Earlier this morning, Mike Lombardi was officially named the new vice president of player personnel for the Cleveland Browns. Then shortly after that, some dot connecting began.
I’m generally a big fan of that game, but only if the dots being used eventually create a spaceship or a friendly dinosaur. That way at least we can all feel as though we’ve accomplished something. Taking one player evaluation dot and connecting it to nothing is still a fun game only because it generates often baseless chatter, but the connecting line fades into oblivion.
This is the time in the NFL calendar with ye old speculation machine begins to wind up, with the seeds planted for mid April when the knob is ripped right off. That’s why Lombardi’s hiring led to this…
For Patriots fans, Mike Lombardi getting Cleveland personnel job puts possible Ryan Mallett trade back on front burner.
— Greg A. Bedard (@GregABedard) January 18, 2013
As Rotoworld’s Evan Silva notes, Lombardi was a pretty big Mallett pom pom waver in the spring of 2011, a far away time when along with the rest of us briefly, he believed the Patriots backup and former Razorback would be not only be a first-round pick, but also a top-20 pick. But Lombardi did more than just join the rest of us in our worship of the speculation gods and goddesses. He was convinced Mallett would be a first rounder.
