While the Cleveland Browns did trade for Kenny Pickett earlier this week, it mostly felt like the deal with the Philadelphia Eagles involving Dorian Thompson-Robinson was an exchange between two very obvious backup quarterbacks. Pickett has started games before in the AFC North, but you can only go so far with The Fake Slide King under center. This is why Kirk Cousins remains so appealing.
I wrote about this earlier today on the intricacies of Cousins' contract with the Atlanta Falcons and why he may not become available this offseason. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk did the heavy lifting there for me, but it is all about the $10 million in guaranteed money in question. We all must have misread the contract. That money is all about making $10 million more guaranteed in 2026, not now.
So if Atlanta is totally comfortable at holding onto Cousins for another year, this time as a high-priced backup, what is a quarterback-desperate team like Cleveland to do? Well, there exists a cheap but intriguing option over in the AFC. That would be New England Patriots backup Joe Milton III. The former Tennessee starter is not going to usurp Drake Maye on the depth chart, but he offers talent.
New England has grown quite fond of Milton, but his talent may be too much to keep on the bench.
Joe Milton III could be the quarterback Hail Mary Cleveland Browns need
No doubt about it. Milton was a mega talent dating back to his early playing days at Michigan. While he mostly backed up Hendon Hooker after transferring to Tennessee, there were things Milton could do with the football in his hand you could only dream of. He gained a reputation for being the greatest practice player of all time. However, in games, he would often throw the ball at his guard's face mask...
That being said, Milton seems to have adjusted quite well playing in a pro-style offense than he ever did in the gimmicky Air Raid offshoot Josh Heupel runs in Knoxville. More importantly, do you all realize who the biggest booster is for Tennessee athletics? That would be Browns owner Jimmy Haslam. It would not shock me if he forced Andrew Berry's hand again regarding a quarterback.
Where I think a player like Milton greatly differs from that of a high-priced veteran of sorts like Cousins or Deshaun Watson is that he is a promising up-and-coming quarterback still on a very manageable rookie contract. Cleveland still has to pay Watson a boatload on his albatross of a deal. For a day-three pick, the Browns could have their starting quarterback for this year, possibly beyond.
I would still entertain the idea of drafting Shedeur Sanders No. 2 overall out of Colorado this spring.