Reports Say the Browns Were Willing to Trade a 1st Round Pick for QB Sam Bradford

With all of the quarterback rumors this offseason, can we be entirely convinced that a new quarterback won't be coming the Browns' way before the start of the 2015 NFL season? Over the past two days, two media members -- Charlie Casserly of the NFL Network and Adam Caplan of ESPN -- have said that Cleveland previously offered a first-round pick for QB Sam Bradford. Caplan tweeted the following earlier today, stating that it was No. 19 overall that was offered, and the trade was offered when Bradford was still with the Rams:

This is true. #19 overall. RT @Rotoworld_FB: Report: CLE offered 1st rounder for Bradford http://t.co/RFB7T7whhW

— Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) March 17, 2015

Let's follow the timeline on this for a second:

• On February 20th, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report said that the Browns were going to make a real run at acquiring Bradford.
• On February 27th, the Browns signed QB Josh McCown.
• On March 10th, the first day of free agency, the St. Louis Rams sent Bradford to the Philadelphia Eagles.
• On March 11th, Eagles head coach Chip Kelly said that he was offered a first-round pick for Bradford earlier in the day, but that they were sticking with Bradford. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler said that the Browns had inquired about both Bradford and QB Austin Davis prior to the signing of McCown, but that the talks never really went anywhere.
• On March 13th, Rams head coach Jeff Fisher said he was offered a first-round pick for Bradford by a different team, but the trade would've left them without an option at quarterback. They were going to hold on to Bradford until they heard of the Eagles' trade package that contained QB Nick Foles, an option they like at quarterback.
• On March 16th, Casserly said the Browns offered a first-round pick for Bradford, but didn't specify which team the pick was offered to -- Philadelphia, St. Louis, or both.
• On March 17th, Caplan said the Browns had offered No. 19 overall to the Rams.

When you connect all of the dots on the timeline above, everything seems to fit the story that the Browns offered No. 19 overall to the Rams back in late February. Once the Rams shot the deal down, Cleveland went out and signed McCown. I don't think the Browns made serious inquiries about Bradford after that. I'd venture to guess that Fisher told Kelly about the Browns' previous offer, so Kelly used that information to 'stir the pot' a bit during his press conference and also build up the team's supposed confidence in Bradford.

Let's say that the Browns did indeed offer No. 19 overall to the Rams prior to signing McCown. Would you have wanted Cleveland to make that trade, or would that have been too steep of a price?