With Contract Year Looming, What Can We Expect From Braylon Edwards?

The Cleveland Browns have quite a decorated history of wide receivers.  Dub Jones, Dante Lavelli, Marion Motley, Gary Collins, Paul Warfield, Dave Logan and Webster Slaughter are among some of the greatest to ever play in Cleveland.

However, the Browns have also had their fair share of problematic wideouts as well.  Who can forget Quincy Morgan, Kevin Johnson, Andre Rison, Dennis Northcutt and even Donte Stallworth?  Well, if you haven't forgotten them, you've certainly spent the past few years trying your hardest.

Yet, through this mixed bag of gems and busts, no receiver has been as enigmatic and complicated as the Browns' current No. 1 target.  Yes, when it comes to an overall inexplicable and thought provoking career path, it gets no better than Braylon Edwards.

If you've been following Cleveland football for the past few years, I don't have to tell you what it is about "B-Easy" that makes him so perplexing. 

You probably saw his rookie season in 2005, where he showed quite a bit of potential before being sidelined due to injury.  In the years following, you watched Edwards blossom from a pretty good receiver on a terrible team to a breath taking, record breaking, highlight making touchdown machine.

Yes, after the breakthrough 2007 season, which ended at the Pro Bowl, hopes were high for Edwards coming into 2008.

And then, it happened.

On the first ball thrown to him, Edwards broke open for a long fade route against Dallas in the season opener.  It would've been a sure touchdown, a catch which could've changed the tune of the game.

Instead, it slipped through Edwards' hands.

This sight, met with groans so loud you could hear them in Canada, became the broken record of the Browns '08 season.  By the end of the year, Edwards was a marked man in Cleveland. 

Fans turned on him.  They let him hear it anytime he dropped a ball he undoubtedly would've hung onto in years previous.  By the end of the season, No. 17 jerseys were becoming an endangered species at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

He threw more gas on the fire when he claimed fans were only hard on him because he played at the University of Michigan.  As 2008 came to an end, Edwards had put together one of his worst seasons as a pro, both on the field and off.

Now, Edwards is embarking on what could be the most important season of his professional career.  In the final year of his current contract with Cleveland, 2009 will be the utter definition of "make or break."

Every player in any sport knows the importance of a contract season.  Edwards' will have one final year to prove to the Browns and the rest of the NFL that he is indeed a player who deserves top dollar.  A year full of impact plays and incredible stats will result in huge contract offers from around the league.  A poor season will lead to salary cuts, as the world will see how, more often than not, Edwards just doesn't merit a blockbuster deal.

So, with this in mind, which Braylon Edwards will Browns fans be seeing this year?  Will he be breaking touchdown records again?  Or will he be trying to see just how many times a receiver can lead the league in drops and still retain his position as No. 1 wideout?

Its no secret how Browns fans feel about Edwards.  They've grown tired of his antics and wish he'd just shut up and catch the ball.  When trade rumors began to surface regarding a deal sending Edwards to New York, many people in Cleveland were ready to say good riddance.

Coming into this season, Edwards will no doubt still receive skepticism throughout Browns Town.  However, he could change this tune by simply showing off the skills fans came to love two years ago.

There are a few reasons to believe Edwards may break out of his current funk this year.

Let's face it, nobody understands the importance of this season quite like Edwards.  He knows everyone in the NFL will be keeping tabs on his stats, deciding whether or not he'll deserve big money as a free agent in 2010. 

Due to this fact, Edwards will undoubtedly try his hardest to show his critics how his stats in 2007 were not a mirage.  Knowing how no team will give millions of dollars to a wideout with a severe case of the "dropsies," he may spend much of this offseason working on his hands so as to become a more reliable target.

If this is indeed the case, it seems as though he has a good coaching staff to dig him out of the hole he's put himself in.

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