According to Wallace, a starter for the Browns hasn’t been named yet under new head coach pat Shurmur.
“If I do go back (to Cleveland), hopefully it’s a chance to compete for the starting position,” said Wallace.
Pat Shurmur’s west coach system is very similar to the one Wallace ran in Seattle. I’m sure he’s hoping that will give him a slight advantage if he does return to Cleveland.
Wallace is probably not an NFL starting caliber quarterback. If he was, he would’ve been starting already. When Wallace has played he has performed well enough. But not good enough to win a starting job.
It was seemingly a foregone conclusion that the future of the Cleveland Browns did not include one Phil Dawson. The veteran kicker, entering free agency, has been the lone mainstay of the Browns since returning in 1999 and has long been a fan favorite despite his asymmetrical role on the football field.
However, in his latest “Talkin’” column in Sunday’s Plain Dealer, Terry Pluto says that the Browns are not moving on just yet and are interested in bringing the underrated player and his right foot back for another round.
“The front office is interested,” writes Pluto. “They know Dawson remains one of the NFL’s most underrated kickers. They also know he put his Cleveland-area house up for sale, and believes he was not treated fairly by some of the other previous regimes.”
Dawson has been a holdout through non-mandatory portions of preseason over the past two seasons as he was looking to have his contract re-worked. Conveniently, those were also the same two seasons that were under head coach Eric Mangini – the latter of which was also dealing with an expiring Collective bargaining agreement where very few contracts were updated.
Pluto states that the Browns are in fact looking to make Dawson an offer despite the fact that he has put his home up for sale, but they are looking for a new labor agreement to be in place. If the current CBA expires without a new one in place, there will be a freeze on free agency so the Browns would not fall victim to another team swooping in with a contract offer in the meantime.
“Obviously, all of that can change,” Pluto continues. “But Heckert and the new coaching staff do seem to have a real appreciation for Dawson’s ability to make kicks in Cleveland’s cold temperatures and tricky winds.”
Ask Pittsburgh just how important this skillset is. Given their recent struggles at the placekicker position, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to see them make a play for the veteran Dawson – something that would only add salt into the Cleveland wounds in the event they were forced to endure a less-expensive, less-accurate kicker in subsequent years.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch emerged with a smile and a positive outlook Monday after attending a fourth consecutive day of federally mediated negotiations between the NFL and the players' union.
"Things are going well," said Batch, a member of the NFL Players Association executive committee. "We'll see how things progress over the coming days."
He didn't discuss any details.
NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith left at 6 p.m., about seven hours after Monday's session began. NFL executives departed minutes after Smith. None would comment on the negotiations; Smith deflected questions by joking about the wintry weather, including snow forecast for Monday night. After months of infrequent — and sometimes contentious — bargaining, the league and union have been communicating face-to-face for a total of more than 25 hours since Friday. The sessions are taking place at the office of George Cohen, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, a U.S. government agency.
The league and union agreed to try mediation in a bid to find common ground as time runs out before the current labor deal expires at the end of the day March 3. The union has said it believes team owners want to lock out the players as soon as the next day, which could threaten the 2011 season.
The sides met for about six hours on both Friday and Saturday, and another eight hours Sunday. Cohen announced Thursday the groups agreed to the mediation, which is not binding but is meant as a way to spur progress. The plan calls for several days of negotiations with Cohen present.
"Any time you talk," Batch said, "you have to feel better."
He and two other current players — Cleveland Browns linebacker Scott Fujita and New York Jets fullback Tony Richardson — left Monday at 5 p.m., getting into cars that were heading to the airport. It wasn't clear whether other players would take their spots with the union's negotiating team in Washington.
The NFL's group began arriving at 8 a.m. Monday, and Commissioner Roger Goodell walked in alone shortly after 9 a.m. The NFL's group included general counsel and lead labor negotiator Jeff Pash and outside lawyer Bob Batterman.
Batterman represented the NHL when it lost its entire 2004-05 season to a lockout.
Smith got to Cohen's office at about 11 a.m., entering with Fujita. Former players Pete Kendall and Sean Morey also were part of the union contingent Monday, along with lawyers Richard Berthelsen and Jeffrey Kessler.
The league and union went more than two months without any formal bargaining until Feb. 5, the day before the Super Bowl. The sides met again once the next week, then called off a second meeting that had been scheduled for the following day.
The most recent CBA was signed in 2006, but owners exercised an opt-out clause in 2008.
The biggest issue separating the sides is how to divide about $9 billion in annual revenues. Among the other significant points in negotiations: the owners' push to expand the regular season from 16 games to 18 while reducing the preseason by two games; a rookie wage scale; and benefits for retired players.
The Browns could face a difficult decision when they're put on the clock during the first round of the NFL Draft in late April.
