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Joe Haden likes cornerback Patrick Peterson, receiver A.J. Green in NFL draft: Cleveland Browns Insider
Published: Saturday, February 26, 2011, 1:15 AM
By Mary Kay Cabot, The Plain Dealer


INDIANAPOLIS — Browns cornerback Joe Haden, a finalist for NFL Rookie of the Year, would be thrilled if the Browns could land either premier cornerback Patrick Peterson of LSU or top receiver A.J. Green of Georgia with the No. 6 pick in the draft.

"If Patrick gets all the way to No. 6, for sure we should get him," said Haden, who tied for fifth in the NFL with six interceptions. "It would almost be a no-brainer. The more talent the better. He's definitely a top-five talent. I've watched him and I really like him."

Browns General Manager Tom Heckert said the Browns wouldn't hesitate to take Peterson at No. 6 a year after picking Haden at No. 7.

"If there's a really good one, you're not gonna pass on him," Heckert said. "So I think corner is just as good a possibility as anything. I go back to Philadel phia, where we had Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor, two Pro Bowl corners. We drafted Lito [Sheppard] and Sheldon [Brown] one, two in the same draft. I wouldn't have any problem with that. I mean you've got to have three corners."

Haden, in a phone interview, said the 6-0, 220-pound corner has little downside.

"Patrick is fast, strong, he can jump, and he's an excellent cover corner," Haden said. "On top of that, his special teams play is amazing. He can punt return, kick return. If he's on the board at No. 6, it'd be a great upgrade for us. Me, T.J. Ward and Patrick in the secondary would be crazy."

Haden is also high on Green, whom he played against while at Florida.

"He was the best receiver I played against," Haden said. "He was tall, long and fast. Even though he's fast, he still has really good feet coming out of his breaks. He can go deep and he catches everything. He's a talent."

Haden likes Peterson and Green so much that he doubts they'll be there at No. 6.

"I'd be very surprised," he said.

Haden said secondary coach Jerome Henderson, a holdover from Eric Mangini's staff, told him the new defense is less complicated. "He said we'll be able to play a lot faster because there's a lot less to think about," said Haden.

Tenders coming: Heckert said the Browns will tender most of their four-to-six year veterans, making them restricted free agents. The players affected include linebacker D'Qwell Jackson, fullback Lawrence Vickers, cornerback Eric Wright, and safety Abe Elam. It's unclear if the tenders will hold up under a new collective bargaining agreement.


Dawson mum: Heckert has no idea if kicker Phil Dawson plans to sign his franchise tender, which will be for about $3.25 million. Dawson wanted to test the market and seemed primed for a fresh start.

"I have not talked to him," Heckert said. "I've tried to get a hold of him. I've spoken to his agent."

He said the Browns would love to sign him to a multiyear deal.

"Any time we've got a guy that we like and we want, we'd love to have him longterm," he said.


Wallace coveted: Heckert and coach Pat Shurmur want to re-sign Seneca Wallace, who's set to become an unrestricted free agent. Wallace said he wants a chance to start somewhere. They also said they wouldn't rule out having both Wallace and Jake Delhomme back. Delhomme would most likely have to take a pay cut from his $5.4 million base salary.

"We haven't had this discussion with Jake," Heckert said. "That will be something down the road that we talk to him about."

Heckert can and might talk to Wallace and other unrestricted free agents before the CBA expires Thursday.

"We want Seneca back. He knows that. I think he's at least open to it. So we'll have to wait and see," Heckert said. "He got a chance to play and played pretty well and got hurt."

Added Shurmur: "I'm a Seneca fan. He's a West Coast quarterback. I'm not thinking just about the wildcat. He can line up under center. He's done it for a lot of years in this system."

Heckert said it's not "super far out" to bring back both Wallace and Delhomme. "If not, you have to find another one," he said.

Shurmur said he likes Delhomme in the mentoring role for Colt McCoy.

"I saw it in St. Louis. A.J. Feely was outstanding for Sam Bradford," he said.

"When I had the chance to meet Jake, I sensed that. What I know about Jake, he's an outstanding person."


