Browns Were "Never" Taking a QB With the #2 Pick: Trying to Save Face or the Truth?

Less than a week after the St. Louis Rams traded up in the draft to select Cal QB Jared Goff 1st overall, here comes spin (or truth?) from the forlorn Cleveland Browns, who are picking 2nd. This is what ESPN’s Adam Schefter said on the Ross Tucker podcast about Cleveland’s options at 2:

"As Schefter tells it, Cleveland’s new brass plans to construct its supporting-cast players before taking the dive on a potential franchise quarterback. Schefter mentioned the Eagles, 49ers, and Jets as potential trade partners for the No. 2. With Eagles HC Doug Pederson fawning over Carson Wentz once again on Monday, that trade pairing makes almost too much sense to actually happen."

Before I attempt to take a victory lap for saying for the last few weeks the Browns wouldn’t draft a QB 2nd, which one of these do you believe?

1. This is spin to the Rams deal. The Browns are peeved they won’t get Jared Goff, because the Rams are taking him, so they’re saving face.
2. The Browns never wanted a QB 2nd. The team has the weakest roster in the NFL, so why take a QB when you don’t have a defense or WRs and the offensive line is bad? They need everything, so why damage a young QB this early in his career by thrusting him into a spot where he can’t win?
3. The Browns are lying. They still want a QB 2nd, and it’ll be Carson Wentz.

I also remain very skeptical of the Eagles/49ers/Jets trading up to #2 to draft a QB. None of those teams currently have a franchise QB. But is Carson Wentz an upgrade in the near-term for any of those teams? Two of those teams have brand new coaches. In an era where coaches get 2-3 years and then are given the boot, which of those teams is taking a chance on a project QB with this little experience?

Also, a reminder: TRADING UP TO DRAFT A QB DOES NOT WORK. We’ve been over this. It doesn’t work.

So what are the Browns doing? The analytics crowd will surely want to trade the pick, but who is dumb enough to move up for Wentz? I don’t have much faith in Trent Baalke, and I have none in Howie Roseman, so maybe one of them pulls the trigger and then their team’s fanbase pulls their hair out?

Lastly, it seems like Schefter has backed off this tweet from late March: