Savage talks personnel By Jeff Walcoff, Staff Writer January 10, 2006 With the recent uncertainty and speculation surrounding his own future, it was almost as if those asking the questions during a press conference Monday forgot Phil Savage's primary job with the Browns is player management and evaluation. But during the press conference, the team's senior vice president and general manager did comment on several members of the club, including potential free agents, some veterans in limbo and the team's 2005 draft class, setting the tone for how he and the team will handle the offseason. Savage commended Reuben Droughns for his production in 2005, using him as one of the prime examples of personnel success stories from his first season as GM. Last offseason, Droughns held out for a new contract during several weeks of workouts, but returned without missing any mandatory time. With another 1,200-yard season in the books, Savage said the team and Droughns will look to restructure his contract and hopefully lock up the 27-year-old back for the future. Savage also addressed Droughns' late-season slide. The back averaged 66.2 yards per game during the first five games of 2005, 107.4 yards during games 6-10 and just 60.7 yards during the final six games of the year. "It's a long year," Savage said. "Going into the 2005 year, we were hoping it would be Reuben paired up with Lee Suggs or Reuben paired up with William Green and that it would be more of a committee than it ultimately ended up being. He ended up with 309 carries. Obviously, fatigue can set in. "You throw a rookie quarterback in there, and people are going to crowd the box. But Reuben's tough, and he brought a competitiveness to our team that we really needed. I know the offensive line really likes blocking for him. He appreciated the opportunity to be the bell cow, so to speak, and I think he's probably going to appreciate it more this spring." Savage also talked about the team's quarterback situation, addressing the future of both Charlie Frye and Trent Dilfer. He acknowledged Frye's promise but was clear in recognizing the impact Dilfer has made on the club, on and off the field. He did not, however, declare a starter for next season. He said, instead, that it is up to his head coach. "I'm not sure what Romeo (Crennel)'s thoughts are," Savage said. "Does he want to declare a starter? Does he want to have open competition? We haven't really gotten into that yet. Charlie's going to get a strong look. He's capable of being an NFL starting quarterback. "We've said all along that from the moment Charlie walked through the doors here, he's shown a little something about himself, be it in the minicamps, the training camp, preseason games and, ultimately, the last five games of the year he started. He also showed the ability to bounce back. He's shown some grit, toughness and determination" On Dilfer: "Trent did pretty much what I thought he would do and what I was hoping he would do, which would be to come in, take the leadership baton, run with it, establish what it is to be a professional, be an example to the other players on the team and carry us through at least the bulk of the year. Trent has been fantastic. "Unfortunately, Trent's an easy target, and people vilify him. He throws a bad ball or pick there and, all of a sudden, people say he can't play at all. It's really unfair. Trent has been just terrific as a leader and as a mentor to Charlie. We're planning on going forward with Trent." Another hot-button issue is the team's potential free agents for the upcoming offseason. The team already inked linebacker Andra Davis to a long-term contract last month, but still has players like defensive end Orpheus Roye, left tackle L.J. Shelton, receiver Antonio Bryant, punter Kyle Richardson and linebacker Ben Taylor to re-sign, if so desired. Savage said the team had been working on a new contract for Roye, now arguably the biggest priority for the club, at about the same time as Davis, hoping to lock him up before the end of the season. When things didn't work out, the team turned their attention to cornerback Leigh Bodden, potentially a restricted free agent, and signed him to an extension. "Orpheus is in our plans," Savage said. "We want him back. I think he would like to be here. He's a good, solid player. He's a good guy for our team, so we'd like to have him back. We've certainly burned no bridges with Orpheus and his people." Savage was forthright with his views on Shelton, claiming adequacy but inconsistency about his starting left tackle. Re-signing Shelton could be a necessity simply because so few good left tackles are available around the league. "For the most part, he played adequately," Savage said. "There were certain games where he performed not up to standard, so people think he can't play at all and that's not true. He's an NFL left tackle. There's not a whole lot to choose from out there, especially when you start factoring in the salary and the money that it's going to take to bring other people in here. I think L.J. would like to come back here, and we would not be opposed to that." As for Bryant, inconsistency also was a problem, but the fourth-year wideout did record his first career 1,000-yard season in ?05. And, with the timetable for fellow receiver Braylon Edwards' return from ACL surgery uncertain, it could make re-signing Bryant a priority. Edwards and Bryant share the same agent, Lamont Smith. "Antonio, on some days, in some games, in some practices-he looks fantastic," Savage said. "There are other times where he can leave you scratching your head a little bit. But he is an NFL talent. Make no mistake about it: this guy is an incredible athlete. He's excellent in and out of his breaks. He has very good hands, but he had inconsistent hands in terms of the drops this year. "But Antonio had over 1,000 yards. He did a lot of positive things, and he's a player that we're not opposed to bringing back. I think he would actually like to come back if the price is right. It comes down to money, generally, in these situations." Finally, Savage addressed his first draft class as GM, responding to some criticism about the impact of his second-day players during their rookie season. He used the term "redshirt" often, in reference to a college player who skips his freshman season to prepare for the higher level of competition. On fourth-round pick, cornerback Antonio Perkins: "It'd be fantastic if he could become the fourth corner. That's one position that we have some depth with Leigh and Gary Baxter coming back and Daylon McCutcheon. If Antonio could get into a position where he could fight for that fourth spot, I think that would be a good start. But he's got to have a great offseason." Perkins played one game this season, returning 3 kicks for 82 yards. On fifth-round pick, linebacker David McMillan, who moved from defensive end, where he played in college: "He flashed some things in practice as far as rush ability. There's potential there that he could become a nickel rusher next year, and he's got to improve on special teams. It's more circumstance, who we had in front of them, that kept (him) off the field. McMillan recorded 1 special teams tackle in four games. On sixth-round pick, linebacker Nick Speegle: "Nick Speegle played from the first play of the year to the last play of the year. He played a lot of special teams. He's a kid that we think can come on and at least be a backup for us." Speegle played 14 games, marking 11 special teams tackles and 1 scrimmage takedown. Savage also mentioned sixth-round pick defensive lineman Andrew Hoffman was signed last week after spending the season on the practice squad. In addition, he said the team hopes to send seventh-round pick offensive tackle Jonathan Dunn to NFL Europe this spring. Dunn missed the season with an ankle injury. The Browns' top personnel manager was insistent to remind fans that second-day all-star picks aren't the majority. "People say, ?Well, you get (New England quarterback) Tom Brady. You get (former Broncos running back) Terrell Davis,'" Savage said. "Those are exceptions, not the rule. We had some success in the later rounds (in Baltimore) prior to me coming here, so I don't see why we can't have some here. I do think that, on the day of the draft, I could've almost sat here and said, ?Guys, we have some hopes, but most of these guys are probably redshirted for this year.'" From HERE
