DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Browns, GM Savage near long-term deal

Not unexpected but still good to see..

Mar 11, 3:41 PM EDT


Browns, GM Savage Near Long-Term Deal

By TOM WITHERS
AP Sports Writer

BEREA, Ohio (AP) -- Cleveland general manager Phil Savage, whose moves have brought the Browns back to respectability, is close to signing a long-term contract extension with the club.

Although nothing is imminent, owner Randy Lerner said Tuesday that he and Savage have had on-and-off discussions on an extension since December and should have one finalized "soon."

Savage has two years left on a deal he signed in 2005, when he took over a talent-deprived team that went 4-12. The Browns won 10 games last season and barely missed the playoffs. In January, the Browns gave coach Romeo Crennel a two-year extension through the 2011 season.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/F...EMPLATE=DEFAULT

I have to say, it's almost kind of weird that we'll have some FO and coaching consistency. I almost got to the point where I thought that it was mandatory that you change coaches and FO every few years.

^ Your sig says it all.

We've come a long way, baby.


Two years or so ago we damn near lost him because of a petty internal power struggle... man, what a collossal error that would have been.

Yeah, and that went to show how much of a say fans have. There was a tremendous outcry when the word leaked out and suddenly next thing you knew, Collins (was that his name?) was the one that was out.

Good deal. Phil seems to be very capable in all aspects of running the team and deserves a long term deal.

When I read about Savage getting fired, I started thinking, "Well, the Browns are a team that only cares about profit. Maybe I dont care about sports that much."

Im glad that didnt happen

We got a beast of a GM!!!

Still keeping fingers crossed about RAC.

Yeah gotta give it to Lerner he has dished out the cash for players without getting to invloved in personel moves like Dan Snyder and Jerry Jones. Now he's paying the big bucks to keep Phil here happy.

Randy is the best franchise owner in Cleveland.

I hope it happens soon.. Phil seems to have us going in the right direction..

Can't complain about that.

It's great to see we'll have Savage and Crennel locked up for a few more years.

Good news!

Right now, I'd be pleased if Randy extended Savage for the next 300 years.

Just think about the hell hole this team could have been in.

GOOD!! Consistency and continuity help build winners. It also helps when you have people who know what they're doing instead of going on "Gut instinct"

http://cbs.sportsline.com/nfl/story/10702170/1

Savvy Savage has Browns ready to challenge Steelers and AFC
March 11, 2008
By Pete Prisco
CBSSports.com Senior Writer



They swarmed the kid working out, the NFL scouts hounding his every move. They expected a lot, his reputation was big after all, but most didn't seem to get what they wanted from the workout, leaving disappointed.

But one scout didn't let that workout change his assessment. He knew the kid could play, and that's what mattered. It was all on the tape. So as the scout left that workout five years ago, he did so with a sly smile on his face, hoping like heck the poor showing would help drop the player down to his team.

"Bad workout?" the scout said that day. "Let them all think that."

The player did drop. The scout's team did pick him. That player was Baltimore Ravens defensive end Terrell Suggs.

That scout was Phil Savage, now the general manager of the Cleveland Browns.

That's one of my favorite Savage stories. We both still joke about it. I knew he was playing coy back then since I knew he wasn't one of those scouts who let Suggs' so-so workout at the Arizona State campus change his conviction.

That's when I knew for sure Savage would someday make a good general manager, not for the ability to push papers or deal with travel arrangements, but for his football savvy.

Now we're seeing that in action. Savvy Savage has the Browns on the move.

Savage has had as active an offseason as any general manager in the league, trying to push his team to the top of the NFC North -- and beyond. He has spent the past couple of weeks making trades to shore up his defensive line and signing his leading rusher and one of his quarterbacks to a contract extension, basically taking a team that made strides last season and making it even better.

Is it too much to say the Browns are ready to take over in the AFC North?

"We still have to beat the Steelers first," Savage said.

The Steelers won the division last year, but the Browns surprised many when they finished 10-6 and tied the Steelers for the division lead. But they lost both games to the Steelers and missed out on a wild-card spot. That taste of playoff possibility led to a contract extension for coach Romeo Crennel and earned Savage respect around the league, and his offseason work continues that trend.

In the past month, he's given starting quarterback Derek Anderson, a surprise find last season, a three-year contract extension even though he traded this year's first-round pick last April to take Brady Quinn. Anderson's deal, which includes a $5 million bonus payment due next spring, allows the Browns to get more time evaluating Anderson. If he plays well, they have a decision next spring with relation to Quinn. If he does not, Quinn is the guy and Anderson will likely be out.

The Browns initially tendered Anderson as a restricted free agent, which would have meant a team could have signed him and if the Browns didn't match the offer, Cleveland would have received a first- and third-round pick as compensation.

But shortly before the free-agency period opened, the Browns got rumblings that a team with a late first-round pick was considering signing Anderson, giving up that late first-round and late third-round pick and then trading Anderson to a team higher up in the first round, helping circumvent that team from giving the Browns their high first-round pick.

So the Browns signed Anderson the morning of the first day of free agency, meaning it would be Anderson and Quinn again. There will be no trade of Anderson this year, Savage said.

"Derek is the starter," Savage said. "He has the championship belt. It's not going to be taken from him. It has to be a 15-round fight that he loses for him to give it up."

