Adam Schefter reported that potential No. 1 overall pick Josh Rosen doesn’t want to play for the Browns — which is misguided.
Good players don’t want to play for bad teams, which makes it even harder when you don’t have a choice. Josh Rosen, who could be the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, is already trying to pull an Eli Manning and avoid what he thinks is a bad situation.
Adam Schefter reported on Sunday morning that Rosen’s camp prefers he play for the New York Giants rather than the Cleveland Browns. Obviously, Cleveland is so awful and we’re dangerously close to someone having the hot take that the Browns should find a way to run an offense without a quarterback since they’re doomed to never find a franchise guy.
The fact of the matter is, this is way too early for this sort of thing. It’s the same reason mock drafts don’t really matter until the week of the Draft — things change.
Rosen can’t really be blamed for being put on the spot and having a poor opinion of a bad team. But the idea that the Browns as they exist now will be the same team at the combine and beyond is the first poor decision of Rosen’s NFL career.
First and foremost, the coaching situation could look a lot different than it does now. Hue Jackson — despite the 1-29 record — is coveted by the Bengals and could end up being traded by John Dorsey to another team. If that happens, it opens the lane for Matt Nagy (current Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator) to get the job and likely port Alex Smith over. This gives Rosen an entirely different scenario to be drafted into. He’ll have a quarterback-savvy head coach and a veteran to learn behind for a year or two instead of being baptized by fire right away.
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That’s all a completely hypothetical scenario, but it’s possible and that’s the point. Swap out Nagy for any head coach and Rosen’s situation is very different. We don’t know what the Browns will look like in April, and neither does Rosen. Right now, not wanting to play for Cleveland is a justifiable stance for a young future franchise quarterback to take. It’s unwise, however, to doubt what John Dorsey will do in re-shaping the team and it wouldn’t be surprising if Rosen revises his statement closer to draft night.