The Cleveland Browns are not tanking the season. Head coach Rob Chudzinski is making that statement clear to fans after the team traded away their 2012 first-round pick on Wednesday night. Despite what it might look like, Chudzinski insists that the team has a goal to remain very competitive. That all sounds great, but the outlook for the Browns is pretty grim. Could the team truly be targeting Johnny Manziel or Teddy Bridgewater next year?
The Browns have said goodbye to one their top young talents after trading running back Trent Richardson to the Indianapolis Colts in favor of a first round pick. It is true that Richardson had yet to truly display his talent, but Cleveland can also be to blame. In the team's first game in 2013, quarterback Brandon Weeden threw the ball 53 times, completing just 26 of his passes. Richardson was handed the ball 11 times. This type of offense is not going to generate success and Browns fans will find it hard to argue something different.
With Richardson out of the picture, the team will move forward with Willis McGahee who was cut by the Denver Broncos before the season began. It might look like the Browns are attempting to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars for the worst record in the league, but Chudzinski and CEO Joe Banner say that is not the fact at all.
"We'll have the same expectations, we'll have the same goals, and we're going to do everything we can to win every week. Nothing has changed from that standpoint," Chudzinski said.
The reality is the Browns will start Brian Hoyer on Sunday. They have demoted Greg Little. They do not have Richardson. They are 0-2 and setting themselves up for a top draft pick and another franchise quarterback. Weeden's job has never been safe. Chudzinski waited until the last minute to name him the starter for 2013, proving confidence is low in the second-year quarterback. In 2014, it is highly likely that both Manziel and Bridgewater will be available and the Browns will get their hands on one of them.
"I think Johnny's a unique player," Nick Saban said about Manziel, via AL.com. "Many people have said about these guys, like [Robert Griffin III], that they're not really NFL-style quarterbacks. But yet they're all doing pretty well in the NFL. I think when somebody's as instinctive as [Manziel] is, and as fast as he is, and as athletic as he is, and he's developing into a pretty good passer-I mean last year he really developed as a passer-I do think he has an NFL future."
There is a lot of confidence in both Manziel and Bridgewater. Their playmaking abilities will re-energize the Browns franchise and could set them up for success. With two first round picks in 2014, Cleveland fans just need to be patient.
