FanHouse Cleveland Browns

With a bevy of big name coaches likely ready-for-hire heading into the 2010 season, in addition to a lot of really poor NFL teams in 2009, we can expect rumors to be swirling all over the place for the rest of this season and on into the offseason. Thus, it's not surprising to see Mike Holmgren mentioned as a possibility. Of course, most thought he'd have to at least wait until next season to get involved.

According to Adam Shefter of ESPN, Holmgren may not have to wait. Shefter reports that the Browns want to hire Holmgren as their vice president of football operations -- similar to the role Bill Parcells has with Miami -- and that the job is immediately Holmgren's for the taking.

Once Jamal Lewis returned to his hometown of Atlanta on Wednesday night, things looked the same from afar. Yes, he is retiring after this season. No, it was not an instant decision based on the Cleveland Browns' 30-6 loss at the Chicago Bears last Sunday -- after which Lewis announced his NFL exit plans.

He left the University of Tennessee after three seasons and the Baltimore Ravens after a Super Bowl XXXV championship and seven seasons. This third season with the Browns gives him 10 full NFL years.

Cleveland is 1-7, but Lewis said his choice would be the same if his team was 7-1.

And though the Browns have a bye this week and Lewis, 30, has quiet time to reconsider, he said he will not.

When Art Modell fled for Baltimore with his Cleveland Browns, the NFL's consolation prize was the new Browns, complete with colors, history and Dawg Pound.

If the NFL had known what it had created, it might have forced Modell to stay. Because a decade after the Browns were reborn, they remain one of the two or three worst franchises in the NFL, a status reaffirmed on Monday when George Kokinis, the newly hired general manager, was asked to leave 10 months after he was hired.

Why? He hadn't done anything anyway, other than stand by and watch as Eric Mangini, who failed as the New York Jets' coach, traded away impact players or guys with potential for a bundle of mediocre ex-Jets.

But the record speaks for itself.

It's often said that a team with two quarterbacks really doesn't have any. With that spirit in mind, FanHouse will keep you updated weekly on NFL teams facing potential quarterback controversies.

Stubbornness sometimes pays off. The Carolina Panthers found this out on Sunday.

One week after giving up on the run way too easily in a loss to Buffalo, the Panthers mercilessly pounded Arizona's run defense into the ground, and their reward was an easy win. Of course, it doesn't mean Jake Delhomme has magically turned his season around. It just means the Panthers have found a way to hide him, while keeping him on the field. Delhomme is off our magical list for now, but other shaky starters aren't so lucky.

George Kokinis has been removed as general manager of the 1-7 Browns, the team confirmed in a statement Monday night.

Multiple news organizations, including the Cleveland Plain Dealer and WKYC-TV reported earlier that the Browns had made a move in the front office, and that Kokinis' short tenure with the team was believed to be over. Head coach Eric Mangini, who received the support of team owner Randy Lerner on Sunday, hand-picked Kokinis as GM in January.

---

---

MDS pointed out on Twitter on Sunday that people bemoan the Raiders' state as a team too often, when there are far worse franchises out there. Case in point: the Cleveland Browns, who reportedly escorted GM George Kokinis off of the team premises and have now fired him.

Update: The Browns have issued a statement saying that Kokinis is no longer an "active member of the organization" but are denying the reports that Kokinis was escorted from the building. I stand behind my final two paragraphs below.

The Plain Dealer first reported that Kokinis was removed from the premises by Browns' human resources personnel, although it could not confirm that he had been fired. TheOBR.com, Scout's Browns site, reported later Monday evening that Kokinis was indeed axed (and Jay Glazer has cited sources that believe Kokinis was fired as well).

However, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio received an e-mail from Browns' PR Director Neal Gulkis that said, "I have not heard anything."

After yet another embarrassing beatdown for his Browns -- this time a 30-6 loss at the hands of the Chicago Bears -- Eric Mangini received a vote of confidence, at least for the remainder of this season. Randy Lerner, owner of the Browns, indicated he isn't willing to dismiss Mangini right now, but admitted to the Associated Press that he is "sick" about the state of his franchise.

Even if Mangini's safe, Lerner did express interest in making one change -- he wants to bring in a football-tested authority figure to help run the franchise. The way he's phrasing everything, it sounds like he wants to hire someone in the Bill Parcells-in-Miami mold.

Jamal Lewis told reporters following the Browns' loss to the Bears Sunday afternoon that he is planning to retire after the 2009 season. Yes, I know what you're thinking: "Woah. Jamal Lewis is still playing football?"

But he is.

And apparently, this will be his final season -- after telling reporters of his intentions, he also added "I mean what I say" which, presumably, is to ward off the possibility of people mistaking him for Brett Favre.

BEREA, Ohio (AP) -- One of the most loyal Dawg Pounders is done barking about the sad state of his beloved Cleveland Browns. It's time to bite.

Lifelong Browns fan and season-ticket holder Mike Randall, aka "Dawg Pound Mike," is encouraging other Cleveland fans to stay away from their seats for the opening kickoff of the Browns' Nov. 16 home game against Baltimore.

Sickened by the nearly constant losing since the NFL team's return in 1999, Randall hopes the sight of empty seats for the start of the nationally televised Monday night game will send a loud message to owner Randy Lerner and club officials that fans have had enough.

It's often said that a team with two quarterbacks really doesn't have any. With that spirit in mind, FanHouse will keep you updated weekly on NFL teams facing potential quarterback controversies.

Some teams are entirely too stubborn. Not only will they leave bad quarterbacks in to take mental and physical beatings, but they'll insist on running offensive plays that don't seem to take the team's strengths into account, oftentimes leaning way too much on a struggling quarterback to make plays. As the Carolina Panthers and Cleveland Browns (among others) have now learned, this is a recipe for disaster.

---

---