![\"Shedeur](\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2025\/12\/23061104\/GettyImages-2252079055-1024x683.jpg?width=1920&quality=70&auto=webp\")
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It\u2019s almost Christmas, which means it\u2019s time to argue with your brothers, uncles and cousins about the sad state of the Cleveland Browns and what might be next.<\/p>\n
As always, we\u2019re here to help. We\u2019re taking a slight detour from screaming matches about the current quarterback to bring you a list of names and scenarios that will shape the path to the team\u2019s next<\/em> signal caller.<\/p>\n Who will be quarterbacking the Browns on Christmas in 2026? Here\u2019s a list of options, roughly in order from most likely to least likely, but mainly laid out to make you better equipped to talk about the team\u2019s possibilities while sharing and spreading holiday cheer.<\/p>\n If you want to stay in and scream at us via the comments section, well, that\u2019s an option, too. In any case, thanks for reading and following through another season, and we\u2019ll see you soon for yet another round of offseason quarterback mania. Maybe this next one will come with a side of complete organizational change.<\/p>\n If the Browns finish the season with 14 losses, they\u2019ll almost certainly have the No. 2 pick in the 2026 draft. They could still land at No. 1, but they\u2019d need the loser of this week\u2019s Las Vegas Raiders-New York Giants game to win in Week 18.<\/p>\n This is where the big-picture argument truly starts. If you\u2019re drafting that early and you\u2019re in this position because of the failure of the all-in Deshaun Watson experiment, don\u2019t you almost have to<\/em> draft a quarterback? Or, given that the Browns are likely facing a multi-year offensive rebuild, could they potentially look to get their left tackle of the future or even auction their earliest pick for more draft ammo?<\/p>\n Given that the only first-round pick the team has made since 2021 was a defensive tackle, it\u2019s probably time to take a quarterback. Ideally, the<\/em> quarterback. The team\u2019s extra first-round pick and subsequent picks can be used to rebuild the offensive line and restock the wide receiver room. And, given the state of the team, a 2026 first-round quarterback would be slated to finish next season as the Browns\u2019 starter.<\/p>\n However, is there really a sure answer at quarterback this year? We still don\u2019t know for sure whether Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza will declare for the 2026 draft. There\u2019s also uncertainty surrounding one-year Oregon starter Dante Moore, who\u2019s just 20. Still, those are the names to know in relation to the draft.<\/p>\n The Athletic<\/em>\u2019s draft guru, Dane Brugler, has Mendoza as his early QB1. Brugler had the Browns trading up to the top spot to get Mendoza in his most recent mock draft. He had Mendoza at No. 1, Moore at No. 2 and Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson at No. 14. Simpson, like Moore and Mendoza, still has the option to return to college for another season. Headed to the next round of the College Football Playoff, Simpson has 14 career starts. Moore has 18, and Mendoza has 32.<\/p>\n There are two scenarios under which Sanders gets 2026 to prove he can be the Browns\u2019 long-awaited answer. The first, obviously, is a near-full commitment from the team to Sanders with the idea of using valuable 2026 draft capital on offensive linemen and pass catchers to help him succeed. Based on Sanders\u2019 uneven performance in five starts, that seems unlikely.<\/p>\n Sanders clearly has some talent and has shown enough accuracy to warrant further development. If the Browns don\u2019t love their high-cost quarterback options by March or April, they could let Sanders compete for the job in 2026 and see if he\u2019s capable of making big strides.<\/p>\n The Browns\u2019 most direct path to escaping their Watson nightmare has always been finding a late-round, cost-controlled quarterback. Also, there\u2019s some thought that the 2027 quarterback class (and overall draft) might be stronger than the 2026 group, which aligns with the reality that the Browns aren\u2019t a quick fix in almost any area.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not that the losing must<\/em> continue. Given the state of the roster and salary cap, the 2026 Browns again figure to be a young team focused on development.<\/p>\n Maybe Sanders can\u2019t stay as the backup, given his outside popularity and what should be a run of seven starts to close his rookie season. That\u2019s for the folks in charge to decide, and now the organization must determine which folks will be making those calls and what the projected timeline for a return to respectability might be.<\/p>\n The Browns still have about $135 million in salary-cap commitments to Watson ahead of next year, the final season of the fully guaranteed $230 million contract he signed after Cleveland gave up three first-round picks to get him in March 2022. Watson has spent this season working his way back from a second torn Achilles tendon, and he\u2019ll be healthy enough to try to revive his career in 2026.