Thursday, the Cleveland Browns signed Brian Hoyer to a two-year contract. This adds yet ANOTHER quarterback to the mix and follows long time rumors that had been brewing about Michael Lombardi’s soft spot for the quarterback.

In the past, Lombardi had spoken highly of Hoyer’s potential as a starter, and now he has the opportunity to mold him into one. Hoyer was released by the Arizona Cardinals on May 12, which was the third team he has played with in his four-year NFL career. He went undrafted in 2009 and then was picked up by the New England Patriots where he played until 2011. The Patriots cut him at the beginning of the 2012 season.

Brian Hoyer comes back to Cleveland to play for the Browns in 2013.

As if the Patriots past isn’t bad enough, in November of 2012, Hoyer was picked up by the Pittsburgh Steelers to backup third string QB Charlie Batch. He was released in December, only to be picked up two days later by the Arizona Cardinals.

The 6’2” 27 year-old spent his college years at Michigan State, and in 2007 completed 223 of 276 passes for 2,725 yards and 20 touchdowns. He also threw 11 interceptions during his senior season. This is where his back story takes a local turn.

Hoyer is from North Olmsted, a city 20 minutes south of downtown Cleveland, and he attended Saint Ignatius High School in Cleveland. During his time as a Wildcat of St. Ignatius, he not only played football, he also played baseball and was the winning pitcher in the 2002 Ohio Division I State Championship.

The addition of Hoyer is going to urk some people because well, now we have four quarterbacks in Cleveland. Again. Rumor has it that QB Thaddeus Lewis will be released sooner rather than later, though. It will urk other people because his St. Ignatius has a “Holy War” every year in football and an all around sports rivalry with Saint Edward High School in Lakewood. Ohioans are known for fierce high school rivalries that never die, so some Browns fans, and St. Eds alumni or just Eds supporters, may have a problem cheering for an “Iggy” alumni. Personally I think that’s silly, but old grudges die hard. I look forward to seeing what Hoyer brings to the Browns.

Well after a long Free Agency stand, Josh Cribbs has officially signed a contract, but NOT with the Arizona Cardinals. Josh Cribbs will be wearing the black and silver of the Oakland Raiders in the 2013 season.

Near the beginning of the “Free Agency Frenzy,” Cribbs had all sorts of teams interested in him including the Patriots, but after a while those faded away. NFL.com at one point reported that he had signed a contract with the Cardinals, but that was later taken off their site. He had been talking with the Cardinals, but they wanted him to be fully recovered from his knee surgery before they would evaluate him.

Josh Cribbs is leaving Cleveland and will be returning kicks for the Oakland Raiders next year. (Photo: David Richard USA TODAY Sports)

Recently he had visited the New York Jets, Giants and the Detroit Lions, but Jets GM John Idzik commented on Tuesday, May 14^th, that he didn’t think Cribbs was fully recovered from his surgery, but he’s the Jets GM so do we really think he knows what he’s talking about? Clearly the Raiders took his comments with a grain of salt because they signed Cribbs to a 1-year contract the 15^th.

Cribbs had this to say on Twitter Wednesday:

I am blessed to have the opportunity to prove myself yet again! Fresh start, New team, New chip on my shoulder!!!! Love u Cleveland but now it’s #catalinawinemixer 2013RaiderNation

Does every one remember the episode in Browns history (in the style of “Friends” episodes”) called “The One Where Josh Cribbs Buys Billboards, Sells Shirts, and Gets Fans to Convince the Browns Front Office to Give Him More Money”? The shout out to Cleveland was nice but the “Pay the Man” campaign of 2010 is still fresh in our minds. So is the 2011 season, when he had 41 catches four of them for TDs, but his 2012 season was less productive with only 7 receptions for 63 yards. He did more work in 2012 on punt and kickoff returns with 457 punt yards and 1178 kickoff return yards. In his 8-year career in Cleveland, Cribbs proved himself a solid return man, even though he guaranteed Cleveland he would return a kickoff or punt for a TD this year and that never happened. And if all else fails for Oakland, he can also play QB and lord knows Oakland has had its share of QB issues.

We wish Josh luck next season and then we realize that California is stealing most of the Browns players (Colt McCoy [San Francisco 49ers], Phil Dawson [49ers], Kaluka Maiava [Raiders], and now Cribbs) and we start thinking conspiracy. Maybe they played this song too much in the locker room:

The NFL draft has concluded, and like every year, there were some surprises and some interesting choices. Of course the Browns made some interesting and confusing moves during the draft. Here’s a break down.

