Cleveland Browns’ Franchise Quarterback is Not on Current Roster

By Casey Drottar @cdrottar19 on December 22, 2014

It feels like it was just yesterday when it appeared as though the Cleveland Browns were dealing with a great problem to have at quarterback.

Sitting in first place after Week 10, the Browns were riding high thanks to the play of journeyman vet Brian Hoyer. Somehow, a guy many thought was merely just a placeholder had actually become one of the NFL’s most efficient quarterbacks. Even more important, his play allowed Cleveland to sit rookie Johnny Manziel and not rush him onto the field before he was 100% ready. Hoyer, an impending free agent, was putting forth a great case for the Browns re-signing him, and a franchise which has seen more would-be saviors become epic flops looked like it might finally have hope at quarterback.

If Hoyer played well and led the team to the playoffs, the Browns could re-sign him. If he struggled late, they could let him walk and focus the offseason on prepping Manziel. Yes, it truly appeared to be as close to a win-win as possible for Cleveland.

As the team heads into the final week of the season, I would expect the Browns are clinging to those mid-season memories, because all the positivity at quarterback has come crashing down.

Hoyer quickly went from game-managing guru to erratic and incapable of avoiding turnovers. With their playoff dreams all but dashed, the team decided to see what they have in Manziel. After two pretty disastrous showings from the uber-hyped rookie, the front office might be searching for the receipt to see if the NFL Draft has a return policy they can take advantage of.

Now, I said last week you can’t judge a rookie quarterback after only a handful of games. I still believe this, even with how ugly Manziel’s pro career has begun. However, I also believe something else: if you’re looking for the Browns’ franchise quarterback, he won’t be found on their current roster.

First of all, we pretty much know Hoyer is a goner next year. Sure, he was a great story to open the season, but reports have already surfaced stating Hoyer’s time with the Browns has all but come to an end. His time replacing Manziel yesterday after the rookie quarterback got hurt was a microcosm of his entire year. He moved the offense, even generated a touchdown drive, but still proved susceptible to ill-timed turnovers and stalled play.

As for Manziel, yes, his resume is still too thin to officially label him a bust. At the same time, there hasn’t been anything remotely encouraging about his play yet. After having a week to recover and learn from his legendarily terrible first start, the young quarterback looked essentially the same yesterday against the Carolina Panthers.

Manziel was still way too jittery in the pocket. He still couldn’t seem to throw accurate passes. More often than not, Manziel was throwing off his back foot. Some of these instances involved little to no pressure, and at one point he was so off-balance he literally fell over after completing a throw. After running a still-inexplicable sweep play, Manziel hurt his hamstring and left the game.

Again, a second game – well, half of one – doesn’t make his bust status official. But, do the Browns see anything which would make them think they can rely on Manziel as their guy for the future? A full offseason of prep very well could do wonders for Manziel. Right now, though, you have to wonder if Cleveland feels it can dedicate itself to such a thing. The NFL is about winning, and the Browns have to evaluate every position and determine if they have someone there who can help them succeed.

Making things complicated is the fact the Browns own two first-round picks in the upcoming draft. It’s a ton of ammo if they want to try and snag one of the highly touted quarterbacks available. Even as far back as a couple weeks ago, this kind of thought was considered crazy. All Cleveland needed to do was use those picks to plug up holes at receiver or defensive front seven. They were fine at quarterback.

Things just look so different now. Hoyer is not long for Cleveland. Manziel looks lost. The latter was apparently OK to try and head back into yesterday’s game despite his second quarter injury, but the team decided to stick with the former.

As if it wasn’t bad enough, a report came out yesterday morning saying Manziel’s in-game struggles looked pretty familiar to his teammates, as his first week of practice as a starter was an inconsistent mess. The sloppy footwork, the jumpy presence in the pocket, it was all there for his teammates to see as they prepped for their first game with Manziel as their quarterback.

Even though he was healthy enough to be placed back in the game if needed, there’s doubt as to whether or not Manziel will start next week in the season finale. He spent most of yesterday’s post-game media session campaigning for 2015, vying to do everything he can to ensure he’s the starter next year. If this truly is his intention, his work is cut out for him. Right now, the list of improvements he needs to make might rival “A Tale of Two Cities” in terms of overall length.

Despite all of this, though, it’s more likely than not Manziel will be on the roster next year. What’s become cloudy, though, is whether or not his coaching staff will be spending the offseason working to ensure he’s ready to start for the team in Week 1, or if they’ll instead be pitting him in what’s now become a summer tradition in Cleveland; a quarterback competition.

The consensus opinion when it came to the Browns finally starting Manziel was it was the correct call; the team needed to see what they had in the rookie. They’ve seen a little bit so far, but the evidence doesn’t do much to sway the front office into thinking he’s the long-awaited franchise quarterback.

It’s likely telling them they need to ensure their scouts’ tickets are booked for the college playoff games so they can see if the Browns’ savior might be there.

Casey Drottar is a Featured Columnist for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter or “Like” him on Facebook