Well, this is the last option I would have thought of.



Quote:

ESPN.com news services

Cleveland Browns: Tim Couch is no longer welcome in the Browns' weight room, but he may still be welcome in camp.

Confused? Welcome to the limbo being currently experienced by Couch, whose five-year tenure in Cleveland seemed to end when the club signed former San Francisco starter Jeff Garcia to a four-year, $25 million contract three weeks ago.

Couch is barred from the weight room out of the fear an injury might diminish his already lagging trade value, but team executives may still be interested in bringing the veteran quarterback to training camp on a one-year deal.

Couch has been dangled in trade talks, and Green Bay head coach Mike Sherman had dinner with the quarterback last Wednesday evening, but a deal does not seem imminent. Now comes word that the Browns might be interested, given the inertia in the market, in signing Couch to a one-year contract as Garcia's backup.

His current contract still has two years remaining, at base salaries of $7.6 million for 2004 and $8 million for '05, with cap charges of $9.26 million and $9.66 million, respectively. Absent a trade, the Browns likely will release Couch, but continue to discuss the one-year option that team president Carmen Policy suddenly has on the table.

"He might be better off doing the kind of deal we're talking about, maybe even make more money than he can on the open market, and then being guaranteed free agency next year," Policy said. "It's a distinct possibility."

In the meantime, Couch, who reported last week for the start of the Browns' offseason conditioning program, since he is still under contract and property of Cleveland, has been asked not to attend the sessions or use the weight room at the team complex. The fear is that Couch could be injured, not only further cutting his trade value, but, more important, leaving the Browns liable for his current contract.

It is believed that Couch is now using a Cleveland-area health club for offseason training.

In 62 appearances, 59 of them starts, Couch has completed 1,025 of 1,714 attempts, for 11,131 yards, with 64 touchdown passes, 67 interceptions and a passer rating of 75.1. The former Kentucky star was the first player chosen in the 1999 draft.
--- Len Pasquarelli, senior NFL writer for ESPN.com


"You kind of get tired giving the other team credit. At some point you've got to look in the mirror and say 'I sucked.'"

Alex Rodriguez, after the NY Yankees were eliminated from the 2006 ALDS by the Detroit Tigers.