The Cleveland Browns and their fans are something like a harried boxer, too tired to keep his hands up as his opponent continually assails him with jabs, hooks and devastating body blows.
The NFL's still-young offseason has not been kind to the organization as the Johnny Manziel mess has exponentially worsened, GM Ray Farmer is now facing punishment from the league over illegal in-game communications, and more than one report has emerged detailing the various and sundry daily dysfunctions that permeate Jimmy Haslam's ownership.
As the team and head coach Mike Pettine do their best to move toward next season with what little positivity they can muster, they've begun to take steps toward improving the product on the field.
As such, Pettine and Farmer are scouring the NFL landscape for upgrades at the game's most important position and, reportedly, targeting St. Louis Rams quarterback Sam Bradford in trade.
"Well it should be no surprise to anyone, talking to multiple NFL sources, the Cleveland Browns are the hottest after a quarterback here in free agency and the two names that have emerged that they're looking at right now in this process are Sam Bradford, whether they trade for him or whether he gets cut, that's a guy at the top of their list they're considering that they would like to get a shot at," said Jason Cole of Bleacher Report.
Bradford has reportedly already been given permission by GM Les Snead to seek a trade to another NFL destination this offseason, though head coach Jeff Fisher has countered that, saying he's "betting on" the QB.
Bradford, the former first-overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, has struggled to stay healthy in his short NFL career - he's only played in all 16 games in a season twice in five seasons in the league - but he's amassed 11,065 yards passing, 59 touchdowns and a 58.6 completion percentage.
His potential addition would be big for the Browns, but it still wouldn't solidify anything or preclude them from targeting a QB early in the 2015 NFL Draft as he's not yet a bona fide franchise signal-caller - hence his possible availability.
According to Cole, Bradford's not the only guy the Browns are eyeing.
"The other person, Josh McCown, is there some interest there, keep an eye on that over the next couple of weeks. But Bradford is the guy that most people are saying if the Browns have a chance to get him, especially for say, a relatively cheap trade, say a second-round pick or maybe a third-round pick, that they're take a run at him."
With Manziel a question mark in too many ways to count and Brian Hoyer seeking a certified starting gig elsewhere - and likely not feeling the love from the Browns - it looks like a near certainty that the starter for next season isn't on the Cleveland roster at the moment.
