Browns Step Up Effort for Green

With a little more than two weeks left before the 2007 NFL Draft, it appears the Chiefs have two bona-fide participants in the Trent Green sweepstakes. The Miami Dolphins appeared to be the front-runner but now the Cleveland Browns have made public their interest in the Chiefs former starting quarterback.

On Thursday morning, Browns General Manager Phil Savage went on record with the Cantonrep (an Ohio-area newspaper) that he would step up his efforts to contact Green’s agent, Jim Steiner.

According to the article, Savage has informed his two incumbent quarterbacks, Charlie Frye and Chiefs-killer Derek Anderson, it’s a real possibility Green will be a Brown before the draft.

Savage understands the Dolphins are a real player for Green and Kansas City is looking for a first-day draft pick in exchange for the veteran. Those two items don’t seem to be issues preventing Savage from moving forward.

At the same time, this could be a smokescreen from the Browns. Savage is an astute GM and it’s not beyond him to play this one up in the media to throw teams like Oakland, Tampa Bay and Miami off in their pursuit of one of the young quarterbacks. They Browns plan on taking a serious look at LSU’s JaMarcus Russell and Notre Dame’s Brady Quinn when they’re on the clock with the third overall pick later this month – if they don’t trade out of that spot in the next couple weeks.

Meanwhile, the Chiefs couldn’t be in a better spot in their attempt to acquire a first-day draft pick for Green. General Manager Carl Peterson has been steadfast in his demands with Miami and Cleveland.

The Dolphins initially offered a seventh-round pick, but that was rejected, as was the sixth-round pick offered earlier this week.

Now the Chiefs can play both teams against each other, knowing that if one of them flinches, the other could follow. Peterson has informed the Dolphins he won’t settle for anything less than a second-round pick, but our guess is the Chiefs will take a fourth-rounder as they lack one this year.

The Chiefs have already begun their offseason workouts and Green has reported, but don’t read too much into that, because Green is still a member of the Chiefs. It’s entirely possible the team could change their mind about giving Brodie Croyle the opportunity to start this year.

But the chances of that are slim. The Trent Green saga may be coming to an end soon.