The Cleveland Browns re-signed linebacker Marcus Benard, linebacker Blake Costanzo and running back Chris Jennings, the team announced today. All three players had been exclusive rights players.
 
Benard originally signed with the Browns as an undrafted free agent in 2009 and spent the first nine weeks of the season on the Browns’ practice squad. He appeared in six games and recorded 3.5 sacks to finish tied for sixth among all rookies in sacks.
 
Costanzo joined the Browns via waivers from Buffalo prior to the 2009 season and appeared in all 16 games. He notched 14 tackles, three fumble recoveries and one forced fumble on special teams. His 14 special teams tackles led the team and his three defensive/special teams fumble recoveries tied for first in the AFC and third in the NFL.

Jennings spent the first three weeks of the 2009 season on the Browns’ practice squad, before being signed to the active roster. He appeared in nine games and registered 220 rushing yards with one touchdown and nine receptions for 56 yards.

BEREA, Ohio (AP) -- Mike Holmgren knows Jake Delhomme is 35 years old and coming off the worst season of his career. It's his 92 starts, Pro Bowl season and Super Bowl appearance that appealed to the president of the Cleveland Browns.
 
"My own belief is this team needs an aging veteran," Holmgren said. "They need a guy that is going to grab everybody by the throat and say, 'Follow me through that door.' I don't look at him as an aging veteran, I look at him as the leader I wanted." The Browns completed a two-year contract with Delhomme on Monday despite his eight touchdowns and 18 interceptions last season with the Carolina Panthers. He lost his starting job after 11 games and was unexpectedly released last week even though the Panthers still owe him $12 million for next season. Delhomme took part in the Browns' first day of voluntary offseason workouts on Monday. "He called me first thing in the morning when he made the decision to sign,"

Browns coach Eric Mangini said. "Better than coffee the way he felt. His excitement to be here, that rejuvenation, that passion that he's had for so many years, it was fun to hear from a head coach's perspective." Holmgren was still deciding whether to keep Brady Quinn when Delhomme became available, making the decision much easier. Quinn was traded Sunday to the Denver Broncos for fullback Peyton Hillis, a 2011 sixth-round draft pick and a conditional pick in 2012. The Browns didn't stop there, trading linebacker Kamerion Wimbley to the Oakland Raiders on Sunday for a third-round pick in April's draft.

The move to sign Delhomme and trade Quinn, though, completed a whirlwind week for the Browns in which Holmgren made his biggest impact during his brief tenure in Cleveland. He was trying to avoid the dilemma that engulfed Mangini last year, when Mangini couldn't decide between Quinn and Derek Anderson as his starting quarterback. Now both are gone; Anderson was released last week. In their place are Delhomme and Seneca Wallace, acquired in a trade last week with Seattle. The Browns also have Brett Ratliff, who served as their third quarterback last season. While Holmgren concedes that Quinn's 12 starts with the Browns weren't enough to make a fair assessment, he thought it was time to start over. "I didn't want to go into training camp with the type of uncertainty that they went into training camp with last year," he said. "I don't think it's a healthy thing for the team." When Holmgren reviewed tapes of last season, he saw an offense that sputtered with both quarterbacks.

Anderson and Quinn combined to complete about half their passes while throwing 11 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. "When your quarterbacks play the way they played, it's pretty hard to win games in this league," he said. "I just felt I wasn't going to be doing my job if I didn't attack that situation." In Delhomme, the Browns are getting a quarterback who led the Panthers to an NFC championship in 2003 and made the Pro Bowl in 2005. But he has also thrown 23 interceptions in his last 12 games, including five in a playoff game in 2008 and four more in last season's opener.

Mangini was on the Patriots' defensive staff when Delhomme nearly rallied the Panthers to a victory over New England in the 2004 Super Bowl. He threw for 323 yards and three touchdowns in Carolina's 32-29 loss to the Patriots. "He's a proven, consistent winner," Mangini said. "I don't think it's uncommon for a guy to have a bad year. When you look at his body of work, I know what his touchdowns/interceptions ratio was, but there were a lot of good plays on that tape, too. Guys do go through bad years. He's been very consistent in terms of his production and ability to win games." Holmgren made no promises to Delhomme that he will start, but it's certainly the intention. That increases the chance Cleveland will draft a quarterback this year. Holmgren said he really likes Oklahoma's Sam Bradford, but admits Cleveland will have to trade up from its No. 7 position to select him.

The Browns now have 12 picks in April's draft. "We have areas we have to address that are as crucial now as the quarterback," Holmgren said. "This probably is the only year we'll have all these draft picks, so we have to be wise." Mangini said the Browns were willing to trade Wimbley, who led the team with 6 1/2 sacks, because he liked the depth behind him at outside linebacker.

