Open Competition

Yesterday, at the NFL meetings in California, Mangini finally spoke to the media about something related to the Cleveland Browns. And, what he said speaks volumes about the quarterback position.

"I don't have a projected starter at this point," he said. "What we're going to do is we'll have an open competition where they'll both get a chance to establish that they'll be the starter."

So, there you have it. Rumors that Mangini hasn't settled on either Brady Quinn or Derek Anderson as his starter are true. BUT ... he is going to let them compete for the job.

Why does this make me somewhat happy? Because, finally, Brady is going to have a chance to win the starting job — a chance he's not had since he was drafted.

In his rookie season, he was closed out of the open QB competition between Anderson and Charlie Frye by Romeo Crennel (we all know how well that competition turned out). And, last season, stubborn Romeo made DA the starter without even giving "the other guy" a chance (and, we all know how well that turned out too).

My point is, Brady is finally being given a chance to shine. He's being given an opportunity to go out there in training camp and say, "I should be the starter, and this is why." And, if this is truly an open competition, Brady is finally being given a fair chance to prove why he should be the starting quarterback for this team.

Of course, rumors still persist that Mangini isn't too thrilled with either quarterback and that he's shopping both around the league. If this is true, his willingness to give up on Quinn without so much as a look at what he can do worries me. Then again, Mangini's willingness to at least give Brady a shot to win the starting job in an open competition is more than he's ever gotten from this franchise.

Go Brady! Go Browns!

Browns Release Jurevicius

It's really no surprise to anyone that the Browns announced they have released veteran wide receiver Joe Jurevicius this evening.

"Eric (Mangini) and I have had extensive conversations with Joe and his representatives," general manager George Kokinis said. "In the end we were unable to reach an agreement that was in the best interests of both parties."

Best interest of both parties, eh? The problem with a statement like that is, no one knows what's in the best interest of Mangini and Kokinis (see earlier post on Mangini/Kokinis musings).

Sure, we're supposed to believe they want to win. But, geesh, I haven't really been impressed with some of the moves they're making. OK, so Joe was battling injury and impending retirement, but still ...

All I'm saying is, Mangini/Kokinis (and Lerner) still have shown me any indication they really want this franchise to succeed. And, sure, Savage left us in salary cap hell, making it difficult to really sign anyone decent in free agency, but I'm sure we could have done better than to sign some Jets rejects.

Oh well, time will tell. I can't say it enough, though, but I'm not too thrilled with this team so far.

This Week in Berea

Musings from Mangini/Kokinis:














The end.

Say it Ain't So ...

I cannot emphasize enough how much I truly hope this isn't true: Broncosfreaks.com is reporting a rumor that the Browns are talking to the Broncos about trading Brady Quinn and Shaun Rogers for Jay Cutler and the Broncos 3rd round draft pick.

Again, I truly hope this is not true. I'm already less than thrilled with some of the moves Mangini and Kokinis have made. If there is any validity to this rumor whatsoever, they're really trying to run this franchise further into the ground.

Chances are, there is no validity to this rumor and the folks over at broncosfreaks.com are simply throwing together fantasy trades to give themselves hope (like me reporting that I heard the Steelers were thinking of trading Troy Polamalu to the Browns for Ryan Pontbriand).

Seriously, though, these two clowns in charge of the Browns are making it really hard for me to give them the benefit of the doubt.