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Savage says trading into third round is possibility
By Marla Ridenour
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Sunday, Apr 27, 2008
BEREA: Before 9 p.m. Saturday, the first two rounds of the NFL Draft were complete and the Browns had been just passive observers.
But Phil Savage's day was not nearly done.
The Browns' general manager and his staff were about to reconvene to discuss moving into the third round, which begins at 10 this morning. He gave up that pick in a March 1 trade with the Detroit Lions that brought defensive tackle Shaun Rogers to the Browns.
''A number of teams have multiple picks in the third round and might be willing to do something,'' Savage said. ''We're going to figure out who those teams are and at least do some exploratory calls.''
After trading away their top three selections, the Browns don't pick until the fourth round, No. 122. Then they go at No. 155 (fifth round), No. 190 (sixth) and No. 231 (seventh). Asked whether the odds were 50-50 that he would do something today, Savage said, ''I really don't know. It depends on what players are still available. There's a handful of players we'd try to go up and get. If those guys go before we can get anything done, there's no need to move up just to get involved in the draft. We'll just wait it out.''
Because of the idle time on the first day, Savage said he
changed the team's normal schedule so his staff meeting didn't end until noon Saturday. Savage said he watched only the first 10 picks, and he wasn't in the building when his former boss, Baltimore Ravens General Manager Ozzie Newsome, picked his quarterback of the future in Joe Flacco of Division I-AA Delaware.
''It's been fun second-guessing picks and doing that sort of thing,'' Savage said. ''It's almost like being a fan today.''
Asked whether anyone called, he said, ''People called to make sure we were watching the draft.''
With the 22nd overall pick that the Dallas Cowboys received from the Browns in the Brady Quinn deal last year, they selected Arkansas running back Felix Jones. With the 56th pick the Browns gave the Green Bay Packers in the trade for defensive end Corey Williams, the Packers took Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm.
''I have zero regrets about making the move for Corey Williams with what was left on the board when that selection came up,'' Savage said.
The division rival Pittsburgh Steelers used their first two picks on offense, choosing speedy Illinois running back Rashard Mendenhall in the first round and 6-foot-4 receiver Limas Sweed of Texas in the second. The Cincinnati Bengals picked USC linebacker Keith Rivers and Coastal Carolina receiver Jerome Simpson, and the Ravens traded down from No. 8 to 18 to nab Flacco. In the second round, the Ravens took running back Ray Rice of Rutgers.
Savage said it didn't bother him not to draft anyone on the first day.
''This isn't something that just happened. We had eight weeks to get our heads around we're not going be picking in the first three rounds to this point,'' he said. ''We've handled it well. Our focus has been on Day 2 of the draft since we made those trades. It feels odd to watch the draft and never see any Browns news.''
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her Browns blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/browns/.
BEREA: Before 9 p.m. Saturday, the first two rounds of the NFL Draft were complete and the Browns had been just passive observers.
Get the full article here.

