Rumors are kicking into gear about the Browns interest in free agent outside linebacker Roosevelt Colvin. Colvin was on Sirius NFL Radio on Tuesday and said that the Browns and Jets are both interested in his services. Colvin spent two years in New England with head coach Romeo Crennel, in 2003 & 2004 where the Pats won back to back Super Bowls. Colvin ended the 2007 season on IR after a foot injury on Nov. 27.

Colvin has already failed a physical with the Patriots, but that was nearly four months ago. Is this really that great of a move? The Pats were thin at linebacker and had money under the cap to pay his $5.5 million base salary for 2008. Colvin, when healthy, is a great speed rusher and fits the 3-4 defense perfectly, but the problem is you can't count on him to be healthy. The Patriots pass rush fell apart after his injury, but counting on him to produce on the latter end of his productive years is a bit silly.

Plus the Browns have made this exact same move two times previously in free agency. Willie McGinest and Antwan Peek were brought on board to boost the pass rush in 2006 and 2007, respectively, but neither has produced and their injury problems remained. Much like the logic behind replacing Holly, why bring on an injury riddled veteran to replace a thin position with injury concerns already?

Whatever the case may be, the Browns pass rush needs to improve this year. Sending Wimbley on every play obviously didn't work last year, and the lack of creativity cost Todd Grantham his job. Adding another washed up Patriots re-tread won't do the trick. Let the Jets have him.

The Browns secondary has been all over the news since Daven Holly's knee injury last week.a Proving that Northeast Ohio's luck is always just a bit short, the crop of available cornerbacks is a bit bare. General manager Phil Savage has proven he can work miracles with a disaster position, as shown by the trade to acquire Hank Fraley in 2006 after LeCharles Bentley's knee exploded on the first day of training camp. So can Savage find a gem in this group?

Ty Law, UFA, Kansas City Chiefs: This one seems to be the most logical fit, but truly isn't. Law is the best corner left on the market after his release from the Chiefs, and he has a history with Romeo Crennel heading back to their time together in New England. The problem is that Law hasn't been a lockdown corner since 2003, and he's coming up on his 14th season in the league. Law still has the smarts and ball skills, but not the quickness to make breaks on the ball. Plus, he's likely much too expensive.

Ashton Youboty, Buffalo Bills: Terry Pluto reported on Sunday that the Browns had interest in the third year corner from Buffalo. Youboty has not been a popular guy in Buffalo, after two injury riddled and low production seasons. He was knocked in 2006 for declaring early for the NFL Draft, and slid to the third round despite being labeled as having first round upside. He's a solid man to man corner with fluid hips and athleticism. Since he's so raw, it's hard to predict what could happen with him. Youboty is a favorite of defensive coordinator Mel Tucker, who was his defensive backs coach while at Ohio State. This trade seems most likely, but don't expect this to be a rush. Savage would be wise to late till cuts start rolling in training camp, and he can steal Youboty just like he did Fraley in 2006.

Lito Sheppard, Philadelphia Eagles: Another one to file in the unlikely column, Sheppard is talented but the Eagles are asking a lot for him (multiple picks), and more than that he's always hurt or playing at less than 100 percent. Why trade for an injury riddled player when you are trying to boost a position riddled by injuries?

Dominique Foxworth, Denver Broncos: The most likely trade candidate, after Youboty, is gearing up to be Foxworth. He is an experienced nickel back who plays well in man-to-man coverage. He has great recovery speed, though he isn't the most physical corner. The Broncos have listened to offers for him this offseason, so he could be had.

Mil'von James, UDFA, UNLV: James made the roster being a favorite of Savage. He caught Savage's eye in 2007 when the team was scouting eventual second round pick Eric Wright. James is a project, as he only played one season there after transferring from UCLA. James is thick, well-built and aggressive at the line. If you can get your hands on it, catch his September 2007 game against Utah where he broke up four passes.

Damon Jenkins, UDFA, Fresno State: If one of the two undrafted free agents make the team, it'll be James. Jenkins is more of a special teams ace, as he's pretty raw in coverage. He runs hot and cold, and gambles a bit too much. One other problem was that Jenkins struggled academically while at Fresno State.

Given the way the market has been, and with Terry Cousin being the last quality cornerback left on the market, the Browns have little wiggle room. Savage has had misses in the past on corners (Antonio Perkins), and the position was not addressed in the draft. The cornerback position was already a spot of need before Holly's injury, now it's a top priority. Let's hope a little luck comes Cleveland's way.

