NFL Player News

Quarterback Brian Hoyer went 10-6 over two seasons with the Browns, making him the only quarterback to post a winning record among 22 Browns starters since the franchise's 1999 rebirth, per USA Today.

Still, the Browns have chosen to part ways with Hoyer after signing Josh McCown to a three-year, $14 million contract last week. However, it doesn't seem Hoyer holds any ill will toward the Browns.

"It's good for both sides to get a fresh start and go our separate ways," Hoyer said. "Being from here, I'll always root for the Browns. I know I'm going to be continuing my football career somewhere."

Hoyer could be one of the more sought after free-agent quarterbacks now that McCown is headed to Cleveland and the Bills acquired Matt Cassell. The Jets, Titans, Rams and Texans could all be looking to add a quarterback to the roster. 

"It's an exciting time, my first time as a free agent," Hoyer said. "You don't know where you'll be living in two months. The good thing is I'll have an opportunity to be on an NFL team, and hopefully, compete for a starting job. ... I have a lot to offer whatever team I go to. My best football is still ahead."

Dolphins' WR Mike Wallace was benched in the second half of the season finale, and it's uncertain if the team will keep him in 2015. 

The Dolphins can save $6.9 million by cutting Wallace in the offseason, but his quarterback has his back. 

Ryan Tannehill told the Miami Herald he settled any issues with Wallace after the tumultuous final game. "We cleared the air," Tannehill said. "There's no problem there."

Despite that, Tannehill isn't sure if Wallace will return. 

"I like Mike," he told the Palm Beach Post. "He’s a talented player and we’ll see what happens. It’s tough to lose a guy that works hard day in and day out at practice, but at the end of the day it’s a reminder that it’s a business. It doesn’t matter the kind of player you are or the type of relationship you have, it comes down to numbers."

Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston is visiting the Buccaneers on Tuesday, reports ESPN's Adam Schefter. He said the visit might be unprecedented because "potential No. 1 picks don't visit teams with No. 1 picks this early. Ever."

CBSSports.com's Dane Brugler, Rob Rang and Pat Kirwan all project the Bucs taking Winston over Oregon's Marcus Mariota at No. 1 overall. The draft will be held April 30-May 2 in Chicago.

ESPN.com reports Mariota is expected to visit the Bucs within the next month.

The Lions have re-signed quarterback Dan Orlovsky to a one-year deal, per the team's website.

Orlovsky will return to a backup role behind starter Matthew Stafford. Originally drafted by the Lions in the fifth round of the 2005 draft, Orlovsky has attempted 472 career passes. He's made 12 starts in his career, with seven coming for the Lions in 2008 and five for the Colts in 2011.

With the signing of Josh McCown Friday, Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer could be looking elsewhere for employment. Coach Mike Pettine called Hoyer to inform him the team was signing McCown and Hoyer appears ready to move on, according to Albert Breer of the NFL Network.

Hoyer played in 14 games for the Browns in 2014, throwing for 3,326 yards with 12 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He lost his starting position to Johnny Manziel in Week 15, but was forced back into action after Manziel suffered a season-ending injury.

Rams quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke is perfectly happy with starting quarterback Sam Bradford, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

"Love him. Love him," Weinke said when asked about Bradford. Weinke, who has evaluated quarterbacks for a couple of seasons now, said Bradford had one of the best pro days he's ever seen. "A few years ago when Andrew Luck came out they said who would you compare him to? And I said the closest I would see is Sam Bradford."

As part of Weinke's interview process with the team, he met with Bradford for roughly three-and-a-half hours. It wasn't really a formal meeting, though, it was more so the two could get to know eachother. 

Bradford has reportedly been granted permission to seek a trade, but it doesn't appear Rams' ownership wants to part with the 27-year-old quarterback. 

Buccaneers cornerback Alterraun Verner made an appearance on NFL Network on Thursday morning and was asked for his preference between the top two quarterback prospects in this April's draft. Although the UCLA grad has seen more of Oregon's Marcus Mariota because he is a Pac-12 guy, he gave the edge to Florida State's Jameis Winston for his team's No. 1 pick in the draft, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

"It's tough. I probably like Winston, from a lot of stuff I've been hearing, a lot of things I've been seeing and things like that," he said. "It's hard for me to go 100 percent there, because I haven't seen him really play. I'm going more on hearsay and things around. From his leadership qualities, that's what I've been hearing a lot. As a quarterback, you want to have that strong leader in the locker room and on the field. Somebody you know you can go out and you feel like you can do anything. From what I hear, that's the type of guy Jameis is. Like I said, the other options are good, too."

Citing multiple league sources, Yahoo Sports reported that the Bills are pursuing a trade for Rams quarterback Sam Bradford. 

Bills beat writer Vic Carucci, of the Buffalo News, disputed the report, saying "a source in the know" said the Bills are not pursuing Bradford. 

Bradford missed all of last season after tearing his ACL in the preseason, the second-straight season he's suffered that injury. 

Lions general manager Martin Mayhew believes that quarterback Matthew Stafford will make a big leap in his second year under the same offensive system designed by coach Jim Caldwell, per MLive.com.

"I can't quantify how much better (the offense is) going to get, but I do think the second year in the offense is going to be great, going to be big for the quarterback," Mayhew said. "Some of the routes and the way that we run them were totally different for Matthew. He hadn't thrown those routes in college or when Scott Linehan was our offensive coordinator, so some of that was a learning process for him. He had a bunch of new receivers out there, guys he hadn't really worked with that much. I think second year in the offense is going to be huge for him, individually."

Stafford threw for 4,257 yards and 22 touchdowns in 2014. It was his fourth consecutive season over 4,000 passing yards and fourth straight with at least 20 passing touchdowns.

The Rams have reportedly been looking into possible trade options for quarterback Sam Bradford. However, coach Jeff Fisher said Friday he does not believe a deal will be made, according to Cleveland.com.

"I was surprised to hear that," said Fisher. "That's inaccurate. No, I mean. We talked about what our plans are for him."

Fisher also said Bradford is their guy heading into the 2015 season. 

"They know that we've been without our first round pick and starting quarterback," Fisher said of the Rams' faithful. "When we've had him, he's 5-2-1 in our division. And we weren't very good when we got here, so we're counting on him. I'm betting on him and if that doesn't happen, then we'll win games with somebody else."