Haley tells Fan move that would have changed the NFL

PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – This could have changed the AFC North, the AFC, the entire NFL. It’s what former Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley told the PM Team on Tuesday.

After leaving the Steelers, Haley became the Browns offensive coordinator and was there in 2018 when Cleveland had the first and fourth overall draft picks. What he told the PM Team on Tuesday could have altered several franchises with who he told the Browns to draft.

“Begged, every single day,” Haley told Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller, “I said take Saquon (Barkley) one, take Josh Allen four.”

Imagine if that would have happened, how it impacts the Buffalo Bills, the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, the Browns and by extension, the Steelers and the rest of the league.

“We took Baker (Mayfield),” Haley said. “This isn’t an indictment on Baker, I love Baker, but I knew Josh would be there at four. We took Denzel Ward (fourth), a really good player. We still could have come back and taken Nick Chubb (35^th overall pick), who was a great player also. Every day (Browns owner) Jimmy Haslem would come into my office and say ‘what should we do’? He was a close talker, he would get right against your face and every day I would say ‘Josh Allen, Josh Allen, Josh Allen’, over and over again.”

Allen is 93-40 as a starting quarterback. When he’s played a full season, the Bills never had fewer than 10 wins. He has 31,606 passing yards with 229 touchdowns to 98 interceptions and rushed for 4,961 yards and 87 touchdowns.

Yet the Browns didn’t listen as Haley told 93.7 The Fan.

“On draft day, GM John Dorsey called me as I’m heading into the office and said we are taking Baker,” Haley said. “And I’m like ‘ahh, ahh’. He had a great rookie year and a great earlier version of his career and now he’s doing it again. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about Saquon and Josh Allen.”

Allen was the third quarterback taken that draft behind Mayfield and Sam Darnold (Jets). Haley told Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller he could call coaches to his office to watch Allen’s tape.

Again, the Browns didn’t listen.

“He had all the attributes, a late bloomer, grew a bunch in college,” Haley said during his weekly appearance on the PM Team. “We know the story, nobody recruited him. He was throwing to guys (at Wyoming) that are working at Pizza Hut or Walmart right now. You got to take that into account, you are throwing to little, short guys who can’t run.”

“There were more ‘wow’ plays when I watched his tape. I was like holy mackerel I’m going down the hallway to get different coaches ‘you got to come see this’. He made the plays no one else could make. On top of knowing his speed, his size, his intelligence, very high test score, right up there with Brady.”

“He was the perfect storm in my mind. With a guy like that, you know he’s going to be open to coaching and trying to be the best he can be. He’s just a beast.”

“I’m telling you on Sundays when he’s playing, I’m just like, what did we do?”