Jackson wanted: Heckert said the Browns want D'Qwell Jackson back despite season-ending pectoral injuries the past two years. The Browns are expected to restrict him for the second straight year. He said Jackson is better suited to the 4-3, which the Browns are switching to.

"I think he is and I think D'Qwell feels that way," he said. "He can play either one, a 4-3's probably better for him. He's not a huge guy inside. In a 4-3 he can play [middle linebacker] or [strongside linebacker]. He's just better suited body-type."

On Green: Heckert acknowledged a lot of teams pass on receivers in the top 10 because of the bust-factor. But Heckert and Shurmur didn't rule out Green, a potential gamebreaker.

"Explosive players on offense are what you're looking for," Shurmur said. "Obviously, he fits in that explosive player category."


Pashos set: Heckert said the Browns are set at right tackle with Tony Pashos, who went on injured reserve Oct. 20 with an ankle injury.

"We like Tony, we really do," Heckert said. "I thought Tony played really, really well before he got hurt. Tony's our starter."

Double H backfield: Shurmur said he can see Peyton Hillis and Montario Hardesty together in the backfield. "Obviously in traditional two-back sets you can have two halfbacks in there which we did quite a bit in Philadelphia when we had Correll Buckhalter and Brian Westbrook. You can still run traditional I-formation-type plays but use them and utilize them as either runners or pass-receivers."

He said both the tailback and fullback will need to have good hands.

Kelce ill: University of Cincinnati center Jason Kelce, a native of Cleveland Heights, suffered a bad case of stomach flu Monday that derailed his combine.

Kelce said he lost 15 pounds, dropping him to 280 on his official weigh-in, and had to cancel his bench-press Friday. He hopes to get some food down and be able to run for scouts today.

Kelce said teams assured him he won't lose his draft status as long as he recovers his strength and can work out at his pro day.

"Pretty much the worst [time to get sick]," Kelce said. "What I'm hearing from most teams is as long as I put the weight back on and work out at my pro day, it won't be a setback."

Scouting services project Kelce as a late-round pick.

http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2011/02/joe_haden_likes_cornerback_pat.html

Interesting...

Haden/Peterson/Wright/Brown/Ward...

WOW...Me thinks Elam's job just got a little easier...lol...

Tenders...Wright/Vickers/DQ...

We'd be wise to see what Jackson can do in a 4-3...

Jackson/Fujita/Gocong...hmmmm...

With Wright tendered...We'd be OK even without Peterson...

With DQ tendered...We'd be OK at LB too...

Add a Dareus/Bowers on the DL and a FA...Good start...

Browns talk to Cleveland media

By Matt Florjancic, ClevelandBrowns.com Staff Writer

Posted 16 hours ago

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INDIANAPOLIS, IN---Browns General Manager Tom Heckert joined Coach Pat Shurmur for a brunch press conference with the Cleveland media.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN---While the quarterbacks, wide receivers and running backs held their press conferences at Lucas Oil Stadium, Browns head coach Pat Shurmur and general manager Tom Heckert held a brunch with the Cleveland media at the team hotel in downtown Indianapolis.

During the nearly hour-long session, Heckert and Shurmur both addressed this weekend’s Scouting Combine and the NFL Draft, which will be held April 28-30 at New York City’s famed Radio City Music Hall.

“Philosophically, we’re picking No. 6 and we feel we’re going to get a tremendous football player," Shurmur said. "Obviously, there’s some great players that’ll be available for us at No. 6. As far as picking guys high at certain positions, I don’t think that’s an issue. If you can find a great player and he’s at the spot where you’re willing to pick him, let’s do it.

“As a head coach, I think it’s important that we get the best players and when we come out of this draft, as it stands right now, let’s get seven really good players that are going to be major contributors and guys that are going to be with us for a long time," he added. "If we can do this, then, I think we’re moving forward.”

For Heckert, a veteran of more than 20 NFL Drafts during his career in the front office with the Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles and Browns, the key is setting up as many possible outcomes as possible for the first three rounds.

