Wimbley Signs

In a move that I find particularly surprising, the Cleveland Browns and their first round (13th overall) draft pick Kamerion Wimbley have come to agreement on a six year, $23.7 million deal. The reason I find this so surprising is that Wimbley is only the second first round draft choice to agree to a contract to date (Mario Williams being the other). Seeing how Wimbley was a middle-of-the-round guy made it even more surprising. Once Reggie Bush and the Saints eventually reach a contract, then a "domino effect" will take place and we'll quickly start seeing first round picks get signed. It will be interesting to see what price the rest of the guys drafted 11-15 sign for, because we could very well have gotten either a great deal here, or Wimbley will be another overpriced rookie.

With the returns of injured Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow to go along with Wimbley, the Browns essentially have three Top-13 picks coming in this season

Whether we overpaid or underpaid for Wimbley really doesn't matter to me as much as the fact that he'll be ready to go from day 1. Although I would have preferred Ngata in the draft, I'm just happy we'll have a 1st round choice in mini-camp for the first time since 2000. Not many people are expecting the Browns to take the world by storm this season, but most are expecting drastic improvements. As Browns fans, improvements are about all we've had to hope for ever since we rejoined the league in 1999. Well, these improvements have to start somewhere, and having a first round draft pick that tore up the combine ready to go for the start of many camp sure won't hurt. Not many things are certain about what to expect from this team this season, but one certainty is that this offseason will not disappoint (for a change).

This reminds me that I will post a much more in-depth review of the Browns when the season gets closer.

Note: In other Browns news, the team announced some minor uniform changes. Helmets will now have gray facemasks and the players will all wear black shoes. The team featured both some time ago, and are now back for the forseeable future.