Browns and Aaron Rodgers merely a bridge (QB) too far

It was greater than a decade in the past that I first wrote about how the Cleveland Browns pursuit of a “veteran bridge QB” has been, with one exception, a bridge to nowhere.

Beginning with Ty Detmer in 1999 and persevering with by means of Jeff Garcia, Trent Dilfer, Jake Delhomme, Jason Campbell, Brian Hoyer, Robert Griffin III, and Josh McCown, the Browns have frequently tried to herald a veteran quarterback to carry it collectively whereas the newest rookie will get their act collectively.

And time and time once more it has been a failure. (The truth that the rookie QBs haven’t been significantly better is a subject for an additional day.)

Quick ahead to in the present day and the Browns discover themselves again available in the market for one more veteran quarterback to pair short-term with a rookie within the newest try to unravel the quarterback conundrum that has plagued the franchise for the reason that early Nineteen Nineties.

It’s such a well-known state of affairs that nobody could be shocked if normal supervisor Andrew Berry began paraphrasing President Lyndon B. Johnson circa 1968 the subsequent time he holds a press convention:

“Good afternoon, my fellow Browns followers. Immediately I wish to communicate to you about our quarterback state of affairs.

“No different query so preoccupies our employees. No different dream so absorbs Browns followers the world over. No different aim motivates our coverage in constructing the roster.

“For years, representatives of our crew and others have traveled the nation to discover a appropriate quarterback. On many events, I’ve identified that, with no viable beginning quarterback, subsequent 12 months’s crew will as soon as once more come up brief. I’ve emphasised the necessity to set strict priorities in our drafting. I’ve confused that failure to behave and to behave promptly and decisively would elevate very sturdy doubts all through Browns Nation about our willingness to maintain our home so as.

“With our future under challenge … with our hopes and fans’ hopes for a winning team in the balance every day, I do not believe that I should devote an hour or a day of my time to any causes or duties other than the awesome duties of this office and find the team a quarterback.”

It isn’t simply the Browns who battle with this, even when it feels that method. Exterior of Peyton Manning being carried to a Tremendous Bowl by Denver’s protection, chasing that veteran is nearly at all times a nasty thought. Both it’s a full failure – assume Russell Wilson with the Denver Broncos – or the crew doesn’t obtain its final aim of successful and finds itself proper again the place it began after a season or two – see Brett Favre with the Minnesota Vikings and Philip Rivers with the Indianapolis Colts.

Which brings us to Aaron Rodgers, who spent the previous two seasons with the New York Jets as a key member of that franchise’s newest implosion.

Picture by Emilee Chinn/Getty Pictures

On Thursday, the Jets introduced that they might be transferring on from the 41-year-old Rodgers, and, naturally, that put everybody into overdrive about which quarterback-needy crew would supply him with a brand new residence.

These lists included the Browns, the poster baby for quarterback-needy groups. As a result of who wouldn’t desire a four-time MVP on the sport’s most essential place?

Bringing Rodgers to city is absolutely the final thing that Berry ought to have on his thoughts after a season that noticed Rodgers publish profession lows in yards per try, yards per dropback, end with a QBR beneath 50 for the second time previously three seasons, and take 40 sacks.

There may be additionally the extra on-field baggage the place a crew feels the stress to encompass Rodgers along with his former teammates, which the Jets did with broad receivers Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, and Davante Adams. New York invested greater than $36 million in that trio with little to point out for it.

Picture by Al Bello/Getty Pictures

Cobb retired previous to final season, however the Jets are anticipated to maneuver from Lazard and Adams within the coming weeks, and it will not be a stretch to imagine that they might be more than pleased to money one other spherical of massive checks as a part of a package deal cope with Rodgers.

There may be additionally the off-field tax that Rodgers brings because of his fondness for sharing the newest conspiracy principle, normally by means of his common appearances on The Pat McAfee Present.

After three years of coping with the PR nightmare of quarterback Deshaun Watson, the Browns desperately must get some respiratory room and switch the main focus again to what occurs on the sphere, which can by no means occur with Rodgers on a crew’s roster.

Lastly, does anybody really imagine Rodgers could be OK with the concept of being only a placeholder for Cam Ward, Shedeur Sanders, Jaxson Dart, or whichever quarterback the Browns choose within the 2025 NFL Draft.

The Browns can’t get out of their very own method in the case of discovering a quarterback, however all the info is there in the event that they solely take the time to take a look at it.

The thought of Rodgers in brown and orange, even when he would resonate with the nook of the fan base that likes any participant so long as they’ve heard of them, is only a bridge too far for the franchise to even take into account.

What do you assume, Browns followers? Would Aaron Rodgers lastly be the bridge QB the Browns have been on the lookout for?