The QB carousel continues to spin in the NFL. While some teams around the league have found their signal-caller moving toward the 2025 season, the Cleveland Browns are still turning over some stones. The club brought in Kenny Pickett via a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles and hosted Russell Wilson on a free agent visit. Now, they’re circling another free agent: Carson Wentz.
The Browns have interest in potentially signing Wentz as a bridge quarterback in the event that they don’t land Wilson, according to Cleveland.com. That interest is reportedly mutual from the Wentz camp.
As it relates to Wilson, his movement seems to be tied to whenever Aaron Rodgers makes his free agent decision. By the looks of things, the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants, two of the teams notably interested in Rodgers, prefer the former Jets quarterback to Wilson. Whoever doesn’t land Rodgers (maybe both if he opts to retire) could then pivot to Wilson, thus taking him off the board for Cleveland and creating a clearer path for Wentz. Of course, Wilson could simply choose the Browns at any point if he doesn’t want to continue waiting on Rodgers, Pittsburgh, and New York.
If the dominoes fall in such a manner that Wilson no longer becomes an option for Cleveland, a pact with Wentz would be quite the turn of events considering their history. Back in 2016, the Browns traded the No. 2 overall pick to the Philadelphia Eagles, who then went on to select Wentz out of North Dakota State. Fast forward nearly a decade later and these two sides could unite after all.
Wentz, 32, spent the 2024 season as the backup to Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City. He started the team’s Week 18 matchup against the Denver Broncos and completed 10 of his 17 pass attempts for 98 yards. Before that, he was backup in Los Angeles with the Rams in 2023, while also having stints with the Washington Commanders and Indianapolis Colts after being traded out of Philadelphia in March 2021.
Given that Wentz has primarily been a backup over the past few seasons, he’d come as a cheaper option for the Browns, who continued to be saddled with Deshaun Watson’s contract. While Watson’s second Achilles tear created an even more apparent need at the position, the Browns could use a reset.
Wentz’s presence also shouldn’t preclude the Browns from possibly taking a quarterback later this spring in the NFL Draft where they possess the No. 2 overall pick. In theory, they could position Wentz as the bridge quarterback to whichever signal-caller they take there until they are ready to ascend to QB1.
For his career, Wentz has started 94 career games in the regular season and owns a 47-46-1 record along with an 89.3 career passer rating.
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