Jimmy Haslam Comments on Browns' QB Situation for 2015 Season

One of the Cleveland Browns' biggest problems since returning to the NFL in 1999 has been their inability to find a franchise quarterback. Team owner Jimmy Haslam knows that needs to change in 2015.

According to Scott Petrak of The Chronicle-Telegram, the 60-year-old Pilot Flying J truck stop CEO fully understands the importance of finding an answer under center.

"We've got to get a quarterback and got to get it fixed," Haslam said. "What I would say to our fans is, we're going to continue to work really hard to find that quarterback who can make us a championship team."

As things currently stand, the Browns have 2014 first-round pick Johnny Manziel and undrafted Connor Shaw on their roster. Brian Hoyer, who played in 14 games for Cleveland in 2014, is set to hit free agency.

Haslam's comments suggest there may be a lack of confidence in the Browns' quarterback situation. That thought is supplemented by a quote from newly hired offensive coordinator John DeFilippo, per NFL.com's Marc Sessler.

"We're not sure if our starting quarterback's in the building right now or not," he said. "If he is, that's great. If he's not, that's great, too. Whoever's in that room is going to be coached hard, be held accountable and be expected to do the things that we expect out of Cleveland Browns quarterbacks."

Most probably tabbed Johnny Football as the favorite to start in 2015 despite his poor results in limited action this past season, but Haslam has made it clear that the young signal-caller must mature, according to Petrak:

"

Johnny has to show on and off the field he can be a professional. He knows that. Everybody in the organization has told him that. It'll be up to Flip (new offensive coordinator John DeFilippo) and Pett (head coach Mike Pettine) to decide whether he can be the kind of quarterback we need him to be. He knows what we expect of him on and off the field and it's up to him to prove he can do that.

"

While Hoyer had some up-and-down performances on the field in 2014, maturity was never an issue. With that in mind, Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com believes the Browns may be leaning toward re-signing him:

That is an option, but Hoyer didn't really prove himself to be the type of quarterback who can lead a team to the playoffs.

If the organization decides none of Manziel, Hoyer or Shaw are answers, it will have to explore the trade or free-agent market or perhaps use one of its two first-round picks on a quarterback.

With no passer seeming worthy of the No. 12 or No. 19 selections, though, Cleveland may be hard-pressed to improve at that position this offseason.

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