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Browns plan to stand pat with QBs, probably won't move up in draft
By Marla Ridenour
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Saturday, Apr 26, 2008
A year ago, Browns General Manager Phil Savage experienced the ultimate draft-day rush.
With the third overall pick, he got his cornerstone left tackle in Joe Thomas of Wisconsin. Then when Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn got past the Miami Dolphins at No. 9, Savage started making calls and pulled off a deal with the Dallas Cowboys to nab Quinn at No. 22.
In acquiring Quinn, Savage gave up the first-round pick for this season. Then in the first week of free agency this offseason, he traded the second-round pick to the Green Bay Packers for defensive end Corey Williams and the third-rounder to the Detroit Lions for defensive tackle Shaun Rogers.
That left the Browns with only four draft picks, all Sunday: No. 122 (fourth round), No. 155 (fifth round), No. 190 (sixth round) and No. 231 (seventh
round). So the first two rounds today might be the supreme test for Savage, who has spent the past 15 years in scouting and personnel.
It's hard to imagine Savage content to watch television in the war room and take names off the team's draft board. Mountain Dew and Red Bull might be the beverages of choice.
What if Ohio State defensive end Vernon Gholston starts a Quinn-like free-fall? Or LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey drops several slots? Will Savage get an itchy trigger finger and start messing with the Browns' biggest strength, its quarterbacks?
Probably not.
Savage made a firm promise Feb. 29 to keep starter Derek Anderson and Quinn for at least one more season. He raised eyebrows at how emphatic he was when he said, ''We are not trading Derek Anderson in 2008, thank you very much. We're going through 2008 with both quarterbacks.''
NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said the Browns can't afford to trade back into the first day.
''You have to be real careful because of what you already did this year,'' Mayock said. ''It's tough to call it a gamble. I applaud what they did, starting with the Brady Quinn move. Everyone thought it was a top 10 pick, and it turned out to be 22, where he would have gone, anyway. You got a quarterback in camp a year earlier for the same pick.
''I don't think you can criticize the defensive line moves. You feel you're a real good offensive team, and if you get a more stout defense, they're a playoff team.''
Mayock said Savage must keep his eye on the future.
''When you look down the road two or three years from now, you're not going to be developing those draft picks,'' Mayock said. ''Going forward, I don't think you can give away more draft picks. You might move one of the two quarterbacks, but I like having two good quarterbacks. If Anderson develops, you try to move Brady Quinn.
''I don't think you can mortgage the future again. Give away 1s and 2s next year and you're starting to look like the Washington Redskins.''
ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said the three-year, $26 million contract (with a $7 million signing bonus) the Browns gave Anderson should be enough incentive for Savage to keep his promise.
''This year is definitely going to be Derek Anderson's year,'' Kiper said. ''The money he's getting now, they almost . . . I would say it's an obligation. What he meant to that organization last year, coming in in the second game, leading them to a 10-win season and almost a playoff spot from where they were against Pittsburgh. When they traded Charlie Frye, they didn't know if they were going to win a game.
''You're going to see Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson co-exist, and it's not going to be a short leash. I think he's going to have to struggle mightily for a period of games before they would go to Brady Quinn. It's going to be an opportunity for Derek Anderson not to have to look over his shoulder. He's not going to have to worry about, 'If I have a bad game I'm going to get pulled.' They're committed to Derek Anderson for this year.''
In his predraft news conference, Savage said, ''I can't even create a circumstance in my mind where we would get in the top 60 picks.''
But that doesn't mean he won't maneuver into the third round, which begins at 10 a.m. Sunday.
''We've been able to protect '09,'' Savage said of next year's picks. ''I wouldn't rule that out in terms of the middle portion of the draft. I'd love for us to get a fifth pick on the second day. It increases the chances of us hitting on somebody.''
With only four picks, Savage and the scouting department heavily evaluated college defensive ends who could play outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme. They also studied cornerbacks because starter Leigh Bodden was dealt in the Rogers trade. Names such as Michigan outside linebacker Shawn Crable of Massillon and Eastern Kentucky cornerback Antwuan Molden of Glenville are among the hottest linked to the Browns.
''This a group that we need to find somebody, whether it's the fourth round, seventh round or undrafted free agent,'' Savage said of the cornerbacks. ''We will add a player at that position at some point on Sunday.''
If Savage keeps his promise on the quarterbacks, the Browns will sit tight today.
And what will coach Romeo Crennel do?
''Probably eat too much,'' he joked.
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her Browns blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/browns/.
A year ago, Browns General Manager Phil Savage experienced the ultimate draft-day rush.
Get the full article here.
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