"The draft pick the Browns receive in 2012 in the Brady Quinn trade to Denver can be as high as the third round, a league source said, or as low as the sixth.

Those conditions are based on playing time over the 2010 and 2011 seasons.

No matter what Quinn does for the Broncos in 2010, the Browns will receive Denver's sixth-round pick in 2011 in addition to fullback Peyton Hillis.

The prospects of Quinn wrangling the starting job from Kyle Orton might be small. But you never know what may happen over two seasons.

On Tuesday, Denver coach Josh McDaniels described his quarterback situation between Orton and Quinn as competitive.

"This had nothing negative to do with Kyle Orton," McDaniels said of the trade for Quinn. "We're just trying to improve the competition at every spot.

"I think that our quarterback room is young and competitive. I think that's a good thing for our football team."

Shortly after acquiring Quinn, the Broncos released backup Chris Simms.

Cashing in: Either Brandon McDonald is grossly underpaid or he shouldn't be on the field as much as he is.

For the second year in a row, McDonald scored a sizable chunk of change from the NFL's "performance-based pay" program. The system essentially rewards players who play a lot and outperform their contract.

McDonald was awarded $248,403 from the league-wide pool of $109.5 million set aside for the program. That was more than one-half of his base salary of $460,000. He played in all 16 games, starting 10, and had one interception, one sack and was 11th on the team with 47 tackles.

A year ago, when McDonald started 15 games and had five interceptions, he earned $329,803 through the program -- nearly equal his 2008 base salary of $370,000.

McDonald is entering the final season of his rookie contract. He has been demoted at least three times in the past two years, but reclaimed his starting spot each time. His job is in jeopardy this season as the Browns have identified cornerback as one of their priorities in the draft."