Sipe sad, Bolts glad about Browns plight

Good morning.

Our topics today are AFC West quarterbacks and Chargers draft dynamics, our launching point Brian Sipe talking about his former NFL team, the chronically meandering Cleveland Browns

“Oh, boy,” Sipe told the Blog, “I can’t believe we’re back in the draft after a quarterback. It’s a shame, let me just put it that way.”

Sipe knows something about being a Browns quarterback because he used to be one.

With all the fanfare of a 13th-round draft pick, the Don Coryell-trained Sipe went from San Diego State to the Browns in 1972. Sipe was, unlike nearly all the highly drafted quarterbacks who went to Cleveland in decades to follow, reliable both on and off the field.

The same cannot be said for the troubled Johnny Manziel, whose impending release could topple dominos that branch into San Diego’s draft room this April.

Having whiffed on Manziel, the No. 22 pick of 2014 who will join Brandon Weeden, Colt McCoy, Brady Quinn, Charlie Frye and Tim Couch as underachieving Browns draftees/quarterbacks, post-1998, the Browns seek a franchise quarterback.

Cleveland using the second pick of the draft on a quarterback would thrill the Chargers, who hold the No. 3 pick.

Or, the Browns could try to swing a trade or sign a free agent.

The intrigue has already started, with Pete King dropping this nugget into his MMQB report Monday.

I think one little bit of free-agency buzz I heard here is the Broncos won’t be surprised if Browns coach Hue Jackson does more than just sniff around Brock Osweiler. Cleveland is in an interesting spot, picking second in the first round with a cadre of interesting but not lock college quarterbacks on the board. They’re surely not prepared to know what they’ll do a month from now in free-agency, but if Jackson is shaky on Jared Goff and Paxton Lynch and Carson Wentz, maybe Cleveland will look at a reasonably priced (or so you would think) prospect like Osweiler

Osweiler, who filled in for Peyton Manning late this past season, is now eligible for free agency.

If the Browns made him an offer too enriching too refuse, his departure would strip the Broncos of the quarterback they groomed to replace Manning.

At 39 and coming off a Super Bowl victory, Manning may opt to retire.

If he does -- and March 8 is when his 2016 salary would become guaranteed -- the Broncos stand to get $19 million in cap relief.

Think the Broncos could use a chunk of that money to keep Osweiler?

On the topic of paydays for AFC West passers, today is a lucrative day for Philip Rivers.

CBSSports.com’s Joel Correy reports that Rivers’ $16.5-million 2016 base salary, which was guaranteed for injury at signing, becomes fully guaranteed today.