Colt McCoy or Brandon Weeden? Cleveland Has a Tough Decision to Make

By - Shayne Carnahan

Inquiring minds want to know if it will be Colt McCoy or rookie Brandon Weeden starting at quarterback for the Cleveland Browns in 2012?

Photo by: John Kuntz

When the Browns chose to draft Weeden in the first round of this year's draft, most assumed that McCoy's days as the starter were all but over.

And for good reason.

Now, the organization must decide which quarterback is a better fit for the team. Not only for next season, but long-term as well.

In the eyes of Cleveland general manager Tom Heckert and vice president Mike Holmgren, it almost has to be Brandon Weeden.

The writing has been on the wall for McCoy losing the starting gig, even before the Browns used their first-round pick to take Weeden.

For most of this offseason, Heckert and Holmgren were reluctant to name McCoy as the starter for 2012. Even after Cleveland passed on free-agent quarterbacks such as Matt Flynn and Alex Smith, it looked like a sure bet that the Browns would use one of their first picks in the draft on a player to take McCoy's job.

Cleveland gave McCoy plenty of time to show he was worthy of the starting job long term. But over two years and 21 starts, the former Texas standout simply wasn't good enough.

Weeden may be 29-years-old by the time the season gets started, but he's a better pocket passer than McCoy, and he also has a much stronger arm.

So to me, it's a lock that the Brandon Weeden era is officially underway in Cleveland.