Tyler Huntley signed with the Browns after nearly joining the Steelers

Tyler Huntley nearly made a decision he would have surely regretted — signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Thankfully, that never happened to him and he ended up with the Cleveland Browns — which is a much more preferable landing spot according to those of us who follow the Browns.

When Cleveland landed Huntley, it was a surprise signing. The Browns already added Jameis Winston as the backup to Deshaun Watson and they still had Dorian Thompson-Robinson. While they typically bring four signal-callers into camp, Huntley isn't the typical QB4.

A former undrafted free agent, Huntley was the primary backup to Lamar Jackson with the Baltimore Ravens for the past three seasons. He even made the Pro Bowl in 2022 when he started four games in his absence. There was some interest in him during the offseason and Andrew Berry said his availability was unexpected.

“We looked at (Huntley) as a really fantastic opportunity for our organization,” Berry said via MAry Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. “I’ll let Tyler speak on it, (but) a couple things maybe went a little different direction so maybe he got caught standing in a game of musical chairs unexpectedly."

Berry didn't dive into it too much but MKC says the Steelers were expected to sign Huntley. Then they traded for Justin Fields, who is the backup to Russell Wilson, and Huntley was out of the picture. With the majority of the No. 2 spots already filled, he elected to join the Browns who are suddenly very deep at quarterback.

In four seasons in the NFL, Huntley has completed 64.6 percent of his attempts for 1,957 yards with eight touchdowns and seven interceptions. He's also done damage with his legs, gaining 509 yards and three touchdowns as a runner.

Cleveland could still look to add more depth behind Huntley as they've kicked the tires on Joe Milton and Michael Pratt ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft.

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