According to a report by Jeff Schudel
in this morning's Lake County News-Herald, the Browns are close to a
deal with the Denver Broncos for defensive tackle Gerard Warren. The deal is
reportedly for a fourth-round pick in this year's draft.
The Broncos had been rumored to be one of the teams - along with the
Colts and several others - to have an interest in the mercurial Warren. Now
with the Broncos, recently departed defensive line coach Andre Patterson
could
scarcely contain his glee earlier this week at the notion of bringing in
Warren, who finished 2004 relatively strong. Warren had a blistering finish
to the 2001 season as well, and Patterson believes that Warren can be very
effective outside of the controlled defensive scheme employed last year by
defensive coordinator Dave Campo.
The move, along with yesterday's release of Robert Griffith, shows the
Browns continue to purge themselves of high-priced defenders. Warren was due
to receive a $1.3 million roster bonus on Wednesday, and Griffith was due to
receive a $1.2 million roster bonus.
The moves are not without some risk and cost. Griffith was the Browns
leading tackler in 2004, and Warren has shown flashes of potential which, if
displayed more consistently, would make him a top defensive tackle.
Then again, the same comments were prevalent regarding Warren prior to
his drafting in 2001. Savage and Crennel, apparently, feel it isn't worth
$1.3 million to see if this is the year that "Big Money" lives up to his
nickname.
The Browns added Mike Haluchak to their coaching staff yesterday to serve
as the team's linebacker coach under new defensive coordinator Todd Grantham.
The new coach brings a number of years of NFL experience to the Browns,
having served three years with the St. Louis Rams and two more years with
the Jacksonville Jaguars. During his second season in St. Louis, Haluchak
was part of the coaching staff which took the Rams to the Super Bowl.
Haluchak has also spent time with the Bengals, Giants, and Redskins.
Haluchak will play a particularly important role in the team's
restructuring of their defense. New head coach Romeo Crennel favors a 3-4
defensive scheme, which the Browns are currently ill-equipped to play. GM
Phil Savage recently noted that only Chaun Thompson, among outside
linebackers, has the potential to be the sort of OLB needed by the system.
It will be up to Haluchak to help the team's existing linebackers make
the transition, and to bring new linebackers into the system. He may need
more than the 2-3 years he has spent at most NFL stops to complete the
process.
With the combine wrapping up today, expect some changes in the dozens of
mock drafts scattered around the Internet.
Bernie's
Insiders provides a unique way of gauging what draftniks are predicting with
our one-of-a-kind
Mock Draft Muncher, released to forum visitors over the weekend.
The Mock Draft Muncher links, averages, analyzes, parses, and dissects
dozens of mock drafts, and will likely contain the results of nearly one
hundred of them by draft day.
In addition to a complete behind-the-scenes re-write of the system, new
this year is the addition of historical information to the Muncher, which
allows the system to draw dynamic charts indicating whether a player in
improving or worsening his draft position as the crucial date nears. In
addition, we provide charts (see example to the right) and tables of who the
mock drafts are saying the Browns will pick in slot number 3.
Currently, nearly 50 mock drafts have been captured by the Muncher, and
all are linked to their original locations on the internet for your surfing
pleasure.
All of the
Mock Draft Muncher is entirely free for all Bernie's Insiders visitors,
and we hope you enjoy the new capabilities of the 2005 version.
Keep an eye on the forums for the release of an all-new Rumor Central
system, just in time for the beginning of the free agent craziness on
Wednesday. The new Rumor Central will provide Browns fans with a way to keep
track of the weirdness, lies, deception, insane ranting, overt shill-ery,
and obfuscation that is all part of the fun of free agency.
Rumor Central will be joining the
newswire,
tipline,
Hot News, and
The.Raw.Feed - not to
mention The Watercooler's
tendency to link new stories within seconds of them being posted - as ways
that Browns fans can get news about the team within minutes of it breaking
anywhere on the web. If Bernie's Insiders own reporters don't break the
story, you'll be able to find it here within minutes of it happening. At
least, that's the idea.
- BDMc