Round #1, 6^th overall pick: Browns took Barkevious Mingo a DE from LSU. This isn’t such a huge surprise. The Browns went in to the draft with a talk of shoring up their defense and offensive line. Their first pick was a defensive player, which was a trend we saw a lot in round one from many of the teams.

The Browns didn’t have any picks in round #2 of the draft, but during round #3 as the 68^th overall pick, the Browns selected Leon McFadden CB from San Diego State. McFadden was originally a wide receiver but will be playing DB for Cleveland. His final year in San Diego, he had 61 tackles and three interceptions; two were pick-sixes.

Davone Bess will be in brown and orange for 2013  pending a Browns physical

Then the Browns sent a fourth-round AND a fifth-round draft pick (numbers 104 and 164 overall) to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for WR Davone Bess and a fourth-round and seventh-round picks (numbers 111 and 217 overall). Bess is 5’10” with five years of experience. In the 2012 season he caught 61 passes for 778 yards, averaging 12.8 yards per reception. He also had one TD and 38 of his catches were for first downs. I’m not really sure I completely understand the trade, but it seems like the Browns made out because we got two draft picks AND a player. The picks may have been a bit later than the ones we gave up, but that late in the draft it’s normal for this type of thing to happen. Bess seems pretty solid, even for his size, so hopefully Brandon Weeden will use him to our advantage this season.

In another interesting turn of events, in a trade that hasn’t happened since the 1960s, the Browns gave the Pittsburgh Steelers their fourth-round draft pick in exchange for the Steelers third-round draft pick of the 2014 NFL Draft. Then the Browns gave the Indianapolis Colts their fifth-round pick in exchange for the Colts fourth-round pick in the 2014 draft. With these trades, the Browns had ZERO picks in the fourth and fifth rounds.

With their sixth round pick, 175^th overall, the Browns chose Jamoris Slaughter, S from Notre Dame. Prior to his senior season, he had a total of 90 tackles, 57 were solo tackles, four tackles for a loss, two sacks and two interceptions. His senior year he had a total of five tackles before he suffered a torn Achilles tendon during the September 15^th game at Michigan State. Once he’s 100% healthy, he should be a nice addition to the beefed up Browns defense.

The Browns had two picks in the seventh round of the 2013 NFL Draft, and with those they chose DE Armonty Bryant and OL Garrett Gilkey. Bryant is out of Oklahoma coming from East Central University. In 2012, Bryant had 17.5 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks for a total of 79 yards lost. He also recovered two fumbles, forced for more, and blocked two kicks in only eight games.

The Browns finally addressed their offensive line issues with the drafting of Gilkey. He comes from Division II Chadron State (Nebraska). In the 12 games of the 2012 season, he helped block for a team that rushed over 2,000 yards and had 17 rushing touchdowns.

And with that, the 2013 NFL Draft is over.

Both players do come to Cleveland with baggage; Bryant was arrested for marijuana possession and Gilkey overcame a heart ailment, subsequent surgery to fix the heart issue, and bullying in high school. Gilkey also had appendicitis during his junior year at Chadron State and missed the first two games of that season. Both players intend to give the Browns everything they have.

So, that was the 2013 NFL Draft, and man was it an interesting one. There were surprises all over the board with players waiting to be drafted, with teams making some interesting draft choices, but most of all, fans reactions to their teams’ choices were at times priceless, especially with Jets fans during Round #1. There’s mixed reviews coming from Browns fans. While Barkevious Mingo was an excellent choice, many are wondering why we didn’t take Dee Milliner, who was still available. Hopefully Joe Banner and Michael Lombardi know what they’re doing and have given Coach Chudzinski a fair shot at a winning season in 2013.

The Cleveland Browns have selected Barkevious Mingo a defensive end from LSU as the sixth overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. As a DE in a strong SEC division, playing for the highly acclaimed LSU, Mingo was a top performer at the NFL Combine. He was ranked as a “Combine Top Performer” in four out of the five events scored.

Browns Select Barkevious Mingo as the 6th overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft

At 6’4” and 241 lbs., Mingo performed well during his first two years at LSU. His freshman year he made his name known with 35 tackles 5.5 for a loss, and 2.5 sacks, giving him an All-SEC freshman team honors. In 2011 “KeKe” performed well, but the depth chart there only gave him the opportunity to start three of the 14 games he played in 2011. He received the second-team All-SEC honor from the league media for 15 tackles for a loss and 8 sacks.

