There is a lot of uncertainty for the Cleveland Browns at the most important position in the sport this offseason. Cleveland badly needs a franchise quarterback or they’ll soon be heading toward a rebuild.
Deshaun Watson may be laid up all of 2025 after reinjuring his Achilles and having to have a second operation. Even if he was healthy, the Browns aren’t moving forward with him as the guy.
Between the trade market, free agency, and the draft the Browns must find a solution to their problem. In a recent prediction piece by The Athletic, they have the Browns doubling down to fix the issue.
Cleveland Browns bring in two quarterbacks with connections to the staff
Zack Rosenblatt believes that the Browns will land veteran QB Kirk Cousins and that they will end up drafting Alabama QB Jalen Milroe. Both players have connections in Cleveland that make them real possibilities.
“The rumblings out of Indianapolis were that the Browns preferred Cam Ward and perhaps aren’t high enough on Shedeur Sanders to pick him second overall. That might be a smokescreen, but Sanders isn’t widely considered that caliber of prospect anyway. Cousins has always made the most sense among the veteran options projected to be available this offseason — assuming the Falcons are not serious about making him the most expensive backup the league has ever seen — for a couple reasons.” — Zack Rosenblatt, The Athletic
Cousins of course has to be released first, but reuniting with Browns HC Kevin Stefanski could very well be on the table. The two spent time with the Minnesota Vikings together in 2018 and 2019. Cousins had one of his better seasons in 2019 when Stefanski called plays for the Vikings. Cousins threw for 26 touchdowns and just six interceptions that season.
Last year did not go as planned with the Atlanta Falcons for Cousins. Following his Achilles injury, Cousins had a down year with an 18-16 touchdown to interception ratio in 14 starts. Reuniting with some familiar it’s and getting further away from the Achilles injury could do Cousins well. He should very much be on the table as a bridge option.
Milroe’s best college season was in 2023 when Browns OC Tommy Rees was the coordinator at Alabama. Though Milroe took a step back in 2024, he has all of the tools to be excited about. It isn’t going to take a first-round pick to land the Alabama product and the Browns would be able to go best player available at No. 2 overall. Milroe is the type of prospect you want to sit and groom into the starter, so pairing with Cousins could be the ideal scenario.
We will get a better feel of what the Browns are going to do next week when tampering begins and free agents start to figure out their next destination.