Cleveland Browns coach Mike Pettine told reporters at the NFL Annual Meeting last month that he's open to drafting multiple quarterbacks this year.
In an "ideal" world, though, Pettine would prefer to pick up an impact position player at No. 4 overall and land a quarterback later in the draft.
Bucking the NFL's trend of the past half-decade, Pettine emphasized that it's "extremely difficult" for a quarterback to succeed as a rookie starter.
"When you look at the history of the league whether it was (Tom) Brady or whether it was Aaron Rodgers, or Carson Palmer (they waited)," Pettine explained Tuesday, via The Plain Dealer. "Even Russell Wilson sat for a little bit and (Colin) Kaepernick was a package player his first year."
From reading Nicholas Dawidoff's account of the 2011 New York Jets season, we know that Pettine is a straight shooter. This doesn't appear to be any kind of draft smokescreen.
Pettine simply believes NFL teams are in the "win-now business," and veteran quarterbacks give them a better chance to do just that.
That makes plenty of sense in theory.
Pettine's problem is that his current QB1 is a journeyman of underwhelming talent and track record coming off reconstructive knee surgery.
Future Hall of Famer Tom Brady, golden-armed Carson Palmer and 2012 Rookie of the Year Robert Griffin III have all struggled in their returns from ACL tears.
If Pettine is in win-now mode, he needs a realistic alternative to Brian Hoyer.
The latest "Around The League Podcast" breaks out the crystal ball and predicts the potential surprises that could shake up the NFL Draft.