During his junior year he recorded 38 tackles, 8.5 for loss, and 4.5 sacks, and again earned second-team All-SEC honors. His size is a huge advantage, and so is his speed with the size. He does have some holes in his game that weren’t address while he was at LSU, but that happens when you’re lost in the depth chart. I think at the pro level, he’ll have more time and experience on the field and be able to get the work he needs to improve his game to be a top rated defensive player in the NFL.

The Browns needed to shore up their defensive secondary and with a little work, Mingo is capable of filling in any holes the Browns have left over from the 2012 season.

Oh hey guys. You thought you could go a week without someone from the Browns being accused of something illegal? Well you would be wrong. Recent signee Quentin Groves was just arrested on charges of prostitution solicitation.

Groves, a recently signed free agent was arrested on April after a joint operation with the Beachwood police, Cuyahoga Sheriff’s Office, and Orange Village officers.  The 29 year-old linebacker was caught in the sting which happened at the Homestead Guest Studios in Orange Village.

Probably not the first picture Quentin Groves wanted Browns fans to have of him.

Allegedly, Groves and several other men made calls to an female police officer who was undercover as an escort; all the men were interested in sex for hire. According to police, Groves made arrangements with the officer and they determined a price for a “full service.” Groves was arrested when he got to the hotel for the rendezvous. At the hotel, officers confiscated money and a box of condoms from Groves.

Earlier this week, Groves entered a plea of “no contest” to a disorderly conduct, which confuses me because he was arrested for prostitution solicitation. But whatever. He will go back to court on May 10^th. The Browns are aware of the situation but have chose to decline to comment any further on the matter.

Cleveland Browns Owner Jimmy Haslam and his travel center company Pilot Flying J are in A LOT of hot water. First news came on April 15^th that the FBI was raiding their corporate offices, but that was quickly brushed off. Then the FBI raided the offices AGAIN on the 16^th. Now the 120+ page affidavit has been released by the FBI showing rebate fraud and other things making the company a lot of money in a not very legal way.

The Cleveland Browns have seen their share of controversies in the past: starting QB controversies, draft pick controversies, trade controversies, free agent controversies…. I could go on all day. As a Cleveland sports fan, I’m truly exhausted with all of this, but here’s what we know, and my thoughts on the “issue” at hand a little later.

Cleveland Browns Owner Jimmy Haslam

Longtime Plain Dealer reporter Terry Pluto wrote his thoughts about Jimmy Haslam on Friday morning. Also, Plain Dealer reporter John Caniglia wrote a very comprehensive article about the FBI raid and everything included in the affidavit.

I started reading the whole affidavit document and was going to give you a play by play, but decided you would probably fall asleep because some people really aren’t into lawyer/federal official speak (which is what it all is). I’ll just settle for giving you a brief overview; the “highlights,” if you can call it that.

Here’s what we know:

• Two Confidential Human Source’s (CHS-1 and CHS-2) “blew the whistle” on the Pilot Flying J Company. After the FBI and IRS contacted Regional Sales Manager Cathy Giesick in October of 2012, she agreed to assist in the investigation. Giesick gave the FBI emails and information from company meetings. She then resigned from Pilot, but will not be charged because of her help in the case.

• Pilot provides manual rebates to trucking companies (customers) for using their facilities all over the country. These rebates are the main subject of the issues plaguing Pilot. The FBI is referring to it as “Rebate Fraud” because Pilot reduced the amount of the rebate amount due to the customer without the customer being aware of it. Example: Pilot was charging Company X $300,000, but told them they were being charged $400,000, giving Pilot a $100,000 profit (totally made up example but just so everyone understands what’s going on). This is obviously making Pilot a lot of money Pilot. It’s also very illegal.

• There are A LOT of transcripts from secretly recorded conversations. Here is one of the worst for Haslam. This conversation happened on February 6th:

Freeman (John Freeman, VP of Sales for Pilot): “I called Jimmy [Haslam] and told him I got busted a Western Express.”

CHS-2: “What did he say?”

Freeman: “Oh, he knew it.”

CHS-2: “Oh, he did?”

Freeman: “Absolutely. I mean, he knew all along that I was cost-plussin’ this guy. He knew it all along. He loved it. We were making $450,000 a month on him.”

CHS-2: “Holy shit!”

Freeman: “Why wouldn’t he love it? Did it for five years, cost us a million bucks. I mean we made six million dollars off the guy, cost us a million.”

