Cleveland Browns: Romeo, oh Romeo, wherefore art Duke and McCown?

Former Cleveland Browns coach Romeo Crennel returns to his former home

Romeo Crennel, the former Cleveland Browns coach who guided the team to a 10-6 record back in 2006, is back in the harness bringing his Houston Texans at age 73, back to his former home this Sunday. He’s bringing a flock of former Cleveland players with him, no fewer than eight former Browns players including old friend running back Duke Johnson and newly acquired quarterback Josh McCown.

At 73, Crennel is officially the oldest coach in NFL history. He’s almost as old as William Shakespeare, who wrote the original play Romeo and Juliet which inspired Crennel’s mother to name him after the lead character. As for McCown, he’s named after one of the leading characters in the first Five Books of Moses in the Old Testament, which gives you some idea of his true age.

Crennel was a defensive specialist in his time with the New England Patriots prior to his head coaching gig. In Cleveland, his tenure was sabotaged by reckless general manager Phil Savage, who traded away most of the team’s draft picks. Hence, he was not able to sustain the 10-6 record, going 4-12 in 2018 with no first-round pick, no second-round pick, and no third-round draft pick. He did have quarterback of the future Brady Quinn and some overpaid veteran players to work with in place of the draft picks, so no wonder he did not win.

The Texans’ situation mirrors the Browns’ situation, in that Bill O’Brien probably was given too much power to influence trades and make salary cap decisions. You will recall the famous Brock Osweiler trade, in which the Browns were given a second-round draft pick and Brock Osweiler and gave nothing back to Houston other than agreeing to pick up Osweiler’s enormous salary. That’s how they drafted Nick Chubb. That entire situation was crazy.

O’Brien also wound up trading away DeAndre Hopkins plus their first and second-round picks for 2021, and they also have a bloated payroll next year which will force them to make a few cuts. Consequently, they wound up trading away their first and second-round picks in 2021, and are faced with a bloated payroll that may require them to cut some veterans this off-season.

In football, you are not supposed to feel sorry for members of the opposition. However, if there is one person to feel sorry for, it is DeShaun Watson, Crennel’s quarterback, who gets sacked way too often since they do not bother to draft any offensive linemen on that team. The Browns were actually the original owners of the 2017 12th overall pick used for Watson, but they traded that for a later first-round pick (Jabrill Peppers, after some minor tinkering) and the 2018 fourth overall pick, who turned out to be Denzel Ward. So Watson was never officially a Cleveland Brown but came within fifteen minutes of coming to Cleveland.

It seems as though half of Romeo’s team used to play for the Browns. Complaining running back Duke Johnson now does his complaining to Romeo, but still does not start. He has taken about 20 percent of his team’s offensive snaps this season. Darren Fells, at age 34, is still a serviceable blocking tight end, a thankless but very valuable job for any NFL team.  Pharaoh Brown is a backup. Roderick Johnson has been the swing tackle, roughly similar to Chris Hubbard for the Browns, and started at times last season.

Eric Murray is a starting cornerback and is joined by cornerback Phillip Gaines, who started last week’s win versus Jacksonville and played 99 percent of the snaps. Nate Orchard, the former second-round pick from the Ray Farmer era, was picked up this week on waivers from Washington. Last but not least, if you peer closely into the quarterback room, there is a new face this week. Could it be? Yes, that is none other than Josh McCown.

As ridiculous as it sounds, McCown signed a two-year contract with Houston this week, coming off the Eagles’ practice squad. McCown is highly respected for his football mind as well as his influence on young players (although it did not work on Johnny Manziel, so this writer is a little skeptical about the cagey old veteran mentoring thing. That should be the quarterback coach’s job). That makes six players with a Cleveland stop on their resume.

Also on the squad is A.J. McCarron, the quarterback who Hue Jackson wanted to have to avert the 0-16 season in 2017. McCarron would have become a Brown had it not been for a bungled trade by Sashi Brown. Thank heavens, because that was the same draft pick the Browns received from the Texans, and which landed them Nick Chubb. So players with a Cleveland connection, coming by trade or actually playing in Cleveland include interim head coach Crennel, DeShaun Watson (draft-day trade), Duke Johnson, Darren Fells, Pharaoh Brown,  Roderick Johnson, Eric Murray, Phillip Gaines, Nate Orchard, and Josh McCown. That’s the head coach and eight former Browns, 10 if you want to include Watson’s draft-day trade and McCarron’s non-trade.

Those familiar names were good players, but it just seems like the players who took their places are better now.  Look for the Browns to defeat their predecessors from Houston on Sunday.