<\/p>\n Considering how Watson\u2019s 19 previous starts have gone, the Browns should absolutely want to move on. Yet, the salary-cap implications mean this failed marriage might go on for another season with Watson on the 53-man roster.<\/p>\n The chances are slim that Watson is playing for Cleveland next December. As if the entire saga hasn\u2019t been embarrassing enough, nonetheless, Watson might be slated as the team\u2019s veteran emergency quarterback next season. He returned to practice in December on a limited basis, more for his rehab and to shake off the rust than to prepare for a return.<\/p>\n He\u2019s spent the season around the team and has been doing rehab work inside the facility. The Browns decided not to activate him from the physically unable to perform list on Tuesday, officially shutting him down for the season\u2019s final two weeks.<\/p>\n The Browns might have to keep Watson for 2026 for salary-cap reasons. If they choose to cut Watson using the post-June 1 designation, his 2026 cap number will be around $80 million \u2014 and the team\u2019s commitments to Watson will be done after 2027. If the Browns retain him and push their financial commitment further, they can trim his 2026 cap number in half to around $40 million, then deal with the remaining $95 million or so in 2027-28.<\/p>\n There isn\u2019t much (if any) upside to the Browns having Watson play another down. Nothing from his three seasons on the field says he\u2019ll succeed. Even if he did, his contract is finally set to expire. We won\u2019t know until early 2026 whether the Browns can afford to cut Watson and move on, or if they\u2019ll have to rework the contract again and keep him for another season.<\/p>\n The San Francisco 49ers took Jones as a backup and potential reclamation project in March. Smartly, they signed Jones to a two-year contract worth around $8 million with a 2026 base salary of $2.8 million.<\/p>\n Now, the 49ers are positioned to trade Jones this offseason for a valuable asset \u2014 potentially even for a second-round pick. Jones went 5-3 this season as San Francisco\u2019s starter and played well enough to create a trade market as the 49ers go forward with Brock Purdy. Jones has been a 66.5 percent career passer, had a strong rookie season in 2021 and a strong outing this year. He just stunk in between, as did the teams he was piloting.<\/p>\n Might the Browns be interested? It\u2019s too early to know for sure, but the thinking of any team seriously pursuing Jones would be that he looms as an experienced option at a low cost, at least initially. Maybe Jones, 27, would get a longer-term deal from a team that trades for him, or perhaps he\u2019d get an incentive-laden raise for 2026. In either case, he\u2019d be asked to steady the ship for his new team.<\/p>\n The upside, obviously, would be acquiring a cost-controlled starting-level quarterback. If it doesn\u2019t work, the acquiring team could still look to the 2027 draft and other options for its long-term answer.<\/p>\n If the Browns think they can be competitive in 2026 and again put out a playoff-level defense, they\u2019ll explore this option. For now, it looms as much less likely than playing an early draft pick or riding some combination of Sanders and a veteran flier who wouldn\u2019t cost a valuable draft pick. Yet, regardless of who\u2019s calling the Browns\u2019 shots a couple of months from now, that group might at least need to discuss the potential cost of acquiring Jones.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Browns have a second first-round pick via their 2025 draft-night trade with Jacksonville. That pick could be in the late 20s or even 30s if the Jaguars advance deep into the AFC playoffs. The Browns will also have their own pick early in the second round. If they can\u2019t get a quarterback with their first-round pick, they open up a bunch of potential trade avenues.<\/p>\n It\u2019s too early to know exactly how the 2026 quarterback draft class will be viewed. As of now, it\u2019s safe to say that using a top-five (or top-two) pick on a quarterback before shifting the focus to offensive line and wide receiver feels more likely than Cleveland waiting on another rookie passer.<\/p>\n Still, looking ahead to the end of next December, some combination of a low-cost veteran or Sanders getting the first crack at things next season, then eventually giving way to a 2026 draft pick for evaluation purposes, seems like a potential path. Not a likely one, but we don\u2019t know until we find out who will be making the decisions.<\/p>\n Willis was part of the 2022 quarterback class that the Browns found unappealing and instead chose to make the Watson trade. After Willis didn\u2019t make it as a third-round developmental prospect in Tennessee, he\u2019s played fairly well in limited backup duty for Green Bay over the last two seasons. He might start this week as the Packers try to lock up a playoff berth.<\/p>\n Willis, 26, has enough arm strength and mobility to succeed. He\u2019s only thrown 68 passes over the last two seasons, but he\u2019s completed 52 of them. Willis won\u2019t get a big contract if he hits free agency in March, but he almost certainly will garner some interest if he wants to leave Green Bay and pursue the chance to be a starter next season.