Malik Willis #2 of the Green Bay Packers could be a Cleveland Browns target.
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Malik Willis #2 of the Green Bay Packers could be a Cleveland Browns target.
The fact is, the Cleveland Browns are not the only team wandering through the 2026 NFL offseason in search of a quality quarterback. There are a handful of teams that either blatantly dislike or, at least, don’t trust the available options, and the Browns are just one of them. But the existence of those teams, combined with a surprising lack of other options, is the only way to explain the hype that has built up around Malik Willis.
For the first two years of his career, in Tennessee, Willis was mostly unseen, a third-round draft pick from Liberty who played in 11 games, started three of them, and threw just 66 passes. The Packers liked his film and didn’t like the backups they had on hand, and shuttled a seventh-round pick off to the Titans to make Willis their backup.
It was a shrewd move. Jordan Love was injured in the opener in 2024, and Willis had to start two games. He went 2-0 against the Colts and Titans, running tightly scripted gameplans in which he threw only 33 passes in the two games combined, completing 25 of them. He had 122 yards in his first game, and 202 in the second.
Browns Will Investigate
It was much the same in 2025, when Willis filled in for Love in the Packers’ loss to Chicago and went 9-for-11 with 121 yards. He started against the Ravens, and went 18-for-21 with 288 yards, in a loss. It is on the basis of those four games that the Browns, and the rest of the handful of teams seeking QB help, are weighing a free-agent pursuit of Willis.
Cleveland.com beat writer Mary Kay Cabot, speaking on the “Orange and Brown Talk” podcast, said Willis is an option the Browns are investigating.
“I think they will inquire about him. I think they will ask about him. I think they’ll have a conversation about him …” Cabot said. “I would be tossing my hat into the ring for Malik Willis because we know Todd Monken likes a dual-threat quarterback, and Malik Willis fits the bill. And now he has been around for a little while.
“He showed that dual-threat ability and we know that is what Todd Monken really likes and values. That’s what Malik Willis is. He is someone very much like a Lamar Jackson—he’s in that mold. Not at that level, but in that mold. So you know that Todd Monken would do a really nice job on coaching Malik Willis.”
Malik Willis Could Get Hefty New Contract
Willis is, indeed, a good runner and that is one of the drivers of his interest, from the Browns and from others. In his two seasons in Green Bay, Willis has run 42 times for 261 yards, an average of 6.2 yards per carry.
But there are problems, starting with price tag. There is a notion that Willis could get a Jets-Justin Fields type of deal, which saw Fields sign for two years and $40 million, with $30 million guaranteed. That would be tough enough for a cap-strapped team like the Browns, but Spotrac projects Willis’ price tag to go as high as two years and $71 million.
Browns’ Deshaun Watson Shared Agent With Malik Willis
Yet one more issue: The Browns also have Deshaun Watson on the roster, and Watson shares an agent with Willis, David Mulugheta. Naturally, Mulugheta would be reluctant to put Willis on the same roster as Watson, who is hoping for a Browns comeback this season.
Said Cabot: “They will also reach out to his agent, who also just so happens to be … the agent for Deshaun Watson. We all know that Deshaun Watson is trying to get his career back on track here. So, I don’t know how that will factor into the whole thing. But I do think it’s something to at least discuss and think about.”