls batted down and a few were nearly intercepted by the Browns big line and linebackers. The secondary was good but great, and note that the Lions were not playing their big threat in Calvin Johnson.    

The Browns gang tackled and dominated the line of scrimmage.  

The main issue is that a lot of guys got banged up today.  In addition to Lewis' injury, they had injuries to TE Gary Barnidge, LB Barkevious Mingo (bruised lung), and G Shawn Lauvao.  Hopefully they will be back soon as all of these player were doing well.  

The Village Elliot's New Los Angeles Conspiracy Theory

    Los Angeles NFL conspiracy theory?  Actually it's not even that much of a conspiracy, as it is blatantly obvious. The  owners of  crappy NFL teams (and even a few good ones) are threatening to move their teams to Los Angeles unless they get millions of dollars in stadium improvements, or in some cases entirely new stadiums.  This has had the effect of scaring local politicians, who are now scurrying to satisfy the whims of greedy NFL owners.  

     Commissioner Roger Goodell has laid out a procedure for NFL teams to relocate to Los Angeles.  It is going to  happen, it's just a question of when.  

Commissioner Goodell has laid out the procedure for an NFL team to move to Los Angeles. photo:  www.fanduel.com

     Recently, Jerry Jones, the flamboyant owner of the Dallas Cowboys, indicated that not one but TWO teams may move to Los Angeles, setting off a flurry of speculation on which teams are interested.  I do not think that Jones' remarks were casually or hastily spoken.  Rather, it's more likely that this was a calculated move to allow current team owners to extract more money from local governments to upgrade football stadiums.  



Jerry Jones says that TWO NFL teams may move to Los Angeles.  He won't say which teams are interested.  Photo:  http://dallascowboysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/jones1.jpg



     The St Louis Rams used to play in Los Angeles, and they have a deal which allows them to get out of their lease if they don't have a top dollar stadium.  Well, guess what?  They are demanding hundreds of millions of dollars from the good people of St. Louis, and if they don't get it they are threatening to return to Los Angeles.  Frankly the Rams have been so bad in recent years that the fans might just let them go.  

     Other teams that have Los Angeles connections are the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers, both of whom have also played in Los Angeles.   And yes, both of them have let it be known that they are interested in moving unless they get a sweetheart deal on upgraded stadiums in their current location.  

    Ditto the awful Jacksonville Jaguars, who are owned by an out-of-town owner with no significant connection to Jacksonville.  

     Even the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are dissatisfied with their current stadiums and are seeking millions of dollars to upgrade their current digs.   

     All in all, Roger Goodell and Jerry Jones are likely going to bring upwards of a billion dollars worth of new stadiums and improvements to old ones. The threat of moving to Los Angeles is driving these upgrades.  And then some team will move to Los Angeles anyway.  

     As a football fan, I am wary about owners in general. I believe Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, like all the other NFL owners, might have been approached by groups from Los Angeles offering hundreds of millions of dollars additional profit in order to get the team.  The main difficulty would be to find a way to legally break the lease with the City of Cleveland which would have to happen in order to move+ the team.  

Browns Win First Preseason Game vs Rams, 27-19

Cleveland played better than the Rams overall, with Brandon Weeden leading a diversified passing attack.  Photo: www.Clevelandbrowns.com .  

Well, let's not go crazy over an exhibition game, in which the Browns beat an inconsistent Saint Louis Rams team, 27-19.  But a win is better than a loss! And the Browns regulars outplayed the Rams regulars overall, which is also a good sign.

Here are a few takeaways from the game.

1.  The Browns quarterback situation is very solid if not spectacular.  Brandon Weeden played well on a bad team last year, and he will probably play better for a better team this year.  All three Browns qbs played well, and I think both Jason Campbell and Brian Hoyer can win games as an NFL starter if Weeden should go down.

Jason Campbell was 6 for 7, with one dropped ball by Chris Ogbonnaya.  Not too shabby.  Photo: www.Clevelandbrowns.com .

