Regardless of how they use their No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 draft, the Cleveland Browns don’t seem to have much hope of improving. The controversial quarterback Deshaun Watson suffered an Achilles injury last season, and the Browns only managed three victories. The two-time Heisman finalist played in just seven games in 2024 because of the injury.
The Browns found out in January that Watson needed a second surgery to heal his Achilles tendon after it had been reinjured. Cleveland now anticipates Watson will also “miss significant time” in the 2025 season.
Cleveland is left without a starting quarterback as a result of their quarterback room’s lack of depth. After spending four years with the New Orleans Saints and five with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the team that drafted him, Jameis Winston, the first overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, signed a free agent contract with Cleveland and made seven starts.
Winston Not the Answer to Watson Woes
Winston, however, was benched because of his uneven play; in his seven starts, he threw three interceptions in a single game three times, making him the only NFL quarterback to receive the questionable honor more than thrice. Dorian Thompson-Robinson, a 2023 fifth-round pick, was selected to take his place.
In Weeks 16 and 17, Robinson started both games but did not stand out, completing only 58.8 percent of his passes against the Cincinnati Bengals and 51.1 percent against the Miami Dolphins.
By the end of the season, the Browns had turned to Bailey Zappe, a 2022 fourth-round pick and former New England Patriots backup quarterback, who had been promoted from their practice squad. That performed about as well as the experiment conducted by Thompson and Robinson. What do the Browns do at quarterback now that Watson is out indefinitely and Winston is a free agent who is unlikely to be re-signed?
‘Bazooka Joe’ Until Browns Draft Game-Changer
Draft one is the obvious response. Cleveland may select Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders or Miami quarterback Cam Ward with their second overall pick. Or they might take a different path that, in the opinion of Andrew Buller-Russ, a football writer for Sportsnaut, might lead to them signing Joe Milton III, a different and more promising backup quarterback for the Patriots.
Known as “Bazooka Joe” due to his strong arm, Milton has thrown a football 80 yards during warm-ups and was clocked firing a 62-mph pass in Week 18 against the Buffalo Bills, which is the second-fastest throw in NFL history. Milton, however, threw it sidearm and on the run.
The Browns would be better off moving their highly valued pick down for several lower picks, as neither Ward nor Sanders is thought to be an apparent impact quarterback. This would allow the organization to develop its squad while it waits for the ideal quarterback to be selected in the draft. Meanwhile, Milton seems to be a big improvement over Thompson-Robinson or Zappe.
Despite being selected in the sixth round by the Patriots, Milton, who stands 6’5″ and weighs 246 pounds, has a lot of potential because of his physical attributes. Nevertheless, Milton led the Volunteers to victory over Tennessee in the 2023 Orange Bowl with what onlookers referred to as his “rocket arm” and “the strongest arm on Earth.” to a 31-14 drubbing of Clemson.
As they assembled their rebuild, the Browns could probably add Milton without having to give up a lot of draft assets because he was a sixth-round pick themselves.
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