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Today was a whacky day in the NFL at the quarterback position when it relates to the Cleveland Browns. The first big news came when the Houston Texans traded QB Matt Schaub to the Oakland Raiders for a 6th-round pick. This is the second time in Schaub's career that he has been traded, which has to be pretty unique for a quarterback.
The Texans dealing Schaub is related to the Browns because there had been speculation that offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan might have been interested in the team signing Schaub if the Texans had released him. Schaub and Shanahan were together for several years in Houston and saw a lot of success together. Phil Savage says that Chris Mortensen of ESPN reported that the Browns didn't call the Texans' bluff about trading Schaub:
@mortreport says @Browns expected Matt Schaub to be released, did not buy @HoustonTexans claim they had trade partner in @RAIDERS. #Hoyer
— Phil Savage (@SeniorBowlPhil) March 21, 2014
I'm relieved that the Browns didn't get Schaub: if we're going to try out a non-rookie quarterback for part of the season, I think it has to be Hoyer. Just as the Schaub problem was taken care of, though, another worry has developed: the possibility that the team signs QB Mark Sanchez, who was just released by the New York Jets. Right after releasing Sanchez, the Jets signed QB Michael Vick.
Back in January, the New York Post reported that that a certain coach and executive were interested in Sanchez being on their club, and possibly even a starter, if he got cut. The Browns didn't hire Mike Pettine until a few days later, but Pettine had already been interviewing for the position in Cleveland and had been the Jets' defensive coordinator for several years. Pro Football Talk also posted the following tweet, although I don't think it implies that the Browns were the team who made the comments about Sanchez:
The unnamed coach who said Mark Sanchez would walk in the door as the starter now has a chance to make good on that vow. #Browns
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) March 21, 2014
The Browns' top option for a backup quarterback right now would still seem to be QB Rex Grossman, who was a backup under Shanahan in Washington. If it's between Grossman and Sanchez, I'd take Grossman in a second. In case QB Brian Hoyer suffers any setbacks in his recovery, the team probably will sign a backup quarterback soon (with more experience than QB Alex Tanney), but the question is, "who will it be?"