Ty Simpson #15 of the Alabama Crimson Tide is rumored to be a Cleveland Browns No. 6 pick target.
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Ty Simpson #15 of the Alabama Crimson Tide is rumored to be a Cleveland Browns No. 6 pick target.
On Thursday, there were some eyebrows raised when the Cleveland Browns played host–a very early host, given that the NFL draft is still seven weeks away –to Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson. That’s continued to fuel rumors that the Browns would consider dropping everything when their No. 6 pick comes around and using that selection on Simpson, widely considered the No. 2 QB prospect in this draft behind presumptive No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza.
Indeed, there is some sense to that notion. The Browns’ quarterback room is currently headed by Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson, and both have enough to warts to wonder if they should be anything more than a backup in 2026. As has been revealed over the last few weeks, new Browns coach Todd Monken helped recruit Simpson while he was the offensive coordinator at Georgia and remains friendly with Simpson’s family.
In fact, draft guru Todd McShay of The Ringer said recently that he could see the Browns using the No. 6 overall pick on Simpson. Those outside Cleveland certainly seem to think there’s a chance of Simpson heading to the Browns with the No. 6 pick.
Browns Not Seeking to Draft a Quarterback on Day One
But inside Cleveland, and among those who are around the Browns quite a bit, that sense is just not there. For them, the Browns have ample needs across the offense, and can’t afford to spend their top picks–they have No. 6 and No. 24–taking a chance on a quarterback who has one year of starting experience, is far from a sure thing and will need developmental time.
As Tony Grossi of ESPN Cleveland noted, “I don’t see it happening at all. If you are drafting a quarterback at 6, you are committing to seeing that quarterback be your franchise quarterback. I don’t think the Browns are in that mode this year. I don’t think a quarterback is even in the first three rounds this year.
“There’s a lot of love out there at the combine for Todd Monken, but people have to understand that Andrew Berry is making the picks for the Browns and I don’t think he sees quarterback as the main priority as he did a year ago.”
Ty Simpson Visits Browns
The Browns did have Simpson in for a visit, and certainly, it serves them well to do due diligence on him. For one thing, if Simpson does linger until the second round of the draft, maybe the Browns would change course and pick him up then with an eye to making him an option in 2027. For another thing, Monken has a relationship with him–maybe he wants to help Simpson’s draft stock by registering the Browns’ interest in him.
And there’s also the trade angle. The more the Browns put out a signal that they’d consider Simpson, the more concerned another team that might be plotting to draft Simpson could get–which could force a team to trade up to No. 6 for Simpson and allow the Browns to collect more assets.
‘Debunking’ the Ty Simpson Rumor
Still, the question of why the mock-draft gurus like McShay keep linking Simpson to the No. 6 pick and the Browns is pertinent. Grossi says it reflects how hard it is to slot Simpson into this draft.
Said Grossi: “One of the things is, nobody knows where to project Ty Simpson, in the first round or even the second round. They look at the Browns situation and they say, ‘Well, they still don’t have their quarterback, they’re not certain at that position, and let’s give him to the Browns. We don’t know where else to put him.’ I think that’s where that comes from.”
And in the final analysis on the Simpson-Browns-No. 6 rumor, he adds: “I am debunking this rumor.”