Leadoff with Lee 2.29.16

By Chris Lee, @TripleThreatLee

- Browns center Alex Mack is expected to opt-out of his contract, but return to Cleveland on a new contract is a real possibility. According to one source the Browns and Mack are close to a new 4 year contract. Mack is in the second year of his five-year, $42 million contract that included $26 million guaranteed. He would make annual base salaries of $8 million over the remainder of the agreement and the deal includes a no-trade clause. Mack has already visited with new Browns head coach Hue Jackson and director of football operations Sashi Brown. Alex Mack could easily become the NFL's highest paid center making at least $10M per year. The Browns have until March 4 to negotiate a new contract with Mack before he is eligible to opt-out.

- There’s a belief at the combine that offensive tackle Mitchell Schwartz end up with a contract in the $8M per year. That would make Schwartz the second-richest right tackle in the league in terms of annual salary. With the Browns expected to draft a quarterback with their second pick Hue Jackson would like to protect his investment. Last season Schwartz earned $1.095M in base salary.

- The NFL's competition committee has had "lengthy discussions" about reducing the preseason schedule for NFL teams to just three games instead of the four they have now. Team would have a two-week break between their final preseason game and the start of the regular season.  It doesn't sound as though the change would affect the 2016 preseason, but it sounds like it could definitely be in play for 2017 and beyond. Hopefully this isn't a precursor to the league attempting to lengthen the regular season schedule. . .if the shortened preseason is being done primarily because of potential injury concerns it kind of defeats the purpose of shortening the preseason.

- The Denver Post reported that Peyton Manning is expected to announce his retirement. If this is the end of his career Manning he will have 200 Wins, 71,948 passing yards and 539 touchdowns a 96.5 passer rating and 2 Super Bowls under his belt. He’s got a deadline of March 9th. The end of next week is March 4th. His decision should be final within the next week according to multiple reports. He doesn’t want to force Denver’s hand and make his exit awkward. Denver public relations tweeted the following in response to Dan Petty.

Peyton has not made a decision on his future. Plan remains for him to continue talks with the team this week. https://t.co/2YcjDCCQSg

— Patrick Smyth (@psmyth12) February 28, 2016

People around Peyton Manning believe he will retire, but as of now, he has not told the Broncos of any decision.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 28, 2016

- Unless something drastically changes between now and Tuesday, it appears that the Denver Broncos will place the franchise tag on Von Miller. At this time it's unclear whether the Broncos will use the non-exclusive or exclusive version of the tag. The non-exclusive tag, would allow another team to sign Miller to an offer sheet and in return for two first-round draft picks if the Broncos don’t match the offer, would cost $14.129 million for 2016, fully guaranteed. The exclusive franchise tag would be based on the average of the five highest 2016 cap numbers for all linebackers, measured as of the conclusion of the period for signing restricted free agents to offer sheets, in April. The exclusive tag for linebackers currently is on track to by $14.04 million.

- FIFA has elected Gianni Infantino as its new president. Infantino won on the 2nd ballot, netting 115 out of 207 votes.  He will complete Sepp Blatter's term and serve until 2019. Infantino holds both Swiss and Italian citizenship and has been the general secretary of UEFA, the governing body of European soccer, since 2009. He worked with UEFA to expand the European Championship from 16 to 24 teams, and he has promised to expand the World Cup field to 40 teams. An attorney, Infantino has also served as a member of FIFA’s Reform Committee. Infantino becomes just the third Fifa president in 40 years personified by Blatter and his Brazilian predecessor João Havelange, during which Fifa’s revenues soared but scandals involving World Cup tickets, TV rights and corrupt bidding races multiplied. In May, Sepp Blatter was forced to promise to stand down and then was banned from football for six years for making a $1.3M "disloyal payment” to his one-time heir apparent Platini in 2011. 

