Cleveland Browns: Examining GM Tom Heckert's Thursday Meeting with the Media

Cleveland Browns general manager Tom Heckert had yet another meeting with the Cleveland media on Thursday, and there was a number of issues of high importance to the team that were discussed at length.

The discussion primarily centered around whether the team will trade up to draft quarterback Robert Griffin III or if they will pursue a free-agent quarterback instead, the Browns' plans for free agency and the future of running back Peyton Hillis.

Heckert spoke highly of Griffin right off the bat, saying "He’s a special athlete and those types of things are off the charts. He showed that at the Combine and he shows that on tape." 

He was also quick to comment on the seemingly-endless speculation that the Browns would trade up with the St. Louis Rams to pick Griffin second overall, adding "There’s talk of what we’ve offered or if we’ve offered anything before we’ve even talked to anybody. We don’t know and that remains to be seen."

In what could have been a misdirection (given that no GM is going to show his hand regarding draft strategy at this early point in the game), Heckert also noted that the team is comfortable sticking with their fourth overall pick and grabbing the best available player on the board.

In a surprising move, Heckert spoke very highly and at length about Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden, whose only real liability at this point seems to be that he'll be 29 years old by the time the 2012 regular season starts.

Heckert didn't seem concerned about Weeden's age, instead viewing it as an asset: "He's mature and he's telling you it's a positive. He's a really interesting guy. He's super smart."

The real takeaway from his praise for Weeden is that he could be one of the Browns' draft targets, if not at No. 22 in the first round, then perhaps in the second.

Weeden could also be a third-round steal if too many teams are turned off by his age, which is tempered by his experience having already played at the professional level as a Major League Baseball pitcher.

But, if the Browns do add a quarterback this year, look for it to come via the draft and not free agency.

Heckert was clear that Cleveland, who has a good amount of cap space with which to play, won't be looking to make a ton of veteran additions in the coming weeks, saying, "We're not going to sign a ton a free agents. We're not going to go crazy.''

On Hillis' future, Heckert said the team would like to sign him to a long-term deal, but wouldn't likely do so until after the start of free agency. If no other team picks him up, that will allow the Browns to lock him down to a low-cost deal, one worthy of the red flag-riddled back. 

Ultimately, it was the kind of candid-yet-not-so-candid meeting one would expect out of an NFL GM. Information was dangled out there, threaded with misinformation to keep rivals guessing. The takeaway is that we all learned something while even more questions remain than were answered.

You know, the usual.

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