Peter King of Sports Illustrated’s The MMQB broke out his crystal ball on the fate of the NFL teams that need quarterbacks and which players they acquire to sate their thirst. King predicts that the Cleveland Browns will sign free agent Sam Bradford and also draft Sam Darnold.

The two-pronged solution — signing a free agent as the bridge to the No. 1 overall pick — is the popular notion. With AJ McCarron off the table for the Browns in King’s scenario, Bradford is the injury-plagued Plan B.

King writes: “You sign Bradford because you know as long as he stays healthy (Ten days? Ten games?), he’s a top-12-caliber quarterback. But he’s played more than seven games in just two of the last five seasons, and so the Browns won’t be guaranteed anything except some sleepless nights if they sign Bradford.”

Sounds eerily familiar to Robert Griffin III, doesn’t it?

That’s why taking another Sam at No. 1 would make a lot of sense to King. Darnold, from USC, has the high upside but isn’t necessarily ready to take over right away.

King adds: “But no matter which veteran Cleveland gets (and McCarron is certainly a strong prospect here), Dorsey will backstop with a rookie, and Darnold, who needs a large dose of development, would be fine with a year or more of clipboard-holding.”

Our take

King’s scenario is just his best current guess, but it strikes me as eminently plausible. Bradford’s lengthy injury history — which had some speculating he could be done in the NFL — is hard to get past when other options are available. If he’s the choice as the veteran, the rookie had better be NFL-ready, but Darnold is less prepared to start in 2018 than either Josh Rosen or Baker Mayfield.