Browns G.M. Phil Savage claims that the team is close to striking a deal with quarterback Derek Anderson.  And, apparently, Anderson is now willing to do a three-year deal only.

“Talks have been a little more frequent in recent days,” Savage told Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.  “It seems that the three-year deal is becoming more the focus.  We’ve had pretty good dialogue and will continue over the [NFL scouting] combine.”

Savage told WKYC:  “I do feel like [an Anderson deal] is going to get done.  I have reason to think it will get done.  We’ll continue to work on it, but I do think it will go down to the days before free agency.”

The Browns presumably want to sign Anderson for only three years so that they’ll be able to defer the ultimate decision in the Anderson vs. Brady Quinn dilemma for the long-term job.  Also, because the guaranteed money necessarily will be lower on the three-year deal, the financial investment (and risk) will be lower in the event that Anderson plays differently as the clear-cut starter than he did as the post-Charlie Frye placeholder for Quinn.

It very well could be that the improvements to the team’s offensive line, the presence of a rejuvenated Jamal Lewis, and the performance of receiver Braylon Edwards and tight end Kellen Winslow helped Anderson to overachieve — and that Quinn could do just as well, if not better, if that role.

Still, it’s somewhat surprising that Anderson would take a three-year deal.  His other alternative is to hope for a trade or an offer sheet during the restricted free agency period.  The worst-case scenario is to spend one more year in Cleveland, at $2.562 million, and then hit the open market in 2009 (or earn roughly four times this year’s pay as the franchise player).

Then again, there’s a chance that Savage is puffing as to the status of the situation, in the hopes of defraying blame in the event that an impasse is reached, Anderson is traded, and he turns into the next Dan Marino while Quinn becomes the next Dan McGwire.  If Anderson is going to leave, it’s far better for the Browns if the perception is that Anderson was being unreasonable.