PALM BEACH, Fla. — There are a few reasons it might not be wholly accurate to say the Cleveland Browns’ quarterback search is three-plus weeks from its conclusion, primarily because there’s no guarantee they’ll use the No. 2 pick April 24 on a signal caller. Further, the team has added only one veteran quarterback to this point and probably won’t dive back into the veteran market until after the draft.
The Browns have been on the road as part of their search. Last week, a traveling party that included team owner Jimmy Haslam held private workouts and meetings with quarterbacks Cam Ward at Miami, Jaxson Dart at Ole Miss and Jalen Milroe at Alabama. Browns coach Kevin Stefanski stayed in Mississippi to attend Dart’s pro day, and general manager Andrew Berry and the rest of the traveling party went to Penn State to have dinner with edge rusher Abdul Carter and his parents.
Now, Haslam, Berry and Stefanski are in Palm Beach for the NFL’s league meeting. After the conclusion of the annual event, the Browns’ traveling quarterback party will head to Boulder, Colo., for Friday’s pro day workout for quarterback Shedeur Sanders and wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter, both of whom are considered strong candidates to be selected by Cleveland at No. 2.
The Browns are scheduled to hold their own private workout with Sanders next weekend on Colorado’s campus. Sanders and Hunter made formal pre-draft visits to Cleveland on the same days in early March.
Sanders, by The Athletic’s rankings, is the second-best quarterback in this draft behind Ward. But the gap between the two players is wide by most accounts, and the Browns might choose to wait on a quarterback and instead select Carter or Hunter. Haslam spoke of the importance of the draft and was blunt about the team’s “swing-and-miss” on its 2022 trade for Deshaun Watson.
Haslam echoed his general manager and coach in saying the Browns just need “to get it right” in what he called a “huge” draft for the team.
“I think the message is if the right person’s there, we’re going to take him,” Haslam said. “If not, we’ll figure it out for a year or two until we get the right person. And I just keep (saying), ‘We need good football players.’ There are good football players in this draft, and we’ve got to make sure we get the right ones for us.”
Below is much of what Berry and Stefanski said at the meetings about the state of the team’s quarterback search. Not much of it is definitive, but it does outline where things stand, the team’s views on the quarterbacks group and why the Browns don’t feel either rushed or forced to make an early decision.
With the assumption that Ward goes No. 1 to Tennessee and Berry’s admission that the Browns are unlikely to trade up, will they soon decide on what to do with the No. 2 pick and which QB they might target?
Berry: It’s a good question. I’d say the answer is no, or at least not necessarily. I do believe in using the shot clock and using the time that’s available to you. I think by (next week) we’ll have a pretty good sense in terms of how we view the individuals as both players and people, but I wouldn’t maybe undersell the amount of time that we start thinking through draft strategy because you can walk a number of different paths with that pick, whether you pick a quarterback, a non-quarterback, trade up, trade down, looking at all those different scenarios and then seeing how the draft could possibly sequence from there, and then ultimately how good you feel about those outcomes both in the short term and how it sets the franchise up in the longer term.
Stefanski: I am not ready to turn the card in yet. I think the whole process is really important to me and to us, and there are still quarterbacks that we haven’t seen throw live (and we) still haven’t gotten to spend time with. We have guys that we’re still going to bring up for (more visits), and then we have our coaches’ meetings. As you know, you have lots of meetings in the personnel department, and you have February meetings and you have March meetings and we have our final April meetings with the coaches and you get to solidify the order. I like a lot of guys in this class, not just the quarterback position. I think this is an exciting time because there’s really, really good football players.
Why the Browns generally choose private workouts and visits with quarterbacks over attending pro days
Berry: With quarterbacks, you want to spend as much time as possible. Some of that might be to get to know their support system. Some of that might be to get a sense of where they are from a baseline standpoint with their football knowledge coming into the league. And some of it may be physical. You may want to see them make a number of different throws that maybe they didn’t do as much (in college). So it really just depends on the prospect. But a big part of it’s just getting to spend time with the individuals, and that was certainly fruitful over the last couple of days.
Sometimes with pro day schedules, it’s honestly just logistics. We don’t want to overburden them. But then the other part of it is you have maybe a little bit more control over how the day goes (in a private workout). Because there may be some throws that go into a script that maybe aren’t necessarily a part of your offense, or you’ve seen them make a thousand times and you can be a little bit more targeted with the project.
Stefanski: You have the pro day, which is scripted, and they’ve run through that script, and they have their (own) receivers, and it’s very efficient, and they do a great job. The nice part, then, at a private (workout) is you can kind of put them on your own script and you can ask them to make a couple throws … put them out of order or challenge them a little bit. Or, I think maybe the coolest thing to do is give them a coaching point and say, “Hey, try and take two steps off of that drop” or “let’s see if we can throw it this way” or “put your eyes here” and just watch them take coaching. So I think in a private workout, you have a little bit more say in the evaluation piece right there on the grass. Either way, you get to be up close (and) see how the ball comes out of the quarterback’s hand.
