NFL insider Jason La Canfora reports today that while the Browns haven’t discussed a contract recently, Brian Hoyer will be thinking about Andy Dalton’s contract if and when talks resume.

The Cleveland native would love to stay there, all things being equal, but rather than sign a deal for backup money before the season, when he was still coming back from a season-ending ACL injury, he chose to gamble on himself, and it has proven to be sage thus far.

And if Brian Hoyer plays out this season as he has and wants Andy Dalton money, he’ll have earned it. Plus, as I’m going to show you it’s kind of a win-win for the Browns too.

There’s been a lot of talk about Andy Dalton’s contract and it drew some initial scorn around the league because the continued, fanciful way that these NFL deals are reported.

“ANDY DALTON GOT SIX YEARS AND $115 MILLION DOLLARS!!!” That’s almost $20 million per season!

Not really. Once all the details came out, we all realized that Andy Dalton’s contract was essentially a balloon payment of $17.5 million this year with a cap hit of just over $9 million in each of the first two years of the deal. Assuming the Bengals keep him for the second year of the deal, Dalton will have made put just about $25 million in his pocket before taxes for two seasons’ work. The Bengals will have had a starting quarterback for $12.5 million per season. Now you may not like Dalton, but if you do think he’s at least an NFL starter of any quality, that’s just not that much money.

By year three, Dalton’s salary boosts to $10.5 million and all of a sudden the Bengals have to make a decision about whether he’s their future or not. If they keep him, it takes a cap hit of $13 million, but if they cut him, they can save $6 million in cap space. Sure they have to take some “dead money” in the form of the accelerated accounting of the $12 million signing bonus, but it’s no big deal and saves the Brown family some actual cash.

The point being that all of a sudden, Andy Dalton didn’t make $115 million. He essentially was paid $25 million for two years and then the Bengals built in a decision point as to whether he was worth keeping thereafter.

Which brings us back to Brian Hoyer. I think Andy Dalton’s contract is a perfect formula for Brian Hoyer and the Browns. If Hoyer can guarantee himself $17 million or something slightly more and the contract looks like a two-year deal for $25-30 million, I’m just fine with that. Starting NFL quarterbacks cost tons of money, and if the Browns and Hoyer can share in the flexibility of being able to come to another decision point after the second year of the deal, then it’s kind of perfect for everyone, except maybe Johnny Manziel.

This is also why I’m fine if the Browns end up franchising Brian Hoyer for a year. They pay him somewhere around $16+ million guaranteed, which was the franchise tag value for 2014, and everyone wins. The Browns pay Hoyer a life-changing amount of money for just one year of work. They still have the flexibility to either get Hoyer on a long-term deal or plan for Johnny Manziel to take the reigns after his second year in the league.

This is why I refuse to think that the Browns have “problems” with their quarterback situation. There’s some uncertainty for sure as we see how all the pieces fit, but it’s far from a problem. The Browns have two guys they like and maybe want. On top of that, they have the cap flexibility to keep them both for at least another year and probably longer.

Whether or not this would lead to Johnny Manziel demanding a trade is anyone’s guess. I just know you can only control what you can control. The Browns have options and some advantages in the NFL’s contract system.