The market of available, and affordable, quarterback talent is shrinking rapidly this offseason.
While there are a few talented backups set to become available to the Cleveland Browns either in free agency or on the trade market, like Joe Milton III and Justin Fields, it feels more likely that the Browns will be honing in on the draft as a way to revamp their quarterback room. With their cap situation, we know that they'll be pretty restricted with who they can actually pursue.
Basically: don't expect Sam Darnold to walk through that door.
With The Athletic's latest mock draft, however, the Browns are beat out for a quarterback in the draft by the New York Giants. And, they go with a fairly great Plan B.
Latest mock draft has Browns losing out on Cam Ward to Giants
In national NFL writer Dane Brugler's latest mock draft for The Athletic, he imagines a world where the New York Giants are able to trade up for the No. 1 overall pick from the Tennessee Titans. He doesn't get into specifics beyond that he thinks "a pair of Day 2 picks" would get a deal done, but he hits on who New York would be using that pick on - Cam Ward.
That leaves the Browns with the option to either take Shedeur Sanders, or take the best player available in the next spot. And, Cleveland goes with the latter.
"The Browns want to draft a quarterback, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they made an offer to the Titans to move up one spot. But if they don’t trade out and Ward is off the board, Carter wouldn’t be a bad fallback option. Carter’s medicals could be tricky, though, so they’ll be something to watch over the next month," writes Brugler.
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Cleveland might be tempted to move up the board if they get the sense that the Giants are close on a deal, or simply have a legitimate offer to make to the Titans. They have plenty of picks to offer Tennessee, such as their 2 third rounders in this year's draft. If they're extremely convinced of Ward's ability to become a franchise QB, then they're likely to take a swing at moving up one spot.
Interestingly, in Brugler's mock, he has Sanders sliding all the way to the Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 21 overall, which could hypothetically free up Fields for the Browns in free agency. That would solve the quarterback problem, at least temporarily, while allowing them to take a generational talent in Carter atop the draft.
Carter, again, wouldn't be your average plan B. He's projected by some to be the best player in the entire class, and he'd be an excellent pairing - or replacement - for Myles Garrett on the defensive line. The Browns' defense is their calling card, and it'd be a huge boost to add such a pass rushing talent like Carter to the team.
But, they absolutely need to address their offense first this offseason, and worry about sharpening their defense as a secondary priority.