The Cleveland Browns had another bad public relations moment on Tuesday.
You might think it was Phil Dawson’s announcement that he is signing with the San Francisco 49ers, ending his tenure as the last Brown remaining from the 1999 expansion team.
The way the team handled Dawson’s free agency wasn’t smart, with team president Joe Banner seemingly indifferent about the departure.
However, in the long run, the front office was just adhering to Branch Rickey’s long ago theory: It is better to get rid of a player a year too early, than a year too late.
At Dawson’s age, even though he’s had great seasons the last two years, you can make that argument.
Dawson should be commended for a great career here, and someday his name and number will be on the team’s Ring of Honor, but he’s a kicker. There isn’t a great deal of difference between the best field goal kicker in the NFL and a middle of the road guy.
The real story though should be owner Jimmy Haslam’s comments regarding Dawson at the owner’s meetings in Arizona. Haslam said it’s not like the Browns are going 13-3 next season.
Really?!
We’ve said this before, but there is no more patience with this football team, and no one cares about new ownership, new front office, and a new coach.
The Browns were 5-11 last season with a poor (to say the least) offensive coaching staff. It would not be a stretch to say Cleveland could have been a 7-9 team with better offensive game plans and better utilization of a few offensive players.
So, for the owner to dismiss a turnaround to a playoff contending season is not something to ignore. Did his right-hand man Joe Banner tell him that with all the changes being made, winning is impossible in 2013?
Teams make quantum leaps in terms of success every year in the NFL. Last year, the Indianapolis Colts went from having the leagues worst record to a playoff spot.
A year earlier, San Francisco hired Jim Harbaugh and immediately became one of the better teams in the NFC.
That’s the type of improvement that Haslam, Banner, and Mike Lombardi should be expecting at this point in the off-season. Not telling the fan base that they should expect another year of mediocrity.
It’s simply not acceptable. When former GM Tom Heckert and coach Pat Shurmur were let go, it wasn’t done as part of another “five-year plan”. Haslam was viewed as an owner that felt losing was not an option.
He said he wanted to build the right way, through the draft, and not have the Browns have one year of solid football and go back into mediocrity. But it appears, he and his people feel the team needs another year or two of rebuilding.
The owner may be trying to slow down optimism a bit with his comment, but he should know better than to say something like that. With a new head coach, an experience offensive coordinator in Norv Turner, and a hot defensive headman in Ray Horton, the Browns better be closer to 13-3 this season than they are to 3-13.
If they aren’t, the goodwill from buying the franchise that Haslam has will be as short-lived as Shurmur’s tenure here as head coach.
Cleveland Sports Perspective 