Cleveland Browns general manager Tom Heckert spoke at the Akron Browns Backers banquet Monday night, and members of the local media, including Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal, were there to cover it. A more detailed transcript of what Heckert said in his question and answer session can be found here, but there's no question that he was being a straight shooter when it came to discussing things like bringing back Eric Steinbach, moving Sheldon Brown to safety, or whether a veteran defensive tackle is needed.
Do you need to add a veteran defensive tackle in the meantime?: "No, we’re really happy with the guys we have, especially the two guys we drafted."
Will you bring back left guard Eric Steinbach?: "We haven’t discussed it, so I can’t answer it. But we haven’t completely said no. We haven’t really talked about it, to be honest with you."
Neither one seems like a surprise. As much of a feel-good story as it would be for Steinbach to return to dominant form, the team has moved on with their youngsters (Shawn Lauvao and Jason Pinkston) and want to enhance their development with more playing time. At defensive tackle, if Taylor is going to be back, they can develop a pair of young defensive tackles while he's out.
Will Sheldon Brown stay at cornerback or move to free safety?: "Sheldon Brown is never going to play safety, unless some disaster happens. So you can put that to bed right now. He’s not a safety, he’s a corner. If disaster struck in a game and he had to play, maybe. He’s not a safety."
The direct answer here is somewhat surprising, but then again, the front office really didn't add a top cornerback in the offseason. To say that he'll "never" play safety unless an in-game emergency arises? That tells me the team has no intentions of moving him as long as he is a member of the Browns.