02/29 Morning Minute: Savage Taking Advantage
February 29, 2008The Internet- my imaginary friend!
February 29, 2008
According to an ESPN report, the Browns have resigned QB Derek Anderson…
Cleveland Browns quarterback Derek Anderson wasn’t a free agent for long.
Anderson has agreed to a multi-year contract to stay with the Browns, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the contract had not been completed.
General manager Phil Savage believed if Anderson had gotten an offer from another team, the Browns probably wouldn’t have been able to keep him.
The team had been negotiating a three-year, $20 million deal for Anderson.
The 24-year-old signed with Cleveland just hours after he became a restricted free agent.
UPDATE: An hour later we finally get some kind of details. This is from the PD–
Terms of the deals were not immediately available and the Browns have not confirmed the report. But Adam Schefter of the NFL network reported that he received more than $14 million guaranteed.
Certainly that isn’t $14 million guaranteed this year. The previous offer was for $20 million, with $10 million guaranteed over the course of three year deal. Best guess is that the Browns upped the guaranteed portion of the contract and Derek discovered that not as many teams were willing to part with the draft picks it would take to get him.
The Columbus Dispatch is reporting something a little different-
Multiple sources confirmed last night that the Browns increased their offer from $20 million to a deal in the range of $21 million to $23 million. The guaranteed money also was moved up to from $10 million to $12 million guaranteed.
Another source told The Dispatch that if Cleveland moved the deal up to $24 million, which is half of what Matt Schaub signed with the Houston Texans, it’s possible that a deal could be complete. That way Anderson’s representation didn’t look bad in settling for a below-market deal, while the Browns could keep the contract length at three years.
Of course this could be the first part of a sign and trade type deal. I’m sure Savage isn’t wild about entering the draft without a pick until the third round.
If they are keeping Anderson, what does this do to the free agency plans? If Anderson eats $12 million, and another $6 goes to Corey Williams, that leaves the Browns with around $15-$17 million left to sign free agents and draft choices. Of course, we don’t have any picks until the third round, so we’ll save some serious cash there!
UPDATE: Apparently we aren’t the only ones who think this smells like a trade, from Tony Grossi–
The Browns are presently without picks in the first and second rounds of the draft after they swapped their second-round pick to Green Bay for franchise defensive tackle Corey Williams. The first went last year to Dallas to move up and select Brady Quinn. So now the Browns have a quarterback controversy, a defensive tackle and no picks in the first and second rounds.
There’s got to be more to this.
That eerie silence coming from Berea makes me think something else is in the wind. Wouldn’t Savage have come out and defended talked about this move if they were sold on signing Derek?
15 Comments
Hey Derek, can you pass me the salt?
[Tosses three feet over head]
Nevermind, I’ll get it…
Yeah, I just sprayed diet Coke out of my nose, thanks for that Scott…
So why am I not happy about this? DA signing yesterday would have been fine. Why am I less than thrilled about it today? Buyer’s remorse?
I guess there are two things bothering me:
— This portends a QB controversy between now and opening day;
— No draft picks until Day 2 of the draft
I’m concerned DA will be anointed the starter now, even if BQ has a better training camp. Even worse, I would guess there is at least a small, infinitesimal chance BQ could be traded if we’ve hooked our financial wagon to DA. My glass-half-full take yesterday was that we had two good QBs that both can operate effectively in this offense, so I’m still OK there…I just want the better of the two to be the pilot.
On the other point, while ecstatic about getting Corey Williams, we’ve kind of painted ourselves into a corner with respect to rebuilding the defense. Everything will now need to come through free agency, instead of the draft. Given our need for more depth on the line, let’s hope LaBoy or Smith or Kearse or any of the other guys signs up.
I think it’s the curse of the Cleveland fan to never be happy about anything.
I hear you draftnik, but try to think positive- Savage is certainly not finished. And if he attacks the D-Line like he did the O-Line, we will be set there soon.
There will be a QB controversy if both players do in fact stay with the team. But if one of them does get traded it will not be BQ. His contract is waaaayyyy too friendly to get rid of. Quinn sort of hosed himself with all of the incentive clauses. His agent certainly was telling him he’d be the starter by now, and so the clauses made sense. If he doesn’t take the majority of the snaps he is a bargain.
So where do we go from here? I can’t say that I’m thrilled about DA signing. I’m assuming he’ll be anointed the starter from Day 1, but will Quinn even get a fair shot? Ugh, I just don’t think DA is that good. I think any quarterback in the league could thrive in this offense. Great line, nice running game, all sorts of threats to throw to. How could anyone not be successful? I’m pretty excited about Corey Williams also, and I think the 2nd round pick is okay to give up for him. Does anyone know if anyone else is visiting today or over the weekend?
I’m so confused…are you new Jeremy or Akron Jeremy?
The only guy that I’ve seen who is scheduled to visit is Travis LeBoy from Tennessee.
Akron Jeremy, my posting name has been amended so you will no longer be confused.
LeBoy would be a nice addition to go along with Williams. But I guess that Williams deal is contingent upon a long term contract. I hear they put a 5-year $38 million offer on the table.
You hear the Browns put that contract on the table or the Packers? What I saw was that Williams was looking for a 6 year $6per deal, and that was before Savage traded for him, so I would imagine he thinks he can get something done.
Don’t you have any more connections over there at Browns.com? You should be some sort of insider for us…
I do, but he’s not always up front about it. I haven’t talked to him a couple of days either. I did message him though, and there is a little rumor about Donte Stallworth coming in. The Williams contract I posted about… I mis-read that one. They have not put an offer on as of yet. But I hear that it won’t be near what Tommy Kelly got. Most likely around $10 million less for the total contract.
Stallworth huh? I’d much rather have Berrian, and truthfully if DA is staying I’d much rather see that money used on defense.
So would I, but, Berrian is gonna most likely get $7 million per year. Stallworth won’t come close to that, and, the Browns could definitely use a #2 WR. That way, Jurevicious could go back to his more comfortable #3 spot. Word is, the Browns also gave up a #3 pick, not a #2 for Williams. Who wants a 6-year $38 million deal.
There isn’t going to be a sign a trade, you should know that right now, Rick.
Why? Because every cent of Anderson’s guaranteed money would be accelerated to this coming season’s salary cap. He would be tying up almost 10% of their cap for the coming season.
That’s one main reason why there are so few trades (especially of big name players) in the NFL: salary cap acceleration of guaranteed money shoots your cap for that year. When you do see trades, you’ll never see them in the first year of a contract, much less minutes after one is signed.
I’m disappointed. If you think a ‘sign-and-trade’ is in the making, you simply don’t know anything about the NFL and haven’t been paying attention to it.
If they were going to trade Anderson, they would have done it PRIOR to him signing any long-term contract but AFTER they tendered him. They would have traded him with the one-year tender they had made him, at a palatable $2.5 million/one-year and also maybe a handshake agreement between Anderson and the other team on a long-term deal to be signed AFTER the trade. It makes ZERO sense to trade him now.
Well John, then I guess the Browns beat writer for the Plain Dealer for the last 17 or so years “doesn’t know anything about football” either.
That $12 million guaranteed is all from this season either…that is spread out through the life of the contract.
This morning (Saturday) Mary Cabot writes that the Browns do intend to keep Anderson. So obviously you are the smartest man in Cleveland John. Congrats.
By the way John, how do you like it there in Reston, Va? That’s pretty close to Herndon isn’t?