2.  The Browns receiving corps is much deeper than last year.  Travis Benjamin, Greg Little and Jordan Norwood made some good plays, and they got some good mileage from tight ends Jordan Cameron and Gary Barnidge as well.  Benjamin also took a punt return to the house, blowing away the Rams coverage team.  

3.  The Browns have some depth at running back, which is a good thing since Trent Richardson and Montario Hardesty were both banged up.  Brandon Jackson and Dion Lewis were both great catching passes out of the backfield, and ran hard against a good Rams defense.  It makes me wonder why former Coach Shurmur would never play Jackson, who gained 700 yards for the Packers in 2010.  I'll bet Coach Chud and Norv Turner figure out ways to get him in the lineup. However, the Browns did not play a fullback much.  Chris Ogbonnaya lined up there sometimes, while incumbent Owen Marecic did not see much action and might be on his way out.  But without a big fullback, the Browns are not going to run the ball all that well.  Shurmur and former GM Tom Heckert thought Trent Richardson would be the next Adrian Peterson, but not without a blocking fullback, dudes.  I think the Browns are going to pass a lot more than they run in 2013, with Richardson, Jackson and Lewis catching a lot of passes out of the backfield.  Montario Hardesty, another back much loved by Heckert, ran well at times the past two years but struggled with blocking and pass catching.  With multiple knee surgeries, he may not even make the team, and it would not shock me if the Browns come up with a free agent fullback by the end of training camp.  



Dion Lewis ran well and caught the ball out of the backfield.  Photo:   www.ClevelandBrowns.com

4.  Barkevious Mingo and Billy Winn stood out among defensive linemen, though in general the Browns had trouble putting consistent pressure on Rams quarterback Sam Bradford, who had time to unload some major bombs against the Browns.  As Browns announcer Bernie Kosar noted, the Rams receivers had trouble catching the ball, otherwise they could have really shredded the Browns weak secondary.  Let's see, in order to have all of these fancy blitzes and stuff, don't you need some defensive backs who are good enough to play man-to-man with NFL receivers?  As it was, in his brief time in the game, Bradford completed 5 of 8 passes for 102 yards and a TD for a passer rating of 145.8 (are you kidding me?) and it could have been much worse.    

Barkevious Mingo was outstanding in his first pre-season game.   Photo:   www.ClevelandBrowns.com

Conventional thinking is that the Browns are going to play great defense, and will run the ball a lot with a struggling passing game.  However, the Village Elliot  is not so sure.   Based on early returns, the Browns defense is very thin, and they are going to get burned if they rush five and six guys a lot.  On offense, they may find it easier to pass the ball a lot while the running game may struggle without a quality fullback.   

Dude, where's my fullback?

All-Pro Fullback Vonta Leach has re-signed with the Baltimore Ravens, as the Cleveland Browns decided to stand pat with their "stud," Owen Marecic.  Is Marecic really so good that the Browns can afford to turn up their nose at all All-Pro at this position?

   In football, it really matters how good your 11th best man is.  The fans tend to look at their stars and blame them when things go bad, but football really is a team game, and if you have a weakness, the other team will exploit it.  This year, great attention was focused on Cleveland Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden.  They did added receiving talent, with the likes of Davone Bess and slot receiver David Nelson.  Plus they have promising second year player Travis Benjamin and  former starter Jordan Norwood is returning from an injured ACL.   These fellows will complement drug enthusiast Josh Gordon (assuming he gives up his addiction to cough syrup) and drop specialist Greg Little, who averages an astonishing 40 receiving yards per game for his career (which of course is sufficient to cement his reputation in Cleveland as an emerging star).    But all in all they should have competent players to fill three and perhaps even four wide receiver sets.  

