Cleveland Browns will take a QB with their top pick
The Cleveland Browns will apparently be taking a quarterback with the top pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, and you can ‘take that to the bank’…
If you ask those who have a beat on the team, it’s apparently not a question of ‘if’ the Cleveland Browns will take a quarterback with the first overall pick, but ‘who?’.
Mary Kay Cabot, a well known Browns beat writer/reporter, recently made an appearance on Shawn Zobel’s podcast, and said that the Browns are taking a quarterback with their top pick.
According to her, you can ‘pretty much take it to the bank’.
Cabot also indicates in this segment that she believes the Browns will get a bridge quarterback, specifically naming A.J. McCarron and Alex Smith — each of whom make sense to a degree — but sort of downplays the option of Kirk Cousins on a long-term deal.
As a quick aside — Cousins in Cleveland makes absolutely no sense, in my opinion.
If the Browns’ plan is to go for a bridge quarterback and draft someone first overall that they feel has the highest potential in this year’s class, then this tweet of mine could prove prophetic…
John Dorsey gonna trade for Alex and draft Josh Allen tbh https://t.co/fYyjJZGuQo
— Sayre Bedinger (@SayreBedinger) December 27, 2017
The ‘Alex’ I’m referring to there, is of course Alex Smith of the Kansas City Chiefs. Smith is likely to be available via trade or free agency this offseason because of the remaining money on the last year of his deal, the Cheifs’ cap situation, and Patrick Mahomes’ readiness after this season.
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The Browns have the draft capital and financial flexibility to make a move on Smith and still draft someone to be his successor.
Smith is, after all, 34, but coming off of the best season of his NFL career.
The Browns could certainly open the trade talks they had with the Bengals back up for A.J. McCarron, a trade that apparently fell through because of a critical error by the Browns in filing the move prior to the deadline.
If McCarron is brought in via trade, I would expect him to be given the Mike Glennon treatment we saw this past year with the Bears and their rookie Mitchell Trubisky.
Or if the Browns would draft someone a little more raw — like Josh Allen of Wyoming — they could afford to wait a little longer with McCarron and give him some time to play in their system.
There are a number of options facing the Browns this year, but it seems like we can ‘take it to the bank’ that they will draft a quarterback first overall. There are only so many players that could possibly be, and for the sake of great stories, we’re hoping it’s Josh Allen.