Browns making moves?

Don't ask me why I felt compelled to write a blog post about the Browns, but check this scenario.

The Browns might be considering cutting Jamal Lewis, who average 2.6 yards per carry in the preseason, during which he turned 30 years old (read: washed up). Read it here

The Browns shockingly played neither Brady Quinn nor Derek Anderson in their final preseason game on Thursday, possibly meaning they are saving one from injury so they could make a trade. Read it here

The New England Patriots just released Andrew Walter, their third-string QB, after releasing their fourth string QB last week. Now they only have Tom Brady and undrafted rookie QB Brian Hoyer going into Week 1. Read it here

The Patriots have 5 solid running backs: Fred Taylor, Sammy Morris, Kevin Faulk, Laurence Maloney and BenJaurvis Green-Ellis. They'll undoubtedly have to release one of them, unless ...

Browns cut Lewis, trade DA to Patriots for any one portion of their five-headed monster.

Any would be an upgrade from a washed-up Jamal Lewis, and Cleveland backup Richard Bartel proved Thursday he can play backup to Brady Quinn alongside Brett Ratliff.

New England benefits by getting a solid backup QB and only lose an RB they were considering cutting anyway.

Make sense? You heard it here first.

there's always next year

The Pittsburgh Pirates were busy at the trade deadline again this year, shipping off the most of the talented players on the team as usual. Operating a small-market organization in a bad economy while attempting to turn profits has led to a record 17th straight losing season. We hear the same rhetoric from the new front office: trade away the biggest paychecks for future baseball prospects who could contribute in two years and hopefully they can put together a playoff run before these new players start demanding big-market salaries.

A summary of the trades: Pirates lose Adam LaRoche, Jack Wilson, Ian Snell and Freddy Sanchez and gain many talented but very young players, including No. 1 prospects Jeff Clement and Tim Alderson.

Instead of offering my opinion on the deals or on the "small-market syndrome" as a whole, I've compiled a few really informative links for your perusal:

A summary of all MLB deals that went down in the few days leading up to the 2009 trade deadline :: here

For those who are saying, "here we go again," a chart of trades (mostly sour) the Pirates have made since opening PNC Park in 2001 :: here

A very cool chart of what the future of the Pittsburgh Pirates team will look like over the next year or two :: here