A recent mock draft from Sports Illustrated's Peter King was littered with intriguing scenarios, including this one: King projects the Browns trading back into the first round for New England's 27th pick, in order to select Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden.
Weeden visited Cleveland this month, dining with general manager Tom Heckert and hanging around the facility with president Mike Holmgren and coach Pat Shurmur.
"You never know how it's going to go, but I feel really good about how everything's gone with the Browns throughout this whole process," Weeden told The Plain Dealer this week. "It would be exciting if I ended up there."
Right about now, if you're Colt McCoy, you've cut off the newspaper subscription and killed the laptop. Cleveland has repeatedly told us they're sold on McCoy and want to surround him with weapons, but the team didn't shy away from pursuing the Rams' No. 2 pick for the rights to Robert Griffin III. After courting Weeden, they cozied up to Ryan Tannehill.
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Holmgren has maintained from the start he believes in adding quarterbacks no matter who's the starter (he drafted Mark Brunell and Matt Hasselbeck with Brett Favre under center), and McCoy has yet to separate himself as a franchise passer. McCoy is praised for his leadership and toughness, but there are concerns about his size, his arm strength and his ability to survive late in the season in the AFC North.
"I know Colt had a good year last year, and he's a good football player," Weeden said. "But I'm a competitor, and I want to play as soon as possible. I'd be excited about the opportunity to come in and compete with him and see how things pan out."
Typical pre-draft comments, but there's an urgency attached to Weeden. At 28 (and -- hey -- we waited this long to mention his age), Weeden has perspective on opportunities lost in life. Whether it's Cleveland or another city, he's not amenable to sitting and watching. For him, it's time to play.
