The Cleveland Browns added two reasonably talented quarterbacks this offseason, leaving the squad one signal-caller heavy as training camp approaches.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson, a fifth-round rookie out of UCLA in 2023, produced an electric preseason last summer and ultimately got his shots to make a name for himself in the NFL. But early struggles and subsequent injuries laid his season to rest, and he now finds himself on the outside looking in at the race for a top-three spot in the QB room.
Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report on Monday, June 3, suggested that the Browns would be thrilled if they could move the final three years of starter Deshaun Watson’s outlandish $230 million contract. But in the absence of some miracle that opens up the possibility of that happening, Cleveland may be wise to part ways with Thompson-Robinson now while he retains reasonable trade value.
However, no one is taking on [Watson’s] albatross of a deal. Not even most of it. But there’s another quarterback in Cleveland who could be of interest to other clubs.
The Browns thought enough of Dorian Thompson-Robinson to let the former UCLA standout start three games last year. But in the offseason, the Browns added both Jameis Winston and Tyler Huntley, effectively burying Thompson-Robinson on the depth chart.
Thompson-Robinson will be hard-pressed to learn much from them from his spot on the practice squad, which is where he’s headed. At this point, the best thing for both player and team may well be another team expressing interest in an athletic young signal-caller with the potential to at least develop into a quality backup.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson Didn’t Play Well Enough in Multiple Chances With Browns as Rookie QB
Both Winston and Huntley are in Cleveland on one-year deals that are more expensive than the the four-year, $4.2 million agreement that will keep the 24-year-old Thompson-Robinson under contract for the next three years.
Thus, had Thompson-Robinson shown legitimate starting, or even backup, chops across his playing time as a rookie, the ideal situation for the Browns would be to keep him. Had he displayed that type of talent, however, the team never would have signed a former No. 1 overall pick (Winston) and a former Pro-Bowl selection (Huntley) as insurance policies against more on-field and/or injury struggles for Watson.
Thompson-Robinson fielded 214 snaps across eight appearances and three starts in 2023. He completed just 60-of-112 passes (53.2%) for an abysmal 3.9 yards per attempt, according to Pro Football Reference. The rookie finished the season with a 1-2 record as a starter, as well as 1 touchdown against 4 interceptions.
Despite those numbers, though, the Browns would probably have a hard time stashing Thompson-Robinson on the practice squad for a full season considering quarterback need around the league, which puts them face-to-face with an interesting decision.
Browns Must Consider Trading Dorian Thompson-Robinson to Recoup 5th-Round Draft Value
Cleveland last offseason made a similar move to the one Davenport suggested, flipping reserve quarterback Josh Dobbs and a seventh-round pick to the Arizona Cardinals for a fifth-rounder.
That move looked plenty suspect after Dobbs went on to start for Arizona and then capture the attention of the nation for a few weeks during an improbably successful run as the impromptu starter of the Minnesota Vikings. Meanwhile, the Browns were scratching out wins with their defense and scrambling for answers between Thompson-Robinson and P.J. Walker after Watson went down for the year with a shoulder injury.
Cleveland took a swing on Joe Flacco and was fortunate to find an answer that made everything okay up until a disastrous Super Wildcard Weekend against the Houston Texans. But, as it turned out, the Browns may have prematurely dealt their best pre-Flacco backup option when they moved Dobbs. It is possible they would be making the same mistake by trading Thompson-Robinson now.
More important than worrying about making a mistake on the fringes of the 53-man roster, however, may be the front office making sure it didn’t squander a fifth-round pick on a quarterback for nothing. Injuries and poor play over the summer crop up all over the NFL, and there will probably be an opening somewhere at some point for the Browns to move Thompson-Robinson and recoup at least some of the value they spent to acquire him in 2023.
If the team believes there is a future for either Winston or Huntley as the long-term backup behind Watson, or even as a potential challenger for the starting job if he struggles once again, then dealing Thompson-Robinson this summer probably makes the most sense.
