Browns say they won’t ‘over-prioritize’ QB position

By Will Osgood | May 3, 2015

Sep 21, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns helmet on the field before a game against the Baltimore Ravens at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Schwane-USA TODAY Sports /

After ending the 2015 NFL draft without a quarterback, the Cleveland Browns were resolute in their post-draft meetings with the media that they’re going to go with the guys currently in the building.

So it looks like Johnny Manziel may yet have some life in Cleveland, and the chance to become the first franchise quarterback for the team since their reincarnation as an NFL franchise in 1999.

A day after completing the three-day NFL draft, the Browns’ brass stood firm that they like the four quarterbacks in the building and are not seeking out a new man to run the show. Head coach Mike Pettine discussed his team playing a team game saying, “To me there are a lot of different ways to win a football game. You don’t just force the situation.”

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But the next line he dropped may be telling, “If we perceive our quarterback group is not the best in the division, what does that mean? Do we call the league and cancel games? You still gotta play.”

No one would question that Pettine is correct in his assertion that the Browns are on the hook to still compete no matter who lines up at quarterback. The NFL won’t cancel games for them.

But the question is, why even bring that up?

It’s obviously because as much as they say they’re willing to go to battle with the four guys they have in their building, they recognize that none of them figure to be that guy who is going to resurrect the franchise’s hopes.

It’s well known that the brass of Pettine and general manager Ray Farmer, as well as the scouts and other executives, had draft crushes on Teddy Bridgewater a year ago and Marcus Mariota this year. It’s been reported that the Browns would have drafted Bridgewater if not for CEO Jimmy Haslem overriding the call and ordering them to take “Johnny Football” instead.

This year it is believed they made an effort to trade up to No. 2 to acquire Mariota, though Sunday Pettine and Farmer denied it. Farmer was willing to admit that they had a certain grade on Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty and discussed trading up to a certain spot to take him, but would not admit that spot was Jacksonville’s in the fourth-round–which it was reported they were trying to acquire.

Still, even with all that said, Johnny Manziel is the most talented and the most charismatic of the four Browns’ quarterbacks currently on the roster–Josh McCown, Thad Lewis and Connor Shaw the others.

If anyone on the current roster is going to establish himself as the face of the franchise and take the Browns where they haven’t been in the Super Bowl era–to a Super Bowl–it will be Manziel. Or it will be someone else not currently on the roster.

Because in today’s modern game, Pettine is wrong. There is one way, and it requires a franchise quarterback.

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