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Cleveland Browns (2007 & prior)

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tsteele316 said:
There was also some scuttlebutt about the packers being interested in faine. it wouldnt be totally out of the realm of possibility to have the browns package faine and a draft pick to flop spots with the packers in the first and then take Hawk. the question will be whether GB will be willing to move down that far.
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Seems like a dream that would be too good to be true if you ask me... on that note, I would do a backflip if this went down because I think it would be a great move. Hawk could step in opposite Andra Davis, and that would fill a need seeing as we lost Bart Scott who resigned with Baltimore.
 
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These signings are awesome. I love the fact that both bentley and schaffer have their best years ahead of them. Continuity on o-line is so crucial to being effective in the NFL, and if Faine can manage to find himself a spot at guard and pick up a thing or two from lecharles, then that gives us a solid core of good young lineman to build a line that will play consistantly well year to year.

After all the BS player acquisitions browns fans had to deal with during the palmer davis years, it's great that they are bringing in guys like JJ and Zastudil who the fans can chear for.

Piney said:
Also, in interviews Savage has said that they signing a player in free agency will not prevent them from picking a player of the same position high in the draft. For example Bunkley or Ngata since we signed Washington. Washington isn't a young pup and the Browns are not good enough to pass up the best player available just because they signed an aging starter.
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Looking forward to the draft, you'd like to see them pick up impact players at both DL and LB in the first 2 rounds, but judging from what I've heard / seen from savage, he is confident enough in his player eval skills to avoid reaching for a position of need. Realisticaly, if they come away with 1 guy at either of those positions and another guy with undeniable talent, I wouldn't be disappointed.
 
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If you ask me, an ideal scenario is to hope that Ngata drops to the Browns, and slowly work him in behind Ted Washington. Washington isnt a permanent solution, the maximum time he will be here is 2 years, and working Ngata in so that Ngata can take over for him would be huge.

Anyone else really hoping we draft Hodge in the second???
 
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Yes, Hodge in the 2nd would be great. Hodge or Whitner could be realistic options. You'd probably have to package more than Faine to move up from 12 to 5.

Washington gets his wish

By Jeff Walcoff, Staff Writer
March 13, 2006


When nose tackle Ted Washington left New England after the team's Super Bowl win in 2004, he had a message for Romeo Crennel: Become a head coach, and I'll be there.

His promise is coming to fruition.

"We talked about it my last year in New England - about him becoming a head coach," Washington said. "And I said, ‘Well if you get a head coaching job and I'm still around, I want to be a part of it.'

"My decision (to come to Cleveland) was based on coach (Crennel) and what we went through in New England and the type of defense they run here. I wanted to be somewhere I felt comfortable. I know what it takes to run a defensive front and I know where he's going with this.

"Cleveland was No. 1. I was pushing my agent to make sure to give the Browns the first dibs on me coming there before I took a trip anywhere else."

By signing Washington to a two-year deal, the Browns plugged a big hole in its 3-4 defense with a 365-pound mammoth.

"This is an area we talked about constantly since we got here last year, and that was to try to build a run defense and improve our run defense," Browns senior vice president and general manager Phil Savage said. "That's something I talked to you about after the season. The guy we've signed...is one of the all-time great nose tackles."

Washington, a four-time Pro Bowl selection, also has shown notable durability. During 11 of his 15 professional seasons, he participated in all 16 games on the regular season slate. Overall, he has appeared in 215 NFL contests.

Washington said his goal originally was to play 15 years - a number he'll surpass once he steps on the field in ‘06. Now, he'd just like to play a few more seasons. He also said one more trip to the Pro Bowl is a goal.

At his age (he'll be 38 next month), it's natural to ask questions about his ability to still contribute and start as a pro. But Washington said he's still playing and making a difference.

"A lot of teams are looking at age, which is just a number," Washington said. "If you can still go and your film shows you are still playing at a high level, go ahead and give that guy a chance. Yeah, I'm up there in age. I'm probably one of the oldest defensive linemen in the league, but I'm still playing at a high level.

"You're going to have wear and tear if you play a long time in any sport. As for myself, I'm blessed. I still have some years left in me. Give me some good guys to back me up and I'll give you three or four more years."

Players like Washington create a paradox. For years, a lack of veteran leadership and game experience has been a criticism of the Browns. By adding players like Washington and receiver Joe Jurevicius, signed Saturday, the team gains those attributes, but also adds players who are nearing the latter portions of their career.

