Shopping season for NFL free agents always a favorite time for the Cleveland Browns
by Tony Grossi/Plain Dealer Reporter Wednesday February 25, 2009, 9:57 PM
CLEVELAND -- Free agency has been an irresistible allure to NFL teams such as the Browns. It is the apple in pro football's Garden of Eden.
The pressure to catch up to more talented rivals is always present. Plus, every time a management regime changes, the new one views free agency as the first chance to stamp its personality on the team.
For coach Eric Mangini, it's a chance to bring in players familiar with his style and system. Bill Parcells used to call them "my guys."
For General Manager George Kokinis, it's a chance to revisit his comfort zone as the former pro personnel director of the Baltimore Ravens. His "book" on pro players was a key selling point in getting the GM job.
Another season of NFL free agency kicks off at 12:01 Friday morning. How active will be the Browns? If history is a guide, they will be very active.
Over their three previous regimes, the Browns signed 68 players in free agency. That's an average of almost seven per year. That number falls to 5.7 when you discount the start-up season of 1999, when the Browns filled up their expansion roster with 16 free-agent signings.
Phil Savage and Romeo Crennel -- the immediate predecessors to Kokinis and Mangini -- signed 25 players in four seasons of free agency. (Shaun Rogers and Corey Williams arrived via trade.) Only nine remain on the roster and one is Donte Stallworth.
Nary a season went by that Savage, also formerly of Baltimore, hit up his former team in free agency. In 2005, Savage signed cornerback Gary Baxter and punter Kyle Richardson. In 2006, he signed tight end Darnell Dinkins and punter Dave Zastudil. In 2007, he signed running back Jamal Lewis.
The latest crop of Ravens free agents this year includes linebackers Ray Lewis and Bart Scott (who almost signed with the Browns in 2006), center Jason Brown and safety Jim Leonhard. But the Browns will have competition for Ravens this year from Jets, because coach Rex Ryan was Baltimore's most recent defensive coordinator, and the Broncos, who hired Mike Nolan, another former Baltimore coordinator, to run their defense.
"That [Ravens] tree is all over the place now," Baltimore GM Ozzie Newsome said at the NFL combine last week. "So we're very aware of that. They have a vast knowledge of our players. But whoever we want to keep, we try to keep, and we realize we can't keep them all."
Mangini has a few free agents back at the Jets from which to choose -- linebackers Eric Barton and Cody Spencer, and defensive back Hank Poteat.
Look for Mangini's coordinators to call on free agents from their former teams, too. Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll goes back with Mangini to the Jets and Patriots, defensive coordinator Rob Ryan came directly from Oakland but also coached with the Patriots, and special teams coordinator Brad Seely was also with the Patriots.
Mangini also has expressed interest in Giants running back Derrick Ward.
At the combine, Mangini said he didn't expect to be overly aggressive in the first week of free agency, which usually is when the most sought-after and most expensive players are signed.
"I don't think that's going to be where we spend a lot of time," Mangini said. "I'm not necessarily ruling it out, but I don't think that's where we're going to be as active. The key thing is finding the right guys."
As free agency starts, the Browns also have to keep their eyes on their own players whose contracts expire. They have 13 free agents, including safety Sean Jones.
Mangini and Kokinis have said they're willing to let the market dictate whether any of their free agents are re-signed.
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