(Cleveland’s Brian Hoyer, Update from The NFL Today)
JASON LA CANFORA:
“They could have had him signed long-term for very low-end starter money, even high in back-up money in the spring when last these sides talked. That is no longer the case. If they don’t get him extended in the next four-to-six weeks, I fully expect Hoyer to gamble on himself in free agency, a la Joe Flacco. He’s on pace for over 4,000 yards, thrown just one [interception], one of the best red-zone quarterbacks in the league. And he gets Josh Gordon, his best weapon, back from suspension next month. GMs I talked to believe he could get $8-12 million-a-year in the open market. If he keeps this up, maybe a little bit more.
Brian Hoyer has the Cleveland Browns at 2-2, with two exciting victories and two heartbreaking losses. Hoyer and his Browns could easily be 0-4 but they could also easily be 4-0. The Browns have lost leads in two losses by the combined deficit of five points. They’ve won by the combined total of three points.
More importantly, Brian Hoyer has led two remarkable comebacks: including a NFL record setter for a road team against Tennessee. The Brownies were down 28-3 before Hoyer brought ’em back and engineered a triumph.”
Through four games, Hoyer is completing 62.1 percent of his passes with 1,008 yards and six touchdowns to just one interception. In three games played before tearing his ACL in 2013, Brian Hoyer showed potential.
Manziel-Mania forced everyone to discount what Hoyer was on his way to doing last season- winning games for the Browns.
He deserved to be the starter going into 2014, but head coach Mike Pettine didn’t guarantee anything. Hoyer put himself in a bad spot with a sub-par pre-season but Manziel did nothing to earn the job either And each week, Brian Hoyer is silencing all of those who want Manziel to get his chance in the NFL- that includes the majority of Browns fans.
Before the season, the Browns listed Manziel’s jersey and not Hoyer’s. All offseason long, Hoyer received little respect, although Pettine deserves credit for handling the “quarterback competition.” Unlike his former boss, Rex Ryan, Pettine was able to downplay the impact of a college superstar coming in and causing a major distraction.
Pettine stuck with the Michigan State grad, and it’s paying dividends. This Browns season has been exciting, even with two losses. Because those two losses were competitive and the Browns have shown they are no push-over through the first quarter of their season. By stringing along some more wins, they will put themselves in position to contend for a playoff berth when Josh Gordon makes his highly anticipated return. Don’t forget, they should have an additional first round draft pick from a previous trade.
The talk of Manziel is dying down, and now it should be dead after this past weekend. In only his 7th NFL season, his first as a starter, it’s hard to argue that Brian Hoyer couldn’t become the long-term solution with the Browns. The former Spartans signal caller must stay healthy and continue to improve each week, because the team is blossoming at so many of its positions.
From Lakewood, Ohio, Brian Hoyer is living the dream as the starting quarterback for his hometown team. This is a story that should be rooted for in the NFL, but it’s being overlooked because that Manziel character is casting a could over what Hoyer is accomplishing.
Most recently- the largest comeback by a road team in NFL history.
The post Browns QB Brian Hoyer will get $8-12m per year in open market appeared first on The Sports Bank.Net.