I really think you under estimate how hard it is to pick a QB with the #1 overall pick. If it fails, both the GM and the coach will lose their jobs most likely. They already tried to trade for McCarron... that says someone in cleveland has some faith in him.... they may well feel they have their jobs longer with a guy like AJ...instead of drafting another rook...since they just spent a pick(2nd?) on Kizer last year...and everyone knew Kizer needed an extra year to develop.
of course... NOT getting traded to cleveland may have been the entire point of McCarrons law suit too, lol. Maybe he wanted is free agency so he can make sure he controls where he goes.
Bobby Beatherd took his teams to something like 5 super bowls...when Leaf busted... Bobby had to retire from the league as the guy who drafted the biggest bust in NFL history.
what makes it worse is...according to steinbergs book... Beatherd was in cahoots with him and Leaf to get the Colts to pick Manning instead... because Ryan didnt want to play in Indy.
So with Beatherds knowledge, Leaf sabotaged his time with the Colts, skipped meetings, spent all his time talking about Vegas...stuff like that.
Let's fire up the argument engine again, Oak!
If you don't think a team can identify a 1st overall pick, especially with an experienced guy manning (pun halfway intended) the ship, then why do you want to trade up so we can take the pick off their hands?
They drafted Kizer with the idea that they wouldn't have the number one overall pick, since Hue Jackson promised to jump in a river if they didn't improve on their single win the year before. It's not the best pick, and I actually thought Kizer might make it in the league, but he bombed. Like Jimmy Clausen's relationship to Cam Newton, you don't hold on to someone that did little to nothing for your franchise when elite talent is staring you down - especially when you've crashed and burned in your franchise's revised history (since '99!).
AJ might be a good player. The Browns were semi-willing to take a chance to get him. But they cannot afford to be passive in "the year of the quarterback." McCarron could take a short term deal to look great with his former coach, but the closest thing that Hue Jackson has to losing his job is entering the year with AJ McCarron and DeShone Kizer as his starters. That number one pick basically has to be a QB, win or lose. The Browns need an elite quarterback, and this is the time.