Should they use the sixth overall pick to select a wide receiver who could help quarterback Colt McCoy make strides in the West Coast offense? Or should they choose a defensive lineman who could aid the team's expected transition to a 4-3 system?
''You've got to take a look at [Georgia's] A.J. Green, who's the real deal as a top-10 type of receiver, versus what if a [defensive lineman like Alabama's] Marcell Dareus, [Auburn's] Nick Fairley, [North Carolina's] Robert Quinn or [Clemson's] Da'Quan Bowers is out there, all of whom could fit your scheme?'' NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock said Thursday during a conference call. ''So that's a tough question, and typically I'm not big on wide receivers in the top 10 because I always think you can kind of drop down and get other guys that fit your scheme.
''However, you've got a young quarterback. You don't have a lot of playmaking wide receivers. You've got a couple pretty good, young wide receivers, but they're not big playmakers. So I think A.J. Green becomes very, very legitimate in that slot, but it depends which one of those defensive players slips through to No. 6.''
If the Browns take a defensive lineman with their first pick, they could target a wide receiver early in the second round (37th overall). Mayock said Pittsburgh's Jon Baldwin, Boise State's Titus Young and Maryland's Torrey Smith would be the ''logical guys.''
''[Baldwin is] an athletic freak,'' Mayock said. ''I think he's probably gonna put on a show at the combine. . . . I also think if you're looking for vertical guys, Titus Young from Boise State could still be there. . . . [He] gets in and out of his breaks, catches everything, reminds me a little bit of [Philadelphia Eagles standout] DeSean Jackson.''
Of course, it wouldn't be inconceivable for the Browns to take another route at No. 6. LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson could be an attractive addition to a secondary that features last year's seventh overall pick, Joe Haden.
''[Peterson has] a little stiffness to him, and ultimately he might be best served as a safety,'' Mayock said. ''I think he can play corner. But down the road a little bit because he's a big, strong, tough guy that can run, I think he might be an all-pro safety.''
''It's a tough comparison with Joe Haden 'cause Haden's a smaller, quicker guy with quicker feet. They're different types of animals. So Patrick Peterson, to me, is certainly a guy that's gonna be considered in the top 10.''
Mayock also said the Browns might be able to find a solid right offensive tackle in the third or fourth round. LSU's Joseph Barksdale and Central Florida's Jah Reid could be prospects to watch there, he said.
The NFL and its players union held federally mediated talks for the third consecutive day Sunday. And the head of a fan group again tried in vain to hand deliver a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
The letter asks that a representative of the group be allowed to monitor the talks.
"I guess I'll have to come back in the morning," said Brian Frederick, executive director of the Sports Fans Coalition, a Washington group formed in 2009.
Frederick said he presented a similar letter Friday to DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFL Players Association. Unsuccessful in presenting a copy to Goodell on Friday, he returned Sunday. After waiting for several hours outside the building, he again missed the commissioner's exit.
"We are not asking for a seat at the negotiating table — although we believe fans deserve one — but merely to be present in the room so that we may inform fans across the country about the state of ongoing negotiations and ensure that progress is being made, toward," said the letter.
On the sidewalk, Frederick, 36, said his group wants "at least a representative" at the talks.
He added, "If there is a lockout or a work stoppage, it will be devastating to some cities. That would be totally unacceptable."
Sunday's session was held at the K Street office of George Cohen, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. Cohen has instructed both sides not to comment publicly.
"Cone of silence," former NFL player Pete Kendall, a member of the union negotiating team, said as he left Sunday evening.
Goodell and Smith arrived just before 10 a.m. ET. The negotiators began leaving at about 6 p.m.
The union contingent included team players reps Charlie Batch of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tony Richardson of the New York Jets
"Conversation is good," Richardson said as he got into a car.
A March 3 deadline looms for the expiration of the NFL's collective bargaining agreement which could be followed by a lockout of players from all team activities.
There was no word from either side Sunday about whether they would meet again Monday.
"We're not commenting on anything," said longtime NFLPA attorney Richard Berthelsen.
Smith didn't stop for questions as he departed Sunday, the longest day of face-to-face communication after months of slow and sometimes contentious bargaining. The sides have met for a total of more than 20 hours since Friday.
Because both sides agreed to Cohen's request that they not comment publicly on these negotiations, it's not clear what, if any, progress is being made.
"You know we're not going to give you any information," NFL outside lawyer Bob Batterman said as he left with three league executives. "I can't say anything, other than the fact that we are meeting."
Batterman, who represented the NHL when it lost its entire 2004-05 season to a lockout, then referred to Cohen as a "first-class mediator."
