#Browns owner Randy Lerner weighs in on the QB issue. (audio) #NFL

[TheBestPlayersPlay]

The most fundamental [issue] is settle on a quarterback. Now far be it from me. I’m not a talent evaluator, to say the least, or anything like one. At some point as a Browns fan when you look around and see Pittsburgh needing a quarterback and dealing with Kordell Stewart or dealing with Tommy Maddox or whatever… They made a move. They committed to the move and they’ve succeeded with that move. And Baltimore with Kyle Boller and that didn’t work out. And they tried and made a move and got Flacco. I think one of the things that is crucial right now is to take a significant step forward is to try TRY if you can to get this quarterback situation settled.”
Can that quarterback, from the owner’s perspective, be Colt McCoy?
“(Joking) I suddenly lose the ability to speak when I’m asked that question.”

Other points from another website:

He sounds like he expects to stay with this front office for a long time. Seems tired of constant change and really thinks he's got it right this time. Most of this interview was focused along those lines. Interesting tidbits:
1. Has moved back to Cleveland full time, spends most days in Berea. Office right next to Holmgren.

2. Does not think owning Aston Villa affects his attention to Browns. Is still a Browns fan from birth.

3. Both he and Holmgren get very frustrated and angry about the losing, but know they have to be patient.

4. Has total faith that this front office will get it done.

5. Thinks last draft was very good, thinks things are headed in the right direction.

Full interview:

[golfer704u]

Lerner's been around MORE? It's all starting to make sense now.........

[Enigmatic Evil]

Well it's nice to get a token two cents from the Owner. I like his commitment to consistency, turbulence and constant change at ALL levels of this team has been the bane and he sees that, so to try to bring some structure, some "ORGANIZATION" to this, ahem, organization isn't a bad thing.

We're all on the plank with Holmgren, and I think some of us have already walked it but bottom line is next year is a true make or break year for Mike Holmgren's philosophy here in Cleveland. They're taking a direction, vague as that may be to us, we're going to be in year 3 of this direction, year two of this re-rebuild depending on how you really want to look at it. Year 3 of Heckert's drafting/team building, so there's moderate consistency there as far as one mind that's been bringing in talent and looking at the team with that in mind. Mangini's two years had what, 3 different people when you really think about it, depending on Kolkinis's role and all. I don't want to go there. My point is organizational consistancy that we've lacked.

They realize that's an area of weakness and you gotta start from the top down, IMO. The team can come around but there needs to be organizational consistency that we have lacked over the last 10 years prior to Holmgren Time here...

Maybe I'm just telling myself what I want to here but I always try to shift the gears into optimism mode come draft time...

[King of Kings]

Bro there is no plan. The plan is to sell Lerner on their bullshit for as long as he's buying it and as his interview has proven, he's still buying it.

[Enigmatic Evil]

Well yeah, that sounds like a plan to me man .

The owner isn't going to out and say "Yeah... bla bla bla, I don't care about the team." If he's going to talk about the team as the 'minimalist' owner, he's probably going to only say good things because why be negative when the season went the way it did and fan morale is where it's at...

[ramrod]

Originally Posted by King of Kings

Bro there is no plan. The plan is to sell Lerner on their bullshit for as long as he's buying it and as his interview has proven, he's still buying it.

I dont get this concept.

We can "stick" with a below average (at best average) QB but we cant "stick" with a proven guy that really knows the game? Stop just stop. You can say whatever you want about Holmgren and what he's doing but its probably the best thing thats happend to this franchise in a long long time.

He hired Heckert and Heckert is the real deal... Pat was probably in over his head but I want to see what he does this up and coming season.....

[golfer704u]

Originally Posted by ramrod

I dont get this concept.

We can "stick" with a below average (at best average) QB but we cant "stick" with a proven guy that really knows the game? Stop just stop. You can say whatever you want about Holmgren and what he's doing but its probably the best thing thats happend to this franchise in a long long time.

He hired Heckert and Heckert is the real deal... Pat was probably in over his head but I want to see what he does this up and coming season.....

Ahh but will you still feel that way when they draft the CB at #4?

not that I am saying it's likely.

[King of Kings]

Originally Posted by ramrod

We can "stick" with a below average (at best average) QB

Yeah I haven't called for us to trade up at whatever cost for Luck. Or entice the Rams to trade us Bradford if they fall in love with HarrellIII. Or to grab Matt Flynn and give him a shot with some weapons. Clearly since i'm not trying to fit Harrell3's cock AND balls down my throat simultaneously I want us to stick with McCoy and have ZERO interest in a QB.

Dude. Get. Fucking. Real. Or to quote you: "Stop. Just stop." It's getting pathetic at this point.

Originally Posted by ramrod

but we cant "stick" with a proven guy that really knows the game?

A guy who has proven as a HC he's average without Ron Wolf. A guy who is a proven failure in front office positions. A guy with a decade long track record that proves he is more about hiring his buddies than what is best for that team. Yeah i'm going to keep beating the drum to get rid of THAT type of proven until it happens or you get your way and your "QB" and I disown this team once and for all.

Originally Posted by ramrod

You can say whatever you want about Holmgren and what he's doing but its probably the best thing thats happend to this franchise in a long long time.

Yep, setting us back another 5-10 years and saddling us with huge contracts for all his pals is the absolute best thing that have could have happened to this team. No doubt about it. Fuck turning shit around.

Originally Posted by ramrod

He hired Heckert and Heckert is the real deal...

