Quinn’s agent won showdown with top brass

Neither Derek Anderson nor Charlie Frye took charge while the rookie held out.

By DAVE HACKENBERG

TOLEDO BLADE

CLEVELAND — Brady Quinn said his first exposure to the business of professional sports was “awful,” but it’s doubtful his agent would agree.

Tom Condon knew Quinn gained leverage with every tick of the clock, every flip of the calendar.

As one day of a Quinn holdout turned into another and eventually became 11, as one missed practice by the former Notre Dame quarterback became two and then five and then 16, neither incumbent QB Charlie Frye nor backup Derek Anderson was distinguishing himself in the Cleveland Browns camp.

Don’t misunderstand. Neither Frye nor Anderson was necessarily losing the job, but neither was winning it either. There was no separation taking place.

To pick a starter for last Saturday night’s exhibition opener against Kansas City, coach Romeo Crennel said he would flip a coin, or maybe have Frye and Anderson play “rock, paper, scissors.”

Rock and a hard place is more like it.

$30 million awaits

And Condon, the agent, knew it. So he bided his time, saw the lack of significant progress by either of the top quarterbacks in camp, watched the noose twist tighter around the Browns’ neck, and eventually worked out a five-year, $20.2 million deal for Quinn that will swell to as much as $30 million for the No. 22 overall draft pick if he meets playing time escalators.

If he meets them? He’ll chew them up and spit them out.

Frye started against the Chiefs, Anderson alternated with him by series through the rest of the first half, and Ken Dorsey played much of the second half of a 16-12 Cleveland win — Chris Barclay produced an 88-yard kickoff return with 1:36 left for the decisive points — while Quinn guarded a clipboard and may have heard the crowd chanting “Brady, Brady” as the evening grew late.

Browns fans will be quick to forget and forgive Quinn’s lengthy holdout. Heck, if not for forgetting and forgiving, being a Browns fan would be impossible. There wouldn’t be any.

Long shot to start

Quinn won’t start Saturday when the Detroit Lions come calling for another of these scrimmages at Cleveland Browns Stadium. He is a long shot to start in the regular-season opener here against Pittsburgh on Sept. 9.

But it won’t be long because the Browns are without any good or long-term options other than Quinn, who was drafted to be the starter at some point. It will surely be sooner than later.

Frye, the University of Akron product who is starting his third year in the NFL, teased Cleveland’s fans Saturday night much as he did in 13 starts last season.

He completed his usual high percentage (12 of 15) and showed both zip to the sidelines and a nice touch over the middle, but also made one dreadful pass and one bonehead decision.

The first, a poor throw that running back Jerome Harrison quit on behind the line of scrimmage, handed the Chiefs a touchdown.

The second came in the waning seconds of the first half with the Browns at the K.C. 5 with a first down and 12 seconds, but no timeouts, left.

Costly error

Frye took a short drop, found his receivers covered, scrambled out of the pocket, was tackled after a short gain, and the clock ran out. By not doing what should be automatic — throwing the ball away to stop the clock — Frye cost his team a chance to score.

The Browns can neither accept nor excuse freshman plays like that unless a freshman is making them. The offense was out-gained by 1,300 yards and outscored by 120 points last season.

If Frye shows no progress then new offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski and Crennel will have to pull the plug early and hand Quinn the job.

They’d rather he had the luxury of being an understudy, of sitting and watching and learning. But they won’t have that luxury unless something startling happens with Frye or Anderson, who did nothing of particular note vs. the Chiefs and the Browns open the season with a flurry of wins.

Don’t hold your breath for that.