Tyrod Taylor Rumors: Browns Reportedly Have 'Significant Interest' in QB

The Cleveland Browns have reportedly expressed "significant interest" in Buffalo Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor should he hit free agency, according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports:

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League sources said the Browns have significant interest in Taylor as a free agent. Taylor has strong ties to some on the Browns staff already and if/when he hits the open market I would be shocked if the Browns don't make a real push for him. Many in the league believe that's where he will end up—he's young and athletic and protects the football and has upside. That would allow the Browns to take the two best players available with their two first-round picks—beginning with Myles Garrett first overall. The Browns also continue to try to push to retain pending free agent receiver Terrelle Pryor to have some weapons for the new QB.

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La Canfora reported the Bills do not want to keep Taylor at his current contract, which includes a cap hit of $15.9 million in 2017, per Spotrac.com. The Virginia Tech product signed a five-year, $90 million extension with the team in August.

Taylor, 27, had an up-and-down season with Buffalo, throwing for 3,023 yards, 17 touchdowns and six interceptions while completing 61.7 percent of his passes. He also rushed for 580 yards and six scores, though the Bills finished just 7-9 and missed the postseason for the 17th straight year.

But as La Canfora reported, the Buffalo front office—led by general manager Doug Whaley, senior vice president of football administration Jim Overdorf and team president Russ Brandon—wanted Taylor demoted by the end of last season. New head coach Sean McDermott and his staff are reportedly fine with retaining Taylor, as they don't necessarily believe the team can bring in a better option for the price.

While the Bills figure out their quarterback conundrum, it's no secret the Browns are desperate for an upgrade at the position. Michael Silver of NFL Network (h/t Marc Sessler of NFL.com) reported Thursday that Cleveland intends to add both a veteran and a younger quarterback—likely through the NFL draft—this offseason.

Robert Griffin III, Josh McCown and Cody Kessler each started at some point last year as the Browns wobbled to a disappointing 1-15 record, so it's little surprise Cleveland has been linked to Taylor. His addition would buy the Browns some flexibility in the draft and allow them the time to groom any young signal-caller they might select.

In many years, Cleveland would simply use its top overall pick to select the best quarterback available. But this year's quarterback class doesn't appear to have a can't-miss prospect, while the best player on most boards is stud defensive end Myles Garrett. He's the sort of game-changer the Browns lack, and with two first-round picks in a deep draft, they could add another impact player at No. 12 as well.

Drafting a quarterback at either No. 1 or 12 could be considered a reach. Matt Miller of Bleacher Report ranked North Carolina's Mitch Trubisky 15th on his big board, while Notre Dame's DeShone Kizer landed 16th, Clemson's Deshaun Watson was 28th, Texas Tech's Patrick Mahomes 42nd and Cal's Davis Webb 50th.

It seems Cleveland would be better off adding a veteran like Taylor, drafting the best player available with each of its picks in the first round and selecting on Day 2 or 3 a signal-caller it can develop.