The Browns are out to prove having the prior at the expense of some age is advantageous to having a roster full of young and inexperienced players.

Washington knows the positive things he will be asked to provide.

"Veteran leadership is going to play a big role here," he said. "I have a lot to offer to them because I've been on championship teams, losing teams and mediocre teams. I've seen and done it all. Speaking to (young players) is not just going to do it. I have to lead by example.

"I've been (tutoring young players) since my fifth year at (nose tackle). It's different playing the position in college and then coming to this level and trying to play that position. I'm not a selfish guy, so I try to give out as much as I can. Because if I was to go down, I want to make sure my backup knows what's going on and knows what to expect."

His weight also has been mentioned as a concern. But, he assured fans Monday he'll be at whatever playing weight is asked of him.

Having to answer doubts about his age and weight, Washington is simply anxious to disprove his skeptics and show he's not long past his prime.

"I just go do my job," Washington said. "I'm not a trash-talker. But if it comes to me, I'm going to step up to the plate and accept the challenge for any player that wants to say, ‘Hey, he's over the hill. He's too fat,' and all this other stuff. Well, I'll show you on the field."
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scarletngrey77 said:
If you ask me, an ideal scenario is to hope that Ngata drops to the Browns, and slowly work him in behind Ted Washington. Washington isnt a permanent solution, the maximum time he will be here is 2 years, and working Ngata in so that Ngata can take over for him would be huge.

Anyone else really hoping we draft Hodge in the second???
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I actually think the ideal scenario is for the Browns to trade down. (Unless Ngata, Hawk or someone else surprising drops down). Would love for Denver to fall in love with someone and get their 2 1st rounders. But then again I really want Carpenter cuz I want to buy his jersey :biggrin:

But really I have faith that Savage won't reach. It is like when Baltimore took Suggs even though they really didn't need him. He was just too talented to not pick him. You just take the talented guy and figure out how to get him on the field after the fact. An example of a guy that might fall is Huff. I can easily see Savage picking him if he drops since he would be BPA.
 
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Now that we're speculating:biggrin: ...My ideal draft(abridged version) would go something like this....
1- Ngata, if he were to slip....grab him. I think he's NFL ready as is, and it would be great to be able to rotate him and Washington to keep them fresh...lets not forget Ted is gonna be 38 soon. No Ngata, I say go for Carp(trading down a few spots) who is ideal for RAC's D.
2-Depends on Rd 1. If we get Ngata, I say go Hodge...no Ngata grab another DT...trade down if necessary and gain another pick.
3- Some more OL depth would be nice.
4- Again depending on what happens above, but if Kudla is available, I say grab him. Yes I am a homer.
5-7 I say fill in other holes with BPA.

Kind of hypothetical, but my basic thinking.
 
