Brandon Weeden wants to be the guy. He wants to be the franchise quarterback for the Cleveland Browns for 2013 and beyond. However, Cleveland is not ready to make that kind of commitment just yet. At this moment, the team is insisting there is a quarterback competition after Jason Campbell was signed in the offseason. While he is trying to remain unfazed by the quarterback talks, he admits it is a tough spot to be in.
Weeden thought his position as starter was secure. The team traded away Colt McCoy. They got rid of Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson. The dead weight was gone. Weeden looked to be the main man. But as workouts get underway, head coach Rob Chudzinski is not committed to Weeden just yet.
"I expect both of these guys to compete. I don't know any other way. Anybody that's on a team is competing from my standpoint. We want to put these guys in a situation, give them every chance to succeed and we'll see how that all plays out. I'm hoping that the best man wins the job and that he gives us a chance to win," Chudzinski said.
Weeden is not too happy there is another guy jockeying for his spot. He wants to be able to focus on the season and just improving as a player, not competing with another guy.
"At this position-which, to me, is the hardest position in sports-you can't be looking over your shoulder all the time. You've got to worry about what's important, and that's me getting better, building on what I did last year, and continue to grow as a player. And if I can do that, and not really worry about what's going on around me, and kind of have that tunnel vision, that's going to make me a better player and that's going to make this team better," Weeden said.
Weeden's rookie season did not exactly blow anyone away. He played in 15 games for the Browns throwing for 3,385 yards and 14 touchdowns while also having 17 interceptions. The Browns kicked off 2012 by losing their first five games and split their final six. They did hit their stride in November going on a three-game win streak, but it simply was not enough.
Campbell has spent time in the league primarily as a backup quarterback and it was assumed that he would be that in Cleveland as well. However, the Browns are hoping he pushes Weeden to play better, which at this point, seems to just be making the quarterback angry.
