Browns Free Agents

It's been a slow news weekend for the Browns, but here's an interesting little article from Cleveland.com. The most interesting thing that I took away from the article was the list of key players still on their roster, and their contract status. The Browns have fifteen "key players" that are not under contract for the 2011 season (assuming there is one.)

This list includes:
QB Seneca Wallace
RG Floyd Womack
FB Lawrence Vickers
RB Mike Bell
WR Chansi Stuckey
TE Evan Moore
DE Robaire Smith
DE Brian Schaefering
DE Jayme Mitchell
LB Matt Roth
LB Marcus Benard
LB Jason Trusnik
CB Eric Wright
S Abram Elam
K Phil Dawson

This list includes a lot of players that could help out our new defensive and offensive schemes, but there are some that surely won't be brought back. I would expect more cuts from the linebacking corps, since former coach Mangini chose to have so many on his roster and the new scheme doesn't rely as heavily on linebackers as Mangini's 3-4 defense. I would also expect some turnover at the quarterback position as coach Shurmur gets someone he is familiar with to mentor Colt McCoy. There have been rumors that Lawrence Vickers will not be brought back because he doesn't fit the West Coast offense that our team will be running, but surely his blocking abilities will be missed if he is not retained.

Until a new Collective Bargaining Agreement is ironed out between the owners and the NFL Players Association, don't expect much to be decided. Hopefully the CBA is put into place quickly so we can all get back to worrying about fun stuff, like free agency and the draft. Until then, we'll wait. As always, feel free to comment and check back soon.