The Browns traded the Eagles two fifth round picks to move up 12 spots to take RB Montario Hardesty with the 59th overall pick (2nd round) out of Tennessee.  Hardesty is 5′11″, 215 pounds and he’s just fast enough to break long runs with little help from his blockers.  He likes to lower his shoulder and run over people.  He will be the perfect complement to Jerome Harrison who ran so well for the Browns down the stretch last season.  Hardesty played in 13 games (all starts) for the Volunteers last season and he carried the ball 282 times for 1,345 yards (4.8 ypc) with 13 TD runs.  He also caught 25 passes for 302 yards (12.1 avg) with 1 TD grab last year.  Hardesty was not heavily used in college until last season so he likely comes to Cleveland with a ton of tread left on his tires.  Hardesty played in 49 games (19 starts) at Tennessee in which he carried the ball 560 times for 2,391 yards (4.3 ypc) with 26 TD carries and he also has caught 38 passes for 405 yards (10.7 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Hardesty will start out sharing the ball with Harrison in 2010 but don’t be surprised if he winds up getting more carries than him as early as 2010.  This was a outstanding pick for the Cleveland Browns.

The Browns have selected safety T.J. Ward out of Oregon with the 38th overall pick (2nd round) of the NFL Draft.  Ward is more of a strong safety which could cause Abram Elam to move to free safety in 2010.  Ward is not the best cover safety out there but in the box there aren’t many better than him as he’s awesome in run support.  Ward played in 8 games (7 starts) for Oregon last season and he finished up with 68 tackles, he broke up 4 passes, had 1 interception and he forced 1 fumble.  He played in 37 games (20 starts) in his four years at Oregon and he finished up with 193 tackles, he broke up 13 passes, had 3 interceptions and he forced 5 fumbles.  Ward is also a solid special teams player which will make the Browns even better in that aspect of the game (which is downright scary).  The Browns might have taken Ward a round or two early but he will help make the defense a more physical unit in 2010.

The Browns have selected CB Joe Haden out of Florida with the 7th pick of the first round of the NFL Draft.  Haden ran a tad slow at the NFL Combine but that was because he had a back injury.  He routinely runs in the 4.4 in the 40 yard dash.  He is a good cover corner who also is a good blitzer and a hitter in run support.  Haden played in 14 games (all starts) for Florida last season in which he made 68 tackles, he broke up 10 passes, intercepted 4 passes and he forced 2 fumbles.  Haden is a playmaker and he will probably start at corner from day #1 opposite Eric Wright with Sheldon Brown moving to safety.  If that is the case I love this pick for the Cleveland Browns.  Haden played in 40 games (all starts) in his three years at Florida in which he finished up with 218 tackles, he broke up 34 passes, had 8 interceptions and he forced 3 fumbles.  This was a outstanding pick for the Browns.

The Browns have signed 28-year old center Eric Ghiaciuc to a 1-year deal to back up Alex Mack.  He did not play for the Chargers last season despite being active.  He has now played in 48 games (42 starts) in his 5 years in the NFL.  This was a solid signing for the Browns as you can never have enough depth on the O-Line.

UPDATE:  (6/16/2010) - The Browns have released Ghiaciuc after only two months.

The Browns have acquired 31-year old cornerback Sheldon Brown and 26-year old outside linebacker Chris Gocong for 24-year old OLB Alex Hall, a 4th and a 5th round pick in this year’s NFL Draft.  Sheldon Brown will step right in and start opposite Eric Wright for the Browns in 2010 giving them a very solid tandem.  Brown played in all 16 games for the Eagles last season and he made 51 tackles, had 2 tackles for a loss, he forced 1 fumble, defensed 17 passes and he had 5 interceptions (152 yards in returns) including one that he returned for a TD.  Brown has now played in 128 games in his 8-year NFL career and he has made 431 tackles, defensed 109 passes, he has 7 sacks, 7 forced fumbles and 19 interceptions (3 Pick Sixes).  Gocong will also likely slide right into the starting lineup for the Browns.  Gocong played in 15 games for the Eagles last season and he made 44 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, he had 1 sack, forced 1 fumble and he defensed 2 passes.  Gocong has now played in 47 games in his three years in the NFL and he has made 169 tackles, defensed 8 passes, he has 4 sacks and he has forced 2 fumbles.

Alex Hall just didn’t seem to fit into Rob Ryan’s defense for the Browns last season.  He played in 14 games making 10 tackles.  In his two years with the Browns, Hall played in 30 games in which he made 38 tackles, forced 2 fumbles and he had 3 sacks.  The Browns still have 10 picks in the NFL Draft later this month so they won’t be hurt too bad by this trade.  The Browns didn’t pay much of a price to add two pretty good defensive football players.  I love this trade for the Browns.