FanHouse TravisDaniels

It was nearly a year ago that then-Browns lost cornerback Daven Holly blew out his knee in organized team activities. He missed the 2008 season, and his absence, along with Gary Baxter never working out in Cleveland, meant the team had to rely on Brandon McDonald and Eric Wright.

Both were second-year players, and although Wright showed promise, McDonald was out his depth from the start. I wouldn't argue that losing Holly opened the flood gates on a four-win season -- Derek Anderson misfiring balls all over the yard gets the blue ribbon for that -- but it didn't help, either.

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.

In the wake of the Browns' demoralizing loss to the Broncos nearly two weeks ago, cornerback Brandon McDonald, who played a big part in the outcome, looked to be headed to the bench.

Well, when Cleveland took the field on Monday night in Buffalo, Travis Daniels, acquired during training camp from the Dolphins, took the field while McDonald watched from the sidelines. It didn't last long -- one play, in fact -- before McDonald returned, and the embattled cornerback went on to have arguably the best game of his career.

He intercepted Trent Edwards in the first quarter (turns out, Edwards was in a very giving mood on Monday, but, hey, it still counts), and made several huge plays in the second half. The lesson: sometimes losing your job is a good thing (J.P. Losman surely disagrees):

John Beck remains in Miami, but his teammate up to about 20 minutes ago is now a Cleveland Brown. Cornerback Travis Daniels was sent to the great state of Ohio to bolster the Browns' almost-non-existent secondary and the Dolphins got an undisclosed draft pick for their troubles.

MDS at PFT writes that Daniels, a 2005 fourth-round pick and Nick Saban favorite, started just six games in '06 and five games last season and was in danger of getting cut in the coming weeks. Browns general manager Phil Savage couldn't wait around for that to happen, however; the team's secondary is in shambles, beset by injuries and inexperience. So while Daniels provides a warm body, it comes at a cost.

If the compensation is from the 2009 draft, it means the Browns will be without three choices in next year's draft. The team previously had surrendered its third-round and fifth-round selections to move up in 2008 for Martin Rucker and Paul Hubbard, respectively....

The Browns' backup cornerbacks have not exactly sparkled in training camp and two exhibition games and starter Eric Wright was victimized Monday night by the New York Giants' fifth-string receiver.

Next up: getting Joshua Cribbs and Derek Anderson healthy. And finding a way to keep the opponent's first team from hanging 30 on you is sorta important, too.

In addition to the indignity that goes along with starting the season 0-8, Dolphins players also hear about it from everybody once they leave their day jobs.

'I hear it all the time. Almost every day,'' said cornerback Travis Daniels, who went to high school at Hollywood South Broward and so has more friends, family and general familiarity around South Florida than most Dolphins.

''It's from everybody. They don't consider your feelings. They just get straight up on you,'' Daniels said. Although he admitted, 'Nothing is too cold. Everything's pretty much like, `When are y'all going to win a game? What's the problem?' Stuff like that. Nothing you take to heart.''

Defensive end Matt Roth admits to not leaving the house much, but when he has the occasion so see people he knows, it's invariably met with some form of: "C'mon, man, what's wrong with you guys?!' '' Nice.

Safety Jason Allen gets all philosophical: ''I can't let the next person dictate what I can or can't do...' Well, except for Nick Saban, of course.

Good news, though: today could be the day. The Dolphins host the Bills and this might be their next-to-last chance to eke out a win (Miami hosts the Jets in three weeks). Unfortunately, the Bills are on a three-game winning streak and are in second place in the division, so it might be a bit premature to bust out the bubbly just yet. But that'll make the December 2 Jets matchup all the more intriguing. And by "intriguing" I mean, "positioning yourself for a run at the first-overall pick next April."