On what was your standard NFL Wednesday — where injury news, fantasy waiver claims and previews for the next crappy Thursday night game ruled the day — the Cleveland Browns dropped an atomic bomb on the league when they announced they had dealt their 2012 third overall draft pick Trent Richardson to the Indianapolis Colts for a first round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft.
The news stunned much of the football universe, even if the writing was somewhat on the wall.
In the last 11 months, the Browns have replaced their owner, CEO, team president, general manager, assistant general manager, head coach, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, renamed the stadium and changed the uni… well, the uniforms were supposed to change, but they never did.
Add to the fact that new general manager Mike Lombardi had made it no secret that he was not fond of much of the work the former regime (led by Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert) had done with regards to picking players and you have all the makings of a Lake Erie garage sale.
The first domino fell earlier in the day when the Browns announced that starting quarterback Brandon Weeden (selected by Holmgren/Heckert) would miss this Sunday’s game and the team announced they would bypass backup Jason Campbell and start third-string QB Brian Hoyer. Surprising? Yes. Insane? Not really. But it was a clear indication that no roster move for the rest of this season was off limits, and it fueled speculation that the front office had their hands in the coach’s meetings (even though Campbell was brought in by Lombardi).
Lost in all of the football analysis — specifically the Colts landing a blue-chip 23-year-old running back, who was viewed by most as a can’t-miss prospect coming into the league (and was described by some as the best back to enter the draft since Adrian Peterson) — are the fans that have served as the Meg Griffin of NFL fan bases since 1995.
The Browns’ recent history of bad breaks, horrific draft picks, porous coaching decisions and mind-numbing hires deserves its own encyclopedia. But 2013 was supposed to be different. The Cleveland Browns were a trendy pick to compete in the AFC North, or dare say, make the playoffs as a wild card. But Lombardi and CEO Joe Banner torpedoed that plan with seemingly little hesitation, leaving fans to question if their team will ever function like a lucid NFL franchise.
Sidebar: Cleveland sports media didn’t know what to do last night, so they turned on each other! Fast forward to the 7:40 mark.
On the surface, the Richardson trade is defensible. The Colts needed a tailback and were willing to pay top dollar to get one. Trent wasn’t drafted by the current regime and didn’t appear to fit what Lombardi and Co. was trying to do. He’s battled numerous injuries since college and his career averages of 3.5 yards per carry and 62.1 yards per game are nothing to write home about. Plus, Cleveland netted a first round pick (a nearly impossible feat given how teams overvalue draft picks) and will now have the ammo necessary to acquire their “quarterback of the future” after Holmgren and Heckert whiffed on Robert Griffin 17 months ago and had to settle for Richardson as a consolation prize. What cannot be ignored though is the annual emotional train wreck that is Browns fandom.
When the Browns dumped Bernie, it was a pretty big deal.
For what reason should they have faith in the front office? The Browns fans have been sold lies by every group since they returned in 1999 and have only one playoff appearance to show for it. Lombardi’s track record with picking players is hardly anything that inspires confidence— this is the dude that drafted JaMarcus Russell with the number one pick! He also selected Robert Gallery second overall in 2004 (over the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger) and played a role in the departure of Bernie Kosar during his first tenure with the team in the early 90’s.
Sidebar: Lombardi worked under Bill Belichick as the Director of Player Personnel with the Browns from 1992-1995 and Bernie to this day is one of the most beloved Browns of all-time.
But let’s not kid ourselves— this is about the here and now. Despite the fact that Richardson toppled a few team records previously held by the great Jim Brown, no Browns fans believed Trent was the second coming of #32. Browns fans were distraught over the news of this deal because their front office just cashed out the entire 2013 season after just two weeks. It signifies yet another rebuilding project that will likely take 2-3 years to complete (if ever) and The Dawg Pound will now be forced to watch this season die a slow an painful death like Joe Pesci watching his brother in Casino.