2 hits out of 22 draft picks. Heckert is a poor mans Sewage and should be on the bus out of here beside Holmshit and Shurmur.

[mikeyP]

Browns need more cowbell.

[Masters]

Originally Posted by King of Kings

A guy who has proven as a HC he's average without Ron Wolf. A guy who is a proven failure in front office positions. A guy with a decade long track record that proves he is more about hiring his buddies than what is best for that team.

Average HC without Wolf? Decade of losing? Holmgren in SEA for a decade:

86-74 record, 6 playoff apperances, 5 division titles, 1 SB apperance, and only 3 seasons with a losing record (worst was 4-12 his last year, with the other two being 7-9, and 6-10).

As to his drafts in SEA while wearing two hats (which seems to never work well for anyone out side of BB in NE) netted SEA:

Shuan Alexander - guy who'd run for 1000+ yards, tons of TDs, and part of SB team
Darrel Jackson - guy who'd catch 60-70 balls for a 1000 yards most seasons, part of SB team
Steve Hutchison - one of the best G's if not the best G in the NFL for many seasons, part of SB team
Ken Lucas - a solid CB for many years, part of SB team
Heath Evans - a good blocking FB for many years (still playing now for NO), part of SB team
Floyd Womack - a very good G for many years, part of SB team
Maurice Morris - a nice change of pace back/ST player who continues to play today, part of SB team

I didn't bother listing other players who while not stellar were solid players for depth and production. Now sure MH missed on a lot of picks in SEA (like most in the NFL), but he wasn't the train wreck you try to make him out to be. He certainly an example of why wearing the two hats just doesn't work, because it's too much work for any man not name BB. He didn't lose his GM title in SEA solely because of his drafts. It actually had very little to do with the work as GM, but more to do with issues between him and the owner, as well as others in the FO.

Originally Posted by King of Kings

Yep, setting us back another 5-10 years and saddling us with huge contracts for all his pals is the absolute best thing that have could have happened to this team. No doubt about it. Fuck turning shit around.

Contracts for coaches, GM, or any non-player personal don't saddle any team. There is no cap on how much you can spend. CLE has an owner with deep pockets who to date has had no issue spending money.

Originally Posted by King of Kings

2 hits out of 22 draft picks. Heckert is a poor mans Sewage

Only in your mind is it 2 hits out of 22 picks (plus anyone with a lick of NFL sense knows you can't judge any draft class for 2 to 3 years after it occured). While the people paid for their opinions have opinions which are no more valid than anyone on this board, you'd think that seeing that the all those people say CLE have hit on more than 2 one might take a step back and think they might be sitting out in left field with the notion of 2 out of 22. The "experts" will tell you Haden, Sheard, Taylor, and Pinkston are hits. With Cameron, Little, Skrine, and Haag as "we shall see" (of course once you get out of the 3rd round it's a crap shoot for every team). Taylor wasn't on the all rookie team for no reason. Taylor wasn't ranked in the top 10 and 15 for all DTs in the NFL for tackles, sacks, QB hits, and QB presurse because he was a miss in the draft (statistically he was on par with Ngata, not to mention Rubin bennifitted from Taylors prensense, as did Jackson). Talk before Ward got hurt was his coverage skills had improved (not to mention he is a SS and pretty much all SS are weak in the passing game. Even one of the best, Clark over in PIT, has trouble in coverage).

Right now the real misses seem to be Hardesty and Lavao (though stats/rating for OL show he wasn't quite as bad and got better as the year went on). Guys taken in rounds 5, 6, and 7 are crap shoots and most by all NFL teams are misses. It's why they are 5, 6, and 7 round picks.

[YtownBacker]

Masters, you are trying to reason with rainman. ghoolie, I mean KOK really doesn't have a clue or he's just pissing to piss, really not a lot of sense or reality coming from him.

Holmgren, 17 years as a HC and only 3 losing seasons and 12 playoffs. Can't really say he walk into a good situation because GB was a l;oser before he took over and they went out and got Favre. Also, he went to Seattle where they were a consistent loser and won 4 division titles and took them to the super bowl. He worked with Montana at San Fran as QB coach and then OC in 1989 when Montana had is best year. Was OC under Seifert when they brought in Young and developed him into a HOF QB. At GB traded for Favre and made the team into a winner. Moved to Seattle went back to GB and got Hasselbeck and developed Seattle into a winner. But hell, he must not know football because everyone else but him was responsible for the teams successes except him..so says KOK.

Hire his buddies........................hell half the league is his buddies or work for one of the many coaches he developed under him.

Heckert is a proven winner and has as good a draft record as anyone in the game. We are lucky to have him.

That said, I'm sure KOK will spew some more venom and twist everything in some pathetic attempt at being chicken little.

[YtownBacker]

Originally Posted by ramrod

I dont get this concept.

We can "stick" with a below average (at best average) QB but we cant "stick" with a proven guy that really knows the game? Stop just stop. You can say whatever you want about Holmgren and what he's doing but its probably the best thing thats happend to this franchise in a long long time.

He hired Heckert and Heckert is the real deal... Pat was probably in over his head but I want to see what he does this up and coming season.....

Heckert is the real deal and Shurmur is being mentored by one of the most successful coaches to do it from 1992 to 2008 and one of the few to even lead more then one organization to the super bowl.

I think they will get the QB situation right, there are a lot of options but two aren't Luck or Bradford. As much as everyone would like them to be, common sense tells you they aren't on the open market.