Soon to be first round pick Marcus Mariota has been training with the Cleveland Browns soon to be quarterbacks coach Kevin O’Connell, and NFL executives are not happy about it. The Browns are apparently exploiting a loophole by having O’Connell train with Mariota, while they are not expected to officially hire him until after the NFL combine. This comes at a time when the Browns are already under scrutiny for a texting scandal.
“So let me get this straight,” a high-level executive with another team told PFT on Wednesday morning. “The Browns can have their quarterbacks coach in waiting work with a player, teach him the entire offense, etc., but we can’t even talk to any potential draft pick until the Combine per league rules? Something is wrong here.”
While the Browns have yet to publicly acknowledge that O’Connell will be getting the job, it has been widely reported that O’Connell will be getting the job. NFL Media, partially owned by the Browns, has reported that the Browns will hire O’Connell — and the Browns have never refuted it.’
I don’t think other teams have too much to worry about, Mariota would only be hurting himself if he was forcing his way to Cleveland.