Nothing Cleveland has done over the years has solved the quarterback problem. Maybe it is time to look to the past for the answer?
The Dallas Cowboys found themselves in need of a quarterback in the late 1980s and took an interesting approach to solving the problem.
Deciding that a pair of young quarterbacks would increase their odds of finding a starter, Dallas first selected Troy Aikman with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1989 NFL Draft and followed that up a few months later by selecting Steve Walsh in the Supplemental Draft.
It wasn’t always easy, at one point Aikman wanted to be traded, but the Cowboys ultimately decided to keep Aikman, sent Walsh to the New Orleans Saints for three draft picks, and went on to win three Super Bowls with Aikman running the offense.
Fast-forward 35 years and the Cleveland Browns are again looking to solve the quarterback conundrum that has plagued the franchise for decades.
The Browns have tried everything over the years, from high draft picks to veteran stopgaps and throwing the most guaranteed money in NFL history at the position in an attempt to find an answer, all to no avail.
Cleveland swung a minor deal last week to acquire quarterback Kenny Pickett from the Philadelphia Eagles. As he is currently the only healthy quarterback on the roster the prevailing wisdom is that the Browns will still pick up a veteran “bridge quarterback” and then fill out the quarterback room by selecting someone in the 2025 NFL Draft.
The problem is that the list of veteran quarterbacks who are still available is anything but desirable, with little to inspire confidence that there is anyone worth spending time on.
Cleveland continues to be linked to Kirk Cousins, but there are still enough hurdles that would need to be cleared, along with questions about whether or not Cousins has anything left, to give general manager Andrew Berry pause about swinging a deal with the Atlanta Falcons.
Perhaps it is time for the Browns to look to the past for the answer.
What if the Browns decide to stay away from Cousins and the uninspiring free-agent crop and instead focus on selecting two quarterbacks in the draft?
Cleveland holds the No. 2 overall selection and enough additional draft capital to make some moves back into the first round if they want to. Select a quarterback at No. 2, presumably Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, move back into the first round (or sit tight depending on how things shake out) to select a second quarterback, possibly Mississippi’s Jaxson Dart or Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, and then have them battle it out this summer to see who starts.
It would be unconventional, certainly, and not without risk, but nothing else the Browns have tried over the years has worked. If neither of the rookies are ready you are stuck starting Pickett when the season opens in the fall, which is not ideal. But while Pickett is not good, he is no worse than what the Browns rolled out in 2024, which was some of the worst quarterback play in league history, so they could live with a few more weeks of that if they have to.
There is also the possibility that there are not two quarterbacks worth selecting, as most draft pundits and social media general managers have declared that Miami’s Cam Ward is the only quarterback worth anything, or at least worth using a high draft pick on.
Of course, people are wrong all the time, especially when it comes to quarterbacks, or else Patrick Mahomes would not have been sitting there in 2017 for the Kansas City Chiefs to select with the No. 10 pick.
The potential upside is you increase your chances of finally finding a starting quarterback, and if both look good you have a valuable trade chip to use down the road.
This is not an endorsement of the plan, or advocating that Berry give it a shot. Rather it is a thought exercise about how the Browns could take a different path to address the game’s most important position.
If nothing else, it would give fans and media something new to argue about when it comes to the team’s quest to finally find a long-term answer at quarterback.
What do you think Browns fans? Would taking two QBs in the draft be madness or the answer to the problem at the position?