…okay, not really. But LeBron did say recently that he could succeed in NFL if he put in the time and Browns head coach Eric Mangini has a helmet waiting for him if he ever wants to give it a try.

From ESPN.com:

“If I put all my time and commitment into it, if I dedicated myself to the game of football, I could be really good,” he said Tuesday night, “no matter what team I was on.”

Mangini agreed, calling James “a freak athletically” and said the 6-foot-8, 260-pounder could be dangerous at tight end, wide receiver or even outside linebacker.

Quarterback Brady Quinn also heard about James’ football fetish. He would love to have a target to throw to like James in the red zone.
“That’d be great,” Quinn said. “Tell him to suit up and let us know, we’ll get him working. Obviously he’s an incredibly talented athlete. If he wants to try to play a little bit now, we’d be more than willing to pick him up.”

Browns nose tackle Shaun Rogers isn’t convinced James, as great as he is, could step into the NFL and be able to handle the pounding.
“I heard that comment,” Rogers said. “I have mixed emotions about that. A great athlete? Yes. A football player? No.”

Rogers then looked into TV cameras.

“Yeah LeBron, I said it,” he said. “It’s a punishing game. I just don’t think you can step off the basketball court after not going through this year in and year out and just play football. From that standpoint, I just don’t think it’s possible. You have to weather and condition your body to take this punishment.”

That’s all the Cavs and the city of Cleveland needs: For LeBron hurt playing for a 1-8 Browns team going nowhere fast.

Given how gifted an athlete James is, I could see him succeeding in the NFL if he put in the time. But I agree with Rogers in that he couldn’t just step onto the field this Sunday and have an impact. For starters, he’s never run a pro route and he’s never read a defense. If he was told to just run straight down the field and then look for the ball, I could see him making a play or two. But he’d be lost if he were to start a game without practicing and I could only imagine him getting laid out going across the middle.

The front office for the Cavs would rather die than see this come to fruition, but I would love to see LeBron play for just one game to see how he’d do – even if it were just for a couple of plays.

Of course, that would require Brady Quinn to throw a pass longer than three yards in bounds, which is something I seriously doubt he could handle.

Check out all of our 2009 NFL team previews.

Offseason Additions: Eric Barton (LB); Kenyon Coleman (DE); Abram Elam (S); Floyd Womack (OT); C.J. Mosley (DE); Robert Royal (TE); John St. Clair (OT); Mike Fuerry (WR); Corey Ivy (CB).

Offseason Losses: Kellen Winslow Jr. (TE); Sean Jones (S); Kevin Shaffer (OT); Andra Davis (LB); Willie McGinest (LB); Joe Jurevicius (WR); Travis Daniels (CB); Daven Holly (CB); Jason Wright (RB); Antwan Peek (LB).

Player to Watch: James Davis, RB.
People outside of Cleveland just said to themselves, “James who?� The rookie sixth round pick out of Clemson wasn’t supposed to challenge Jamal Lewis for the Browns’ starting running back job, but that’s exactly what he has done to this point. Cleveland’s coaching staff has reportedly been impressed by Davis’s speed, elusiveness and aggressive running style. But perhaps most importantly, the Browns are thrilled with the way he’s learned how to pick up the blitz, which is a craft most rookie running backs struggle with. To date, Davis has compiled a 7.8-yard per carry average in preseason, while Lewis has only mustered a paltry 2.6 YPC. If he doesn’t flat out take the starting job away from Lewis, Davis will certainly split carries this season and could emerge as the Browns’ every down back in the very near future.

Team Strength: Just as it was in 2007 when the Browns came up just shy of a playoff berth, the offensive line will be a strength for Cleveland this season. Even though some say that his play fell off last season compared to his dazzling rookie campaign, Joe Thomas anchors a unit that also features one of the league’s best guards in Eric Steinbach. The Browns also selected the top center prospect in this year’s draft in Alex Mack, who has already beaten out Hank Fraley to become a starter. Neither Floyd Womack nor John St. Clair is a superstar at their positions, but both have starting experience and are versatile.

