40 Percent Chance At the #3 Pick, Oddsmakers Say

CLEVELAND - Despite a renewed vote of confidence from team management this past week, the Browns still can't shake their losing perception league wide, as Las Vegas oddsmakers estimate the Browns chances of winning the third pick in the draft at just 40 percent.

The Browns forced a tie with the Buccaneers by losing their last four games of the season. The coin flip will take place at the NFL's scouting combine on February 23rd in Indianapolis.

Brown's GM Phil Savage knows the odds are against him when the coin flies in over the month, but knows the Browns will get a good pick either way.

"It would be nice to have the third pick in the draft, but given our luck over the past three seasons, we're not too optimistic," Savage said. "We'll continue to do our due diligence in anticipation of that fourth pick."

Harvard Statistics Research Fellow, Doctor Gomi Goswami, admits the rarity of such an unbalanced result.

"Coin flipping is often utilized in commonplace instances of dispute resolution. It is generally assumed that the outcome is unpredictable with equal probabilities for the two outcomes, Goswami said. Careful research of descriptive statistics shows that an unlucky participant, in this case the Cleveland Browns, can certainly skew the outcome in an unfortunate direction."

Goswami, a casual NFL fan who won his office pool last season, had some parting shots for Savage.

"One has to question what the man is doing. Anyone could have told him that you don't take Braylon Edwards with the 3rd pick in the draft," Goswami said. With an effective pass rushing linebacker like Shawne Merriman on the board, how do you pass on the guy?"