At this stage, the player that will trot out as the starting quarterback for Week 1 of the 2026 season for the Cleveland Browns has not been determined. Even with him flashing at times in late-season starts, Shedeur Sanders has a ways to go in his development before he’s considered the long-term solution for Cleveland, for one.
From there, despite it being much to the chagrin of Browns fans, Deshaun Watson could reportedly still be in the mix to win that job as well. It seems things are progressing towards a battle between Sanders and Watson, with Cleveland potentially adding another quarterback in next month’s draft.
Could the Browns be in on a young QB who could benefit from a change of scenery, as another alternative? It would not seem to have the highest likelihood, per se, but given that the Minnesota Vikings have added a pair of veterans in Kyler Murray and Carson Wentz recently, J.J. McCarthy may be headed out sooner than anybody could’ve anticipated following his No. 10 overall draft selection in 2024.
To that point, Garrett Podell of CBS Sports seemingly believes McCarthy’s days in Minnesota could very well be numbered as its starter.
“The choice to start McCarthy and let Darnold walk aged poorly almost immediately," he wrote.
"The former No. 10 overall pick finished last in the NFL in completion rate (57.6%), touchdown-to-interception ratio (11-12) and passer rating (72.6), while Darnold won Super Bowl LX as the Seahawks’ starting quarterback. The sequence of events no doubt played a critical role in the decision to fire general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah less than a year after extending his contract.”
Podell then essentially forecasted how, if Murray can return to his best form, it wouldn’t be surprising if he beat out McCarthy to win that starting job. So, perhaps the Browns should call the Vikings about the young QB?
The warning signs behind this Browns QB idea are already there
McCarthy looks to be at an early crossroads in his career. Sure, one could point to him only being a starter for one season with Minnesota, appearing in 10 games, and thinking he has more time left. There may be some merit to that explanation, too.
But with McCarthy’s struggles in the time he has played factored into that, and the continual question marks about his throwing abilities against NFL defenses, it’s tough to forecast how things will shake out for him. With Murray appearing in line to start, one would assume, maybe Cleveland could try to throw its hat in the ring for McCarthy.
Based on what’s played out this offseason thus far, it might not take much to acquire McCarthy. It does seem as if Minnesota is changing its course at QB, and even with McCarthy still very young and having been 6-4 in his starts, with Murray there, Minnesota may choose to veer away from McCarthy altogether.
That’s especially the case with how Minnesota moved on from Adofo-Mensah, even after signing him to a contract extension after the 2024 season, as demonstrated by Podell. Perhaps the Vikings could go for another QB prospect down the road, also, but one will have to see what transpires.
Granted, McCarthy hasn’t shown much in his NFL career to this point, and Todd Monken and company would have tons of work to do there. Regardless of the compensation or draft capital it may take to acquire him, it’s tough to foresee what the projection for McCarthy may be.
He looks the part at 6-foot-3 and 219 pounds, and he can make some plays off script with his legs, but there’s things to clean up with his mechanics and as an inexperienced player, he has to make strides in getting the ball out quicker.
McCarthy was sacked 10 percent of the time last season. Sanders, who has to improve there, was sacked 9.8 percent of the time, for what it's worth, and McCarthy had a more competent offensive line.
McCarthy’s early career has clearly featured injury woes, too, though, which hasn't helped. He missed all of his rookie year due to a torn meniscus, and his past season was cut short because of a right hand hairline fracture. So, the injury bug is definitely something to keep in mind for McCarthy, as despite him not having a whole lot of miles on his career dash thus far, he’s regularly been sidelined.
Independent of the injuries, success has been hard to come by for McCarthy with the Vikings. He had his woes last season, and while it was his first season as a starter coming off missing the prior year, even with the influence of head coach Kevin O'Connell to help, there weren’t many positive stretches for McCarthy.
McCarthy could theoretically benefit from being out of the limelight with the Browns, and potentially be in the fold to compete for the starting job with Cleveland. However, at this juncture, there’s far more questions than answers regarding the Michigan product.
For now, while there may be some allure with the Vikings potentially wanting to move on and it being a buy-low move, the Browns should probably steer clear of McCarthy. Even with Cleveland thus far improving the state of its offensive line this offseason, pertaining to McCarthy, it’d behoove Cleveland to put more of its energy into Sanders in his development.
Maybe if the Browns want to target a QB prospect in the later rounds to have in the building, that could also be an option. And comparatively, perhaps Cleveland could target a veteran signal-caller via a team-friendly deal, should they choose to go that route, which could seemingly play out eventually.