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Cleveland keeps struggling at QB

No end in sight to futility

Yesterday was cutdown day in the NFL, and one of the developments which caught my eye was the Browns keeping four quarterbacks. It's sometimes said that if you have two quarterbacks you don't have any. Cleveland keeping four also fits that profile.

Deshaun Watson will open as the starter. He'll probably either struggle or get hurt, at which point Shedeur Sanders will take over. Dillon Gabriel is opening on IR with some sort of back injury (I expect the league will be looking into some situations involving players landing on IR yesterday). And Cleveland also kept Taylen Green, its sixth-round pick. Would it be surprising if one or both of those guys started games this season? It would not.

Cleveland has been trying to solve the quarterback position for quite some time now. Since they re-entered the league, really, not that it was so great even when guys like Bernie Kosar and Vinny Testaverde had a year or two of success.

Since I didn't want to get too historical, I thought I'd look at quarterback play from just the last 10 years. What's interesting is that most of the best games have been produced by guys who are still in the league -- they're just either starting for, or backups for, other teams. Seems like Cleveland should have tried harder to keep one of those guys around.

Using the search tools at pro-football-reference.com, I looked for all games in the past 10 years where a Cleveland quarterback passed for at least 250 yards and threw 1 touchdown pass. It's a pretty low bar; Matthew Stafford did it 11 times last season. But Cleveland, in the last 10 years, has only had a quarterback do it a total of 39 times, so an average of just under 4 games per season with 250 passing yards and 1 TD pass.

More than half of those 39 games (22) were quarterbacked by guys who will start for other teams this year: Baker Mayfield, and Jacoby Brissett. (Hey, both of those guys are in contract years, so maybe Cleveland will bring one of them back for 2027.) Nine of them were started by guys who will be backups on other rosters: Jameis Winston, and Joe Flacco. Cleveland maybe should have brought one of those guys back.

Just three were quarterbacked by incumbents Watson and Sanders. Table shows all 39 games, sorted by passing yards.

CLEVELAND QBS W/ 250 YDS, 1 TD PASS IN A GAME (2016-2025)
YearPlayerOppPassTD
2024Jameis Winstonat Den.4974
2018Baker Mayfieldat Hou.3971
2024Jameis Winstonat N.O.3952
2018Baker Mayfieldat Bal.3763
2023Joe FlaccoChi.3742
2023Joe Flaccoat Hou.3683
2025Shedeur SandersTen.3643
2020Baker MayfieldBal.3432
2019Baker Mayfieldat Bal.3421
2018Baker MayfieldBal.3421
2016Josh McCownNYJ3412
2016Cody Kesslerat Ten.3362
2020Baker Mayfieldat Ten.3344
2024Jameis WinstonBal.3343
2019Baker MayfieldMia.3273
2019Baker Mayfieldat NYJ3251
2022Jacoby Brissettat Buf.3243
2016Josh McCownNYG3221
2017DeShone Kizerat Pit.3142
2023Joe FlaccoJac.3113
2023Joe FlaccoNYJ3093
2021Baker Mayfieldat LAC3052
2018Baker MayfieldK.C.2972
2020Baker Mayfieldat NYG2972
2020Baker Mayfieldat Cin.2975
2018Baker Mayfieldat Rai.2952
2025Joe FlaccoCin.2901
2023Deshaun WatsonTen.2892
2029Baker MayfieldTen.2851
2018Baker MayfieldCin.2843
2019Baker Mayfieldat Cin.2793
2022Jacoby BrissettCin.2781
2022Deshaun Watsonat Cin.2761
2019Baker MayfieldDen.2731
2022Jacoby BrissettN.E.2661
2016Josh McCownBal.2602
2018Baker Mayfieldat Cin.2584
2020Baker Mayfieldat Jac.2582
2023Joe Flaccoat LAR2542

I'm not confident Watson will be adding to that total this season. At least he has a few nice young receivers, so maybe. Sanders is young and developing, maybe he'll take a step up, if he gets in the lineup.

Green is interesting. He was a productive dual-threat guy at Arkansas the last two years, averaging about 235 passing yards and 55 rushing yards, with 34 touchdown passes and 16 TD runs in 25 games. Minimal work in the exhibitions (5 of 7 for 27 yards in his one game, while also running 8 times for 66 yards). He's a project, but he'd be fun to watch, and that's a fantasy-friendly game. Moreso than Watson, Sanders, or Gabriel, based on what we've seen to this point.

I'm rooting for you, Cleveland. Maybe one day. At some point they'll both hit on a quarterback, and keep him around for a while. Right?

--Andy Richardson

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