Getty Head coach Kevin Stefanski of the Cleveland Browns.
The Cleveland Browns will pursue a third quarterback ahead of the regular season. The question is which one?
Head coach Kevin Stefanski conducted a press conference on Tuesday, August 29, following the Browns’ announcement of the initial 53-man roster. On that roster is starting QB Deshaun Watson and his rookie backup, Dorian Thompson-Robinson. Cut from that roster was journeyman Kellen Mond. Traded from that roster before cut-down day and poised to open the season as the starter for the Arizona Cardinals is Joshua Dobbs.
Stefanski took the time to address the team’s plans under center, though he didn’t get specific about potential targets.
“We kind of have a plan. I think we’re definitely going to bring in another quarterback soon,” Stefanski said. “I think it’ll be interesting around the league — what teams decide to keep three on the active [roster], which teams decide to keep some guys on [the] practice squad. We’ll see how that goes.”
Browns Likely to Look for Cheap Option at Quarterback
GettyCleveland Browns quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
Any quarterbacks who found themselves cut Tuesday are bound for the NFL waiver wire. The Browns will have the opportunity to add one of those players if there is someone in the group the coaching staff likes. QBs who clear waivers, meaning they aren’t claimed, will become free agents and eligible to visit with multiple franchises and sign wherever they can get a deal.
A couple of examples of signal-callers with name recognition but who will command only moderate salaries and are headed to the waiver wire are former Cardinals backup Colt McCoy, whom Dobbs replaced on that team’s roster, and ex-Chicago Bears backup P.J. Walker.
The Browns aren’t likely to look for a big name, or at least not an expensive one, considering the $230 million fully guaranteed contract to which they signed Watson last offseason. Thompson-Robinson is a fifth-round pick on a cheap rookie deal that will pay him only $4.2 million over the next four seasons. Barring injury or some other extenuating circumstance, it appears the Browns are set at quarterback for the short- and medium-term future.
Cleveland has a boatload of salary cap space, with nearly $37.4 million at its disposal following the restructuring of several contracts belonging to key players in recent weeks. As such, the team has the money to pursue whomever it would like.
However, much of that money is reserved for extending Browns who are currently on the roster. Beyond that, paying big money to any player who isn’t likely to see the field makes next to no sense.
Deshaun Watson Will Make or Break Browns in 2023
GettyCleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson.
The upcoming campaign is a critical one both in Browns’ history and for the future of the current power structure in Cleveland. After a handful of pricey plays that have loaded the roster with talent on both sides of the ball, everything now comes down to Watson.
“I missed two years of football,” Watson told reporters during a press conference on August 23. “So I got to go out there and prove and show what I got to do … to get back in those conversations. But for me, I just lock in on what I need to lock in on and just focus on my tasks, and everything else will take care of itself.”
Stefanski is almost certainly out if the Browns don’t succeed in 2023, as he has posted two consecutive losing seasons after going 11-5 in 2020 and winning a playoff game in his first year as head coach. Meanwhile, general manager Andrew Berry may have a little more latitude, though not much.