Should the Cleveland Browns really carry 3 quarterbacks this season?

The Cleveland Browns have four quarterbacks on their roster at the moment.

The Cleveland Browns have a quarterback problem, but not one that fans are used to having. Usually, when we talk about such things, we think about the team lacking a starter. The team is not lacking a starter in this current problem. Deshaun Watson is the team’s clear-cut starter, and many, myself included, expect him to return to a more familiar form in 2023. But there are those who wouldn’t mind seeing him fail.

And I totally get that.

Yet, that’s not the issue the Browns are facing. No, the Browns are facing a unique dilemma; how many quarterbacks do you carry on your roster? There was a time, some 20 years ago, when three quarterbacks were the norm. And sometimes that third quarterback was necessary it turns out.

Yet, the Browns have a lot of players they’re still evaluating, and keeping three quarterbacks on the roster may not be all that easy. So clearly two may have to go. The obvious one to go is Kellen Mond. He’s a bust of a pick and has shown next to nothing worthwhile to think he’s going to be a long-term option in Cleveland.

If he were QB3, I’d say Mond would likely make it to the practice squad, but he’s currently not QB3. No, that would be recently drafted Dorian Thompson-Robinson. Thompson-Robinson was picked in the 5th round in the 2023 NFL Draft and maybe the team’s long-term backup. But just because he might be the team’s future backup, does that mean he’s worth a roster spot?

The Cleveland Browns should not carry three quarterbacks on the roster this year

I genuinely don’t think the Browns should carry three quarterbacks this year. Not with the team carrying more receivers than expected, and the need for increased secondary players over the years, it just doesn’t make sense to carry Thompson-Robinson, Mond, and current backup Joshua Dobbs.

Sports Illustrated projects the Browns to carry Watson, Dobbs, and Thompson-Robinson, but I think it’s just as likely that the team only carries one of those quarterbacks. I believe the Browns will give Thompson-Robinson every opportunity to prove he’s as good, if not better than Dobbs, thereby earning the backup spot in Cleveland.

If he fails, I think the Browns will likely cut him, and start over in 2024 with a different project quarterback. I don’t think the Browns are likely to carry both Dobbs and Thompson-Robinson. With the team trying to do everything they can to vy for a Super Bowl this year and maybe next (depending on the cap), I don’t think they’re going to be all that worried about finding a way to keep a fifth-round, project quarterback, who’s already pushing 24 on their roster.