GM Dorsey not showing his hand on Browns’ pick

INDIANAPOLIS – Let the guessing games commence.

John Dorsey, the latest “new GM” of the Cleveland Browns, is on the clock with the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft. But despite widespread expectation that another new quarterback will be pegged, now is not the time for any grand declarations. Instead, as Dorsey fielded a battery of leading questions during a media session at the NFL scouting combine Thursday, he danced.

“There’s a lot of things I can do at No. 1 and not just get a quarterback,” he insisted. “My door is wide open if someone wants to come up and talk to me about a trade.”

This is called NFL poker. When you have the top pick, the phone lines — or text messages — burn.

Two years ago, the Los Angeles Rams gave up a bundle to the Tennessee Titans in order to draft their franchise quarterback, Jared Goff. Sometimes, trade partners do even crazier things. Remember Mike Ditka, trading his entire draft and moving up to select Ricky Williams? Or way back in the day, when Ollie Matson was dealt for nine players? Cleveland’s previous regime dealt the No. 2 pick two years ago, forgoing the opportunity to pick Carson Wentz.

“Any good GM wants to field phone calls from his peers,” Dorsey said.

“Why wouldn’t I? That’s why I say, ‘Just give me a call and see what’s up.’ ”

Yeah, but Dorsey and Hue Jackson, the coach who’s gone 1-31 the past two seasons, must already have their pecking order in assessing the Los Angelesbased quarterbacks, Southern California’s Sam Darnold and UCLA’s Josh Rosen. And they’ve surely seen the tape on Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield and Wyoming’s Josh Allen.

“You’ll find out on draft day,” Dorsey said. “We bounce things back and forth, but they could change after the combine. It could change after pro day. It’s an evolving thing. It doesn’t matter until that draft board is set the day of the draft.”

Fair enough. It’s too early to set anything in stone, especially while dangling the top pick as trade bait.

But it’s also fair to wonder whether the Browns, who passed on DeShaun Watson and Wentz the past two years, would pull off a shocker and take Penn State running back Saquon Barkley at

No.1. After all, despite the premium on quarterbacks, Barkley is arguably the best prospect available.

There were no clues from Dorsey. When asked about Barkley, he shut it down rather quickly. “Good football player,” he said. No elaboration. Hmmm.

The Browns have the fourth pick, too, and three second-rounders. Including their selection at the top of the third round, they have six of the first 65 picks, including four in the first 35 slots.

The collection of high picks (and 12 overall) provides so much ammunition for maneuvering, if not just simply hitting on the choices. Add to that the most salary cap room in the NFL (more than $111 million under a projected

$180 million cap, according to Spotrac.com), and there are no excuses for the Browns not to be aggressive this offseason.

“I have one single responsibility: to awaken a sleeping giant,” Dorsey told USA TODAY.

Yet for long-suffering Browns followers, it must feel like Groundhog Day. Here they go again, with another new brain trust, talking about the need for a franchise quarterback. Dorsey marks the franchise’s seventh GM in the past decade.

“I feel the frustration,” he told USA TODAY. “I feel it from the fan base. You feel it, and it’s real. And they have a right to be cynical.”

And with the top pick in the draft, Dorsey has the right to be coy.