Can Tyrod Taylor be the bridge quarterback the Browns need?

The Cleveland Browns are experts at finding bad bridge quarterbacks. Can Tyrod Taylor finally be the guy to break that streak?

The Cleveland Browns continue to be on the hunt for the quarterback who will end the 25-year search for a longterm solution.

That quest will very likely end on the night of April 26 when general manager John Dorsey selects a quarterback with the No. 1 overall selection of the 2018 NFL Draft.

We are contractually obligated to mention that there is still a small chance that the Browns will offer former Washington Redskins quarterback and soon-to-be free agent Kirk Cousins an offer he simply cannot refuse, but that was probably never going to happen. (Even Browns left tackle Joe Thomas, the eternal optimist, finally admitted as much last week.)

So that leaves Dorsey to determine if the next Browns quarterback will be either Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield, USC’s Sam Darnold, UCLA’s Josh Rosen or Wyoming’s Josh Allen.

Related: Counting on A.J. McCarron is pure folly

Even though there is no consensus on who should be the guy, almost everyone agrees that whichever quarterback is selected should not be forced into the starter’s role from Week 1.

Which means that, in addition to finding the quarterback of the future, Dorsey has the pleasure of searching for the latest “bridge quarterback” to keep the situation under control until the rookie is ready.

If head coach Hue Jackson had the deciding vote, that quarterback would be A.J. McCarron of the Cincinnati Bengals at any cost. McCarron is familiar with Jackson’s offensive system from their time together in Cincinnati, which is nice. Of course, Todd Haley is now the Browns offensive coordinator, which should negate any “advantage” that McCarron would allegedly bring north with him.

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Jackson doesn’t have the deciding vote, however, which means that Dorsey could look elsewhere for a short-term quarterback, with his wondering eye falling on Buffalo Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor.

There are things to like about Taylor, who has been the Bills starter since 2015. He doesn’t turn the ball over — just 16 interceptions in 43 career starts. He is accurate — a completion percentage of 63 percent in his three years as the starter. And he did just help lead the Bills to the playoffs.

So why would the Bills want to move on from him, especially since they witnessed the Nathan Peterman experience the one game they allowed him to start?

For starters, Taylor made 14 starts last season and the Bills finished the year as the 31st-ranked passing offense in the NFL. Taylor has also seen his numbers drop across the board in each of his three seasons as a starter.

Taylor could still be an attractive option, however, as the Browns would only need him to hold it together for 16 games at the most. Choosing Taylor, or any other quarterback, over McCarron would also help eliminate the eventual showdown where a stubborn Jackson wants to play McCarron no matter what.

The bigger issue is that Taylor is not a free agent, at least not at the moment. The Bills have until March 16 to decide if they want to pay Taylor a $6 million roster bonus. (ESPN’s Mike Rodak lays out the various scenarios in a nicely done article.) Free agency starts on March 14, however, so if the Browns are interested in Taylor they might have to make a trade for him, or hope the Bills release him before March 16. If not, Dorsey runs the risk of missing out on any desirable free agent as the slim pickings among the quarterbacks are expected to sign quickly.

Taylor is not anything more than an average quarterback, but after what the Browns have rolled out the past few years, average may be good enough for a couple of months.

Next: Is A.J. McCarron worth $19 million?

And after so many years of seeing the latest bridge quarterback be a bridge to nowhere, Taylor could finally be the bridge to the future that the Browns have been searching for all these years.