At tight end, the Browns figured they were so loaded with talent that they needed to clear salary cap space by getting rid of Ben Watson, who had only 500 receiving yards from tight end, plus backup Alex Smith who also played fullback last year.   Instead, they are banking on the incredible Jordan Cameron to take over the position, but initial training camp reports are not positive, as Browns safeties are pretty much having their way with him.  Well, perhaps that says more about the quality of the Browns' safeties, but I doubt it.  The Browns did trade for a backup tight end in Gary Barnidge, and a good blocking tight end in Kellen Davis.  Davis really struggled to catch the ball in Chicago, though, so in order to make the team he is going to have block for Trent Richardson and the Browns running game.    

     Ok, back to the fullback position.  The guy who is going to help propel Richardson to the 1500 yard mark is....Owen Marecic??  How can the team pass up a chance to sign a PRO BOWLER at fullback (yes I understand the Browns prefer younger players at this point, but do you really want Marecic over a PRO BOWLER just because he is younger?  And especially since they are way, way under the salary cap??).  To be fair, Owen has the reputation of being a hard worker and was very good in college (Stanford), but with the Browns he has struggled with blocking, receiving and running to the point where they were using backup tight end Alex Smith in the fullback position last year.  Now Smith is gone, as well as the aforementioned Watson, and thus Marecic has once again landed on top of the depth chart.  

Owen Marecic needs to work on blocking, running and receiving.  Everything else seems to be going great, though.

     Now, perhaps this is paranoid of me, but do you suppose there is a connection between the Browns recent behavior and the financial problems at Pilot Flying J?  This year the Browns cleared quite a bit of salary cap room by getting rid of Pro Bowlers Josh Cribbs and Phil Dawson, while also axing Ben Watson, Sheldon Brown, Usama Young, Frostee Rucker, Juqua Parker, Kaluka Maiva, Chris Gokong and Mohamad "Gluefingers" Massaquoi.  Granted some of these players deserved to be cut, but the point is that the Browns were way under the salary cap, but they only signed a few high priced replacements (linebacker Paul Kruger and DL Des Bryant), and much of the roster is still depleted.  How can the Browns cut all of those players and not replace them?  They cut nine guys that were first string at some point, and they signed about three that will start in 2013.  
     Once again, as they have done every year since 1999, they have approached the offseason as if they are a team loaded with talent, and the main task is to get rid of players they find fault with, rather than accumulate them. 

     I think that their operating capital is short, and this may partially explain why they stopped rebuilding.  Financial woes have hit Pilot Flying J and its CEO Jimmy ("it's under control") Haslam, who also owns the Browns.  With the company having to pay back millions in fraudulently withheld rebates and no doubt losing market share in the process, suddenly there is a cash squeeze, especially after they just shelled out a billion to buy out rival Flying J, and another billion to buy the Browns.  If they are short of cash, the banks will not lend them money with a federal indictment hanging over them.  I'll bet the Browns are slow to pay their bills, and they are just not in the position to offer a player like Vonta Leach a decent contract.  That's it, Browns fans.  No shopping spree for players this year after all.  Uncle Jimmy still has a lot of assets on paper, but right now he needs cash.  

    No Pro Bowl fullback, no top drawer tight end, no star cornerback and no starting safety this year, even though there is plenty of cap room to have picked up these players and more.  That's just the cruel reality.  

    Looks like we may have to wait until the next ownership group comes to town.  

.  



 .   .

Cleveland Browns Running Backs

   Last year, the Cleveland Browns running attack was very simple:  "All Trent, all the time!"  Despite playing with injured ribs, Trent Richardson was not only the feature back, but he was also the best third down back and the best short yardage back.



Trent Richardson will bend over backwards to find the end zone. 

Thus, the rushing burden fell on Trent Richardson, who despite playing with broken ribs was able to rush 267 times for 950 yards (3.6 yards per carry) and also made 51 catches for 367 yards and for the most part blocked very well.  

    Behind Richardson, last year Coach Pat Shurmur and his assistant Brad Childress made some very weird moves. 

    First of all, Brandon Jackson, who in 2010 rushed for over 700 yards for the Packers, has been the Forgotten Man.  Injured in 2011, he was benched in 2012 despite a good preseason.  Finally in the last game against the Steelers, he rushed 8 times for 54 yards, or 6.8 yards per carry, making the rest of us wonder where he had been the entire year. To my knowledge there was never an explanation for why Jackson wasn't being used, he just sat on the bench.  

