It's no secret. At the "factory of sadness" the off season always starts after the last regular season game. This is when all of the Browns fans always talk about how bad the team is, why they are getting rid of their season tickets, and how every year is a vicious cycle of dissapointment.
Remember in 2007? You know, the year Cleveland drafted star offensive tackle Joe Thomas, what was supposedly future franchise quarterback Brady Quinn, and defensive back Eric Wright? Let's not forget the signing of Eric Steinbach and Jamal Lewis. The busy off season led to a 10-6 record. I'll never forget sitting in the week 15 blizzard against Buffalo for the 8-0 win, which Browns fans thought for sure was their ticket to the playoffs. The following week "Pro-Bowl" quarterback, Derek Anderson throws four picks in a loss to the Bengals. Playoff dreams were shot down, and Browns fans were brought back to the realization that they were in fact a Cleveland team. A winning season, what a beautiful dream.
Cleveland fans are impatient, but you can't blame them. The last time the team brought home an NFL championship The beach boys were just releasing their Christmas Album. Shurmur already has made it clear that Joe Thomas and Joe Haden are the only two players on the team with a guaranteed starting spot for next year. So where does that leave them? It is no secret that they are hurting at receiver and linebacker. And with the Rams talking about hanging onto Bradford, Blackmon may not be there when the Browns draft at #4 in the first round. And if the Rams for some reason don't take him, the Vikings could use a receiver as well. So who do you choose in that situation?
Most mock drafts are showing Cleveland taking Trent Richardson, and the ones that don't are saying they are likely to take RG III. While Griffin could be the playmaker the Browns need, they still will be lacking a solid receiver for him to throw to. Cleveland is known for taking young QB's and ruining their careers by throwing them into the fire. Now this is a long shot and might be wishful thinking but if they do take Richardson and are able to re-sign Hillis, wouldn't it be great to move Peyton to fullback with Trent running behind him?
All in all this is one of the most important offseasons to date for the Browns, if they don't win at least 6 games next year fans will be calling for Shurmur's head and start to lose faith in Holmgren. They don't expect playoffs next year, but they do expect improvement. But this better be a busy offseason with alot of solid rebuilding moves. And it all starts now......... well now as in like last week but you get the point.
