The Tampa Bay Buccaneers hold the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, and Florida State sophomore Jameis Winston is quickly distinguishing himself as the top quarterback in this year's class. If the Bucs stand firm with the top selection and take Winston (or even Marcus Mariota of Oregon), that could put third-year quarterback Mike Glennon on the trade block, despite what Lovie Smith says.
It appears the Cleveland Browns are already on to that possibility. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reports, citing two league sources, that the Browns "have at least sniffed around on Glennon's potential availability."
Now, we're not advocating a "do as the Browns do" strategy in many cases, but a quarterback is a quarterback, and until the Buffalo Bills have acquired two, we're putting the microscope to anything and everything, whimsical as some scenarios may be.
Glennon was selected in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft, 57 spots after the Bills selected EJ Manuel with the No. 16 overall pick. If the numbers after two seasons are any indication, the Bills might want a do-over.
Through 19 appearances in two seasons, Glennon has completed 58.8 percent of his passes for 4,025 passing yards with 29 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. Manuel, meanwhile sports a similar completion percentage through 14 starts, but only has 2,810 yards with 16 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Their careers have otherwise run eerily parallel thus far. Both quarterbacks were thrust into more work than they were probably ready for in their rookie seasons, and both were benched early in their sophomore campaigns for veterans.
Now, it seems that both are on hold until their respective teams can exhaust all options in finding a better starting option. Would both quarterbacks benefit from an open competition, with no true favorite to start the offseason? More importantly, would Glennon offer a better starting option than Manuel in the short term, and/or a potential answer at the position in the long term?
It's also worth debating whether or not the gap between Glennon and Manuel is large enough to warrant swinging a trade for him, especially if there's competition to drive up the price. But acquiring him offers a few perks that you won't find on the open market: Glennon is a younger and cheaper option than the Bills will find in free agency, and he's under contract for less than a $1 million against the salary cap in 2015 and 2016. That means they can build that offensive line they need so badly via free agency, and still have room for Jerry Hughes without having to pay some free agent quarterback the higher price it could take to outbid - you guessed it - the Browns.
Of course, acquiring Glennon at such a salary has a cost of its own: a draft pick. ESPN's Adam Caplan suggested the Buccaneers might get as much as a third-round draft pick for Glennon. If Buffalo did outbid those pesky Browns and trade a pick, the Bills would essentially pass on a look at a second-tier quarterback in this year's draft class in exchange for two years of Glennon on the cheap.
If the Buccaneers are interested in trading Glennon and start fielding offers, should the Bills enter the fray? At what point do you draw the line on compensation in a potential trade? Would you prefer that the Bills pursue Glennon to other rumored trade prospects we've discussed, like Sam Bradford?