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Why Cleveland may have snagged Delhomme so quickly

Khyber53

By Khyber53,
in Carolina Panthers

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Khyber53 Grand Master

Khyber53

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As we all know, Jake Delhomme wasn't without a team for very long after his release from Carolina. One team visit with the Browns and they snagged him quickly after letting Derek Anderson and then showing Brady Quinn to the airport.

I don't believe this started with head coach Eric Mangini, but with Browns team president Mike Holmgren. Holmgren is looking for a veteran presence at quarterback for next year, and he's more interested in leadership abilities than passing proficiency. Sure, Delhomme fits that to a tee, but why does the team need that?

It's simple. The Browns will pick early this year, and I believe they have their eyes on Notre Dame's Jimmy Clausen. Clausen is often considered the top quarterback pick to come from a school that uses an professional style offense. He's been groomed by Charlie Weiss (former Patriots offensive coordinator who was instrumental in bringing Tom Brady to prominence). The thing is, the knock on Claussen is that while he's a prototypical passer, he lacks in leadership skills.

Claussen's teammates disagree with this, but once something like that gets out, it will scare off some teams at the top of the pecking order. It's just too much money to invest in a potential Ryan Leaf-type QB. But remember, this is just an alleged knock on the guy -- damaging, but not necessarily true. Of course, his teammates could be covering for him as well.

So, what do you do? You pick him but get someone in the stable that he can sit behind in the depth chart for a season. You get someone who knows about picking up a down team, who is an obvious leader and who shows heart. And then you pick up another journeyman QB that can ride the pine beside him and explain what the team management is expecting (someone like Seneca Wallace who was Holmgren's backup QB in Seattle).

I'm about willing to bet that this is how it will play out on draft day. Cleveland picks Claussen early and then puts him on the bench behind Jake until the kid is ready to lead a team.

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rayzor Grand Master

rayzor

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my ooal for the browns is they will go after mccoy in the 2nd or (more likely) 3rd round.

eric berry makes too much sense here in the first, esp if he is still on the board.

i don't think holmgren wants to mess around with clausen. they picked up jake and seneca for a reason, imo...to have someone in place for this year to play. more than likely it will be jake starting. you don't pick a 1st round QB, esp. an early one, to sit on the bench and wait.

you also don't go out and pay someone the type money they did jake unless they intend/expect for him to start at least one year for them. you don't pay that money for a mentor.

they will probably draft a QB in the first two days but i seriously doubt it will be a first rounder.

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Ricky Spanish Grand Master

Ricky Spanish

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my ooal for the browns is they will go after mccoy in the 2nd or (more likely) 3rd round.

eric berry makes too much sense here in the first, esp if he is still on the board.

i don't think holmgren wants to mess around with clausen. they picked up jake and seneca for a reason, imo...to have someone in place for this year to play. more than likely it will be jake starting. you don't pick a 1st round QB, esp. an early one, to sit on the bench and wait.

you also don't go out and pay someone the type money they did jake unless they intend/expect for him to start at least one year for them. you don't pay that money for a mentor.

they will probably draft a QB in the first two days but i seriously doubt it will be a first rounder.

I dunno, the bengals sat carson palmer out his entire first year, it worked out well for him. I wish that more teams would do that with their QBs

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rayzor Grand Master

rayzor

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I dunno, the bengals sat carson palmer out his entire first year, it worked out well for him. I wish that more teams would do that with their QBs
carson is the exception. most of the time the teams/fanbase are chomping at the bit to get that 1sst rounder in there. usually if a high draft pick QB doesn't start much his first year it's because there is something very wrong with him.

i agree, though. i wish more teams would sit them for a year or two...i just don't see many teams having that kind of patience.

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