Rumors and theories on AJ McCarron will be non-stop all offseason as we wait and see if the Bengals will deal their backup quarterback.
One team that makes a lot of sense as a trade partner for McCarron’s services is the Bengals’ in-state and in-division rival, the Cleveland Browns.
Peter King of the Monday Morning Quarterback wrote about the many quarterback moves that could take place this offseason and had a few things to say about the Bengals’ backup.
But if Jackson is lukewarm on the top collegians, he likes McCarron a lot (he coached him as a Bengal rookie), and can fall back on him. He’ll just have to overpay, because Cincinnati owner Mike Brown does not want to trade him. The Browns have the 33rd, 51st and 65th picks to play with if McCarron’s their man.
We know Hue Jackson liked McCarron when Jackson was the Bengals’ offensive coordinator and McCarron was the No. 2 thrown into the starting job when Andy Dalton went down with a broken thumb against the Steelers in Week 14 of the 2015 season. But, does Jackson like McCarron enough to go through with a trade with his former team to make McCarron the Browns’ quarterback of the future? The Browns do have two first round picks and the first pick in the second round to work with. So if Jackson and the Browns’ front office feel Mccarron is their future, long-term quarterback, Cleveland has the picks to set a trade into action.
King had more to say about McCarron, who we know is open to leaving the Bengals for a starting job in 2017.
McCarron wants to play somewhere, and he knows that Andy Dalton (three starts missed in six seasons) isn’t giving up the chair. He could be an interesting fallback guy for, say, Chicago if the Bears flunk out on their two or three top choices.
The Bears are another team that makes sense as a 2017 destination for McCarron. Chicago is in need of an upgrade at the quarterback position and seem ready to move on from Jay Cutler. From the Bengals’ perspective, it would be much more desirable to trade McCarron to an out-of-conference, and especially out-of-division team. Do we really need to face McCarron twice a year? I’d think not.
A McCarron trade seems highly possible this offseason. Now, it’s a matter of waiting to see what happens, while we also hear about and read a number of theories and possibilities.