- The Browns finished the season with three different quarterbacks who started at least three games and five who took snaps during an injury-filled, frustrating season at arguably the most important position on the field.
Browns coach Hue Jackson, executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown and chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta were unanimous in their belief Monday at the Browns' end-of-year press conference that figuring out the quarterback position is tantamount in building a franchise the way the Browns want to build theirs. They were similarly on the same page when it came to where the Browns are at in determining whether or not that quarterback is on the current roster and how they'll go about finding one if he's not.
"We haven't established 'the guy' at the position so we are going to look at all options, and we will continue to work to develop the guys that we have on our roster," Brown said. We still have to … sit down with our coaching staff and go through our end-of-season evaluation, go back and look at the tape and have discussions internally to see where all the guys sit on our roster right now, but we know we need better from that position, as well as others that support that position."
Robert Griffin III opened and closed the season as the Browns starting quarterback but was sidelined with an injured shoulder that kept him off the field for 10 games. He completed 59 percent of his passes for 886 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions and added 190 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Rookie Cody Kessler started eight games and led the team with 1,380 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions. Veteran Josh McCown threw for 1,100 yards, six touchdowns and six interceptions in three starts.
The Browns have more than two months before free agency opens and another month-plus before they're on the clock with the first overall pick and the 12th pick in the 2017 draft.
"I think there is still work to do that way, and I am going to have a lot of internal discussions with these two guys here and Andrew (Berry) so that we come up and make the right decision for our organization as we move forward," Jackson said.
- Brown said he would prefer to extend the contracts of wide receiver Terrelle Pryor Sr. and linebacker Jamie Collins Sr. rather than use the franchise tag on one of them.
Both players are set to be free agents at the start of the new league year March 9.
When a player receives the franchise tag, he is essentially signed to a one-year, fully guaranteed deal that pays no less than the average of the top five salaries at the player's position or 120 percent of the player's previous year's salary, whichever is greater. The Browns haven't used the franchise tag since 2012, when they placed it on kicker Phil Dawson for a second consecutive year.
Collins, who was acquired in a midseason trade from the Patriots, compiled 69 tackles and two sacks in eight games with the Browns. Pryor, in his first full season as a wide receiver, led the team in all receiving categories and cleared 1,000 yards with his 77th and final catch of the year Sunday.
- Jackson said he would literally jump at the opportunity to coach in the 2017 Senior Bowl if the opportunity presented itself.
Brown said he had yet to hear from the annual bowl game, which draws more than 100 of the top senior prospects to Mobile, Alabama, for a week of practices and exhibition game. Jacksonville and Dallas, which held the third and fourth overall picks respectively in last year's draft, provided the coaching staffs for last year's game.
Senior Bowl practices begin Jan. 24 and the game is set for Jan. 28.
- While praising the work of his coaching staff, Jackson said he's got to "look at it all" when he was asked about the possibility of changes to the group during the offseason.
"Our staff worked extremely hard this year, but I think as being one of the leaders with these men here, we have to go back and look at it all and see how we can get better," Jackson said. "That is truly our charge – how can we get this organization better in all areas as we move forward?"
- Brown said there are no plans to add any high-ranking members to the team's personnel department, a decision owner Jimmy Haslam said Sunday would fall on Brown and his group if one was desired.
"We are going to look to add some players that are talented," Brown said. "Other than that on the personnel staffing side, we feel good about our group. (Vice President of Player Personnel) Andrew (Berry), the pro department and the college department have done a good job this year. We will continue to work hard through this offseason with our coaching staff to put some more young talent on this roster."
That was music to Jackson's ears.
"I assure you, us three sitting here, are totally in lock step in trying to get this solved for everybody involved," Jackson said.
