The Browns quarterrier, Jacoby Brissett, took 11th place last season with qualified quarters in the expected points that were added to the Browns coach Kevin Stefanski, per match.
Cleveland, Ohio – Jacoby Brissett is just a rescue district. Cleveland only needs for a few weeks, healing the shoulder during Deshaun Watson.
And no second step of silt is worth a choice of draft on the second day.
This is clearly the philosophy in which the manager of the Browns, Andrew Berry, operated on Tuesday during the NFL negotiation period. And Berry’s logic makes sense for a normal team under normal circumstances.
But the browns, which were wrapped in the uncertainty of the quarterback for the last month, fit a description.
So Brissett also needs a new one. Backup? Gaps? NO. By retaining a Day 2 draft pick on Tuesday, Cleveland secured the perfect insurance policy for quarterback Deshaun Watson – and the season that follows.
But he’s already lost three this season and left a fourth early two weeks ago. Watson’s shoulder contusion – sorry, strain/micro-injury – has plagued the Browns since it started bothering him.
They thought he was playing against the Ravens. Then they tried (and failed) to play him against the Colts.
And during last week’s game against the Seahawks, the Fox Sports broadcast team said Watson could still be placed on injured reserve.
Two days later, the Browns turned down a plug-and-play replacement because they didn’t want to sacrifice a Day 2 draft pick.
Perhaps between Monday — when they had no new updates on Watson’s injury — and Tuesday, Cleveland got some good news on Watson’s shoulder.
Or maybe Berry values his resources enough to risk forgoing a good backup plan. Can you imagine the Browns signing 2022 Martin Emerson Jr. trading up in the third round to take a backup quarterback, for example?
That sounds crazy for a normal franchise, but the Browns have been anything but that this season.
They can’t say for sure when their starting quarterback will return from an injury on which their (and his) message has changed several times.
And they can’t predict what their starter will look like when he returns, either.
Watson played his best game as a Brown in Cleveland’s 27-3 win over the Titans in Week 3, the same week he injured his shoulder.
But this game was also the first time he threw for 250 yards in Cleveland, the second time he had a quarterback rating above 100, and the first time he looked anything like his old self.
The Browns shouldn’t expect Watson to find that form immediately after four weeks – or five, or six – of limited practices and game repetitions.
They also shouldn’t expect their poor offense to keep up long-term in the crowded AFC playoff picture, which features eight teams (including Cleveland) with three or four losses.
So why wouldn’t fans expect Cleveland to make a better draft pick than they wanted for a perfect fit?
Maybe it’s not worth trading Brissett for an Emerson, but it’s certainly worth a Chad Thomas or Shon Coleman, both of whom were drafted by Cleveland in the third round last decade and moved on in three seasons.
Berry didn’t pick either, but even the best GMs pick Thomas or Coleman more than Emerson on Day 2. Draft picks, like lottery tickets, rarely provide returns that match their potential.
The Browns were expected to score on Tuesday, given the potential of their roster and the uncertain status of their quarterback.
Brissett is more than a backup. The Browns may need him for more than two weeks.
And no competitive caliber selection is worth wasting because the front office overvalues a day two draft pick.
