Here are a couple of assumptions I have already made about Jake Delhomme and his future with the Cleveland Browns:
- The team will ask him to take a paycut and to be the third-string quarterback.
- Delhomme will decline and ask to be released instead.
There will be a few free agent quarterbacks out there once the lockout ends, including Marc Bulger, Kerry Collins, Rex Grossman, Matt Hasselbeck, Chad Pennington, Patrick Ramsey, Alex Smith, Billy Volek, Kellen Clemens, Brodie Croyle, Trent Edwards, Bruce Gradkowski, Tarvaris Jackson, Matt Leinart, Matt Moore, Troy Smith, and Tyler Thigpen. Would Delhomme really stand out in that pool of players? He might not get a better offer outside of Cleveland, but if he does, you would think it could be with his former team, the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers are looking for a veteran quarterback to help mentor Cameron Newton. Delhomme already has one year of experience mentoring a player like Colt McCoy. If Newton is getting banged around in a couple of games, maybe Delhomme has a chance to run the first-team offense a couple of times in Carolina.
According to a report by the Charlotte Observer though, sources don't see it happening:
There has been local support for former Panthers Collins and Jake Delhomme, expected to be released by Cleveland after the lockout. But a Panthers official called Collins and Delhomme longshots to return to Charlotte.