Browns top five offseason story lines

By Don Delco
NoLogoNeeded.com Staff Writer

On Monday, we greeted the official beginning of the NFL offseason. Currently, New Orleans is having its day in the sun and rightfully so, but soon the attention will turn to individual teams.

We listed the important offseason NFL dates, but what about the Browns? Well, here are the team's five biggest offseason story lines.

1. Who will be the Cleveland Browns quarterback?
Browns team president Mike Holmgren said he wants the quarterback situation settled entering training camp. No QB battles in the August. How refreshing is that? So, who will that quarterback be? Will he come in the draft? In free agency? Is he currently on the team? This is a topic that will be debated ad nauseum in the coming weeks and months.

2. Will a deal for Josh Cribbs get done?
Optimism is high in the Browns front office that new deal will get done for Cribbs by April's NFL Draft, according to The Orange and Brown Report's John Taylor. Cribbs has been established as the "fan favorite" and was the only real play maker the team had in 2009. He deserves a sensible raise as to not put the Browns in a poor position to sign other key players who are restricted free agents in Abram Elam (S), Jerome Harrison (RB), Matt Roth (LB) and Lawrence Vickers (FB).

Which brings us to…

3. Who will the Browns target in free agency and the draft?
At 5-11, holes are abundant, but the defensive back seven, the offensive line and quarterback are the biggest weaknesses.

4. Is this finally the regime that turns the Browns around?
At this point, Holmgren, Heckert and company haven't done much with the player personnel. Yet there is high optimism this will be the front office brass that gets the job done.

The latest Super Bowl champions, New Orleans, was 3-13 four seasons ago. According to Waiting For Next Year, the Saints have provided the Browns with the Keys to a Super Bowl.

"But looking back, the 2005 Saints were very similar to the 2009 Browns given specific personnel. A quarterback situation that needs to be addressed, few and/or aging weapons and a defense that was borderline embarrassing when it came to play makers.  The Browns head into this year’s draft with the seventh overall selection, the sixth selection in the second round, and the seventh and twenty-eighth selection in the third round."

"But if one thing is for sure, it is that the Saints just set the bar a lot higher for a town that longs for that Super Bowl appearance."

5. What is going on with the labor negotiations?
The National Football Post has a great article on the ins and outs of this dispute.

In summary, Andrew Brandt writes:

"What's ahead? More meetings – starting Saturday -- and probably more frustration from each side; the NFL frustrated that the union will not share the risk and the union aggravated that the NFL will not share its financial information to prove its point. Meanwhile, teams and players are – or should be – preparing for an uncapped year and a different way of operating in the NFL, coming soon to a team near you. As for 2011, a potential lockout year, all bets are off."

What story line has piqued you interest entering the offseason? Feel free to leave a comment.