Forget about house cleaning in Berea, it appears that GM George Kokinis and coach Eric Mangini are conducting a demolition and rebuild of the Cleveland Browns. Monday’s rumors of a possible trade of WR Braylon Edwards to the New York Giants for a veteran receiver and more draft picks added more fuel to this fire (no pun intended).
You get the idea that if the new management team could trade for 51 draft picks to go with Joe Thomas and D’Qwell Jackson, they would definitely go in that direction.
I don’t think Kokinis is out shopping players, but he is definitely interested in hearing what other teams would offer to get some of the players on the current Browns roster. If nothing else, it gives him a sense of who has some worth in the NFL, and who has no business being on the roster of a successful team. It is probably just confirming what he and Mangini already think.
The point is that Mangini and Kokinis want to gather as many draft picks as they can in this year’s draft to speed up the rebuilding process. And they are willing to trade pretty much anyone on their roster to do it. That doesn’t mean they will, it just means they are listening. They are just answering to the question, “What will it take to get so and so?” The correct answer for the Browns is, “What are you offering?”
So it is probably true that the team is not shopping Edwards, but they most definitely are listening to offers. And not just for the former All Pro wide receiver, but also for anyone who wore a Cleveland uniform during last season’s 4-12 campaign.
Mangini also announced that there would be an open competition to see who will be the Browns’ starting quarterback. Both Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn will be given an opportunity to win the job. Sure, and check the sky for pigs flying any day now.
The Browns are just making sure both guys have trade value before the draft at the end of April. If Mangini announces one or the other as the starter, the signal caller who isn’t the starter’s value takes a dip. This is just posturing on the part of the head coach. He and Kokinis know whom the starter will be, and the other will likely be dealt on or before the draft.
I still believe Quinn is the guy Mangini wants to start, because he fits in better with the coach’s run the ball and control the game mentality than Anderson. Also, Anderson has more trade value because he’s been to a Pro Bowl, and has more game experience that Quinn. He would bring more back in a deal, which is another reason Anderson will likely be gone in a trade for more picks.
When the Browns start training camp in July, the only thing that will be the same will be the uniform. George Kokinis and Eric Mangini are rebuilding this team from the bottom up. Hopefully, they will be more successful than those who preceded them.
JD
Cleveland Sports Perspective 