On his way into the talks Sunday morning, Jeff Pash, the NFL's general counsel and lead labor negotiator said: "We are working hard, and we're following the director's playbook, and we'll see what we come up with."
The sides met for about six hours on both Friday and Saturday. Cohen announced Thursday the groups agreed to the mediation, which is not binding but is meant as a way to spur progress.
The mediation could be seen as a positive sign after several months of infrequent negotiations — and frequent rhetoric, including charges from each side that the other was hoping for a work stoppage.
The league and union went more than two months without any formal bargaining until Feb. 5, the day before the Super Bowl. The sides met again the next week but called off a second meeting that had been scheduled for the following day.
The most recent CBA was signed in 2006, but owners exercised an opt-out clause in 2008.
The biggest issue separating the sides is how to divide about $9 billion in annual revenues. Among the other significant points in negotiations: the owners' push to expand the regular season from 16 games to 18 while reducing the preseason by two games; a rookie wage scale; and benefits for retired players.
No team owners have been seen at the mediated sessions, but they're surely keeping up with what's happening — and at least one indicated optimism about the 2011 season in a roundabout way.
The UFL's Hartford Colonials are "interested" in former Cleveland Browns head coach Eric Mangini to replace another former Browns coach, Chris Palmer. Palmer recently became offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans.
"He is one of the people we would hope to talk to," Colonials owner Bill Mayer said of Mangini this week. "What comes out of that, I don't know. I've been looking at our Facebook site, and it certainly has generated a lot of conversation. He's a Connecticut native and he's had experience. Whether we end up doing anything with him or not, we haven't sat down yet, so it’s not at all clear whether this timing would work for him.
"That doesn’t mean we're in negotiations or that he's going to be the next coach, but he's certainly on the list."
Mangini still has two years left on his contract with the Browns and will make millions of dollars from it. Therefore, I doubt we will see Mangini on the sidelines this upcoming season, especially if it's not in the NFL. The only reason this is news is because a UFL owner publicly threw out the bait in the event Mangini would be interested.
Mangini has already participated in television analysis and discussed a consultant job with the Miami Dolphinssince being let go by Cleveland in January. He can stay active in football in various ways, while still getting the rest of his money from the Browns without dabbling in the minor leagues.
The Cleveland Browns, 5-11 in 2010 and 14-34 over the last three seasons, must obviously address numerous weaknesses during April's NFL draft.
The defensive line is certainly one of the most glaring areas of need. Last season, the Browns' performance up front was erratic, at best. Mere statistical rankings -- the Browns were tied for 19th in the 32-team NFL in yards allowed per play (5.4); 12th in yards allowed per rushing play (4.1); tied for 25th in quarterback sacks (29) -- don't indicate how short the Browns are in quality defensive linemen.
The mediocrity along the line is further complicated by two other factors: (1) the Browns have released aging defensive linemen Shaun Rogers and Kenyon Coleman; (2) the Browns will almost certainly switch from a 3-4 defense to a 4-3 defense.
The question, then, is not whether the Browns need to bolster their defensive line. The questions are (1) should they begin to do so by using their first draft pick, the sixth selection overall, to select a defensive lineman? And, (2), if so, what player should they pick, if still available at No. 6?
Analysts believe there are a number of quality defensive linemen in this year's draft.
Yes, we know that one or two of the players mentioned below are likely to be off the board once the Browns are on the clock. But, if the Browns do use the pick for a defensive lineman, for fun's sake, let's pretend all six of the players we cite are available at the Browns' No. 6 overall slot. Then, which player would you want the Browns to take?
Last Friday, Josh Cribbs won Cleveland’s Pro Athlete of the Year Award. The award was given out at the 11th annual Greater Cleveland Sports Awards which were held that night at the Cleveland Renaissance Hotel.
Other Cleveland athletes up for the award were Browns offensive tackle Joe Thomas and Indians outfielder Shin-Soo Choo.
Cribbs won the award because he is the NFL’s all-time leader with eight kickoff return touchdowns. On top of that, he has scored 10 return touchdowns, has 7,863 kickoff return yards and has gained 9,172 total return yards.
This is Cribbs sixth year as a returner/wide receiver for the Browns. Before the Browns, Cribbs was the quarterback at Kent State.
In an interview with a Browns’ staff writer, Cribbs said the award doesn’t just mean stats on the field, but the type of role model you are off the field.
“It means that I’m the right path; it means I’ve done things on and off the field, which is significant of the award, of the achievement,” Cribbs said.
Cribbs also said the fans are who he respects the most.
“Without them, it’d be the worst sport in America, but because of them, it’s the best sport in America. This Cleveland fan-base, they’re the best that I’ve seen. I know they’re the best out of everything. I just want to win and basically, I’m the voice of the fans because if they had a voice, they’d say, ‘We just want to win!’”
