Browns Win Coin Flip; Dillon to Retire?

Cleveland won a coin flip with Tampa Bay on Friday at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis and will pick third overall in April's draft. The Buccaneers will select fourth.

The teams finished with identical 4-12 records last season and their opponents had the same winning percentage, making the coin toss necessary.

Browns general manager Phil Savage and Tampa Bay GM Bruce Allen represented their clubs at the coin toss. Allen called heads and the coin landed tails, giving the Browns the No. 3 overall pick for the fifth time in club history.

In 2005, the Browns selected wide receiver Braylon Edwards with the third choice.

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New England Patriots tailback Corey Dillon told the Boston Globe he wants to be released from the Patriots.

Dillon's agent, Steve Feldman, said Friday that his client will ask the Patriots for his release and that the team is likely to grant it by March 2, the start of free agency.

Dillon told The Boston Globe that he would probably retire, but Feldman, while acknowledging that retirement is a possibility, said it is unlikely.

Dillon, 32, ran for 812 yards this past season and ranks 14th on the NFL's career rushing list with 11,241 rushing yards.

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The knee surgery that Cleveland Browns tight end Kellen Winslow underwent on Jan. 30 apparently was more extensive than was believed at the time.

According to several reports, Winslow underwent microfracture surgery on his knee. Initially, it was thought he merely was having damaged cartilage repaired and scar tissue cleaned out.

This surgery, instead, apparently was designed to grow new cartilage. Players can take up to a year to recover fully from microfracture surgery and some never get back on the playing field.

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The Oakland Raiders announced today they are declining to pick up an option in the contract of quarterback Aaron Brooks, making him a free agent.

The move reportedly keeps the team from having to pay Brooks a $5 million bonus.

The Raiders went winless in Brooks's eight starts this past season and he missed time with a strained pectoral muscle. Brooks's departure leaves Andrew Walter as the top quarterback on the club's roster but the Raiders could use the first overall selection in the draft in April on JaMarcus Russell of LSU.


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