Nors
03-18-2005, 07:03 AM
They are also making a push for DE Douglas....
JJ/Parcells - hello? Vacations over now? Answer the dang phones.
Savage eyes more Ravens
Friday, March 18, 2005 By STEVE DOERSCHUK Repository sports writer
Home is where the heart is, not to mention the cash.
The latter item is why linebacker Edgerton Hartwell appeared Thursday to be heading to a new home other than Cleveland.
Browns General Manager Phil Savage kept tabs on the free agent linebacker, whom he helped bring to Baltimore as a Round 4 steal in 2001. However, a $30 million contract handed to ex-Baltimore cornerback Gary Baxter stilted the Browns’ ability to raid the Ravens for another high-profile player.
“Phil made it very clear he would love to have Eddie,” Hartwell’s agent, Harold Lewis, told The Repository on Thursday.
Even as he spoke, Lewis had been negotiating with suitors other than the Browns, hoping to have a rich deal struck soon.
Seattle, for one, was getting media pressure to awaken a comatose offseason by converting Hartwell’s recent visit to the Seahawks into a signing.
“Eddie and Cleveland would be a real good fit,” Lewis said, “but a lot of teams want Eddie.”
Hartwell might be the top linebacker available in free agency. Coming from a 3-4 in Baltimore, he would be ideal for a Browns team switching to Romeo Crennel’s version of that defense.
At 6-foot-1, 250 pounds, he has ideal size and ferocity for what Crennel needs on the inside to stuff the run. His lack of ideal quickness may have factored into Savage’s reluctance to prioritize him as a break-the-bank player.
Not everyone gives Hartwell a blue-chip rating. Sporting News had him rated as just the 28th-best player available in free agency, preferring Browns linebacker Andra Davis, rated No. 14 overall. The Browns have retained Davis, who was a restricted free agent.
A source close to the negotiations said, “Hartwell wants a $10 million bonus, but this deep into free agency, I don’t think he’ll get it.”
If dollars dried up, he could come back onto Savage’s radar screen.
JJ/Parcells - hello? Vacations over now? Answer the dang phones.
Savage eyes more Ravens
Friday, March 18, 2005 By STEVE DOERSCHUK Repository sports writer
Home is where the heart is, not to mention the cash.
The latter item is why linebacker Edgerton Hartwell appeared Thursday to be heading to a new home other than Cleveland.
Browns General Manager Phil Savage kept tabs on the free agent linebacker, whom he helped bring to Baltimore as a Round 4 steal in 2001. However, a $30 million contract handed to ex-Baltimore cornerback Gary Baxter stilted the Browns’ ability to raid the Ravens for another high-profile player.
“Phil made it very clear he would love to have Eddie,” Hartwell’s agent, Harold Lewis, told The Repository on Thursday.
Even as he spoke, Lewis had been negotiating with suitors other than the Browns, hoping to have a rich deal struck soon.
Seattle, for one, was getting media pressure to awaken a comatose offseason by converting Hartwell’s recent visit to the Seahawks into a signing.
“Eddie and Cleveland would be a real good fit,” Lewis said, “but a lot of teams want Eddie.”
Hartwell might be the top linebacker available in free agency. Coming from a 3-4 in Baltimore, he would be ideal for a Browns team switching to Romeo Crennel’s version of that defense.
At 6-foot-1, 250 pounds, he has ideal size and ferocity for what Crennel needs on the inside to stuff the run. His lack of ideal quickness may have factored into Savage’s reluctance to prioritize him as a break-the-bank player.
Not everyone gives Hartwell a blue-chip rating. Sporting News had him rated as just the 28th-best player available in free agency, preferring Browns linebacker Andra Davis, rated No. 14 overall. The Browns have retained Davis, who was a restricted free agent.
A source close to the negotiations said, “Hartwell wants a $10 million bonus, but this deep into free agency, I don’t think he’ll get it.”
If dollars dried up, he could come back onto Savage’s radar screen.