For 17 seasons, the Browns have tried unsuccessfully to figure out their quarterback situation.
Until they do that – until they get their franchise guy at the most important position in team sports — then they have absolutely no chance of becoming a serious, and consistent, contender for the playoffs.
But the Browns can’t do that until they know for sure about Johnny Manziel both on and off the field. He can’t be the guy on the field and not be the guy off it. It just won’t work.
Manziel is making strides on the field, but off it, he just can’t seem to figure it out – at least not for the long haul. There are spurts when it appears he is starting to turn the corner in that regard, but then comes something like that wild Christmas video and everything goes back to square one.
As long as this continues to happen, then the Browns are stuck between a rock and a hard place. If there are doubts – any doubts at all – then they have to err on the side of caution and go in another direction.
What a shame that would be for everybody involved if Manziel looks like he can play the game at this level, but can’t play the role of quarterback off the field.
It’s not a great way at all to go into the offseason – for Manziel, the Browns, the general manager and the head coach.
Chris Palmer, the first head coach of the expansion Browns, was overmatched in that role, but he is a smart fmn. In fact, he said something to me that I’ll never forget.
We were talking about first-round picks in the NFL Draft, and the need to make sure that a prospect is able to do the right things on and off the field.
“Trying to project how a college player will do in the NFL is a very difficult task,” Palmer said. “There are so many factors to consider, and that’s just on the field. And even when you think you have everything figured out, the guy still doesn’t make it for whatever reason. It’s maddening.
“So the window for success is very small. I can’t draft a player, especially one in the first round, when I know there are off-the-field issues. That reduces the chances for him to make it to almost nothing. It would be foolish for me to roll the dice like that.
“When I put him out there on the field in a big game at Pittsburgh and we need him to make a play late in the fourth quarter so that we can win, I have to be sure that he was doing his homework all week and getting his rest, and not out on the town getting drunk and punching his girlfriend in the mouth.”
That’s where the Browns are right now with Manziel. They aren’t sure they can count on him to prepare properly each and every week, so, in turn, they can count on him in big moments.
Nothing is easy with these expansion-era Browns, and this situation with Manziel is yet another great example of that.
The solution? If there is one – and it’s such a dicey situation I’m not sure that there is — then it is to get a competent and experienced GM on board so he can evaluate everything and try to make the right decision, or at least the most educated one. That’s all you can hope for. There’s no guarantee that anyone – even the best GMs – will make the proper call.
The guy to do that isn’t Ray Farmer. He’s a big part part of the reason that the Browns are in this mess.
