So the Browns suspended Kellen Winslow II for a game. Big deal. They can finish out of the playoffs and not beat Pittsburgh with or without him catching the ball.
The big issue here is that this is great for Mr. Savage, who gets to make Winslow the bad guy for a week -- a week in which the organization he has helped to create fell flat on it's face in Washington on Sunday.
I'm not defending Winslow's actions or comments. I'm simply saying that this is a good opportunity to distract the fans and media from the real problems of the Cleveland Browns.
The real problems don't lie in staph infections (although I feel bad for the players that have gotten them), Winslow's comments or the various soap operas that follow the team.
The real problem is a lack of leadership starting with Randy Lerner all the way down.
For the last four years we've bought into Lerner's current vision of the team.
His vision? Whatever Phil Savage and Romeo Crennel think the team should be.
Know how I know that? He paid Phil Savage and Romeo Crennel millions of dollars and extended their contracts while taking a mainly hands-off approach in regards to their football decisions.
It hasn't worked.
It's not going to work.
There was a lot of hope when we exorcised the demons of the Policy/Clark era, the Policy/Davis era and the Davis/Garcia era.
Savage was a guy that helped build Baltimore into a championship team. Crennel did the same in New England.
Finally we were going to get a real football organization run by sharp football minds and not have the same mediocre-to-poor play on the field that the Browns had become known for.
The real football organization never materialized. And it's not going to materialize.
What you saw during last week's game was an organization in complete disarry. And we've seen this script play out too many times.
Another poor performance from EVERYONE associated with the team. A must-win game that fizzled. A lackluster performance with no sense of urgency.
I'm no football expert, but I do have eyes and I know what a losing record looks like.
For one week (or maybe more) we can talk about how Kellen Winslow II is a problem on the Browns and that the organization is moving to fix the situation.
My question is, who will fix the organization itself?
Not this management team.