MVN - Most Valuable Network

Now We’re Talkin’

I have to say I am very impressed with the way Phil Savage has handled the off-season thus far.  Granted we don’t have any day one picks in the draft but we did get our most pressing needs addressed via trades. And we got a great number two receiver in Donte’ Stallworth. 

Going into the offseason we all knew what the Browns needed but we didn’t know how they would address the situations.  I thought they definitely had to trade to Derek Anderson for a first round pick in order to get a decent defensive lineman. That really sounds dumb now huh?

So the Browns worked out a three year contract with Anderson to keep him as the starting QB and maintained some stability on offense.  I have to say it is nice not to be worrying about the QB situation like we had been in the 10 years previously.

As for D-Line Savage worked some trades with Green Bay for DT Corey Williams and with Detroit for Shaun Rogers.  Both will be dramatic upgrades for the Browns at their respective positions and finally give the Browns a formidable front line to help stop the run.

Williams is still young and was the victim of Green Bay just not having the funds to pay him and the Browns were happy to give up a second round pick as they probably saw that there wasn’t going to be anything better in the draft.  Only 27 years old, he had 7 sacks and 3 forced fumbles last season.  No one on the Browns team had more than five sacks last season so this is a significant upgrade that will allow Browns linebackers Kamerion Wimbley and D’Qwell Jackson to work their magic on the outside.

Detroit gave up on Rogers because of his weight issues and at times character issues.  The Browns obviously feel they can get control of Rogers’ weight and also handle is character issues.  I really like this trade because we get that big nose tackle that the 3-4 is so dependent on and we also get a formidable four man rotation that now includes Rogers and Williams.  I don’t think Rogers’s weight is that much of a concern for the Browns because it seems like they prefer that NT position to be a big Ted Washington type guy.  Now he may have to drop some weight in order to increase his stamina and agility because one complaint in Detroit was that he was usually gassed at the end of games and couldn’t play.

Now a move that surprised me was the signing of Donte’ Stallworth as the number two receiver.  I knew we would eventually need one as Joe Jurevicius wants to retire after next season but the catch was he also wanted to be moved to the number three receiver.  This makes an already potent offense even more dangerous because not only do we have three pretty good receivers now but we also have the almighty Kellen Winslow Jr. to make things more interesting at the TE position. 

With these moves this has to make the Browns the favorites in the division, at least on paper.  I know we still have a huge mountain to climb in finally being able to beat the Steelers but I definitely think that they will be able to complete that task in their first meeting with them regardless of the venue. 
This past week has made me extremely excited about next season and I can’t wait for the season to start and we are only in March.  Will we see a few more moves from Savage and the Browns?  I am not sure what else they could do, maybe add a defensive back, cornerback, and/or safety to help bolster those positions a bit but other than that I like what they were able to accomplish without having to trade Anderson. 

This entry was posted on Friday, March 7th, 2008 at 12:03 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.