Earlier this week, St. Louis Rams General Manager Les Snead confirmed that is was the Cleveland Browns that offered a first-round pick for quarterback Sam Bradford. The Rams ultimately dealt him to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for Nick Fole. Yesterday, Rams head coach Jeff Fisher said that no other players were involved in the offer.
That means that Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel was never offered in the trade. That's important to note because it may hint that Cleveland hasn't completely given up on the 2014 first-round QB.
Manziel is currently finishing a stint in rehab, but it sounds as if the Browns fully expect him to compete for the starting job in 2015. If the team had zero confidence in him and had given up completely, they would have included him in the trade package for Bradford along with the 19th overall pick in the draft. The reason the Rams said no is because they wanted a quarterback in return, something the Browns were apparently unwilling to give up.
"At that point, you still don't have a veteran quarterback," Fisher said of the failed trade offers from the Browns. "Nick, for us, was a perfect fit. I had talked with Chip [Kelly] and he thinks Sam is a perfect fit so this was a good deal. For us, we got a younger quarterback that's won a lot of games in this league, can make all the throws and is healthy. I know he's had shoulder issues but everybody has."
The Browns ended up singing veteran free agent quarterback Josh McCown. Even with McCown's presence on the roster, Manziel is expected to get a fair shot at the starting job. Manziel is expected to return to the team in time for the beginning of offseason workouts on April 20.