Sidebar: Cleveland fans can only pray they don’t wind up beaten and buried alive in their drawls in the desert like Pesci did.
Cleveland football fans are the most loyal the NFL has to offer, yet the Browns long history of struggling to reach mediocrity (and years of watching other teams, like the Colts ironically, turn it around in two seasons or less) has pushed them to the breaking point…
That video was made nearly two years ago. Since then, everything about this franchise has changed except the win/loss record.
Banner and Lombardi were incredibly ballsy to pull the trigger on this transaction, but what message is this regime sending to the other 52 men in the locker room? What is Joe Haden supposed to think? Why would he want to sign an extension to stick around with a team that appears to be content with pressing the reset button every season? How do you think Joe Thomas feels? A future Hall of Fame left tackle who has wasted/is wasting the prime years of his career playing for a team that can’t win for losing. And how do fans know Haden and Thomas aren’t next on the chopping block?
Then there’s the coaching staff. New head coach Rob Chudzinski and his staff can’t be thrilled with this decision. He has to know that coaches only get two years to prove themselves before their bosses start searching for their replacement. Welp, Chud just got jacked for 50% of his opportunity and now has to swindle a group of men into believing the next 14 games that remain on the schedule aren’t completely worthless.
Having two first round picks and five picks in the first three rounds in 2014 is great, but this team also had two first round picks in 2007. The result? Thomas and Brady Quinn. They had three second round picks in 2009. The result? Brian Robiskie, Mohamed Massaquoi and David Veikune. They had two second round picks in 2010. The result? T.J. Ward and Montario Hardesty. Two more second rounders in 2011. The result? Jabaal Sheard and Greg Little. And finally, the Browns had two first rounders in 2012: Weeden and Richardson.
Sidebar: The also traded out of the top six in 2009 AND 2011.
You sure about this move, bruh?
Needless to say, the NFL Draft has not been kind to the Cleveland Browns and history tells us it hasn’t been all that kind to Lombardi either. Banner had a solid track record in Philadelphia, but Cleveland’s graveyard of front office execs and coaches is littered with men who were successful at every stop prior to landing at Hopkins International Airport.
It’s clear that Cleveland brass is making this move strictly to acquire their no-doubt, can’t-miss franchise quarterback of the future (as of today, Teddy Bridgewater is that guy for my money). Even if moving T-Rich was ultimately the right end to justify those means, the timing was gut-wrenching, as is the fact that the Colts will compete for a playoff spot, thus making this pick somewhere in the neighborhood of 20th overall. What’s worse is Cleveland actually moved up to grab Richardson in 2012; if the Browns recent maneuvers don’t cause the team to suck enough to get the first selection on their own terrible merits, they would basically have to trade Richardson (in actuality the pick they received for him) and their own top 10 pick to move up to first overall in order to have their pick of the litter.
Even then, Cleveland would still need to be fortunate enough to find a willing trade partner (who could then take them to the cleaners because the Browns have already shown their desperate cards). As we all know, Jacksonville and Oakland need quarterbacks too. If the Browns moved Richardson — a kid that couldn’t reach his full potential because he never had any decent guards or a fullback to block for him — and sacrificed the entire 2013 season, for next year’s draft, they had better land THE TOP PICK! Or else, what was this all for? Will it really have been worth it only to land the third-best QB in the class?
And even if they get the top pick, who’s to say if it will ever pan out?
Cleveland is a proud sports city, but they’ve suffered longer than Moses and the Jews wandered the desert. The NFL was born in Northeast Ohio, but for one reason or another, the fans die there each and every fall. Some even took to social media to publicly bury their orange and brown colors, but many fans have already bought jerseys and spent dough on season tickets. That money ain’t coming back.
According to Richardson, Banner and Lombardi didn’t even call him to let him know he had been traded before the news broke— maybe they were too busy high-fiving each other in Berea. One can only hope this isn’t the case because Banner and Lombardi now have more work ahead of them than ever before.
They now must convince Browns fans why they should stay.