Cleveland Browns cornerback Eric Wright fell off quite a bit this season after a great 2009 season. In 2009 he had four interceptions opposed to 2010 where he only recorded one.
This season Wright ended up being benched in favor of rookie Joe Haden who looks to be a rising NFL star.
“We thought we had three really good corners. Eric Wright, whatever happened to him I have no idea. If Eric Wright would have played like he played the year before, we probably would have had one of top three guys around. But Eric Wright didn’t play very well.”
Wright’s future is unclear with the Browns now that his contract is up and he will likely hit the free agent market.
If the Browns re-sign Wright, they may offer him a low salary if he’s interested in staying.
Nashville, Tenn. -- Titans head coach Mike Munchak has filled his second coordinator job by hiring Chris Palmer, a former head coach with the Cleveland Browns who spent last season coaching in the UFL.
The Titans announced the hiring Tuesday afternoon, shortly before Munchak is due to introduce his new defensive coordinator Jerry Gray.
Palmer was head coach fo the Browns for two seasons, and he also spent seven seasons in the AFC South as offensive coordinator with Jacksonville and Houston. Palmer spent last season as head coach of the United Football League’s Hartford Colonels.
He was quarterbacks coach with the New York Giants between 2007 and 2009 working with Eli Manning, including their Super Bowl run when Manning was named the game’s MVP.
The Browns rounded out their coaching staff Monday with the addition of three assistants to the position coaches and two senior assistants.
They also confirmed the coaches who have been retained, as previously reported.
The newcomers are Chris Beake (offensive assistant), Chuck Bullough (defensive assistant), Shawn Mennenga (special teams assistant) and Ray Rhodes (senior assistant/defense), who was formerly head coach of the Packers and Eagles. Keith Gilbertson will also return to the coaching ranks in 2011 as senior assistant – offense after previously serving as the Browns' director of pro personnel last year.
“With our coaching staff now complete, I'm excited about the group that we have been able to assemble,” head coach Pat Shurmur said in a press release. “I believe we have a blend of coaches with a tremendous amount of experience who have proven to be excellent teachers throughout the course of their careers.
"I have known most of these guys for a considerable amount of time, and not only have I been impressed with their work, but they are all greatly respected around the league.
"Many of our coaches have been a part of winning programs, which is an important element as well. I feel very good about the strengths that each coach possesses, and I am confident this will benefit our team.''
The Browns confirmed they've retained the following coaches: Gary Brown (running backs), Steve Hagen (tight ends), Jerome Henderson (defensive backs), Kent Johnston (strength and conditioning), Rick Lyle (assistant strength and conditioning), Luke Steckel (assistant to the head coach) and George Warhop (offensive line).
Rhodes brings 30 years of NFL coaching experience, including five seasons as a head coach. He spent the past three seasons with the Houston Texans, serving first as assistant defensive backs coach in 2008 before spending the last two seasons as senior defensive assistant. Rhodes spent five seasons working under Holmgren in Seattle as defensive coordinator (2003-05) and special projects/defense (2006-07). He also worked under Holmgren in Green Bay in 1992-93.
He was the head coach in Green Bay in 1998, leading the Packers to an 8-8 record. Rhodes was the head coach in Philadelphia from 1995-98 and in his first year there he earned NFL Coach of Year honors after guiding the Eagles to a 10-6 mark.
Beake spent last season as an offensive assistant with the 49ers. Prior to that, he spent two years with the Seahawks, first as an offensive quality control coach in 2008 before serving as an offensive assistant/assistant special teams coach the following season.
Bullough has 14 years of coaching experience on the collegiate and professional levels. He spent the previous five seasons at UCLA, where he served as the linebackers coach (2006-08) and defensive coordinator (2009-10). Bullough was an assistant at Michigan State at the same time as Shurmur.
Gilbertson joined the Browns last season. He has 38 years of coaching experience, most recently with Seattle, where he served in several capacities, including offensive consultant (2005), assistant offensive line coach (2006-07) and wide receivers coach (2008).
Mennenga brings 17 years of collegiate coaching experience to the Browns’ special teams. He most recently spent the past two seasons (2009-10) as the linebackers coach at South Dakota State.
Steckel enters his third season with the Browns as the assistant to the head coach. Steckel’s father, Les, was a coach for 32 years, 23 in the NFL, including the 1984 season as the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings
Despite the clampdown this week on players over 30, Browns General Manager Tom Heckert said there are no plans at present to terminate the contract of quarterback Jake Delhomme, 36, who has a year to go at $5.4 million.
He was a star tailback at Northwestern University, but he is best remembered as quarterback of the Cleveland Browns during a 10-year period (1946 – 55) in which they won 105 games, lost 17, and tied 5 in regular season play and won 7 of 10 championship games. Graham's career average yardage per pass (8.63) was still an NFL record at the beginning of the 21st century.