• A little background on the above quoted conversation; Western Express caught Pilot VP of Sales in the rebate fraud scheme (the “cost-plussing” he talks about). Pilot then had to buy a plane for Western because they got caught (sounds kinda like blackmail to me but I’m not an FBI agent so what do I know). At a meeting in November of 2012, a comment about the “plane deal” was made. Freeman responded, “Yeah, ah, some of us rich and famous have our own planes.” Haslam and Pilot President Mark Hazlewood were both present for the meeting where the “plane deal” joke was made, meaning he knew at least a little about the issue surrounding Western Express.

With this information and a lot more that wasn’t included in the affidavit (or that I decided not to include here because it made my head hurt), the FBI got a warrant and spent two days raiding the Pilot offices. The FBI has everything they need; computers, hard drives, files, taped conversations, emails… everything. This looks really bad for Freeman and Hazelwood, who clearly knew about the manual rebates and knew it was illegally making money for Pilot.

I’m not sure there are any tears left for Browns fans.

Jimmy Haslam held a brief press conference on Friday the 19^th where he basically said everything he and his company did was completely legal. I guess we’ll see about that.

How does this affect the Cleveland Browns? Well for starters, if Haslam is charged, the Feds would freeze his money. If an owner can’t spend money, come Free Agency time, the Browns would be screwed. Basically, if this all pans out in the Feds favor (which, from the affidavit, it’s looking pretty good for the FBI), Haslam will be out in a year or two and the Browns will need to find another owner.

This whole incident is being described as a “funnel cloud” rather than a “dark cloud” over Cleveland.  I tend to agree with that because I mentioned all the ‘dark cloud’ like things that hang over Cleveland and none of them are even close to this damaging. People still are salty about the team leaving in 1996 for heavens sake. Since 1999, Cleveland has only made one appearance in the playoffs, has had 19 starting QBs, multiple coaches, GMs, and more recently earned the nickname “Factory of Sadness” from a viral (in Cleveland at least) YouTube video.

Cleveland fans were really hoping that a new owner would help us get past all the negativity that is associated with Cleveland Browns Football. We were even willing to look past the fact that Haslam was a Steelers fan. Browns fans were just excited that someone was buying the team, hoping to take it in a new direction. Through the first few months of his ownership he was very visible to fans, but Browns fans got sad when Haslam announced that he was going to return to Tennessee to take over the leading of his company. Even if by some voodoo miracle Haslam gets out of this, does Cleveland really trust him with our beloved Browns?

The Cleveland Browns add two players from the Philadelphia Eagles waiver wire. According to the Browns official website, on April 11^th, they announced that they had acquired RB Dion Lewis and on April 12^th they were also given LB Ryan Rau.

Dion Lewis was given to the Browns in exchange for LB Emmanuel Acho, who only played for the Browns for one season. He has no recorded stats, so it’s not a huge earth shattering loss.

What the Browns gain with these two guys: Lewis is in his third year in the NFL. He has two touchdowns and 36 carries for 171 yards. More importantly, he returned 32 kickoffs for 702 yards. If Cribbs does leave Cleveland for Arizona (or somewhere else) we’ll need a #1 return man, and Lewis could be that guy.

As for Ryan Rau, he was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2012, and spent most of the season on the Eagles practice squad. He played in four games last season and recorded three tackles total. In college, he made a total of 287 tackles.

Josh Cribbs escorts Leanne Brown to her senior prom

In other news, Josh Cribbs went to prom, but that’s not even the best part of the story. The lucky lady is Leanne Brown, a senior at Champion High School (yes, ‘Champion’ is all very ironic). But this isn’t your typical ‘high school student asks celebrity to prom and the celebrity actually says yes’ story. The best part of this story is that Cribbs asked her. Brown’s mother is an assistant to Cribbs and he found out she wasn’t planning on attending her senior prom because she didn’t have a date. One day, Ms. Brown called her mom, Cribbs answered, and he asked her to her own prom! His wife even did her make up before the big dance.

Apparently Cribbs isn’t really a dancer, but said he would dance but said he hopes “everyone won’t laugh too hard at me when I dance.”  I know Cribbs has some pretty tricky moves on the field, so I have trouble believing he’s a bad dancer. What I do know is that this is a prom that will be just that much more special, not just for Ms. Brown, but for everyone there. I’m sure he was an extremely good date. He did ask her, after all.

So, I’ve been in a period of mourning (again), but this time for the Browns trade of Colt McCoy to San Francisco. Yes you heard that right; Colt is also going to the 49ers. But more on that in a minute. First, here’s a (semi) brief overview of all the players who have either chose to leave or were released from Cleveland, and as always, they will be organized by date because I like lists.

