Jay Glazer: Browns Tried to Trade for Andrew Luck Before 2017 Deadline

The Cleveland Browns have Tyrod Taylor and Baker Mayfield atop the quarterback depth chart, but it might have looked a lot different if the Indianapolis Colts were willing to part with Andrew Luck last year.

As Jay Glazer reported on Fox NFL Sunday, the Browns tried to acquire Luck before the 2017 season's trade deadline. The Colts rebuffed those advances, however, and Luck is set to make his return Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals after missing last season. 

For a Browns team that has struggled to lock down the quarterback position with a franchise player—and one that came into the 2018 draft with a bounty of picks—the rumor makes sense.

Colts owner Jim Irsay, meanwhile, confirmed in April that teams made offers for the veteran quarterback, per Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star:

"Trust me, there were people that would've given an unprecedented amount of draft picks, all with a No. 1 [pick] behind them, for him, and we wouldn't even think of drifting in that direction. He's our guy. We feel 100 percent confident that he is going to come back and lead this football team with some of the new teammates he's accumulated to great things."

"Come on, I'm not taking those seriously," general manager Chris Ballard added of the trade offers the team received. "We're not trading Andrew Luck. I'm not putting that on my resume."

Luck is one of the NFL's better quarterbacks, with three seasons of 4,200 passing yards or more and two seasons with over 30 touchdown passes. Injuries have cost him significant time over the past three years, however, as shoulder issues and a lacerated kidney cost him nine games in 2015 and a torn labrum cost him all of last year. 

Despite those issues, the Colts haven't wavered from Luck as their franchise quarterback. And perhaps it'll work out for both team, as in Cleveland, Mayfield has shown flashes of becoming a franchise option himself.