Don Shula once said, “Sure, luck means a lot in football. Not having a quarterback is bad luck.” In Berea? The Dawg Pound might have tattooed the walls with that quote. Because the Browns haven’t just had bad luck… They’ve hoarded QBs like doomsday preppers. The starter, the backup, the backup’s backup… and then someone to back them all up. When does it stop? No one knows. Now it’s less about who’s starting and more about who’s surviving the cut.
While the rest of the league tried decoding Atlanta’s $180 million head-scratcher, signing Kirk Cousins, then drafting Michael Penix Jr., Cleveland quietly hit its own breaking point. Word is, Kevin Stefanski was making a move of his own. A power play. And this time, the Browns finally spun off their four-man QB carousel. How? By going back to the future.
This move comes after Cousins admitted he had been “a little bit misled” on Netflix’s Quarterback. And would’ve reconsidered leaving Minnesota if he’d known the Falcons were already eyeing his replacement. His shoulder injury, his benching, and that not-so-subtle bluff from the Falcons – ‘We’re fine with Cousins backing up Penix’ – only added fuel.
So, a trade is reportedly in place to bring Kirk Cousins to Cleveland, reuniting him with Stefanski, the coach who helped unlock Cousins’ best statistical seasons back in Minnesota. 16 months after Cousins signed that massive four-year deal with Atlanta, only to be blindsided by the Penix pick at No. 8, that shock clearly lingered.
Now, he’s on the move. Again. But this time, to a roster with more immediate urgency than confusion. The Browns don’t just need a QB – they need a grown-up under center. They have talent everywhere else: Myles Garrett is still wrecking games. Joel Bitonio is still anchoring the line. And David Njoku is still a nightmare in space. But behind center? A revolving door.
NFL, American Football Herren, USA Cleveland Browns Minicamp Jun 10, 2025 Berea, OH, USA Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders 12 and managing and principal partner Jimmy Haslam watch a play during minicamp at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus. Berea CrossCountry Mortgage Campus OH USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xKenxBlazex 20250610_kab_bk4_049
Joe Flacco is supposedly QB1 at this point. Kenny Pickett is still trying to convince people he’s more than a Pittsburgh mistake. Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders are raw. Point is: Cleveland couldn’t afford to waste this season trying to choose between washed, wobbly, and way too young. A healthy Cousins, in Kevin Stefanski’s system, gives them a real shot, not just a ‘maybe if the schedule’s soft’ type of season. And apparently, the Browns knew exactly who had to go to make room for that vision.
Kevin Stefanski clears QB room, Shedeur Sanders out
Shedeur Sanders’ NFL debut might end faster than anyone predicted – including him. Per reports, the Browns could part ways with the rookie QB, just months after selecting him in the fifth round. That’s right: the same guy who had the pre-draft buzz, the NIL hype, and the Prime Time surname is now being treated like an option in Cleveland.
Why? Fit. Timing. Roster math. The Browns reportedly never viewed Shedeur as anything more than a value pick. Someone, Kevin Stefanski, passed on multiple times before the – well, he’s still on the board – temptation won out. Add in Gabriel (who was taken two rounds earlier), plus the veterans, plus the now-arriving Kirk Cousins, and suddenly, Shedeur becomes surplus.
NFL Trade rumors suggest the Browns considered trading him before simply opting to cut bait. He’s young, raw, and may still have value elsewhere. “Trading Sanders as a rookie would be unorthodox,” they wrote. But for Cleveland, this was about streamlining the chaos, not adding more question marks. Even Cris Carter chimed in, noting the Browns’ QB logic made sense. “If they were saying Shedeur was the starter as a fifth-rounder, you got a real problem,” he said, suggesting Pickett and Gabriel made far more practical sense in the depth chart.
Now, Shedeur faces the tough truth of life in the league: name recognition gets you drafted, but it won’t keep you employed. Not if Kevin Stefanski already found his guy, and his guy just so happens to be the one who once made him look like a genius in Minnesota.
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