With less than a week to go before the Cleveland Browns are ready to make their picks in the 2026 NFL draft, there are still any number of directions the team could take. It’s long presumed that the Browns would focus on offense in this draft, and with good reason: Cleveland had the worst offense in the NFL in 2025, worse even than the offense it had in 2024 … when the Browns also had the worst offense in the NFL.
Wide receiver and offensive line are presumed to be the targets for the Browns, but in recent days, new possibilities have cropped up. Could the Browns go after Jeremiyah Love, the star Notre Dame running back who could be an all-around weapon for the team? Even with Quinshon Judkins in place as a possible RB1 for the foreseeable future?
Could the Browns go and draft a defensive player–safety Caleb Downs, for example, or even another pass-rusher as a possible precursor to a Myles Garrett trade?
Browns Familiar with Ty Simpson
There remains a lengthy list of questions about this team and the decisions it will make next weekend. But one fact is a constant: This bunch has no true, reliable option at quarterback, and there’s a chance the Browns could surprise us all by attempting to change that.
To that end, Browns general manager Andrew Berry was asked on Thursday, in his meeting with the media, about Simpson, a player who has deep ties to coach Todd Monken. That’s because, before he began his career at Alabama, Simpson was being recruited, and one of those recruiting him was Monken, who was the Georgia offensive coordinator.
Andrew Berry on Ty Simpson: ‘We Enjoyed Our Time’
Monken had long known know Simpson’s father, who is also a coach and an alum of Southern Miss, where Monken had been head coach. The Browns know Simpson well and had him in for a Top 30 visit at the beginning of the draft process.
Said Berry: “We’ve enjoyed the time that we’ve spent with Ty – son of a coach, really smart, very driven, he’s physically talented. He has a very unique college journey, in terms of coming in as a five star and then really having to wait his turn behind two pretty talented, quarterbacks and Bryce Young and Jalen Milroe before getting his chance under center. And he did a great job maximizing it. So, we’ve really enjoyed our time with Ty.”
Browns Need QB Solutions, Short-Term and Long-Term
No doubt, Simpson does make sense for the Browns, no matter how they seek to approach the starting role in 2026. He has a limited collegiate resume, having waited his turn behind Jalen Milroe before getting the starting job last season. That means Simpson has just 15 starts under his belt in college and could easily sit out in 2026 in a sort of redshirt year.
That would give the Browns a quarterback to develop on the side while they work out whether Shedeur Sanders or Deshaun Watson should be the starter in 2026. No matter which of those QB wins the job, Simpson could be ready to assume the reins in 2027.
But the Browns have given little indication that they’d pick Simpson in this draft–at least, not yet.
Browns GM makes Ty Simpson Statement Ahead of NFL Draft