Browns team president Mike Holmgren plans to draft a quarterback this year. Just don't expect it to be in the first couple of rounds.
Holmgren said to the The Plain Dealer, "It's just something we have to do. Why wait? I'm 61. I don't want to wait for anyone. We're going to have to do this."
Cleveland recently signed veteran quarterback Jake Delhomme, and traded for Seahawks QB Seneca Wallace, but neither of those players is the long-term solution under center.
The team has too many needs to take a quarterback in the first or second round, however.
As Holmgren told the newspaper, "There are areas of the football team that we really have to help -- the secondary, offensive line -- to get the team better. This year it would be pretty hard to use the second [round] pick to get a quarterback. It would be pretty hard for me."
The Browns have been searching for a franchise quarterback ever since they came back to existence in 1999. They have twice selected a quarterback in the first round, but both failed to live up to expectations. Brady Quinn, taken in the first round by the Browns in 2007, was traded to the Broncos a week ago, and Tim Couch, the first overall pick in 1999, lasted only five unproductive seasons before being let go.
Holmgren was brought in to help rebuild the Browns following a 5-11 campaign this past season. In order to move that process along, he must find a young player who can develop into an elite signal-caller.
If anyone is capable of doing so, it would be Holmgren. He is one of the most respected quarterback tutors in the league, having coached Joe Montana in San Francisco, Brett Favre in Green Bay and Matt Hasselbeck in Seattle.
During his time in Green Bay and Seattle, his teams often drafted quarterbacks in the middle-to-late rounds. Holmgren told the newspaper he expects to continue that trend with Cleveland.
