Follow an NFL team long enough and you will see history continually repeat itself.
It was more than a decade ago that I first wrote about how the Cleveland Browns pursuit of a “veteran bridge QB” has been, with one exception, a bridge to nowhere.
Fast forward to today and the Browns find themselves back in the market for yet another veteran quarterback to pair short-term with a rookie in the latest attempt to solve the quarterback conundrum that has plagued the franchise since the early 1990s.
It is such a familiar situation that no one would be surprised if general manager Andrew Berry started paraphrasing President Lyndon B. Johnson circa 1968 the next time he holds a press conference:
“Good afternoon, my fellow Browns fans. Today I want to speak to you about our quarterback situation.
“No other question so preoccupies our staff. No other dream so absorbs Browns fans across the world. No other goal motivates our policy in building the roster.
“For years, representatives of our team and others have traveled the country to find a suitable quarterback. On many occasions, I have pointed out that, without a viable starting quarterback, next year’s team will once again come up short. I have emphasized the need to set strict priorities in our drafting. I have stressed that failure to act and to act promptly and decisively would raise very strong doubts throughout Browns Nation about our willingness to keep our house in order.
“With our future under challenge … with our hopes and fans’ hopes for a winning team in the balance every day, I do not believe that I should devote an hour or a day of my time to any causes or duties other than the awesome duties of this office and find the team a quarterback.”
It is not just the Browns who struggle with this, even if it feels that way. Outside of Peyton Manning being carried to a Super Bowl by Denver’s defense, chasing that veteran is almost always a bad idea. Either it is a complete failure – think Russell Wilson with the Denver Broncos – or the team does not achieve its ultimate goal of winning and finds itself right back where it started after a season or two – see Brett Favre with the Minnesota Vikings and Philip Rivers with the Indianapolis Colts.
Which brings us to Aaron Rodgers, who spent the past two seasons with the New York Jets as a key member of that franchise’s latest implosion.
On Thursday, the Jets announced that they would be moving on from the 41-year-old Rodgers, and, naturally, that put everyone into overdrive about which quarterback-needy team would provide him with a new home.
Those lists included the Browns, the poster child for quarterback-needy teams. Because who wouldn’t want a four-time MVP at the game’s most important position?
Bringing Rodgers to town is the absolute last thing that Berry should have on his mind after a season that saw Rodgers post career lows in yards per attempt, yards per dropback, finish with a QBR below 50 for the second time in the past three seasons, and take 40 sacks.
There is also the additional on-field baggage where a team feels the pressure to surround Rodgers with his former teammates, which the Jets did with wide receivers Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, and Davante Adams. New York invested more than $36 million in that trio with little to show for it.
Cobb retired prior to last season, but the Jets are expected to move from Lazard and Adams in the coming weeks, and it would not be a stretch to believe that they would be more than happy to cash another round of big checks as part of a package deal with Rodgers.
There is also the off-field tax that Rodgers brings thanks to his fondness for sharing the latest conspiracy theory, usually through his regular appearances on The Pat McAfee Show.
After three years of dealing with the PR nightmare of quarterback Deshaun Watson, the Browns desperately need to get some breathing room and turn the focus back to what happens on the field, which will never happen with Rodgers on a team’s roster.
Finally, does anyone truly believe Rodgers would be OK with the idea of being just a placeholder for Cam Ward, Shedeur Sanders, Jaxson Dart, or whichever quarterback the Browns select in the 2025 NFL Draft.
The Browns can’t get out of their own way when it comes to finding a quarterback, but all the data is there if they only take the time to look at it.
The idea of Rodgers in brown and orange, even if he would resonate with the corner of the fan base that likes any player as long as they have heard of them, is just a bridge too far for the franchise to even consider.
