Ryan Leaf is one of the more popular draft busts in NFL history. The highly-touted college quarterback prospect suffered a short and unsuccessful three-year stint with the San Diego Chargers after he was drafted second overall in 1998, and his career never recovered after landing in that horrible situation.
Leaf now wants to help another top QB on this year’s class from suffering the same fate as him, and he has a simple piece of advice for them: avoid going to the Cleveland Browns at all costs. Even if it means doing an “Eli Manning” and threaten not to play for them if they draft him.
"If I were Sam Darnold… I'm going to my agent and I'm saying figure out a way for me not to go to Cleveland." — @RyanDLeaf pic.twitter.com/OF1MLHOsDl
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) March 29, 2018
“I don’t want anybody to be a bust,” Leaf said. “I want them to be successful. And there is no evidence to show me that Cleveland is going to be successful. It’s a place where quarterbacks go to die. How many quarterbacks — 27 quarterbacks in the last 10 years? If I were Sam Darnold and I have this leverage right now and I know I’m going to be the first pick in the NFL Draft, I’m going to my agent and saying, ‘Figure out a way for me to not to go Cleveland. Eli Manning this for me.’”
No one will argue with Leaf that the Browns have had a horrific time when it comes to quarterbacks over the last decade. They have been the least successful franchise in the league during that span and the lack of a reliable quarterback has been a big reason why.
There isn’t much the Browns can do if Darnold does end up following Leaf’s advice and tries to engineer his way out of Cleveland. But that likely won’t stop the Browns from taking a look at the other top QBs in the class, and at least one of them probably won’t mind going to Cleveland if it meant going No. 1 overall.
Follow Us
Subscribe