Will free agency push the Browns to draft a quarterback?
By Thomas Moore
As free agency begins to play out, it appears more likely than ever that the Cleveland Browns will be drafting a quarterback again this year.
NFL free agency does not officially begin until Thursday at 4 p.m., but the league’s legal tampering period has resulted in several deals reportedly being agreed to.
And when they all come to fruition on Thursday, the action surrounding the quarterback market could leave the Cleveland Browns looking to the 2017 NFL Draft for their latest attempt at solving the team’s quarterback problem.
We start in Buffalo, where the Bills worked out a restructured contract with quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who has started 29 games over the past two seasons. Taylor had been linked to the Browns for weeks if he escaped Buffalo, in large part because Cleveland hired quarterbacks coach David Lee away from the Bills, but Taylor is no longer an option.
Related: Tyrod Taylor no longer an option
Heading west, the San Francisco 49ers have agreed to a deal with quarterback Brian Hoyer, where he will reunite with head coach Kyle Shanahan, having previously worked together in Cleveland in 2014. While the 31-year-old Hoyer is not a longterm option, the 49ers are likely going to pass on drafting a quarterback with the No. 2 overall selection in the upcoming draft because they are rumored to really want current Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins.
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San Francisco can either wait a year for Cousins to enter free agency or try to work out a trade to get him this year, making Hoyer a one-year fix at most. It is interesting to note that even though many media members have reported that there is “no way” the Redskins can keep Cousins after this season, there are a scarce number of stories talking about how Washington “must trade him” before they lose him for nothing.
Hoyer leaves a vacancy in Chicago, where the Bears are reportedly ready to pay Mike Glennon – who has not started a game in two years – $15 million a year to come to Chicago. Glennon coming to the Bears also makes Jay Cutler even more expendable, and it is not hard to see a team like the New York Jets taking a chance at Cutler.
The Jets reportedly have no interest in Cutler, but they recently hired quarterback coach Jeremy Bates, who has four years of experience working with Cutler, and always seem eager to land a “big name player” to help sell tickets.
The rest of the free agent list is an ugly mix of players that the Browns should have absolutely no interest in. That group includes Matt Cassel, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Colin Kaepernick, Josh McCown and Geno Smith, among others.
The one legitimate player on that list is Tony Romo, who will reportedly be released by the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday. He may clearly be the most-talented player on the list, but Romo is also about to turn 37 years old and has a lengthy history of injuries. There is zero chance that the Browns would want someone in that condition and even less of a chance that Romo would be interested in the Browns.
With the option of acquiring a quarterback in free agency basically out the window, the Browns may be part of a dwindling pool of teams willing to take the bait on a trade for New England Patriots backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
It was silly before this week to think the Browns should trade a first-round pick for a quarterback with 94 career passes, with several teams filling their quarterback needs the Browns would potentially be bidding against themselves, making the idea of paying that high of a cost downright absurd.
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As the pieces continue to fall in place, it becomes increasingly possible that the Browns will once again turn to the draft in their ongoing quest to find a franchise quarterback.
Which, when you really consider it, may have been the plan all along.