March 18^th: Browns TE Benjamin Watson and the New Orleans Saints agree to a 3-year contract. Watson spent three years with the Browns and averaged 558 yards per season. The 32-year old will play second fiddle to starter Jimmy Graham.

Benjamin Watson will leave Cleveland for the New Orleans Saints

April 2^nd: Browns release LB Chris Gocong and S Usama Young. Gocong was acquired in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2010, but ruptured his right Achilles during training camp and was out for the entire 2012 season. Young was signed in 2011 as a free agent and played in 29 games and started 19 of those.

April 5^th: Browns WR Mohamed Massaquoi agreed to a two-year deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Massaquoi joins other Jags receivers Cecil Shorts and Justin Blackmon. Some fans in Cleveland are saying “good riddance” because through out his four years with the Browns, Massaquoi was plagued with injuries and only started five games in 2012.

Other various players to leave Cleveland recently: Backup QB Josh Johnson has signed with the Cincinnati Bengals, DE Frostee Rucker has moved on to the Arizona Cardinals, and Kaluka Maiava is going to the Oakland Raiders. With the exception of Josh Johnson, everyone who’s leaving Cleveland on purpose is leaving for somewhere warmer. Coincidence? I think not.

Browns trade QB Colt McCoy to the
San Francisco 49ers

Now on to the biggest news, Colt McCoy will be joining Phil Dawson in San Francisco. On April 1^st (but yet not a April Fools joke) the Browns announced a trade of McCoy and a 6^th round draft pick to the 49ers in exchange for a fifth and seventh round pick in the 2013 NFL draft. It’s one of many QB shifts going on this week (Seattle Seahawk Matt Flynn is now an Oakland Raider, and Raider Carson Palmer is now an Arizona Cardinal). He is most likely to backup QB to Colin Kaepernick in the 2013 season.

Here’s my take (for what it’s worth). Colt McCoy wasn’t given a chance. He was drafted in 2010, making the transition from college QB to NFL starting QB and played under Coach Eric Mangini. At the end of that season, Mangini was terminated and Pat Shurmur and his coaching staff took over. That means McCoy had to switch to running a new offensive scheme. He was only given a year in that system, a year where he also had a major concussion that was obviously an issue.

Although I will miss Colt, I’m not upset. He came into Cleveland as the starter and was pretty much replaced without reason, but he goes into San Francisco knowing he’ll probably be playing second string, but also he’ll be with a successful team that went to the Super Bowl, and is adding a lot of solid players in the off season.

Colt spoke via conference call to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and if you expected the 26 year old to be salty, crabby, angry, or say negative things about Cleveland, prepare to be disappointed. When asked his thoughts about whether he was given a chance he said,

“I’d really rather stay away from that topic. There were some very positive, high moments there and there were also some low times. It was unfortunate kind of the way it all went down and ended, but I have no hard feelings toward those guys. I wish them nothing but the best.”

Later he also said, “I definitely loved my time in Cleveland. I have nothing but great thanks to the fans, to the organization.”

Typical Colt McCoy; not getting sucked into the negative energy that sometimes surrounds trades and free agency activity. I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m really going to miss him. Colt always seemed so down to earth and relaxed off the field, but very focused on the field. Plus, he’s adorable with an awesome Texas accent, so there’s that. But he will join another Texas native and former Browns kicker Phil Dawson in San Francisco, so I’m sure that’s something he’s looking forward too. Oh, and it’s warm.

If you’ll excuse me, California is calling my name. Sand, sun, palm trees, sun, the Pacific Ocean, the warm sun… What? I’m still in Ohio? Crap. Oh well, I think I can deal with that. Good luck to Colt McCoy and his future with the 49ers.

After the initial rush of the first few days of free agency, it has calmed significantly. But that doesn’t mean that the Cleveland Browns have slowed down their search to sign the best players for the coming season. Here’s a recap of the most recent free agency signings for the Cleveland Browns. I’m trying to keep up, but there’s so much happening that if I wrote something every time something happened, my hands would probably fall off.

