May 26, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Terrelle Pryor (3) looks to pass during OTAs at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
The Cincinnati Bengals released quarterback Terrelle Pryor on Thursday, a little more than a month after signing him.
The Bengals become the latest NFL team, joining Oakland, Seattle and Kansas City to learn one of the basic tenets of the league: former Ohio State quarterbacks are not cut out to play in the NFL. It is a truth as old as the league itself, and one that we imagine George Halas, Ralph Hay and the other founding fathers of the NFL discussed over brandy and cigars at Hay’s Hupmobile dealership in Canton back in 1920.
According to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, Pryor’s agent Drew Rosenhaus has told team that Pryor now wants to transition to being a wide receiver and that there is already “interest” from teams in bringing on Pryor.
Related: Browns should steer clear of Terrelle Pryor
Since this is Cleveland, there is assuredly an Ohio State fanboy already on hold at a sports talk station ready to make the case for the Browns to sign the 6-foot-4, 233-pound Pryor so that he can come in and revolutionize the wide receiver position by catching beautiful spirals on Sunday afternoons in Orange and Brown.
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As bad as an idea as it would have been for the Browns to look at Pryor as a quarterback, it would be equally as bad to bring him in as a wide receiver.
The position group is already crowded, with 12 players on the roster including free agents Dwayne Bowe and Brian Hartline, the drafting of Vince Mayle, and incumbents Andrew Hawkins, Taylor Gabriel and Travis Benjamin.
Offensive coordinator John DeFilippo and wide receivers coach Joker Phillips will have enough on their plates this summer getting starting quarterback Josh McCown and the wide receivers on the same page in time for the season opener against the New York Jets without taking away valuable practice reps from the existing group of wide receivers.
If some other team wants to use practice time on Pryor, then more power to them.
But the Browns have more important work to do this summer.