The trades leave Cleveland with just three first-round picks on its roster: center Alex Mack, left tackle Joe Thomas and tight end Benjamin Watson, recently signed as a free agent from New England. The Browns have traded or released five former first-round picks over the last year: Quinn, Wimbley, tight end Kellen Winslow, and receivers Braylon Edwards and Donte' Stallworth.
 
All but Stallworth were drafted by Cleveland. In return, the Browns have received nothing higher than a second-round pick. "The idea of focusing in on where a player was chosen before I got here doesn't hold a lot of weight with me," Holmgren said. "I understand they were chosen for a reason, but maybe I look at things differently. You're not going to get the same value most of the time as a first-round pick."

Brady Quinn will get a chance to start over in Denver. Whether he'll get to start is up in the air. The Broncos acquired the former first-round draft pick from the Cleveland Browns for fullback Peyton Hillis, a 2011 sixth-round draft pick and a conditional pick in 2012. The teams announced the trade Sunday and said the deal is pending physicals. Ostensibly, Quinn will compete with Kyle Orton for the Broncos' starting job, although coach Josh McDaniels was unavailable Sunday to comment on the trade, according to a team spokesman.

Quinn's departure comes one day after the Browns agreed to terms with free agent Jake Delhomme on a two-year contract. Quinn went 3-9 in 12 starts for Cleveland, which drafted him with the 22nd pick in the first round in 2007 out of Notre Dame. From Dublin, Ohio, he was embraced by Browns fans as the quarterback of the future. But it never panned out for the Browns or Quinn. "I appreciate everything Brady did for us last year and in his three seasons with the Cleveland Browns," coach Eric Mangini said in a statement.

"He is professional in the way he goes about doing his job and worked extremely hard at every aspect of his game. I wish him the best of success in Denver." Quinn won Cleveland's starting job last season, but was benched after 2 1/2 games for Derek Anderson. Quinn eventually got his job back when Anderson struggled but he was hindered by inaccuracy. He completed only 53 percent of his passes last season for 1,339 yards with eight touchdowns and seven interceptions. His rating was 67.3.

Quinn's days in Cleveland appeared numbered when new president Mike Holmgren failed to endorse him as the Browns' future starter. Last week, the Browns acquired backup Seneca Wallace in a trade with Seattle, released Anderson and hosted Delhomme, recently cut by Carolina. Holmgren's house cleaning continued Sunday, when he shipped another former first-round draft pick, linebacker Kamerion Wimbley, to the Oakland Raiders for draft picks.

The Broncos reportedly pursued Quinn last season when they were trying to replace Jay Cutler. Instead, they dealt Cutler to Chicago for a bevy of draft picks and Orton, who beat out Chris Simms for the starting job in June. The Broncos have insisted they're happy with Orton, a workmanlike leader who wasn't allowed to throw downfield much last season, when he led the Broncos to a 6-2 start before a 2-6 finish kept them out of the playoffs for a fourth straight season. That's the longest drought in the 26 years Pat Bowlen has owned the team.

Bowlen recently said he likes Orton as his quarterback but would like to see the Broncos draft a passer next month. Those plans may now be on hold. The Broncos lost confidence in Simms last season, so it would appear he's out of the picture with the acquisition of Quinn. Last week, the Broncos offered Orton, a restricted free agent, a first-round tender offer that would pay him $2.261 million this season. Like hundreds of other players caught up in the league's labor issues, however, Orton is expected to boycott his team's start of offseason training, which starts Monday for the Broncos. With the league ripping up the labor deal in hopes of getting a more owner-friendly contract, dozens of players who were set to reach the riches of unrestricted free agency this month are instead bound by their teams, which are offering much less than the players could have made in an unfettered marketplace.

Hillis will also be getting a fresh start. He went from starting tailback under coach Mike Shanahan in 2008 to forgotten fullback under McDaniels, who adamantly refused to use him even though rookie running back Knowshon Moreno frequently came up short in short-yardage situations. McDaniels insisted that the problems were on the line and not in the backfield and that he'd rather give the ball to his top draft pick. With Spencer Larsen banged up for much of the season, McDaniels said his hands were often tied because he didn't want to risk running Hillis, who was often his only available fullback.

Hillis had just 13 carries for 53 yards last season. He was inactive for two games, once to attend his grandmother's funeral in November. He also returned four kicks. The 240-pound bone-rattler energized the Broncos in 2008 when he emerged during an injury epidemic among the team's tailbacks and ran for a team-high 343 yards and scored six touchdowns before tearing his right hamstring against Kansas City in December.

