No matter what happens with general manager Andrew Berry, head coach Kevin Stefanski, and their entire regime come Black Monday next month, nothing will change for the Cleveland Browns until they find stability at the most important position in sports.
Since the 2021 season, which was Stefanski’s second with the team, the Browns have started 17 different quarterbacks, including repeat stints for Joe Flacco (2023 and 2025) and Dorian Thompson-Robinson (2023, 2024). Injuries have played an obvious role, but with that kind of turnover, it doesn’t really matter what chef’s cooking in the kitchen; it’s not a recipe for success in the NFL.
Priority No. 1 for the Browns this offseason has to center around the franchise’s succession plan for Deshaun Watson, whose crippling, fully-guaranteed contract finally voids in 2027, when he’ll be scheduled to hit free agency. The current heat around Stefanski’s job status is definitely warranted, but you could argue the Browns’ painful lack of a plan behind Watson has been the biggest failure of the current regime as a whole.
No matter who’s making the decisions come March of 2026, the Browns will have options. They’ll almost certainly have the draft position, or at least the needed capital, to select one of the top two QBs in this year’s draft class. Either way, acquiring a veteran on a cheap contract, like Mac Jones out in San Francisco, for example, would be a prudent move to add some experience to the cuurent QB room.
There’s also door No. 3 — stand pat with 2025 draft picks Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel next year, leverage their rookie-scale contracts to get out from under the weight of Watson’s pending $80-plus million salary-cap hit, and kick the can down the road to 2027, when the draft pool is expected to be deeper, and the sample size for both Sanders and Gabriel will be greater.
Outside support for Sanders seems to grow with each passing week, but the rookie reiterated to reporters this week that the team has not yet committed to him beyond 2025.
Sanders spoke on his Browns future this week (and what he said matters)
Sanders understands all the questions about his future in Cleveland, and to some extent, he’s brought some of them on himself. He once again acknowledged this week that his short tenure with the Browns could end this coming offseason, despite the fact that he’s about to start his sixth consecutive game and is under contract through 2028 on his four-year rookie deal.
“I live in the present. I’m focused on this week and this game… because nothing’s promised. Nothing’s promised going into next year or anything. So I stay in the moment, stay focused on what I have to do now, to even be able to be here next year, you know? I just enjoy life.”
Sanders expounded a bit, but struck a similar tone, when asked by a reporter point-blank if the team had committed to him beyond this season.
“I don’t think it’s about feeling a commitment. I don’t think it’s about anything like that. I think it’s about controlling what you can control as a person and as a player. I think I have to do my part. I think I have to do my part and get some wins. I think I have to do my part and play clean football, and the rest isn’t in my hands. So that’s really all it is.
I don’t own the organization, so I can’t promise anything will happen. I’m not God. I can’t dictate what’s going to happen each and every day, each and every minute. You just gotta enjoy what you do have. You have to enjoy the present. You can’t look too deep into the future, because then you’ll miss the lessons and the blessings that you learn from the now.”
That second part of that quote has been quintessential Shedeur since he started his first game for the Browns in Week 12 against the Las Vegas Raiders. He’s never wavered on his mindset of living in the present, learning harsh lessons on game days, and applying the needed coaching points the following week. His steady improvement is a big reason the ongoing discussion about his future as QB1 of the Browns still has legs.
It’s also clear that the team is keeping all options open for 2026, with free agency, the trade market and the draft all in play. Sanders has two more chances to prove his worth, but no matter how the exciting rookie performs, it’s in the Browns’ best interest to play the long game and create a more competitive situation at the QB position come training camp.