The Browns are stuck in the same quarterback maze as half the league, and that’s the point of the bigger argument here: finding a real long-term answer at the position is harder than it looks.
In Cleveland, that uncertainty is staring everyone in the face. Very few Browns fans believe the team already has its franchise quarterback on the roster.
Plenty are hoping Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel, or Taylen Green turns into that player, and soon. Deshaun Watson’s age, injuries, and history make a future in Cleveland seem unlikely, even with extension rumors swirling before the team’s Week 5 loss.
Zoom out, and the league-wide picture gets even messier. For a while, the thinking was simple: if you wanted to be in the Super Bowl conversation, you needed a quarterback on the level of Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, Matthew Stafford, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, or Lamar Jackson. That idea has already been stressed.
Jalen Hurts and Sam Darnold, both good to very good but not in that top tier, won the last two Super Bowls with strong rosters around them. As defenses got smaller and faster, the running back position became more important too, including Super Bowl MVP and Kansas City Chiefs’ huge free-agent addition Kenneth Walker.
At the same time, the quarterback pipeline has started to look thinner. Brady and Drew Brees are gone, and Stafford and Aaron Rodgers are nearing the end.
This week only added to the debate. Justin Herbert and Bo Nix struggled, Hurts has a potentially very serious health issue, and Jackson will miss Week 6 against the Browns.
Jackson also has an $84 million cap number that needs to be addressed before next season, along with a history of injuries and playoff flameouts.
Using the criteria laid out here, the list of certain long-term franchise quarterbacks is short:
Patrick Mahomes
Josh Allen
Caleb Williams
Brock Purdy
Drake Maye
Jordan Love
Dak Prescott
There’s room to argue some names in or out, but the broader point holds: there just aren’t many quarterbacks who feel like sure things over the long haul.
The near-miss group tells the rest of the story:
Joe Burrow - Injuries
Baker Mayfield - Injuries, needs more playoff success
Trevor Lawrence - Lacks playoff performances
Matt Stafford - Age
Jared Goff - Rarely carries the Lions
Justin Herbert - Overall and playoff success lacking
Lamar Jackson - Injuries, contract, playoff success lacking
Jalen Hurts - Newly added due to blood clot, contract coming up, and questions about carrying the Eagles
Aaron Rodgers - Age, recent seasons’ performances
Jayden Daniels - Injuries
CJ Stroud - Contract, playoff performance lacking, questions about him carrying the Texans
Even some younger names - Nix, Cam Ward, Fernando Mendoza, and others - could eventually work their way onto one of those lists. But for now, the number of quarterbacks you can truly count on for the present and the future is under 10.
That leaves Cleveland where so many other teams are already living: still searching. Browns GM Andrew Berry has done a good job building out the roster, including two wide receivers and two offensive linemen who are already holding their own as rookies.
But the hardest piece remains the one every franchise chases. Getting a top-level quarterback, and one who belongs on one of those two lists, is vital - and rarer than ever.
In Other News...
Browns Trade Buzz Puts One Andrew Berry QB Decision Under Spotlight
The Browns are still sorting through one of the NFLs most watched quarterback situations, and it keeps circling back to Andrew Berrys long-term plan. Cleveland is still looking for a franchise answer at the position, while Deshaun Watsons future remains clouded by uncertainty tied to his contract and injury history. In that backdrop, second-year quarterback Shedeur Sanders recently added a fresh layer of intrigue when he hired an agent, a move that naturally set off trade chatter around the league.
But the buzz runs up against the reality of how Cleveland views Sanders, which is why a move looks unlikely for now. Berry reportedly values him highly, and with Sanders still on his rookie contract for more than two seasons, the Browns have time on their side even as the bigger quarterback picture stays unsettled. For a team trying to balance present uncertainty with a long-range plan, that makes Sanders one of the more interesting names on the roster to watch. [Read more 🡒]
Andre Szmyt Just Forced A Browns Decision Fans Didn't Expect
Andre Szmyt has turned a low-key roster spot into one of the more interesting decisions the Browns may have to make. The undrafted kicker has been steady over the past two seasons, converting 34 of 37 field goal attempts and 32 of 34 extra points, and his current run has put him on the verge of one of the better streaks in franchise history.
The bigger question now is whether Cleveland treats that production like a short-term solution or a longer-term answer. Szmyt is under contract for the 2026 season, but with his consistency climbing and his streak already at 24 straight, the Browns may have a choice to make sooner than expected about whether to keep him in place beyond a one-year deal. [Read more 🡒]
Andrew Berry Could Put Key Browns Starters On The Trade Block
With four games left before the NFL trade deadline, the Browns find themselves in a familiar kind of midseason gray area: good enough at 3-2 to stay in the hunt, but not so settled that the front office can ignore what comes next. Cleveland also has draft capital at its disposal, which gives general manager Andrew Berry some room to maneuver if the season starts to tilt in the wrong direction.
That is where the chatter around several potential trade candidates starts to matter, including Grant Delpit, Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, Myles Collins, Jedrick Jenkins, Tim Patrick Jeudy and Jerome Sanders. Contract considerations and the teams place in the standings could all factor into whether Berry looks to add for a push or instead turn some of those names into future draft picks, leaving the roster picture just as much a story about October uncertainty as November planning. [Read more 🡒]