“You want to make sure you cover as many areas of concern as you can, but without passing up a really good player,” he said. “If you think they’re going to be at whatever position in the second round, that’s probably a good thing about picking sixth. You have to maneuver and figure out where you can get these players.

“You try to work the board,” Heckert added. “Whoever you take with the first pick, make sure you get that guy in the second round. You try to come up with the best possible scenario for the first three rounds.”

With Shurmur and Heckert acknowledging the team’s switch from a 3-4 to a 4-3 defensive alignment, there were questions about the crop of defensive linemen in the 2011 draft class.

“Both defensive tackles and defensive ends, it’s a good group all the way around,” Heckert said. “Obviously, the underclassmen field helped a little bit; quite a few of them came out this year. Who knows how many will go before us. There’s a lot of guys that are going to go early-early.

“Normally, you would say if a guy could rush the passer outside, you’d take him over the other guy, but I don’t know,” he concluded. “Defensive linemen are so demanded that if you’ve got guys that are equal, then you go with the pass rusher on the outside. If you really like a guy that is special as a tackle, he’s still going to get pressure on the quarterback. He’ll help you.”

MCCOY IMPRESSED IN FIRST YEAR

In his rookie season, McCoy started eight games for the Browns and completed 135-of-222 attempts for 1,576 yards with six touchdowns against nine interceptions. McCoy, who ran for 136 yards and one touchdown on 28 carries, led the Browns to victories over the then-reigning Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints in the Louisiana Superdome on October 24 and perennial AFC East power New England Patriots at Cleveland Browns Stadium November 7.

“We have all the confidence in the world that Colt’s going to be good,” Heckert said. “Really, the only question is the experience factor. He’s had some good days and he’s had some bad days, but from everything that we’ve seen, and Pat’s watched him, we think he’s going to be good.”

UTILIZING THE RUNNING GAME

Browns running back Peyton Hillis ran for 1,177 yards and 11 touchdowns on 270 carries in his first season in Cleveland, all of which were career highs and led the team in 2010. He also caught 61 passes for 477 yards and two touchdowns.

His ability to catch the ball out of the backfield will come in handy in the West Coast offense.

“The West Coast system starts with a two-back set,” Shurmur said. “The halfback has to be able to catch the football out of the backfield as well as run with it. The fullback is the guy that needs to block, win the one-on-one battles with linebackers and be able to catch the ball out of the backfield. We’re going to hand it to them and throw it to them. The running backs are key positions.”

JACKSON WANTED BACK

In the lunch with the media, Heckert addressed his corps of linebackers. D’Qwell Jackson was one of the players mentioned in that second line of defenders. Though he has missed much of the last two seasons due to injury, Jackson’s physical stature could help him in the Browns’ switch to a 4-3 defense.

“I think D’Qwell feels that way, I really do,” Heckert said. “I’m not speaking for D’Qwell, but I’ve talked to him about this in the past and I think he is. I think he could play either one. He’s really not an outside linebacker in a 3-4, but in a 4-3, he could probably play Mike or Will.”

In addition to Jackson, the Browns have Scott Fujita, Chris Gocong and Marcus Benard to help fill out the linebacker positions.

“Fujita is the ideal Sam linebacker,” said Heckert. “He’s a guy that could play on the line of scrimmage if you wanted to or off the ball. He’s done both. The other outside linebacker is a guy that’s not going to be on the line of scrimmage. The Will in a 4-3 and the inside guys in a 3-4 are somewhat similar. Gocong could probably play all three. We do have some versatility.

“Obviously, we know (Marcus) can rush the passer,” he added. “On third downs, he can be on. That’s one little difference in the 4-3, where your defensive ends in the Nickel don’t have to be your starting defensive ends. At least on third down, he’ll be down and what he does on first and second down, that’s probably a wait-and-see thing.”

ANCHORING THE LINE

Ahtyba Rubin started every game at nose tackle in 2010 and was among the NFL leaders for tackles by a defensive lineman. Even with the defense’s switch to a 4-3, the Browns are confident in Rubin’s ability to disrupt an opposing offense.

