CLEVELAND — Quarterback Brian Hoyer admitted the rumblings of dysfunction permeating Browns headquarters have caught his attention and could damage his desire to re-sign with his hometown team.
Scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on March 10, Hoyer is well aware of the reports about Browns general manager Ray Farmer text messaging comments about play calls from the press box to the sideline this past season and calling or texting former quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains in the coaches’ booth.
The NFL is investigating the text scandal because it would be a violation of league rules prohibiting electronic communication during games. A suspension of Farmer lasting as many as three or four games, a fine and the loss of a draft pick, probably in the middle rounds, are the penalties the Browns could receive, according to a report Cleveland.com published last week.
“It obviously will [affect my decision], I think,” Hoyer said Saturday during an appearance at the Great Big Home and Garden Show at the I-X Center. “I’m going to make the best decision possible. To read the stories and see what’s going on, I’m just as interested as you guys are to see where that comes out, especially because when you read it, it has to deal with the quarterback situation and play calling. That’s something that could affect how I feel about it.”
The texting is believed to be among the reasons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan resigned Jan. 8 with two years left on his contract and after just his first season with the Browns. Now he’s the offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons. The Browns fired Loggains the same week Shanahan left. Now he’s the quarterbacks coach of the Chicago Bears.
Hoyer, who went 7-6 as the Browns’ starting quarterback last season before being benched in favor of Johnny Manziel during a slump and watching the team finish 7-9, conceded he knew Shanahan and Loggains were disgruntled.
“I think what happened at the end of the season speaks for itself with Kyle and Dowell,” Hoyer said. “I mean, you don’t just leave a job to leave. So to say that I was unaware, I think I’d be lying to you.
“[Shanahan] didn’t confide in me. Sometimes you can read people, and you can get a feel for how things are going. It’s a long season and you spend a lot of hours together, so I think the actions speak for themselves.”
But Hoyer still isn’t ready to rule out a return to the Browns.
“The dust will all settle at some point,” Hoyer said. “And for me, free agency is still a month away, so a lot can happen from now and then. And from my standpoint, you just keep all options open.
“Would it be convenient for me to come back? Yeah. But I don’t want to make one of the biggest decisions in my life based off of convenience. So obviously being from here, I was here last year, I love my teammates, I love the coaches, yeah, it’s definitely up on the top of the list [of places I’d like to be]. At the same point, I want to make sure I make the best decision for me at this point in my career and my family.”
Organizational chaos aside, Hoyer is most concerned about getting a real chance to compete for a starting job. He has “no doubt” a team will give him that.
“I feel like 16 starts, I’ve shown that I can be a winning quarterback in this league,” said Hoyer, who’s 10-7 as an NFL starter, including 10-6 with the Browns. “Especially at this point in my career, I want to go somewhere, whether it’s here or wherever it might be, that I’m going to be able to have a chance to be on the field.”
A few weeks ago, Hoyer’s agent, Joe Linta, told the Beacon Journal the Browns had recently reached out and expressed interest in re-signing Hoyer. Linta said he expected Hoyer to meet with Farmer, coach Mike Pettine and new offensive coordinator John DeFilippo, and as long as Hoyer was told he would receive a legitimate shot to compete for a starting job, he would give Linta the go-ahead to attempt to start contract negotiations with the Browns, likely in late February at the NFL Scouting Combine.
So far, Hoyer said he has only met with DeFilippo. He said he’s talked to Pettine a few times and plans to meet with him. He said Farmer texted him about meeting, but a gathering has yet to materialize. Hoyer said he hopes it does.
In the meantime, Hoyer liked what he heard from DeFilippo, the Oakland Raiders’ quarterbacks coach the past three years.
“With the decision that I’m going to have to make, I want to make the most informed decision, so I wanted to sit down, meet with [DeFilippo], try to get a feel for the type of person he is, and I really liked him,” Hoyer said. “High-energy, you can tell he’s excited to be here, and from our time together. I really came away impressed as far as the person that he is. So it’ll be interesting to see how things play out, if I get a chance to work with him.”
Hoyer acknowledged he grew close to Shanahan and Loggains and credits them with helping him start last season 7-4, so his relationships with their replacements will influence his decision.
The Browns are in the process of hiring Kevin O’Connell as their new quarterbacks coach. In 2009, O’Connell lost a competition against Hoyer to serve as Tom Brady’s backup with the New England Patriots, but Hoyer dismissed the notion that there’s any awkwardness between them that could dissuade him from returning.
“There’s no animosity from me towards him,” Hoyer said. “And he was here last year in training camp I think for a three- or four-day span where he was just kind of observing and stuff, and we had a great relationship then.
“Everything was fine between he and I. So if anything, it’s someone I’m familiar with.”
Hoyer reiterated the possibility of being pitted against Manziel, who checked into a rehabilitation clinic Jan. 28, in another competition for a starting job wouldn’t deter him from re-signing.
“It’s something I’ve already done once,” Hoyer said. “I’m not afraid of doing it twice.”
Hoyer stopped short of declaring he would like to test the open market. He said he wouldn’t necessarily need to re-sign with the Browns by March 10 to return to Cleveland.
“My heart is here,” Hoyer said. “And regardless if I’m here or not, I want to see the Cleveland Browns do well.”
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