Browns fans may not know this, but there’s a quarterback competition in camp this year. Yes, it’s a story that’s been printed more than the Gutenberg Bible.

So for anyone who’s been in a coma while incarcerated on Saturn the past few months, we’ll discuss it here. But as we commonly do, we’ll be exploring front office mechanics to glean insight as to what would make the most sense.

I explained here what could’ve been done with the QB room if Cleveland’s brass were legitimately trying to win games this season. But because the Haslams’ public accountability tour, whereby ownership took responsibility for the Deshaun Watson fiasco, came across like a political campaign spinning cover for upper-floor decision makers to keep their positions if 2025 mimics the bumbling, teenage nut tap of a season last year was, it suggests they’re already laying the groundwork to explain why the runway should continue to be extended for the current regime.

It should be pointed out that being accountable ought to be commended; it’s worthy of acknowledgement in any walk of life. But when it finally arrives at its own concert — late and unapologetic for the protracted, unexplained absence — and materializes only after a conspicuous period of restless silence during which ticket-buying fans waited unsettled and dissatisfied far beyond a reasonable timeframe, the eventual announcement addressing the festering circumstance that became so gangrenous it amputated itself in lieu of appropriate, timely intervention by those whose responsibility it was, rings with the sincerity and forthrightness of an unregenerate toddler admitting it wasn’t a band of shapeshifting aliens that wrote with crayon all over his bedroom wall only after a week of no TV and no dessert. There’s more to it than a sudden burst of genuine earnestness.

All of that tells us at least two things. The organization has reset its timeline. And winning is not the most significant objective this season.

How will that affect the way they handle their four-man, royal rumble QB battle? We’ll wrap that up right here in Part 2.

—@PoisonPill4