The Browns need a quarterback.

 

Gee, there’s a stunning revelation, huh?

 

They have the Nos. 1 and 12 overall picks, and five of the top 65 selections, in the 2017 NFL Draft.

 

So, do GETTING they use one of their first two choices, or any of the top five, to get a quarterback?

 

No, absolutely, positively, never in a million years to the first part of that question, and perhaps on the second part.

 

Taking a quarterback at Nos. 1 or 12 would be just ignorant, because, despite what head coach Dabo Swinney of the national champion Clemson Tigers says, there is no quarterback even close to being worthy of being selected that high. It’s not conjecture. It’s just a fact. Even the best ones have too many warts.

 

But what about the fact that quarterback is the most important position in team sports? What about the fact that if you have a quarterback, then you have a chance, and if you don’t, then you don’t? What about the fact that the Browns’ complete overhaul doesn’t really begin in earnest until they get their quarterback?

 

Yes, those are all tremendously important questions and points, and to be sure, those are the same issues the Browns are pondering 24/7.

 

But the Browns aren’t just a quarterback away from being a playoff contender. They are many players at many positions away from such. It doesn’t take a genius to see that, either.

 

As such, the Browns can try to use some of those prime picks to select prime players who can really make a difference, or they can try to force the issue and reach for a difference-making quarterback who just isn’t there. The worst thing a team can do in the draft at any position, especially quarterback, is to reach. It never ends well for anybody involved. The player is out of the league quickly, and the people who picked him are out of a job eventually.

 

Now, if the Browns want to use one of the last three picks in the top 65 to pick a quarterback, then I am for considering it. That’s just considering it, mind you, not necessarily doing it.

 

But it may be a moot point, because I think the Browns are going to make a real effort to wrest Jimmy Garoppolo from the New England Patriots in a trade.

 

So how much is too much for the Browns to surrender in terms of draft picks to get Garoppolo?

 

Ah, that’s a much different – and a much more difficult – question entirely.