The Morning After: Baltimore

Browns 20, Ravens 16
Final record: 6-10
Final divisional record: 1-5

That stick in the divisional win column is magical, isn't it?
OK, maybe not. But going winless in the division for the first time in franchise history would have entered uncharted waters of embarrassment for a team that has had an ongoing relationship with embarrassment for the past seven years.
The downside: the draft positioning. a 5-11 team will likely pick within the top 10. The Browns, at 6-10, could pick as low as 14.
But first things first. We don't know how/when/where/if the Browns will pick in April. Friday, we didn't even know who the general manager was.
In true Cleveland Browns fashion, allowing bad things to happen at the worst possible time, rumors began swirling Friday afternoon that GM Phil Savage was fired and/or resigning as the team's personnel chief after 11 months on the job. The purported reason was a philosophy difference with team president John Collins. Collins, it turns out, had a low opinion of Savage as a money manager.
It must be pointed out that Savage was hired as talent guru, not as a money man. That's what the Browns wanted as a GM last winter, and that's what they acquired. Money-managing abilities didn't come up, at least not publicly.
The protracted and apparently contentious Braylon Edwards contract negotiations this summer looks to have soured Collins on Savage's GM abilities a bit. So Collins wanted to take the contract-negotiatng responsibilities away from Savage and hand them to a new guy. Savage didn't like it, and a long silence apparently followed.
Collins came on local radio station WTAM Friday to tell sports yakker Mike Trivisonno that he, Savage, owner Randy Lerner and head coach Romeo Crennel "renewed our vows" and Savage wouldn't be fired.
But this is America, where sadly, half of all marriages end in divorce. The "Savage resignation radar" was still beeping at media headquarters all weekend. Savage remained mum. With good reason.
He wasn't leaving. Collins was.
Man, were we faked out. Like defending Allen Iverson's crossover. Our shoes are at the other end of the court. Collins resigned Tuesday as Browns president, made public in a statement from Lerner.
"I am more committed than ever to this franchise and to helping the organization bring the Browns fans a winner," Savage reportedly said Tuesday.
Apparently the distraction of philosophical differences is over for now. But the Browns now don't have a president, and the whole organizational realignment undertaken last year, with a football operations wing overseen by Savage and a non-football wing overseen by Collins, appears to be up in the air.
The Browns are in a state of transition again. How shocking. At least it looks like the Browns will have a GM from now until the draft, and that the organizational philosophy won't suddenly go from building a dominant defense to building a spread offense.
Sixteen games after an opening loss to Cincinnati, and what have we learned about the Browns? Hard to say, and that's the problem. Reuben Droughns looks like a franchise running back. Beyond that, I struggle to find the building blocks for next year.
But that's why Savage makes the big bucks, and talks of bringing Cleveland a winner. It's his job to identify the strong points and build around them. If he doesn't, it won't matter if John Collins or Phil Collins is the team president.
(Sorry, Zach, I didn't want to rip off your joke, but I can't think of another famous Collins).

Up next: hopefully, better days ahead