Following his retirement, Graham served as head coach of the College All-Stars in their 1958 clash against the defending NFL champions, leading the squad to a convincing 35-19 victory over the Detroit Lions. The following year, he accepted a full-time position as head football coach at the Coast Guard Academy, where he served for seven seasons, leading the team to an undefeated regular season campaign in 1963. In that same year he coached the College All Stars to a 20-17 upset victory over Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers.
Graham found time to return to professional football during the 1964 and 1965 seasons by moonlighting as a radio commentator for the American Football League's New York Jets.
Between 1966 and 1968, Graham coached the Washington Redskins, but whatever magic he had as an NFL player disappeared on the sidelines as the team recorded a mark of 17-22-3 during that time period.
Graham and Lombardi would be linked again when Graham underwent surgery for colorectal cancer in 1977, the disease that claimed Lombardi's life seven years earlier. Graham subsequently became a vocal supporter of early detection of the disease
Graham's 1963 CGA team was undefeated in the regular season but was trounced by a Western Kentucky team, 27-0 in the Tangerine Bowl.
Graham died of a heart aneurysm in Sarasota, Florida on December 17, 2003. At the funeral held days later, Graham's longtime friend, George Steinbrenner, fainted, leading to extensive media speculation that he was in ill health, but Steinbrenner lived another six years.
Browns head coach Pat Shurmur on QB Colt McCoy's claim that he's already been confirmed the starter in 2011: "I don't know if that's been the case, but that would be the logical assumption." Shurmur, who will call plays for the Browns, really doesn't have any other option on the roster as Jake Delhomme is expected to get released and Seneca Wallace is scheduled to be a free agent. McCoy was a good game manager as a rookie QB in 2010 as he finished with 1,576 passing yards, six touchdowns and nine interceptions, completing 60.8 pct. of his passes. Shurmur just spent the 2010 season with rookie QB Sam Bradford, so he should be able to take elements of the lessons he taught Bradford and apply them to McCoy.
The Cleveland Plain-Dealer reports that the Browns are likely to release QB Jake Delhomme. He is 36, and the report says he is due a base salary of $5.4 million in the last of his two-year deal. The Browns have little need for Delhomme with Colt McCoy expected to start in 2011.
Browns coach Pat Shurmur confirmed Thursday he will go without an offensive coordinator -- an unorthodox move in the NFL -- and said his staff is basically complete.
He said he will call the plays and act as head coach/offensive coordinator his first season on the job.
"I think it's going to stay that way [without a coordinator]," he said at the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards, where he was a presenter. "I will actually take that role and then we have quite a few very accomplished coaches on offense."
Shurmur believes he will be fine assuming the extra duty, even though this is his first time as a head coach. Only one NFL team went without an offensive coordinator in 2010 -- the Patriots under coach Bill Belichick. The Cardinals split the job between running- and passing-game coordinators.
"I feel like we've hired a terrific staff and everybody on this staff has roles and issues of the day," Shurmur said.
"I feel really good about how we've structured things and I think it's going to work well."
Shurmur, who spent the past two seasons calling plays as the Rams' offensive coordinator, said there was never any doubt he would call his own plays here.
"I think that's the key piece," Shurmur said. "As you go through the week, you put the plan together and everybody in the room has input. I think that's the way I'll do it."
Shurmur hired Mark Whipple as his quarterbacks coach and Mike Wilson as his receivers coach. He retained three offensive assistants from former coach Eric Mangini's staff: Gary Brown (running backs), Steve Hagen (tight ends) and George Warhop (offensive line).
Whipple has five years of NFL experience, including three with the Steelers in quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's first three seasons in the league. Wilson has six years of NFL experience, covering stints with the Raiders and Cardinals.
Shurmur hoped to hire either Mike McCoy or Bill Musgrave as offensive coordinator, but McCoy remained in Denver and Musgrave took the Vikings job.
"We made an effort to hire the very best guys we could, and I think that's the way it shaped up this year," Shurmur said.
Shurmur said he's thrilled to have landed defensive coordinator Dick Jauron, who worked under Browns President Mike Holmgren in Green Bay, and alongside Shurmur's uncle Fritz, who was the Packers' defensive coordinator.
"I've known Dick a long time, just in the profession," Shurmur said. "He and my uncle worked together. I've got a great deal of respect for him, and I've really become close to him as you can at NFL functions. I've obviously got a high amount of respect for him as a person and a coach."
Other topics Shurmur addressed during a 10-minute interview:
• On Colt McCoy as the starting QB heading into camp: "It would be a logical assumption."
