The Cleveland Browns signed Head Coach Romeo Crennel to a two-year contract extension this week, rewarding him for the Browns' surprising 10-6 season.
I'm not a fan of Coach Crennel, so I'm not all that excited about this move. In fact, I'm not sure that he'll even finish that contract. The Browns had a great year, but there are two reasons I'm pessimistic about their fantasy value next season.
And if a small sampling of Cleveland's locker room is any indication, the Browns are divided.
"I don't believe there's a quarterback controversy," wide receiver Joe Jurevicius said. "I don't buy into that. I just think Derek Anderson's our man."
A few feet away, tight end Kellen Winslow seemed to side with Quinn.
"We drafted the guy," he said. "He's probably going to play. Derek's a great guy, but that's just the way this business works."
The second one is this:
I don't think the Derek Anderson-Brady Quinn situation is going to go away peacefully. I don't think there will be open warfare in the locker room, but Crennel completely botched the QB situation last season, yanking Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson around for the entire preseason and most of the first game. He's a terrible manager of quarterbacks.
I also don't like Jamal Lewis as a fantasy running back next season. Now I know it sounds stupid to criticize somebody who ran for 1300+ yards this year, but I think Lewis is a serious 2008 Bust of the Year candidate. He had fewer than 70 rushing yards in eight games. In four of those games he finished with fewer than 40 rushing yards. You can rave about his four touchdown game, but I look at his totals in that game (20 carries for 37 yards) and see bad things.
The Browns will be a team looking at a QB controversy, with a bad QB coach running the team and an overrated running back. Things could (and probably will) change over the summer, but right now I'm feeling blue about the Browns.