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Home > Blogs > Dawging the Browns > Archives > 2008 > July > 24 > Entry
Bodden gets his deal from Lions
Leigh Bodden never struck me as a malcontent, but apparently he wasn’t entirely happy with the Browns before being traded to the Detroit Lions.
“I just wanted a long-term deal and they wanted me to wait a year,” Bodden told The Associated Press on Thursday. “I told them I thought I deserved it right now.”
Bodden, a cornerback who led the Browns with six interceptions last season, has agreed to a four-year, $27 million contract extension with the Lions, the NFL Network reported Thursday.
His current deal, signed after the 2005 season, had two more years to run, which pretty much explains why the Browns wanted to wait a year.
Ultimately, Bodden was swapped with a 2008 third-round draft pick for defensive tackle Shaun Rogers — a trade that already has drawn plenty of scrutiny and will continue to be analyzed to death if the Browns don’t pick up the pace on defense this season.
Some think the Browns weakened themselves considerably by trading their most experienced corner, one of the few in the league to win the respect of mouthy Bengals receiver Chad Johnson.
The trade, coupled with the injury to Daven Holly, did leave the Browns short at a key position. However, they were desperate for help up front and Rogers, when his mind is right and his weight is stable, can be a force.
If I’m Phil Savage, I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
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Comments
By Tim
July 25, 2008 7:47 AM | Link to this
The Browns took a lot of criticism for trading Bodden for for those of us that watched him play last year, something just was not right with him. He wasn’t close to being the same player. Now, it comes out he had wanted more money. I’m glad they traded him.By john
July 25, 2008 10:25 AM | Link to this
no corner to cover chad and tj + a defensive tackle detroit gave up on + shaun smith aka “the hamburgurlar” = disaster.By Tyler
July 25, 2008 11:18 AM | Link to this
Bodden was a better than average cornerback but he made way to many mental mistakes, such as soccer kicking the football during the Arizona game which eventually led to a touchdown, which in the end could have been the difference in the Browns missing the playoffs. He was also rather injury prone. As long as Eric Wright cleans up some of his mental mistakes and Brandon Mcdonald continues to improve on his impressive rookie year the Brownies should be just fine. In regards to Shaun Rodgers, it seems that Browns players love to play for Coach Crennel so with the help and motivation of Romeo, Rodgers should have a pro-bowl caliber year while providing the Browns with something they haven’t had since Michael Dean Perry, a legit run-stopper and man in the middle of the d-line.By Craig
July 28, 2008 8:44 AM | Link to this
Leigh is better than your average corner in the NFL and was deserving of the contract extension, alot of the Browns issues put pressure on the secondary which he held his ow against good to great competition. Tell me he deosn’t rate being a top 20 corner in the league and your not a football fan…