Browns coach Hue Jackson plans to let QB Brock Osweiler compete for job

PHOENIX — The Cleveland Browns acquired quarterback Brock Osweiler in a salary dump deal.

But although several reports emerged suggesting the franchise was looking to move or even release Osweiler shortly after the trade with the Houston Texans was finalized earlier this month, Cleveland head coach Hue Jackson offered the most definitive statement about the quarterback’s future Tuesday at the NFL's annual league meetings.

“I do know that he’s on our team now, today,” Jackson said. “And when the 17th of April comes, he’ll be in the building, and we’ll treat him and coach him just like he’s one of ours — as I’ve said — until he’s not. I think that’s the way you have to go into this. I’m the coach. I’ve got to take the players and help them be the best they can become.”

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In the press release the Browns issued after the trade, Osweiler’s name was the 46th word in the statement. It clearly indicated he was not the prize from the transaction, but rather a 2018 second-round pick that Houston included so the Browns would absorb Osweiler’s guaranteed salary of $16 million in 2017.

But Jackson said his team would at least give Osweiler the chance to compete with Kevin Hogan and Cody Kessler, the other quarterbacks on Cleveland's roster.

“I just don’t think that would be fair,” Jackson said. “Here’s a guy who’s a young quarterback who is looking for an opportunity to compete and play, and I think I owe him that. The coaching owes him that until he’s not part of our organization. I think that’s how we want to do business.”

Cleveland holds the first and 12th selections in the NFL draft. Jackson said his evaluation of the quarterback class “is in progress, but is not finished yet." He confirmed that he and the Browns plan to hold private workouts with several passers, including North Carolina’s Mitchell Trubisky and Clemson’s Deshaun Watson.

“Until we have the guy that we feel comfortable with in being the face of our franchise and play quarterback the way we want him to play, we’re going to keep searching,” Jackson said.

“That doesn’t mean you’re going to always get it. We’re going to keep on trying until we can get that guy. But if we can’t, we have to continue to coach the guys that we have.”

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Follow Lorenzo Reyes on Twitter @LorenzoGReyes

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