Browns Searching for New Quarterback?

Photo: Getty Images

New Cleveland Browns president Mike Holmgren and GM Tom Heckert both would like to kick quarterbacks Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson to the curb and find a real quarterback. You know, somebody that doesn’t weigh the offense down like a boat anchor.

One thing became clear after listening to the Browns’ new decision-makers this week: They want to do something about the team’s quarterback situation.

Both President Mike Holmgren and General Manager Tom Heckert expressed, um, amazement that the Browns could win four games at the end of the year while averaging 91 yards passing.

Browns lose to Chargers, 30-23Tracy Boulian / The Plain DealerThe sub-standard numbers produced by Brady Quinn (above) and Derek Anderson provided a source of amazement for new GM Tom Heckert in his introductory press conference this week.Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson each quarterbacked the team to two wins in the winning streak. Their combined totals for the four games was 31 completions in 65 attempts for 363 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. That equates to a passer rating of 50.99 in a league where 80.0 is considered average.

“Normally you can’t win that way,” said Holmgren, who made his reputation as a quarterback guru. “You can have the greatest running game in the world and play good defense, but if you only throw six balls a game you are not going to win. We’ve got to look at that.”

A quick look at the NFL QB landscape indicates that there could be three primary targets: Matt Hasselbeck, Donovan McNabb and Kevin Kolb.

Unfortunately, new Seattle head coach Pete Carroll claims that Hasselback’s job is safe in Seattle. And, just like every other year, nobody really knows what is going to happen with McNabb but I would bet he’ll be back.

Other possibilities would include A.J. Feeley, Michael Vick, Kellen Clemens, Josh McCown, and Trent Edwards. All of which combined don’t equal a real qaurterback…