Browns exec 'bothered' by Josh Rosen for reason not even he can explain

Cleveland Browns executive Alonzo Highsmith was turned off by quarterback Josh Rosen before the NFL draft for a reason that seemingly has nothing to do with anything.

"I was at an airport," he recounted to Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com. "UCLA's volleyball team was in front of me. You heard so much about Rosen - he's this or that - we all know how people talk. So I asked one of the volleyball coaches, 'What's Rosen like?' He said, 'Aaaaa, you should probably ask his girlfriend. She's one of the players. She's over there.'

"I'm like, 'Alright, coach. That's good enough.'

"I don't know what all this means, but there was something about him that bothered me."

There's no indication that Highsmith - who serves as the Browns' vice president of player personnel - made an attempt to figure out what it meant.

The Browns ultimately selected fellow pivot Baker Mayfield first overall in the draft. Mayfield and Rosen both had attitude concerns coming into the draft, though the former also has an arrest on record while the latter doesn't.

Related: Browns' Darnold-loving exec explains how Mayfield changed his mind

Rosen wound up being drafted 10th overall the by the Arizona Cardinals, who traded up to get him.