NFL Free Agency: Cleveland Browns Have Matt Moore on Their Radar
By Josh Hill
NFL free agency is still a few weeks away, but that’s not stopping teams from looking at who might become available and planning their spending strategy accordingly. The Cleveland Browns have two starting quarterbacks on their roster right now but they’re not good ones and this offseason will be an intersting one when it comes to quarterbacks that get a look from the Brown.
Joe Flacco is a name the Browns would go after hard if he somehow hits the market in some form. If the Ravens slap the exclusive franchise tag on him though, the Browns have another name in mind that they would love to bring and and have a crack at.
Matt Moore has spent some quality time with the Carolina Panthers and Miami Dolphins in his short career, but with his contract with Miami expiring in a few weeks, he might be wearing a new uniform in 2013. According to the Miami Herald, that uniform might be a brown and white.
"Several Dolphins people, including Ryan Tannehill, have reached out to Matt Moore, hoping he will re-sign. Keep in mind that Cleveland offensive coordinator Norv Turner is a big fan of Moore, who will test free agency to see if there’s a starting job available in a situation that’s appealing to him. But he hasn’t ruled out coming back to Miami.– Miami Herald"
As the Herald reported, Moore isn’t saying a return to Miami is impossible, but even at $3.5 million and above, it’s going to be hard to pass up a potential starting job to return to a place you know you’re going to be a backup barring some unfortunate injury. Besides, as a starter, Moore would be set to make more the $3.5 million and the opportunity would be much greater elsewhere so the incentive to return to the Dolphins is very slim.
Still, there aren’t many starting jobs out there in the NFL that Moore would be a fit for. If Turner is high on him and the Browns are willing to give him a slightly above average salary, Moore is likely going to wind up in Cleveland next season.
We won’t find out for sure until March when free agency officially opens, but Moore has shown flashes in his career so far and perhaps he’s just been needing the proper stage to fully come into his own as an NFL quarterback.