In today's edition of Around the Pound, we take a look at trade rumors that began circulating a few days ago involving linebacker Chris Gocong, Tony Grossi's dismissal of veteran offensive linemen the Cleveland Browns might be interested in, Terry Pluto's Sunday column, and more.
Rumors of a Browns/Eagles Deal for Chris Gocong
Tommy Lawlor, who writes for Eagles Blitz and also is a contributing writer to the Philadelphia Eagles website, posted a tidbits regarding the Browns in his rumor mill a few days ago:
Cleveland is talking to the Eagles about Chris Gocong. Tom Heckert is the man who drafted Chris and Eric Mangini is the coach who coveted Gocong back in the 2006 draft. Chris actually thought he was going to be a Jet. He was caught off guard by the Eagles. We'll see if the teams can agree on compensation. Word is that the Eagles are hoping for a 4th round pick.
On Friday, Lawlor had an update regarding the situation on his blog:
Sounds like the Gocong deal might be on hold for now. Chances are that he will be dealt between now and the draft, but I think the Eagles and Browns are both trying to figure out exactly what they want to do before finalizing the trade. Scouts and coaches are working out players on a daily basis and that can affect the plans for next round of moves.
Mangini was quoted as having an interest in drafting Gocong a few years ago when he was the head coach of the New York Jets, so I certainly think there is some merit to the rumor. Perhaps this will be the type of trade we hear about as the draft is actually taking place. Gocong has been both a special teams contributor and a starting linebacker (primarily on the outside) for the Eagles and would seem to complement the current set of good-but-not-great linebackers on the roster. He could be competition to start in place of LB Kamerion Wimbley.
No Interest in Rob Sims or Shawn Andrews; Holmgren's OT Opinion
There had been rumors that the Browns might have an interest in Seahawks guard Rob Sims. According to Tony Grossi, that's not the case. In addition, the team isn't interested in acquiring OL Shawn Andrews either:
[The Browns] do not have a strong interest in Seattle guard Rob Sims, a Macedonia native, who is a restricted free agent. ... When Philadelphia released former No. 1 pick Shawn Andrews, an accomplished lineman, the natural assumption was that Browns GM Tom Heckert, who was GM when the Eagles drafted Andrews, would be interested. It's not so. Heckert is well-versed in Andrews' off-field issues with depression and injuries.
Team president Mike Holmgren also offered a word on the proposed overtime rule changes for the postseason:
"For example, [with the old format], if you get down to the 10-yard line, you kick the field goal and win the game," he said. "The new rule, you'd have to go for the touchdown. First [down] at the 7? Most teams now just don't want to lose the ball. But [with the new format], you're down to fourth and goal from the 2, what do you do?"
Either way, the big controversy surrounding the rule in my book would still be that it would only apply to the postseason.
Several Teams Were Interested in Wimbley
Again according to Grossi, several teams were interested in acquiring LB Kamerion Wimbley. The thing that turned them off was that he only had one year left on his contract, and it wasn't worth offering high compensation knowing that he would need a new deal so soon.
Our Cardinals SB Nation affiliate weighs in on the thought of missing out on Wimbley here.
Terry Pluto Wants to Hear From You
Check out the link above; the Plain Dealer's Terry Pluto is writing a book about the Browns on a variety of topics. I know we have some of the most knowledgeable Browns fans on the Internet here, so I encourage you to email him with your thoughts.
Of Pluto's football talk, this is the section that I'll quote today -- it's a citation of ESPN's K.C. Joyner on how the Jake Delhomme trade might work out better than most people think:
"As daunting as those figures are, a closer look shows that the Browns have a good chance of improving their interception total with Delhomme under center. Only five of Delhomme's picks last season were due to a bad decision on his part. Most of the others came as a result of tipped, dropped or inaccurate passes. That compares quite well to the seven interceptions that Quinn and Anderson threw as a result of bad decisions."
About the Recommended Comments
(Note: This section takes the place of the off-beat notes for today)
We all love seeing recommended comments, right? When the feature first came out to make a comment "go green," I set the requirement so that a comment would only need two "recs." That was fine when Dawgs By Nature first opened, because there were less commenters, and it really took a good/funny comment to "go green."
Lately, we've had a lot more traffic and I think a lot more posters are getting familiar with using the feature. Now, I've wondered if too many of the comments are going green even if they aren't necessarily worth it. I'm indifferent to the situation really, but I thought I'd put it to a vote. Please leave a vote, and then state your opinion in the comments section below as to how many "recs" you think should be required before a comment "goes green."