The Browns finally signed a Pro Bowl QB (it's Tyler Huntley)
A franchise with an unparalleled history of rotating through quarterbacks is diving deeper into its own lore. Deshaun Watson, accused of more than 20 counts of sexual misconduct and what the NFL itself described as "predatory behavior" dating back to his time as a Houston Texan, tore his Achilles last season and aggravated that injury during the rehab process. That stands to rob the Browns of the league's 48th-best passer -- a player for whom Cleveland traded three first round draft picks (and more!) before giving a fully guaranteed $230 million contract extension.
General manager Andrew Berry and team owner Jimmy Haslam took a shotgun approach to replacing him. Former backups Jameis Winston, Bailey Zappe and Dorian Thompson-Robinson were swept out the door. In their place came a similar mix of mercurial veteran savvy and young quarterbacks who might kinda/sorta be good even though the rest of the league doesn't quite believe it. Kenny Pickett expanded his high-level football career to a second state, swapping Pennsylvania for Ohio. Dillon Gabriel was drafted in the third round. Two rounds later, Shedeur Sanders entered the mix -- a move Haslam has already publicly washed his hands of.
This four-headed quarterback battle has managed to underwhelm early in the preseason. Pickett suffered a hamstring injury. Both rookies have missed practices due to minor maladies. Somehow, the healthiest man in the quarterback room was 40 years old.
But never fear. Cleveland finally added a feted veteran to its active quarterback competition. A player who did what Flacco has never done in his 17-year NFL career -- make the Pro Bowl. That man? Fellow former Baltimore Raven Tyler Huntley.
Huntley has started 14 games in five NFL seasons and won five. He was a 2022 Pro Bowler despite making only four starts and throwing more interceptions (three) than touchdowns (two). He's a shifty dual threat quarterback who made sense as Lamar Jackson's understudy but is less of a stylistic match with Flacco, who ran for two total yards in five regular season games in his last stint with the Browns.
Huntley is a mess under pressure. He completed just 40 percent of his passes last season with static in the pocket. He had Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle in his lineup last season and completed only one of 10 deep passes. He went unsigned through the bulk of the season for good reason. And he still has a modest chance to win the Browns' starting quarterback competition this preseason.
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