The Cleveland Browns, despite making pitches to Russell Wilson that included meetings with Deshaun Watson and Myles Garrett, as well as a pitch from Browns legend Bernie Kosar, lost out to the quarterback to the NY Giants. The other quarterback-needy team sealed the deal for Mr. Unlimited with a one year, $21 million contract.
The deal was first reported on by ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Cleveland, who seems to be in waiting for the perfect veteran bridge quarterback to fall into their lap, have now struck out on their first public courting of one of those signal callers this offseason. Now, they have to likely turn to the availability of Kirk Cousins from the Atlanta Falcons, as well as the possibility that they'll need to bring on someone like Joe Flacco to play the part.
Browns need to focus on youth movement, not a bridge QB
As nice as it would've been to get Wilson on a cheap deal for one season, it's a great thing that Cleveland is striking out. They need a wake up call: begin investing in your youth sooner rather than later, and there's no better chance to do so than to be forced into taking Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders in the draft.
If they can get Cousins for cheap, and without needing to blow up their defense in a trade, then they should do that. But, even that route has its drawbacks. Cousins is injury prone, coming off a season where he didn't report a shoulder injury that caused him to throw more interceptions than touchdowns for five games.
Read more: Browns' 3-round mock draft after making zero moves for a quarterback (yet)
The Browns should be trying to, cheaply, build for the future. That includes taking a chance on one of Ward or Sanders in this draft to hopefully find their franchise quarterback. Instead of kicking that quarterback can down the road, they need to try to actually pick that can up.
Still, they have options in the draft that can bolster the team that aren't at quarterback. Abdul Carter is the best prospect in the draft, and he could fall to the Browns at No. 2 overall. Travis Hunter can be the perfect complement to Denzel Ward in the secondary.
But, for now, it seems that the team will keep trying their best to secure a veteran starter as opposed to trusting a rookie to start Week 1 in 2025.