Joshua Cribbs, Eric Mangini and the Week That Was in Cleveland

For a team that didn’t make the playoffs and didn’t fire their head coach, the Cleveland Browns certainly provided a lot of drama in the first full week of 2010.

Between Joshua Cribbs and his team of agents melting down, to the “will he or won’t he” question around Eric Mangini’s potential firing, this was as busy a week as any during the regular season.

If you want to read why I think Mike Holmgren kept Mangini, you can read that one here . It just made the most sense.

If you missed my take on the Joshua Cribbs situation, you can read that here . My opinion on his situation hasn’t changed.

With Holmgren interviewing potential general manager candidates, the focus of the team now is starting to move forward. Mangini and his staff can finish their end-of-year reviews and start planning for the draft, and Holmgren can work on the nuts and bolts of the front office.

Since Holmgren no longer has to go out and assemble a coaching staff, this frees him up to devote more time to things like the Cribbs contract, which his agent won’t stop whining about on every Cleveland talk show that will listen (namely, all of them).

That being said, Holmgren still has to hire a GM and, most likely, a player-personnel director. One of the current rumors is that Eagles GM Tom Heckert will move into the GM position in Cleveland while Seattle’s PPD Will Lewis will shift to the same job in Cleveland as well.

Lewis has a long history with Holmgren, dating back to their days in Green Bay, so this hire could happen. What is certain is that both Heckert and Lewis have interviewed with the Browns, and that’s progress.

But before anyone starts printing out new business cards, let’s take a look at some other options because that’s what we do here.

Lewis might be named the new GM while Heckert stays in Philadelphia, because the New York media has stated Heckert hates Mangini and will never work with him. After all, Heckert was a possible GM candidate last year and didn’t come here after Mangini was hired.

We all know if the New York media says something, it must be true. I believe that was made into law a few years ago.

Another possible scenario: since Holmgren is the president of football operations, Heckert would be the vice president of football operations and Lewis would be the GM. That would result in promotions for both men, making it easier for them to get out of their current contracts.

Of note here, though, is with Seattle’s current housecleaning of coaches and front office staff, Lewis may very well be out of a job anyway.

Whatever happens, the fact that Holmgren is setting up a clear chain of command in a stable front office structure bodes well for Cleveland. The one thing the Browns have lacked from day one since Randy Lerner assumed control of the franchise in 2004 was clear direction from the top.

The organization has been veering between dictator coaches and GM empires every few years, and the rudderless stink on the field since 2004 is evidence of that.

Lerner may have gone about hiring his pieces completely backwards, but it looks like he finally may have gotten them.

While Lerner always denies it (through press releases, or through spokesmen), he has one goal when it comes to the Cleveland Browns: He wants nothing to do with them.

I have no doubt he wants them to be successful, since he stands to make money off of their success, but do not doubt for one second that Holmgren is the latest front man hired to take this team off of Lerner’s hands.

Unlike the last few hires, Holmgren seems to be the kind of guy who will make sure Lerner can stay as invisible as he has always wanted to be.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a mock draft to work on while the coaches get busy on the real draft.