Written by Brian McPeek

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Blind Faith Time Already? 

I was going to get on this page and really educate and entertain all of the readers with my enthusiastic and learned defense of the Jake Delhomme signing. It was going to something like this: 

The Relevant and Deep Thoughts of Brian McPeek in Regard to Jake Delhomme 

I’m aware that many Browns fans vomited on themselves when they heard former Carolina QB Jake Delhomme was in Cleveland talking to the Browns. “He’s DA but older”, or “Are they trying to gather as bad a group of quarterbacks as have ever been assembled on one sideline?” were common thoughts on the subject.

 

And when it became known that he actually signed with the Browns it was even worse. But being as positive and optimistic as I am I actually thought it made sense. Why? 

1. Neither Brady Quinn nor Derek Anderson ever had a guy on the sideline that played the game at a high level, won and was willing to help them with reads and seeing things an NFL defense could present. Jake Delhomme is that guy. And he's got some games played and games won credibility unlike some rag-armed never-was like Ken Dorsey who was supposedly that Veteran- Mentor™ guy but who couldn't manage a huddle, a game clock or throwing a ball from one of your living room to the other end. 
    
   2. Delhomme costs next to nothing with Carolina paying the freight. Carolina, the fools that they are, renegotiated Delhomme’s contract about four minutes after his worst game as a professional in order to lock him up for at least three more years. In fact, Carolina still owes Delhomme over $12m over the next three seasons. $4m+ this year, $5m+ in 2011 and $3m+ in 2012.  
    
   3. When the Browns draft their next QB that kid's not walking into a dysfunctional situation and he's got a veteran to lean on and learn from because, by every account I've read, Delhomme is a great teammate and locker room presence. 
    
   Hey, when you get a humanitarian like Steve Smith to bleed, cry and swear undying allegiance to you after a 5 INT game you apparently know how to win friends and influence people.  
    
   So what about the “if-come”? You know, the ‘What Ifs”: 
    
   Doesn’t Delhomme Blow?- If fans thought Holmgren was going to be the man who could turn around Brady Quinn what's to say he can't help Delhomme get his handle back and at least be productive while he's providing #1 and #3 above? 
    
   Is it Possible Quinn Stays? If Quinn remains (and I highly doubt he will) he benefits from 1-3 above as well.

 

* Umm…on second thought, scratch that. I firmly believe Quinn may be headed to Denver for Peyton Hillis and a couple of late round picks.
 
Isn’t Delhomme Like 60 Years Old and Coming Off an Injury? If Delhomme is nothing but dust and ashes then see #2 above. 
 
This signing made sense from the second Delhomme was released in Carolina. And it fits with everything the Browns have done thus far in regard to grabbing smart, tough, aggressive leaders who provide a bad team with some veteran depth at critical leadership spots on the field. 
 
Every religion needs its ministers. The Church of Holmgren just signed another one of those guys in Jake Delhomme. 
 
Personally I think the Wallace deal was far more head scratching than this one. Part of me would like to see Quinn get a year with Holmgren and with Delhomme while you draft that young guy. Then you know for sure whether you had anything with BQ. 

So that’s pretty much the rationale I was going to use to dazzle all of you doubters and haters.  

Then I heard that the Browns contract offer to Delhomme was for $7million bones. “Hmmm…” I said, “That’s a lot of cake for Jake and his leadership/intangibles but I sure am glad that Carolina owes $4million of that number. Maybe with the uncapped year the Browns are willing to spend a few million to reverse the suck cycle and do things the right way”. 

(* I have three daughters and my internal sports dialogue is often lonely and rambling. So lay off.) 

So at about 1am last night I looked up exactly how much of that $7million Carolina got to claim as an offset and I almost dropped straight dead. There is no offset. Delhomme and his agent not only milked the Panthers for $12million guaranteed over the next three seasons but the Panthers get no offset from an additional contract he signs. 

I felt a lot of respect for Delhomme and his agent in treating the Panthers like a blow-up doll until I realized that the Browns had just given a guy with tons of intangibles but with a recently repaired arm and two straight rotten years under his belt $7million more dollars to sign with them. 

Then I felt like the blow-up doll. 

Do you realize Tom Brady earned just over $8million in salary last season? His cap number was $14m but he made a little over $8million. Carson Palmer and Ben Roethlisberger earned less money last season than Jake Delhomme worked the Browns and Panthers for this season. 

I don’t know whether to applaud the man’s business sense and balls or wind my watch.  

Look, I still love the intangibles Delhomme brings. I find a lot of value in that aspect of him being here. But not $7million worth of value. That’s crazy. Maybe in an uncapped year the Browns are willing to bite the bullet and make sure they have a healthy system and structure in place. I guess I’m okay with that too. But it doesn’t exactly ratchet up my confidence in the front office that couldn’t get a deal done for less money with a guy who had zero leverage and very few options. 