On the Browns’ being open to different paths and not feeling forced to take a QB at No. 2
Berry: I think the most straightforward path to contention is you get your version of Jayden Daniels in the draft and you’re off and running. I think that’s a little bit more the exception rather than the rule, and that (transition to the rookie becoming the clear-cut starter), you just never know how that’s going to happen. But I think maybe the broader point is there is more than one avenue to building a contending team or walking that path. That’s why I don’t undersell the amount of time we think through how a variety of possible paths could look. We could just sit and pick No. 2. I’m not saying that’s not necessarily going to happen on April 24. But as we sit here (in late) March, I think there’s plenty of work to do.
Stefanski: There will be no standing on tables. These are outstanding football players (available at the top of the draft). I believe in all these guys, and I understand the question, but nothing is going to stop us from taking any of these positions. I don’t think there’s any desire to have to take this position, have to take that position. We’re going to get a really, really good football player, and I’m excited about how that player is going to impact our football team.
On the acquisition of Kenny Pickett this offseason
Berry: We spent a good amount of time with Kenny during the pre-draft process when he came out, and we feel like he’s a good decision-maker, he does a really good job of protecting the ball, he’s very mobile and we think that his relative strengths are something that fit well with the offense that we’re putting into place for this upcoming year. We do think there’s a pretty credible path for him to continue to improve and take a step forward, and I think you’ve seen that with players that they get into maybe new or sometimes maybe better environments for their particular path and their career.
Kenny Pickett, the 20th selection in 2022, is making his third stop in four years. (Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)
It’s a little bit like when we signed Jacoby (Brissett) in 2022. (At the time it) was really a little bit more of an afterthought transaction, but we felt like Jacoby was a good decision-maker who took care of the ball and probably could make a few more plays than he was given credit for when he was in a really challenging situation his last year in Miami. Kenny has — I’m not saying Kenny is Jacoby — but he has a similar profile, but with probably a little bit more physical talent, so we’re excited to work with him. He’ll have a chance to compete for the job. Nothing’s given in that regard, and we will continue to add competition to the room, but we are looking forward to working with him.
Stefanski: Very excited about Kenny. We’ve had him up into our building, and just from a brief time talking to him, we have an understanding of what he knows about this game and how he’s been coached. I caught up with some of his former coaches in Philly, and they filled me in on the type of person, type of player he is. So, excited for Kenny and the opportunity, see what he’s capable of, and he’s got the right makeup for it.
I think he’s a very intelligent, accurate passer, but he’s somebody who has made plays in games, he’s won football games with great decision-making. He’s a plus athlete. I’ve seen him make all the throws, so I really think he fits in whatever you’re planning on doing. But talented overall player.
Why Pickett is currently the only healthy QB on the roster
Berry: No different than the other positional rooms. I’m not necessarily too worried about that part of it. In terms of veteran quarterbacks and them (potentially having the) concern of us having the No. 2 overall pick, I think each case is different. I think probably if you’re a veteran quarterback on the market, and even if you’re us and as we think about how we want to transition different parts of the roster, every fit’s not necessarily going to be perfect.
I’m sure there absolutely are some veterans who would be apprehensive about going to any team that has a high pick in the draft, with the concerns (about being) a placeholder for a highly drafted quarterback. I think that concern is very real for some veteran quarterbacks on the marketplace. That all being said, I wouldn’t say that was necessarily a driver for some of our decisions so far, but I think that dynamic definitely exists in the marketplace.
Stefanski: I feel good (about the quarterback situation). Obviously, it’s March 31, so there’s still a draft to be had. It’s not Aug. 1, so I will say this: Kenny Pickett’s a guy who I believe in, who we believe in. So we’ll see how it all shakes out.
On Watson, his rehab from a second ruptured Achilles tendon and whether there’s a chance he could play later in 2025
Berry: It’s too early to tell. We know he’s going to miss a significant portion of this season, but at least at this point, when it’s still fairly early in the recovery process, I just think it’s too early to put a timetable on it, or at least a definitive timetable on it. He works his tail off for rehab. Unfortunately, he’s had more experience in long-term rehab than probably anyone cares to have, but he knows how to work and be diligent in those situations. Ultimately, his body is going to tell that part of the story and how it responds and how it recovers, and it’s just really too early to say.
Stefanski: He’s doing a great job with the rehab. He’s in there every single day working very hard, but he’s where he is supposed to be in the rehab, and then we’ll just kind of take that one day by day. (No projection), not at this point. I think the most important thing for him is to attack this rehab, and he’s doing that.
(Top photo of Kevin Stefanski: Jim Rassol / Imagn Images)