So after canvassing some league executives it looks like the Browns have zeroed in on one of the top quarterback prospects available in next week’s draft.

It’s not important right now whether it’s Cal’s Jared Goff or North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz.

What’s important is how much the Browns really like the quarterback they covet, and if they willing to pay a price to make sure they get him.

When the Rams traded up from 15 to No. 1 last week it didn’t just shake up the top of the draft and create a ton of buzz in the Rams’ new home in Los Angeles.

It put the Rams in absolute control of the top of the draft relative to the quarterbacks.

Here is the thing: The Rams really like both Wentz and Goff. A lot. Like, equally a lot. The whole objective of moving all the way to No. 1 was making sure they can secure one or the other. There was no way they could guarantee that staying at 15, or even if they moved into the top 10 or 5. Too many teams like both Wentz and Goff, and too many teams were interested in trading to No. 1.

They had to get to No. 1.

Now that they are there, they are mulling whether to draft either Goff or Wentz.

The key being, they like them both.

Which brings us back to the Browns.

If, say, the Browns are desperate for Goff or Wentz – or vice versa – and can live with only one and not the other, you would think they’d be on the phone right now with the Rams working a deal to make sure they get their guy.

Would the Rams be willing to trade out of the No. 1 to No. 2 to accommodate the Browns?

I’m going to say yes, considering their like for both of the top prospects.

Why not? It would mean recouping at least one or two draft picks to make up for the picks they parted with to move from No. 15 to No. 1.

But are the Browns willing to pony up to get their guy if, as some suspect, they have zeroed in on either Wentz or Goff?

That remains to be seen.

After doing a ton of radio interviews across the country in the aftermath of the Rams trade for the No. 1 pick in the draft, one of the more consistent questions I get is how could the Rams part with so many future draft picks to move to No. 1 if they haven’t yet decided between North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz or Cal’s Jared Goff?

The implication being: You don’t give that much up without knowing already who you want to pick.

I agree to an extent. And if you’re asking me today who the Rams are leaning toward I’d say it’s Wentz. There is a reason they moved all the way to No. 1 – and ahead of the Browns, who have been linked to Wentz. They obviously wanted to beat the Browns to the punch.

That said, I think the bigger factor is that the Rams wanted to control the process.

In other words, they wanted to be the team that decided who the best quarterback in the draft is – the quarterback they want to stake their future on – rather than wait on the Browns or anyone else who might have moved into the No. 1 slot to make that determination and force the Rams into a reactionary position.

Had, say, the 49ers moved to No. 1 and taken Goff and the Browns taken Wentz at No. 2, the Rams would have been completely shut out of the two quarterbacks they believe can be Day One starters in the NFL.

They were not going to sit back and allow that to happen. They could not afford to, given how solid the rest of the roster is and the need to plug in a quality quarterback to elevate the Rams from a competitive team to a playoff contender.

By making the unprecedented jump from the 15th spot in the draft to No. 1, they eliminated all uncertainty and hope and chance of the process. And whether they are leaning toward Wentz or Goff or still undecided, they can now spend the next two weeks with the singular focus of reaffirming their position, or being convinced otherwise, or simply deciding who the best prospect is between Wentz and Goff.

The point being, this is the Rams decision to make, and the Rams decision alone. And while it cost quite a bit to take control of that process, having possession of it far outweighs the cost when you consider the long-range implications.

San Diego Union Tribune columnist Kevin Acee is mad as hell about what’s going on with the Chargers stadium effort in San Diego, and he isn’t hiding behind his keyboard about it.

Acee penned a pointed, detailed commentary today about all the stadium dysfunction in San Diego, essentially throwing shade on everyone from Mayor Kevin Faulconer to Cory Briggs to the JMI to the powerful hoteliers in town to all the lawyers working the various sides of the situation to the Chargers themselves.

Holding back no punches, Acee wrote:

I’m trying to keep my cool, because cool is the state of mind that facilitates progress.

Can someone just have the gumption to say that we need to decide what we’re doing here? I wasn’t in the military. I’ve never run a major corporation or a municipality or even, one tiny woman would argue, worn the pants in a family. But I feel qualified to opine that we need a fricking plan.

You can read the story here, but in a nutshell it outlines the utter confusion of the various plans and inititiaves and support and resistence and voting requirements that has Acee – and undoubtedly plenty of others – throwing up their hands right about now.

How does this relate to Los Angeles?

Well, the Chargers have been cleared by the NFL to relocate to Los Angeles and have a deal in place with the Los Angeles Rams to join them should their last-ditch efforts to get a stadium plan approved in San Diego fail.

In talking to sources close to the Chargers, it’s pretty cut and dry at this point: Let’s all work together and devise and approve a plan here in San Diego, or we’re outta here. It doesn’t get much clearer than that.

You’d think with that kind of urgency at hand everyone would be working to get on the same page in San Diego. But after reading Acee’s column, it doesn’t seem like people are reading from the same book, let alone page, down there.

Obviously there is still time for the Chargers and San Diego to get things sorted out, but the clock is definitely ticking.

One personal observation: it’s beyond ironic to me that some of the same people who chastised the Chargers all last year for not having confidence the mayor and the city and local leaders could help deliver a stadium plan – hence the play they made on Los Angeles – are now expressing doubt the plan they are supporting is prudent or approvable.

Having visited with Chargers owner Dean Spanos over the course of last year, one of the main takeaways was he sincerely wanted to be in San Diego, but he was concerned the necessary funding would be supported and approved by voters and that the project would get tied up in courts for years with no guarantee of ever coming to fruition.

Basically, some of the same exact concerns being articulated by local leaders right now.

In retrospect, maybe the Chargers were right to be so skeptical.

Spanos’ fear was losing Los Angeles as an option if he pursued a doomed San Diego plan rather than securing his position in L.A.

But he can attack the situation much more confidently now, his spot in Los Angeles guaranteed. Which is why he put off joining the Rams at least one year in order to pursue a San Diego stadium one final time.

He either gets a new stadium in San Diego, or he’s off to Los Angeles. One way or another, he’ll get clarity.

Judging by Acee’s column, though, clarity in San Diego is hiding behind some dark, dysfunctional clouds.