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Quick Thoughts: Cleveland Browns Free Agency Fiasco

By Nick Dudukovich

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The Cleveland Browns free agency fiasco has been exactly that. Many have been linked to Cleveland, few have actually been delivered. In the most recent episode face palming, Jordan Cameron pulled a Carlos Boozer and then used the media to negotiate himself a deal with the Miami Dolphins.

As we’ve all witnessed, it’s happened before, and it will happen again.

The telling sign that Cameron was up to something should have been the Browns’ silence. The franchise would do just about anything for good PR, and announcing that Cameron was coming back would’ve been a huge victory for Ray Farmer and staff.

• The conflicting media reports on Twitter surrounding Cameron was an intriguing addition to a Thursday night basketball lineup that included Ohio State, Akron and Kent State, in addition to the Cavs’ huge win over the Spurs.

National writers were looking bad–and that includes NFL Network’s Ian Rappaport.

Locally, media outlets didn’t  do better with posts about Cameron’s return.

• The Cameron news is a bummer. When healthy, he can play a Pro Bowl level. But most of us already had him pegged for a ticket out-of-town. When the “reports” broke that he was going to return, we were all caught by surprise.

Now that he’s officially gone, it is disappointing. Cameron’s injury prone and may never consistently put up the numbers that led to his Pro Bowl selection two years ago, but the Browns needed a win..and he was it.

• On the bright side, this happened before the Cameron fiasco…

• Here’s your trivia question. Where did Thad Lewis spend the 2014 season? The answer: Houston. He appeared in zero games and hasn’t started a game since the 2013 campaign. No word on where Fake Thad got his championship ring.

• Jabaal Sheard is officially member of the New England Patriots, which means we will probably be forced to watch a guy the Browns drafted and developed dominating in the Super Bowl next winter

• More often than not, I get the sense that a lot of players who have been linked to the Browns have just been using the franchise for leverage.

Jeremy Maclin opted to go to Kansas City to play for his old, more well-established coach, Andy Reid. Jerry Hughes decided to stay at home in Buffalo, for a team that’s done something to improve itself by adding a quarterback who’s won 10 games in a season (twice), in addition to adding LeSean McCoy.

And then there’s Darrelle Revis, who was rumored to be a Brown for about 1.5 seconds. It seemed crazy Revis would come play here–and we were proven right. Revis is back in New York, and while the Jets won’t be  winning the Super Bowl next year, he’s returning to the media capital of the world where the spotlight will never be had to find.

Defensive end Trent Cole signed a two-year, $16 million deal with the Colts, instead of the Browns. That team will be a Super Bowl contender. And what a coincidence…that’s the same place Andre Johnson ended up.

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• ESPN Cleveland’s Tony Grossi followed up his mistaken report with an update that shed some more light on Cameron signing with the Dolphins.

He wrote about the end of the 2014 season, and what Cameron said before leaving the Browns’ locker room.

Cameron said: “I want to win. And I want to make money.”

It’s a hard pill to swallow, but for right now, Cleveland can’t offer both of those things.

• With Ohio State’s Spring Practice going on in Columbus, and the Browns amid the worst offseason in franchise history, I can’t help but think if the Browns plan is really to #Fail4Cardale.

Tanking worked for the Cavaliers and LeBron James back in 2003. With a current stable of quarterbacks that include Josh McCown, Johnny Manziel, Connor Shaw and Lewis, the odds are actually pretty good that Cleveland will be a position to draft Cardale Jones.

Ah Cleveland, always looking toward the draft…and so we wait.

Next: Bill Simmons: I Don't See How Kevin Love Stays A Cav

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