Seriously y’all, a weekly “Are You Effing Kidding Me” section or column is right around the corner. The only question is whether to include it here or whether there’s enough subject matter to support itself. I think I know the answer to that. 

Without Further Adieu- Are You Effing Kidding Me? 

Good news folks. Russell Branyan hopes to play catch today. That will be considered a return to baseball-like activities for the Indians big off-season free agency signing.  

Apparently millions of fathers and sons are equally as far along as Branyan in preparing for the 2010 MLB season. 

The Human Windmill is having issues with his back again and has been on the shelf all spring. Now he’s dealing with a rehabilitation program for a couple herniated discs that appears to have, in Branyan’s words, “plateaued”. 

Jesus, what the hell is a “plateaued” rehabilitation? It doesn’t even get past spell check. And who would have thought that after missing large parts of multiple seasons with injuries when he was younger that Branyan’s health may have been an even bigger issue as he got older? 

Umm…pretty much everyone with at least a kernel of common sense, that’s who.  

Hope springs eternal my ass. This was as dumb a move as this front office has made in years. And that’s saying something. 

I hope the kool-aid drinkers enjoy Branyan’s 10-12 tape measure home runs this season. Chicks dig the long ball. The Indians just consistently overpay for it. 

Are You Effing Kidding Me Again? 

Is there any team other than the Raiders more adept at turning 1^st round draft picks into future second day conditional picks than the Browns? From Courtney Brown and Gerard Warren to Kam Wimbley and Brady Quinn the Browns lead the league in not only missing on 1^st round picks but in missing them by distances greater than a Shaun Suisham 55-yard field goal attempt. 

And yes, I mentioned Kamerion Wimbley who was dealt to those Raiders for a third round selection in April’s draft. 

I didn’t do the research but hell; even the Raiders probably have a better track record with their picks. 

Alex Mack and Joe Thomas are the only two remaining 1^st round selections left from the last decade-plus of Browns drafts. 

I told you one could get a column or two out of AYEKM. 

Clean Sweep 

The Ohio State Buckeyes head into the NCAA Tournament with a big head of steam after taking down the Big10 conference tournament this past weekend. After close wins against Michigan and Illinois (a double-overtime thriller) the Buckeyes had a laugher in the finals where they just rolled Minnesota 90-61. 

Ohio State, a #2 seed, faces the 15^th-seeded University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) on Friday in Milwaukee in round number one. 

Ohio State may very well owe their Big10 title to Michigan Head Coach John Beilein, who on Friday saw his Wolverines holding a 2-point lead with just a couple ticks left on the clock and OSU in bounding under the Michigan basket. Beilein inexplicably allowed National Player of the Year winner Evan Turner to catch the inbound pass and sprint unimpeded to about 35-feet away where Turner buried a long three-pointer to give the Buckeyes the win.  

It was an exciting win regardless of the opponent. But that it came against a Michigan program that’s dying for any sort of win against Ohio State did make it that much sweeter. 

If Ohio State gets by UCSB next Friday they get the winner of Georgia Tech vs. Oklahoma State next Sunday for a trip to the Sweet 16. #1 overall seed Kansas does await OSU should both teams get that far but with Turner and a well-rounded supporting cast all things are possible for OSU. 

Bring Out Your Dead 

Anyone remember the scene in “Monty Python’s Holy Grail” when the cart was wheeled through town and the dead were collected and thrown onto the cart for a ride to infinity and beyond. There was the one old man who was thrown on the cart but who argued vehemently that he wasn’t dead yet? 

Well, that’s the Boston Celtics.  

Technically they are not dead. And theoretically they just may be waiting for the playoffs to start before expending whatever remaining air is in their lungs. But if they aren’t dead yet they sure are disinterested in the remaining 15 regular season games. The Cavs carried them for three quarters or so Sunday at ‘The Q’ but ultimately got bored with Boston’s token resistance and just put a bullet in their collective head in the 4^th quarter.  

It seems like a decade ago that Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett dominated a season from wire-to-wire. Guess there’s a price to be paid for those early portions of their career where they all accumulated a ton of miles while playing for rotten teams. 

They’re a dog that can occasionally bark at you but they seem way too lazy to actually get up off the floor and bite you. 

One distressful issue Sunday was the Cavaliers’ abominable free throw shooting. Specifically, Antawn Jamison, a career 73% free throw shooter, is under 50% since coming to Cleveland. That’s worrisome. But being your faithful ‘Glass is Half Full’ guy, I’m sticking with the theory that this is still a transitional period for Jamison. He’s not on cruise control out there yet and all the defensive schemes and responsibilities that he had no need for in Washington, as well as still being relatively new to the Cavs, is causing Jamison to think his way through games rather than rely on muscle memory and rhythm that will eventually display itself here. 

Still, at the end of the day you look at the score sheet and see Jamison with 15 points and a dozen boards and you realize he’s working it out there. I’ll take the double-double from the power forward every night for the next 3 months if he’s willing to give it.