- Major League Baseball handed Indians outfielder Abraham Almonte an 80-game suspension Friday for testing positive for boldenone, a form of a Performance Enhancing Drug (P.E.D). Almonte was signed July 31 2015 from the San Diego Padres and was to be the potential opening day starter in the early part of the season while All-Star outfielder Michael Brantley recovers from off-season shoulder surgery. Brantley has only now begun hitting off a tee and will not likely be ready by the start of the season. Almonte and free agent signee Rajai Davis were expected to get at-bats in the outfield as Brantley mended. Now, the Indians must lean more on Davis, and perhaps Colin Cowgill and Will Venable, who was signed to a minor league deal. Venable's deal is for $1.5M is base salary and can make an additional $2M in performance bonuses if he makes the team.

- The Cavs signed Jordan McRae of the D-League's Delaware 87ers will sign a 10-day contract. With Mo Williams' knee injury lingering McRae will help provide additional depth to the bench. The 6'5" guard is averaging 23.3 points, 4.6 boards and 5.2 assists for the 87ers this season.

- NBA veteran guard Joe Johnson was waived by the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday, shunned the Cavs and has decided to take his talents to South Beach once he clears waivers today at 5pm. The Miami Heat are expected to sign the seven time all-star for about $3M for the remainder of the season. In Sunday's game vs. the Knicks, Johnson had 12 points in 30 minutes, on 5 of 10 shooting from the field.

- Making the oldest team in the NBA even older, free agent veteran Andre Miller has reached an agreement to sign with the San Antonio Spurs for the remainder of the season. Miller cleared waivers on Saturday after reaching a contract buyout with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

- Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry now has 287 3-pointers this season,breaking his own record from last year of 286 (GSW still have 24 games remaining). And he tied the record for 3's made in a single game with 12. He shares that record with Donyell Marshall and Kobe Bryant. 

Leadoff with Lee 12.23.15 #Browns #ProBowl #Indians #Akron #Toledo

By @cleeverizon

Browns left tackle Joe Thomas and center Alex Mack were selected to the NFL Pro Bowl. For Thomas, this will be his 9th selection to the annual game and 3rd time for Mack. Special teamer Johnson Bademosi, tight end Gary Barnidge and wide receiver Travis Benjamin were selected as alternates. Pro Bowl players are voted in by players, coaches and fans, with each groups ballot counting for 1/3 of the votes.

In a All-Star game many consider to be tag football, the Pro Bowl has some rule differences from a traditional NFL game.

-Field Goal Post width will be 14-feet, down from 18.6-feet from the regular season
-PATs will be from the 15-yard line, making the kick 33-yards long.
-2 timeouts per quarter
-2 minute warning every quarter
-Change of Possession at the end of each quarter. Just to name a few. For the complete Pro Bowl roster click HERE.

- The Indians signed Ross Detwiler to a minor league deal with a spring training invite. The team also released Chris Johnson, but still owe him $17.5M. Johnson is scheduled to make $7.5M in 2016 and $9M in 2017 and the Tribe will be on the hook for his $1M buyout in 2018 with a contract worth $10M.

Ross Detwiler is a 29-year-old southpaw who posted a 7.25 ERA (6.12 FIP) in 41 appearances between the Texas Rangers and Atlanta Braves in 2015. In 58.1 combined innings, Detwiler struck out 41, walked 36 and allowed 10 home runs. Left-handed pitchers Tom Gorzelanny and Joe Thatcher were also recently signed to Minor League deals with spring training invites by the Tribe.

- The Akron Zips defeated Utah State for their 1st bowl win in school history with a 23-21 victory in the Idaho Potato Bowl.

- Another Ohio team won a bowl game yesterday, as the Toledo Rockets won the Boca Raton Bowl over Temple, 32-17. It's the 1st time since 1969-71 Toledo has won a bowl in consecutive seasons.

- After announcing his retirement Monday, Ohio native Charles Woodson was named to his 9th Pro Bowl at the age 39. Woodson was a three-time, first-team All-Pro at cornerback for the Packers and Raiders. Named to the All-2000s Team by the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Woodson was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year with the in 2009 season which featured nine interceptions and three touchdowns. He is also sixth on the all time interceptions list with 65 and is tied for the most career defensive touchdowns with 13.

