Kellen Winslow II arrived in Berea last night, and plans to attend mini camp, per Marla Ridenour. After speculation by many media figures about a potential holdout, Winslow arrived to the mandatory minicamp. He will be limited to individual drills in practice because of his knee injury. While the Browns aren't out of the woods yet for a potential holdout, this was a step in the right direction.

Keeping up with the positive news, Phil Savage announced this morning that LeCharles Bentley had been cleared to practice per Tony Grossi and had passed his physical. It is a big step for Bentley, who now faces the uphill battle of making a spot on the roster. It's great to see Bentley finally get a step closer to getting to fulfill his dream of playing for the Browns, albeit two years later.

And finally finishing the injury roundup, Gary Baxter is going to be participating in individual drills in camp.

Update: Here is video from the Plain Dealer of this morning's practice.

Later today, center LeCharles Bentley will undergo a physical to determine whether or not he can participate in a three-day minicamp that starts tomorrow. Bentley has been rehabbing a torn patellar tendon that he sustained in 2006 training camp.

Don't know which is the patellar tendon? Reach down at the front of your leg, just below the kneecap. Feel that large tendon that attaches your shin to your knee? That's the patellar. Now imagine being a 325-pound hulking offensive lineman and having it tear. Ouch.

Bentley's six-year contract was renegotiated last year which will allow him to become an unrestricted free agent after this season. Basically, that means Bentley, a former Pro Bowler, is probably doing everything he can to come back. If he doesn't play again this year, his career could be in jeopardy.

Notes…
In Sunday's Cleveland Plain Dealer, columnist Terry Pluto took an interesting look at playing time among players. It's really good stuff. So good, Chris Pokorny of Dawgs by Nature also waxed about it.

Check out Rich Passan's "News and Views" column over at the Orange and Brown report. Some interesting theories.

The Browns, and general manager Phil Savage have been ravaged in the past two weeks for not upgrading the secondary in free agency and the draft. After the Leigh Bodden trade, it was clear the Browns were thinner in the secondary, but after the loss of Daven Holly to injury, the Browns were ripped by the media.

The Browns have two key pieces in the secondary, strong safety Sean Jones and left cornerback Eric Wright who need to produce for the battered unit to succeed.  Jones is the unquestioned leader of the secondary, showing the most poise and productivity.  Wright is a former second round pick who came into the league last year with his expectations.  The question is can both of them be stabilizing factors in 2008 and better their play? 

To start, the Sporting News says that the Browns have the 7th best set of safeties in the AFC.  They say that "Sean Jones is tough and smart but must do a better job covering quicker tight ends. " Jones plays much better in zone coverage than he does in man, which is partially why the team toyed with the idea of moving Brodney Pool to the tight end side of the formation on passing downs in mid-season, which never quite materialized. 

Terry Pluto agrees with this, but does note that Jones got better as the season went on.  While the article mentions that Jones improved, it appeared more that the team was giving him more help in coverage, and not forcing him to play man to man coverage.  Also of note there is that Jones played 100% of the snaps on defense.  At 225 pounds, Jones is nearly up to linebacker size, so maybe his weight affected his productivity late in games?

At cornerback, second year veteran Eric Wright was a highly touted rookie, but had an up and down season.  His early season struggles, particularly against speedier receivers like Santonio Holmes in Game 1, showed.  Marty Gitlin of the Orange and Brown Report thinks that Wright improved as the season went on.  Wright talks in the article that he is more prepared for his second season, both physically and mentally.  The flashes were there last year, but all scouting reports pre-draft showed that he had suspect recognition skills, and lacked interest in physical play. 

If the Browns secondary is at least going to play average, both Jones and Wright need to step up their play.  Jones is a slow starter, as he struggled early on in 2006 and 2007.  Jones has good ball skills and is an intimidator across the middle of the field, but he can give up too much yardage on passing plays. 

Wright on the other hand needs to play more physically, and stop gambling so much.  He has all the physical skill to be a solid NFL cornerback, but he lacks experience, which he's gaining on the fly.  After starting for a season at Southern California, he then transferred to UNLV, where he sat for the 2005 season.  Then he played the 2006 season, and declared for the NFL Draft.  If he can catch up mentally with his physical talent, he could make that leap the Browns secondary needs. 

Blog friendo Matt Miller of Mocking the Draft got bored so he picked every game of the upcoming football season. That's right, all 256 regular season games. Here's how he put it for Cleveland:

Cleveland Browns
Wk Matchup
1 Dallas Cowboys L
2 Pittsburgh Steelers L
3 at Baltimore Ravens W
4 at Cincinnati Bengals W
5 Bye
6 New York Giants L
7 at Washington Redskins W
8 at Jacksonville Jaguars L
9 Baltimore Ravens W
10 Denver Broncos W
11 at Buffalo Bills W
12 Houston Texans W
13 Indianapolis Colts W
14 at Tennessee Titans W
15 at Philadelphia Eagles L
16 Cincinnati Bengals L
17 at Pittsburgh Steelers L
Total 9W-7L

It's hard to argue with much of it, but winning six consecutive games could be difficult. Mike Florio, of Pro Football Talk (and apparently Sporting News), doesn't agree. I wouldn't put too much stock in what Florio has to say. He's great at being the beneficiary of republishing someone's work. I wouldn't expect much of a knowledgeable opinion from the guy.

Notes…
In yet more Browns ranking news, Pete Prisco of CBS Sports says the Browns have the sixth best offensive line in the league. Fair enough.

If you're into such things, Madden 2009 ratings have been released. As a team, the Browns were given an 88. That's good for sixth best in the AFC behind New England, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Jacksonville and San Diego.

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).