Browns Sound Like They Are Ready to Turn the Page in the Draft

The Cleveland Browns have a fascinating quarterback history over the last decades and fans having dozens of QB jerseys has become a running joke. After Kevin Stefanski was hired in 2020 and got a career year out of Baker Mayfield and, subsequently, the first playoff victory since 1995, the vital position seemed to be in good hands.

Browns Sound Like They Are Ready to Turn the Page in the Draft

However, Mayfield had a poor 2021 season. His banged-up shoulder didn’t help. In the last two seasons, Mayfield has thrived, but not with the Browns. Cleveland got greedy in the 2022 offseason and acquired Deshaun Watson instead.

That trade has already drawn comparisons to Minnesota’s infamous swap for Cowboys running back Hershel Walker in terms of harm one deal could do to one organization. The Browns ultimately paid three first-rounders, a third-rounder, and two fourth-rounders while getting the passer and a sixth-rounder in return.

Just as harmful was the mind-boggling deal they signed their new franchise quarterback to, handing him a fully guaranteed five-year contract worth $230 million. They gave that to a player who hadn’t played football in a year, who had a bunch of legal red flags and an incoming suspension.

Three years later, nobody is holding out any hope for the move to pay any dividends for the Browns. In fact, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam has taken accountability.

At the NFL’s annual league meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, Haslam said, “We took a big swing-and-miss with Deshaun,” Haslam said Monday. “We thought we had the quarterback; we didn’t. And we gave up a lot of draft picks to get him, so we’ve got to dig ourselves out of that hole. … [The trade] was an entire organization decision and it ends with Dee [Haslam] and I, so hold us accountable.”

It would’ve been the easy out to fire GM Andrew Berry or head coach Stafanski following the 3-14 season and with the Watson trade fully blowing up for them. The quarterback missed 11 games in the 2022 season due to the suspension and suffered season-ending injuries in the last two campaigns.

In three seasons with the Browns, the once-bright star played 19 games with a 9-10 record, 19 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions.

Haslam’s clear words open the door for the future. The Browns could pick a quarterback with their second overall draft choice. Watson’s Achilles injury could keep him out of the 2025 season, and it’s unclear whether the Browns would actually want him back in the starting lineup.

The only other QB under contract is Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh’s former first-rounder, who hasn’t been much more than a backup-caliber quarterback in his three seasons in the league. Entering the season with him as the QB1 without anyone else in the mix sounds like a miserable situation for Browns fans who thought they had left those QB rooms in the 2010s.

In his recent mock draft, Draft Huddle’s Dustin Baker took action and sent the Browns something to get excited about, picking Shedeur Sanders. His explanation is simple, “Entertaining Travis Hunter or Abdul Carter is more than reasonable at this spot, but are we really supposed to believe that the Browns will roll with Kenny Pickett at quarterback this season? The clues suggest Sanders.”

Indeed, the Browns could pick one of the elite players in the draft class in Heisman winner and unique two-way player Travis Hunter, or standout pass rusher Abdul Carter, but a quarterback is needed.

If Cam Ward ends up drafted first overall by the Titans, Sanders should be the target for the Browns to give the organization some direction.