Browns Must Avoid Making Another Splash at QB in 2015 Offseason

It is amazing how quickly a season of hope can turn into an offseason of question marks. For the 12th straight year, the Cleveland Browns failed to make the post season. For the 15th straight, year they have no idea who their starting quarterback will be at the beginning of next year.

Even though they don’t, they should. It should be Johnny Manziel.

I’m not saying that Manziel should not earn his starting spot or doesn’t have to show signs of maturing and growth this offseason because he certainly does.

The worst thing the Browns can do is to continue enabling a kid who has had everything come very easily to him. It was not usually handed to him, but his talent made everything come easily.

He is a natural. He has always had the type of raw talent that allowed him to excel above and beyond what the average player could do on the field. Why work harder than everyone else when working half as hard produces better results?

Manziel will have to prove himself and earn that spot.

The reason that he should be the starting quarterback next year, however, has nothing to do with him at all. It has to do with the fact that there are no better options available. The Browns have nowhere else to turn.

This year’s draft has two quarterbacks who will sit at the top of the first round, and they will be hot commodities. CBSSports.com's Rob Rang has the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selecting Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota, and they won’t be moving off that spot.

That leaves Florida State’s Jameis Winston.

Some mock drafts have him slipping down the board in the first round, but that is an extremely unlikely scenario. Once the 6’4”, power-armed, NFL-style quarterback gets into the combine, teams will be scratching and clawing to take him.

The Browns have enough ammunition to get there, but is there really a trading partner who would be willing to let them jump that high?

Jacksonville and Oakland are drafting third and fourth, respectively, and already have their young quarterbacks, but would they be willing to fall all the way back to 12th when they so desperately need impact players? That seems highly unlikely.

Even more unlikely would be the Tennessee Titans letting Winston fall past the second pick because they currently do not have a starting-caliber quarterback.

Even if the Browns could get Winston, doesn’t he have the same pitfalls as Manziel? Aren’t his actions in college far more egregious than those of an entitled socialite? Shoplifting and being accused of rape are slightly bigger red flags than having a sparkler in your mouth in the VIP section of the club.

Once again, this is not an endorsement of Manziel but rather a realistic evaluation of any other options.

The Browns could also try to trade for Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler because his time in the Windy City seems to be over. According to Spotrac, that would come along with a hefty $15.5 million salary next season and all the issues he has dragged with him from Denver to Chicago.

At some point, he is no longer the guy who needs to realize his potential. He is now the 32-year-old who just never did.

Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

Despite having Pro Bowl talent all around him, Cutler once again failed to have his team achieve its potential. Some guys make everyone around them better and others pull them down to their level.

This was not one bad year either. His stats are nearly identical in every season he has played, and that includes wins and losses.

When you couple his history of failure with the attitude he brings along to the locker room, it doubles the folly of the idea.

A locker room, which just had two first-round draft picks miss obligations leading to fines and suspension in the last week of the season, needs more bad attitude and work ethic? Probably not. But I am sure his carefree demeanor will help receiver Josh Gordon if he is still around.

Excuse me while I search for the sarcasm font to use on that last sentence.

In free agency, there are no splashes to be made. We can lie to ourselves all we want, but none of the names on the market could beat out Manziel for the starting spot next season. That includes Brian Hoyer, who probably wants to get as far away from a roster containing Manziel as possible.

No, the Browns need to stick with the kid from Texas A&M.

It does not matter that his rookie season could not have gone any worse and the owner had to publicly undress him following the final game of the season. What matters is that the Browns cannot afford to waste another first round of the draft.

If they move on from Manziel after just seven quarters of football, that is exactly what they would be doing. Great, winning organizations do not give up on first-round picks after just one season. They force them to conform and become winners because that is what they breed.

If the Browns are truly changing the culture in Cleveland, then there is no better guinea pig than Manziel himself.

If general manager Ray Farmer and head coach Mike Pettine can wrangle Manizel into a competent NFL quarterback, then it will set a very important precedent within their building. It would show that no one is above our culture, no one is excused from our work ethic and we are going to be winners whether you like it or not.

And make no mistake: Manziel wants to be a winner. He has won at every level he has ever played at. He also has the talent to do it. Maybe you forget that the Browns were not the only team interested in Manziel during last year’s draft.

Talent and a history of winning alone do not prevent someone from being a bust, however. They need to be able to handle the NFL mentally, and Manziel has failed in this department thus far. He needs to understand that work wins in the NFL—not talent.

Can Farmer and Pettine reach him? Honestly, no one knows.

The only thing we know for sure is that there is not a better option worth the price out there this offseason, so rolling the dice on him is all they can do. Let’s just hope he doesn’t come up snake eyes.