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I’m going to preface this post by apologizing for not having a link, but Terry Foster from WXYT Sports Radio in Detroit just reported on his talk show that the Browns could release defensive tackle Shaun Rogers and if they did, he wants to play for the Lions again.

This is a massive rumor and I suggest everyone takes it with a huge grain of salt, but considering Rogers and new Cleveland head coach Eric Mangini didn’t get off on the right foot when they first met, it’s not far-fetched that the Browns would part ways with the defensive tackle. Plus, by dealing Kellen Winslow to the Buccaneers earlier this offseason and nearly trading wideout Braylon Edwards before the draft, it’s clear that Mangini wants his own players and isn’t afraid to part with anyone from the old regime.

But the reality of the situation is that the Browns would take a cap hit of around $9 million in they released Rogers and he’s coming off a Pro Bowl season. The Browns also didn’t address the defensive line position in last week’s draft (second round pick David Veikune played defensive end at Hawaii, but Cleveland views him as an outside linebacker) and they don’t have a viable replacement for Rogers if they did part ways with him. Plus, Rogers reported to the Browns’ offseason workouts in late March, so any ill-will towards Mangini apparently has been settled.

It also doesn’t make much sense that the Lions would want him back after trading him last offeason. While it’s true Matt Millen is the one who dealt him to Cleveland, current GM Martin Mayhew worked under Millen last year and no doubt had a hand in trading Rogers. So outside of adding a talented player to their defensive line, why would the Lions want him back? It’s not like he endeared himself to many people in Detroit with his lazy work ethic and ho-hum demeanor.

I would file this away in the rumor file for now, but I thought it was an interesting rumor so I figured I would post something on it.

Even though he stated at one point this offseason that he would like the Browns to release him, nose tackle Shaun Rogers reported to Cleveland’s workout program after skipping the first week of conditioning.

Browns nose tackle Shaun Rogers is participating in the Browns off-season program this week after skipping last week’s opening sessions while he resolved his differences with coach Eric Mangini.

Rogers is seen shaking hands with another teammate before starting his workout. The video comes a day after Browns General Manager George Kokinis said at the NFL owner’s meetings that Rogers and Mangini had a “good conversation.” He also said, “The communication is ongoing now and I think that’s being cleaned up.”

Kokinis said Rogers intended to fulfill “his contractual obligations,” and that “whatever weight” he wanted to play at was fine with Kokinis because he dominated last season.

Rogers, who made his third Pro Bowl last season, had been miffed about two perceived snubs by Mangini and a mandate to show up for the off-season program in shape. He asked the Browns to release him and not pay him his $6 million bonus due last week, but the Browns made it clear they had no intentions of doing so. Apparently, the matter has been resolved or is well on its way to being settled.

This is real good news for the Browns and it looks like a potential disaster has been avoided (at least for now). Rogers was an absolute stud last year and could do very well in Mangini’s 3-4 defense. Mangini needs him on the field and so do the Browns.

Here’s an interesting rumor about Brady Quinn and the Browns:

The Sports Guy remains atop my rotation. I was listening on the way home last night, and surprisingly found a Rotoworld blurb when listening to Mike Lombardi talk Brady Quinn.

“I’m just hearing things out of Cleveland that don’t make me feel Brady Quinn is part of their future. … (Quinn’s) support has left the building. We used to call it sponsorship at the Raiders. When your sponsorship goes, you aren’t the same player.”

Quinn’s “sponsorship” was given out by former GM Phil Savage, and he’s long gone. We’ve documented that Lombardi isn’t a huge fan of Quinn recently, saying he lacked accuracy. That’s an opinion that doesn’t really matter. It matters if the Browns agree with him. It’s looking more like they do.

And you thought Eric Mangini was unpopular in Cleveland now. Wait until he trades boy wonder!

Obviously this is all just speculation, but it’s interesting nonetheless. Mangini is already in a rift with defensive tackle Shaun Rogers and it’s clear that he’s not playing favorites. So there’s no reason to believe that Quinn will be guaranteed a starting job and if Mangini feels that he isn’t the Browns’ future, then there would be no stopping him pursuing one of his own guys.

Boy, the Mangini era in Cleveland has really started off with a bang!

