Taking a look at why the Cleveland Browns should sign Russell Wilson as their starting quarterback for the 2025 season.
Jack Duffin
With where the current quarterback market is at for the offseason there are four teams looking for answers. They are the Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns, New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers. The feeling is that the Titans will draft Cam Ward and have been linked to journeyman quarterbacks like Carson Wentz.
This means there are three remaining quarterbacks of note in Aaron Rodgers, Kirk Cousins and Russell Wilson. I don't see them targeting Rodgers. I'm confident Kirk gets released before $10m of 2026 guarantees come into play in the coming days, he can then sign for a team on a one year, league minimum deal of $1.255m. The final player in this group is Russell Wilson who I am going to look at in this article.
There are other quarterbacks like Joe Flacco and Jameis Winston still on the market but for me these players are veteran backup options and not players you are drafting unless you pair them with Cam Ward as you intend to start him during the year.
Can The Browns Win With Russ?
A leading criticism of Russ this offseason is that he lost the final five games of last season. These were the Eagles, Ravens, Chiefs, Bengals and Ravens. I hate to break it to people but they are some of the best teams in the entire league. If you want to win a Super Bowl in Cleveland then it is going to come from finding the quarterback in the draft. You need to run the table against the likes of Mahomes, Allen, Burrow and Jackson. Taking retreads at quarterback via the trade or free agency isn't going to get it done. If you were in the NFC it is a very different argument, we can see what Goff has done there.
I don't look at Russ and view him as a player that the Cleveland Browns can win a Super Bowl with but it is about becoming an annual playoff team and then swinging every year in the draft until you get the correct long term answer. I would have said the same with Darnold and anyone else on the market.
How Good Is Russ?
I like to see what PFF is saying, because they watch and grade every snap so you have a really good picture of where players stand next to their peers. Someone who watches a couple of games of one player cannot accurately compare them to the other 31 starting quarterbacks in the league the same way.
So here is how Russ performed compared to the 31 other quarterbacks that had the most drop backs last season:
PFF Passing Grade - 11th (tied)
Big Time Throw Percentage - 3rd
Turnover Worthy Play Percentage - 2nd (tied)
Time To Throw - 11th
That is a fantastic level of production, the reason I prefer these metrics compared to simple box score scouting, if a quarterback throws a ball between a defenders numbers and they drop it then the quarterback should be marked down. If a moment of luck happens and an it results in an interception then you shouldn't punish a quarterback.
Russell Wilson was one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL protecting the football. The Browns have been horrible turning over the ball the last two years, this is one of the most important things that Stefanski focuses on with his quarterbacks, so Russ is an ideal solution to this.
What Will Russ Cost?
At the start of the offseason I projected Russ to cost the same as Baker got, $100m over three years but with free agency continuing to drag on players naturally become cheaper as the bidding war around the fades. I can Russ signing a one year deal worth $20m. It is certainly cheaper to sign Cousins but his play isn't as good either.
PFF Passing Grade - 22nd
Big Time Throw Percentage - 28th
Turnover Worthy Play Percentage - 30th
Time To Throw - 3rd
With Kirk you are betting on a bounce back season, whereas with Russ more of the same will deliver.
How Else Can Russ Help?
The Cleveland Browns need to add more at wide receiver. They have Jerry Jeudy who had a fantastic breakout season in 2024. The issue is you only have Cedric Tillman of note alongside him. He had a great run of 302 yards in four games but then over the rest of the season he managed 37 yards over the remainder of the season. Injuries were an issue but that means you don't have the sample size to guarantee someone as one of your two starting wide receivers. The important thing to consider is if Jeudy got injured in the first two weeks of the season can Tillman lead the group for the rest of the season, I can't say yes to that with confidence.
Russ has a good chemistry with Tyler Lockett, I could see them bringing them in as a tandem, something like a one year $8-10m deal who gives them a proven position room.
Conclusion
If Russ preforms like a top 12 quarterback again in 2025 then you are going to make the playoffs as the Cleveland Browns, while this isn't going to win you a Super Bowl most likely it makes the Browns a perennial playoff team to keep building on. The team would be a lot better with an offensive starting lineup of:
Quarterback - Russell Wilson
Running Back - Nick Chubb
Wide Receiver - Jerry Jeudy, Tyler Lockett, Cedric Tillman
Tight End - David Njoku
Tackles - Dawand Jones, Jack Conklin
Guards - Joel Bitonio, Wyatt Teller
Center - Ethan Pocic
Breaking Down The Devin Bush Cleveland Browns Contract
With the details of Devin Bush's contract now confirmed, Jack Duffin looks at the value, terms and details of the deal and what it means for the Cleveland Browns remaining spending plans.
2 hrsVIP
The financial details of Devin Bush's contract have been released and this is the first deal that has come out so far. With every contract I will be writing them up as OBR VIP articles.
Free-agent linebacker Devin Bush reached agreement on a one-year $3.25 million deal to return to the Cleveland Browns. Deal negotiated by Drew Rosenhaus.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 11, 2025
It takes a few days once an extension is signed for the information to get to sites like Over The Cap for me to report on it. I never take too much notice of the initial reports including 'up to' as these come from the agent's side, and they regularly inflate the numbers using unlikely-to-be-earned incentives and others as they want to use them to attract future clients. It gives you a good steer for what the deal is likely to be, but you won't see me write on the numbers until we get everything official. Sometimes this can take a few days, you won't see me write on deals until I have the official breakdown.
To read this full article and more, subscribe now —
SALE: 50% off first year
Get access to this article and all of the in-depth coverage from the 247Sports Network with this special offer.
50% off first year
Already a subscriber? Login