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Home > Blogs > Dawging the Browns > Archives > 2008 > February > 22
Friday, February 22, 2008
Signing Lewis an easy call
A 4-year-old could have decided it made sense for the Browns to sign running back Jamal Lewis before another team got a crack at him.
So it’s heartening that GM Phil Savage was able to come to that rather obvious conclusion, getting Lewis’ signature on a three-year deal Thursday, about a week before he became a free agent.
The Browns wanted a two-year contract, but after Lewis rushed for more yards last season than any player in franchise history other than Jim Brown, they weren’t going to get that lucky.
So they went to three years, probably suspecting that’s what it would take all along. Is it a gamble? Maybe, but some gambles are worth taking and Lewis showed last season that he wasn’t an “old 28” as many of his Baltimore critics would have had you believe.
Give Savage credit for knowing that a “hungry Jamal,” as he said, would be “a good Jamal.”
What surprised the Browns most, however, was how Lewis became a leader in the locker room, quietly taking younger guys aside and letting them know how NFL life works and what’s expected.
And he was consistently terrific with the media, not that that means anything in the overall scope of things.
But the best reason to give Lewis what he wanted is this: Alternatives are few at this point. Jason Wright is a nice backup, but nobody thinks he can carry the full load. Jerome Harrison is promising, but he rarely saw the field.
Running backs are a dime a dozen. You can find a Ryan Grant on the scrap heap, as the Green Bay Packers did last season. But proven talents and future Hall of Famers like Lewis are worth their weight in gold.
