Cleveland Browns general manager Tom Heckert left no doubt on Monday that he sees first-round draft pick Brandon Weeden winning the team's quarterback competition.
"You can write about it and talk about it however you want," Heckert told The Plain Dealer. "The best guy is going to play and we fully (expect) Brandon to be that guy. That's our goal, is to have him be the guy."
The Browns also have quarterbacks Colt McCoy, who started most of the games in 2011, and Seneca Wallace on their roster.
Though Browns coach Pat Shurmur recently said Weeden, the 22nd overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, won't be automatically slotted in atop the depth chart, Heckert made it clear that he expects Weeden will prove himself worthy of the job.
"I think when we say, open competition, the best guy's going to play, that's just the way it is," Heckert said. "But we drafted Brandon Weeden to be that guy. (You) draft a guy 22nd in the draft, you think he's going to be that guy."
Heckert's position is similar to that expressed by team president Mike Holmgren, who said recently on ESPN that Weeden "can't sit and watch for two or three years, but he's got to prove it."
Heckert told the newspaper that the distribution of playing time when OTAs begin Tuesday will have little bearing on what happens come the start of the season.
"We're going to be rotating the guys all over the place," he said. "Whatever you see out there, take it for what it's worth. We've got a long way to go."
