Browns cornerback Joe Haden would be thrilled of the Browns could land either premier cornerback Patrick Peterson or premier receiver A.J. Green with the No. 6 overall pick.
View full sizeLSU's Patrick Peterson was the 2010 Jim Thorpe Award winner.INDIANAPOLIS — Browns cornerback Joe Haden, a finalist for NFL Rookie of the Year, would be thrilled if the Browns could land either premier cornerback Patrick Peterson of LSU or top receiver A.J. Green of Georgia with the No. 6 pick in the draft.
"If Patrick gets all the way to No. 6, for sure we should get him," said Haden, who tied for fifth in the NFL with six interceptions. "It would almost be a no-brainer. The more talent the better. He's definitely a top-five talent. I've watched him and I really like him."
Browns General Manager Tom Heckert said the Browns wouldn't hesitate to take Peterson at No. 6 a year after picking Haden at No. 7.
"If there's a really good one, you're not gonna pass on him," Heckert said. "So I think corner is just as good a possibility as anything. I go back to Philadel phia, where we had Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor, two Pro Bowl corners. We drafted Lito [Sheppard] and Sheldon [Brown] one, two in the same draft. I wouldn't have any problem with that. I mean you've got to have three corners."
Haden, in a phone interview, said the 6-0, 220-pound corner has little downside.
"Patrick is fast, strong, he can jump, and he's an excellent cover corner," Haden said. "On top of that, his special teams play is amazing. He can punt return, kick return. If he's on the board at No. 6, it'd be a great upgrade for us. Me, T.J. Ward and Patrick in the secondary would be crazy."
Haden is also high on Green, whom he played against while at Florida.
"He was the best receiver I played against," Haden said. "He was tall, long and fast. Even though he's fast, he still has really good feet coming out of his breaks. He can go deep and he catches everything. He's a talent."
Haden likes Peterson and Green so much that he doubts they'll be there at No. 6.
"I'd be very surprised," he said.
Haden said secondary coach Jerome Henderson, a holdover from Eric Mangini's staff, told him the new defense is less complicated. "He said we'll be able to play a lot faster because there's a lot less to think about," said Haden.
Tenders coming: Heckert said the Browns will tender most of their four-to-six year veterans, making them restricted free agents. The players affected include linebacker D'Qwell Jackson, fullback Lawrence Vickers, cornerback Eric Wright, and safety Abe Elam. It's unclear if the tenders will hold up under a new collective bargaining agreement.
Dawson mum: Heckert has no idea if kicker Phil Dawson plans to sign his franchise tender, which will be for about $3.25 million. Dawson wanted to test the market and seemed primed for a fresh start.
"I have not talked to him," Heckert said. "I've tried to get a hold of him. I've spoken to his agent."
He said the Browns would love to sign him to a multiyear deal.
"Any time we've got a guy that we like and we want, we'd love to have him longterm," he said.
Wallace coveted: Heckert and coach Pat Shurmur want to re-sign Seneca Wallace, who's set to become an unrestricted free agent. Wallace said he wants a chance to start somewhere. They also said they wouldn't rule out having both Wallace and Jake Delhomme back. Delhomme would most likely have to take a pay cut from his $5.4 million base salary.
"We haven't had this discussion with Jake," Heckert said. "That will be something down the road that we talk to him about."
Heckert can and might talk to Wallace and other unrestricted free agents before the CBA expires Thursday.
"We want Seneca back. He knows that. I think he's at least open to it. So we'll have to wait and see," Heckert said. "He got a chance to play and played pretty well and got hurt."
Added Shurmur: "I'm a Seneca fan. He's a West Coast quarterback. I'm not thinking just about the wildcat. He can line up under center. He's done it for a lot of years in this system."
Heckert said it's not "super far out" to bring back both Wallace and Delhomme. "If not, you have to find another one," he said.
Shurmur said he likes Delhomme in the mentoring role for Colt McCoy.
"I saw it in St. Louis. A.J. Feely was outstanding for Sam Bradford," he said.
"When I had the chance to meet Jake, I sensed that. What I know about Jake, he's an outstanding person."
Jackson wanted: Heckert said the Browns want D'Qwell Jackson back despite season-ending pectoral injuries the past two years. The Browns are expected to restrict him for the second straight year. He said Jackson is better suited to the 4-3, which the Browns are switching to.
"I think he is and I think D'Qwell feels that way," he said. "He can play either one, a 4-3's probably better for him. He's not a huge guy inside. In a 4-3 he can play [middle linebacker] or [strongside linebacker]. He's just better suited body-type."
On Green: Heckert acknowledged a lot of teams pass on receivers in the top 10 because of the bust-factor. But Heckert and Shurmur didn't rule out Green, a potential gamebreaker.
"Explosive players on offense are what you're looking for," Shurmur said. "Obviously, he fits in that explosive player category."
Pashos set: Heckert said the Browns are set at right tackle with Tony Pashos, who went on injured reserve Oct. 20 with an ankle injury.
"We like Tony, we really do," Heckert said. "I thought Tony played really, really well before he got hurt. Tony's our starter."
Double H backfield: Shurmur said he can see Peyton Hillis and Montario Hardesty together in the backfield. "Obviously in traditional two-back sets you can have two halfbacks in there which we did quite a bit in Philadelphia when we had Correll Buckhalter and Brian Westbrook. You can still run traditional I-formation-type plays but use them and utilize them as either runners or pass-receivers."
He said both the tailback and fullback will need to have good hands.
Kelce ill: University of Cincinnati center Jason Kelce, a native of Cleveland Heights, suffered a bad case of stomach flu Monday that derailed his combine.
Kelce said he lost 15 pounds, dropping him to 280 on his official weigh-in, and had to cancel his bench-press Friday. He hopes to get some food down and be able to run for scouts today.
Kelce said teams assured him he won't lose his draft status as long as he recovers his strength and can work out at his pro day.
"Pretty much the worst [time to get sick]," Kelce said. "What I'm hearing from most teams is as long as I put the weight back on and work out at my pro day, it won't be a setback."
Scouting services project Kelce as a late-round pick.
Plain Dealer reporter Tony Grossi contributed to this report.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: mcabot@plaind.com, 216-999-4670
Source: http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2011/02/joe_haden_likes_cornerback_pat.html
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