ESPN.com is reporting that defensive tackle Shaun Rogers has been a no-show for the Browns’ offseason conditioning program this week.

While the workouts are considered voluntary, Mangini has made it clear that he wants his players in attendance because it was his first chance to address the team in a group setting.

Mangini and Rogers have clashed for nearly two months when the coach initially refused to communicate with his star player, despite being in the same place on two separate occasions. Rogers didn’t take the snubs lightly, as things escalated to the point where he asked to be released from his six-year, $42 million contract.

Rogers is guaranteed a $5 million bonus this month, making the player’s release unlikely, and should earn an additional $950,000 in likely-to-be-reached incentives when he’s on the field. Mangini has since attempted to reach out to Rogers, but his absence this week makes it clear that there is still much work to be done to patch up the relationship.

The Browns absolutely need this guy in the middle of their defense so it would behoove Mangini to settle the rift as quickly as he can. I understand that Mangini doesn’t want to give into his players, but Rogers has a history of being very unmotivated in a hurry. And while that doesn’t speak well for Rogers’ professionalism, he is what he is at this point in his career.

According to NFL.com’s Adam Schefter, Shaun Rogers has asked the Browns not to pick up the $6 million bonus that is due to him next month because he’d rather be released.

Rogers has grown so disenchanted with the situation in Cleveland that he has asked the Browns not to pick up the $6 million option-bonus payment due to him next month, a source close to the defensive tackle said. Rogers would rather be released after one season with the Browns, despite still being owed another $15 million in guaranteed money.

Some of Rogers’ feelings stem back to two offseason incidents in which he believes Mangini disrespected him. The first time, Mangini walked into the Browns’ training room and failed to say hello to Rogers. The next time, at a public charity function in which both men were in the green room, neither said hello to the other, and Mangini later said he didn’t know Rogers was there.

The Browns believe that, once Rogers hears out Mangini, the same will occur. The situation will be soothed over, hard feelings will dissipate and Cleveland will have a happy defensive tackle.

Cutting Rogers would be difficult to do financially. If the Browns release Rogers, they would have to count more than $9.7 million against their salary cap.

This situation will probably blow over once the two decide to sit down and talk but either way, this isn’t a good start for Mangini. Not that a coach has to walk around and kiss everybody’s ass on the first day, but players are big on the “respect factor� and obviously Rogers feels that he has been disrespected twice already by Mangini.

Notable Free Agents: Sean Jones, S; Andra Davis, LB; Willie McGinest, LB.

Projected 2009 Cap Space: $17,000,000

Draft Order: 5

Top Needs: Two years after signing LeCharles Bentley to a huge contract only to watch him suffer a career-ending knee injury on the first day of training camp, the Browns are once again in need of a center to bolster the interior of their offensive line. The team is also expected to beef up the linebacker corps and possibly add another defensive end for depth. Wide receiver and running back will also likely be addressed.

Offseason Outlook: Word has it that the Browns are already shopping quarterback Derek Anderson (the Jets have emerged as a possible suitor), which means Brady Quinn will likely become the unquestioned starter next season under center. But perhaps the majority of changes for the Browns this offseason will once again be made on the defensive side of the ball – especially in the front seven.

Adding defensive tackle Shaun Rogers via a trade with Detroit last offseason proved to be an outstanding move. Rogers was worth the risk (he was labeled as being lazy in Motown) and had a major impact along Cleveland’s defensive line last year. Corey Williams, another player the Browns added via offseason trade last offseason, was hamstrung with various injuries last season but showed his grit by playing hurt and is a steady player when healthy.

With the Browns set at those two positions on the D-line, they’ll turn their attention to the defensive end spot opposite Williams. Robaire Smith emerged as a quality playmaker in 2007, but a ruptured Achilles tendon cut his season short after only two games last year and the team was stuck with Shaun Smith, who proved to hit players more off the field (ask Brady Quinn), then he did on it. Don’t count on Cleveland upgrading this position in the first round of the draft because there simply isn’t a 3-4 end worth taking at No. 5, but the spot will be addressed at some point. Plus before his season-ending injury last year, Robaire Smith had only missed one game in the previous six seasons so if he can come back healthy, the starting job should remain his.

