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The biggest question mark entering the 2025 offseason was who would be the Cleveland Browns starting quarterback come week one of the season. Despite entering the month of April we are still without a definitive answer.
With Deshaun Watson likely to miss the entire 2025 season due to injury it left a blank slate for them to rebuild the sports most important position. They have traded for Kenny Pickett who was underwhelming but serviceable during his time with the Steelers, he isn't a player who is going to win you playoff games but he has shown he is capable of allowing you to compete during the regular season.
There are two spots for them to fill, one as a starter and one as a draft pick, let us look at the options they have missed out on and those still on the table. I am not going to explore the decision with the backup in Pickett, I have written on that here when grading the Browns moves so far this offseason.
Previous Position Room
We will start by looking at how Andrew Berry's position room has been built to start the season each year:
2020 - Mayfield, Keenum
2021 - Mayfield, Keenum
2022 - Brissett, Dobbs, Mond
2023 - Watson, Thompson-Robinson
2024 - Watson, Winston, Thompson-Robinson
Cash Spending Per Year
2020 - $8,951,180
2021 - $11,106,770
2022 - $60,767,500
2023 - $47,092,268
2024 - $50,915,000
Current Contracts
Deshaun Watson
2025 - $46,000,000 (fully guaranteed)
2026 - $46,000,000 (fully guaranteed)
2027 - Dummy Year (for a Post June 1st cut)
Kenny Pickett
2025 - $2,623,350 (fully guaranteed)
Snap Counts
Here is a look at the snap counts for the position room so far this season:
How Many In 2025
The Cleveland Browns are likely to head into the 2025 season with three quarterbacks on the final 53-man roster. There is a chance they decide to keep two on the 53 and one on the practice squad in a normal year but with uncertainty at the quarterback position it makes sense to give yourself as many options as possible.
Here is a look at the week one roster for each year Andrew Berry has been the General Manager of the Cleveland Browns.
Starting Quarterback
(Photo: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images)
Moves So Far
Before we look at the option still on the market I wanted to reflect on the players that have signed so far:
Sam Darnold, $100.5m/3 ($52.5m guaranteed) - He is a quarterback who is good enough to compete in a poor NFC but would only be capable of taking an AFC team to the playoffs and then likely lose in the first round. It doesn't make sense to pay $65m over the next two years for this.
Geno Smith, $31m/1 (no guarantees) - I wouldn't trade a third round pick and then pay $31m for the same outcome as Darnold. There are also reports of a significant extension in the works too.
Justin Fields, $40m/2 ($30m guaranteed) - He has a running element but if you look at his big time throw percentage, turnover worthy throw percentage and time to throw metrics he is a near carbon copy of Deshuan Watson in each of the last three years, I have no ambition to pay another player to do that.
Daniel Jones, $14m/1 ($13.15m guaranteed) - He is underwhelming but a very serviceable player who can come in and do a good job for the team. While it isn't an optimal use of resource to spend this much on a player that is unlikely to win you a playoff game he would give you something at the position.
Russell Wilson, $10.5m/1 ($10.5m guaranteed) - I believe he would have been a great addition but
Potential Targets
Aaron Rodgers - He seems to be halfway to being a Steelers player, it seems a matter of time.
Kirk Cousins - He started the offseason as the most likely name to be the Cleveland Browns quarterback come week one and with the Steelers and the Browns being the most likely teams looking for a starter there is a good chance he becomes it eventually. While Andrew Berry spoke about the position room likely to "skew young" I take everything he says with a pinch of salt. There is a good chance he is just knocking the ball back to the Falcons court. I will do an article tomorrow on what that trade might look like.
Berry said it’s also it’s possible the team makes a QB addition before the draft but noted that the position room will “probably skew young.” https://t.co/P2XHnwCsDy
— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) March 30, 2025
I believe there are also a range of bridge quality quarterbacks in Joe Flacco and Carson Wentz. For me these are players you can sign to start four to six games before handing the team over to a rookie quarterback who you plan to draft high in the first round. They don't appear to be legitimate players for seventeen games in the season, if you aren't taking a quarterback at two I don't really see a reason to get one of them on the team and spend around $6m to do it, they are similar to anything you can get from Pickett.
I hate quarterback wins as a start but people like to look at them, Joe Flacco's is 7-9 over the last three years. Compare this to Pickett who is 15-10, if this is the metric you are using the Browns got cheaper, younger and more winning at the backup quarterback position than Flacco.
In my eyes you are better waiting for a player like Cousins to hit the market when the price is right, Pickett allows them to play a long game.
A wildcard to potentially throw out there is Malik Willis, personally I wouldn't be giving up any more assets in trades for backup level quarterbacks but it could be a name they turn to if they want to have a collection of young talent and see what works.
Draft Propsect
Before we get into the potential draft prospects the Cleveland Browns could target later this month, some fans have been calling for is Joe Milton after he performed well in a week 18 game against the Bills backups. Personally I would focus on drafting another quarterback than having him as the third developmental player in the room. If they get nothing in the draft because of the way the board falls then it is an option but as things stand it would make no sense to trade for him before the draft in my eyes unless you are planning to give Pickett the starting job.
Here is Mock Draft Database's current consensus quarterback big board rankings for the first three rounds:
1 - Cameron Ward | Miami (FL)
4 - Shedeur Sanders | Colorado
31 - Jaxson Dart | Mississippi
46 - Jalen Milroe | Alabama
67 - Will Howard | Ohio State
90 - Quinn Ewers | Texas
93 - Tyler Shough | Louisville
For a month Ward has been a lock to be selected number one overall in the draft by the Titans, this was only confirmed when the only starting level quarterback they were linked to in free agency was Carson Wentz. That isn't the sign of a team trading out of the pick, there is still a good chance they sign Wentz as the bridge.
I would be shocked if the Cleveland Browns don't select a quarterback with their first five picks in the draft (2, 33, 67, 94, 104). It could be one where they make the move by packaging 33 and 67 to jump up to the 20's, at the same time they could wait. It is hard to predict the board. It wasn't long ago we entered draft night with Malik Willis having a shot in the eyes of the media to go number two and falling to the third round, so keep an open mind when listening to the media talk about quarterbacks.