Saturday night,Indiana clinched a beyond-improbable Big Ten championshipand quarterbackFernando Mendoza delivered an emotional postgame interviewwith an instant-classic line ("Flippin' champs!"). For most of the country, it was a pleasant moment of unbridled joy. For the Cleveland Browns, it could be a prologue.
After all, if Mendoza could deliver a championship to one historically and legendarily moribund midwestern football program, why couldn't he do the same thing for another? (Don't judge. Part of being a Cleveland Browns fan is holding on to irrational hopes like this one.)
About 17 hours after Mendoza's exuberance,Shedeur Sanders put the finishing toucheson his finest outing yet as a pro: 364 yards passing, three touchdowns, including two late-fourth-quarter all-or-nothing drives. (Naturally, since this is the Browns we're talking, all those gaudy stats came in a losing effort, but still.)
Oh, and then there's this:Deshaun Watson is practicing again.The Browns aren't expected to play him this season, but they're still paying him … andhe might just be on the roster next year,too.
The Ghosts of Browns Quarterbacks Past, Present and Future. For sheer misery, Ebenezer Scrooge ain't got nothing on Cleveland.
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Let's dispense with the past as quickly as possible. Watson — who has played just 19 games since the 2020 season, and none since October 2024 — returned to practice this week as he rehabs a ruptured Achilles.
The Browns insist that Watson's veteran presence is useful for the rookies in the quarterback room, but the likely truth is far more mundane: Watson carries a dead-cap hit of $131 million if Cleveland releases him before June 1, and an $80 million hit whether he's cut or on the roster next season,per Spotrac. That's rough, given that both his on-field and trade values are pretty much nonexistent.
So you can see why Cleveland would want to invest its hopes, and its limited funds, in a young, inexpensive quarterback with high upside. And on Sunday, the Browns got a glimpse of what that could look like. Perhaps something like this:
Sanders' Sunday comes with mountains of caveats. First of all, the Browns lost, and lost to the previously 1-11 Titans. Plus, Sanders was ineffective for long stretches of the second half, unable to move the chains, slow to react to the Titans' pass rush, late to pick up on the secondary's deceptions. He holds the football too long, patting it as he prepares to throw — a glowing signal to defenders that the ball is about to take flight.
But Sanders did orchestrate two touchdown drives in the final five minutes of the game, a sign of growing maturity and presence. It's not his fault that the Browns called one of the dumbest plays of the season for a would-be tying two-point conversion that, naturally, fell short.
Sanders will play out the rest of the season after Dillon Gabriel played the first half, with games still to come against Chicago, Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. At that point, Cleveland will make its assessments on what, if anything, it has in the quarterback room.
Which brings us to the 2026 NFL Draft. Cleveland has the luxury of two first-round picks, thanks to the deal last year that sent the pick that would become Travis Hunter to Jacksonville. After Sunday, Cleveland's own pick is No. 4, perTankathon. Naturally, Jacksonville decided to go and get good this year; their pick is currently the 27th.
A few months ago, this looked like a quarterback-heavy draft. But you don't hear much about names like Cade Klubnik and Garrett Nussmeier anymore, and Arch Manning isn't getting anywhere near the draft if he knows what's good for him. So now? Not so much.
Still, there are potential gems out there.Yahoo Sports' most recent mock draftprojects Mendoza to go No. 1 overall, with our Nate Tice praising his "high floor" and "underrated ceiling." After Mendoza, Yahoo Sports projects Oregon QB Dante Moore at No. 2, South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers at No. 6 and Alabama's Ty Simpson at No. 11. (This mock was created before Alabama's ugly SEC championship loss.)
Mendoza might not be around by the time Cleveland picks, unless the 3-10 Browns can hurdle the 2-11 Raiders. But there ought to be quarterback talent still on the board when Cleveland makes its selection. Is that talent first-round, lead-a-team-for-a-decade level? Well, we can't answer that one yet, can we?
You probably already know the legend ofthe Cleveland Browns quarterback jersey, the ongoing visual testament to the Browns' quarterback futility. Starting with Tim Couch, the No. 1 overall pick in 1999, Cleveland has churned through more than 40 starting quarterbacks … with no end in sight.
Cleveland's defense, led by the otherworldly Myles Garrett, is already postseason-level. Will the offense, and the quarterback position, step up its game? Or will the hauntings of Quarterbacks Past, Present and Future continue?
