GM Dorsey willing to trade No. 1 draft pick

Browns General Manager John Dorsey, owner of the first and fourth pick in the first round of the National Football League draft next month, is willing to trade if another team is willing to pay a steep enough price.

Dorsey wouldn’t say what ransom he would ask for the top pick, but, speaking to reporters at the Combine in Indianapolis on March 1, he did say he isn’t locked in on taking a quarterback No. 1 overall.

“There are a lot of things I can do at No. 1, and not just get a quarterback,” Dorsey said during his 13 minutes at the podium in Lucas Oil Stadium. “My door is wide open. If somebody wants to come up and talk to me about a trade, I’m willing to trade.

“Any good GM wants to field calls from his peers, so why wouldn’t I? That’s why I say, ‘Guys, just give me a call. See what’s up.’”

The notion of trading the first pick runs contrary to the hope expressed a day earlier by Browns coach Hue Jackson, who still laments former Director of Football Operations Sashi Brown trading away the second pick in 2016 to Philadelphia. The Eagles made the move to draft Carson Wentz, the quarterback Jackson wanted. Instead, Brown continued to trade down in 2016 and 2017 before eventually drafting DeShone Kizer 52nd overall last year.

There is no standout in the 2018 draft like Wentz or Jared Goff, the quarterback chosen with the first pick two years ago, but Jackson does not want to give up the first pick. This does not mean that Dorsey and Jackson are at odds.

“Let’s draft players,” Jackson told reporters on Feb. 28 at the Combine. “Again, if it’s the right fit for us and it helps our football team, we’ll do whatever we feel is best and I think that’s important, too.”

Just as Jackson did, Dorsey wouldn’t reveal how his draft board is currently set regarding Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, Josh Rosen, Lamar Jackson and Baker Mayfield — the five players regarded as the top quarterbacks in the draft. He did say he was able to check the box for each quarterback’s hand size (Darnold — 9 3/8; Rosen — 9 7/8; Allen -10 1/8; Jackson — 9 ½; Mayfield — 9 ¼).

“I don’t think it’s one specific factor,” the Browns general manager said of what he looks for in a quarterback. “I think it’s the whole encompassing (quality) of the person’s ability to play the game.

“Can he lead men? We met with one (unidentified) quarterback last night. We’re going to meet with all of them here in the next couple days. I can’t wait. Then I can’t wait to watch them compete on the field on Saturday. If they don’t compete, then we’ll go watch them at their pro day.”

Dorsey isn’t closing the door on the quarterback he does draft starting in 2018, and that also goes against Jackson’s vision.

Because of injuries to Robert Griffin III and Josh McCown in the first two games of 2016, Jackson was forced to use 2016 rookie Cody Kessler. Kessler was 0-8 as a starter. Kizer was 0-15 as a rookie in 2017.

Jackson wants the Browns to sign a veteran quarterback when free agency opens on March 14 and wants to name a starter in the spring so practice time isn’t lost in a training camp battle.

“You don’t want it to be a competition,” Jackson said. “You want to know who the quarterback is and move forward, but sometimes that doesn’t play out that way.”

One of the first moves Dorsey made when he was hired as the Chiefs general manager in 2013 was trade with the 49ers for veteran quarterback Alex Smith. Dorsey moved up in the Chiefs’ draft last year to draft quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Despite that, Smith started for the Chiefs in 2017.

“There have been young quarterbacks — I know one for example in the AFC South (Deshaun Watson) — I thought he did a really nice job when he stepped in there,” Dorsey said. “I think it’s a case-by-case basis year in and year out. There have been other young quarterbacks that have stepped in and made that transition.”

“Everybody wants to say, ‘Let the young guy sit there, understand the game, understand what professionalism is all about, understand the speed of the defense.’ Those are hypotheticals. It’s a caseby-case basis.”

Dorsey said he expects “exponential improvement” from Kizer in Kizer’s second year.

Speaking at the NFL Scouting Combine, Browns GM John Dorsey said he is not locked in on a quarterback at No. 1 and would entertain trade offers from other teams.