Cleveland Browns: Are the Browns Tanking the 2012 Season?

Before I go any further, and folks start breaking out the pitchforks and torches, allow me to state that I'm not in the habit of bashing the Cleveland Browns any more than is absolutely necessary, and in fact I have suffered alongside my brothers in orange and brown for better than 30 years.

That said, there seems to be something very unsettling going on by the shores of Lake Erie this off-season, or more appropriately not going on, as a team that possessed ample cap space entering free agency and has more holes on offense than a block of Swiss cheese hasn't made any signings of note on the offensive side of the ball, and really haven't made any period, unless you count adding defensive end Frostee Rucker.

For the sake of argument we will...barely.

In fact, not only did the Browns reportedly lose out in the bidding for wide receivers Pierre Garcon and Josh Morgan, and just barely miss out on swinging the deal that could have potentially brought quarterback Robert Griffin to Cleveland, but the team also watched running back Peyton Hillis depart in free agency. So as hard as it may be to fathom, the Browns offense may actually be worse now than it was last year.

That begs a question that there's no chance we'll ever get a straight answer to, no matter how much the evidence that supports asking the question continues to pile up.

Is it possible that with Colt McCoy set to line-up under center again in 2012, and the Browns staring at another season of futility, that team president Mike Holmgren, general manager Tom Heckert and the Cleveland front office are effectively throwing in the towel on the 2012 season in hopes of parlaying one more miserable campaign into a franchise quarterback in 2013, such as USC's Matt Barkley?

The Browns brain trust would of course deny this vehemently, claiming that they are simply being fiscally responsible and sticking to their "plan" for rebuilding the franchise rather than overpay a free agent like the Washington Redskins did when they handed Garcon $42.5 million over the next five years.

That argument has some merit, and it's good that the Browns aren't spending their cap space like a drunken Daniel Snyder, but you have to wonder if the present isn't being sacrificed for the future's sake given that at present the "plan" consists of sitting on their hands and doing, well, nothing.

The opinion that the Browns may be pulling the ol' "San Antonio Shuffle" isn't mine alone, and in fact not only does a writer for the blog "Waiting for Next Year" think that that may be the case, but he also is absolutely in favor of the idea.

"

Looking at what and who the Browns are, they are not making the playoffs with that schedule (or with any schedule for that matter). The defense is nice, but the starters at RB and QB right now are a Chris Ogbannaya/Montario Hardesty combo along with McCoy. You can bet the Browns will be taking a WR with one of their first three picks. But seriously, to me there is no point in being 6-10. You are all going to call me insane and “not a real fan,” but I am being realistic.

Give me 2-14 or 3-13 and a chance to draft USC QB Matt Barkley in the 2013 draft.

Wouldn’t Barkley to Justin Blackmon in two years get you a little excited? The plan has worked for the Lions. The fruits of their brutal decade stretch of football brought them a franchise QB (Matt Stafford), a franchise-changing defensive lineman (Ndamakong Suh), and one of the best WR’s in the game (Calvin Johnson) among others. Those are three nice pieces to build around, which the hard-charging Lions have done.

If the Browns tank again this season and end up with a shot to take that franchise QB in Barkley, it will be a blessing in disguise. I for one won’t be disappointed.  In three years, you will all agree with me if this comes to fruition.

"

"TD" is absolutely right in his assertion that the Cleveland Browns almost certainly weren't going anywhere but back into the AFC North basement in 2012, and it may well be that since they were going to be there anyway, they figured they might as well go all the way to the bottom of the NFL barrel in an attempt to procure their quarterback of the future in 2013.

The idea of giving up on a season that hasn't even started may strike some as distasteful at best and cheating at worst, and the Browns may be walking a very fine line that could bring down the wrath of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell if any "tanking" accusations were found to have merit, but after only one playoff appearance since the team's return to the field in 1999, fans of the Cleveland Browns are desperate, and sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures.

Just in case you had any doubt that the Browns were prepared to roll over and let the rest of the AFC North have their way with them (again) in 2012 I leave you with this tweet from the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Mary Kay Cabot, which should erase those doubts entirely:

"

#Browns GM Tom Heckert stressed again "We're fine with Colt McCoy as our quarterback.''

— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) March 26, 2012"

See? There went the white flag.

Follow @IDPManor