March 22^nd:  the Browns organization announced that they had signed both Kellen Davis and Chris Owens each to a one-year contract. Davis, a TE comes to Cleveland after spending the past five seasons with the Chicago Bears. It is interesting to note that Davis did not miss a game in his five years he spent in Chicago, and had 47 career receptions and 11 touchdowns. Davis started his football career at Michigan State. Davis said of the decision to come to Cleveland,

Cleveland hopes that Kellen Davis does this a lot in the 2013 season. Photo credit:  Andy Lyons

“This time around, I got to choose where I wanted to go. I just felt really comfortable with the staff and I think the offense is going to be good and I can fit right in. It’s not going to be that hard. I’ve run this type of system before, so it’s good.”

Owens, a DB comes to the Browns after playing four years with the Atlanta Falcons, where he was taken in the third round in the 2009 draft. He has 99 career tackles, three interceptions, one fumble recovery and one sack.  Owens started his football career with San Jose State.

March 25th: Browns sign DB Kevin Barnes to a one-year deal. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in 2009 but only starting three games. He was traded to the Detroit Lions in 2012, but was waived by them on September 18th. He lacks experience, but hopefully that won’t be an issue under the new defensive coordinator.

March 28^th: The Cleveland Browns announce they have signed punter Jake Schum. Jake went undrafted in the 2012 NFL draft so he technically comes to Cleveland from the University at Buffalo where he spent the 2010-2011 seasons kicking 119 career punts for an average of 38.7 yards per punt. The terms of his agreement with the Browns hasn’t been disclosed. This signing means there are two punters signed with the Browns (Spencer Lanning being the other punter). Reggie Hodges is currently still an unrestricted free agent.

April 2^nd: The Browns announce that they have signed a new kicker, Brandon Bogotay (pronounced: BO-guh-tay). Details of the deal haven’t been released but in the 2012 season, Bogotay was the kicker in line behind Minnesota Vikings breakout rookie kicker Blair Walsh. Bogotay was a three-year letterman at the University of Georgia, and previous to that, spent a year at Grossmont College in El Cajon, California.

Re-signing’s:

The Browns have elected to re-sign RB Chris Ogbonnaya, and tender both WR Jordan Norwood and LS Christian Yount.

There’s a collective groan coming from Cleveland Browns fans everywhere. Tuesday the Browns signed free agent QB Jason Campbell to a two-year contract. Once again, a quarterback controversy is brewing in Cleveland.

Campbell was drafted 25^th overall in 2005 by the Redskins and played with them until 2009, when he was traded to the Oakland Raiders. While in Washington, he had a 60.9% passing record for over 14,000 yards and 76 touchdowns. He also threw 52 interceptions and rushed for 1,096 yards and six touchdowns. He played for two years in Oakland, starting 18 of 19 games throwing for a total of 3,447 yards and 19 touchdowns. The Browns defense aided in Campbell’s broken collarbone, which ended his season in the sixth game of the 2011 season. He was traded to the Bears, where he spent the 2012-2013 season.

Newly signed Quarterback Jason Campbell

Now for the not so grand news for Browns fans. Campbell was born in 1981, making him 32 at the end of December 2013, older than QB Brandon Weeden, who turned 30 during 2012 season. Campbell only played in six games this past season and only completed 32 of 51 passes for 265 yards and two touchdowns.

What does any of this mean for Cleveland? Well on 92.3 FM: The Fan it was said that it’s not a good or clear move, it’s confusing and it’s not an upward move it’s more of a lateral move. Well, that doesn’t sound very positive, does it?  Although I happen to agree with that analysis.

The news is worse for hard-core Colt McCoy fans. A report by NFL.com says that Colt will probably stay on the roster through the draft, but will be gone by minicamp. It looks like the Browns are trying to get something else out of McCoy other than touchdowns, perhaps another draft pick for April, but so far nothing yet.

The Browns quarterback history since 1999.

This makes me sad because I love Colt; I think he’s a decent QB and leader who was never given the chance or confidence to lead his team. He didn’t seem to feel comfortable with himself and his abilities and always seemed to be looking over his shoulder. Who can blame him? With the Browns QB track record since returning to the NFL in 1999, I would be nervous too. It’s a bit of a running joke in Cleveland about the quarterback shuffle that is a constant presence on the Browns sideline from season to season, and more than a few mid-season changes. Since 1999 there have been 19 different starting quarterbacks, in the 2008 season alone there were four.

Putting aside the McCoy mourning, what does this QB addition mean for current QB and 2012 draftee Brandon Weeden? We really have no idea right now, but Campbell said on a conference call to Cleveland news media, “I thought it was an exciting opportunity to be joining a team that’s a young football team.”

This is just another crazy offseason for the Browns. This is becoming typical and not at all appreciated by fans in Cleveland.