tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Owner Initiated Lock-out Ending & The Browns May Be Suffer

Reports yesterday indicate that the NFL players will vote to approve the settlement agreement with the owners today which will lead to league training facilities being opened to players later this week. Let's be clear about one thing: this lock-out did not need to happen. And let me be more clear: the owners caused the lock-out. At the end of the day, the players were willing to do a rookie salary cap and scale back their end of the revenue shift. The owners wanted more and were hoping that when players missed game checks that the union would crumble. That strategy fell apart when the courts ruled that their insurance policy on televison rights was a sham and when the union decertified. So now Roger Goodell would have you believe that everything is hunky-dorey and all the talking heads will be foaming at the mouth about the free agent frenzy that will take place. Great!!!

But it's a commonly held opinion on the part of many that this lock-out will really hurt young teams and especially young teams with new coaching staffs. And my Cleveland Browns fall into that category. All the enthusiasm from the emergence of Colt McCoy, the end of the Eric Mangini era, bringing in an offensive guy like Pat Shurmur and this year's draft may all be for naught once the season begins. Mike Holmgren has already said that the Browns may have to scale back the playbook because there won't be enough time to fully implement it. The defense will be going from a 3-4 alignment to a 4-3. That will take some time to gel.

When free agency begins it will be interesting to see what the Browns will do. They have plenty of cap space. What's frustrating is that this season could be a major step to respectability. With the Steelers and Ravens getting older, the 2011 season could be the base for a Browns renaissance in the future. But that all could be on hold because the owners had to flex their muscles. And I'm suppose to be happy that the NFL is back. Please!!!