It's likely Miami defensive end Jason Taylor won't be back with the Dolphins. New management, namely Bill Parcells, didn't like that Taylor skipped offseason activities to participate in Dancing with the Stars.

That leads to the question: Should the Browns go after the former University of Akron star?

Greg Simms of the Dayton Daily News seems to think so. While it would be nice, the cost for Taylor could be too high. The Dolphins reportedly turned down Jacksonville's offer of a first-round pick before the draft for Taylor.

But Taylor's trade value has decreased recently after Miami head coach Tony Sparano said the six-time Pro Bowl selection will sit out training camp. Terms like "disgruntled" and "boycott" are now associated with Taylor, which means he could possibly be had for a second day draft pick. It all depends on if the Dolphins will budge because Parcells has said Taylor will either be a Dolphin this year or retire.

Matt Williamson (also a former Akron guy) of ESPN's Scout's Inc. said the Dolphins should expect a third rounder for Taylor. Unfortunately for us, the Browns traded next year's third-round pick to Dallas to take Martin Rucker.

So then, is Taylor worth a second-round pick? Consider that Taylor's 34 and was a little spotty last season when the Dolphins used a 3-4 base on defense. In those formations, also, Taylor often played strong-side outside linebacker, where Kamerion Wimbley plays.

Also consider that Taylor probably only has only another two or three good years left in him and that he's seen his tackle total drop the last three years.

On the flip side, in the past three seasons, Taylor has 36.5 sacks and an incredible 18 forced fumbles. He's also bigger and, arguably, faster than any member of Browns' linebackers.

Taylor has said he wants to play for a contending team, which the Browns can now be considered, but so can Jacksonville and Washington, the two likeliest trading partners for Miami.

After all that, is two good years of Jason Taylor worth a second-round pick in 2009? Put on those trading shoes Phil Savage, it's time to dance. (And yes, the above picture is supposed to give you nightmares)

Notes…
Carlos "Big C" Holmes of the Dayton Daily News writes that the Browns got a steal in linebacker Beau Bell. Holmes talked with the guy who trained Bell prior to the draft, so his opinion is probably a little biased.

As it is, Bell may be a steal, but I wouldn't look for him to start immediately for the Browns.

Technorati Profile

Posts should be coming more frequently as the Bulletin welcomes new blogger Luke Chandler. Before the Bulletin launched, the goal was to have more than one blogger, more than one voice, and I had Luke in mind from the beginning.

I've known him for a while and for the past few years we've worked together at New Era Scouting. There, Luke is the content manager and a frequent writer.

He certainly knows what he's doing and definitely knows what he's talking about.

Straight from his agent Drew Rosenhaus, tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. will participate in upcoming minicamps. Winslow is sitting out OTAs because he underwent knee surgery this offseason. Here's the video:

Browns cornerback Daven Holly sustained what is being referred to as a "serious" knee injury at practice Tuesday. While the coaches said Holly was competing with Brandon McDonald for the second starting cornerback spot, I imagine it was his job to lose in camp.

This is the one position where the Browns can't afford to get hit at. More on this as it develops, but hopefully nothing is torn.

UPDATE: Well, shucks. Holly is out for the year. Not good. The spin: Hey, if you like high-scoring games, watch the Browns this year!

There's a good bit of information in the link directly above this paragraph. A few things of note:

-The injury to Holly took place in a collision with Braylon Edwards, who is now suffering from a hip pointer as a result.

-Rex Hadnot has assumed Ryan Tucker's starting spot at right guard and backup Isaac Sowells will shift from guard to tackle to be the third stringer (a spot held by Tucker).

Not much going on lately with the Cleveland Browns. This is probably the slowest time of the year for football news.

However, that doesn't mean the Browns are safe from injuries. You probably know by now about starting right guard Ryan Tucker breaking his right hip last week. That just sounds painful. It will cost him two months, during which he's been told by doctors to not sit down too much. Seriously, I know it's a physical sport, what on a football field during practice leads to a broken hip? It's not like Ted Washington is still around.

Anyway, this shouldn't be much of a concern for the team. Tucker was a nice little bonus last season moving over from tackle. The job will now go to either Seth McKinney or Rex Hadnot, who was signed in the offseason. I loved the signing of Hadnot. He was arguably the best player on the Dolphins' offense last season, and it was a surprising to see him come here to be a backup.

