As the offseason continues on and the free agency frenzy gives way to draft season, the Cleveland Browns still do not have a concrete plan at quarterback for 2025.
Speaking at the Annual League Meeting on Sunday with NFL Network's Steve Wyche, head coach Kevin Stefanski discussed the team's need to get off the quarterback carousel, and the impact injuries have had on the team's struggles at the position in recent years.
"I think that's obviously the goal," Stefanski said of having a quarterback who can play the whole season. "I think you look at the teams that are having sustained success that comes from having that quarterback that's there and healthy. Unfortunately, we haven't been healthy at that position and that's a huge challenge."
Since the Browns dealt Baker Mayfield to the Panthers and acquired Deshaun Watson ahead of the 2022 season, the team has had a different leading passer each year, with none of them being Watson. The man who was given a huge contract to be the team's long-term signal-caller has not been able to stay on the field, missing time due to his 2022 suspension and then dealing with injuries in each of the last two seasons that limited him to 13 total starts.
In those three years, Cleveland saw eight different players start a game, including Jacoby Brissett, Jameis Winston and Joe Flacco, but only Watson is still on the roster out of that group.
Of Watson's ongoing recovery from the torn Achilles from last season, Stefanski offered no notable update, simply saying, "We'll see where he is as he gets healthy."
With the re-rupture of the tendon that Watson suffered in January putting his availability for the entire 2025 season in question, his extended recovery timeline necessitates the Browns acquire at least one more quarterback this offseason to join Kenny Pickett, the lone healthy option for Cleveland if the season started today.
Now, with only a few veteran options left on the board for the Browns to pursue if they like, the more likely option for Cleveland seems to be to select a signal-caller sometime in next month's draft.
The Browns hold the No. 2 overall pick, the highest they've picked since drafting Mayfield No. 1 overall in 2018, and sit just behind the Tennessee Titans -- another team that could be in the market for a QB. The question for Stefanski and the rest of Cleveland's staff is therefore whether that crucial pick should be used on a quarterback to try and find consistency at the position going forward, and if so, who in this draft class could provide it given the right coaching.
"As we go through this process, you try to identify are there guys that we believe in, whether it's in the first round or seventh round. Are there guys that we can get in our building and try to develop them," Stefanski said. "I think that's another thing people lose sight of thinking that these guys are finished products, but they are not. So, for us, whether it's the quarterback position or any position, it's about understanding that there is a jump that they are going to take over the course of their career."
Franchise cornerstone Myles Garrett acknowledged this week that "any team that's going to go far needs a quarterback and one that's young, can learn and is willing to be patient with the process."
The opportunity for the Browns to try and obtain such a player is fast approaching.
