In Dear Tony this week, I read a lot of dumbassitude from the askers.
One guy was demanding accountability for the front office's blown personnel moves. This wasn't really that stupid, since Kruger failed to produce, and Mingo needs more time. It was, however, a superficial and shallow assessment.
Mingo was never expected to be a superstar in his first season at a new position, and there's little reason to doubt that a bigger, stronger Mingo won't return next season much improved.
Kruger...I can't address that.
But the Browns had no second round draft pick, and trading the 4th and 5th rounders was NOT a dumb move, as this season they now have additional third and fourth rounders duh.
The front office wasn't to blame when Owens and others were lost to injury. Their retention of Sheard was in itself a smart move, as I and others were hoping they'd trade the defensive end who might or might not become a good 3-4 OLB.
You can't give them an A-plus or anything, but the moves they made were generally good, and you need to wait two more years to see how those low and undrafted offensive linemen pan out. And lets give a recovered Owens a chance, ok? For that matter, it's a little early to inter Kruger.
Another guy wondered why on earth Haslam would ever hire Banner, with his reputation. Now that was pure idiocy. Banner was one of the most respected front office execs in football. Everybody except this guy knew it.
A couple more intelligent people asked about the possibility that Peyton Manning would retire after this season and become the head coach or replace Banner.
That would be a dream come true. Tony seems to think that Peyton would go to the front office rather than coaching, and would probably try broadcasting first. He didn't elaborate on that.
I just hope he's wrong. Peyton Manning as the Browns new head coach? WOW! This is something we can dream about.
The Haslam connection is strong here, so I do think this is possible. As Tony informed me in the same article, the NFL sort of played matchmaker between Haslam and Banner, but Haslam has his own opinions, and it's looking like he's starting to flex his muscles.
Jimmy can trust Manning's opinions on Gace, and probably other coaching candidates as well. And if Peyton does retire, you just know that Jimmy will make a strong offer to make him the head coach himself.
Tony thinks that Haslam was particularly upset with the losses to the Jets and Jaguars. I believe the losses to the less-talented Steelers burned him up too. While I would never have fired Chud after his first year, I do understand it.
But Tony's black helicopter side came out a little, as he suggested that the front office felt that Chud started out with the wrong quarterback.
Weeden was good and bad as a rookie in a West Coast system to which he was ill-suited. With a season's experience and the introduction of an offensive system better suited for him, there was no reason to question starting the first round pick.
It's possible that the front office felt that Chud stuck with Weeden longer than he should have, but not that it was wrong to just do the rational thing.
Tony really, really doesn't like Lombardi. He tries to be objective, but the bias undermines him. Tony probably actually believes that Lombardi wanted Chud to start HOYER in game one.
I really, really, really doubt that. When Tony doesn't like somebody, he gets a little crazy. Lombardi knew as well as anyone that Hoyer had hardly played any NFL downs, and that it's common sense to let the current starter continue to start until he proves he sucks.
Jimmy Haslam seems pretty impatient. At least in Peyton Manning and probably some other people he clicks with, he's probably getting pretty good advice.
My glass is half full. We'll see.
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