DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Phil Savage commenting on how the Browns are doing

Press Register Article

GULF SHORES, Ala. -- Phil Savage may no longer be in the NFL, but he couldn't stay away from football.

The Mobile native, who was fired from his job as general manager of the Cleveland Browns following last season, now works the airwaves as the color analyst for Alabama football radio broadcasts.

Savage discussed his past with the NFL and his new gig working alongside UA play-by-play man Eli Gold during the Gulf Coast Athletic Club's meeting Monday night at Craft Farms.

"I've enjoyed it. It's great fun," said Savage, who has a home in Fairhope. "I go up every Thursday for practice. I watch tapes all into the night Thursday. I go back on Friday mornings and watch more tape and take notes. We have more notes and things that we don't talk about because you just never have that much time to get that much stuff on the air.

"(Gold) is extremely well prepared and I put a lot of time into it, so there's really nothing that has come into a game yet that has surprised us."

Prior to the start of the season, Savage said he researched the role of a color analyst and sought advice from others in the industry, including Todd Blackledge, Randy Cross and Rich Gannon.

Savage spent seven years in the coaching ranks, including a stint as a defensive assistant with the Cleveland Browns from 1991-94, during which time he worked under current Alabama coach Nick Saban and current New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick.


"Those were three of the longest years of our lives together because we worked so hard," Savage said.

Savage moved on front office roles and spent time as both the director of college scouting and the director of player personnel for the Baltimore Ravens. He returned to Cleveland in 2005 after being tabbed senior vice president and general manager, a role he served in for four seasons.

Savage said he does not relish in the struggles that the Browns (1-6) have endured since his dismissal.

"You don't take a lot of solace in watching a place you leave go downhill further," he said. "But they took what we did have going there and they just dismantled that even further. We left two quarterbacks behind that both seem ruined right now. They traded a lot of players out of there. I feel for the guys we brought in because they're good players and good people and they're stuck in a situation and can't get out for at least the time being."

And what about the chances of Savage returning to the NFL? While it's a possibility, Savage said he's happy with his current role.

"You go 18 years in the NFL and you think it's going to last forever. It didn't," he said. "I'm kind of open minded to just go where the water flows. I've always kind of wanted to go into broadcasting, but I thought it'd be something I do after my career was over with. But this has given me a great opportunity to jump into it and see what it's like. I'd love to keep doing it."

The GCAC has raised more than $120,000 in the last 10 years to buy equipment for the Gulf Shores High sports programs and to sponsor scholarships for students at GSHS and Foley.






Interesting comment there, alot of truth to it. I know alot don't feel that way, I do. You don't move star talent unless you can fill the void, otherwise your just tearing down and not building anything. Which is what has gone on here, lots of tearing down, and replacing with old Jet players that stink, horrible waste of draft picks, etc.

Interesting that half the roster has been turned over, yet some other teams have turned nearly 60-75% of their roster over like the Broncos..and have won or they are showing some progress.

I just think its funny that instead of us getting rid of the bad players, liek Denver has done for the most part, we have traded our good players, and got nothing in return. MoMass for KW2? Sanchez for Mack and Veikune(won't even metion Jets involved as they do not count as NFL players)?

It's not like we were really any better last year..............

Phil Savage left us with the two pathetic QBs that we have now anyway

Phil's comments are a little bizarre considering many of the moves that he made and what he left us with.

I suspect he's pissed at Mangini trading away all of Savage's top picks and getting practically nothing in return. It makes him look bad and doesn't bode well for Savage rising up on anyones hiring list.

It never occurred to Savage that we traded his players because A: They sucked or B: They weren't worth the hassle?

You just underlined his biggest mistake. He thought that the Browns were close to being a contender so he went all in and traded away the draft picks for the guys he thought would make the difference. He was obviously way off in his thinking and it cost us. The only teams who should EVER trade picks are those who are just that one guy away. We weren't even close to that.

Phil,, Sometimes it's better to just shut up and let sleeping dogs alone...

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I just think its funny that instead of us getting rid of the bad players, liek Denver has done for the most part, we have traded our good players, and got nothing in return. MoMass for KW2? Sanchez for Mack and Veikune(won't even metion Jets involved as they do not count as NFL players)?

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These comments are killing me.

First off, hindsight is 20/20. That's part of the risk in trading...sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. And in the NFL, saying they don't after 7 weeks, is jsut ridiculous. Instant pay off is nice...but it doesn't happen alot. Building a successful franchise is chess, not checkers.

