The Cleveland Browns continue their decades-long cycle through quarterbacks searching for that elusive franchise answer.
With Deshaun Watson potentially missing the entire 2025 season due to injury -- not to mention his sub-par play when on the field -- Cleveland is back to the drawing board.
Speaking Wednesday from the NFL Scouting Combine, coach Kevin Stefanski noted that the club will use every avenue to find a new signal-caller but added that he's impressed with the incoming class.
"This is a really good class from top all the way through," Stefanski said, via the team's official website. "(We) mentioned Cam (Ward) and Shedeur (Sanders), but there's really good players like throughout this draft at that position. I could go through some other positions, but I'm impressed with the whole group."
Stefanski highlighting the entire class, not just the top two, could hint at the Browns leaning another way with their No. 2 overall pick. However, the coach noted that it's still very early in the process to make any assumptions about what road Cleveland will take.
"This is a process," Stefanski said. "It's one thing to watch the tape, and then you got to get to know them, and you got to make phone calls on them. Then you got to get to their pro day. There's so much that goes into this evaluation, and we're in the middle of it. We're not there yet."
From the onset of the 2025 NFL Draft chatter, there have been questions about whether any incoming quarterbacks can be franchise-changers.
Stefanski said that ultimately the question about whether one can be that franchise re-setter, which Cleveland needs to compete with the likes of the Chiefs, Bills, Ravens, etc., isn't what he's focused on.
"Obviously, if you're taking a guy there, you believe in him to be a guy that can be your franchise quarterback, quote-unquote," he said. "But, you know, we're just looking for a good player that fits us."
The Browns could dive into the free-agent market, where the headliners also have questions, from Sam Darnold to Russell Wilson to Justin Fields. There are also potential trade candidates like Matthew Stafford or Kirk Cousins.
"I think we're obviously looking in a bunch of different areas there," Stefanski said. "There's some really exciting young players in this draft that you're looking at. There's obviously work to be done in free agency and all those types of things, but I think we're looking in all avenues, if you will."
With no current answer on the club, the Browns are poised to bring in multiple signal-callers this offseason. With Watson's onerous contract, the question is how many more major assets Cleveland will invest in a position in 2025.
