Browns re-sign Jordan Cameron

The Cleveland Browns had been ridiculed for not being active on the first days of free agency.
Inactive to the point of adding no one and only the re-signing of special teamer Marlon Moore kept the Browns from not appearing on the transaction wire at all.
Suddenly,late in the afternoon,a surprise came from Cleveland as the team re-signed tight end Jordan Cameron to a two year deal with 15 million as the cost of doing business.

Cameron had been looked at as the best available tight end in free agency,but had expressed discontent in Cleveland and was rumored to be a target of contending teams.
However,when Seattle landed Jimmy Graham via trade and took themselves out of the tight end market,Cameron found his suitors limited and decided to surprisingly stay with the Browns.
This is a deal with risk for the Browns as Cameron didn't suddenly eliminate the concussion issues
that have plagued him over his career and kept him out of six games last season.
However,it is one well worth taking as Cameron,when healthy,is solidly in the second tier of pass catching tight ends behind Graham and Rob Gronkowski and is one of the few tight ends that are able to split the seam downfield for big plays,such as his 81 yard catch and run for a touchdown against Carolina.
The deal works for Cameron too as he will have the opportunity to prove that his health is fine as that has far more questions than anything else and with just a two year contract,Cameron could be back on the free agent slab at the age of 28-prime years for a big contract.
This is a pleasant surprise,so the Browns were able to get something accomplished over the first days of the free agent period...

The only other Browns addition of the day was the return of one of the Browns passers of the past,even if only for a short period of time.

Thaddeus Lewis returns to Cleveland after time spent as a Bill and Texan to most likely battle Connor Shaw for the third string position.
Lewis was a Brown for two seasons in the Pat Shurmur era and is most (Ok totally) remembered for his surprisingly competent start in the final game against Pittsburgh in 2012.
The mobile Lewis is always popular with his teammates and coaching staff and this staff knows Lewis from his Buffalo stint.
I would give Lewis a very good chance of making this team in the third string slot and I wouldn't be against him in that position.
It is not the most inspiring signing,but all jokes aside,this signing will help in the locker room and at worst adds an extra arm to training camp.
No harm at all...

I may return later with a look at the two Saints moves of the day....

Browns fall in Pittsburgh-Shurmur,Heckert axed...

The Cleveland Browns were not expected to do much entering the Steel City for the season-ending game against Pittsburgh, considering that they were starting a third-string quarterback in Thaddeus Lewis and were without the main cog of the running game in Trent Richardson.
Cleveland surprised me by hanging in for the entire game before falling to the Steelers 24-10 on a day filled with snow showers.
Thaddeus Lewis tossed a seven-yard touchdown pass to Greg Little early in the third quarter to tie the game at ten and the game was still in doubt into the late fourth quarter when a Steeler score put the game away.
The Browns finished the season at 5-11 and fired head coach Pat Shurmur and general manager Tom Heckert earlier this morning.
I'll be back later today or tomorrow with a more comprehensive look at the firings and either in that post or the following one, I'll take a look at some of the rumored candidates...

Brownie Bits

1) Thaddeus Lewis was better than expected, although those expectations were not very high.
Lewis finished with over 200 yards passing and threw just one pick.
The interception was a bad one as Troy Polamalu baited Lewis into throwing the ball and stepped in front for the easy grab.
That ended a drive that might have ended in a score, but all things considered, Lewis was more than adequate...

2) Lewis used Ben Watson as his safety valve as he caught seven passes, but Lewis had issues throwing the ball deep or even medium length as only one pass was completed for more than twenty yards on the afternoon...

3) Brandon Jackson made a rare appearance from the Pat Shurmur doghouse (Being demolished as I type) and rushed for over fifty yards on eight carries.
Jackson collected a lot of money for a lot of time spent on the injured list and being deactivated, so this was about what the Browns got for two years of salary.

4) Jabaal Sheard finished up a disappointing second season with a nice game against the Steelers O-line.
Sheard finished with two sacks in his return to his college home.
I hope Sheard is able to return to his rookie form and I believe that he will as this often happens to rookies as players learn and "get a book" on players.
How that player bounces back is how one looks at that player's career.

5) The Lewis interception was big but just as big was the Travis Benjamin catch and rise, which then resulted in a strip of the football.
Benjamin has become a larger part of the offense and I hope to see improvement next season...

6) Pat Shurmur showed more fire in this game than he has in two seasons.
We are all human and perhaps the knowledge of his coming release had him on edge?

7) Nice to see James Harrison show up with another helmet to helmet cheap shot.
Harrison is rumored to not be returning to Pittsburgh next season.
Baltimore would be a nice fit for this thug...

8) Nice day for the defense as they held the Steelers to just 212 yards on offense.
They were handicapped by field position, but it was a good effort on the whole...

9) Rumors have three college coaches at the top of the Browns list- Oregon's Chip Kelly, Syracuse's Doug Marrone, and Penn State's Bill O'Brien.
None do much for me.
O'Brien might be jumping the Penn State ship after getting the best mileage from a suffering program and has the Belichick stain (no Belichick assistant has succeeded as a head man). Kelly will be bringing a gimmick offense and makes me think of the failed Atlanta tenure of Bobby Petrino and Marrone is interesting with his success in New Orleans as their offensive coordinator, but Syracuse was not exactly a power.
Color me uneasy...

10) This started yesterday and never was finished, so sorry if this reads a bit disjointed!
My Apologies...

Photo Credit: Cleveland Plain Dealer