CLEVELAND TEAMS

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Josh Cribbs is a great player, and he deserves to be paid, but he and his agents seem to be clueless about how to handle his situation.

First, let’s remember that Josh Cribbs is under contract. He signed a six-year deal and he’s asking the Browns to renegotiate. Most people understand that Cribbs has earned a new contract, so Cribbs and his agents have a strong argument in light of his performance, but they’re undermining his argument by going public at this time.

Going back to training camp, Cribbs and his agents made plenty of threats, but in the end Cribbs never followed through on any threats he or his agents made. Now, one day after the Browns hired Mike Holmgren as the new team president, the agents go public with statements that Cribbs was “insulted” by a recent offer from the Browns. Keep in mind that Holmgren is in the process of hiring a new general manager and then making a decision on the head coach. Why are they pushing this now? Why are they making idle threats again? Their timing sucks.

It probably relates to the way they’ve been treated by the Eric Mangini regime. Mangini was certainly running the show during the past season and he’s been stringing Cribbs along.

Pushing the issue now, however, is ridiculous. The agents have little credibility, and they sound foolish by pressing the issue now. One of his agents was just on WKNR and he sounded like an amateur. Also, Tony Rizzo pointed out that Cribbs was on a local news channel last night and seemed confident that something would be worked out. So, what’s the real message? The agent is trying to sound like a hard-ass, but Cribbs has already shown in the past that he doesn’t have the stomach for a fight.

They need to chill out and wait for Holmgren to put together his organization. Until the GM is in place and the coaching situation has been settled, nothing will be decided regarding Josh Cribbs.

I was listening to Greg Brinda tonight on WKNR and was rather surprised to hear him discussing rumors of a possible trade of Josh Cribbs to the Dolphins for Ted Ginn, Jr. Now, I’m a huge fan of Ginn, but Cribbs is the best player on the Browns, and Ginn has been a disappointment so far.

Why is this even being discussed? Well, everyone is aware of Josh’s contract situation, and the Browns have shown a willingness to make deals, so nobody should be surprised that teams are calling to inquire about Cribbs. The Browns of course will listen when anyone calls, but I’d be surprised if they’re seriously considering any of this.

Naturally, that would change if a team starts talking about high draft picks. At that point you always have to listen. Would you trade Cribbs to Miami for Ted Ginn and a second round pick? You’d have to think about it. Can you imagine Cribbs becoming a part of Miami’s Wildcat package? I can’t blame them for thinking about this.

I’d rather see the Browns put all this aside and sign Cribbs to an extension. Then, start working Cribbs into our own Wildcat offense. They tried it in week one and then gave up, but I’m hoping they’ve been saving some of this for Pittsburgh. Cribbs was a quarterback in college, so he could be lethal in the single wing offense.