• On what he said upon meeting Josh Cribbs for the first time Thursday: "I said what I wanted for him was to get in the end zone, so it's the start. He seemed to give me a big smile, so I think we're on the same page."
• On cutting six players, including Pro Bowl nose tackle Shaun Rogers: "I think every NFL team reshapes their roster each year, so that's the beginning phase and from here on out we'll just keep doing the things we need to do to make us as good as we can be."
• On whether Jauron, who coached Rogers in Detroit, helped make the decision to cut Rogers: "We had conversations behind the scenes, but I'm not sure that prior relationship had much to do with it."
• On whether he will switch to a 4-3 defense: "That's part of the roster shaping. I think that will become obvious soon."
• On the league's labor uncertainty: "It's business as usual right now. And then obviously if something happens, we have a plan in place and we'll execute it. but for right now, we're moving forward with calendars like we'll be playing ball."
From left, Shaun Rogers, David Bowens and Kenyon Coleman were among six Browns who were released from the roster Wednesday by the team.
The Browns' housecleaning under new coach Pat Shurmur began Wednesday when the team cut six players, including three-time Pro Bowl nose tackle Shaun Rogers and three of Eric Mangini's former Jets.
In addition to Rogers, the contracts of linebackers Eric Barton and David Bowens, defensive end Kenyon Coleman, right tackle John St. Clair and tight end Robert Royal were terminated. All six were over 30 and Barton, Bowens, and Coleman all played for Mangini in New York.
Rogers' departure comes as no big surprise, considering he started only one game in 2010 and never fully embraced the Mangini way. Rogers, who played under new Browns defensive coordinator Dick Jauron in Detroit, was set to make $5.5 million in 2011 and receive another $500,000 in bonuses.
"Appreciate all the kind words and support," Rogers said on Twitter Wednesday night, "but I guess the odyssey that I call my career pushes on to its next adventure...Thx cleveland for accepting the big fella for better or worse."
Rogers, 31, underwent ankle surgery after the 2009 season and was never fully healthy in 2010. He began training camp on the physically unable to perform list and practiced sparingly all season. He was plagued by hip and ankle injuries and played in fewer than 40 percent of the snaps.
Former defensive coordinator Rob Ryan always spoke highly of Rogers, praising him for playing injured. But his 17 tackles were a career low, as were his two sacks. He did block a field goal in Miami, the 14th of his career.
Rogers, an 11th-year pro, was acquired by former GM Phil Savage in a trade with the Lions in 2008 for cornerback Leigh Bodden and the Browns' third-round pick that year. Savage immediately signed Rogers to a six-year, $42 million deal, with $20 million guaranteed. Rogers made $23 million in his three seasons here.
Rogers had a stellar year in 2008, making 81 tackles and 4 1/2 sacks to earn his third trip to the Pro Bowl. But his rejuvenation was derailed when Mangini took over for Romeo Crennel after the season.
Rogers felt that Mangini snubbed him on two occasions, in the weight room and at the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards ceremony, and told his agent that he wanted out of Cleveland. The Browns refused to let him go, paying him his $6 million roster bonus instead. But Rogers, who was constantly double-teamed, never fully bought into the Mangini program and seemed to be biding his time. In 2009, he made 36 tackles, two sacks and defended one pass. He also blocked a field goal and two extra points.
Perhaps his biggest contribution the past two seasons was helping to develop his successor, Ahtyba Rubin. Some, including Rogers, felt Rubin deserved to make the Pro Bowl this season.
Rogers spent two seasons under Jauron in Detroit, where Jauron was coordinator in 2004-05 and interim head coach the final five games of 2005. Under Jauron, Rogers earned his first two Pro Bowl selections.
Coleman, 31, was acquired by the Mangini in the 2009 draft-day trade that enabled the Jets to select quarterback Mark Sanchez. The Browns also acquired safety Abe Elam and quarterback Brett Ratliff in the deal.
Coleman, a 10th year pro, started 27 games at left end over two seasons, producing 68 tackles, 2.5 sacks and three forced fumbles in 2010. Jauron is switching from a 3-4 front to a 4-3.
Bowens and Barton, both 33 and 13-year pros, were signed by Mangini as unrestricted free agents in 2009 to help implement his scheme and his methods. Bowens' biggest contribution came at the end of the 2009 season, when he moved inside because of injuries. Over the last eight games, he made 38 tackles, five sacks a forced fumble and an interception. But he was on the bubble during the final cuts of 2010 camp and was inactive for the opener, breaking a string of 100 straight games played.
Barton, who underwent neck surgery in the off-season, started 12 games in 2010, making 66 tackles with one forced fumble and one pass defensed.
Royal, 31, was signed in March of 2009. He started four games in 2010, catching five passes for 56 yards and a TD. One of the team's funniest players, he kept things light in the locker room and on the field.
