CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Browns, over the last two years, have watched both the Philadelphia Eagles and Houston Texans solve their quarterback positions at the Browns' expense. They've watched the San Francisco 49ers swoop in and steal away Jimmy Garoppolo from the Patriots.

They have sat on the sidelines while team after team has solved their quarterback problem, punting on the most important position in the sport -- maybe in all of sports. This offseason, though, is right there for them to solve it -- and they can't afford to miss on this decision.

With Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen both declaring on Wednesday night, the Big Three of Darnold, Rosen and Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield are all officially in the running. Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson has yet to make his decision public, but he belongs in the discussion as well. So does Wyoming's Josh Allen, but that would take some convincing for me -- a lot of it.

If you're making me choose on Jan. 3, I'm taking Darnold and finding a veteran that keeps him glued to the bench. It's too early to write anything in pen, though.

Here's the reality: the Browns have had, in consecutive years, the No. 2, No. 1 and No. 1 pick. It is entirely unacceptable to come out of those three years without a young quarterback with the potential to lead this team for the next decade. New GM John Dorsey wasn't here for the last two drafts, obviously, but he took this job knowing full well the situation he was walking into.

One of Dorsey's first moves when he arrived in Kansas City was using the 34th pick in the draft and a conditional draft pick to acquire Alex Smith from San Francisco. Last draft, he traded the No. 27 pick, a third-round pick and the Chiefs' 2018 first-round pick to jump to No. 10 -- including jumping the Browns -- to take Patrick Mahomes, presumably the replacement for Smith, who turns 34 in May.

In other words, this is a GM who knows the importance of the quarterback position and isn't shy about using future assets to get one.

"This is a quarterback-driven league," Dorsey said during his introductory press conference in early December. "We all know that, and we all know to succeed and go a little bit further and further and further that you need one of those guys."

"We are going to do whatever it takes to find a quarterback we need to be successful," owner Jimmy Haslam affirmed later in that same press conference. "Let me say one more thing, that will be John's No. 1 priority."

It's safe to say the previous front office simply overthought things when it came to the quarterback. Prioritizing more picks over fixing the position is a mistake. There's obvious hindsight involved in evaluating the Wentz trade, but there's not a player who came out of it that this roster couldn't live without or who couldn't have been acquired without extra picks. The jury is still out on the Watson trade, considering he started only six games, but Houston would make that trade again and again, even knowing how high that pick they traded ultimately ended up.

We all should have learned from these mistakes by now, and those decisions ultimately played a role in costing the previous front office their opportunity to use all of the assets they accumulated in 2018. There should be no more debate: Get your quarterback, no matter what it takes.

The Browns will have other options outside of the draft. Dorsey, again, could have a shot to acquire Smith. Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins could be an option if they want to pay the ransom it will take to bring him here. Perhaps if the Browns go that route, it changes the math a bit. Maybe that veteran would simply be a placeholder.

For now, though it's all right there in the draft for them, the opportunity to finally fix this problem. The Browns have to pick their quarterback of the future, they have to do it with the No. 1 pick and they have to build the structure around that quarterback to make him successful.

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