Cleveland’s Murky QB Situation
Starting with the acquisition of Seneca Wallace from Seattle, the Cleveland Browns have gone through a major overhaul at the quarterback position in the last week. In conjunction with the acquisition of Wallace the Browns released veteran quarterback Derek Anderson who had an up-and-down career with the Browns going from Pro Bowl quarterback to outcast in the span of three seasons.
On the heels of Anderson’s release came the signing of Jake Delhomme to a two year deal. I am not quite sure what to make of this move for the Browns. On one hand Delhomme will give them some veteran leadership and a bit of stability at the position. On the other hand Delhomme looked like a lost pup with Panthers last season and has never been one of those quarterbacks who elevates the talent around him. The Browns have little to no talent on offense for Delhomme to work with.
Delhomme is just going to be keeping the seat warm for whomever Holmgren sees as the future of the team anyway, so it is probably not the worst move in the world. The team needs a fresh perspective in the locker room and it makes sense to purge the team of the two quarterbacks who seemed to be a bit divisive to team morale last season. There were some players who wanted Anderson and others who wanted Quinn. With a hierarchy in place of Delhomme then Wallace the roles should be clearly defined heading into camp.
With Delhomme and Wallace in place incumbent starter Brady Quinn became expendable and was dealt to the Denver Broncos over the weekend for a Peyton Hillis and a couple of late round draft picks.
It is mildly surprising that the Browns would give up on Quinn so quickly, but, the fact of the matter is Eric Mangini never seemed to really have any real use for him and he is not someone Holmgren brought in.
It is not surprising, however, that Denver is where he ends up going given Quinn played under Charlie Weiss in college and McDaniels cut his teeth in the NFL on Weiss’ offense in New England. Quinn is already familiar with what McDaniels is trying to do in Denver and, while Kyle Orton was better than expected last season, he still left something to be desired in the end.
Given that Wallace is nothing special as a pro quarterback, I don’t quite understand what Holmgren sees in this guy, and with Delhomme being 35 and only getting a two year deal one almost has to believe the Browns are not done fleshing out the quarterback position this spring. Wallace is decent, but, is never going to be a long term solution for anybody at the position, and, Bret Ratliff, a favorite of Mangini’s, is likely never going to be anything more than a backup in the NFL.
One wonders whether the Browns will spend a high draft pick on a quarterback in the draft this year. Will the Browns draft Sam Bradford or Jimmy Clausen if they are still on the board at 7? With three thirds and three fifth round picks will the Browns attempt to trade up in an effort to secure one of the two big quarterbacks in this year’s draft?
There is increasing speculation that a lot of teams at the top of the draft want to trade down to save themselves from paying out all of the bonus money. There is also increasing speculation that the Rams will tab Bradford with the first pick which would leave Clausen whom some see going to the Redskins with the fourth pick.
Another possibility would have the Browns spending a second or third round pick on someone like Colt McCoy, Dan LeFevour, or Tony Pike and let them sit behind Delhomme for a year or two while they adjust to life in the NFL.
Whatever the case may be look for the Browns to draft a quarterback in the first three round of the draft. Unless they spend a first round pick on a QB look for that person to challenge Delhomme for the starting job this summer. Otherwise Delhomme will be the starter with the team looking towards whomever they draft being the starter in 2011 or 2012.
