The Cleveland Browns should prioritize Jacoby Brissett over Ethan Pocic

The Cleveland Browns should prioritize Jacoby Brissett among their free agents.

The Cleveland Browns have got to make some decisions this offseason. Among those is who to cut, who to trade, and who to re-sign. The team has an over-abundance of free agents with expiring contracts, and according to Pro Football Focus, three of them are among the Top 100 free agents to hit the open market in 2023. Thos

According to PFF, those three players are DE Jadeveon Clowney, QB Jacoby Brissett, and C Ethan Pocic. Each man has some value to the team, though the value differs from player to player and position to position. Re-signing Clowney to a really cheap deal would make sense for the Browns as they need depth and if he’s willing to take a veteran minimum, why not?

Pocic makes sense because he had a solid season blocking for the run, but his issues with blitz pickups and his late-season decline make some wonder if he’s an average player in a great system. If that’s the case, you may be able to replace him with a younger, less expensive option.

Then you have Brissett, who frankly, the team should re-sign. While the Browns, even with all of the free agents no longer on their books, are already over the cap for 2023, the team can’t go into 2023 without a good backup, and that all comes down to the unreliability of Deshaun Watson.

Jacoby Brissett has to be a priority for the Cleveland Browns

Brissett had a Pro Bowl-caliber season for the Browns. Maybe not a traditional Pro Bowl season, but if Tyler Huntley and his two touchdown passes can be dubbed a Pro Bowler, then Brissett’s an MVP candidate. With Watson, you can never predict the future. He has pending lawsuits still against him and more accusations could always be on the way.

When he eventually goes to trial, more details of his behavior will come out and who knows how everything shakes out after that information comes to light.

Beyond the unpredictability in his personal life, the other major concern you have to worry about is his knees. Watson has had reconstruction surgery on both of his ACLs over the course of his football career, and a third is always possible. Like with a shoulder dislocation, once the knee is compromised structurally, the odds that you can suffer another major tear go up

Watson didn’t look good in his time with the Browns at the end of 2022 but the hope is that he bounces back in 2023. If he doesn’t, the team would need to re-consider starting Watson for Brissett, as everyone in Berea right now is on the hot seat. Winning is the priority for this club and if Brissett gives you the best option, you have to take it.

We already know Brissett can play well enough in this system as is. We don’t know if a replacement, say a Gardner Minshew type, would be able to fill in as well. Brissett is a proven commodity in the prime of his career, I would be ok slightly over-paying to retain the services of Brissett if it mean giving us some security at the quarterback position.