Jameis Winston and 3 more Browns who won’t be back in 2025 after another QB switch

After a putrid Week 15 performance, the Cleveland Browns made the decision to bench Jameis Winston in favor of Dorian Thompson-Robinson.

Whether this will lead to more wins for the Browns remains to be seen, but it's abundantly clear that part of this decision came with Cleveland's future in mind. With the team sitting at 3-11, playoff football won't be played in Cleveland. With that in mind, starting a guy like Thompson-Robinson, a 25-year-old under contract through the 2026 season, makes a whole lot more sense than starting Winston, a 30-year-old slated to hit free agency after the year.

It was probably unlikely that Winston would be back in 2025 given his free agency status and the fact that both Thompson-Robinson and Deshaun Watson are under contract, but this decision all but confirms that. Winston will be joined by at least these three Browns who won't be back in Cleveland for the 2025 season.

3) The Browns should look to upgrade from Elijah Moore

Elijah Moore's game has improved since being traded from the New York Jets to the Browns ahead of the 2023 season, but let's be real - he isn't anything special. The Browns need more than what he can provide.

Moore has racked up 55 receptions, 480 receiving yards, and one receiving touchdown in 14 games this season. While these aren't atrocious numbers, the fact that 262 of those 485 yards came in just three games combined speaks to his inconsistency on the field. In the other 11 games he's played in, Moore has 44 receiving yards or fewer.

Jerry Jeudy is breaking out in Cleveland, and Cedric Tillman looks like a building block as well, but the Browns need more than what Moore can provide, whether that comes in the draft, free agency, or in a trade. With Moore set to hit free agency after the year, it'll be easy to let him go.

2) Nick Chubb might've played his last down with the Browns

Nobody is more beloved among active Browns players than Nick Chubb, who has been a stalwart in Cleveland's backfield since the team drafted him in the second round back in 2018. Chubb has been a Pro Bowler four times in his seven years with Cleveland, and has rushed for over 1,000 yards four times as well. Lately, though, his production has left a lot to be desired. Injuries have a lot to do with that.

Chubb suffered a gruesome knee injury in the second game of his 2023 season, ending that year prematurely. He worked his way back this season and made his 2024 debut in Week 7. He even scored a touchdown in that first game.

Unfortunately, he averaged just 3.25 yards per carry on his 332 attempts before suffering yet another brutal injury - breaking his foot in Cleveland's Week 15 loss to Kansas City. Chubb didn't look anything remotely close to his former dominant self before the foot injury, and now, he has another long recovery ahead of him.

Chubb will always be a Browns fan favorite, but with the 28-year-old set to hit free agency after the year, it's tough to argue that the team should bring him back.

1) Jedrick Wills won't be back with the Browns in 2025

A lot has gone wrong for the Browns this season, as one might expect from their record, but their offensive line play has been one of the team's biggest issues. Jedrick Wills has been a big part of that.

When Wills was drafted in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. he was supposed to be Cleveland's left tackle for the next decade. Unfortunately, it feels like it won't play out like that.

The 25-year-old entered the season in a rough spot as he wasn't given an extension prior to his fifth year with the Browns. His stock has only taken a bigger hit since, and part of it is his own fault.

Wills elected to sit out Cleveland's Week 8 game against the Baltimore Ravens because he was playing hurt and felt the need to make a "business decision." He appeared in Cleveland's Week 9 game, but played just two snaps. Since then, he has not seen the field once.

Wills has been nothing but inconsistent since being drafted by Cleveland, and his business decision seems to have been the final straw. At this point, it'd be pretty shocking to not only see Wills on the field again this season, but to see him wear a Browns uniform again.