FanHouse Seanjones

On Friday, the Oakland Raiders released safety Gibril Wilson, defensive end Kalimba Edwards and wide receiver Ronald Curry, saving the team about $6 million against the 2009 salary cap.

Think back to last offseason when owner Al Davis, in an effort to return his once proud franchise to glory, was signing blank checks with a stamp and passing them out to second-tier free agents like it was the fashionable thing to do. A year later, it's becoming obvious as to how much of a total failure the offseason was.

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.

With news surfacing today that Romeo Crennel could be out of a job at the end of the season (I'll wait for you to regain the feeling in your knees), some of his players have defended the "head coach" even though, you know, he isn't very good.

Crennel has coached the Browns for four straight seasons, and has just one winning record (10-7 in 2007) to go along with two seasons where he combined to win 10 games (6-10 in '05, 4-12 in '04). This season, Crennel had basically the same personal but has won just four games thus far, with only one of those coming against a potential playoff team.

I guess you can disregard any of those pesky "stats" when talking about him as a coach, as his players don't want him gone.

"It's not the coach's fault," Shaun Smith said. "It's the player's fault. You can't say he's losing the locker room. We have to hold ourselves accountable."

"We are going to do everything we can to fight for Romeo," Sean Jones said. "We have to play as a team, because it's a team game."

While you have to love the commitment here by the players for Crennel, they are basically just saying the right things when it is obvious a coaching change is needed. Romeo decided to bench Derek Anderson three weeks ago for Brady Quinn, yet pulled the second-year quarterback this past week, making Boy Wonder a little peeved with the coach.

The Browns are done. All that's let to decide is if Brady Quinn can handle the full-time quarterbackin' duties, and who the organization should pursue after they fire Romeo Crennel. The entire season has been a disaster, starting with the never-ending staph infection saga, Kellen Winslow's frequent outbursts, Jamal Lewis identifying all the quitters in the locker room, and management's futile efforts to act as if it's business as usual in Berea.

With that as a backdrop, last week Crennel announced that there could be some changes in the starting lineup, although he declined to offer specifics. Apparently, one option is to rotate players at three positions: inside and outside linebacker and safety.

The news doesn't thrill Sean Jones, safety:

You've got questions. I've got answers. If not, I'll make them up. Each Thursday at 1 p.m. EST, I answer your queries on all things related to the NFL. If you have a question, send it over to NFLMailbag@aol.com. Don't forget to include your name and location. Click here for the archives. Rock'n'roll.

How will the Jacksonvile offensive be affected by the loss of both starting offensive guards? Is the running force with Freddie and MJD gonna be slowed down?
- Michael Gus, Kissimmee, FL

It, um, doesn't really look good now that Vince Manuwai and Maurice Williams have both been placed on the IR. I really like Fred Taylor, and was glad to see him get the recognition he's deserved last year, but he is 32, and he and Maurice Jones-Drew really struggled against a physical Titans team. Which is a troublesome sign, as the Jaguars have built an identity on being a physical team on both sides of the ball. But if you take away that dimension to their offense, things don't look very good, especially if Jerry Porter's bum hammy keeps rearing its ugly head. Do you really trust David Garrard to carry a team for an entire season if the Jaguars can't get their run game figured out? I certainly don't. And the Jags face some physical defenses this year in Buffalo, Tennessee again, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Chicago, Green Bay, and Baltimore.

Troubles continue for the Browns safety Sean Jones, who will be forced to have arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, but will not be placed on the injured reserve.

Jones recorded five tackles in the Browns debut against the Cowboys, but couldn't push aside the swelling in his knee that has plagued him all preseason.

Coach Romeo Crennel made the announcement today and said that Jones will not be placed on injured reserve and that the Browns plan to have him back this season.

Jones first suffered swelling in the knee in the preseason opener against the Jets and experienced it again the following week against the Giants. Jones sat out the final two preseason games, but suffered the swelling again after Sunday's 28-10 loss to the Cowboys.

