OBR Daily Blogs

Ben Watson was on Sirius Radio earlier today and talked a bit about his decision to come to Cleveland, and bypass an offer from Seattle.

While having some familiarity with Brian Daboll’s offense and head coach Eric Mangini helped, Watson offered that Cleveland simply pushed harder and put out a better ofer.

In free agency, Watson said, players look at “teams that really take initiative to get you to sign. Cleveland took the lead to get me there.”

The OBR’s Lane Adkins told subscribers over a week ago that the Browns were prepared to “hard sales mode” to Watson to sign. Based on Watson’s comments, the Browns did exactly that.

It’s hard to say if it’s his own conclusion or if hints were provided while in Berea, but Watson said that the Browns “could be a totally different looking team by the time the season gets here”. The big tight end also praised Josh Cribbs’ versatility and twice mentioned the acquisition of Seneca Wallace. 

“I have no idea who is going to be the quarterback”, Wallace told Moving the Chains. “They have Brady Quinn there and brought in Wallace. If it’s a new quarterback, the fact that I know a little bit of the offense… will make it easier.”

Watson plans on being in Cleveland shortly after off-season workouts begin next Monday.

That’s what Tom Curren, who spends a lot of time covering the Patriots for Comcast things might be the case, per a tweet he sent out earlier today.

Watson is a fairly consistent receiver, but at this point I’m not totally sold on the Watson-Heiden swap, assuming that Heiden is healthy again. On balance, it appears to be a slight upgrade, but not one that has me thinking the team has taken a big leap forward.

I look forward to Watson proving me wrong.

Based on our web stats, folks love the heck out of this “Daily Blog” thing, which is surprising given how most of my web hackery collapses upon itself within an hour or two. This seems to be still be working, for whatever reason.

Previously, we added the flow from our Twitter feed to here, so that folks who aren’t Tweeters don’t miss out on any breaking info we fire out via that platform. Reporting is real-time now, so we have to participate in that, but a lot of our visitors don’t want to have to pick up new tech to play along. So we mirror any new Tweets here, instantly.

We also got some emails from subscribers, one of whom felt cheated because he has an older browser that can’t use our new technology, and another who had a mobile phone that couldn’t display it. A few other subscribers were concerned that previously premium info was coming out via the Daily Blog. While the vast majority of our subscriber content lies behind the pay wall, there’s some stuff here that might have previously been reserved for the Insider Blog.

So, we’ve decided on a compromise. Each day, we’ll archive the previous day’s Daily Blog, but the format will be “normal HTML” for anyone with old browser technology who missed out. The archive will also be for subscribers only, so that they have permanent access to all the tidbits that come out via this blog.

We listen closely to OBR subscribers. Without you (them), the site doesn’t exist – we want your feedback and will do our level best to give you the site you deserve, and pay for with your support.

Subscribers: I’ve created a thread in The TAP Room specifically to get your ideas and thoughts. Feel free to offer any feedback you have.

The Browns seem to be spending a lot of time taking a look at defensive tackles for a club with Shaun Rogers and Ahtyba Rubin on the roster.

Unless, of course, one of those players might leave the roster at some point. Nah… that can’t be it.

Earlier today, we relayed the latest from the Purdue Pro Day that had the Browns working out a defensive tackle after the organized activities.

Now we’re told that Sirius Radio’s NFL channel just had an interview with Torrell Troup, DT, Central Florida. One of the teams most interested in him at the Combine? The Cleveland Browns.

Maybe, for some reason, it’s all an elaborate smokescreen, with the Browns looking interested in mid-round defensive tackles in order to throw off the opposition. Come to think of it, we’re sure that’s all it is. Yeah.