New Browns coach Hue Jackson told NFL Network Sunday that the Browns had a “great meeting” with free agent quarterback Robert Griffin, who Jackson called “a tremendous talent and a great young man.”
Griffin visited the Browns Friday and Saturday, and the Browns have been making calls as part of what seems to be some extensive research they’re doing on Griffin.
“He’s a very talented performer,” Jackson said of Griffin. “He had a lot of success early in Washington and then things just didn’t work out. Those things happen in the National Football League. But at the same time we are going through our process. We are going to be very diligent in what we are doing -- trying to make sure that we put the right quarterbacks on our football team and in that quarterback room. And that’s one of my biggest responsibilities and also one of our organization’s biggest responsibilities.”
As for 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who’s been linked to the Browns in one of those rumors that’s been lingering since the start of the league year but might not have any real substance to it, Jackson said, “I can’t comment on players on other teams. But it is where it is and eventually I think all those things will show itself.”
Jackson has said since he was hired that the Browns needed a franchise quarterback and would be aggressive in pursuing options, but there’s been no indication if their interest in Griffin or Kaepernick might lead to one of them joining the Browns. Griffin was released prior to the start of free agency, a few days before the Browns released Johnny Manziel.
The Browns have the No. 2 pick in this year’s draft, so they’ll presumably have their choice of quarterbacks there. Quarterbacks currently under contract with the Browns are Josh McCown, Austin Davis and Connor Shaw.