Cleveland Browns Front Office Conclude Secondary Needs Are High Priority

Cleveland Browns fans have known for some time, but now the new front office brass, including President Mike Holmgren and General Manager Tom Heckert, have admitted that the defensive secondary is one of the areas on the roster that needs a huge influx of talent and depth.

The Browns brass has told the media that they feel they have only two quality starters on the current roster in starting cornerback Eric Wright and starting safety Abe Elam.

They also stated that they believe backup safety/cornerback Mike Adams is the only real quality backup on the roster.

During free agency and via the draft, the front office is looking to bring in many quality backups and starters, and they are obviously more concerned with the secondary than with any other level of the defense this offseason.

What this means for cornerbacks Brandon McDonald, Coye Francies, and Hank Poteat is that they will really have to fight for a roster position during training camp this August, if the Browns even retain them.

Also, safety Brodney Pool is a huge concern due to his concussion issues and both Holmgren and Heckert had nothing to really say about his status except that they need to see what doctors say.

If Pool is healthy and confident enough to play in 2010, he may rfnot be a starter at safety, but he may be a quality backup.

Or as a fellow Bleacher Report Featured Columnist Sam Ingro stated in the past, Pool may play in the slot as a cornerback since he found success at it earlier in his career with the Browns.

Whether Pool will want to be a backup is really on him, but he has some big decisions ahead of him regarding not only his future in the NFL, but his future for his own personal health.

Now that the Browns front office has acknowledged an issue with the secondary, that will lead many fans to believe that the Browns may be really eyeing Florida cornerback Joe Haden with the No. 7 overall pick, if he is still on the draft board.

Also, in play now is the possiblity that the Browns could trade down, if they do not like Haden, and try to pick safety Earl Thomas of Texas in the middle of the first round.

As far as free agency goes, it will be extremely lackluster due to the uncapped season in 2010, but that doesn't mean that the Browns can't make a trade or two for a veteran safety or cornerback.

The issue with making trades is that it will probably cost draft picks, and both Holmgren and Heckert have publicly stated that they covet all of their picks in the 2010 NFL Draft, so it will be very hard for them to let any of them go.

There will be many new players running around on defense, and expect the Browns to being in at least three or four new names and faces to help a very porous pass defense for the 2010 season.

(Article also posted on Dawg Scooper)