 
I don't know what Brandon Jackson did to get in Shurmur's doghouse, but that's where he stayed till the last game of 2012.  

    Similary, Chris Ogbonnaya stepped in for Peyton Hillis in 2011 and performed well, getting 4.6 yards per carry,  blocking well and also catching the ball well (23 catches).  In 2012, Ogbonnaya continued to catch the ball out of the backfield but was not allowed to run the ball, getting only 8 rushing attempts for the entire YEAR.

So what's wrong with Chris Ogbonnaya that the Browns don't want to play him?


    The main backup in 2012 was Montario Hardesty, with a mediocre 3.5 yards per carry for his career.  Montario dropped an incredible number of passes in 2011, so much so that they quit throwing to him altogether in 2012.  He is also not known for his blocking ability.  What he did reasonably well was to run the ball between the tackles, but he did not help the team blocking or catching passes.  He also seems to be a hard worker, and perhaps he can correct those problems and become a good backup for Richardson.  But if he does not improve, my opinion is that Ogbonnaya and Jackson are both better overall players.  I think the Browns coaching staff may have felt the need to play Hardesty in order to placate former GM Tom Heckert who foolishly gave up three draft picks to get Hardesty.    If you give up three draft picks, the guy should be a starter, but in reality the Browns are hoping he can develop into a decent backup.  

Montario Hardesty ran well at times last year, but didn't catch the ball and didn't block well.  He has the speed size and works hard, so maybe he'll improve.

Dion Lewis is a speed back, picked up from Philadelphia in the off-season.  The Browns may try him in third down situations.  

    It also bears mention that between Richardson and Hardesty, the Browns under the direction of Tom Heckert gave up seven draft choices to get the two backs (1, 3, 4, 4, 4, 7, 7).  This is simply an unbelievable outlay to get one good regular (third best rookie running back of 2012) and a marginal backup.  
  
   At fullback, Owen Marecic is still number one on the depth chart.  He struggled running the ball, catching it and in blocking, and many fans wonder why the Browns cut Lawrence Vickers, a stud blocker.  I think the Browns may try to play a tight end at fullback or perhaps use a tight end at the h-back position.  Or perhaps Marecic will improve enough to re-establish himself as a starter.  

Owen Marecic is the incumbent starting fullback for the Browns.  The Browns did not draft a challenger for Owen, but did pick up a few extra tight ends, some of whom are good blockers.      

Opinion: Haslam May Have to Sell the Browns

No doubt Browns fans are reassured to know that Jimmy Haslam knew nothing about irregularities at Pilot Flying J, and has no intention of selling the Cleveland Browns to Los Angeles investors.  

    Pilot Flying J, the corporation that provides the bucks that feeds the Browns ownership, may be having some financial problems, and to this observer it looks like there is a substantial possibility that another ownership change may be in the works in a year or so.  This may not be a bad thing, as there is little evidence that the current ownership has the interests of the city of Cleveland at heart.  

    To make a long story short, Pilot Flying J is spread thin because of the merger between Pilot and Flying J, revenues are down because of changes in the trucking industry; and Pilot Flying J is having to pay back the money it withheld, while simultaneously the company is being sued for its undershorts.  And all this after diverting more than a billion dollars out of the company to buy the Browns. 

      Even before the scandal hit, Pilot Corporation took on 1.8 billion in debt to buy out and merge with Flying J in 2011, and then the company paid out an additional 1.7 billion in dividends so that Haslam would have enough money to buy the Browns (the family owns 59% of the company, so that is why they had to withdraw $1.7 billion in order to carry out the transaction for the Browns at about a billion). The Wall Street Journal article linked below provides a most concise summary of the problems of Pilot Flying J. 