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ABJ

3/14/06

Wide load to plug holes for Browns

By Terry Pluto

<!-- begin body-content -->BEREA - The big man almost got stuck in the door.
His name is Ted Washington, and he's so wide he can block the sun on a cloudless day.
He's so wide, he makes 6-foot-3, 300-pound Jason Fisk look like a ballerina instead of the Browns' starting nose tackle last season.
Washington is so wide, he thinks that he can play forever.
``Who knows?'' Browns general manager Phil Savage said Monday. ``I just know that he's a very big human being.''
Big as in 6-foot-5 and listed at 365 pounds. He could be heavier. He's not telling.
But when you look at Washington, you don't think fat. You think wide.
He's so wide that at the age of 37, he started 16 games for the Oakland Raiders, and NFL.com listed him with 47 tackles. That's eight more than Fisk, the man he'll replace in the middle of the Browns' defensive line. Gerard Warren had 33 tackles with the Browns in 2004.
``Ted defies logic, and he defies age,'' Savage said. ``You can take any film from last year and watch it. He can still get the job done. He's not just huge, he can still move.''
Washington comes to a team ranked 30th against the run. He comes to a team that has been run over since returning in 1999.
He comes to a team that needs someone like Ted Washington, no matter if it seems that he might have started his career in a leather helmet with no face mask.
``Age is just a number,'' he said. ``I'm up there in age, but I still play at a high level. Look at the films. I feel I have a lot to add... you're going to have wear and tear in any sport, but I think I can play three or four more years.''
The Browns signed him for two years, about $3 million guaranteed.
``We got the deal done in about 15 minutes,'' Savage said. ``He really wanted to play here.''
That's because of coach Romeo Crennel. They were together with the New England Patriots in 2003, Crennel the defensive coordinator, Washington in the middle of the 3-4 defensive scheme.
After the Browns played at Oakland last season, Washington whispered to some Browns players and coaches that he'd be interested in playing with them once he became a free agent.
Washington will play at 38 next season. He has started all 16 games in each of the past two years, a remarkable testimony to his conditioning and toughness. This will be his 16th season. The Browns will be his seventh team. He has made four Pro Bowls, the last in 2001.
``Everyone sees his size,'' Crennel said. ``But I really like his technique. He knows how to use his hands and move his feet. He's played this system and proven himself in this season by playing at a high level.''
Washington is the latest example of the no-frills approach that Savage has taken to free agency. Along with Crennel, Savage has talked about games being won on the line -- offense and defense.
Nothing new there.
By putting big bucks into premier offensive lineman LeCharles Bentley and emerging left tackle Kevin Shaffer on Saturday, then adding Washington to the defense, it shows that the Browns are really serious.
They also signed reliable punter David Zastudil and gritty receiver Joe Jurevicius, more of an indication that they want to improve the basics. They know the game comes down to blocking, tackling, punting, catching the ball and running the ball.
``We have some problems, and we're trying to get them fixed,'' Savage said. ``You can't fix them all at once, but we're making progress.''
Even the most jaded Browns fan must admit that the team has approached free agency with a plan and was prepared to strike quickly. With the help of salary-cap coordinator Trip MacCracken (``A whiz,'' Savage said), the Browns cleared lots room of their payroll in 2005 to set the stage for the shopping spree in 2006.
``You can only play the card you're dealt,'' Crennel said. ``That's what we did last year. We got some more cards now.''
And some of them look like aces.
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ABJ

3/14/06

Pass rush still key need for Browns

Savage still looking, will use draft to help satisfy

By Patrick McManamon

Beacon Journal sportswriter

<!-- begin body-content -->BEREA - In the first two days of free agency, the Browns added five players -- a receiver, two offensive linemen, a defensive mountain of a lineman and a punter.
The haul had most national and local pundits (justifiably) praising the Browns for the additions, especially the commitment to the offensive line.
The one area of the team that the Browns haven't improved was one of the top offseason priorities: The pass rush.
And General Manager Phil Savage said Monday that the Browns are ``through with the big-ticket items for the most part.''
Translation: Don't expect the Browns to break the bank for a Lavar Arrington or Julian Peterson. If those players can be had at a reasonable price, the Browns will talk. Otherwise the effort is on a player like Kalimba Edwards, formerly of the Detroit Lions.
``We're still in it,'' Savage said of the talks to sign Edwards, who would move from an end in Detroit to play outside linebacker and end in pass-rush situations with the Browns.
They tried the end-to-linebacker move last year with Kenard Lang, and Lang was released after one season.
Lang never had played linebacker, though. Edwards did in college at South Carolina, and the Browns think that he'd be a good fit in their 3-4 defensive scheme.
Savage said the Browns envision Edwards in the same kind of role Willie McGinest played for the New England Patriots.
McGinest is a free agent, but Edwards is 27 and McGinest 34.
``We feel like we can unleash (Edwards') potential in this scheme,'' Savage said.
Edwards alone, though, would not solve the team's pass-rush situation.
The Browns finished last in the league with 23 sacks last season, and Savage said in February that any time a team is at the bottom of the league that has to be addressed.
The Browns also know that the free-agent market wasn't littered with affordable pass rushers, and some of the ones on the market (such as Peterson and Arrington) are represented by agents Kevin and Carl Poston, who drive a pricey bargain.
Consider, too, that Darren Howard was given $30 million by the Philadelphia Eagles after a season in which he had 3 ½ sacks.
Savage did not seem at all worried about whom he has not signed, and he is happy with the players he has. His approach is careful and measured, and when he gets a player or misses one, he merely goes on to the next.
``We're not going to fill every need,'' Savage said.
``What we're not able to get done in free agency we'll get done in the draft,'' coach Romeo Crennel said.
Inside linebacker remains another need with Bart Scott re-signing with the Baltimore Ravens. That means that the Browns might re-visit the notion of bringing back Ben Taylor, who started 16 games last season.
The Green Bay Packers reportedly are interested in bringing in Taylor for a visit, but want to wait a week. That gives the Browns time to talk to him, and Savage said Taylor's agents said he would give the Browns a chance to sign him.
What did the Browns add to their team by signing these five players, center LeCharles Bentley, tackle Kevin Shaffer, receiver Joe Jurevicius, nose tackle Ted Washington and punter Dave Zastudil?
``Toughness,'' Savage said. ``More consistency, more professional.''
He also said the team had added high-character players.
The toughness comes from the linemen. Bentley and Shaffer play with an edge, and Washington is one of the toughest interior defenders in the league to block.
``We're tougher talking,'' Crennel said with a laugh after hearing Washington talk about how he can still play at 37.
Washington is one very large player who fills a large need.
At 365 pounds, Washington is a mammoth presence in the middle of the defense, and though he's going to be 38, he said he still can play.
``I'm not a trash talker, but if it comes to me, I'm going to step up to the plate and accept a challenge from any player who says I'm over the hill or too fat or that kind of stuff,'' Washington said. ``I'll show you on the field.''
Brownies ...
Two former Browns found teams Monday. Left tackle L.J. Shelton signed a four-year deal with the Miami Dolphins worth $15 million. Wide receiver Antonio Bryant went to the San Francisco 49ers for four years and $15 million.
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Canton

