Cleveland Browns Rumors: Can Team Win With Brandon Weeden At Quarterback? Steelers, Ravens and Bengals Hard To Beat In AFC North As Team To Sign Richard Seymour?

The Cleveland Browns have gone through a deep rebuilding process over the past few years and that has continued as the team has a new regime at the top with owner Jimmy Haslam and general manager Mike Lombardi.

The Browns were big movers in the draft, stocking picks for 2014 rather than this past year and they are hoping that those building blocks will continue in the future. The team could also hit the free agent well again for some added depth after signing Paul Kruger to a contract, as they could go after veterans like Dwight Freeney or Richard Seymour, as they could be brought in on the cheap. Both players would provide some veteran leadership for the team and give some depth to each of their positions on the line.

The Browns have a long term plan and Lombardi spoke about that with the media, saying that he would like to get a good look at quarterback Brandon Weeden to see if he is the long term answer despite his age. Both Weeden and Trent Richardson were taken last year and need time to develop and Lombardi also spoke about the possibility of an extension for center Alex Mack, who still needs to prove himself before the team invests in him. Tim Tebow of course came up and while Lombardi said that Cleveland isn't interested in bringing him in since they have Weeden and Jason Campbell, it still is an intriguing option to think about. Tebow could play an interesting part in the offense for new coach Rob Chudzinski and coordinator Norv Turner, but the team is not interested in bringing the drama along with it.

The Browns took some flak for making two trades out of the most recent draft into next season, as this one was looked at as deeper, but the team defended the picks and felt that the value wasn't there at the time this year. Lombardi is a Belichick disciple and he is playing the long game rather than the immediate win on draft day. The team is trying to be pragmatic and smart about moves as this new regime takes over and despite a few hiccups with the arrest of Quentin Groves and one of their draft picks, they are hopeful about the future. The team had just five picks in the draft, but they made the most of their first one with the pick of Bark Mingo with the number six pick.

The Browns went just 5-11 last season and went just 2-4 in the AFC north while ranking 19th in passing yards per game and 24th in rushing per game. The team is hoping to improve production this season and they also need to work on the defense, which ranked 25th in the league in passing with nearly 250 yards per game, while the team ranked 19th in rushing yards with 118 per game behind rookie Trent Richardson, who showed flashes of being a star for the team in the years to come in the future.