DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Standing ovation to the Browns from Pro Football Weekly

Cellar dwellers break out with aggressive draft efforts
By Court E. Mann (cmann@pfwmedia.com)
May 19, 2007

They say it takes two to tango. Evidently, a few NFL GMs brought their dancing shoes with them to Radio City Music Hall on draft weekend.

The draft is historically as ripe as a flea market for swapping goods, but this year, the action was more compelling than usual. In addition to the annual draft-pick exchanges and trade-chart maneuvering, more than a few NFL execs put their jobs, careers and reputations on the line in aggressive fashion. And for that, they deserve a round of applause.

In the case of Phil Savage and the Browns, nothing short of a standing ovation is in order. Go ahead and poke holes in Joe Thomas’ scouting report. Nitpick Brady Quinn’s mechanics if you must. But don’t tell me Cleveland made a mistake in rolling the first-round dice to acquire the rights to two blue-chip NFL hopefuls.

Since resuming their tenure in Cleveland, the Browns have achieved one winning season in eight attempts. At 9-7, that bright-spot campaign barely even qualified. Since 1999, they have endured six seasons with at least 10 losses, including four straight, all of which left them in last place. Their record? 40-88.

In addition, if the Browns, as constituted prior to last weekend, had any identity, it wasn’t a positive one. Kellen Winslow’s immaturity. Braylon Edwards’ attitude. Romeo Crennel’s lame-duck status.

When Savage reached agreement with the Cowboys’ Jerry Jones on a trade that gave Cleveland the 22nd pick in exchange for the Browns’ first-rounder in 2008 and their high second-rounder in ’07, Savage obtained the rights to a second top-10 draft pick, a homegrown hero, a potential franchise quarterback, and perhaps most significantly, an identity for a woebegone franchise.

That final accomplishment was not lost on Savage, even on the day it occurred.

“This is a day that will go down as the day the fortunes of the Browns will turn around,” he said after the first round. “If we are going to do it, this will be one of those steppingstone days. … All of a sudden, we’re more legitimate than we’ve ever been. We felt it was worth the chance to go ahead and get Brady.”

This is not about whether the two players Cleveland selected pan out in the end. Maybe Quinn isn’t accurate enough. Maybe Thomas isn’t nasty enough.

That’s not the point of this particular commentary. The point is, Savage did not stand pat, accept status quo and watch as his and Crennel’s tenures come to an inevitable close. Perhaps he saved their jobs, perhaps he made the end come quicker. Either way, he saw an opportunity and took action — which may sound easy on the surface but isn’t all that common for NFL teams stuck in a cellar-dwelling rut.

In some minds, Savage did the unthinkable. He mortgaged the future and gave up the Browns’ first-round pick next season, which very well could be another top-10 pick, if not higher. He began working the phones immediately after the Dolphins passed on the Notre Dame signalcaller. Considering Dallas demanded a probable high first-rounder in ’08 and the No. 36 pick in ’07 for the No. 22 selection, one can only imagine how much the teams just outside the top 10 were asking.

And I still say it would have been a price worth paying.


Browns first-round pick
Brady Quinn

“When you give up a future number one, I think the quarterback position is the one you are willing to do it for,” Savage said. “I could give you some names of quarterbacks who might be in the draft next year, but at the same time, we are getting Brady Quinn now. Where will he be a year from now relative to other quarterbacks we might get next year? It seemed like it was worth the loss of next year’s first-round pick to get the quarterback now. Let’s get it together now with some legitimate players.”
Savage wasn’t the only GM parting with his future top pick, and his counterpart with the Niners, V.P. of player personnel Scot McCloughan, wasn’t even doing so for a franchise passer. Reeling from a stretch of four consecutive losing seasons, the former franchise of glory is sniffing a turnaround. The Saturday of the draft, its front office wasn’t content to simply smell the roses. The Niners made moves to arouse the full aroma.

Blasphemously, the Niners parted ways with their ’08 first-rounder — and by the way, they’ve drafted 11th, sixth and first overall in the last three Aprils. For their monumental gamble, they received the 28th pick, just five selections shy of the second round, and tabbed OLT Joe Staley out of Central Michigan, who, needless to say, isn’t going to shatter Joe Montana’s jersey sales. Very simply, the Niners put their faith firmly in their scouting and evaluation process and got aggressive when an opportunity presented itself.