3/14/06

Savage gets his work finished very quickly

Tuesday, March 14, 2006


<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>[FONT=Verdana, Times New Roman, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]By Steve Doerschuk Repository sports writer[/FONT]




BEREA - Hungry young men Phil Savage and Trip MacCracken sat down to eat at the train station-turned-restaurant just up the street from work.
Savage, the Browns’ general manager, considers MacCracken, his salary cap coordinator, to be a “whiz kid.” It helps to have one when a franchise has been way off track.
The two were plotting the final strokes of free agency. “Signability” came up.
LaVar Arrington, it was thought, would want the moon.
“We weren’t ready to pull the trigger on some high-priced guys,” Savage said.
Offensive line star LeCharles Bentley, though, had said he’d some day like to play for his hometown Browns.
Food orders were placed and the talk turned to workable combinations. The light bulb came on. Bentley and left tackle Kevin Shaffer, the two men agreed, seemed signable.
“It took Trip about a minute to eat,” Savage said.
The process led to the Saturday sweep in which Bentley, Shaffer and wideout Joe Jurevicius made the Browns “team splash” on the opening day of free agency.
Needs were filled Sunday with the signing of nose tackle Ted Washington and punter Dave Zastudil.
At supper time Monday, Savage was trying to finish a deal with defensive end/linebacker Kalimba Edwards.
“We’re kind of at the place in the supermarket when you’ve been through the meats,” Savage said. “Now we’re probably over in the fruits and vegetables.”
Aside from finishing an Edwards deal, or one that would bring another defensive player, Savage indicated, the heavy lifting of free agency was done.
In less than three days.
Adding other core-type players, Savage said, will have to wait until this year’s draft and next year’s free-agent market. The work done, though, left Savage in an obvious state of excitement.
He had thought about free agency “night and day since Thanksgiving.” He had the money and the time to score this time, unlike last year, when he was new on the job and cap issues were getting cleaned up.
In free agency, Savage said, “You have to decide if you want to pay $6 for a McDonald’s hamburger.
“This year,” he said, “we were able to do all the research.”
The research pointed to Edwards as a possible breakthrough edge rusher. Edwards has been a situational end in Detroit’s 4-3 scheme and would be an outside linebacker in Cleveland’s 3-4. This would be different than last year’s Kenard Lang experiment, in that Edwards was a linebacker at South Carolina, whereas Lang had always been an end or tackle.
The 6-foot-6, 265-pound Edwards is almost the same size as 6-5, 270-pound New England linebacker-end Willie McGinest, a key man during the Patriots’ Super Bowl runs.
“He could bring the kinds of things Willie brought to the Patriots,” Savage said.
Edwards, 26, was a No. 35 overall pick out of South Carolina in 2002.
As evening neared, Savage said signing Edwards seemed “about 50-50.” Reach Repository sports writer Steve Doerschuk at (330) 580-8347 or e-mail [email protected]
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I like what Savage is doing.

Hes signing veterans and proven players that can help us right away, and thats what this team needs most. Now that we have veterans in all of these positions, we can draft players to back-up these veterans and take over when they are ready.
 
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