Browns GM has time to ponder

Barring an unlikely trade, Cleveland will be idle during Saturday’s draft activities.

CLEVELAND (AP) — He’ll be whisked into town on a private jet, showered with gifts and shown the red-carpet treatment almost everywhere he goes. Doors will fly open, reservations at trendy restaurants will be unnecessary for the Browns’ top pick.

“This guy is going to get a parade and be introduced at a Cavs’ game,” general manager Phil Savage said.

Now known only as selection No. 122, Cleveland’s fourth-round pick in this weekend’s NFL draft will have instant fame. He’ll be a star.

And then get dissected like a frog in biology class.

“We have to make sure this guy can play,” Savage said.

Unless Savage makes a trade — not out of the question — the Browns, who made a huge splash in last year’s draft by taking left tackle Joe Thomas at No. 3 overall and then wheeling and dealing back into the first round to land quarterback Brady Quinn, won’t have a pick during Saturday’s first two rounds. They won’t be on the clock until the fourth round Sunday.

After that, they’ll have one pick each in rounds 5-7, not usually the neighborhood where teams find impact players. But you never know. Remember, the New England Patriots found Tom Brady in the sixth round, the 199th player taken in 2000.

Savage has dipped into the lower part of the draft in the past and discovered productive players, and he’s hoping to uncover a few again.

“We’ve put a lot of time into Day 2, and I think it’s going to pay off,” Savage said. “We’ve got four cracks at it right now. We’re hoping to find two players that can really be of help to us now, and two that can help us down the line.”

Having cut his teeth in the league by evaluating talent as a college scout and working for years in Baltimore’s personnel department before coming to Cleveland, Savage lives for the draft. It’s what makes him tick and his success in it has been vital to the Browns’ three-year turnaround.

Unlike past years, though, Savage will begin this draft as an outsider. He made himself one.

On draft day last April, Savage traded Cleveland’s 2008 first-round pick to Dallas to get Quinn, who sat as a rookie and will begin his second season as Derek Anderson’s backup.

This winter, not seeing much depth in this year’s class of defensive lineman, Savage dealt his 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 defensive stopper Shaun Rogers.

It’s the first time the Browns haven’t had at least one pick in the first three rounds, and the first time since 1990 that Cleveland hasn’t had a first-rounder.

Savage could get itchy to get back into rounds 1-3, but he’s more likely to sit back. If he makes any deal, it would likely be to acquire an additional choice.

“I’d love for us to be able to get a fifth pick,” he said. “I think it increases your chances of hitting on somebody. Maybe a move up to get a player we like if he’s kind of floating to us. I don’t think there’s going to be anything dramatic in the first or second round.”