Savage told WTAM morning men Bill Wills and Mike Snyder that the bottom line was that the Browns are a team and the players and organization must stick together. And when Winslow spoke openly to the media after Sunday’s 14-11 loss against Washington, Winslow, in Savage’s mind ,double-crossed the Browns organization and ultimately hurt the team.

Savage said that he thought he and Winslow had an agreement to keep the “undisclosed illness”under wraps. Savage said when Winslow was released from Cleveland Clinic on Oct. 16 and practiced with the team, both were on the same page. The staph infection would remain a secret and all lips were sealed.

Savage said he was surprised when Winslow stopped him in the tunnel after the game Sunday, but denied the two had a confrontation or an argument. They simply had a “conversation.” There were no heated words, no voices raised, he said.Kellen simply spoke his mind.

The GM also indicated that they did not know the “illness” was actually staph until a few days before the Browns and Giants Monday night game. And at that point, Savage said, the players were already heavy into preparing for perhaps their biggest game of the year and the news would have been a distraction.

Savage also said it wasn’t personal. But his decision to both fine and suspend Winslow for one game was because Winslow broke his word of confidentiality and spilled the beans. By going to the media with the problem Winslow ,not only defied the Browns organization but hurt his team members with this revelation and distraction.

But in my opinion, if Savage was acting for the good of the team, he would have simply fined his volatile tight end, rather than pull him out of a precious week’s practice and take him out of the roster against the Jaguars on Sunday. This only weakens the struggling Browns team, currently fighting for their lives.

Winslow has taken the matter personally, and I would have also. There is nothing more frightening for an athlete — even an amateur athlete — to have to go under the knife and then watch in horror as a staph infection appears and spreads.

Dawson also said a hearing on Winslow’s game suspension and fine would be on Tuesday, too late for Winslow to suit up for this game.

Savage denied rumors that he wanted Winslow gone. (He was not asked about trying to trade Winslow before the NFL trade deadline.) Rather, the GM assured WTAM that he does, indeed, see a future for Kellen and the Browns, and that he was a productive player. This incident can be put behind them, Savage insisted.

“This is not K2 against Phil Savage,” he said.

“The bottom line is, no player is more important than the team,” Savage said. “We won’t allow one person to tear down the organization.”

Okay, but how is keeping Kellen out of Sunday’s game helping the team?

Hold on!\ WKNR, Cleveland’s ESPN affiliate, has reported that Kellen Winslow has appealed the Browns’ suspension with the Players Association.

So, we shall see! As the plot thickens, WKNR is also stating that if the staph infection was kept secret from the Browns’players, that was wrong; staph is something the players should be aware of.

It seems the NFL is not tolerating players’ speaking up or making their teams look bad. (Of course the Packman Jones incident of trying to beat up his own bodyguard paid for by the Cowboys is over the top. We’ll see how long Mr. Jones stays in rehab.)

But defying the organization and speaking the truth? A fine would have sufficed.

As for Kellen playing for the Browns again — who knows. I would certainly hate to see him in another uniform, but you have to think that he and Rosenhaus have at least discussed (if that are not actively plotting it) because he can probably get more money somewhere else with the bridges between the Browns’ management and Kellen getting torched more by the day it seems. If the Browns come out and play well and beat the Jaguars this weekend, I would say the eventual departure of Kellen Winslow becomes much more probable.

And maybe that’s what both parties want in the end anyway.

Savage’s statement released last evening is the same kind of politically correct, bureucrfatic speak clap-trap that a corporate CEO would write. It did not shed much light on the staph injections nor who told whom he wanted to keep the matter private.

Romeo Crennel, in today’s 11:10 am EST press conference, said he, and not Savage, was meeting with the press because he was told one of his job responsibilities is to be “the face of the Browns.”

Crennel also said — and rightly so — his job was to get the team ready for the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday without any kind of distraction.

Cleveland espn WKNR talk show hosts Kenny Roda (Tuesday night) and Greg Brinda (this morning) have called repeatedly for Savage to publicly discuss the matter. As of this post, Savage has not met publicly with the Cleveland media, nor spoken on the record about this issue.

Unfortunately, the Cleveland Browns need all of the good players they can get, now that the team is sliding backwards in the division.

Will Kellen Winslow, perhaps the Browns best tight end ever (Ozzie Newsome, the best, of course) be playing for the Browns next year — will he play for the Browns ever again?

“Please understand I care deeply for my organization, my teammates, and the Browns fans. At no time was I ever trying to cause distress for the team or be a distraction but the fact remains there is a health issue that needs to be addressed further,” Winslow said. “I hope to be a Brown for a very long time. I know that the organization and I can move forward and focus on having a successful season, which I believe everybody agrees upon.”

That is a positive sign that perhaps this can blow over. I’m not naive enough to think it will long-term, but at least in the short term. I don’t think it’s a secret anymore that Kellen Winslow either wants a big, new contract or wants to be traded. Perhaps though, he has realized that he needs to play the “good solider” so that someone will be willing to pay him what he wants.