Cleveland Browns: Had Firings Not Been Made The QB Position Would Be Different
By Ryan Rosko
If changes were not made in the Cleveland Browns’ front office, their quarterback position would likely be a lot better than it currently is.
Prior to the 2014 NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns fired Joe Banner and Michael Lombardi as their CEO and general manager respectively. Had both or at least one stayed, the club’s 2014 draft class would have looked a lot different.
Instead, Ray Farmer was promoted to general manager but his tenure with the team did not last long. The intriguing part of Cleveland’s musical chairs being rearranged within their front office were the opinions of a specific draft prospect. That prospect turned out to be former Browns’ quarterback Johnny Manziel.
While on the (Monday Morning Quarterback) MMQB Podcast with Albert Breer, Banner made it known that he had no interest in drafting the former Texas A&M product. In fact, Banner went as to far to say that Manziel was not even on the draft board when he was still with the team.
4.21 pod! @joebanner13 on vetting players -- says he had Manziel off Browns board. Plus @emilymkaplan, 6-pk, MORE! https://t.co/ulO6suGhbT pic.twitter.com/xpWaifpp3c
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) April 21, 2017
Obviously following his dismissal things changed.
"Something changed drastically in the 60 or 80 days from the time I left until they picked him… I was beyond shocked when I heard the pick they’d made."
Both Lombardi and Banner were not the greatest in their roles in Cleveland. However, if no such firings happened, Cleveland would not have had gone through the whole Manziel era. With that in mind, it would have been worth keeping them instead.
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Sure, there was the flash and hype surrounding Manziel, but that is all that there was. He was far from a sure thing and not many had Manziel even as a first round pick. As we know though, Cleveland traded up to draft him, which set the team back even more.
If no firings were made, which quarterback would Cleveland had selected? That is anyone’s guess, but if you recall there were plenty of hype surrounding Derek Carr (now with the Oakland Raiders) and Teddy Bridgewater (now with the Minnesota Vikings).
Manziel was a bust from the start. I did not have a favorable grade on him and had the same reaction as Banner when the news broke that Cleveland drafted him.
Oh, what could have been. Had Carr or Bridgewater been drafted instead, the Browns would not be looking to take a quarterback early on in a couple of days. Yes, Bridgewater is currently injured, but anyone could be at any time.
Next: Browns: Don't Talk Yourself Into A QB
Hindsight is 20/20, but there were just too many red flags with Manziel. Had the Browns not cut loose as many regimes/coaching staffs as quickly as they did, then maybe their quarterback answer would have already been on the roster.