“Basically we ended up with 20 guys who we thought were worthy of first-round draft picks, and Joe was one of those players,” McCloughan said. “I started working the phones soon after we took Patrick (Willis) to get up and get (Staley), and it was hard.”

The endeavor eventually paid off, and yet San Francisco’s proactive approach ­didn’t end there. It gave up a fourth-round selection to acquire talented yet risky Seahawks WR Darrell Jackson to help address a desperate need out wide. The Niners’ assertive efforts were rewarded in Round Two. With Arkansas OT Tony Ugoh on the board, the Colts came calling, offering their ’08 first-rounder and a chance for the Niners to make themselves whole.

Gaping hole out wide? Trade for a proven player who’s known to be available. Suddenly without a first-rounder next season? Pick up the phone and replace it.

“Even if we hadn’t, we felt great about getting two first-round picks this year, given the type of players we think Willis and Staley are going to become for us,” McCloughan said. “We went in with 10 picks, came out with nine and a veteran wide receiver in Darrell Jackson and two first-round draft picks, and we go into next year’s draft with all of our picks.”

It sounds straightforward, and perhaps it is. Trust your scouts. Commit to your philosophy and your priorities, even if it means sacrificing the total number of selections you make.

The Cardinals came into the draft with a lackluster total of just six picks, not to mention one measly winning season since moving to the desert in 1988.

And yet when NT Alan Branch, who once was projected as a top-10 selection, was still available at the top of Round Two, they didn’t hesitate to sacrifice one of those few selections to move up a mere five spots and grab a guy whom they had rated highly, who fits their 3-4 scheme and their new Steelers-infused philosophy. A five-player draft class is a lot easier to fall in love with if you aggressively pursue your beloved targets.

“We felt excited to be in a position to get three players (ORT Levi Brown, Branch and LB Buster Davis) that were ranked in the top 31 of our 120,” Cardinals V.P. of football operations Rod Graves said.

“Coach (Ken) Whisenhunt and I talked about it, and we felt like for that type of player, it was certainly worth going ahead and spending a fourth-round pick. It all depends on the quality of the player. We would have preferably chosen to walk away with at least seven picks or more out of this draft, but when you have a chance at three players like we took today, then we felt like it was worth it to try to move into position to get those three.”

It certainly was worth it. The Cardinals fortified their trenches on both sides of the ball, borrowing a page from the new staff’s championship experience in Pittsburgh. The Niners made a statement by adding immediate-impact talent to make a run at a winnable division crown. The Browns acquired two blue-chippers and an identity, for better or worse.

At the very least, three struggling franchises came into draft weekend set to tango, and it was a beautiful dance to watch.

Ask the experts

Which team do you think did the best job in the 2007 NFL draft?

By PFW staff
May 16, 2007


Dan Arkush, executive editor — Cleveland Browns

Kudos to Browns GM Phil Savage for being quick enough on his feet to switch gears and aggressively pursue Brady Quinn once he realized he had a shot of trading back up to the 22nd overall spot in the first round to acquire the guy a lot of people thought he should have grabbed with the third overall pick. I know the Browns had to trade a No. 1 pick next year to get Quinn, but they won’t be sorry. Quinn would love to be the local boy that makes good for the team he rooted for growing up, and with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas, the Browns’ selection at No. 3, protecting him at left tackle for a long time to come, on a line that had already been fortified with the free-agent addition of OG Eric Steinbach, I think Quinn will be a mighty big success not too far down the road. What about the rest of the Browns’ 2007 draft class? Actually, aside from second-round CB Eric Wright, who is an intriguing gamble with character issues, it’s pretty nondescript. But there’s no denying Savage, who needed to do something bold for a teetering franchise, pulled off one of the all-time draft heists with his first two picks.

This makes me feel all goody inside

I truly think Opie has this orginization in the right direction - NORTH!

