The Browns have been a terrible team for a long time. It would surprise no one if they stumbled through another losing season. But they have also spent recent years actually trying to improve; the franchise has signed or drafted young, explosive players on both sides of the ball. The Browns also used the 2018 first-overall pick on their latest franchise quarterback, Baker Mayfield, who appears more equipped to handle those duties than his Cleveland predecessors.

But unlike those predecessors, many of whom found their way into the starting lineup early in their rookie seasons, the plan is for Mayfield, the former Heisman Trophy winner at Oklahoma, to ride the pine for the foreseeable future behind Tyrod Taylor.

"He's not ready to walk out there right now and play, and that's okay,'' coach Hue Jackson said Wednesday, via Cleveland.com. "We didn't bring him here for that. We brought him here because he's talented, we think he's the future of this organization, we're going to do everything we can to continue to develop him as we go through training camp and preseason.

"When he's ready to play, he'll walk out there and play well.''

Just in case he wasn't clear the when he repeated the refrain during the offseason, Jackson echoed the five words again on Wednesday: "Tyrod Taylor is the starter."

And as we've said all offseason: For how long?

Jackson has one win in two years. And while this may be his best team in terms of personnel, he may not be around long enough to appreciate it if the Browns get off to a slow start. By inserting Mayfield into the lineup, Jackson could possibly buy himself more time. But that doesn't appear to be in the gameplan.

"I don't envision any situation where all of a sudden (Mayfield's) getting a bunch of first-team reps unless God forbid something happens,'' the coach explained. "But at the same time, there might be a day -- please nobody hold me to it -- where Tyrod all of a sudden maybe doesn't go and Baker's out there and people go, 'Oh my gosh.' It wouldn't be that. Let's not turn that into 'now he's going to be the starter.' That's not what it is.

"I'm committed to making this work the way that we have it, because I think it's what's best for the organization, I think it's what's best for the player. ... Trust me, I think we're in a really, really good place right now."

Mayfield has said and done all the right things since arriving in Cleveland, and he seems fully equipped to handle the attention.

"It's understandable, obviously," Mayfield said earlier this offseason of the comparisons to Johnny Manziel, who lasted just two NFL seasons. "First-round picks by the Browns, close to the same size, playmakers. But we're two completely different people. I care about winning. I care about doing things the right way. I just want to be judged for who I am."

And last month, Mayfield had only laudatory things to say about Taylor, the veteran who played previously in Buffalo.

"They traded a third-round pick [for] Tyrod, just doesn't make sense," Mayfield said at the time. "We got a lot more out of that than anybody else could. The guy that he is for this franchise, for all of our teammates is unbelievable. For me to watch him and learn him has been great. He sets the bar high, shows up, his work ethic, it's a great situation for me to come into to have someone like that. It's good for me."

Whether it's good for the Browns in the long term is another matter.