I've been a little behind on the news and nuggets the past several days because I was waiting for something more significant to happen with the Browns. Unfortunately, nothing too earth-shattering has come about, so I'll recap what happened over the past week:
- Haggans Leaves: It doesn't look like the Browns are in Clark Haggans' future, as he left Cleveland without a contract offer, according to Tony Grossi of the Plain Dealer. The Browns have already spent quite a bit of money in free agency and don't have a lot left to spend on a guy like Haggans. Unless Haggans gets low offers from the other teams he visits, including the Steelers, I don't expect him to be a part of our defense next season.
- Restructured Contracts: Both Willie McGinest and Andra Davis surrendered about $1 million to help the Browns' salary cap next season. While it's easy to say that giving up a million dollars isn't much for a football player, it's still a significant thing to do and it gives the Browns more flexibility to sign depth. Kudos to both players, especially since neither of them seem to have character issues either. In other words -- you'd never see a Joey Porter do that -- or maybe I'm just being a little biased towards players with on/off-the-field issues.
- Iron Orr: Linebacker Shantee Orr was signed to a contract after the Browns was unable to bring Chaun Thompson back. Although Orr finished the 2007-2008 campaign with the Jacksonville Jaguars, he spent the first five years of his career with the Houston Texans. He started nearly half the games he played in, with his best effort coming in 2005 when he had 50 tackles, 7 sacks, and 4 forced fumbles. Beyond that, he had several quiet seasons, much like Thompson has had the past couple of years. Still, I like bringing in players who had potential at some point -- it gives us something compelling to look for in training camp as a sleeper.
- Tree Sapp: I promise, no more play on names after this. The Browns made a reported offer to former Chiefs defensive back Benny Sapp, but he has left Cleveland to visit at least one more team before making a decision. We need another veteran cornerback, and although Sapp only has four years of experience, that's more than Eric Wright and Brandon McDonald have combined.
- Bentley/Baxter: Both LeCharles Bentley (center) and Gary Baxter (safety) are expected to be on the field when training camp begins. I feel like I've been saying that for two years.