Brandon Weeden was drafted by the previous Cleveland Browns regime last season, but the quarterback still expects to hang on to his starting job come training camp.
According to ESPN.com, Weeden said on Monday that he expects to remain the starting quarterback in 2013 despite the Browns having a new owner and coach. Weeden was making his first comments since the team hired Rob Chudzinski to replace former coach Pat Shurmur. The Browns also have a new owner in Jimmy Haslam III.
"I completely expect to be the starter. That's my mindset going in. I'm confident in my ability to be the guy, to lead this football team. I expect completely to be better this year than I was last year," he told The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer.
Last season Weeden showed flashed of brilliance, but he finished with 3,385 yards and 14 touchdowns with 17 interceptions and he also led all rookies in balls knocked down at the line of scrimmage. He also completed just 57 percent of his throws last season.
Haslam has previously said that the Browns will hold a competition in starting camp for the starting position and the quarterback will also have a new coordinator in Norv Turner, who was brought in to run the offense for Chudzinski.
Weeden spoke about why the team has yet to make a commitment to him and why they would want to hold a competition for the starting job. Colt McCoy is also on the roster and there is a chance that the team could be the mystery franchise that made a trade for Alex Smith. The Browns also could be in the market for Tim Tebow depending on how things go during the offseason.
"We've got a new regime, you've got different guys, so they're going to have to re-evaluate all the players in the building," he told the newspaper. "Also, we only won five games last year. If we had won more games and had a lot more success offensively, we might not be in this situation. But that's not the case. Again, I'm not discouraged by it, and you can probably tell by the tone my voice, I'm excited about the future."
Browns CEO Joe Banner said the team won't be trading draft picks for a quarterback, but there is a chance they could trade McCoy or Weeden for one. Weeden spoke on Monday that the offense ran by Chudzinski and Turner is better suited for him than Shurmur's offense was and that it is similar to the one he used at Oklahoma State.
"Just playing against [San Diego Chargers quarterback] Philip Rivers last year, they were in the shotgun a lot. They do five-step drops under center. They do a lot of stuff to fit the skill sets of the guys they have around them, and I think my skill set is throwing the football down the field, throwing the ball and giving our receivers a chance to make plays vertically. So I'm excited about that. It's going to be a lot of fun," he told the newspaper.
The Browns went just 5-11 last season and if the new regime does not like what they see from Weeden, there is a chance they could ditch him for someone like Alex Smith or Matt Flynn or go crazy and acquire someone like Tim Tebow to bring some excitement to the franchise.
The team hasn't had sustained success since becoming a franchise again in 1999 and Haslam is looking to bring the Browns into a new era as he takes over.
