Since the Baker Mayfield era came to a close in Cleveland (that's the quarterback who rang up 48 points on Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh in the playoffs, and came close to knocking off Kansas City, but most Browns fans seem to disbelieve it ever happened), the Browns quarterback moves are so stupid that it is hard to believe a football expert actually made the call.
Strong organization make decisions based on tough competition. A organization trades the backup quarterback for fear that he might outshine their favored qb and create the dreaded "quarterback controversy."
What do you see in Cleveland? When Baker got hurt, many fans wanted Case Keenum to replace him. After all, Case led the Vikings to the playoffs and won a playoff game with Kevin Stefanski as his qb coach. So they traded Keenum away. In the Watson era, Jacoby Brissett clearly outplayed generational talent Deshaun Watson. So Brissett was one and done. The next year Joe Flacco led the Browns to the playoffs and was the NFL Comeback Player of the Year. Out with you, Joe Flacco!
A subplot is Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who the Browns seem determined to coddle. Let's not get down on the kid, but the way he continually got promoted before he was deserving. At the beginning of 2023, he became the number two quarterback as a raw rookie. Out goes Rocket Man Josh Dobbs, who showed he could play with Arizona and Minnesota. Then he got promoted again last year over Jameis Winston, and it backfired when Deshaun got hurt and DTR made a mess of things. DTR got injured and Winston came in and looked great.
The Browns also had Tyler Huntley, a competent backup qb, under contract, and cut Huntley to keep DTR. This analyst believes they could have kept both players. DTR could have been kept on the Practice Squad, with very little chance that another organization would sign him. Getting rid of Huntley was stupid. Huntley started five games for Miami--with very little preparation--and won two of them. That's 67% of the win total of the Browns last year.
Jameis Winston is clearly better than Deshaun and DTR, and is well liked by fellow players and the Cleveland fan base. So he too must leave! The Browns plan on overspending on yet on another quarterback in 2025 and they have no stomach to face criticism for not playing Winston.
Winston did not have an easy job, given that he had no running game, a porous offensive line, and a defense that gave up a ton of points, meaning that the QB was obliged to take chances to get back in the game. Anybody who throws for 500 yards with this team must have talent.
In his career, Winston has always played on bad teams, with the exception of New Orleans under Sean Payton, where he went 5-2 with a 14 to 3 TD/INT ratio.
If he could do that for Sean Payton, why couldn't he do that when Browns OC Ken Dorsey was calling the shots? Well, maybe Ken Dorsey was not as good as Sean Payton.
Firing Winston sounds like something a disgruntled owner might do, rather than a football guy.
The pattern is that the Browns scouting has performed well, signing the likes of Case Keenum, Jacoby Brissett, Joshua Dobbs, Joe Flacco, Tyler Huntley and Jameis Winston. However, when these guys looked like a threat to Deshaun's legacy, they had to go. These moves are so peculiar we have to suspect that the orders are coming from the Owner's Box.
Quarterbacks get better with experience, not worse, as long as they are healthy. If a QB has a chance to stay with a team for two years, ideally with the same coaching staff, the chances of success are vastly improved. Rookies need that stability most of all, but even veterans execute better if they know the players around them and get thousands of reps with the playbook. The Browns should have an internal rule against one-and-done. It's just stupid.
Browns co-owner Jimmy Haslam III allegedly made the call to trade up for Johnny Manziel. He also tried to engineer a trade for A.J. McCarron in 2017 (including the draft pick ultimately used on Nick Chubb), but Sashi Brown "accidentally" forgot to sign the paperwork properly and the deal fell through. So there is evidence that he is capable of interfering with the operation of his team.
We thought that Dee Haslam, definitely the better half of the Power Couple, had talked Jimmy out of direct participation in the team. Maybe not.
No hard evidence, just the observation that the Browns' quarterback moves--one after another after another--are so stupid that it is hard to believe Andrew Berry is ultimately behind them.
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