The Cleveland Browns don't have any options to replace injured QB Deshaun Watson this season outside of flawed starter Jameis Winston, but that will all change come the offseason.
Cleveland is a top candidate to select a quarterback early in the 2025 NFL Draft, but the Browns are also one of nine teams that currently have two wins this season. If the draft were held today, the franchise would pick No. 5 overall.
However, Winston showed that he has the talent to lead the team to unexpected victories when Cleveland bested the Baltimore Ravens in Week 8. If he does that a few more times this year, the Browns may play themselves out of one of the top QB prospects in next year's draft — all of whom would be unlikely to go inside the top 10 in most classes.
That doesn't mean Cleveland won't be in position to land a QB next April, but even then, a rookie isn't exactly the ideal candidate for an expensive roster that general manager Andrew Berry built to win now.
A superior option may be to draft a QB later in Round 1, or perhaps in Rounds 2 or 3, and take a one-year flier on a free agent with upside. Enter Justin Fields of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Cleveland's AFC North Division rival didn't move Fields at the trade deadline earlier this week despite demoting him in favor of Russell Wilson a couple of games back. It is highly unlikely that Pittsburgh will keep both Fields and Wilson in 2025, and the Steelers have already made their preference in that regard crystal clear.
Fields is in the final year of his $19 million rookie contract and will be a free agent in March, which makes him a more than reasonable candidate for the Browns to target, as Watson has ended his last two campaigns with season-ending injuries and has been bad in the limited time he has seen on the field over the past three years.
Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report recently dubbed Fields the 10th-best free agent overall heading into next offseason and named the Browns the top suitor for his services.
"If a team isn't sold on prospects like Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders, it may be eager to take a flier on Fields instead," Knox wrote on Wednesday, Nov. 6. "Teams seeking a new long-term quarterback plan — possibly on a budget — like the Browns and Jets may target Fields early in free agency."
Fields went 4-2 as the Steelers starter across the first six games of the 2024 campaign, accounting for 10 TDs compared to just 1 INT over that stretch. He is an elite threat to run the ball from the position as well, posting the second-most rushing yards ever from the QB spot (1,143 yards and 8 TDs on 7.1 yards per carry) with the Chicago Bears in 2022.
