And then there were four. No, we are not talking about the NFL head coaching carousel, which still has five openings as Cleveland Browns fans start to get worried about their team’s head coach search process. Just four teams remain in the NFL playoffs with a chance to head to the Super Bowl.
With the Browns still trying to find a head coach and the 2026 NFL draft coming into focus, it is important to note the four quarterbacks who have made it to the conference championship games this weekend:
- Matthew Stafford – #1 overall pick, on his second team via trade
- Sam Darnold – #3 overall pick, on his third team via free agency
- Drake Maye – #3 overall pick, in his second season
- Bo Nix (now injured) – #12 overall pick, in his second season
Cleveland
isn’t required to draft a quarterback to get a quarterback, but the top half of the NFL draft is where most top-level quarterbacks come from.
Quarterback has also played a role in coaching searches, it seems:
- John Harbaugh chose to work with Jaxson Dart
- Robert Saleh chose to work with Cam Ward
- Kevin Stefanski chose to work with Michael Penix (and probably would have chose the New York Giants if given the option)
- Jesse Minter chose to work with Lamar Jackson
- Mike McDaniel chose to work with Justin Herbert and is willing to continue the head coach interview process only if he gets to coach Josh Allen
During the initial round of head coach openings, we noted that candidates would rank their options based on a few variables with quarterback being the second most important after ownership.
Only Jeff Hafley has joined a team, the Miami Dolphins, that doesn’t at least have some certainty or upside at the quarterback position.
Besides the Buffalo Bills, the last to the head coaching market, none of the remaining teams with head coaching openings have a quarterback on their roster that a head coach would be excited about:
- Arizona Cardinals are likely moving on from Kyler Murray
- Cleveland Browns did not get enough from Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel as rookies
- Las Vegas Raiders traded for and extended Geno Smith and are ready to move on after one season
- Pittsburgh Steelers have sixth-round pick Will Howard and Mason Rudolph as options
The only team on that list that has a chance to answer their quarterback problem is the Raiders, who desperately tried to hire Minter and now could be waiting on Klint Kubiak. With the top overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft, Fernando Mendoza is likely headed to Las Vegas.
The problem for the Raiders search is that Mendoza has not proven anything in the NFL and the rest of their roster only has a few quality players to build around. Cleveland at least has a quality defense and a few stud rookies to build their future around.
The problem for the Browns for the past two seasons has been winning meaningless games. Now, to be fair, the problem is one on paper. Cleveland players, coaches, and fans are always going to want wins in the moment.
In 2024, a Week 12 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, when the Browns were already far out of any type of playoff contention, cost the team the chance to draft Ward. Reports came out later that Cleveland tried to trade up to get Ward because they liked him so much. In 2025, Week 17 and 18 victories in the AFC North pushed the Browns from the first overall selection, with a chance to draft Mendoza, to the sixth pick in a draft with very few quarterback options.
If Cleveland entered the 2026 head coach search with Ward or Mendoza to go along with their stacked defense and very good 2025 NFL draft class, it is far more likely Harbaugh, McDaniel, and Minter would have had the team higher on their list.
Instead, one win in 2024 and two wins in 2025 have the Browns still seeking their franchise quarterback, which has led to more limited options to fill their head coaching vacancy. That doesn’t mean Cleveland will not find their franchise leader (HC) and franchise changer (QB), but it is interesting to look back and see the butterfly effect of a few wins.
