Stop us in case you have heard this one earlier than, however the Cleveland Browns have an issue at the quarterback place.
Admittedly, it is a factual assertion that has been true for all however a really small handful of seasons since 1999; nevertheless, this year the situation is especially acute.
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Heading into the new league yr, Cleveland’s present quarterback room consists of a damaged and untradeable Deshaun Watson, together with Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel, who final season posted a few of the worst quarterback play by rookies in the previous 25 years.
General supervisor Andrew Berry had his eye on probably fixing the scenario in the 2026 NFL Draft with a pair of first-round picks at his disposal. But as luck would have it, the draft is shaping up to be Fernando Mendoza and a solid of characters that each one carry their very own points. (Although it could be worthwhile to control Carson Beck*, as head coach Todd Monken is aware of him from their time collectively at Georgia.)
The draft isn’t the solely way to tackle the want, in fact, as free company opens this week throughout the NFL. But identical to the draft class, the checklist of potential quarterbacks who could also be testing the market will get extra miserable with every identify:
Cleveland isn’t the solely staff trying to find a quarterback, even if it typically looks like the remainder of the NFL has figured it out. Other groups that could be choosing by means of the identical checklist of free brokers embody the Arizona Cardinals, the Miami Dolphins, the New York Jets, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Minnesota Vikings.
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Matching quarterbacks to needy groups isn’t a simple process, but it is one that Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic recently undertook, and he one way or the other landed on an possibility that may make Cleveland’s present quarterback room even worse.
In Rosenblatt’s world, the Browns ought to apparently take away all doubt about which staff has the worst quarterback room by including Justin Fields to the combine:
A free-for-all! It looks like the Browns are headed this way, a room full of three returning choices in Sanders, Watson, and Gabriel — plus one other one (or two) added to the room for good measure and good (is that the proper phrase?) competitors.
There are followers who imagine in Sanders, and he did present some flashes in his rookie season, however he was extremely inconsistent, and the numbers don’t look nice. Sanders threw seven touchdowns, 10 interceptions, and ranked forty first of 42 eligible quarterbacks in EPA per try (solely Jets undrafted rookie Brady Cook was worse).
Gabriel threw seven touchdowns and two interceptions, but additionally ranked fortieth in EPA per try, and his off-target throw proportion (13.5 %) ranked thirty fifth. He doesn’t appear like a starting-caliber quarterback.
That’s not to say Fields is trying that way nowadays both. After enjoying maybe the finest he has in his Jets debut in opposition to the Steelers, he struggled immensely, passing for fewer than 100 yards 4 instances. By the finish of the season, Fields appeared scared to throw the ball and struggled to work by means of his progressions. But there’s expertise — and his mobility is undoubtedly a weapon, one thing that few are higher at weaponizing than Monken. Fields received’t price a lot at this level and, as a bonus, he’s a beloved determine in Ohio thanks to his time as a Buckeye.
A primary-round choice by the Chicago Bears in 2021, Fields has given no indication that he’s a viable NFL quarterback whereas bouncing from the Bears to the Steelers (2024) and the Jets (2025).
Last season in New York, Fields made 9 begins and failed to go for greater than 55 yards in 4 of them. (Of course, a type of video games got here in a win in opposition to the Browns.) He didn’t flip the ball over, just one interception, however that’s as a result of he principally was afraid to throw the ball in any respect.
His low level got here in a Week 6 sport in opposition to the Denver Broncos when Fields ended up with -10 passing yards after shedding 55 yards on 9 sacks to negate the 45 passing yards he posted. Fields additionally had video games with 8 web passing yards in opposition to the Buffalo Bills, 25 web passing yards in opposition to the Carolina Panthers, and 42 web passing yards in opposition to the Browns.
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Cleveland has been a multitude at quarterback, however the one factor they’ve prevented is making it worse by drafting a quarterback from Ohio State, regardless of the clamoring from a portion of the fan base to “Fail for Cardale,” or “give a chance” to the likes of Braxton Miller, Troy Smith, or Dwayne Haskins.
Bringing in Fields would do nothing however make the quarterback place even worse than it already is, which is one thing that nobody needs to be advocating for when it comes to the Browns.
*This isn’t an endorsement of Cleveland drafting Beck. Just an acknowledgement that he could also be linked to them, given his ties to Monken.
