There is no doubt that the Browns have historically struggled at quarterback. Since returning to Cleveland in 1999, the Browns have had 42 quarterbacks who started at least one game, the most recent being Shedeur Sanders, who finished last season with seven starts.
In 2025 alone, they used three quarterbacks: Joe Flacco, who played for them in 2023 and even appeared in a playoff game, along with Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. With this instability, it is difficult to compete in a league like the NFL, which is why the Browns have only made the playoffs four times since then.
The most recent major mistake at quarterback came in the 2022 free agency period, when the Browns let Baker Mayfield go-he had given them their first playoff win since 1994-to sign Deshaun Watson, making him at the time the highest-paid quarterback in history (5 years, $250 million). This proved to be a failure; since then, Watson has only played 19 games.
Major revelation about Kevin Stefanski
Kevin Stefanski was fired by the Browns after two poor seasons, although he led them to the playoffs twice since 2020 and was named Head Coach of the Year in both seasons. The main problem was that the bet on Deshaun Watson didn’t work, the quarterback position collapsed, yet Stefanski quickly found a new job as the Head Coach of the Atlanta Falcons.
The biggest controversy surrounding Stefanski was that last season he supposedly did not spend time with Shedeur Sanders until he was named starter before Week 11. However, NFL on CBS reporter C revealed that Stefanski did spend time with both him and Dillon Gabriel.
“When Shedeur Sanders, at the start of the season, wasn’t dressing and didn’t receive a jersey [for games], he was receiving individual, one-on-one coaching every Friday and Monday after practice. Once he became the starter, Kevin Stefanski, even though he wasn’t calling plays, made time for one-on-one meetings with his starting quarterback multiple times a week, as often as Shedeur Sanders was there,” said the CBS NFL reporter.
Now, Kevin Stefanski faces a similar challenge with the Atlanta Falcons, his new team, which has Michael Penix Jr., entering his third year and yet to show much, along with veteran Kirk Cousins, who declined toward the end of last season. There is a lot of work ahead for the two-time Head Coach of the Year.
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