Cleveland Browns (2007 & prior)

[genevabuck]

They must want Matt Millen.

[Piney]

WTF??????

Can I transfer from being a Browns fan to being a Bengals fan? Eh god... I can't believe I even said that

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Savage still running Browns

By TOM WITHERS, AP Sports Writer
December 30, 2005

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Browns president John Collins denied Friday that the club was planning to fire general manager Phil Savage, who was hired less than a year ago to help fix Cleveland's floundering franchise.

"Phil's not going anywhere," Collins said. "He hasn't been fired, and he's not going to be fired. There is no reduction of responsibility. There is no rift."


ESPN.com reported Friday that Savage, Baltimore's former personnel director who was hired on Jan. 6 to stabilize a fractured front office in Cleveland, was on the verge of being fired over "philosophical differences."

However, Collins said he and owner Randy Lerner are pleased with Savage's performance in his first season and have no intention of letting him go. With rumors running rampant about a shake-up two days before Cleveland's season finale against Baltimore, Collins met with Savage, Lerner and coach Romeo Crennel.

"We sat down and we basically renewed our vows," Collins said. "I'm not really sure where this got started."

Asked if Savage is going to resign, Collins said, "I don't think so. Phil is raw about what happened, and understandably so."

Savage, who had been planning to scout bowl games this weekend, could not be reached in his office or at his suburban home.

Collins, who joined the Browns in 2004, said the Browns' front office is about to undergo some changes, with financial vice president Doug Jacobs and chief operating officer Lew Merletti taking on new roles.

Collins said Mike Keenan, the NFL management council's finance director, will join the Browns to replace Jacobs and there have been ongoing discussions about bringing in others to upgrade Cleveland's management team.

Savage and Crennel are the most recent additions to a front office that hasn't worked together for a year. Collins said the group is still finding its way together, and that there are bound to be problems.

"We've felt our way through this season," Collins said. "Has there been moments when we could have made better decisions? Have there been times when the communication could have been better? Yeah. But we're getting better."

Collins said he and Savage "have a mutual respect and hopefully we can have some fun together."

Although they never comment on rumors, the Browns posted a statement from Collins on their Web site, assuring fans that Savage "is and will continue to be our senior vice president and general manager. ... Together, we are going to continue to do whatever is necessary to reestablish the Browns as one of the premiere franchises in all of sports."

Considered one of the NFL's top talent evaluators for his success in nine years drafting players for the Ravens, the 40-year-old Savage was brought to Cleveland to rebuild the Browns' roster, and he has spent most of this season on the road scouting college players.

Savage's strength is his ability to find quality players, and in his first draft with the Browns, he selected wide receiver Braylon Edwards (No. 3 overall) in the first round and quarterback Charlie Frye in the third.

Edwards, who sat out part of training camp in a contract holdout, tore a knee ligament in a Dec. 4 game against Jacksonville, ending his rookie season. Frye will make his fifth start on Sunday when the Browns (5-10) host the Ravens.

The rest of Cleveland's first draft class under Savage has gotten little playing time for Crennel.

Savage's arrival was heralded as a positive step for the Browns, who are just 35-77 since they returned to the NFL in 1999 as an expansion team. The club's progress has been undermined by poor draft picks, injuries and instability.

While speculation swirled about his future in Cleveland, Savage finalized a four-year contract extension Friday for cornerback Leigh Bodden, a three-year veteran who has played well filling in for the injured Gary Baxter.

In 10 starts this season, Bodden has 55 tackles, three interceptions and forced two fumbles.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

scout.com (free)

12/31/05

Savage situation is covered...

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

scout.com (free)

1/1/06

Savage situation....

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

link

1/1/06

Frye’s arm strength in question after last week’s loss

Sunday, January 1, 2006

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>By Steve Doerschuk REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER




CLEVELAND - Is Charlie Frye’s cannon too small for the big time?
That’s a companion question for, “Why did Frye last until Round 3 of this year’s draft?”
A windy Saturday and a 41-0 loss to Pittsburgh last week stirred the issue of whether Frye has enough arm to be a winning NFL starter.
Yet, when asked Friday what he thinks of the question, the rookie gave one of his now-familiar chuckles. This one said, “That’s just wrong.”
“I can get the ball where it needs to go,” said Frye, who makes his fifth NFL start in today’s season finale. “That’s the bottom line.”
Arm strength is an issue when the cold winds whip off Lake Erie.
“The wind is a little stronger coming off the lake than it was at Rubber Bowl,” the former University of Akron slinger said. “It’s nothing too bad.
“Going into the wind, you can’t put a lot of air under the ball. You’ve gotta throw it a little harder.”
Frye said he can cut the ball through the wind as needed.
“You really don’t listen to that stuff (about arm strength),” he said. “You go out and play football.
“I feel real confident I can make any throw coach wants me to make,” Frye said, “whether it be on the run, throwing it 50 yards down the field. Whatever.”
Head Coach Romeo Crennel continues to say Frye’s rough day against Pittsburgh was neither a product of too little arm or the “happy feet” rookie quarterbacks tend to get under a pass rush.
“I don’t think Charlie got happy feet,” Crennel said. “He stood in the pocket and got hit. That’s why he got sacked so many times (eight).
“Like I’ve said, it wouldn’t have mattered if Johnny Unitas had been the quarterback. It wouldn’t have been good.”
Frye would love to play as long as Johnny Unitas, who was a Baltimore Colts quarterback from 1956-72.
Crennel is reserving the starting job for Frye only through today’s game against the Ravens. As to his starting passer for next season, Crennel said, “I’m not gonna make that determination Monday.”
On Friday, though, Frye talked about what got him to the NFL and what might keep him there with a certain confidence.
“What do you look for in a quarterback?” he said. “Confidence. Leadership. Those are the things you can’t teach. I think that’s something I take pride in ... being able to lead a team.”
Reach Repository sports writer Steve Doerschuk at (330) 580-8347 or e-mail: steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com