The Browns seemed to have found their No. 1 tailback late last season in Jerome Harrison, who finished with a team-high 862 yards rushing. But veteran Jamal Lewis, second on the team in rushing, was released last month, which could provide an opening for Hillis to be the power complement to the small and quick Harrison. So Hillis gets another chance in Cleveland while Quinn tries to jump-start his career in Denver.

CLEVELAND (AP)—Jake Delhomme has a new NFL home, and the Cleveland Browns have another new quarterback. Delhomme, released last week by the Carolina Panthers, has agreed to terms on a two-year deal with the Browns, whose quarterback position has been nothing short of a merry-go-round of players since the club returned as an expansion team 11 years ago.

Delhomme’s agent, Rick Smith, said the 35-year-old QB would sign his contract before the club’s off-season conditioning program begins. Smith refused to comment beyond saying Delhomme would be resuming his career in Cleveland. A team spokesman said the Browns have no announcements planned. Cleveland has been busy trying to resolve a troublesome position.

Earlier this week, the Browns acquired backup Seneca Wallace and released Derek Anderson, a one-time Pro Bowl selection who has struggled in the past two seasons. Delhomme is expected to compete for Cleveland’s starting job with Brady Quinn ,who has yet to receive any endorsement from the club’s new front office. Delhomme visited the Browns on Thursday but left without a deal.

He had scheduled a meeting with the New Orleans Saints, his hometown team, but canceled that trip after working out the principles of a deal with the Browns. Since 1999, the Browns have had eight different opening-week quarterbacks. Delhomme is coming off his worst season as a pro. He threw 18 interceptions and the Panthers decided to cut him despite still owing him more than $12 million.

Delhomme went 58-40 as a starter with Carolina, leading the franchise to its lone Super Bowl appearance to end the 2003 season.

The Browns have announced the signing of Ben Watson to a mult-year contract
believed to be worth 12.3 million dollars over 3 years.

The free agent spent each of his first 6 seasons with the New England Patriots.
Browns GM Tom Heckert said, "We viewed Ben as one of the top all-around
tight ends in the free agent market."

A 1st round pick in 2004, Watson has played in 71 regular season games,
in which he has caught 167 passes for 2,102 yards and 20 touchdowns.
In 9 playoff games  he had 19 catches and 3 touchdowns.

Last year Watson caught 29 passes for 404 yards and 5 scores.

The Cleveland Browns today signed tight end Benjamin Watson to a multi-year contract as an unrestricted free agent from the New England Patriots, where he had spent each of his first six NFL seasons (2004-09).

“We viewed Ben as one of the top all-around tight ends in the free agent market,” said Browns General Manager Tom Heckert. “Because of his athleticism and intelligence, he has proven valuable as both a receiver and blocker during his career, and has performed well in both facets.
 
He comes from a winning program in New England and possesses the traits that we like in a player. We feel as though he can help us in many different areas and we are excited about his addition to our team.” Originally a first-round draft choice of the Patriots in 2004 (32nd overall), the 6-3, 255-pound Watson has appeared in 71 regular season games in his career, including 47 starts. During that time he has caught 167 passes for 2,102 yards and 20 touchdowns.
 
He also has played in nine playoff contests, starting seven of them, and tallied 19 receptions for 195 yards and three touchdowns. He turned in his most productive season in 2006 when he hauled in 49 passes for 643 yards and three touchdowns. He accounted for a career-high six touchdown catches the following year, when he totaled 36 receptions for 389 yards.

He turned in the lone 100-yard receiving game of his career in 2007, in a matchup against the Browns on October 7 at Gillette Stadium when he had six receptions for 107 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Last year with New England, Watson played in all 16 games with seven starts and caught 29 passes for 404 yards and five scores.
 
The 29-year-old Watson began his collegiate career at Duke where he played in 1999 prior to transferring to Georgia. In three years with the Bulldogs (2001-03), he totaled 65 receptions for 852 yards and six touchdowns.

Born December 18, 1980, Watson, attended Northwestern High School in Rock Hill, S.C.

The Cleveland Browns today completed a trade in which they obtained quarterback Seneca Wallace from the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for an undisclosed 2011 draft choice.
 
“We are fortunate that we were able to acquire someone with Seneca’s experience at such a key position,” said Browns General Manager Tom Heckert. “In watching him in person and on tape, the things which stand out are his strong arm and outstanding athleticism, and that will allow us do a lot of things with him while he is on the field. He played well in limited opportunities while he was with Seattle and we expect him to come in here and compete.”

“I want to thank the Seattle Seahawks organization for a tremendous seven seasons,” Wallace said. “They gave me my start in the NFL and I will always be grateful for that. I’m looking forward to this new opportunity with the Cleveland Browns and I am excited to be back with Coach (Mike) Holmgren.

