The Browns need to select in the 2018 NFL Draft a player they think can be their franchise quarterback.

Everybody knows that, and as such, it’s getting almost all of the focus of the team’s longstanding woes at that position.

What is getting some – but nearly as much — attention is the fact they need to sign in free agency a bridge quarterback. How long that bridge is remains to be determined, but he will, of course, be the guy to get them to the franchise guy.

With two of the top four picks, including No. 1 overall, in the draft, and in being over $100 million under the salary cap, they have all kinds of means to get both quarterbacks.

There are a plethora of opinions about which quarterback the Browns should choose in the draft. I don’t have a firm one yet in that regard.

There aren’t as many opinions about the veteran quarterback the Browns should sign. I do have a firm opinion on that.

I vote no on Kirk Cousins of the Washington Redskins.

And I vote yes on AJ McCarron of one of the Browns’ AFC North rivals, the Cincinnati Bengals.

At least the way I look at it, it’s not hard to figure this one out.

First of all, Cousins has not proved – not even close, really – that he can be the man to take a team deep into the playoffs, let alone to the Super Bowl. It is the job of the quarterback to win games, and he is not a consistent winner by any estimation. His personal stats are good, but his “team” stats are dreadful.

The Browns already have enough trouble winning. They don’t need to pay someone a king’s ransom to be mediocre – at best – when it comes to gaining victories.

As for McCarron, can he be a big winner? Or even a mediocre winner?

We don’t know that. In fact, we don’t know much at all about him, other than he’s stood on the sideline a lot wearing a ball cap and holding a clipboard while backing up Andy Dalton the previous four seasons.

McCarron is 27 – two years younger than Cousins – and, with the fact he hasn’t played much, he’s in the prime of his career and has a chance to get better.

That isn’t going to happen with Cousins. He is what he is, and it’s not enough to win in this league.

As for the other quarterbacks who will be available, none of them excite me – in even the least bit.

So here’s hoping the Browns not only do all they can to sign McCarron, but to actually get the job done and land him, once free agency starts in several weeks.