Leadoff with Lee 10.15.14

By @cleeverizon

- This past Sunday, the Cleveland Browns took two hits on the offense and defense. First they lost Pro Bowl Center Alex Mack with a broken fibula. Best case scenario, he is out 8 to 10 weeks. Worst case scenario is out for the entire season. On the defensive side of the ball, Armonty Bryant is out for the season with a torn right ACL and MCL. According to the newest Browns depth chart, John Greco moves to starting center, and John Hughes is now starting at defensive end.

Now let me clear up this Brian Hoyer contract situation. I do expect the Browns to sign Brian Hoyer to a new 2-year guaranteed contract, with a third-year player and or club option. I believe this deal will be worth anywhere between $6 and $8 million per season. I do not however, believe the Browns will franchise Hoyer for the $18 million that he will be guaranteed. Brian Hoyer will give the Browns a hometown discount and will accept the $6 to $8 million per year contract with the player option and Johnny Manziel will be waiting in the wings ready to go after the contract is all over. Manziel will still sell jerseys and do commercials. He is always just a play away. Gotta keep that in mind.

- Yesterday, the Cincinnati Bengals worked out former Heisman Trophy winner from Ohio State, Terrelle Pryor. The Bengals also signed former Cleveland Browns wide receiver Greg Little. Since Little is back in Ohio, I hope he doesn't meet up with Josh Gordon and we all know what happened with that story.

- Oklahoma City Thunder star forward Kevin Durant has a Jones fracture, which is a broken bone below the small toe off his foot. A simple surgery may only keep him out for 6 to 8 weeks. This all depends on his rehab schedule and how fast he heals. The Thunder want to get him active and into the flow ASAP, but not rush anything.

- Last week, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was fined $10,000 for wearing Beats By Dre headphones during warm-ups. During Kaepernick's most recent interview, he wore the headphones but used athletic tape to cover up the logo. Therefore he found a way to where the headphones without receiving a fine from the NFL. The reason for Kaepernick's latest fine is because the NFL has a contract with Bose as the official headphones of the NFL. The NFL has similar contracts with Under Armor and Nike as the official cleats of the NFL. Athletes may wear other footwear, but if not sponsored by the NFL, they must be covered up by tape or they may face a fine. It's all about the mighty dollar.

- NBA jerseys may become more like soccer jerseys. According to the new NBA TV contract, jersey advertising will be added in the 2015-2016 NBA seasons. According to the deal the NBA logo will be moved to the back of the jersey, above the name and you will see a 2 x 6 advertisement by either Samsung and or Coca-Cola. The details on how much the league will make has not been disclosed as of yet, but the deal is going to be lucrative to the NBA, the NBA teams and the local markets.

- Lastly, before I leave I will like to say happy birthday to my youngest son Nathaniel Christian who turned 10 years old on October 12. I love you buddy I want to learn all about www.triplethreatcle.com and contribute to what I do at some point in time in life.

On The Mark 10.13.14: #Browns Recap

NOT The "Same Old Browns" as Cleveland Destroys Pittsburgh, 31-10
By @MarkW2112

You read it right.  This is NOT the Same Old Browns.  This is a new team and new attitude as the Browns decimate the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-10 in a game that was never really close after the second quarter.

The Steelers were able to get on the board first, 3-0 while the Browns offense seemed to struggle to get off the ground, having -8 yards in the first quarter.  But once the second quarter rolled around, Brian Hoyer and the offense got on a roll and didn't stop.  With big time plays to Miles Austin and a bomb to Jordan Cameron, the Browns scored the first TD of the game in the second quarter on a 5 yard touchdown run by Isaiah Crowell to make it 7-3.  After getting the ball back on downs from the Steelers, Hoyer connected to Cameron again on a 51 yard touchdown pass to make it 14-3.  Ben Tate scored his first of two touchdowns of the game later in the second quarter to make it 21-3 before halftime.

It appeared the Steelers just couldn't get it going on offense with the Browns defense finally stepping up amid injuries to Phil Taylor and, during the game, to his replacement Armonty Bryant.  Even without them along with an inactive Ahtyba Rubin, the Browns were able to keep everything in front of them with Buster Skrine and Joe Haden having their best games of the year.  In fact, it may have been the defenses best all around game this year.