RAVENS AT BROWNS
Today, 1 p.m.
Cleveland Browns Stadium
TV WOIO
RADIO WHBC-AM 1480, WQKT-FM 104.5, WAKR-AM 1590, WMMS-FM 100.7, WTAM-AM 1100, WJER-AM 1450
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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

link

1/2/06

BROWNS SPOTLIGHT: Stability is key during offseason

Monday, January 2, 2006

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>BROWNS SPOTLIGHT TODD PORTER


<TABLE style="MARGIN: 10px -3px 15px 5px; POSITION: relative" width=300 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD>Related Stories
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A final look at the game

Offense recovers just in time

In-depth on Sunday’s game

Savage not saying what new year brings

A fresh start at season’s end

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CLEVELAND - This could have been a great ending to another awful season. It could have been full of hope and promise. It could have led you to believe the Browns were crawling out of the hole.
It was for a second or two. Then the Browns threw themselves back in it.
There is a cloud that always manages to hang over the Cleveland Browns franchise, the NFL’s worst team on the field since its return in 1999 and quickly becoming the worst managed one off it as well.
Rookie quarterback Charlie Frye again showed signs, but not enough of them during a nailbiting 20-16 win Sunday over the Ravens. Frye didn’t answer enough questions to prove he is the future of this team, though he has answered enough to show he might be.
“I felt I made some strides,” Frye said. “I got better as the year went on.”
Head Coach Romeo Crennel seemingly endorsed Frye, but left wiggle room to go in either direction with the quarterback.
That is what men in Crennel’s position do. This is what men in the Browns organization have done for a while. Butch Davis had absolute power. Chris Palmer had no power. Crennel and in-limbo General Manager Phil Savage share power.
Crennel and Savage aren’t the only elements to Cleveland’s complex management scheme. There’s Jim Brown, whose role as adviser seems all-encompassing. He was spinning the latest embarrassing storyline the same way he once bounced off tacklers.
There are too many elements. Too many bosses, managers, directors. Everyone walks on egg shells looking over their shoulder in this organization, because there is always someone watching, someone listening, someone with an agenda.
Cleveland has spent seven years trying to gather pieces to the puzzle, but the Browns haven’t found out a way to keep anyone long enough to put it together.
The bottom line at the end of the day is owner Randy Lerner. Every decision reflects on him. The few good ones there have been and the bad ones.
Crennel won’t talk about Savage, though he may today as changes within his coaching staff seem to be adrift.
Savage may have gained some favors with his bosses by not addressing his situation, other than to say he is still the general manager of the Browns — today.
What about at the end of the week?
Obviously, there are problems with this structure. But the Browns have enough problems on the field. There is no need to create ones off it.
When team President John Collins announced Friday that the management team essentially renewed their vows, that’s spin. Any marriage needing vows renewed before the first anniversary is a rocky one.
Oddly enough, if someone were to leave, Collins is the most expendable. Crennel is safe. Savage should be safe. He’s knows better than anyone in the organization how to take the next step, drafting players and buying others through free agency.
Perhaps there’s the pressure point.
Cleveland can be one of the free-agent spenders this offseason, which always seems to start so soon around here. The Browns are about $30 million, give or take, under the cap. Maybe this is where disagreement has cropped up.
Maybe someone wanted to make a free-agent splash, sign a couple of big names because the Browns need something to sell next season.
Maybe Savage believes, and rightly so, this isn’t the way to spend the salary cap loot. That’s wasn’t the New England model. The Patriots signed players with talent but also something to prove.
The Browns have proven a few things since the late Al Lerner forked over $530 million for the team. They’ve proven inept. They’ve proven a once proud franchise can become the Cardinals, Bengals and 49ers while trying to become the opposite.
This is what makes the dynamics of Cleveland’s problem all the more interesting. The Browns aren’t trying to be bad, but they’re getting there nevertheless.
The team’s 6-10 record is better or what most people believed it would be after finishing 4-12 a year ago.
“We feel good about having a better record than they had last year,” Crennel said. “There are some things that could’ve been better. There are a couple of games in the middle of the year I felt like we could’ve won. If we won those games, there would be a better taste in their (the players’) mouth.”
Yes, Crennel made progress with little depth and trying to learn on the job what he has.
“The players,” he said, “understand what the coaches want, what the coaches desire and what’s expected of them. Going forward, we should be better.”
That’s all well and good. The Browns, despite a recent 41-0 trouncing by a Pittsburgh, took a step forward.
Then tripped over their own feet in the process.
It’s nice the players know what’s expected of them after 16 games.
Maybe management could do the same. Maybe after seven seasons, they can learn what the fans expect of them. Getting along and getting together isn’t asking much. Reach Repository sports writer Todd Porter at (330) 580-8340 or e-mail: todd.porter@cantonrep.com.
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