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The Tennessee Titans released veteran quarterback Matt Hasselbeck earlier today, and right away, ESPN's Chris Mortensen released a list of teams who were supposedly interested in him. One of those teams included the Cleveland Browns:
Teams interested in Matt Hasselbeck: AZ, Buff, Chi, Cin, Cleve, Indy, NO, NYG, SF & Tampa,...and list could grow.
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) March 18, 2013
Hasselbeck was scheduled to make $5.5 million this season in base salary, an amount that the Titans didn't want to pay him as a backup; they are trying to commit to Jake Locker as their starter. They reportedly attempted to restructure Hasselbeck's contract so that he could stay with the club for less money this year, but it sounds like they couldn't come close enough to an amount of Hasselbeck's liking.
Although the Browns may have put a feeler out for Hasselbeck, I don't think they'll have a serious interest for the salary Hasselbeck is going to want. There has been talk about competition, but at 37 years old, Hasselbeck, if he were to hypothetically beat out Brandon Weeden, would only be a short-term solution. That would go against the philosophy that Joe Banner conveyed to the local media earlier in the day:
#Browns CEO Joe Banner emphasized he's not interested in short-term fixes in free agency. So forget anybody 30 or older. Brent Grimes at 29.
— Tony Grossi (@TonyGrossi) March 18, 2013
Besides the Browns' projected lack of interest, it is probably a moot point to even think about: reports have the Indianapolis Colts as being close to signing Hasselbeck to a deal that would make him Andrew Luck's backup. As it stands right now, the Browns are sticking with Colt McCoy as their backup quarterback in 2013.