Ryan Mallett's stock increased over the weekend while Brian Hoyer's took a hit as the Houston Texans got the best of the Cleveland Browns in the quarterback's first start of his career. Head coach Bill O'Brien put a lot of faith in Mallett and was rewarded as the quarterback looked every bit the part on Sunday. Now, Mallett has the attention of plenty of teams in the league, including the Browns.
Mallett finished Sunday goin 20 of 30 for 211 yards and two touchdowns in his first start after four years in the league. The result was a 23-7 win over the Browns. Mallett is in a contract year, so this game was a step for his future. The quarterback faced a lot of trade rumors in the offseason after sitting behind Tom Brady for three years and Texans made a last-minute move to acquire him as insurance to Ryan Fitzpatrick. It paid off and now Mallett could be guaranteeing himself a nice new contract in the future.
"Made the four years, the wait, worth it," Mallett said, via ESPN.com. "Being in the system for those three years has helped me be at the point where those guys know that I know it, so we can go talk about it, and sometimes it's without the coaches. Great teams, you gotta meet without coaches to be good. ... That's just the extra work you have to put in."
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Cleveland Browns are one of the many teams eyeing Mallett for the future. Right now, the Browns are dealing with Hoyer's expiring contract and Johnny Manziel who has seen the field once this season. Hoyer is expecting to get a nice contract extension in the offseason and his salary demands might force Cleveland in another direction since they already have Manziel on the roster.
Hoyer has played very well this season and Cleveland could opt to just keep him around. However, every team in the league wants a quarterback like Hoyer who can carry a team while a younger player develops. There could easily be a bidding war for him in free agency, one that Cleveland might remove themselves from. That would open the door for Mallett who would be a cheaper acquisition. There is also quarterbacks like Mark Sanchez who might also succeed for Cleveland should they let Hoyer walk away.