Cleveland Browns: Quarterback options plentiful this offseason
The Cleveland Browns have three distinctly different scenarios to follow this offseason when it comes to the quarterback position. Each present unique opportunities and timelines for Hue Jackson, John Dorsey and the Browns as an organization.
This coming offseason is absolutely crucial for the Cleveland Browns. After a dismal 0-16 season, there really is nowhere to go but up. However, there are many ways for the team to go about the process of going up.
For the Browns this offseason it is all about finding a quarterback and there are three distinct scenarios that the team can explore.
Scenario number one is likely the best of the three, but is also considered a pipe dream by many Browns fans. The scenario in question: what if the Browns can get current Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins?
Again, it’s a bit too far-fetched for most Browns fans. Cousins is a huge free agent, perhaps one of the biggest in years. But there’s always the excessive amount of cap space that the Browns have this offseason, which is somewhere around $112 million, according to spotrac.com.
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Cousins situation with the Redskins is a fluid one, but after playing this past season on a one-year deal worth $23.9 million, it would take a big payday to lure Cousins to Cleveland.
Maybe a better scenario for offseason success would come not through free agency, but via a trade. And who does Cleveland general manager John Dorsey have a solid, working relationship with? None other than Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith.
The Chiefs traded up in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft to select Patrick Mahomes, their quarterback of the future, and Smith’s contract has a clause that allows the Chiefs to move on after this season and only take a $3.6 million cap hit, per spotrac.com, so Smith could be available.
If the Browns were to trade for Smith, it would likely mean one of the three second-round picks out of Dorsey’s draft capital. Luckily, Dorsey could still pick a quarterback in the draft and groom him, while Smith begins to lead the organization to wins.
If Cleveland cannot grab either Smith or Cousins in the offseason, they will likely have to turn to the top pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. A true quarterback of the future who, for better or for worse, will likely have to learn on the job.
Some young quarterbacks, like Derek Carr of the Oakland Raiders, thrive in these environments. Others, perhaps like Browns quarterback DeShone Kizer, can crumble under the weight of a franchise on their shoulders.
Next: Browns QBs: Stay or go in 2018?
In any case, it is hard to envision a scenario in which the Browns actually get worse over this offseason, especially with several options available to fix the quarterback position. As stated earlier, there is nowhere to go but up, especially after the pain of 0-16.