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323300004578555561961503452.html

     This is a much more technical analysis than the normal stuff we get from the sports news, imho.  Note especially that old business models may be breaking down, as trucking companies are using new software to figure out where to buy the cheapest fuel, which is reducing margins in the entire industry.  So in other words Pilot Flying J is trying to expand at a time when the rest of the industry is cutting back. 

    And oh by the way the company is being sued by a dozen customers even as Pilot pays back the money that they owe. I'm not sure how much money they owe, but according to the affadavit on file, one of the customers was short changed by some six million dollars, and there are hundreds of customers involved.  So it could well be over a hundred million dollars, with interest, and all this before the lawsuits figure in.  That comes out of profit, not revenues.  Meantime they are no doubt losing other customers on top of that, and there is the very real threat of criminal charges against Haslam and other top brass. One might also wonder whether the company will be able to borrow money while it is threatened by lawsuits and a federal case.  Translation: this company is getting its ass kicked. 

    Perhaps that is part of the reason that the Browns did not add as much payroll as some of us expected. They may be short of operating cash right now, and it may get worse as the combined problems of reduced margins and legal difficulties cut deeply into the profit margin.   

    Hence Haslam may have to sell the Browns or risk losing control of Pilot Flying J.

     What's not mentioned in the WSJ article is that Haslam misled the NFL into believing that he would retire from Pilot Flying J and become a full time resident of Cleveland to enjoy being a resident owner. The NFL definitely prefers resident owners rather than persons with no connection to the city in which the team is based (i.e., the Knoxville-based Haslam family and the Cleveland Browns). In any case, after a few months Haslam decided to un-retire, and fellow UT alum John Compton graciously decided to step aside. Isn't that convenient?   I don't think the other owners are going to overlook the fact that the Browns wound up with a non-resident owner, and the little charade about retiring and moving to Cleveland will not go un-noticed.  

Haslam is a resident of Knoxville Tennessee and used to proclaim that he was 1000% loyal to the Steelers. Yet few Browns fans question his commitment to the City of Cleveland.  Go figure.   

     In the past I have pointed out that  Haslam's management team is well equipped to support a megastadium building effort. The company president is Alec Scheiner, who oversaw the building of the Cowboys megastadium for Jerry Jones. Now why, pray tell, do the Browns need a megastadium building expert as their team President? Well, the NFL has publicly endorsed the idea of one of its teams moving to Los Angeles as soon as a stadium deal is made.     

Farmers' Field in Los Angeles will be a fabulous megastadium,  similar to the type that Browns Alec Scheiner helped build in Arlington Texas for Jerry Jones.  What an amazing coincidence that the Browns have an expert in Megastadium building.
     GM Mike Lombardi has been through a move before, when Art Modell's Browns moved to Baltimore. 

      Of course, Haslam has too much integrity and too much of a personal investment in the city of Cleveland to ever consider anything like that, right? He's our friend, right?  

    Uh, right.  

    I am sure that my fellow Cleveland fans will proudly bring up the fact that the city has a lease with the team!  And they have lawyers to make the lease foolproof!  In response, let me just offer the opinion that if Haslam's legal team can keep him out of jail over the problems of Pilot Flying J, prematurely breaking a lease agreement should be no problem at all.

     Oddly, many Browns fans still love Haslam, believing he has done nothing wrong and totally taking him at his word that he was all set to move to Cleveland, but he just missed the excitement of Pilot Flying J. Surely the lawyers will get him off the hook, and then he can get back to the business of investing millions of new dollars into building the team.  To Browns fans, Haslam is kind of like Santa Claus, but instead of bring toys for good little boys and girls, he buys free agents for good little Browns Backers all over the world.

Is Jimmy Haslam the answer to the prayers of Browns fans?

     In my opinion,  LA probably is not going to want to deal with Haslam now that he is radioactive, so if there is an attempt to move it will involve the next ownership group, not this one.  With any luck, some team like Jacksonville or St Louis will make the move before the Browns can.   But if the Browns manage to stay in Cleveland it will be despite Haslam, not because of him.