P.M. Cleveland Browns links: Josh Cribbs may be the most fantasy-worthy Brown

Browns are a longshot to win the Super Bowl. Duh!

Cleveland, Ohio -- Training camp for the Browns is just around the corner. Training camp for fantasy team owners is now. Are you ready for some e-football?

Lee (don't you love how last names apparently are passe online?), writing for footballjabber.com, took a look at the current roster of the Cleveland Browns with an eye towards the fantasy season. Granted, it's a little early in the process to do that, but Lee sort of stuck to the first couple of places in the projected depth charts. Those are the guys you KNOW are going to make the team.

That's the good news. The bad news is that not one member of this revamped Browns team -- with the notable exception of Josh Cribbs -- makes Lee's list of sure bets ... and even that one is hedged. Here, for example, is what he had to say about the quarterback:

Gone are the days when fans debated between Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson. The Big Show brought Seneca Wallace with him from Seattle and then made a move to pick up Jake Delhomme. During the 2010 NFL Draft the Browns brought in Colt McCoy (3rd round), possibly the QB of the future in Cleveland.

Motives were questioned at first when Wallace was brought in. He has been nothing more than a career backup since starring at Iowa State. The Browns were expected to make a move on the position, resulting in the signing of Delhomme. Not exactly what people expected with a franchise apparently starting over. The starting job at QB appears to be with Delhomme going into the season, but how long can he hang on? His career (and performance) is obviously on a downward slide. The question is who will take over for him later in the season? We advise staying away from the Browns QB situation unless in very deep leagues.

It doesn't get much better, but that's OK. The best thing about predictions like this is being able to look back at the end of the year and say, "Nyah! Nyah! You were wrong!"

At least it's not impossible
Right now, the Browns are unbeaten, untied and unscored-on. Clearly that has to make them the favorites to win the Super Bowl this year, right?

Uh, wrong. And not just because every other team in the league can boast the same credentials.

The site thespread.com puts the Browns' odds of winning the Super Bowl at 80 to 1.

Oddsmakers from online sports book SPORTSBETTING.com currently list the Browns as 80/1 long shots to win the 2011 Super Bowl and 40/1 to win the AFC.

While the Browns did a lot to upgrade their roster from last year and have a great football mind leading their front office in Mike Holmgren, there's still a ways to go before this team is competitive again. Holmgren certainly has them going in the right direction, but even he would likely be surprised if the Browns were competitive in 2010.

Yeah, it's not good. But it could be worse. Tampa Bay, St. Louis and Buffalo are at 100 to 1. Detroit and Kansas City are at 90 to 1. Cleveland and Oakland are at the same 80-to-1 listing, according to betvega.com.

Ready to make nice
Browns coach Eric Mangini is quoted in profootballtalk.com as saying he really wants to rekindle -- after a fashion -- his relationship with his mentor, one Bill Belichick. You may have heard of him. Used to coach the Browns, dumped a beloved icon (Bernie Kosar) and went on to win Super Bowls in New England.

Mangini worked for him here and with the Patriots, then split to coach the rival Jets. The move apparently did not sit well with Belichick (although how you could tell is a mystery to Starting Blocks; Thomas Jefferson's Mount Rushmore face is likely to break into a teeth-exposing grin before Belichick's does).

Here's what Mangini told Mike Florio for his profootballtalk.com season preview, as reported in a USA Today story today:

"He and I haven't really talked. When I talk about him, he was my mentor. He taught me everything, and I respect him tremendously. That's not bull. That's how I feel. I hope at some point, we'll be able to sit down and talk about things and get back to a better relationship. It's not there right now, but at some point things have a tendency to roll back."

Sorta kinda wonder how that plays in Peoria. Peoria being Mike Holmgren's office.