Cleveland Browns: Does McCarron to Broncos rumors help bring Cousins in?

With rumors circulating that the Denver Broncos have an interest in A.J. McCarron, the Cleveland Browns could have a better shot at signing Kirk Cousins

There’s no debating that this is one of the most interesting offseasons in terms of quarterbacks. It’s not often that potential starters hit the open market, but in the 2018 offseason there are several for quarterback-needy teams like the Cleveland Browns to look at.

One of the names most often tied to Cleveland has been A.J. McCarron. He has familiarity with head coach Hue Jackson as both were with the Cincinnati Bengals where Jackson was the offensive coordinator for the first two years of McCarron’s career.

Then there was also the failed trade, which would have sent McCarron to Cleveland last year. Couple those two tidbits together and McCarron to the Browns makes a ton of sense.

On Wednesday though, a potential wrinkle was thrown into the mix as Vic Lombardi told PFT Live that the Denver Broncos were interested in McCarron.

If that’s true, it could still help the Browns in a roundabout way. The Broncos had previously been linked to Kirk Cousins, another talented quarterback who has 57 starts compared to just three for McCarron. The main thing that made it seem like Cousins wasn’t an option though was the presence of the Denver job — which is a more attractive place thanks to the roster.

If Denver does chase McCarron though, it’s hard to argue against Cleveland doesn’t become much more attractive. Not only can they pay him more than anyone, but the Browns also have 12 picks they could use to surround their new signal caller with new talent.

Detractors of course will point to draft consultant Scot McCloughan’s comments that Cousin’s isn’t a “special” player. Even so, McCloughan is there to help scout, so maybe those comments meant nothing at all.

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There will still be other suitors — like the Arizona Cardinals and possibly Minnesota Vikings if they let Sam Bradford, Case Keenum and Teddy Bridgewater all leave. Even with those suitors, seeing Denver drop out via a McCarron signing could help push Cousins to Cleveland.