Under owner Jimmy Haslam, the Browns’ solution has been to throw money at problems. Most recently, they tossed money at Myles Garrett to make him happy after he requested a trade. Years prior, however, was the most damning and damaging incident of such a practice. In 2022, in trading for QB Deshaun Watson, the Browns gave him a five-year, fully guaranteed $230 million contract.
They still have two years left on that deal, and no way to get out of it. Haslam recently admitted that the Browns basically made a horrible mistake in trading for Watson—better late than never. That still leaves them in need of a quarterback, while holding the second-overall pick.
Not everybody is convinced the Browns will use that second pick on a quarterback, though. Indeed, some wonder if they plan on winning this season or not. Via The Athletic, some executives around the league question whether they are prepared to tank, eyeing next year’s draft. The biggest potential name at quarterback to come out next year is Arch Manning, though he may not declare.
“It’s such a weak quarterback draft and free-agency class at the position”, Mike Sando quotes one anonymous NFL executive as telling The Athletic when discussing the predicament the Browns are in. “Is there a temptation to suck for Arch Manning”?
The 2025 NFL Draft is regarded as a weaker one for quarterback. Especially after last season, when teams drafted six quarterbacks in the first 12 selections, this year’s crop isn’t nearly as robust. Indeed, some suggest that the top quarterback this year wouldn’t rank in the top six of last year’s class. If the Browns share that sentiment, why would they want to draft a quarterback second overall?
The Titans seem likely to use the first-overall pick on QB Cam Ward, though even that isn’t guaranteed. Should they do so, however, that leaves the Browns with Shedeur Sanders as arguably the best quarterback left on the board. And yet there are mock drafts out there suggesting that Sanders could slide all the way to the Steelers. The Steelers don’t pick until 21, so the Browns would be massively overdrafting in that scenario. That is, of course, assuming one puts any kind of value in mock drafts.
Sando notes that the sentiment about the Browns is shared by more than one executive. “Are they drafting or tanking?”, he quotes another as saying. “If you are tanking, then you would be down to one year left on Deshaun [Watson]. I’m sure they are like, ‘Hey, Joe Flacco got us to the playoffs and we can do whatever’”.
The Browns didn’t get anywhere near the playoffs a year ago, finishing the season 3-14. They managed to beat both the Steelers and the Ravens, but divisional play is always funky. Now with the second-overall pick, are they prepared to draft another quarterback? Or are they confident they can suck as badly in 2025, and wind up back near the top of the draft again, with a better shot at landing a long-term solution under center?
