Archive for January, 2009

Free agent safety Mike Adams, told reporter Thursday that he would like to resign with the Browns.  Adams also told reporters that he had contacted some of Eric Mangini’s former players, who spoke highly of the new Brown’s coach.  He was also quoted as telling cleveland.com writer Branson Wright “I hear he’s a good guy. I was told he’s a great defensive-minded guy, and as a defensive back, that’s exactly what I want to hear. [Some of his former players] said he really knows his stuff and he gets the job done. He’s also humble. Adams filled in nicely at [...]

I know the hiring of both head coach Eric Mangini and GM George Kokinis has not exactly brought joy to the hearts of Browns fans everywhere, and nowhere is anyone running in the streets singing U2′s “Beautiful Day.”  I’ll admit that I have my own fears and reservations about this new regime, but I do think it can be successful, or at least have a better shot at being successful than the Savage-Crennel debacle.  Here’s why (and it’s actually quite simple): the two are friends. It sounds ridiculous, but it’s going to go a long way in helping turn this [...]

Long-snapper Ryan Pontbriand was named to second straight Pro Bowl.  Pontbriand joins left tackle Joe Thomas, and defensive tackle Shaun Rogers, who will also be representing the Browns at this year’s Pro Bowl.  Thomas will also be making his second consecutive Pro Bowl, and Rogers will be atttending for the first time since 2005 when he was a member of the Detroit Lions. Kick returner Joshua Cribbs could also be added to this year’s team as well; Cribbs is currently a first alternate for the return specialist and special teams utility player.

In some news that flew a bit under the radar yesterday, “vice chairman” Bob Kain stepped down from his post.  Kain served as an advisor to team owner Randy Lerner, and also played a large part in Lerner’s 2006 purchase of English Primer team Aston Villa. Kain  joined the team, in his vice chairman capacity, in 2007.  Before landing with the Browns, Kain had been the CEO and president at IMG.

Former Browns offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski has found a new home, albeit a place he is quite familiar with.  After spending 2005 and 2006 with them as their tight ends coach, Chud will be returning to the San Diego Chargers.  This time, he will be the assistant head coach/tight ends coach.  Good to see that Chud was able to find a position, although it must be somewhat of a letdown, as he was considered a candidate for the offensive coordinator position in both San Francisco and Tampa Bay. I think it’s also a bit of a letdown to Browns fans [...]

The Browns introduced new GM George Kokinis to the media today.  You can watch the highlights below: Kokinis says that he wants to build the team “through the draft,” which is the absolute right way, in my opinion.  The Browns are currently without a third, fifth, or seventh-round draft pick, so the main concern is how Kokinis is going to obtain more picks.  That is, once he finalizes his staff.  And since just about no one was at the Senior Bowl, think he’ll ask recently fired personnel director T.J. McCreight what he saw and thought while he was down there [...]

As if this was a secret to anyone, George Kokinis has finally been named the GM of the Cleveland Browns.  After a few weeks of speculation that was less “who will it be?” and more “why haven’t they made this official yet,” the deal is finally done.  Coach Eric Mangini got his way and his recommendation got the job. Let’s give Kokinis the benefit of the doubt here.  Give him a chance to lock down Joshua Cribbs and Phil Dawson to contracts, and to deal with Kellen Winslow and Derek Anderson appropriately.  In other words, Winslow’s health history could eventually [...]

Former Browns RB coach, Anthony Lynn, was just named the new RB coach of the New York Jets.  This is coming just days after a slew of former Jets coaches headed west for Cleveland. Lynn had been pursued by a number of teams in recent weeks as well. As we told you a few days ago the Browns and personnel director T.J. McCreight have parted ways.  Well, it seems that there may be an underlying story to these recent developments as well.  It seems as though that while McCreight was in charge, granted it was all of a week or [...]

I just wanted to take a moment in the middle of all the hullabaloo surrounding the Browns’ process of hiring a GM to announced that the Fan-Sided network has recently launched its latest blog: NFL News and Rumors.  Chris Kolb is the lead blogger over there, working hard to keep you updated on all the latest news and rumors surrounding the NFL.  Check out NFL News and Rumors and be sure to keep checking here as the Browns will finally make the hiring of George Kokinis official…someday…we think.

Well, it seems that George Kokinis will be named the Browns new GM any day now, after today’s events.  The Browns fired personnel director T.J. McCreight, who basically had the same job here as Kokinis did in Baltimore.  The firing is expected to pave the way for Kokinis to be named GM, possibly as early as Saturday. McCreight had been with the Browns for the past four seasons, and took over his now-former post in 2007.  His main duties while here included pro scouting, advance scouting, unrestricted free agency, and of course the draft.  McCreight was also one of the [...]