By Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND, Ohio — A large number of media people and fans keep insisting the Browns have to cut or trade Colt McCoy.
Why? 
Because McCoy was the starter last year? Because a guy whose career record as a starter is 6-14 and he will "divide the locker room" if rookie Brendan Weeden takes his job?
Or because McCoy will be looking over Weeden's shoulder in practice?
No, he won't, unless McCoy is on a stepladder.
The fact is, watching McCoy and Weeden at the Browns' organized team activities, Weeden is the superior physical specimen. He is taller, wider and has the stronger, more accurate arm.
Anyone can see that, including McCoy and his teammates.
That's critical because players are bottom-line guys. They want to win and win now. If Weeden looks like the better player, they will want him to start -- regardless of how much they respect McCoy, or if they believe McCoy was not given a fair shot.
In pro sports, talent rules.
Is McCoy thrilled with being in camp, knowing the team is committed to Weeden?
Of course not.
Does he sense that, for all the talk of "competition" for the starting quarterback's job, it belongs to Weeden unless something drastic happens?
Yes, he does.
Does he like it?
Obviously not, but he handled questions about it professionally, trying very hard not to say anything controversial.
While he talked about earning a starting job as a high school and college quarterback, this is the first time in his life that McCoy knows someone else will take his spot in the lineup. That's never happened to him.
But it happens to most NFL quarterbacks at some point.
How many times has everyone from Derek Anderson to Frank Ryan to Rex Grossman to Ryan Fitzgerald to Kyle Orton to Vinnie Testaverde to Tim Couch been in and out of the lineup?
Yes, Tim Couch.
In 2002, the Browns were 9-7 and made the playoffs with Couch. But he was injured, and Kelly Holcomb had a huge playoff game during a loss in Pittsburgh. The next season, coach Butch Davis opened the year with Holcomb.
There was no outcry that Couch had to be traded. He stuck around, won the job back and eventually lost it again as his body was turned to raw meat after all the sacks and pounding of his early days with the Browns.
The rarity is the quarterback who starts and remains a starter for the same team for most of his career.
McCoy should realize that, just as he must know that no team was demanding his services -- or he would have been traded already.
So why should the Browns walk away from a 25-year-old quarterback who has started 20 games and should improve in his third season? The only reason to do so is if McCoy creates a distraction with his attitude, and that doesn't appear to be the case.
Besides, it's likely the backup will start some games -- no matter who opens at quarterback. Only once (Couch in 2001) did a Browns quarterback start all 16 games.
Yes, the Browns have Seneca Wallace, another veteran quarterback.
Weeden praised Wallace for being extremely helpful in the early days of camp, a good move for Wallace's career.
But if there is a choice between a 31-year-old Wallace making $3 million a year and McCoy at $550,000 -- remember, these contracts are not guaranteed -- why not go with McCoy? He is younger, cheaper and far more likely to take a step forward in his career than Wallace.
If McCoy is smart, he will "compete" for the starting job, embrace the backup role if that's his assignment, and the Browns would be wise to give him the chance to do so.
http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/blog/index.ssf/2012/05/good_backup_quarterbacks_are_v.html
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