National Football League

The Browns and Mariota: Weighing the cost and other realities

Published Apr. 24, 2015 1:09 p.m. ET

foxsports

Less than a week before the NFL Draft, the Browns have almost all of their work done. They have two first-round picks and are a main player in about a dozen draft rumors, almost of all them involving quarterback Marcus Mariota.

Thursday, Browns general manager Ray Farmer said those are just rumors. He said he's not talking to or hearing from any other team. He's not ruling anything out -- last year's first-round tradeback with the Buffalo Bills was an 11th hour deal -- but Farmer said he's not counting on being involved in any headline-grabbing deals.

Of course he said that. And whether his phone is ringing or Farmer is dialing out, a potential deal for Mariota is at least worth exploring.

There are reasons it could happen -- and could work. There are reasons, too, to think the Browns should scratch the idea and move on. Let's explore them.

IS IT EVEN FEASIBLE?

The Browns hold pick Nos. 12 and 19. Everybody's assuming Jameis Winston goes No. 1 to the Bucs, then nobody really knows what happens from there.

The Titans taking Mariota at No. 2 -- or trading down to a pick before No. 12 to another team that wants him -- is a whole lot more likely than the Browns giving up a bunch to get him. It just is. For all the talk -- Farmer called it "conjecture" and "noise" -- of all these teams supposedly being interested in Mariota, maybe Tennessee (or even Tampa Bay) will decide he's not for sale. Or maybe he'll only be for sale to the Chargers in a deal bringing Philip Rivers to the Titans.

By "giving up a bunch," for the Browns to get to No. 2 they'd probably have to part with both of their first-rounders this year and a 2016 first-round pick.

Even if Mariota is still around at, say, No. 4 or No. 5, the Browns could find themselves having to outbid other suitors. Maybe they find a team that would take just No. 12 and No. 19. Maybe, but not likely given the top-heavy nature of this year's draft class.

IT WOULD BE A BOLD MOVE

Because he played in a spread offense in college -- and because he's basically a kid who's about to become the face of some franchise -- it could be a year or two before Mariota is fully comfortable and ready to play at a high level. Patience is not an NFL virtue, and there's no such thing as a sure thing. Maybe Farmer and Browns coach Mike Pettine don't think they can wait.

Or, maybe they'll decide they don't want to be known as the guys who drafted Johnny Manziel and they'll go make a bold move. Human nature factors into this, especially if Mariota doesn't go in the top two picks, a real trade opportunity presents itself and Farmer is making decisions with one hand on the phone and eyes across the draft room -- like, say, the eyes of team owner Jimmy Haslam -- watching him work.

The Browns have spent aggressively in the last two free agency periods, a sign that there's internal belief they're ready to win now. Not many outside the facility think the team can win with Manziel or Josh McCown, but maybe Farmer and Pettine feel differently. We don't know. We might not know.

The best quarterbacks tend to win the most games. That's not an opinion. There are other ways to do it, though, and maybe the Browns think they've built and can continue to build a winner without a standout quarterback.

"I get that there's this notion that there's a silver bullet or there's this one magic player that's going to walk in here on a horse and we're going to start winning games -- and he's going to be the reason we did it," Farmer said. "I just don't believe in the fairy tale anymore. I just think you've got to get your hammer and your nails and you've got to go out and build a house and that's what it's going to take. You've got to take your time and put it together the right way."

Maybe the Browns will take a nose tackle, and then a receiver or a running back, or maybe a pass rusher. Maybe they'll try to make the playoffs with an improved run defense and improved running game and try to grind out wins. Maybe that can work.

Or, maybe that's a fairy tale, too. We don't know. We do know the 22 starting quarterbacks since 1999 have written probably the crappiest fairy tale ever.

The Browns now have a bolder orange. Will a second straight bold draft night land them another first-round quarterback?

MAYBE THE BROWNS KNOW THEY CAN'T GET HIM -- OR DON'T WANT HIM

The Browns didn't hold a private workout with Mariota. They know plenty about him -- Mariota has been linked to Farmer, accurately or not -- since the 2013 season, after which Mariota returned to school. The Browns hired Kevin O'Connell as their quarterbacks coach in February; prior to that, O'Connell had been tutoring Mariota for about a month. O'Connell also ran Mariota's on-campus pro day workout at Oregon in March.

The Browns worked out all the top quarterbacks last year, finishing -- and probably not coincidentally -- that tour with a Manziel workout. At this year's combine Farmer said he doesn't attend many pro day workouts because "I'd rather have a private workout. I'd rather ask the kid to see what I want him to do than go see him what someone else wants to do." Familiarity or not with guys further down the food chain, if the Browns were really on the verge of giving up a bunch to go get Mariota they probably would have worked him out in front of Farmer and Pettine, who are likely to only get one more chance to hire the right quarterback.

Or, maybe it's all part of a smokescreen -- intentional or not. Here's how Farmer answered a question about the Browns not setting up an individual workout with Mariota: "For us, when you have enough information on a player there's no reason to continue to move forward. When you kind of finalize and you know where you're at you put the period on it and you end the story. When you have a good feel for a player, that's what it comes down to. We think we know who he is. We think we know what he's capable of. We think we know kind of where he would fit for us, assuming he was with us. No reason to take that any further than we went."

As for the notion that Farmer has wanted Mariota since 2013, his first year working for the Browns, Farmer said: "I don't know where this stuff comes from. I know last year somebody asked a question about Marcus Mariota and I answered differently than everybody else that I talked about. I guess I was saying, 'I like him, I like that player,' and then it got to Mariota, and I said, 'Yeah, he's good' or I changed what I said. From that moment on, he's (supposedly) been my guy. I guess it doesn't really matter what I say, he's my guy so I'm going to leave it at that and let you guys decide when he's my guy and when he falls out of being my guy."

Farmer did an offer an assessment of Mariota's skill set, saying, "I think the thing that distinguishes him is that the guy has been successful. You look at the differences of what guys do and accomplish and how they play, and a lot of it comes down to 'What was your performance? What did your performance yield?' It's easy to see why. Whether it's Marcus, whether it's another player, they get the benefit of the doubt because their teams have had success with them at the helm. That's where it starts.

"There are a lot more, I'd say, nuances and intricacies that we can talk about as far as how he delivers the ball, what his footwork's like, what is his accuracy like? What's his decision-making like? Can he progression read? Can he take a three, five, seven-step drop with a hitch, make a throw in rhythm? All of those things come into play and they're technical. They get past all of the generalities I think people look at. It really comes down to how well did the guy play his position in college and how well do you think your staff and your coaching staff can utilize his skill set to help you win?"

Maybe Farmer doesn't believe in the "silver bullet" -- or maybe he does and doesn't think Mariota is that guy. Maybe the Browns can't get him at all. But the Browns have picks and flexibility and a glaring need, and maybe the time is right to pay the price and make the move.

Stay tuned.

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