For a devout Christian, Phil Savage sure does like to gamble.
With two very gutsy moves, the Browns organization made a statement. The question is going to be what that statement is.
Move #1: Trading up for Brady Quinn. One doesn’t have to be a sanitation engineer to recognize garbage when one sees it, and it shouldn’t have taken anyone long to recognize that Charlie Frye was no longer the future QB of the Browns.
Some just didn’t want to accept it.
The organization professed that Derek Anderson (of all people) had closed the gap on Frye. They inquired after David Carr. They flirted with Trent Green. Frye was quietly shopped around the league but with no takers, which is an indictment in and of itself. A quick scan of the interview list showed an inordinate number of college QB’s compared to other positions. Then, finally, Lerner flew half of the city of Cleveland to see Quinn’s workout.
2+2 does in fact equal 4.
So as the Mighty Quinn did his best Aaron Rodgers imitation, Phil Savage got an itchy trigger finger. He saw an opportunity to land the player that he’d considered at #3 and made the deal happen. The gamble was the cost of doing business with the Cowboys, who are well-known as the biggest wheelers and dealers in the league come draft time. In order to secure Brady Quinn, the price was our 2nd round pick in this year’s draft (#36) and our 1st next year. One rumor making it around the league is that the Ravens were on the horn with Quinn when the Browns agreed to the demands of the Cowboys. Not only did we land our future QB, but we kept the Ravens from getting a superior prospect.
Here’s the reality of that deal. Like it or not, Frye had fallen out of favor. Whether we got a QB this year or next, we were going to have to spend a high draft pick on a player. It’s quite probable though very speculative to suggest the Browns were going to take one of the 2nd round-level candidates at 36. Barring such a move, they could have easily spent a 1st rounder next year on a QB. From that standpoint, they spent their 2008 first round pick in 2007 while landing a guy they really wanted. The cost of getting that player a year early was our 2nd round selection. So was giving up the 36th pick in the draft in order to acquire our next QB worth it? Time will tell. We’ve either accelerated the development of this team or set it back by sacrificing draft selections. I believe it to be an acceptable risk.
Move #2: Trading up for Eric Wright. In some ways, the move to bring in the highly talented but character-challenged Wright is as much a gamble as acquiring Quinn. There’s no question that the defense had a huge hole opposite the underrated but oft-injured Leigh(high) Bodden. Wright is a top-15 talent who fell because of accusations of drugs and rape. If he proves that he can keep his nose clean (pun intended) he’d become the rare 2nd round cornerback who comes right into the league and starts. That would make the trade a raging success. Having painted the rose-colored side of the picture, we have to look at the negatives. Savage has (erringly) preached his desire for Christian players. Talking out of both sides of his mouth isn’t something that Savage is good at. He’s thrown the dice on a serious character question mark in order to fill a desperate need. Wright’s history of leaving USC under bad accusations is a red-flag that the organization chose to ignore. We sacrificed future depth and special teams players in order to move up for our new starting corner. If he finds himself in the papers for all the wrong reasons, Savage’s credibility will suffer immensely.
Getting back to Charlie Frye for a moment, I see a long line of Frye-guys about to take the long walk off the short pier. Hold your horse’s people. The loudest defense of Frye was that he never had a line, and though truer words were never spoken, that excuse/reason holds no water now. With the selection of Joe Thomas, the Browns solidified MULTIPLE positions along the line. In an earlier blog, I opined on the wisdom of taking Thomas over the likes of Quinn (how ironic) and the fragile Peterson. My reasoning was simple: Thomas moves Shaffer over to right tackle where he belongs, which secures that position for the next five years. If Tucker returns with a healthy body and mind, we have a great competition for right tackle, and the loser goes to guard. At this point in his career, Tucker is probably just as well suited to guard as tackle. Thus, we’ve solved multiple positional problems with one selection.
So now Frye has to look over his shoulder at Quinn. However, even though Quinn is a good prospect, he’s not “NFL ready” so to speak. Frye will have the chance to keep his job, but he’ll have to earn it instead of having it handed to him. He will finally have a good line, and with it he loses any excuses for not succeeding. It’s his 3rd year in the league and his 2nd as a full-time starter. If he can’t thrive now, he deserves to find the bench.
By the way………..did anyone hear that huge sigh of relief that came out of Berea on Saturday? That was Romeo realizing that his offensive line just got much better while landing a starting corner in the 2nd round. Like Frye, RAC is out of excuses. If he isn’t pushing .500 entering the middle part of the season, he’s gone and rightfully so. I believe he should have already been fired, but keeping him speaks well of Lerner and Savage and their desire for continuity, even if I feel it’s misguided.
So what of Savage in all this? GM’s tend to get more than one shot at keeping their jobs. Savage could fire RAC and bring in a new coach without losing his gig. However, if Quinn’s accuracy issues aren’t corrected, and if Wright spends more time in jail than on the field, Savage will have sacrificed the future of this team for two players who aren’t producing. In that regard, we’ve either improved significantly very quickly or taken several steps back just a fast.
If Quinn doesn’t develop, I hate to think of the bitterness welling inside of us all as the Cowboys use our #1 pick to make their team better, but if he does, Savage will be the toast of the town. It all hinges on Quinn.