The Browns are already shopping for another option at safety, with Jones out and Brodney Pool still recovering from a nasty concussion.

Fellow safety Pool might return from a concussion this week, meaning Mike Adams would start in place of Jones. If Pool is still out, Adams and Nick Sorensen would be the starting safeties.

The Browns will have to get some things together fast as they play face a team that some consider the AFC favorite after the Tom Brady injury, the Pittsburgh Steelers, on Sunday night.

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

The Steelers dreams of getting all their stars healthy for the Patriots game has been squashed apparently. Troy Polamalu will likely miss his fourth game of the season when the Steelers face the Patriots. His injured knee swelled up after Wednesday's practice and he has been unable to go in practice in either day since then.

Thankfully the Steelers should get wide receiver Santonio Holmes and left tackle Marvel Smith back, but without Polamalu, some of Dick LeBeau's most exotic blitz packages will probably have to go back on the shelf. Tyrone Carter has done a pretty good job of filling in for Polamalu, but obviously it's hard to fully replace a perennial Pro Bowler.

Speaking of the Pro Bowl, Polamalu currently leads the AFC strong safeties in voting for the postseason game. It's a fair question to wonder if he really deserves the spot this year--he's going to miss at least 25 percent of the season, and his stats (42 tackles, no interceptions and no sacks) aren't exactly gaudy. Polamalu's impact on the Steelers defense is more significant than his stats indicate--he helps set up other players for sacks by absorbing blocks on blitzes, but it's hard to argue that his season is more deserving than say Cleveland strong safety Sean Jones (71 tackles, four interceptions) or Colts strong safety Bob Sanders (73 tackles, 2.5 sacks, one interception).

But if there is a bright side to Polamalu's absence, it does mean that whatever defenses the Patriots see in this Sunday's game will likely be dramatically different from the defenses the Steelers run in a potential playoff rematch.

I don't know if Steve McNair was just so bad that we all expected Kyle Boller to be an upgrade by default or what, but not much has changed in Baltimore. With the Browns leading 20-14 late in the third quarter and the Ravens driving, well, just watch:



To be fair, the longest interception return for six in Browns history isn't all on Boller. Safety Sean Jones went untouched on the blitz, which means somebody on the Ravens missed a blocking assignment, or head coach Brian Billick's offensive wizardry doesn't account for safety blitzes. I'll go with the latter.

Long term, this only reinforces the fact that Baltimore needs a) a head coach, and b) a quarterback. And no, Derek Anderson ain't walkin' through that door. Although we could see Troy Smith sooner than anybody expected.

Note: Pay special attention to Browns defensive lineman Robaire Smith absolutely obliterating Ravens guard Ben Grubbs. That's going to leave a mark.

The Browns' defense is on pace to give up 80 touchdown passes this season. Unless you're the Bengals, that's not good. Predictably, head coach Romeo Crennel wasn't all that psyched at the prospect of shattering such a dubious record:

'I don't think there are ever any legitimate reasons for giving up touchdowns, particularly the number we have given up in two games,'' Crennel said. ''It's not very good and we're going to have to do a whole lot better.''

That's an understatement. Last year, Cleveland surrendered 20 touchdowns through the air, and according to Football Outsiders, the pass defense ranked 15th. Surprisingly, the Browns are only the fourth-worst pass defense this season, ahead of the Jets, Saints and Giants.

Part of the problem is the secondary: safeties Brodney Pool and Sean Jones are long on ability but short on experience. Rookie cornerback Eric Wright has been forced into duty because Gary Baxter is recovering from knee injuries. Plus, the inability of Cleveland's front seven to generate a pass rush -- the team has two sacks in two games -- doesn't help matters.

Things should get better before they get worse -- the Browns face the Raiders this week, and the Ravens the next. But on October 7, the team travels to New England. If something doesn't give -- an improved Browns pass defense, or a regressing-to-normal Patriots' offense -- those 80 predicted touchdowns could be a conservative estimate.