St. Clair, 33, was also signed in March 2009 as a free agent. He was plagued by a high ankle sprain, but started 10 games at right tackle in place of Tony Pashos, who went on injured reserve with an ankle injury of his own.
The cuts signal a move to a younger roster. The Browns finished the season with 15 players 30 or older and were the third-oldest team in the NFL.
Clay Matthews Jr.,the father of Packers star Clay Matthews III , played with the Browns for 16 years.
One of the most memorable plays during the Browns career of Clay Matthews, Jr. was his interception of a pass thrown by Bengals quarterback Boomer Esaison. Matthews eventually lateraled the football to the Browns' stout -- and very good -- defensive lineman, Carl "Big Daddy" Hairston. The Browns won the Dec. 13, 1987 game over the Bengals, 38-24, in Cleveland Stadium.
(*) Later known as Tiger Stadium. (**) Better remembered as War Memorial Stadium, the original home of the modern Buffalo Bills. (***) Later known as the Miami Orange Bowl.
Nine seasons. Nine Pro Bowls. 12,312 yards. 5.2 yards per carry. 120 touchdowns, 106 of them on the ground. Eight rushing titles. Eight first-team All-Pro selections. An NFL title in 1964. Never missed a game. Still the standard by which running backs are measured. The Best.
It is the oldest rivalry in the AFC North and one of the nastiest in the NFL. The Steelers and the Browns played for the first time on a Saturday night in October of 1950, a 30-17 win for the Browns in Pittsburgh. Since then, they have played each other over 100 times, more than any other AFC matchup.
But the sense of rivalry between Cleveland and Pittsburgh is even older than the series itself. It is bound up in the identities of two cities that are very much alike at heart. Both Pittsburgh and Cleveland have proud histories as centers of American industry, as blue-collar towns that exalted toughness, perseverance, and hard work as the ingredients for success. Perhaps it is not surprising, then, that football became the passion of fans in Pittsburgh and Cleveland alike, because these same qualities are at the heart of the game of football. And it is toughness, perseverance, and hard work that Pittsburgh and Cleveland fans love to see from their football teams— win or lose, the Browns and the Steelers are expected to reflect their cities by their battering, grind-it-out style of play. The Browns and the Steelers are the best of enemies, mirror images of each other like the cities they represent. Put them both on one field twice a year, and you have all the makings of a classic rivalry.
It was a natural choice to put the Steelers and Browns in the same division in 1950 when the Browns joined the NFL from the competing All-America Football Conference. Even though Pittsburgh and Cleveland were usually separated by several games in the standings, they were separated by only 137 miles of turnpike on the map, and their games soon became anticipated events for fans in both cities. In a scheduling move that capitalized on the drawing power of the rivalry, the Steelers and Browns played each other on Saturday nights 12 times between 1950 and 1970, including all of the games in Cleveland from 1963 to 1970. The atmosphere of these night games could be quite raucous, with brave fans of the visiting team making the trip across the state line to cheer their team on. The game was often a mismatch, with Paul Brown's perennial championship contenders running all over the hapless Steelers. But it was always hard fought on both sides.
When the American Football League merged with the NFL in 1970, Pittsburgh and Cleveland were two of the three NFL teams that were assigned to the American Football Conference along with the AFL clubs. The move meant leaving traditional NFL foes behind, but it kept the Steelers-Browns rivalry intact as the centerpiece of the new AFC Central division. At the same time, the rivalry began to take on a new character as the Steelers shed their tradition of losing.
It's likely that no other NFL rivalry has seen so drastic a reversal of fortune as the one between the Steelers and the Browns. Cleveland dominated the Steelers in the 1950's and 60's, winning the first eight games of the series and 16 of the first 18. By 1972, Steelers fans looked with envy at the Browns' collection of 25 divisional and league championship titles, not having even a single title to claim for Pittsburgh. But under coach Chuck Noll, a former Browns player, the Steelers developed into a powerhouse, the team of the 1970's— no longer the division's doormat, but rather the team to beat. In 1974, the year of their first Super Bowl victory, Pittsburgh won a game in Cleveland for the first time in a decade.
The Browns were not about to make it easy for the Steelers during their run of success, though. If anything, the games became even more fierce in the 1970's. Some of the most enduring memories of the rivalry's viciousness come from that era, such as the time in 1976 when Browns defensive end Joe "Turkey" Jones lifted Pittsburgh QB Terry Bradshaw off his feet and spiked him to the Cleveland turf head first, sidelining Bradshaw for two games. The games were hard-hitting and often close, but during the years of the Steel Curtain defense, Pittsburgh usually came out on top, winning 11 out of 12 against the Browns.
