CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Browns President Joe Banner, on a radio blitz to herald the team's new flagship stations, made it clear Thursday that Brandon Weeden heads into the off-season as the starting quarterback. But the second-year pro will be challenged by Jason Campbell -- and perhaps a draft pick.

The Browns will continue to study the top quarterbacks in the draft, including Florida State's E.J. Manuel, whom they'll work out privately in Tallahassee, Fla. on April 5, a source told The Plain Dealer.

In interviews with new radio partners WKRK FM/92.3 and WKNR AM/850, Banner stressed the club could still draft a quarterback and that the starter for opening day is to be determined.

He added that the club has no immediate plans to release Colt McCoy or trade him, but that they'll listen to offers. If he's still around through camp, he could get caught in the numbers game come August, Banner indicated.

"Brandon's the starter, and there's competition,'' Banner told 92.3 The Fan. "He'll have to come in and play well and work hard and prove that he deserves to maintain the position he starts in.

"There's a clear, direct relationship between the quality of your quarterback play and your ability to go as far as we hope to go as we build this team. So we'll never stop focusing on trying to find and evaluate quarterbacks, and if we got lucky enough to have more than one really good quarterback, there's nothing wrong with that problem.''

Banner told WKNR that Weeden will get the first-team reps (the first minicamp is April 16-18) and that "open competition'' is too strong. "But we’re going to go through minicamps and training camp and by the time we get to the first game, our goal is to play whoever the best players are. So (Campbell) will certainly get a chance to compete.”

In regards to McCoy, he said, "Our plan is to keep Colt. That's not etched in stone if somebody was interested in trading for him, (or) if we got to a part in training camp where we had to make some tough decisions that could include whether we even keep two or three quarterbacks. He’ll compete with Jason just as Jason will compete with Weeden.

"We've certainly not decided he won’t be on the team or that he’ll be traded, but at the same time, I can’t honestly rule that out. He won’t be released until we get to a situation we may have to make some numbers decisions. Then who knows what will happen?''

He acknowledged that the quarterback position is still undecided.

"I feel like we’re at a to-be-determined position,'' he said. "Frankly, that’s not really where you want to be. Anybody watching (Weeden) saw some things that were very encouraging last year and saw some things they feel like that needs to get better. In (Rob Chudzinski and Norv Turner), he probably has two of the best, maybe even the two best people to be coached by in a system that should fit him very well. He's going to get every chance to prove he has the ability to take us to the next level.”

He also left open the possibility of the Browns drafting a quarterback, even though he said in February that the position was not the focus of the team's first-round plans.

"(In Philadelphia), we had Donovan McNabb and picked Kevin Kolb,'' he said. "I view quarterbacks as assets. If you happen to be lucky enough to end up with two, which is extremely rare, that can’t be a problem. So we'll continue to pick quarterbacks, develop quarterbacks, with the full understanding that we’re never going to be what we want to be until we're really strong at that position.''

Campbell, who signed a two-year deal worth $3.75 million, including $500,000 of his first-year, $1.5 million base guaranteed, still feels he can start, but said he will be happy mentoring Weeden. He was off to a 4-2 start in Oakland in 2011 before a broken collarbone ended his time there. The Raiders traded for Carson Palmer and Campbell wound up in Chicago, where he backed up Jay Cutler last season.

"I definitely feel like I can still play at a high level,'' he said. "I was having one of my stronger years (in 2011) and unfortunately I broke my collarbone. The day after that, you find out they traded for Carson Palmer. Last year I spent most of my off-season rehabbing getting my shoulder back right. Now I have a full off-season to get back to feeling normal.''

Campbell, 31, seemed resigned to the Browns giving Weeden every opportunity to keep the starting job.

"I understand Weeden was a first-round draft pick last year,'' said Campbell, a first-round pick of the Redskins in 2005. "I understand he’s going to have an opportunity to grow. I'm definitely willing to help (Weeden). He's older in age (29), but still young in the league, so there's some things I can talk to him (about) and help him with.''

But that won't stop Campbell, a ninth-year pro, from trying to beat him out.

"There's nothing that's promised, but I'll definitely get an opportunity to compete,'' he said. "I'm going to try to help the young quarterback room (and) at the same time compete my butt off.''

Campbell's advantage -- other than his 71 NFL starts -- is four years' experience in the "numbers system'' run by Chudzinski. In Oakland, he went 11-7 in his final two seasons in it.

"This kind presents an opportunity for me to at least be familiar with an offense that I ran before, at least a couple of times during my career,'' he said.

Campbell admitted it was "real tough'' to go down with the collarbone -- against the Browns -- when he was playing well.

"I feel like I was coming into my prime,'' he said. "I finally got a chance to be in a system for more than a year and I feel I was really taking off, really blossoming, really having an opportunity to control the line of scrimmage.

"To have to accept a different role the next year, it was tough, because you felt like something was kind of (taken) from you a little bit, and the only thing you can do about it is keeping moving forward. You can’t let it get you down.''

Now he'll have a chance to be a starter with the team that took it from him in the first place.

"How ironic is that?'' he said.

On Twitter: @marykaycabot