National Football League

Browns sign quarterbacks Young, Thigpen

Published May. 1, 2014 4:07 p.m. ET

foxsports

BEREA, Ohio -- The Browns doubled their quarterback numbers Thursday -- and the draft is still a week away.

At the conclusion of the three-day minicamp, the Browns announced they had signed quarterbacks Vince Young and Tyler Thigpen. In addition, they signed linebacker Zac Diles.

All three players were invited to the minicamp on a tryout basis.

With the addition of Young and Thigpen, the Browns have four quarterbacks on the roster with Brian Hoyer and Alex Tanney heading into the draft.

Young is easily the most decorated of the trio after being the third overall pick of the 2006 NFL Draft.

THE HOTTEST

Check out the hottest NFL cheerleaders. Which ones are your favorites?

Young (6-5, 229) enters his seventh NFL season out of Texas. He was the third overall selection by Tennessee in the 2006 NFL Draft andspent five seasons and was named to two Pro Bowls (after the 2006 and '09 seasons) with the Titans, prior to signing with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2011. He owns a 31-19 (.620) record as a starting quarterback in the NFL, passing for 8,964 yards and 46 touchdowns while rushing for 1,459 yards and 12 scores. Young was named the 2006 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, and in 2007 led the Titans to a Wild Card berth.

Young is grateful to get another opportunity to play in the NFL after not catching on with the Packers and Bills in the past two seasons.

"It's a blessing," he said. "Right now, I am going to take stepping stones to make the team and put my nose down and keep working."

Young said he canceled his flight home after signing and wants to show how serious he is by staying and working with the team.

"The message is being told to the team I want to be here with the Browns," he said. "I have always had a tremendous amount of confidence in myself.

"A lot of people don't know behind the scenes I have been putting in a lot of work," he said. "I want to continue to keep fighting. I want to be ready and am happy I stayed on task."

Mike Pettine said Young showed flashes of brilliance completing a long pass during camp.

"I joked with him that the rust was falling off in chunks," Pettine said. "But he flashed a couple of times out there."

Young said he felt a bit rusty during the minicamp, but felt he still had it.

"There were a couple of times this week, but there was definitely some rust on me."

Thigpen (6-1, 216) is a seventh-year veteran. He was picked in the 2007 NFL Draft in the seventh round by the Vikings. He spent all or parts of his first three NFL seasons (2007-09) with the Chiefs. In 2011, Thigpen started 11 games, the most extensive action of his career, completing 54.8 percent of his passes for 2,608 yards, with 18 TDs and 12 interceptions.

Traded to Miami early in the 2009 season, he played for the Dolphins through 2010, then spent the 2011-12 seasons as a reserve with the Buffalo Bills.

In six NFL campaigns, Thigpen has a 72.5 passer rating. In 29 games, including 12 starts, he's completed 275-of-509 passes for 3,222 yards, 21 TDs and 18 interceptions.

Diles (6-0, 245), who is entering his eighth NFL season out of Kansas State, spent parts of the past two seasons with the Titans. Tennessee initially signed him as a free agent in May 2012, but he suffered a broken leg after six games. An unrestricted free agent, he signed with the Chiefs and spent 2013 training camp with Kansas City, then re-signed with the Titans and spent eight weeks in Tennessee before the Titans released him in early December. Diles was originally a seventh-round draft choice by the Texans in the 2007 NFL Draft. Diles played in 69 games with 31 starts in seven seasons.