According to a report by Tony Grossi of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Brady Quinn is expected to beat out Derek Anderson this summer and emerge as the Browns’ starting quarterback for Week 1 next season.
I recently spoke with someone I will identify as a league source. This person does not work for an NFL team but works with NFL teams and has a prominent name.
I asked, “Whom do you think will wind up starting at quarterback for the Browns?”
Without hesitation, the answer was, “Brady Quinn.”
The person went on to say that the Browns had two “very subtantial” trade offers for Quinn — each involved a No. 1 draft pick — and declined to trade him.
The source would not speculate on whether a trade of Quinn might have been blocked by owner Randy Lerner. The source believes that there will be a true “open competition” between Quinn and Derek Anderson and that Quinn will prevail.
The source does not believe that newly acquired ex-Jet Brett Ratliff will be thrown into the open competition. The source’s take on Ratliff: “Eric Mangini likes having him around because he feels comfortable with him and he knows the offense.”
I don’t doubt that the Browns could be leaning towards Quinn, but you’re not going to hear Mangini say it. All coaches like to breed competition and Quinn won’t be handed the job, especially not with Anderson already being paid a $5 million roster bonus plus his $1.45 million base salary. Chances are the Browns are going to have both QBs on the roster next year and although Quinn might be the front-runner at this point, he’s going to have to earn the starting gig.
