Who will be the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback when the 2025 NFL season kicks off? It’s not going to be Deshaun Watson after he re-tore his Achilles tendon and is likely to miss a large portion, if not the entire season.
The only other quarterback on the roster is former fifth-round pick Dorian Thompson-Robinson, but going into the season with a QB who’s just completed 52.6% of his passes is begging for failure. To no surprise, the latest Browns prediction has them adding a four-time Pro Bowl quarterback.
Related: Cleveland Browns ‘have to draft’ this position with No. 2 pick in 2025 NFL Draft
ESPN predicts Kirk Cousins as Cleveland Browns’ starting QB in 2025
The Cleveland Browns do have the second overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, which could be used to select someone like University of Miami’s Cam Ward or University of Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders. Yet, the Browns will have to add more than just one quarterback this offseason. Even if they add a rookie, coach Kevin Stefanski will probably want a veteran in the QB room too.
Recently, ESPN’s Seth Walder predicted the Browns to acquire Kirk Cousins this offseason.
“The Browns will do this season what they probably should have done last year — land a starting quarterback not named Deshaun Watson. The most straightforward path is to use the No. 2 pick on Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders. But an alternative is using this season to reload assets by shipping out Myles Garrett for draft capital, signing Cousins to a cheap contract and trading down from No. 2 for more picks.
ESPN on Cleveland Browns adding Kirk Cousins
Cousins, who could be released by the Falcons even though they said Tuesday that they would be open to him returning as a backup, would be available for close to the veterans minimum, like Russell Wilson was last year, if Atlanta moves on. Cousins’ 2025 earnings will offset the $27.5 million in guaranteed salary he has coming from the Falcons, so there’s little to no incentive to seek market value compensation from his new team.”
The Falcons recently admitted that they have no issues keeping Cousins as the backup to Michael Penix Jr in 2025, yet that could simply be posturing, hoping a team gets aggressive enough to make a decent trade offer. Could that team be the Browns?
Related: 2025 mock draft: Who should the Cleveland Browns draft?
