NFL teams have a backup quarterback for a reason. Football is the most violent team game there is, and the job of the defense is to hit the quarterback. NFL teams, and the Browns in particularly, routinely need starts from the backup quarterback in order to have a football season. In the Deshaun Watson era, they started two QBs in 2022, five in 2023, four in 2024, three in 2025. Why would anyone conclude that the backup quarterback is unnecessary?
Understand also that there is a difference between and a true "Backup Quarterback" a "Developmental Quarterback," because the Browns obviously have no clue. The Backup Quarterback has to be ready to play now, because the team may need an immediate replacement due to an injury. A Developmental Quarterback is a rookie or second-year player that you believe has potential, but might be one or two seasons away. The Pro game is not simple, and a guy coming right out of college rarely can play the Pro game at a high level. Baker Mayfield did it, but he was a first overall pick with four full years of major college experience (plus an extra year of practice, while he awaited permission to transfer). Not all rookie quarterbacks are as good as Baker Mayfield, and even Baker did not peak until about Year 6 with Tampa Bay.
The Browns repeatedly make the mistake of using a Developmental QB as the Backup QB and the result is disastrous. A case in point is installing Round 5 pick Dorian Thompson Robinson as the backup and trading Joshua Dobbs in 2023. Dobbs threw for 2464 yards that year, while DTR got killed by Baltimore when he had to go in for Deshaun Watson in Game 4. Not ready. But the Browns did it again in 2024, making him second string, but at least they had Jameis Winston as the third string.
Cleveland ownership and a substantial part of the fan base, thinks that we need to start rookie quarterbacks in order to "learn what we have." This should makes you want to toss your dawg biscuits. We don't learn anything by putting a young kid in a situation in which he is likely to fail. If someone wants to analyze bad stats for Shedeur or Dillon, the view here is, So what? They should not have taken the field in 2025! These players were mid to late round picks that you might be able to develop to a competent starter, and demanding instant stardom is just not realistic. Bad rookie stats do not prove they are untalented. Bad rookie stats just prove they had no business starting in Year 1. Giving up on a quarterback after seven starts is silly. The table below shows other quarterbacks who were terrible in their rookie years but grew up to be okay. Check out Terry Bradshaw's 6-24 TD-INT ratio! What about Alex Smith, with 1 TD versus 11 INTs? The obvious conclusion is that an NFL team needs to be patient. Bad stats obtained on a struggling team is not a sufficient reason to fire the quarterback.
The Browns recent history is that they have traded away veteran quarterbacks, presumably to protect Deshaun Watson from a dreaded "quarterback controversy," and then they promote rookie quarterbacks to take the place of the fired veterans. Then they find out that Deshaun is not available due to various injuries and are shocked and angry to find out that their young quarterback cannot perform at a high level. Let's examine what the Browns are doing wrong.
Year by Year Case Study in the Deshaun Era
Let's review the shenanigans from the beginning of the Deshaun era in 2022. Deshaun started his career on the Suspended List for his alleged improper behavior with masseuses. Inexplicably, in 2022 they traded backup Case Keenum, who knew the Browns' offense inside out and backwards and had led the Vikings to the playoffs with Stefanski as the QB Coach. Why did they feel that they had to trade the backup quarterback? Well, if Keenum had remained, you have the potential for a "Quarterback Controversy." Many Browns fans had wanted him to step in for Baker Mayfield the previous year. Baker was trying to play with a severe injury to his non-throwing shoulder and was not his normal self. Was there some other reason for trading Keenum besides avoiding a potential QB controversy?
In 2023, as mentioned previously, the Browns promoted Josh Dobbs to second string, but somehow he lost his job in summer training camp to Round 5 draftee Dorian Thompson-Robinson. Dobbs was sent packing to Arizona to replace injured Kyler Murray. However, when Deshaun went down with a shoulder injury, DTR showed he was in no way ready. So Andrew Berry placed a call to Joe Flacco, who was just lying on his couch watching TV, and Flacco got up and led the Browns to the playoffs, winning the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award. However, the Browns did not re-sign him. The only logical explanation is that they were afraid of Flaccomania. Hence, Jameis Winston became the backup for 2024.
In 2024, after a few games DTR was inexplicably promoted over Winston to second string, repeating the mistake of 2023. However DTR was injured in the same game that Deshaun suffered a season-ending Achilles injury. Enter Jameis. He is not the greatest QB of all time, but he averaged nearly 300 passing yards per game for a team with an aging offensive line and a weak rushing offense without Nick Chubb. Plus he beat Pittsburgh and became a fan favorite. But Jameis was let go after the season to once again avoid a QB controversy with Watson. Are you beginning to see the pattern?
In 2025, they hired Joe Flacco for the second time while Deshaun was healing from Achilles tendon repair. They also had Tyler Huntley and Kenny Pickett in camp and though they talked about four quarterbacks on the roster, they ultimately traded Pickett and cut Huntley. Flacco was traded after starting the season 1-3. Thus, the three best quarterbacks for 2025 were cut or traded, which is very hard to believe but true. Gabriel showed he was overwhelmed by the Pro game before turning the job over to Sanders. Sanders was not ready either but at least chucked the ball downfield occasionally. Nothing good happened by starting players who were not ready for the NFL game.
After a year of study at the School of Hard Knocks, it is plausible that Gabriel and/or Sanders may show significant improvement over their rookie years, especially if Todd Monken perhaps one of the kids can run an offense this season, hopefully in Cleveland rather than being given away to another team.
To sum up, in four years, the Browns have been totally dysfunctional, getting rid of competent if unspectacular QBs including Case Keenum, Joe Flacco (twice),Tyler Huntley, Joshua Dobbs (twice), Jameis Winston, and Kenny Pickett. A major driver is to avoid "quarterback controversy" and protecting Deshaun Watson from competition from other veterans.