Todd Porter of the Canton Repository writes that new Browns head coach Eric Mangini is, “running the place like Napoleon� and has already snubbed Pro Bowl NT Shaun Rogers at a recent public function.

A Browns insider told me the atmosphere at headquarters is, to put it mildly, miserable. New Head Coach Eric Mangini is running the place like Napoleon.

Days after Mangini slobbered about the history and tradition of the team, he had a mural of former Browns greats taken down near the players’ entrance. OK, maybe he wants the team to make new history and quit living in the past, but they had better understand the past.

I give Mangini and Kokinis no more than three years before Lerner has sold the team. That’s right. Lerner will sell the team before he hires another head coach.

Mangini is alienating players already. At a recent public function that Mangini and Pro Bowler Shaun Rogers attended, Rogers said he had yet to meet Mangini but hoped to that night. A few minutes later, Mangini walked past Rogers, who’s hard to miss at 360 pounds, without introducing himself.

Yeah, I see how things are starting. Mangini will run off the guys who don’t worship at his feet in the locker room, then need more “time� to rebuild the roster, thus keeping Lerner’s endless circle of rebuilding going.

I wouldn’t get too wrapped up in this report considering most of it is innuendo and hearsay. But it wasn’t that long ago that Jets players were complaining about the way Mangini ran the locker room in New York and reports surfaced that his tough-guy approach didn’t go over too well in the end.

But again, it’s probably best to take this report with a grain of salt. Mangini might not come off well to reporters, but unless you’re a player or on the coaching staff you can’t have a full understanding of what’s really going on behind the scenes.

Granted, guys like Peyton Manning, Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polamalu had wonderful seasons. But don’t they already get plenty of love? With our third-annual NFL All-Spectator Team, we want to shine the spotlight on the players that had great seasons, but for one reason or another, missed the postseason.

So there won’t be any Steelers, Cardinals, Eagles or Ravens on this team. Nor any Giants, Panthers, Vikings or Falcons. They’ve had their opportunity to shine. We’ll recognize those great players that spent the postseason on their couch, or maybe on a beach somewhere. After all, it’s not their fault that they’re on a mediocre (or a crappy) team, is it?

Hell, we’ll even honor a couple of Detroit Lions – how’s that for spreading the love around?

Check out our 2008 and 2007 All-Spectator squads.

QB: Drew Brees (NO)
5,069 yards, 34 TDs, 17 INTs, 96.2 QB rating
For the second straight season, Brees is our choice at QB. On one hand, it’s a nice honor because it means he’s consistently productive, but we’re sure he’d rather be guiding the Saints into the playoffs. Brees improved his numbers across the board, and almost broke Dan Marino’s single-season yardage record; he averaged 317 passing yards per game! He posted the second-highest QB rating of his career and even turned someone named Lance Moore into a fantasy star. For this, he was named AP Offensive Player of the Year, a well-deserved honor.

RB: Matt Forte (CHI)
1,238 rushing yards, 63 rec., 477 receiving yards, 12 total TD
It was a tough call between Forte and Thomas Jones, but with 1,715 total yards, the rookie gets the nod. Some draft pundits questioned his ability to be an every down back, but didn’t have any problems taking over as the Bears’ RB1. He caught an eye-popping 63 catches and was (by far) the Bears’ best offensive weapon. It’s scary to think what he could do if Chicago had another playmaker in the passing game that would keep defenses from stacking the line against the run.

FB: Earnest Graham (TB)
563 rushing yards; 23 rec., 174 rec. yards; 4 total TD
Were there better fullbacks that we could have chosen? Yeah, especially considering Graham isn’t technically even a fullback. But we chose Graham (who missed the last six games of the year with an ankle injury) because of his unselfishness this season. He volunteered to move to fullback when the Bucs were in need of a power blocker and he never griped about losing his feature back role. When he went down with a season ending injury in Week 11, Tampa clearly missed his power running style over the past two months of the season and even more so, they missed his leadership.

