What’s better than one first-round quarterback? Two first-round quarterbacks. That’s the approach Cleveland Browns beat writer Mary Kay Cabot would take if she were in charge of the team. Suggesting the unconventional approach to fixing the Browns’ broken quarterback situation, Cabot believes two is better than one.

“I’m taking Sheduer at number two,” she said earlier this week in a self-admitted “hot take.” “I’m going to do the obvious right thing there. I’m going to take Sheduer, and I’m going to roll with it and see how it goes. But then, I’m trading back into the end of the first round with my second-round pick and some other things. And I’m taking Tyler Shough.

“I’m taking two quarterbacks in the first round. If Shedeur, for whatever reason, isn’t exactly what you thought he was going to be, then you have someone else you can develop and try there.”

Sanders is regarded as a top-two quarterback in the 2025 draft class. But opinions are mixed about whether he should be taken in the top five. Although he is accurate and tough, a slender build and lack of high-end physical tools could limit him.

Shough has gained as much steam as any prospect throughout the draft process, going from being the virtual unknown to being the third or fourth quarterback selected. He has the size and a good arm, but due to injuries, he spent seven years in college and will turn 25 during his rookie year.

“That’s a win-win situation. You can not lose in that situation,” Cabot said.

There certainly is a “lose” scenario there. The headlines and distraction that would come with drafting Sanders, who already brings the glitz and glamour of his surname, accompanied by a second first-round quarterback. Deion Sanders wouldn’t be shy about his thoughts.

Organizational confidence in Sanders would immediately be called into question, and the Browns spending all their draft capital on quarterback would hinder their ability to build out the rest of the roster to help Sanders succeed. Controversy would build over every Sanders incompletion and mistake, pitting the two against each other every step of the way.

Shough is also old for a prospect and could wind up being an underutilized backup, wasting away on the bench. Cleveland already tried the “draft an old quarterback” plan in Brandon Weeden. It failed.

When Washington drafted Kirk Cousins in the fourth round of the same draft they selected Robert Griffin III, it drew scrutiny. Maximize a Sanders-Shough pairing by ten.

As the old adage goes, if you have two quarterbacks, you have none. Drafting two in the first round isn’t the way for the Browns to solve their problems. It only creates more of them.