Ex-Cleveland Browns quarterbacks sacked on cut down day, some survive

Amazingly, several ex-Cleveland Browns quarterbacks continue to earn paychecks despite their inglorious pasts with the orange and brown.

Tracking the fates of failed former Cleveland Browns quarterbacks from the bad old days before John Dorsey and Baker Mayfield, has been morbidly fascinating over the years. These are usually the guys who were scapegoats for ineffective teams and summarily run out-of-town. But were the Browns’ problems really due to the quarterbacking? Everybody else was actually championship caliber?

That does not sound right. Nevertheless, since 1999, Jeff Garcia is the only quarterback who became a legitimate NFL starter after leaving Cleveland. Garcia was a winner before he came to the Browns, a loser for one year with the Browns, and then went on to post several winning seasons afterwards. He even made the Pro Bowl after leaving Cleveland.

This summer, several ex-Browns retired, or are at least out of work for now. That includes Austin Davis, Derek Anderson, Brandon Weeden and Brock Osweiler, all of whom are out of football for the moment. Weeden and Osweiler might still suit up if an offer comes along, but for the moment at least, we can consider them retired.

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Josh McCown also retired earlier this year, but when the Philadelphia Eagles found themselves in need of a backup quarterback, he unretired and is still on the Eagles roster.

This year during roster cut-downs, the axe fell on the likes of Cody Kessler, Kevin Hogan, and Joe Callahan. In addition, DeShone Kizer and Brian Hoyer were also let go, but quickly signed with other teams. Kizer wound up with Jon Gruden in Oakland, and Hoyer has signed a $12 million, three-year contract with Indianapolis. That’s good money, but contrary to some of the story lines out there, it is not out of line for a good NFL backup quarterback

Robert Griffin III is entering his second year backing up young Lamar Jackson in Baltimore. Colt McCoy has been slow to recover from an injury last year, otherwise he might have had a shot at the Washington job. He will begin the season as the backup for Case Keenum and mentor to former Ohio State Buckeye stud Dwayne Haskins.

Believe it or not, Alex “Youtube” Tanney is still backing up Eli Manning in New York. Nobody can understand that, but it is true.

New Browns alumni include Tyrod Taylor, who is backing up for the Los Angeles Chargers and Philip Rivers, and young David Blough, who is backing up Matt Stafford in Detroit. Stafford’s primary understudy is none other than ex-Brown Josh Johnson, who is part backup and part mentor to Blough. That makes eight former Browns quarterbacks who were good enough to make an NFL roster this year.