In his offseason preview of the New England Patriots, Gregg Rosenthal made the point that a trade of backup quarterback Ryan Mallett to the Cleveland Browns might be too obvious to actually happen. The Plain Dealer's Mary Kay Cabot agrees, reporting that the Browns are not expected to pursue Mallett this offseason. New Browns vice president of player personnel Michael Lombardi is on the record as an admirer of Patriots QB Ryan Mallett, reportedly grading him as the top quarterback in the 2011 draft clbutt. There are couple of roadblocks to a potential trade, however. While ESPNBoston.com suggests the Patriots would move Mallett for a second-round pick "in a heartbeat," the Browns forfeited that selection by taking Josh Gordon in last summer's supplemental draft. Source: NFL.com
Agreed, the only big question with him ever was his off-field issues, and he's been quiet in New England. I dont have any idea how he's been doing as a player he's been so quiet. He's been in the perfect situation, being able to sit on a good team behind an all time great and learn, without the immediate pressure for success playing on a really bad team while under heavy media scrutiny that IMO really screws up a lot of highly drafted QB's, especially those with "between the ears" issues.
If any team is looking to spend a first round pick on a QB other than Geno, they should be calling the Pats about Mallett first.