THESE TEAMS’ PLANS ARE HARDLY A SECRET

By STEVE KING

A real good friend of mine, who is a whole heckuva lot smarter than I am, laughed when she read the story here the other day about Browns General Manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski being very tight-lipped and secretive about divulging the team’s plans and thoughts concerning anything, especially personnel.

I made mention of the fact that they’re not dealing with information that, if discovered by the wrong people, could threaten the safety of the free world.

“That’s crazy,” she said.

She’s right.

Yes, it’s just football.

But the Browns aren’t the only team in the NFL doing this. They’re all guilty.

This really comes up at this time of year as teams prepare for free agency and, even more so, the NFL Draft. They don’t want the other clubs knowing what, or, more specifically, who, they’re considering.

It’s absolutely no secret at all, even to the most routine of football fans, let alone the other teams, that the Browns are, first and foremost, looking for wide receivers — lots of them — along with edge rushers and depth at offensive tackle.

News flash?

Hardly.

It’s not a secret, either, as to what the Browns’ rivals in the AFC North are after.

The Pittsburgh Steelers need a quarterback in the worst way. They aren’t going anywhere until they find one.

Ditto for offensive linemen at all positions. They need some people to run block and protect that quarterback.

The Cincinnati Bengals have a franchise quarterback in Joe Burrow. But if they also don’t find offensive linemen at all positions, they’re going to be sunk because Burrow can’t lead the team from a hospital room while in a body cast.

And the Baltimore Ravens? They need help in the secondary and at wide receiver.

There you have it, the plans for the division’s teams laid bare.

But shhhh! Don’t tell a soul.