As great as the Browns offense was, the biggest blow to the team was the possible loss of Alex Mack to a broken leg.  He had to carted off the field and appeared to be in tremendous pain.  Mack had played every game as a Cleveland Brown since he was drafted in 2009.  While it would appear to be a huge loss, John Greco came in and performed admirably in his place even though he has never played a game at center (only during practice).

Hoyer, Tate, Cameron and Crowell were the offensive stars of the game.  Even though Hoyer only went 8-for-17, he did throw 217 yards and a touchdown with a 93.6 QBR according to ESPN.com.  Tate ran for 78 yards and 2 TD's, Crowell 77 yards and a TD and Cameron 3 catches for 102 yards and a touchdown.

My take: This team has taken on the personality of its tough as nails head coach Mike Pettine.  It was a team effort all of the way around.  Hoyer is the leader at QB the Browns have desperately searching for since 1999 and while Mack's loss is tough, the o-line performed well without him.  The defense seems to finally be gelling together even with the losses of A. Bryant and Phil Taylor.  The depth on the team should keep them playing at a high level.

Next up for the Browns: in Jacksonville against a very bad Jaguars team.  The Browns, however, should not take them lightly.  And I don't anticipate they will.

Leadoff with Lee 4.13.14

-The Browns and Alex Mack has agreed to a 5 year $42 million dollar contract, which will make him the highest paid center in the NFL. The agreement locks Mack up for at least 2 years, worth $18 million. If Mack exercises his third year option, that will increase his deal to $26 million over 3 years. The Browns can not franchise or transition tag him due to Mack's option year. He can become a free agent after the 2016 season.

-The Indians won yesterday afternoon, despite Justin Masterson giving up 6 runs in 4 2/3 innings. The final score against the Chicago White Sox was 12-6 Tribe.

Leadoff with Lee 4.11.14

-The Aulstarilan Prime Minister says they have recovered what they say is the "blackbox". Reports state that the search has been narrowed down to 500 square miles.

-According to national reports and local sources, Chris Lee has confirmed the Browns will match the offer sheet of $42 million dollars that the Jacksonville Jaguars have offered to center Alex Mack. The deal would be between $18- $20 million in the first 2 years, with Mack having the option of opting out after the 2015 season. Even at that point, the Browns can still place a transition or franchise tag on him. IMO Mack will be a Brown.

-The Tribe lost 7-3 despite Danny Salazar's 10 strikeouts in 3.2 innings pitched.

-The Cavs didn't lose last night. Thank God, because they didn't play. The Cavs will visit the Milwaukee Bucks with the game starting at 8:30est. The game will be on TV on FoxSports Ohio and radio AM 1100 WTAM Cleveland!

Leadoff with Lee: Cleveland Sports 4.10.14

-As I reported yesterday the Jacksonville Jaguars offered Browns center Alex Mack a contract. Monetary terms of the deal have not been disclosed. But looking at past deals signed by offensive linemen and most recent,Carolina's Ryan Kalil signed a 6 year deal worth $49 million dollars and $19 million guaranteed. The Browns have 5 days to match the deal as Cleveland placed the transition tag on Mack. Jimmy Haslem made it clear Tuesday night "We want Alex to be a Brown". Haslem also stated he is very optimistic that Mack will be a Brown for the long term future. Which means to me the Browns will match the Jags offer. The bigget obstacle for the Browns is should the Browns offer more guaranteed money up front or give him less money guaranteed and backload his salary to make sure Mack retires as a Brown.

-The Cavs defeated the Pistons 122-100 but have been officially eliminated from the playoffs as the Hawks defeat the Celtics. Dion Waiters scored 22, Tyler Zeller scored 18,rookie Matthew Dellavedova had 14 points and 12 assists and Spencer Hawes added 15.

-The Indians lose the 2nd game of their doubleheader yesterday 2-1. The lone run was scored by DH Yan Gomes.         -The Tribe also optioned RHP Vinnie Pestano to Triple-A Columbus to recall RHP C.C Lee. No relation to Chris Lee j/k