FanHouse AndraDavis

On the first day of free agency, the Broncos landed wideout Jabar Gaffney and long snapper Lonnie Paxton, both formerly of the Patriots. New head coach Josh McDaniels also wasted little time in shoring up one of the league's worst defenses a season ago: Denver inked safeties Renaldo Hill and Brian Dawkins.

And today, the rebuilding process continues: according to Denver's CBS4, defensive tackle Darrell Reid and linebacker Andra Davis have also been signed.

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

After 2007 brought the the Browns their first 10-win season in 13 years, expectations were exceedingly high heading into 2008. The team didn't change much, the core group of guys were back and they had a legitimate shot at making the playoffs. However, a quarterback carousel, a coach that never seemed to be the right fit and continued inconsistency on both ends led to a 4-12 season and a lot of "back to the drawing board" talk.

Eric Mangini is now the head honcho for the Browns and with that comes a lot of (warranted or not) expectations from the former Jets guru.

Last week, Browns running back Jamal Lewis rips his teammates for quitting against the Denver Broncos last Thursday night. Some of those teammates agree with Lewis.

"When you have a team like that that comes into our house and we're capable of beating them, that's the first thing that comes to mind,'' wide receiver Josh Cribbs said Monday. "We can't figure out what man, but that's what it looked like -- some guys quit. ... We know if everybody didn't quit, we would have won that ballgame.''

"[Lewis'] input is very valuable to this team,'' Browns linebacker and team captain Andra Davis said. "So if he says something like that, then guys really need to check their egos."

Cleveland became just the fifth NFL team to ever lose back-to-back games in which they held at least a 13-point lead in the second half. Two weeks ago, they gave up 24 unanswered points to the Baltimore Ravens. Last Thursday, the Browns gave up three TD passes in the fourth quarter in their 34-30 loss to Denver.

It is obvious that this has gotten away from head coach Romeo Crennel. There is nothing worse for a coach than to have your players quitting on you.

Running back Willis McGahee and company might have thought the eye laceration during the win over the Browns was intentional, but the NFL thought otherwise.

Head coach John Harbaugh said that they thought the hit was intentional and were sending the video to the league for review after McGahee left the game with a badly cut eyelid. Harbaugh said he didn't feel like mentioning the player in question, but did give us the option of seeing ourselves.

"I don't think we should say," he said. "I wouldn't want to comment on it, but you can see it on the tape."

On a 7-yard carry to Cleveland's 1-yard line in the third quarter, McGahee came up bleeding after a tackle by Browns linebacker Andra Davis, who appeared to get his hand caught inside McGahee's visored helmet while being blocked to the ground by Ravens tackle Jared Gaither.

McGahee got up and immediately headed to the sideline with blood dripping down his face. His right eye is still swollen and he has been limited in practice this week as the Ravens prepare for a Monday night game against Pittsburgh.

Every week I take a look at the line play in one NFL game. Check back every week for a new Between The Lines.

The NFL loves to make its game seem extremely complex, and sometimes it is. We hear about 300-page playbooks, 22-word play calls and marathon film sessions.

But then you watch a game like the Browns-Steelers game on Sunday night, and you get reminded that at times football is simply a matter of lining up and seeing who can win the man-on-man battle.

Admittedly, the Steelers-Browns game wasn't one that set offensive records, but if you focused on the line play, it was clear that the Steelers came into the game with the belief that their offensive line, as maligned as it has been, was better than the Browns' front seven. Then they went out to try to prove it.

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is right around the corner, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterback: A year ago at this time,Charlie Frye was the man. That lasted about 10 minutes into the Week 1 Steelers game before Derek Anderson came on in relief, and, well, you saw how things turned out. Anderson led Cleveland to 10 wins, and made the Pro Bowl, but faces pressure to exceed last year's surprising performance. I think he'll be fine, but if he falters, Brady Quinn will be eagerly awaiting his shot. Heat Index: 7

Running backs: Jamal Lewis was left for dead, at least in the professional sense, when the Ravens decided to "move in another direction" last offseason. Lewis signed a short-term deal with the Browns and proceeded to rush for more than 1,300 yards. He now has a new contract and will run behind one of the most underrated o-lines in the AFC. Heat Index: 7

Receivers: Prior to Donte' Stallworth putting out a hit on No. 1 wide receiver Braylon Edwards, these were some of the best pass-catchers in the conference. Actually, Edwards should be fine, and even with Joe Jurevicius on the mend, it's a talented group of big-play threats. And although he listed as a tight end on the depth chart, Kellen Winslow in No. 1A after Edwards. Heat Index: 9

I can fully understand why players decide they want to re-negotiate their contracts just two or three years after signing a new deal (the market changes, their value increases, etc.). And while I usually side with players on matters of money, I'm having a hard time getting behind Josh Cribbs' recent demand.

The Browns signed him to a six-year deal in Nov., 2006. Apparently, a new agent has convinced Cribbs that this is the right thing to do:

The catalyst behind it is a new four-year deal recently signed by Devin Hester that reportedly guarantees the Chicago Bears return specialist $15 million and could net him a maximum of $40 million.

Like I said, I'm all for "get while the gettin' is good," but there are bigger issues than Cribbs wanting a raise less than two years into his current deal, and just because Hester signed a new contract. The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Tony Grossi explains:

FanHouser Larry Brown wrote earlier this week that the 3-3 Browns are already talkin' playoffs. After a Week 1 blowout at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland won three of five -- including two division victories -- though an argument could be made that they gave away the Week 3 game in Oakland. Their only other loss was to New England, and the Browns gave them their toughest game of the season.

"This team is way better than the 2002 team. Way better," linebacker Andra Davis said Wednesday. "I think that team got a lot of good fortune. This team here can make it on its own."

But is this team better than the '02 version? Football Outsiders ranked that Browns team 16th overall (25th on offense, 10th on defense). Through six games, the 2007 Browns are 18th (12th on offense, 30th on defense).

It's in the reach of the team, as long as we go out and play better than the first six games," running back Jamal Lewis said. Obviously, the defense could stand some improvement, but here's the good news: Cleveland's remaining schedule ranks 27th easiest in the league. If Derek Anderson continues to play like Bernie Kosar sans perm, and the defense can minimize the big plays, the Browns will have a shot at the playoffs. And that's a lot more than anybody expected after Week 1.