Stop us if you have heard this one before, but the Cleveland Browns have a problem at the quarterback position.
Admittedly, this is a factual statement that has been true for all but a very small handful of seasons since 1999; however, this year the situation is especially acute.
Heading into the new league year, Cleveland’s current quarterback room consists of a broken and untradeable Deshaun Watson, along with Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel, who last season posted some of the worst quarterback play
by rookies in the past 25 years.
General manager Andrew Berry had his eye on potentially fixing the situation in the 2026 NFL Draft with a pair of first-round selections at his disposal. But as luck would have it, the draft is shaping up to be Fernando Mendoza and a cast of characters that all carry their own issues. (Although it may be worthwhile to keep an eye on Carson Beck*, as head coach Todd Monken is familiar with him from their time together at Georgia.)
The draft is not the only way to address the need, of course, as free agency opens this week across the NFL. But just like the draft class, the list of potential quarterbacks who may be testing the market gets more depressing with each name:
- Malik Willis
- Aaron Rodgers
- Joe Flacco
- Mitchell Trubisky
- Russell Wilson
- Marcus Mariota
- Tyrod Taylor
- Jimmy Garoppolo
- Kirk Cousins
- Kyler Murray
- Geno Smith
Cleveland is not the only team searching for a quarterback, even if it sometimes feels like the rest of the NFL has figured it out. Other teams that may be picking through the same list of free agents include the Arizona Cardinals, the Miami Dolphins, the New York Jets, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Minnesota Vikings.
Matching quarterbacks to needy teams is never an easy task, but it is one that Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic recently undertook, and he somehow landed on an option that would make Cleveland’s current quarterback room even worse.
In Rosenblatt’s world, the Browns should apparently remove all doubt about which team has the worst quarterback room by adding Justin Fields to the mix:
A free-for-all! It feels like the Browns are headed this way, a room filled with three returning options in Sanders, Watson, and Gabriel — plus another one (or two) added to the room for good measure and good (is that the right word?) competition.
There are fans who believe in Sanders, and he did show some flashes in his rookie season, but he was highly inconsistent, and the numbers don’t look great. Sanders threw seven touchdowns, 10 interceptions, and ranked 41st of 42 eligible quarterbacks in EPA per attempt (only Jets undrafted rookie Brady Cook was worse).
Gabriel threw seven touchdowns and two interceptions, but also ranked 40th in EPA per attempt, and his off-target throw percentage (13.5 percent) ranked 35th. He does not look like a starting-caliber quarterback.
That’s not to say Fields is looking that way these days either. After playing perhaps the best he has in his Jets debut against the Steelers, he struggled immensely, passing for fewer than 100 yards four times. By the end of the season, Fields seemed scared to throw the ball and struggled to work through his progressions. But there is talent — and his mobility is undoubtedly a weapon, something that few are better at weaponizing than Monken. Fields won’t cost much at this point and, as a bonus, he’s a beloved figure in Ohio thanks to his time as a Buckeye.
A first-round selection by the Chicago Bears in 2021, Fields has given no indication that he is a viable NFL quarterback while bouncing from the Bears to the Steelers (2024) and the Jets (2025).
Last season in New York, Fields made nine starts and failed to pass for more than 55 yards in four of them. (Of course, one of those games came in a win against the Browns.) He did not turn the ball over, only one interception, but that is because he basically was afraid to throw the ball at all.
His low point came in a Week 6 game against the Denver Broncos when Fields ended up with -10 passing yards after losing 55 yards on nine sacks to negate the 45 passing yards he posted. Fields also had games with 8 net passing yards against the Buffalo Bills, 25 net passing yards against the Carolina Panthers, and 42 net passing yards against the Browns.
Cleveland has been a mess at quarterback, but the one thing they have avoided is making it worse by drafting a quarterback from Ohio State, despite the clamoring from a portion of the fan base to “Fail for Cardale,” or “give a chance” to the likes of Braxton Miller, Troy Smith, or Dwayne Haskins.
Bringing in Fields would do nothing but make the quarterback position even worse than it already is, which is something that no one should be advocating for when it comes to the Browns.
*This is not an endorsement of Cleveland drafting Beck. Just an acknowledgement that he may be linked to them, given his ties to Monken.
