"The Sunday Five" is a loosely-titled piece where I talk about five NFL- or Browns-related topics related to this past week. In today's edition, we take a look at some fantasy football news and the all-important end to the lockout this week.
Tomorrow, I will officially reveal the provider that SB Nation has decided to go with for the official leagues this year. I haven't decided yet if there will be any open spots this year (beyond the promised one spot), or if all of the teams will be brought back. Usually it is easy to kick out a team due to inactivity, but last year everyone stayed active the duration of the season.
This has been a terrible year to preview training camp as a person covering the Browns. The only thing we could really do was take an extended look at our own team's free agents, something I really spaced out so that some of them would come right before the lockout ended (we've got Eric Wright and a few backup safeties to close things out). By this time last year, we were able to look at everyone on the roster and do other neat little previews like predicting roster shockers. That's impossible to do now, because besides our rookies, there really isn't anyone "new" to the team yet.
One thing I hope the Browns are able to schedule still is the Family Fun Day at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Last year, it took place on August 7th, a Saturday, at 1:00 PM EST. If it happens this year, I'd expect a similar situation where it takes place a week before the Browns' first preseason game, which takes place on August 13th. I'm not so optimistic that it will occur though. Although entry would be free, the fun day was scheduled more than a month in advance in past seasons. If it were scheduled this year, there would only be a week or so of preparation time, and the coaches might rather focus on establishing the basics of the West Coast Offense and 4-3 defense versus putting on a fun-filled show for the fans.
The Browns' front office previously said they would not be as active in free agency as they were last year, but what that means remains to be seen. That could simply mean the Browns won't make as many moves, but I don't think it precludes the team from signing one big-time free agent. Cleveland could be $38.7 million under the cap if they release Jake Delhomme. That number will shrink some when they re-sign some of their own players and draft picks, but they'll still have a good chunk of change they'll have to spend to meet cap requirements.
The Cleveland Indians were rolling earlier this season, making it easy to forget about the lockout. They are struggling now due to several key injuries, but thankfully I can look forward to training camp starting in the next week or two to give me a pick-me-up.