With him here, as well as many of the other people they have in place, I believe this franchise is headed in the right direction. “I had a chance to meet with Coach (Eric) Mangini and Coach (Brian) Daboll today for a little bit and they both seem like really great guys. I am eager to get to work with the Browns and look forward to meeting my new teammates.”

Wallace is a veteran of seven NFL seasons who entered the league as a fourth-round draft choice of the Seahawks in 2003, when current Browns President Mike Holmgren was that team’s Executive Vice President & Head Coach. During that time, Wallace played in 48 games with 14 starts and completed 333 of 556 passes (59.9%) for 3,547 yards with 25 touchdowns, 14 interceptions and a passer rating of 83.1. He also rushed for 214 yards and a touchdown on 54 carries and caught four passes for 76 yards.

He had his most productive season in 2008 when he started eight of 10 games with Seattle and connected on 141 of 242 passes for 1,532 yards with 11 touchdowns and just three interceptions. During the 2008 season, he established a Seahawks club record by not throwing an interception in 184 straight pass attempts.

The 5-11, 205-pound Wallace played two seasons at Iowa State (2001-02). In his career with the Cyclones he completed 411 of 712 passes for 5,289 yards with 26 touchdowns and 27 interceptions. He also ran for 912 yards and 15 touchdowns on 237 carries. His 6,201 yards of total offense set a school record.
 
Born August 6, 1980, Wallace attended Rancho Cordova High School in Sacramento, Calif.

(Berea) - Following the termination of his contract, former Cleveland Browns quarterback Derek Anderson told a northeast Ohio newspaper that the team's long-suffering fans are "ruthless" and that they "don't deserve a winner."

He would later apologize.

Originally responding to an e-mail sent by Jeff Schudel of The News-Herald, Anderson reacted by taking a few shots at Browns fans.

"I will never forget getting cheered when I was injured,' he wrote in reference to a game in November of 2008 when he tore a knee ligament while getting sacked.

"I know at times I wasn't great," the former Pro Bowl QB added. "I hope and pray I'm playing when my team comes to town and (we) roll them."

Read the entire Schudel article on The News-Herald's Web site.

Early Wednesday morning, Anderson issued a statement of apology that was sent to Newsradio WTAM 1100 Browns Beat Reporter Andre Knott and others.

"I said some things to Jeff Schudel (of The News-Herald) earlier that I regret. Those of you who got to know me personally from covering the Browns over the past five years, know this was out of character for me. I wasn't taken out of context, but I was speaking out of my frustration after my career with the Browns came to a close.

"I had some great times playing in Cleveland, especially during the 2007 season and I met some great people and made many lifelong friends along the way. I'm looking forward to starting a new chapter in my life."

The Browns terminated Anderson's contract Tuesday.

Anderson joined Cleveland via waivers from Baltimore in 2005 and spent the last five seasons with the Browns. He appeared in 39 games with 34 starts during that time and completed 587 of 1,109 passes for 7,083 yards with 46 touchdowns and 45 interceptions.

“I want to thank Derek for everything that he gave to the Cleveland Browns organization over the last five years,” said Browns Head Coach Eric Mangini. “He did everything we asked of him and it was a pleasure to coach such a competitive person. I want to wish him all the best in the future.”

The move comes a day after the Seattle Seahawks traded backup quarterback Seneca Wallace to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for a 2011 undisclosed draft pick. A Seahawks spokesman confirmed the deal Monday night.

Wallace spent his entire seven-year career with the Seahawks, and was always a favorite of Holmgren’s when he was Seattle’s coach. Now the Browns' team president, Holmgren has brought Wallace to Cleveland.

Wallace's best season was 2008 when he started eight games in Holmgren’s last season and threw for 1,532 yards and 11 touchdowns. Wallace started two games last season while starter Matt Hasselbeck was injured.

Wallace was also sometimes used as a wide receiver and returner in Seattle.

(Copyright © 2010 Clear Channel. All rights reserved.)

 

(Seattle/Cleveland) - Mike Holmgren is already making deals with his former team.

The Seattle Seahawks traded backup quarterback Seneca Wallace to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for a 2011 undisclosed draft pick. A Seahawks spokesman confirmed the deal Monday night.

Wallace spent his entire seven-year career with the Seahawks, and was always a favorite of Holmgren’s when he was Seattle’s coach. Now the Browns' team president, Holmgren has brought Wallace to Cleveland.

Wallace's best season was 2008 when he started eight games in Holmgren’s last season and threw for 1,532 yards and 11 touchdowns. Wallace started two games last season while starter Matt Hasselbeck was injured.

Wallace was also sometimes used as a wide receiver and returner in Seattle.

(Copyright 2010 by the Associated Press. All rights reserved.)