Browns Have Quiet Day At Draft

BEREA, Ohio -- A year ago the Cleveland Browns' draft moves were the talk of the NFL.

General Manager Phil Savage selected left tackle Joe Thomas at No. 3 overall, but that wasn't the end of the big news. When Savage swung a trade a few hours later to take quarterback Brady Quinn, the Browns draft headquarters erupted with excitement.

The atmosphere this time around was much different. There was no drama. There was no anticipation.

But before leaving his office Saturday night, Savage told reporters he wasn't giving up on similar wheeling and dealing this year. The Browns went into the draft with no picks until the fourth round on Sunday. Cleveland wasn't supposed to have its first of four scheduled picks until selection No. 122.

Savage said he would like to get a fifth pick, which would mean finding a turn in the third round.

"We're going to talk about it," he said. "We felt our board would be a work in progress. There are a number of teams who have multiple picks in the third round who might be willing to do something."

The Browns' other picks are at No. 155 (fifth round), No. 190 (sixth) and No. 231 (seventh).

"You make a big splash one year and the next year is more of a ripple," Savage said Saturday after following the first two rounds on television.

For someone who has earned a reputation as one of the top evaluators of college talent, not having a pick was a different experience for Savage.

"It's been fun," he said. "We second-guessed picks. It was more like being a fan today."

Asked if he received any calls from other teams Saturday, Savage joked, "I think people just called to make sure we were watching the draft."

The opportunity to jump up into Saturday's portion of the draft didn't present itself.

"We felt like we would let the first two rounds pass and get our antenna up later," Savage said. "We didn't have any designs at all of moving up."

Savage traded Cleveland's 2008 first-round pick to Dallas to get Quinn, who saw little action as a rookie and will begin his second season as Derek Anderson's backup.

Savage has known for several weeks there was a good chance this would be a quiet day. He dealt the Browns' second-round pick to Green Bay for defensive lineman Corey Williams and sent Cleveland's third-round pick - along with starting cornerback Leigh Bodden - to Detroit for Shaun Rogers, another defensive lineman.

"We came into today knowing we had taken an advance on this year's draft," Savage said. "This isn't something that just happened in the last couple of days. This is something we've had eight weeks to get our head around that we would not be picking in the first three rounds, at least at this point."

As the draft proceeded Saturday, Savage felt even more confident dealing the second-round pick for Williams was the correct decision.

"We feel good about that relative to the players that were available, particularly in the second round along the defensive line," he said. "I think that was the right move to make. I have absolutely zero regrets about making that move."

Although cornerback and a linebacker who can be used as an outside pass rusher appear to be the team's biggest areas of need, Savage will take the highest-rated player on the Browns' board whenever their first pick is at hand.

"We haven't necessarily put a ranking on anything," he said. "We could end up in a situation where we have a secondary need, but at the highest rated player. If that's the case we'll take that player rather than reaching down just to take a position because everyone thinks we need (help at that) position."

With the Ravens, he found offensive guard Edwin Mulitalo (No. 127) and linebacker Edgerton Hartwell (No. 126) available in range where the Browns will pick in the fourth round. Both went from unknowns on draft day to dependable starters.

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