Cleveland Browns general manager John Dorsey denied claims he said to stay away from UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen in the 2018 NFL Draft.
According to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, Dorsey told reporters at the Senior Bowl Tuesday that such statements were erroneous.
“It’s fake news because first off I’ve never talked to the kid,” Dorsey said. “I’ve never talked to anybody about the kid. If you remember right, I was unemployed a couple of weeks ago. I’m finally back in this thing. That’s fake news to me.”
The original statement came from Tony Pauline of DraftAnalyst.com. The report stated Dorsey was one of at least two general managers saying “stay away” from Rosen. It also indicated Dorsey made the statements before becoming general manager of the Browns in early December.
“As the combine moves along and we get closer to this process, I’ll get a chance to talk with him,” Dorsey said. “And he’ll be able to get a chance to talk with us. At the end of the day, is he a good player? Yeah. Those things don’t bother me. They usually take care of themselves. You know what? Let’s talk like grown men and see what happens.
The Browns have two picks in the top five of the NFL Draft and have lacked a stable franchise quarterback for most of their existence in Cleveland upon returning to the city as an expansion team in 1999. Rosen, USC’s Sam Darnold, Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield and Wyoming’s Josh Allen could all potentially be targets for the Browns with their early picks if they want to add another rookie quarterback to the mix.
