'Hard to Win' With Quinn and Anderson, Holmgren Says

BEREA, Ohio -- Why did the Browns trade Brady Quinn, a former first-round draft pick and one-time quarterback of the future?

Because, according to team president Mike Holmgren, the team did not believe it could win with Quinn or Derek Anderson based on the way they played in 2009.

"When I watched film of last season, which is what I had to go on, it looked like they were struggling a little," Holmgren said at a Monday news conference. "I've told you this, and I'll say it again: When your quarterbacks play kind of the way they played -- forget about the reasons why, you can come up with a million reasons why -- when they play the way they played, it's pretty hard to win games in this league. I just felt like I wasn't going to be doing my job if I didn't attack that problem.

"That situation, not problem. That situation.''

The Browns had a tumultuous 2009, losing 11 of their first 12 games, some by embarrassing margins. But neither quarterback played well. Quinn completed 53.1 percent of his throws for a 67.2 rating, and Anderson completed 44.5 percent for a 47.2 rating. There are many in the league who believe that a more accurate reading of Quinn should come from his play in 2008, when the Browns scored 59 points in his two starts. But Holmgren said he did not go back further than 2009 in his study.

Sunday, he traded Quinn and another former first-round pick, linebacker Kamerion Wimbley.

"I understand they were chosen where they were for a reason, but maybe I look at things differently," Holmgren said, adding that sometimes a player like Quinn needs a fresh start.

Holmgren now will look to bolster the position in the draft, all but conceding that the Browns would use a combination of their 12 picks to try to trade up and acquire one of the top quarterbacks.

What does he think of Sam Bradford of Oklahoma? "I like Sam a lot," he said. "He's a fine player."

To acquire Bradford, the Browns might have to trade for the first-overall pick, currently held by St. Louis. To get Jimmy Clausen of Notre Dame, they might have to move as high as Washington's fourth pick. Holmgren conceded drafting one of the top quarterbacks would require a move up from the seventh pick, but there's also the possibility he could take a passer in the second or third round.

"I always like to get a quarterback in the draft regardless of where we pick him," Holmgren said.

The other fact that led to the trade of Quinn to Denver for two late-round picks and running back/fullback Peyton Hillis: Holmgren did not the team to go through another season with uncertainty at the position. "I don't think it's a healthy thing," he said.

Holmgren said the Browns were not sure they would trade Quinn until they signed Jake Delhomme, though they clearly were looking to upgrade. Holmgren said he talked to teams about a couple other quarterbacks -- presumably Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb and Kevin Kolb, or Seattle's Matt Hasselbeck -- but the price was too high. The Browns were surprised Carolina released Delhomme, and acted quickly once he was on the market. They look at Delhomme's bad 2009 season -- a career-high 18 interceptions -- as an aberration.

"In Jake's career," Holmgren said, "he had a really fine career and a really bad last year. So did I. As a coach, I had a pretty good career and a really bad last year."

He admitted that judging Quinn on 12 starts was difficult, and probably not fair. But he added: "That isn't really enough [time], but you should have a pretty idea as a coaching staff kind of where this is headed, I would think."

Holmgren also admitted that the perception that he has turned the Browns quarterback spot over to a career backup in Seneca Wallace and a 35-year-old aging veteran in Delhomme "doesn't sound that great, does it?"

How does he address it?

"One, the career backup played for me," he said. "So I know him better than any quarterback that has been mentioned in this room. I think he is a potential starter. ...

"As far as the aging veteran, my own belief is this team needs an aging veteran. They need a guy who's going to grab everybody by the throat and say follow me through that door.

"I don't look at him as an aging veteran. I look at him as the leader that I wanted in the locker room, if in fact he's the starter."

Holmgren knows it was a tumultuous day for Browns fans -- he started the news conference by joking that GM Tom Heckert had made all decisions, and he was out of town -- but he hoped that in upcoming years things would not be so "frantic."

With Delhomme and Wallace, Holmgren said: "I think we have a great combination."