<\/p>\n The construction of the Browns\u2019 quarterback room in 2026 will be decided by the team\u2019s draft plans and the looming decision on Watson\u2019s contract. If the Browns move on from their current rookie quarterbacks and want to return to the lower-end veteran market, they could be a suitor for Willis.<\/p>\n The Browns used a top-100 pick on Gabriel in April and rushed him into starting duty after four weeks this season. Gabriel threw two impressive touchdown passes in his starting debut, then didn\u2019t show much else. He was overdrafted and shouldn\u2019t be in the team\u2019s plans except as a potential future backup option. Maybe the Browns will choose that route in 2026, or they\u2019ll try to trade Gabriel for a late-round pick to another team seeking a backup.<\/p>\n No one should (or will) forget that the two times Browns general manager Andrew Berry had months to conduct a wide-ranging quarterback search, he landed on a trade for Watson in 2022 and then selected Gabriel in 2025.<\/p>\n The best thing for Gabriel to get a chance to have a real NFL career would be a fresh start somewhere else for his second season. If the Browns have a new coaching staff and front office, that group will have to decide what it thinks about Gabriel and Sanders.<\/p>\n Flacco generally plays only a month or so in Cleveland in odd-numbered years. So while it\u2019s not likely he\u2019d return in 2026 for a third stint in his age-41 season, how could anyone rule it out?<\/p>\n Is Lance the biggest example of why teams should be wary of using early draft picks on quarterbacks who lack significant college experience? Or is Lance just the latest example of why teams never stop trying to identify and develop quarterbacks who struggle early in their NFL careers?<\/p>\n In either case, he\u2019s interesting. And he\u2019ll be eligible for free agency after spending 2025 as the Los Angeles Chargers\u2019 backup.<\/p>\n Lance, 25, has only made five career regular-season starts and 15 appearances since the 49ers traded three first-round picks to move up and make him the No. 3 pick in 2021. He hasn\u2019t thrown a touchdown pass since his rookie season.<\/p>\n He was a starter for just one college season (16 starts) and then one bonus game after North Dakota State\u2019s 2020 season was canceled. The school scheduled one game as a professional showcase for Lance. That part worked for Lance, but nothing else has in the NFL. The 49ers thought they had their quarterback of the future, but his career never got off the ground.<\/p>\n He\u2019s athletic enough to get another shot to be a potential starter, and several teams rebooting their quarterback rooms will consider adding him.<\/p>\n Lance probably only fits in Cleveland if the Browns choose not to draft a quarterback in the first round in April and go with a total teardown approach to their 2026 roster.<\/p>\n History says most successful starting quarterbacks are found in the first round. There have been some exceptions, and the Browns have certainly tried to find an answer in multiple spots across different drafts. So while it\u2019s too early to know who might be in line to be next in Cleveland, it\u2019s probably either going to be a 2026 first-round pick or a veteran currently on another roster.<\/p>\n Because the Browns have had at least three starting quarterbacks in the last three seasons and 12 times since their 1999 return to the league, it\u2019s fair to assume that multiple players might find themselves in the plans next year. For now, however, we\u2019re considering the latest reworked master plan, and the Browns would probably only draft a late-round quarterback in April if they plan to depart from their current room.<\/p>\n Obviously, there could be another veteran name who\u2019s not on this early list. That, too, wanders deep into a pool of hypotheticals and non-ideal scenarios. The team will evaluate early-draft options, Sanders-related options and trade options before entering into a list of older veterans and longtime backups.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Could Shedeur Sanders be Cleveland’s starter heading into the 2026 season, or will the team build around a rookie first-round pick?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40348,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[202],"class_list":["post-40347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cleveland-browns","tag-cleveland-browns"],"yoast_head":"\nA highly drafted rookie<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Shedeur Sanders<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Deshaun Watson<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Mac Jones<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\nA rookie drafted from picks 10 to 50<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Malik Willis<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Dillon Gabriel<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Joe Flacco<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Trey Lance<\/strong><\/h2>\n
A rookie drafted outside the top 50<\/strong><\/h2>\n