WR: Andre Johnson (HOU)
115 rec., 1575 yards, 8 TD
All AJ did was lead the NFL in catches and yards, anchoring one of the league’s best offenses in the process. He posted 9+ catches eight times and went over 100 yards in each of those games. This included success against the very best competition; he racked up 11 catches for 207 yards and a TD against the Titans, who have one of the top pass defenses in the league. A big day for AJ usually meant a Texans win; Houston was 6-2 in games where Johnson went off.

WR: Brandon Marshall (DEN)
104 rec., 1265 yards, 6 TD
Marshall missed the first game of the season due to suspension, but he made up for it the next week, posting an amazing 18 catches for 166 yards and a score against the Chargers. He was one of the most consistent wideouts over the rest of the season, catching no fewer than four passes in 12 of the next 14 games. Surprisingly, he only caught six touchdowns, but with the third-most catches and seventh-most yards in the league, his stats are plenty impressive.

TE: Tony Gonzalez (KC)
96 rec., 1058 yards, 10 TD
Gonzo makes his second-straight appearance on our All-Spectator Team. Jason Witten may have earned this spot if not for a midseason injury that hindered his production, but Gonzalez was every bit the top TE in the league this season. He was 12th in the league in yards and tied for 4th in catches. What’s most impressive about Gonzo’s season is that, at 32, he turned in what was arguably his third-best season of his illustrious 12-year, Hall of Fame career.

OT: Ryan Clady (DEN)
The Broncos might have produced one of the worst collapses of any team in NFL history by surrendering a four game lead over the Chargers with only four games remaining in the season, but Clady deserves praise for his exceptional play this year. The rookie gave up just a half sack and helped anchor the left tackle position for an offensive line that tied the Titans for fewest sacks allowed in the NFL (12). He’s the type of player the Broncos can build their O-line around and he was clearly a Pro Bowl snub.

OT: Joe Thomas (CLE)
Did Thomas take a slight step back this season? Yes. Even some in Cleveland’s organization will admit it. But offensive linemen aren’t immune to having sophomore slumps and even though his production might have dipped a little, Thomas was still one of the best tackles in the AFC and worthy of his Pro Bowl roster spot. He was also part of a Browns’ offensive line that finished eighth in sacks allowed. Some are going to wonder where Jason Peters’ (Bills) name is, but don’t strain your eyes looking too long because he didn’t make the cut. Peters gave up more sacks (11.5 sacks in just 13 games) this year than any starting left tackle in the league.

OG: Leonard Davis (DAL)
Two years ago, the Cardinals gave up on Davis because they didn’t feel he was consistent or dominant enough to be their cornerstone left tackle. Not that they were wrong, but they might regret giving up on him with the way he’s excelled since the Cowboys moved him to right guard after signing him to a seven-year, $49.6 million contract in March of 2007. Davis had another outstanding year and some believe that he was the most dominant right guard in the NFL this season. The Saints’ Jahri Evans (who made our honorable mention list) got a starting look for our guard positions, but in the end we couldn’t pass up pairing Davis with Alan Faneca.

OG: Alan Faneca (NYJ)
The Steelers didn’t want to pony up to pay a 32-year old guard with plenty of mileage on his body, but the Jets signed the veteran to a five-year, $40 million contract and it’s safe to say that Faneca was worth the money. After breakout seasons as rookies in 2006, the play of left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson and center Nick Mangold dropped in 2007. But the addition of Faneca turned out to be the shot in the arm that the two youngsters needed. Faneca’s presence also helped running back Thomas Jones bounce back after a rough 2007 campaign, as he rushed for 1,312 yards this season.

C: Dan Koppen (NE)
Whether it was because of a down year or the inexperience of quarterback Matt Cassel, the Patriots’ offensive line was brutal in pass protection this season. They gave up 48 sacks despite returning all five starters from their Super Bowl team. Regardless, the Patriots still had the fifth best offense in the NFL and were the sixth best running team. At the center (no pun intended) of their success was Koppen, who continues to be a quiet leader on a team filled with exceptional players. Cassel’s success this season had a lot to do with having a veteran center setting the line protection every play and guiding the young signal caller along the way.