UPDATE: Anderson signed a three year contract with the Browns after this was written. I still feel Anderson will be traded for at least a first round pick before the NFL Draft. Anderson’s new deal is more cap friendly than the deal he was asking for originally. Perhaps, Phil Savage thinks he can get more than a #1 and #3 pick for the Pro Bowl alternate.
JD
It appears that Derek Anderson’s days as quarterback of the Cleveland Browns will be limited to the 2007 season, a year he was an alternative for the Pro Bowl. Anderson and the team could not come to terms on a long term deal, so Phil Savage offered the high tender offer which means another team can sign the QB and the Browns would receive 1st and 3rd round draft picks as compensation. I am not devastated by this news.
I have advocated keeping the former Oregon State signal caller for the 2008 campaign, but that was based on having him agree to a 3-year deal. Apparently, Anderson and his agents want to sign a pact which gives him Tony Romo money, which is too much for a player who has started just one season. Savage doesn’t want to break the bank on DA. The best scenario would be for the brown and orange to keep both players for another season, but not if it is going to disrupt the salary cap in the future.
This is a key decision for Savage, but if you think he is doing a good job rebuilding the team, then you have to trust him on this one. I have to believe that the GM and the coaching staff, in particular, offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski, have viewed all of the film from last season, and have determined that Anderson is not the second coming of Dan Marino. These guys are professional and their opinion has to be respected. I doubt that Savage and his people would make this type of decision if they felt the team would regress to 4-12 in 2008.
The same guys also watch Quinn in practice and appear to share the opinion that the 2007 first round pick can do the job as well as Anderson did this past season. If Savage improves the defense like I think he will, the offense doesn’t have to score as many points to win in 2008, so the front office seems to feel that even if the second year player has some growing pains, the Browns will still be able to win enough games to make the playoffs.
Another reason that I believe Anderson will not be back is the likely trade with Green Bay for DE Corey Williams. The rumors are that Cleveland is giving up a second round pick for the lineman, who has picked up 14 sacks in the last two years, and would help shore up the front seven for the Browns. I find it very unlikely that Savage would give up this choice in a draft already lacking a first round pick if he didn’t think he was getting a first and a third round choice in a deal for Anderson. In this scenario, the Browns get Williams and save the money they would have paid the quarterback so they can use it for more defensive help, and a back up veteran QB.
This is big decision for Phil Savage. If he’s right on Quinn, the team can improve its defense and still have solid quarterback play. If Quinn isn’t the answer, he is letting a guy who threw 29 TD passes leave the organization for draft picks, albeit very high ones. Based on what the GM has done in his first three years here, you have to give him the benefit of the doubt. The Cleveland Browns could vault into Super Bowl contention if he is right.
JD
Cleveland Sports Perspective 