“He can play either one,” Heckert said of the tackle spots.

INDIANAPOLIS — There should be no doubt now that the Browns are committing 100 percent to quarterback Colt McCoy as "the guy."

Echoing stated sentiments of President Mike Holmgren, new coach Pat Shurmur and General Manager Tom Heckert hopped on the McCoy bandwagon Friday and christened him their undisputed field leader.

In a conversation with Cleveland-area reporters, the men pledged their faith in McCoy and denied any concern about arm strength or his ability to win consistently in the NFL.

"I would say that based on what I know to this point, I'm extremely excited about working with Colt and him being our guy. I think that's where we're going," Shurmur said in his first extensive interview since being introduced as Browns coach Jan. 13.

"I thoroughly evaluated Colt last year [as Rams offensive coordinator] when we went through the [draft] process with Sam [Bradford]. He's very talented, works extremely hard, football's important to him, he's an accurate passer, he understands timing, he's a good decision-maker. I think he has all the things you're looking for in a guy that can be your guy."

colt.jpgView full sizeAPQuarterback Colt McCoy.

Does he have the arm strength to win in Cleveland in December?

"I don't have any question about Colt's arm," Shurmur said. "He has an NFL arm."

Heckert dismissed concerns about McCoy's throwing shoulder, which suffered nerve damage in the 2010 BCS Championship Game. He said too much was made about McCoy's comments at the Super Bowl that he never fully rehabbed the shoulder and it bothered him at times during his rookie season.

Heckert said his only question about McCoy was his lack of NFL experience. McCoy was 2-6 as a starter as a rookie and tossed six interceptions in his last two games against Baltimore and Pittsburgh.

"He's had some good days and some bad days," Heckert said. "We think he's going to be good."

Heckert said, philosophically, he would never pass a quarterback in the draft that he believed to be "great." But he sounded as if the Browns have no intention of using their No. 6 overall pick on top prospects Blaine Gabbert or Cam Newton in this year's draft "unless something crazy happened."

"I think there are some teams saying we need to get a quarterback in free agency or the draft. We're definitely not at that point," Heckert said. "We have all the confidence in the world Colt's going to be good.

"If there was a guy completely separated [from players at other positions of need], then you'd do it in a heartbeat. But I think at No. 6, I don't think we're going to be in that situation."

Heckert sounded lukewarm about taking receiver A.J. Green with the Browns' top pick. He couldn't disguise his high opinion of the top-rated defensive linemen available, along with cornerback Patrick Peterson. Heckert said he considered linebacker D'Qwell Jackson better suited for the 4-3 defensive scheme being implemented, denied the team needs a new right tackle in place of Tony Pashos and said he'd like to sign franchise kicker Phil Dawson long term but hasn't heard from him or his agent.

Shurmur said his base offense starts with two running backs, both of whom must be able to catch the ball, and envisioned Peyton Hillis and Montario Hardesty in the backfield together. The coach said Benjamin Watson is an ideal tight end for his offense and conceded team speed has to be upgraded in all areas.

Excerpts of the one-hour conversation:

• Taking a receiver high in the first round.

Both men said no "great" player should be exempted. Heckert said receiver depth in this draft is good and he will target groups of players with the Browns' top two picks and weigh which package would be better, as he did in the 2010 draft.

"You have to think about it that way. You're trying to get as many good players as you can," Heckert said. "The only good thing about picking [sixth and 37th] is I know we're going to get a good player."

• Heckert feels a lot better about the linebackers on his roster than the defensive front.

He said he wants restricted free agent Jackson back and views him as the weakside outside linebacker. He considers Scott Fujita the prototypical strongside outside linebacker and projects Chris Gocong in the middle. He likes Marvin Benard as a situational pass rusher but doesn't know where he fits on early downs in the new scheme.

• Defensive end vs. defensive tackle depends on players available.

"Normally you'd say if a guy can rush the passer outside, you'd take him over the [inside] guy if [their ranking] is equal," Heckert said. "But if you really like a guy that's special as a defensive tackle, he's still going to get pressure on the quarterback and he'll help you. So I don't think it's a huge difference."

