Musings - The Cleveland Browns

So in the previous musings, we talked about some of the moves that the Cleveland Browns had been making, and how I felt they were uncharacteristically poor decisions being made by Michael Lombardi, who I have a very high opinion of.  Today, I learned why I felt the moves being made were uncharacteristic of Michael Lombardi.  It was because they were not his moves at all.

This morning, Michael Lombardi was relieved of his duties with the Cleveland Browns. After this, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam went on TV and again looked the part of total buffoon, talking about how he will continue to advance the Browns towards their ultimate goal.

Jimmy, let me let you in on something.  Your decision to hire Mike Lombardi as your decision maker for all football matters was your one and only smart decision you have made as an owner thus far.  Your subsequent decision to not let him make football related decision, then fire him, reinforces my well established opinion that stupid people with lots of money... are still stupid.

Lets take a quick look at your offseason so far.  First you fire Rob Chudzinski, after just one season.  Now I don't have any strong affinity for Chudzinski, however, he had one year, and a roster that has some serious talent deficiencies to content with, lowlighted by the total absence of anything resembling a Quarterback.  What more could he have really done?  Heck, what more could Vince Lombardi, Tom Landry, Don Shula, or Bill Walsh have done?  Firing him after just one year sure doesn't show any kind of commitment to the franchise, their fans, or winning.  And how do you think it will make you appear to potential replacement?  Well lets see how that worked out.  Adam Gase was a target, but he said "no thanks".  Todd Bowles was looked at, but he too withdrew his name from consideration. Now both Gase and Bowles are each looking for their first permanent head coaching position, but each chose to stay a coordinator for another season rather than go to work for Haslem.  Then the team looked at Patriots coordinator Josh McDaniels, who although good as a coordinator, really made a mess of his first head coaching opportunity in Denver a few years back.  Even despite the long history between Lombardi and McDaniels, McDaniels also bowed out of the process. Then to add insult to injury, the Packers QB coach, Ben McAdoo chose to accept a coordinators position with the Giants right before it looked like he would get the gig in Cleveland.  That's right Jimmy, a position coach took a lower position in the league to avoid getting hired by you.  Finally, the team chose Mike Pettine to lead the way. Now I like Pettine, and I think he will bring a tough defensive mentality to Cleveland, but again, that was not the primary weakness of this team last season.

Then, to further the train wreck that is the Browns, the brilliant leadership decides to let one of the best coordinator combinations in the league (Norv Turner and Ray Horton) both walk away, and instead chooses the under performing Kyle Shannahan to try and resurrect this horrid offense.  Really Jimmy?  On what planet is Kyle Shannahan a better offensive coach than Norv Turner?  The loss of Horton will hurt too, but it can at least be softened by the addition of Pettine.

Seriously Jimmy, you have owned the team for a year and a half, and in that time span, you have fired two head coaches, and two GMs.  If you look at the teams that are perennial contenders, you see that the one thing they have in common is stability.  The are consistent in their approach to both staffing and player acquisition.  They put the system in place, then supply the system with the type of players and coaches that can get the most from it.  That is what the Patriots have done.  That is what the Niners have done.  Seattle, check; Green Bay, yes sir; Pittsburgh and Baltimore, absolutely.  Now look at the other side of the coin.  Look at the teams that are all over the board on their personnel decisions.  Oakland, Miami, Jacksonville, and Tampa all come to mind.  So lets do a quick survey.  Would you rather your team be mentioned in the same sentence with New England, Green Bay, San Francisco, Seattle, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore, or would you rather continue to be grouped with the Oakland Raiders of the league?

Jimmy, it is clear that you know how to make money.  You inherited a lot of money, and you have been the leader of the Flying J corporation for some time now.  You are listed among the Forbes 400 richest Americans each year.  Your net worth is almost 1.5 Billion dollars.  But a management lesson or two was clearly overlooked.  You should know by now that no one is all knowing.  You have a lot of gifts which you bring to the table, but you do not know squat about football.  Leadership is not just about being out front.  It is about understanding your own weaknesses, and offsetting them by surrounding yourself with folks for whom those are strengths.  Then, you have to take your hands of the reigns a bit, and let them do what made them special enough for you to hire them in the first place.  Until you learn to do this, well, I guess the fans in Cleveland will have some more cold winters to endure.

T-Rich to Indy

By now many of you are starting to hear about the trade of Trent Richardson to Indy from Cleveland in exchange for a first round pick.  On the field this will have a big impact on both teams, but how about in fantasy?  Will this deal change your fantasy landscape?

It very well could.  First, lets look at Richardson himself.  So far this year, T-Rich has been disappointing, but then, so has the whole Browns offense.  Most folks didn't think too highly about the Browns going into the season, but they thought T-Rich could put up some points.  Now he moves on to a much more dangerous offense.  Because Luck is a very good QB, and he has weapons like Wayne and Hilton, defenses will not be able to simply shove 8 in the box to deal with Richardson.  The Colts still need to make some improvements to their o-line, but Richardson should have more room to operate in Indy.  More room should equal more yards, and for Richardson owners, more points.

This trade could also have an impact on some other guys too.  You would have to immediately downgrade Bradshaw now that he is no longer the starting RB in Indy.  This is the most obvious move.  But there are others too.  I think Weeden (or whomever is at QB for CLE) also has to get downgraded too.  Without Richardson as an RB, defenses can simply pin their ears back and bring it.  This will reduce the passing proficiency (whatever there may be) for the offense.  It also means a negative impact to the return of WR Josh Gordon, and a negative to the growth of TE Jordan Cameron.  Even further, you could upgrade all of the skill position players in Indy too.

One thing is for sure, this is a mega deal, and an early one at that.  It should have big impacts both on the field, and in fantasy leagues everywhere.  Never a dull moment during the NFL season.  And EZ and the Ginny have got you covered through it all.