Really, the only negative comments I have read about the draft and how it panned out are by a few fans, and fans who generally seem to complain about something no matter what.

just clicking:

I hear a lot, TV or radio, and read a lot on-line about us giving up next year's first rounder to get Quinn, and how that may or may not have been too much.

I'm wondering why I don't hear anything about SF giving their 1st rounder next year for a player that a lot of mocks had going in the 2nd. Quinn was at least rated a top-5 pick by many.

Maybe it's because I live in Ohio and don't read Niner boards. Anyone know if this is a topic out there?

I have no better idea than anybody else whether or not this draft is going to pan out or whether we gave up too much but I will say that we're at a point with this franchise where bold actions are necessary. I believe Phil thinks something akin to this as well. The ice has to be broken, we must act aggressively to break bounce out of the gutter. I wasn't high on Brady prior to the draft and I'm not sure he'll ever be the guy but I love that we're making the moves on what's available. I'm excited but as always, we'll see.

I think by us giving up our first rounder next year, we chose a QB, a position we more than likely would have addressed next year. So what's the difference if we give it up early and took him this year? The difference is we give THIS years QB a year to sit and learn. Where as NEXT years would be QB would need that year but probably wouldn't have it.

All in all, I think Brady Quinn COULD possibly be a better prospect than any QB's coming out next year and we're giving him the benefit of allowing him to sit a year and learn. It's all around a better situation and the right move in my opinion.

I'm wondering why I don't hear anything about SF giving their 1st rounder next year for a player that a lot of mocks had going in the 2nd. Quinn was at least rated a top-5 pick by many.


Not sure , it may be because the gamble is greater for a QB who had people who question his game..

I totally agree with you, scoot, except for one point.
We did not give up next years first round for Quinn. We gave up this years second round. We used next years first round this year. We didn't give it away, we used it.
I'm pretty sure Quinn is worth a second round pick.

Good point.

Of course some of the pre-draft off-season reviews took us to task for what we paid Steinbach while praising Buffalo for signing Dockery to shore up a glaring team weakness. We dished out almost the same coin as the Bills to shore up our glaring weakness, but we did it on Steinbach. Getting Steinbach for almost the same contract they paid Dockery makes us bargain shoppers.

I think it largely has to do with the fact that San Francisco then got Indianapolis' first round pick next year for their second round pick this year, when the Colts took Tony Ugoh. They still have a first round pick, just one that wouldn't project to be as high. I think that is why they probably get a pass on it from the media.

I agree Log. I think most of the national media are expecting the Browns to be top 5 in next years draft while the 49ers are a legit playoff contender.

Just one observation - as long as the media is on our side, we love 'em! Remember when the media was routinely critical of our drafts, team, management, etc. and most blew them off as people that did not know what they were talking about?

Now? Apparently the media became geniuses overnight b/c we all love 'em!!

It's interesting to watch the human pysche at work sometimes.

Who cares what these dolts think ... WE OUGHTA GIVE OPIE A STANDING O ..

*getting 5'0" .. 300 lb bowling ball arrogant, jerk ass (heres to U petey .. .. ) out of my seat and standing tall and proud .. and screaming WOOOOOHOOOO at the top of my lungs while CLAAPING HANDS AS HARD AND FAST I CAN ... *

WAY TO GO OPIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOHOOOOOO ....

WOOF WOOF WOOF ......

Your taller than 5"0

WAY up

Technically with ALL the moves the only round we truely lost picks in were the 3rd and 4th.
Our 3rd pick was used in the second to get Wright..so it seems like we went on a dry spell from pick 53 to whenever we selected in the 5th round..

And that's a fair analogy. I just think it's ridiculous how many times I've heard posters saying 'we gave up two first rounders and a second for Brady Quinn' or 'we only gave up a second for him'...some simplistic play-on-words explanation...the twists and turns in the rhetoric is something else.

Problem is, I'm going to have to hear it tenfold come next draft season.

Nah...we could be picking at #23 next year and some yokels will be crowing about how Frye could have done the job, and we *could* have gotten someone at #23.

I need to see something for this. It was interesting to see some flexibility. If this is the DEAL, I love it. But we get to see what we are.
May the Elf be with you!

Hope we have standing ovations after the games......