Notes…
Former star cornerback Hanford Dixon was busted Saturday for drunk driving. It's his second drunk driving charge since October. Dixon refused a Breathalyzer test, so his license was suspended immediately, which could last one to five years. In his October arrest, Dixon blew a .17. The legal limit is .08. That's quite a bit of booze.

Phil Savage recently spoke at a Little League Football foundation and answered questions about scouting. Some interesting stuff if you're like hearing about the scouting life.

As I kind of suspected, the Browns released cornerback Kenny Wright yesterday. Wright had two brushes with the law this offseason, and that's too much to bear, no matter the severity. After all, the Browns don't play in Cincinnati.

To fill Wright's spot on the roster, the team re-signed cornerback Jeremy Perry. The Eastern Michigan product played in 12 games for the Browns in 2006. He'll get a one-year deal. He was fairly impressive in a limited role. He'll never be more than a fourth cornerback, but he does a solid job and can play on special teams.

Personally, I'd rather have Perry anyway. He seems like a good guy. In fact, he and I were friends on social-networking site Facebook.com, which makes me seem incredibly lame. Wait, I am incredibly lame, who I am kidding?

Back to Perry… He played in just four games last season for the Miami Dolphins. Don't look into that too much. Last season the Dolphins had absolutely no idea what they were doing.

Notes…
John Czarnecki of Fox Sports writes that the Browns have improved enough to be a serious Super Bowl contender.

Mike McLain of the Tribune Chronicle writes about high confidence during OTAs this year. As a fan, you can't help but get excited about all the positive vibes this offseason. This kind of speculation really hasn't happened in more than a dozen years.

That seems to be what head coach Romeo Crennel was intimating at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Luncheon Club Monday. Bentley has missed the last two seasons with a serious patellar tendon injury he suffered in the Browns' first 11-on-11 practice during training camp in 2006. I was at camp that day and it was clear Bentley was in big trouble. However, I never expected him to miss quite this much time.

Whether or not he can return to being the Pro Bowl player he was for the Saints in 2005 is tough to say. The Browns don't require current center Hank Fraley to move around much, so maybe Bentley can fit back in.

Notes…
The headline "Chudzinski looking for better results in 2008" from this article in the Plain Dealer caught my eye. The Browns had one of the better offenses last season and it say a lot about the offensive coordinator that he didn't think it was good enough.

ESPN.com recently released its first set of NFL power rankings for the 2008 season. They rank the Browns ninth, which is great. That translates into the team being sixth best in the AFC, but just behind the Steelers (7th). James Walker writes about the Browns: The 2007 darlings face high expectations. The offense will score. Can the D, anchored by additions Shaun Rogers and Corey Williams, hold up its end?

Troubles for defensive back Kenny Wright continue. If one of the undrafted rookies looks good this offseason, there is no reason Wright should remain on the team. Character should always supersede average depth.

Still don't know much about fourth round pick Beau Bell? Here's a video of the linebacker:

By now, you're probably aware of Matt Walsh, the former New England Patriots lackey accused of taping coaching signals. The whole mess — not-so-cleverly referred to as SpyGate — began when the Patriots were caught spying on the New York Jets.

Eventually, the Boston Herald wrote that Walsh taped the Rams prior to the 2002 Super Bowl. A whole can of worms was sitting waiting to be opened, yadda yadda yadda, a senator got involved, yadda yadda. You know the story. It's pointless for me to re-hash the whole thing.

Anyway, Walsh just handed over the other tapes he made to the NFL. One of them is of the Browns in 2001. That's right, someone was taping the team during its juggernaut 7-9 season. Clearly, Patriots coach Bill Belichick wasn't trying to get coaching tips from Butch Davis.

Notes…
This season will be the last for outside linebacker Willie McGinest. The Browns signed McGinest to a three-year contract in 2006. Some consider the signing a flop, but it's neither that or a boom. McGinest is just kind of there. He has some impact on young players and does a good job on running downs. The problem is that he's been injury prone and has clearly lost a step.

The Browns will have OTAs next week. They're not open to the public. It should be interesting to hear how new defensive linemen Corey Williams and Shaun Rogers adapt to the new team and the 3-4. Braylon Edwards missed the first day of last year's OTAs and it caused a bit of a stir. Hopefully nothing like that happens this year.