Scraping the bottom

Vince Young??!! The Browns are interested in Vince Young??!!

Tyler Thigpen??!! The Browns are interested in Tyler Thigpen??!!

What, they couldn’t talk Brett Favre out of retirement? Vinny Testaverde was too busy? Tim Couch really likes retirement? Is Charlie Frye still in the country?

C’mon.

Yep, it’s true. The Browns have confirmed it. They have placed the eminently mediocre Young and the equally mediocre Thigpen on their radar in an effort to do I’m not exactly sure what.

Young will be 31 in a few weeks. Thigpen just turned 30. Shades of Brandon Weeden.

Young, of course, is the key figure here. But the former University of Texas quarterback, selected third overall by the Tennessee Titans in the 2006 college draft, has not appeared in a National Football League regular-season game since 2011.

His career can be best described as nondescript and now here he is taking a physical Monday, along with Thigpen, getting ready to work out during a three-day voluntary veteran minicamp that begins Tuesday.

Young appeared in six games with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2011. Thigpen, who was out of the NFL last season, has thrown a paltry 13 regular-season passes in the last three seasons.

The accumulated rust on these two is just cause for the Browns to go out and buy as much rust remover as possible to make certain these guys make it flake-free through minicamp and in one piece.

I know the team is a tick short of desperation mode when it comes to quarterbacks, but Vince Young? And Tyler Thigpen?

Could this be a favor General Manager Ray Farmer is doing for Young’s and Thigpen’s agents? Or is this his attempt to throw something at the quarterbacks board in hopes some of it sticks? It falls under the department of ya never know.

Some might consider these moves low risk. What have the Browns got to lose by bringing in these two journeymen? Good point.

They have absolutely nothing to lose, but let’s not lose sight of the fact these moves appear to be awfully close to desperation.

Then again, perhaps Young and Thigpen are nothing more than minicamp fodder, brought in because no one else was available. Maybe both like the idea of possibly convincing some team they are good enough to at least sit on the bench or hold a clipboard.

It had been assumed the Browns would bring in veteran Rex Grossman to help new offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan with the new offense. And that still might eventuate.

Rumors also persist that they eventually will take a run at Washington backup quarterback Kirk Cousins now that the Redskins have brought in Colt McCoy to back up Robert Griffin III.

As we get closer to the college draft on May 8, that one will gather strength, especially if Young and Thigpen fail to convince Farmer and his men that they can still play in the NFL.

But if somehow they do . . . nah, that’s not going to happen.