Facing a hefty contract and the need for QB competition, the Cleveland Browns are exploring various options, including drafting a quarterback or pursuing a veteran like Kirk Cousins.
You think the Browns land Cousins or Rodgers, and if so, do they wait to draft a QB until 2026/27?We reported in November that Cleveland was planning to bring back Deshaun Watson in 2025, faced with the reality that his contract (and injury) presents, but that it’d build out the quarterback room around him differently this time. The last couple of years, it’s been structured to support him. In 2025, the Browns will try and put competition in that room. What’s tricky of course is the money.
Watson is due $46 million next year, fully guaranteed, with the same number and guarantee looming in 2026. The Browns restructured this month to ease the cap damage, but they’ll have to take their medicine at some point—and logistically would have a very difficult time absorbing much more quarterback money. So they have to be creative in finding an answer. One way to deal with it would be to draft a quarterback in the top five. The Browns currently hold the third pick. The trouble is this year’s class is very shaky, and there’s no guarantee that Cleveland will get through the process and like Shedeur Sanders, Cam Ward or whoever else enough to take one that high. Another option would be the veteran reclamation route, and try to find Cleveland’s version of Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield or Geno Smith—all three of whom have taken their current teams to the playoffs after washing out of multiple organizations. Along those lines, Justin Fields could be a name to consider. And then, there’s Cousins. He was with Kevin Stefanski for two years in Minnesota, with Stefanski as his position coach in 2018 and his coordinator in ’19. Cousins would also likely come in, like Russell Wilson did in Pittsburgh, on the veteran minimum, with the Atlanta Falcons paying the freight and the Browns simply paying an offset. And, yes, he’ll be 37 in August, but he’ll also be another year removed from his Achilles injury with something to prove. The more you think about it, the more it makes sens
CLEVELAND BROWNS KIRK COUSINS DESHAUN WATSON QB COMPETITION NFL DRAFT
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