![\"\"](\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Jalen-Milroe-1024x650-1.jpg\")
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The Cleveland Browns have struggled for the past quarter century at one of the most important positions on the field: quarterback.<\/p>\n
After quarterback Deshaun Watson went down this season, the Browns turned to Jameis Winston.<\/p>\n
Winston became the 39th player in the past 25 seasons to have started at least one game at the position.<\/p>\n
That much instability at quarterback is part of the reason Cleveland has made just four postseason appearances during that time, especially as the league\u2019s offenses have developed into pass-friendly schemes.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also why nearly each 2025 NFL mock draft has linked the Browns to a quarterback.<\/p>\n
Analyst Chris Trapasso\u2019s most recent draft is no different.<\/p>\n
In his latest mock draft, the analyst has the Browns as the No. 5 overall selection, taking Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho knows what the Browns will do in 2025 with Deshaun Watson, but even if ownership wants its uber-expensive quarterback on the field next season, he will be coming off a torn Achilles, which can sometimes be a 12-month injury,\u201d Trapasso wrote, adding, \u201cHere, Cleveland essentially stashes the high-upside Milroe on the roster.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Browns have a 2-7 record, and they are currently tied with seven other franchises for the worst record in the league.<\/p>\n
Cleveland could continue to lose contests and advance further up the draft rankings, and only one other quarterback \u2013 Miami\u2019s Cam Ward \u2013 is listed above Milroe in the recent projections.<\/p>\n
Trapasso also has quarterbacks Shedeur Sanders and Garrett Nussmeier as potential top 10 picks, going to the Las Vegas Raiders and New York Giants, respectively.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Cleveland Browns\u00a0don’t have any options to replace injured QB\u00a0Deshaun Watson\u00a0this season outside of flawed starter\u00a0Jameis Winston, but that will all change come the offseason.<\/p>\n
Cleveland is a top candidate to select a rookie quarterback early in the 2025\u00a0NFL\u00a0draft, but the Browns are also one of nine teams that currently have two wins this season. If the draft were held today, the franchise would pick\u00a0No. 5 overall.<\/p>\n
However, Winston showed that he has the talent to lead the team to unexpected victories when Cleveland bested the\u00a0Baltimore Ravens in the surprise outcome of Week 8. If he does that a few more times this year, the Browns may play themselves out of one of the top QB prospects in the upcoming draft — all of whom would be unlikely to go inside the top-10 in most classes.<\/p>\n
That doesn’t mean Cleveland won’t be in the position to reach for a signal caller next April, but even then, a rookie QB isn’t exactly the ideal candidate for an expensive roster that general manager\u00a0Andrew Berry\u00a0built to win now.<\/p>\n Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields. Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images\u00a0Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n A superior option may be to draft a QB later in round one, or perhaps in rounds two or three, and take a one-year flier on a free agent with upside. Enter\u00a0Justin Fields\u00a0of the\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers.<\/p>\n Cleveland’s AFC North Division rival didn’t move Fields at the trade deadline earlier this week, despite demoting him in favor of\u00a0Russell Wilson\u00a0a couple of games back. It is highly unlikely that Pittsburgh will keep both Fields and Wilson in 2025, and the Steelers have already made their preference in that regard crystal clear.<\/p>\n Fields is in the final year of his\u00a0$19 million\u00a0rookie contract and will be a free agent in March, which makes him a more than reasonable candidate for the Browns to target, as Watson has ended his last two campaigns with season-ending injuries and has been bad in the limited time he has seen on the field over the past three years.<\/p>\n Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report recently dubbed Fields the 10th-best free agent overall heading into next offseason and named the Browns the top suitor for his services.<\/p>\n “If a team isn’t sold on prospects like\u00a0Cam Ward\u00a0and\u00a0Shedeur Sanders, it may be eager to take a flier on Fields instead,”\u00a0Knox wrote on Wednesday, Nov. 6. “Teams seeking a new long-term quarterback plan – possibly on a budget – like the Browns and\u00a0[New York] Jets\u00a0may target Fields early in free agency.”<\/p>\n Fields went 4-2 as the Steelers starter across the first six games of the 2024 campaign, accounting for\u00a010 TDs compared to just 1 INT\u00a0over that stretch. He is an elite threat to run the ball from the position as well, posting the second-most rushing yards ever from the QB spot (1,143 yards and 8 TDs on 7.1 yards per carry) with the\u00a0Chicago Bears\u00a0in 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 The Cleveland Browns have struggled for the past quarter century at one of the most important positions on the field: quarterback. After<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cleveland-browns"],"yoast_head":"\n\n<\/picture><\/div>\n