• The new regime will look for faster, if lighter, players.

"I think the NFL is a very fast league and I think the model we had in Philadelphia [is what we're] trying to employ," Shurmur said. "You don't want real small guys, but it really helps if you have team speed. I think that's an important thing, so you're always looking for guys that can move. I think that separates guys at every position."

• The running backs play a huge role in Shurmur's West Coast offense.

"It sounds trite, but we're going to hand it to them and throw it to them," Shurmur said. "The running backs in this system are key because they're going to touch the football [a lot]."

Shurmur said the fullback must be able to block, run and catch. He said free agent Lawrence Vickers shows he can catch on tape, but he added two halfbacks can share the backfield if one of them [Hillis] is big.

LIne and DnD,, thanks for the reads,,

Nice to see action

a lot of positives coming from the FO.

Pahos annointed starting RT ( told you so) Pats self on back.
Getting DQ back looks like the logical move.

Doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to deduce that the FO will concentrate on DL and maybe WR in the draft.

In my fantasy keeper league I am not real excited about Hillis losing touches and numbers to Hardesty, but on my real team I am excited the combination will improve the win loss numbers.

I like 2 backs who can run, catch, and block.

listening to sports talk radio yesterday.

Since the draft and free agency will prolly flip flop on time frames, teams will look to fill positional needs through the draft.

Seems obvious to me

IDC what other teams do, I would like to see us continue to draft BPA. In hindsight, Joe H was both the BPA and a PON. If we pick another CB because Peterson is there and available, I'm good with that, even though DL is our greatest need. It's about time this team concentrate on acquiring talent instead of filling holes.

Re: RT. Regardless of what they say about Pashos, I'd be very surprised and disappointed if we don't at least pick up a RT in a middle round to develop.

I really don't understand Holmgren's blind love for Wallace & Jake. I believe this could bite us in the ass if Colt goes down. I like Colt's chances for success in the WCO, and Wallace is probably a suitable back-up, but I'll be a lot happier if they cut Jake and either bring in another vet, or draft a later round QB.

Love to see Hardesty contribute, love to see him stay healthy... ditto DQ. Two major unanswered questions that could leave gaping holes if they can't stay on the field. Heckert seriously needs to acquire some depth behind these guys.

jc/
With teams like Minnesota and others looking for QB, I am surprised no one has brought up the possiblility of trading down...I don't think that is out of the realm of impossibility either.

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I really don't understand Holmgren's blind love for Wallace & Jake

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I think it's not so much Blind Love for Jake, it's more how he mentored McCoy that seems to be a hit with Managment. But if you noticed, Heckert made it clear that some kinda drop in contract numbers is in order for Jake.

As for love of Wallace. Hey, he wasn't bad last year. He moved the team well. Give him some weapons and he's not bad at all. I understand wanting to keep him.

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Heckert seriously needs to acquire some depth behind these guys.

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I'm betting he can see it as plain as you do,, the team needs lots of help.. Lots of holes to fill, some starters and some back up depth. But he can only do so much in one off season..

Tell ya what, this is REALLY going to be a test of what Heckert is made up of...

Wallace is the perfect backup. Glad they are being smart about this. Hopefully they can convince him to stay.

If Delhomme also sticks around I don't want us wasting any pick on a QB as Holmgren indicated we would. I think that's just dumb.

I like the harmony I'm hearing from Shurmur and Heckert. That whole same page thing is going to pay huge dividends, IMO.

I don't think the FO believes Delhomme will renegotiate his contract to stay in Cleveland. It would benefit McCoy though. I like Wallace as the 2nd string, but then of course he wants to start somewhere, but realistically, no one is knocking down doors to get at him.

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how he mentored McCoy that seems to be a hit with Managment.

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Mentoring Colt is Tom Whipple's job. The QBs need to be able to move the team, stay on the field, and score TDs. That's not Delhomme. We've seen how quickly QB3 can become QB1. If Delhomme is here to mentor Colt, then he needs to either join the coaching staff or become a Big Brother.