Second, the MoMass for KW2 debate. Hey, I really like the Chosen One....helluva talent. But the fact is, he was an injury risk and we got something for him while his value was still high. We got a rookie receiver, who will DEVELOP plus a fifth this coming year (i think) As for this year?

KW 31 catches, 295 yards
MoMass 17 catches, 300 yards

Its not like we got nothing from the deal.

Finally, the Sanchez deal... yes yes, we could have had Sanchez....the mighty Sanchez. The kid looks like he will be the real deal but seriously, he's got a good team behind him in NY which will help his development. He does not have that here. Plus there were alot of question marks around him at the draft. In return for him we got a starting center, a starting safety, Veikune (who admittedly, I didn't like the pick of...but the draft is always a GAMBLE), and some depth.

Given that we're trying to build a foundation here, I'd say we did the right thing...especially when you consider what we thought our situation was at QB (hey, we've got two good ones.....oy...missed the boat there).

We really need to stop the shoulda, coulda, woulda stuff. Everyone can be a draft guru midway through the season. Let's remember that its alot more difficult in the offseason.

I would have respected him more if he had owned up to mistakes that HE made and said that he learned from them. Instead he seems to believe that he did a good job and was on the right track just to have everything torn down.

I do appreciate the Quinn pick because the excitement that that pick created helped me to sell my PSLs which had been almost worthless before that pick. Now they are completely worthless.

I have no problem with the KW2 deal, because he was injury prone. But our draft? Are you kidding me?

BTW this team has absolutley zero foundation at all to build on, unless we wanna build off old jet players.

The fact is, we could be headed in the right direction with FA moves and draft picks that were talked about over and over on this board. Its no hindsight when most fans were talking about the right players and draft picks 6 months ago.

Far from it, the same people that are mad now, were mad in March and April when they saw this mess being assembled! Is Phil Savage some great GM? No, but hes right about alot of tearing down and no rebuilding. EM's draft picks are trash, Mack might develop into a god center, dunno. But we coulda positioned ourselves to where center wasn't a big need, and addressed our defense, a 34 defense, where we lack the most linebacker.

In turn have 2 new, young linebackers and possibly have something to build around on offense.

We are the worst team in the NFL, because we did absolutley nothing in the offseason to better this team or atleast start laying a foundation to build on.

IMO our past, and perhaps present, GMs would have been better off watching Mel Kuiper Jr. in the war room on draft day and just going by what he says.

Mel Kiper Jr. is a better talent evaluator than most NFL GM's.

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Ya know, D, I used to go to bat for Savage. The further away we get from him, the more I realize just how wrong I was in his support.

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You aren't alone toad.. there were a lot of us fooled by him and his moves.. Me included..

I have to say, I still like RAC however. he is one exceedingly nice and good man that was put into horrible situation. I can't help but wonder, would he have worked out better had he had a GM that worked with rather than against him... Guess we will never know.

Are you kidding me?

Its unfair to judge a draft seven weeks in. These are ROOKIES. The vast majority of rookies need time to develop. Did we get an impact rookie this year? No. EM/GK elected to go with quantity to try to build up overall talent on the team. I think, all in all, they didn;t do badly.

Did they make some mistakes? In my view, absolutely. Doubling down on the WRs in the second? No comprendo. Veikune in the second round? A reach in my opinion.

But thus far,
Mack looks to be solid. Despite our QB woes, Mack has looked good. I'm happy having him. I would have gone a different way, but he is a good player.
MoMass shows potential and has produced in spurts.
Robiskie? Who knows? hasn;t played enough to see what he's made of but he seems to struggle to get open.
Veikune? Has barely sniffed the field apart from ST. This was a bad pick in my opinion.
Maiava? I think he's shown some pretty good ability thus far. There's potential there.
Francies? Injured...haven;t seen enough yet.
Davis? Looked good in preseason but haven't seen enough yet.
Carey? Injury and waived.... I don;t think we even got to see him in a game hence, how do we judge.

So we've got one solid starter, one WR who is showing good potential, a LB who shows promise and a bunch of unknowns. I see three future starters/players (Mack, MoMass, Maiava) and three guys who are still unknowns (Robiskie, Davis, Francies) and one guy who I think will wash out (Veikune).

It's not an A Plus draft, but its certainly no F.

Had EM read the baords and taken a poll on who to draft we'd be much better off, had that been done since 99, we'd probably have won a superbowl.

So tired of people getting NFL GM gigs here who can't tell an apple from an orange, when us stupid fans can see it.

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Oh come on.... Browns fans have fallen for flops the same way every NFL GM has...