One of the things that has made Browns vs. Steelers such a great rivalry is the importance given to it by the fans regardless of the circumstances of the season. The overall history of the rivalry has been that when the Browns were up, the Steelers were usually down, and vice versa. But winning the Steelers-Browns game has remained a priority, whether it served as a stepping stone to the playoffs or as the lone bright spot in a disappointing season (or a way to foul up the opponent's season).
It never took long for new players to come to appreciate the importance the rivalry had for the fans— it was clear from the frenzy of the Dawg Pound in Cleveland and the blast-furnace-like intensity of games at Three Rivers that the fans cared about these games. That's likely why home field has meant so much in the Pittsburgh-Cleveland series. Wins in opposing territory have been hard to come by. The Browns beat the Steelers nine games in a row at Cleveland Municipal Stadium from 1965 to 1973, for instance. Three Rivers Stadium opened in 1970, but the Browns didn't get their first win there until 1986.
That 27-24 victory marked the beginning of a short run of renewed dominance in the rivalry for Cleveland. QB Bernie Kosar, who grew up as a Browns fan in Ohio hating the Steelers, led Cleveland to four consecutive wins in Pittsburgh. The last of these was a 51-0 embarassment of the Steelers in 1989 on opening day at Three Rivers, still the worst loss Pittsburgh has suffered in its long history in the NFL.
Under head coach Bill Cowher, the Steelers gradually took control of the rivalry back from the Browns in the 1990's, first at home, then in Cleveland. The rivalry was taken to another level of intensity in 1994 when the two teams met in the postseason for the first time ever and the Steelers completed a difficult three-game sweep of the Browns.
It has taken a long time, but things have completely reversed themselves in the rivalry since 1972, when the Steelers started to win. The Steelers have mostly had the upper hand, winning 19 AFC Central and North titles to the Browns' 6. Now, it is Browns fans who envy the Steelers' six Lombardi trophies, while the Super Bowl has so far eluded Cleveland. The Steelers, who at one point trailed the Browns by 23 games in the overall series, finally tied it at 55-55 in a Thursday night game at Heinz Field in 2006. And the animosity runs as deep as ever in both cities. The fans in Pittsburgh and Cleveland, having stuck with their teams through good times and bad, know all the more which one they prefer.
But for all the rivalry's nastiness, there is a begrudging respect between fans of the two teams— a recognition of the richness of their history, their no-nonsense approach to the game, and the passion of both cities' fans for football. Perhaps this was seen most clearly in 1995, when Cleveland owner Art Modell announced that he was moving the Browns to Baltimore. At a Monday Night Football game against the Browns in Pittsburgh, Steelers fans donned orange armbands to show their support for Browns fans in their attempt to keep their beloved team in Cleveland. Art Modell remains a reviled figure in Pittsburgh— almost as much as he is in Cleveland— because the move nearly ended one of the NFL's greatest rivalries.
After three dreary years with no team in Cleveland, the series was resumed in 1999 when Cleveland was granted an expansion team— with the Browns name, colors, and history intact— to replace the team they had lost. In the first game of the season, the Steelers gave Cleveland a rude welcome back to the NFL with a 43-0 romp over the new Browns in Cleveland. Later that same year, the Browns delighted their fans by pulling off a 16-15 upset of the Steelers at Three Rivers. The rivalry was back!
In truth, though, it would be a little while before Browns-Steelers games carried the weight they once had for the players. Cleveland was starting from a blank slate— and after three years without the Browns, most of the Steelers no longer thought of Cleveland as their biggest divisional rival.
But it wouldn't stay that way for long. Despite Pittsburgh's domination of the Browns since their return to the league, there are plenty of indications that this rivalry is still one of the NFL's best:
In a 2002 Wild Card playoff game at Heinz Field, it seemed the Browns were about to avenge their former playoff loss to the Steelers when they held a two-possession lead with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. But the Steelers staged perhaps the greatest postseason comeback in their history to take the lead with under a minute to go and end the new Browns' first postseason appearance.
In 2004, Steelers LB Joey Porter and Browns RB William Green couldn't wait for the game to start— both players were ejected for a pregame fistfight while the teams were warming up.
In the fourth quarter of a 41-0 mauling of the Browns in 2005, Steelers LB James Harrison stopped an unruly spectator who had run onto the field, body-slamming the brown-and-orange-clad fan to the ground in a moment that seemed to sum up the sort of day the Browns were having.
In 2009, a 1-11 Browns team shocked the Steelers with a 13-6 win that ended Pittsburgh's 12-game winning streak against their historic rival. The loss also ended any realistic chance of the defending Super Bowl champions returning to the playoffs.
There are sure to be many more memorable moments as every autumn, the Steelers and Browns take the field again, and familiarity breeds a little more contempt.