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Tenders coming: Heckert said the Browns will tender most of their four-to-six year veterans, making them restricted free agents. The players affected include linebacker D'Qwell Jackson, fullback Lawrence Vickers, cornerback Eric Wright, and safety Abe Elam.

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Right now, as things stand today, Wright, Vickers, and Elam are RFA. That is why the team is going to tender them. They cannot go about signing them to long term deals unless they go the Raiders route and sign deals without a clue as to what the cap implications will be.

How many of you guys want to see us go into this season with Pashos as our RT? What the heck are they thinking... We need a strong RT.

I'd be great if we could restrict all four of those guys. But Wright seems like the only guy we really have to keep out of those four.

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"We like Tony, we really do," Heckert said. "I thought Tony played really, really well before he got hurt. Tony's our starter."

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Does he mean 2005?

I think the RT spot needs to be addressed.. I mean think about.. we had THREE QB's who ALL had ankle injuries.. which means to me that the QB isn't getting the protection he needs. There will be some pretty good RT's still left in the 3rd round.. I like Joseph Barksdale.

Packers LB A.J. Hawk likely to be cut if contract can't be reworked

2/26/2011

Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports one of the agents for linebacker A.J. Hawk has told people that he and the Packers have gotten nowhere in renegotiating Hawk's deal, even though it appears the Packers are interested in retaining him. Hawk has a $10 million guaranteed base salary in 2011 that, if not reworked before the start of the league year, would result in the Packers releasing him.

Of Hawk, coach Mike McCarthy said, "A.J. Hawk is a Green Bay Packer as far as I'm concerned. I'm not going to get into business situations. You just hope they'll work out."

web page

Say it. Say it. You know you wanta loil

I did not want Hawk for the 3-4. I thought he would be average at best and most likely a bust. He has been average at best for the Packers. I also believe in Jaurons more traditional defense, Hawke can be the stud everyone thought he would be coming out.

He is a very disciplined player and he needs to be in a more discipline type defense. Think Urlacher.

AJ would be a perfect fit in the new D. He isn't a good fit in the Pack's 34 because he is limited in pass coverage. Still if you watch the game tape from last year on the Packers he is all over the field against the run.........dude is a straight sideline to sideline 43 backer, and would be a stud for us.

He would probably get a big negative on any info he got about Cleveland from Quinn or Quinn's sister.

I think that's his sig, I don't think he was applying it to this situation

Correct clevesteve, it's just my sig'.

but glad you liked it akronjoe

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Is the front office deluded enough to believe Gocong is the MLber?

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My only question about this is if he is fast enough to play the position and occasionally cover the RB. I thought he was pretty good last year.

I imagine if AJ Hawk came here he wouldn't play MLB, he'd play weakside. This would allow him more freedom to make plays. From what I remember he was an OLB at OSU. That guy Schlegel or whatever was MLB and Bobby Carpenter was the other OLB (good thing we didn't get him like people wanted to!)


As for your draft choices, I like them all except the Wisconsin guy with our first pick. Unless we cut Steinbach, that's just too much money wrapped up in the O-Line. And is he really a 6th pick quality player? Just because we have made some bad draft moves in the past doesn't mean that Heckert is gonna screw it up. He's the best thing we've got going for us IMO. Instead, I guess I hope that Heckert can find us a RT with that 2nd round pick of ours. Or may be we can trade up to get the Wisconsin guy. RT is definitely a need and as I've always said, it's easier to find guards in FA than quality tackles. So I'm down with drafting one early, but number 6 is very early for a tackle. He'd have to be Joe Thomas quality, and as I said (we probably should cut Steinbach), although the rookie wage scale that should be coming in might make it more affordable

But yeah, at this point my guys are AJ Green, Peterson, Dareus, or Bowers. I agree about him being the safer of the two DT's pick though. But yeah, no matter who we go with, I will have my faith. As I said, I do think that Heckert is a high quality GM. Very good hire by Holmgren. He's smarter than me, I understand that, I'm good with whoever Heckert chooses