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But as a rule, we only remember when we were right.

Why would he want one? He has the best job ever. No pressure, great pay, and better hours than a front office guy.

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Why would he want one? He has the best job ever. No pressure, great pay, and better hours than a front office guy.

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And nobody cares if he's right or wrong with his picks....

Oh and Canada,, the reason you haven't seen much of Davis is that he's out this year with an injury...

I didn't know Francis was out however....

Our draft was a total F, Robo will never eb anything more than #3 or 4, Veikune will never start, much less play on defense. Both were complete wastes. MoMass is a poor mans BE, can't catch, but isn't that talented. If he improves, he's a nice #2. Mack is ok, not a real physical presence, he can be great if he has really good guards, he's a smart guy and good guy, but I thought he'd be better physically. Would much rather have Birk in there over the next 3 years, and have Clay Mathews coming off the edge, or have Jeremy Maclin, a potential #1.

Considering who we could have had, essentially every fan and every media person was screaming it, and then EM goes and makes 3 straight dumb picks.

We should have come away with Mathews, Rey Mala, Loadholt, McCoy. Or Maclin, E. Brown, Unger, McCoy, or Oher, Rey, Unger, McCoy.

4 no doubt starters, and potential stars.

F-

I don't even wanna go into FA...its way too painful.

j/c

I liked Phil Savage enough, but when I found out how enamored he was with Jamarcus Russell and actually inquired about trading up to get him (Raiders told us it would cost us Wimbley and Winslow), I had to really question him.

IMO It's not about how good or how bad Savage was, its about EM, what he done, who's he's brought in and who he's passed on.

I'm simply agreeing with Phil Savage that EM has tore down, but not built a freaking thing. He's traded away talented players, and replaced them with trash.

He's overturned half the roster in one year, and has constructed one of the worst teams in NFL history. When we could be a bad to average team headed in the right direction if EM knew at all what he's doing.

This isn't about Phil, this about EM, and the moves he's made since he's been at the controls. Phil just ticked that he was fired, and now the teams even worse with the next guy. But he's right in his evaluation of what EM's doing, his motives are just questionable.

I think it's about how wrong you will be.

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I liked Phil Savage enough, but when I found out how enamored he was with Jamarcus Russell and actually inquired about trading up to get him (Raiders told us it would cost us Wimbley and Winslow), I had to really question him.

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Due diligence. You have to ask even if you've no intention on really doing it. You make, and take, all calls.

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Remember Robert Gallery?

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and Akili Smith, David Terrell, Ashley Lelie, and so on and so forth. It's remarkable how some people forget their own errors and want to do nothing but highlight those of everyone else.

Phil Savage is an idiot.

He throws EVERYBODY else under the bus but never takes responsibility for anything he did. While he was still the GM here he would constantly remind the media how bad of a team he took over and how much work needed to be done. This happened so many times over multiple years it was hilarious. Toward the end of his tenure, he constantly threw Romeo under the bus. When he was gone, Phil might as well have ran the guy over. Now, he has the audacity to criticize the guys responsible for cleaning up the mess THAT HE MADE.

I already detailed Phil's horrendous draft history in this thread: https://www.dawgtalkers.net/showflat.php?...true#Post614107

Add how much money he threw away in free agency with very little to show for it, and how much turmoil he caused the Browns off the field, and he was one of the worst if not THE worst GM in the league while he was here.

Sounds like trying to re-create yourself, and I crowed for some of his moves. They didn't pan out. Maybe dismantling further could read corrected some mistakes. Sometimes a wrecking ball is in order. I believe he felt sincere and right in his decisions; but judgment is another animal altogether. He bought some hype and stranded us with some ridiculous contract stuff like DA's. It is still festering. Wish him well if only for his hard work, which I think he did plenty more than some before.

I am cool with giving Mangini another year. We got rid of all the cancers. We drafted some hard-working players and we have saved money while we were at it.

We have plenty of money and draft picks to really start building the future next year.

I am really excited to see what direction we take in the offseason.

Look at it this way.. EM bought himself a 3rd year. He tore us down so far, there is NO WAY, we can be this bad again next year.. NO WAY... so next year, no matter how bad we are, he will likely be able to claim that "improvement" was made... therefore, he will get year 3....

disclaimer: that is all with the understanding that some off the field thing could derail him sooner if players start griping and complaining about him.. barring something like that, this is year 1 of 3 (at a minimum)

I am comfortable with that.

If he builds a physical contender that punches other teams in the throat--then good.