Browns third-year safety Brodney Pool has been nominated for GMC's Defensive Player of the Week for his contributions to Cleveland's 33-30 overtime victory over the Baltimore Ravens.

Pool finished the game with 3 tackles, ½ sack, and an interception - which he took back 100 yards for a touchdown. The interception was the 4th of Brodney's career, and brought him his first NFL touchdown.

He's up against some stiff competition this week in Jets' DE Shaun Ellis, Packers' DT Corey Williams, Seatle DE Patrick Kerney, and the Cardinals' Antrel Rolle. All of this weeks nominees were responsible for at least one turnover, but Rolle and Pool were the only two to put points on the board for their respective teams.

You can vote multiple times, so Click Here Now and show your support!

The Dawg Pound would like to extend its congratulations to Brodney on his first pro TD and a great performance!

The Cleveland Browns have completed their first division series sweep since 2002, when the Browns swept the Bengals. Coincidentally, that was the last time the Browns made the playoffs. This time, however, the sweep was handed to the Ravens after a 33-30 Cleveland victory in overtime.

For the second week in a row, the Browns' defense blew a lead of 13+ points (last week was 15), and pinned all of their hopes on the shoulders of a last-second drive authored by Derek Anderson and a long field goal from Phil Dawson. Last week, one pulled through, while the latter came up just short. It seemed to be a similar story, as Anderson fired a missile to Braylon Edwards, who made a great catch in traffic to put Cleveland in position to attempt a 51-yard, overtime-forcing FG.

After hitting the left upright, Dawson's kick ricocheted through the posts, the ball clearly hit the back extension, causing a mass-confusion in M&T Bank Stadium. The referee originally signaled "no good," fans began to file out of the stadium, and even the Ravens themselves tried to sneak into the locker room with the win.

The refs overturned the call after about 2½ agonizing minutes, and overtime ensued. There was still hope.

Browns' rookie Cornerback Eric Wright has been nominated for Diet Pepsi's NFL Rookie of the Week for his performance in Cleveland's loss to the Steelers, which included a game-leading 11 solo tackles and a hang-on-for-dear-life sack on Ben Roethlisberger. Big Ben - while listed at 241 - is looking every bit of 255. Compare that to the 195 lb (soaking wet) Wright, and the feat looks even more impressive.

Wright has shown pretty consistent improvement throughout the season so far, and if he continues his progress, he could very well turn out to be one of the premier corners in the league.

Click Here to vote for Eric Wright for Rookie of the Week! You can vote multiple times, so keep punching those ballots.

The Browns have released their undrafted free agent signings. Here's what we've got:

BetUS.com has released each team's Super Bowl XLII odds. The favorites are the New England Patriots at 3-to-1. Not a shocker.

The Cleveland Browns, however, are listed at 95-to-1 to win it all. The only team listed below the Browns are the Oakland Raiders at 120-to-1. Invest now!!

So, um...yeah. Here's the new face of our proud organization apparently playing a little grab ass balls with some buddies. I'm not saying that this will make him any worse of a quarterback. I am saying that Hank Fraley is getting a little nervous and LeCharles Bentley just might push back his return date to the day after Quinn's retirement.

Veteran guard Joe Andruzzi has been notified that he will be cut from the Cleveland Browns following a physical, effectively making him an unrestricted free agent. That's right, Screw you, Kevin Shaffer! The Browns have one lineman begging to leave town, and we're booting one who probably wouldn't mind staying.

I'm not sure what's really going on behind the scenes here, to be honest. We learned last year (the very hard way) that depth on the offensive line is absolutely crucial, yet we're cutting back on a vet who, if not with his play, could just as easily contribute by helping the younger guys we have growing into our line such as Fred Matua, Joe Thomas and Isaac Sowells.

Maybe this is Phil Savage's way of giving Shaffer the one-finger salute? "Well, Kevin, we've worked out a deal. Guess who gets to leave...Not you! Kiss my down-home, country ass! You'll play where we decide, and you'll like every damn minute of it."

Andruzzi has had knee problems in the past but was able to tough it out, starting 27 games the '05 and '06 seasons. It is likely that Matua and Sowells will get a good look during training camp, and recent free agent signing Seth McKinney will start at the position. Assuming everyone but Bentley is healthy come game one, here is what the line might look like:

LT - Joe Thomas
LG - Eric Steinbach
C - Hank Fraley
RG - Seth McKinney
RT - Ryan Tucker - coming back from a mental health issue that kept him out for the end of last season

I have to say that when I saw reports yesterday that the New York Giants were interested in making a move to acquire Browns tackle Kevin Shaffer, my first thought was "fat chance." We've just spent a big ole hunk of cash on the offensive line, and Shaffer's contract was not a small portion of it.

I was wrong.

After the Browns selected tackle Joe Thomas with their third overall pick, Shaffer's agent said yesterday that they will seek a trade from the Browns. Apparently, he's not happy with the option of competing for the starting right guard slot if he loses his current left tackle position (where he was mediocre at best) to Thomas.

Look, Kev - can I call you Kev? - I'm not here to rain on your parade, but I don't think too many teams are going to be chomping at the bit to grab themselves an overpaid, malcontent, and average tackle. There's just not that large a market for those nowadays. Sorry to disappoint, pal.

If the Browns do end up trading Shaffer, they can expect a pretty hefty $8 million salary cap hit, as they've already paid their bonuses for the year. There have been reports of Cleveland asking for a 4th round pick in exchange for him, but no one's biting.

I happen to think Shaffer would do quite well for himself as a guard (albeit a highly overpaid one, but I digress), but if he's not willing to make the switch, what more can the Browns really do?

Well, the picks have been made, and I think it would be safe to say that the Cleveland Browns surely created a splash with their picks and aggressive movements on day one.

The general consensus was that the Browns would take one of three players: Brady Quinn (QB - Notre Dame), Adrian Peterson (RB - Oklahoma), or Joe Thomas (OT - Wisconsin) with their third overall pick.

According to Phil Savage, the Browns had their minds set on drafting Joe Thomas with their number 3 overall pick two weeks ago. The Browns' offensive line has struggled immensely for years, and he knew that if they were to have any success in years to come, it would have to be his top priority.

Taking Thomas was a no-brainer. Not only does the pick potentially lock up your left tackle position for the next 10, maybe 15 years, but this also rearranges the configuration of the Browns' current linemen, allowing them to play positions that they are more comfortable with.

Kevin Schaffer can move to his natural right side of the line with Ryan Tucker (either one would do just fine at guard or tackle), and big money free agent Eric Steinbach will keep his natural position at left guard.

With this configuration, not only will the linemen be more comfortable in their positions, they will also play at a higher level. So, in effect, securing one position on the line did a lot to secure three out of the other 4 positions.

In a recap of day one, Savage said that he had indicated to quarterback Brady Quinn's people that he would not be picked up at that spot. He said that when Thomas was selected, they had said goodbye to Brady, and only hoped that he wouldn't come back to haunt the Browns in the future. What Savage didn't know, however, was that Cleveland was going to be just one of many teams to pass up on the former Fighting Irish quarterback.

The Browns have selected former Arizona wide receiver Syndric Steptoe with the 134th overall pick.

Steptoe is known to be a decent route-runner, but with a poor offense around him, his receiving skills were not exactly put on display or developed. His return ability is the more likely reason the Browns picked him, as he has great concentration on the ball, and averaged over 13 yards per punt return at Arizona.