It’s been all quiet on the Weeden front this off-season

Shawn Lauvao and Mitchell Schwartz block for Brandon Weeden

You know who hasn’t had their name drug through the mud all that much this off-season? How about Cleveland Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden?

It’s kind of a different look for anyone who has the letters Q and B next to his name on the Cleveland Browns roster over the last decade. It’s been an even stranger phenomenon for the guy who also sits atop the depth chart. Derek Anderson coming off of his 2007 performance had it pretty easy. Colt McCoy coming into his first full year as starter had his name in hopeful, fluffy, hazy white clouds in most corners of the Internet. In an off-season where the Browns unloaded the aforementioned McCoy, signed Jason Campbell, and eventually Brian Hoyer, Brandon Weeden’s kind of skated through rather quietly.

Maybe it’s the plethora of negative storylines that have dominated the headlines from Jimmy Haslam’s corporate troubles to unnecessary controversies with Weeden’s presumptive targets making them targets for fan anger over the NBA finals. I’m sure those negative comparison’s haven’t hurt Weeden’s ability to keep this a quiet off-season. But, maybe it’s the maturity of a guy who spent very little time on Twitter other than to promote charities and talk about raising money for those affected by tornadoes in Oklahoma. 

None of this means that Brandon Weeden will be able to overcome all the question marks surrounding his future. He’s still an old(er) NFL sophomore who has much to prove after an up and down rookie year marked by batted down balls and inconsistency. Still, there’s this sense that under new head coach Rob Chudzinski and Norv Turner that there just might be some room for growth for him this season, even with the loss of one of his biggest targets, Josh Gordon, for the first two games.

Most importantly though, the lack of talk about Weeden buys him time in an off-season that could have had a much more negative effect on him and his preparation. He sailed through OTAs as he should have. The potential controversy at the position was alleviated and remained a non-issue in the first off-season program under Rob Chudzinski and Norv Turner. For example, do you remember reading any info about passes thrown by Brian Hoyer? I can’t remember much, thank goodness.

I hope Weeden has enjoyed the reprieve. It certainly won’t last once training camp is open and the public starts to see (or at least hear about) all his throws in situational drills and seven on sevens. But for now, it’s been pleasant, quiet and not at all a negative situation as Weeden looks to bring relevance back to the Cleveland Browns quarterback position.

Now, if only the Cleveland Browns ownership situation could have remained this quiet and uneventful…