In other words, Quinn is going to have to totally outperform Anderson, who won't lose the title easily.

After settling the quarterback position, Savage knew the Browns defensive line needed help. But he didn't like the draft options, especially without a first-round pick. So he and his staff went to work on trying to make trades for some power players on defense. The Browns have to improve on their 27th-rated rushing defense, especially in a division with the Steelers.

They targeted Green Bay defensive tackle Corey Williams, who was designated as a franchise player by the Packers. They traded a second-round pick for Williams and promptly gave him a six-year deal for $36 million. They followed that up by trading corner Leigh Bodden and a third-round pick to the Lions for Shaun Rogers. In the Browns' 3-4 scheme, Rogers will be a nose tackle while Williams, a guy I really like, will be a 3-4 end.

"We just felt that there weren't guys available in the draft in the second and third round who were worth the picks we had," Savage said. "That's why we made the deal. It was easy really."

So easy in fact that Savage said when the deals were proposed in the team's strategy meetings, there was a strong consensus.

"Everybody wanted to make the moves," Savage said. "It was something we all wanted."

After adding Rogers, the Browns signed receiver Donte Stallworth to complement Braylon Edwards and then added guard Rex Hadnot on Monday night.

For a guy who was nurtured by making the college draft his priority, it has to be tough knowing the Browns won't pick until the fourth round. They'll watch the first three rounds. That's what I thought, especially since I'm a big proponent in keeping draft picks, which I imagined Savage was too. But he said it's fine the way it is.

"It's not really bothering me," Savage said. "Look what we got. We got Brady and the two defensive linemen. That's a good draft. Plus, now we can focus on the guys in the later rounds. We don't have to worry about the top guys as much, so now maybe we can get one or two more players in the later rounds and really have a big offseason."

Savage, who was the director of college scouting for the Baltimore Ravens before taking over in Cleveland, has always been a scout with a sharp eye for talent. But when he took over in Cleveland, some league personnel wondered if he could handle the responsibilities of being in the office, making all the decisions.

This was a man who lived in Mobile, Ala., his hometown, and spent weeks and weeks on the road scouting college players, not dealing with minutia. But in his four years on the job in Cleveland, Savage has proven to be a shrewd general manager. It's hard to believe that a few years ago in 2005, one year into his tenure, he almost walked away. Locked in a power struggle with former Browns president John Collins, Savage was willing to leave, but owner Randy Lerner sided with Savage and Collins resigned.

That was certainly the right move. Collins may have been the slick executive, but when it came to football Savage was the right guy.

That day five years ago in the Arizona sun confirmed what I already knew. Savage is a good talent evaluator, which is why the Browns are clearly now a threat in the AFC. Give me football men like Savage in general manager positions over pencil pushers every time.

This is probably the most deserving long term deal and most important that gets done this off season.

Thanks for posting.

I say we sign him to a lifelong contract extension!!!

Fantastic

Get 'er done! That would definitely be one of the best signings of this FA period.

Quote:

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Maybe it's high-time Lerner got credit for something........

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Why?


He's the same guy who was going to fire Phil, until the huge public outcry forced him to change his mind.

Great... we will get another presser to listen too!!

Give us the scoop on the draft and their targets..

And w/all due respect.........it is opinion in your mind, but not mine. I know better. *L*

Quote:

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Maybe it's high-time Lerner got credit for something........

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I started saying positive things about him when he sent John Collins back to NYC. At the time, I linked JC to "the old regime"... where seat licences, marketing deals, and Madison Avenue tactics were more important than football matters. At the same time, I pointed out the folly behind this line of thinking- all the slick advertising in the world won't help to sell a lousy product. He may have been Randy's friend, but he got treated exactly the way he deserved to be treated... he was sent to a place/role where he could do no further harm to Cleveland football.

THAT'S when I started to see Randy Lerner as a legitimate team owner... not just "Junior."


In keeping with the theme here, I think the triumverate of Lerner/Savage/RAC is what's really working here. Each knows his role, each is doing his job, and it seems (I repeat: seems) to be all coming together.

I get the feeling that this is a case of "the whole being greater than the sum of ts parts." Each guy is good in his own right, but together all three are very good.

It's been a loooooooooooooong time since Browns fans have been able to feel optimistic about the future without a healthy quaff of "Klevetown Kool-Aid." Maybe now is the time to start getting excited, without the O&B Foster Grants...

I'm all for keeping all 3 together for awhile... just to see where they can steer this new ride...


After seeing it for so many years on this board, I can't believe I'm about to type this:

We gotta sign this guy!!!




.02

Deff great news!

Vers...

My Man... I've noticed that you've been pretty vocal in your lack of enthusiasm for Randy- and I confess that I haven't been tuned in to all your posts... so I may have missed something important over the past few years that would help me to understand why.

Two questions ya, Big Dawg:

1. What do you know that I seemingly don't?
2. What would it take from RL for you to change your tune?


...just trying to catch up here...

Do what ya gotta do Randy....Give Phil a % of ownership if ya have to....He's the first GM since Ernie Acorsi (SP) who actually knows squat about talent....and isnt afraid to make a move....

right on Clay

nordawg

Damn good post Toad!