As things sit right now, the Cleveland Browns are set to head into next season with three legitimate starting quarterback options: 2025 fifth-round pick Shedeur Sanders, $230 million passer Deshaun Watson, and 2025 third-round pick Dillon Gabriel.
If the team doesn’t draft a signal-caller, Sanders and Watson are expected to battle it out for the QB1 job with Gabriel serving as the third-stringer.
But Browns insiders haven’t ruled out the team adding another QB to the mix via the 2026 NFL draft this week.
Projected No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza will be out of the picture, but every other passer in the draft class could be on the table, including Alabama’s Ty Simpson, who’s widely regarded as the second-best QB in the draft behind Mendoza.
Simpson has been linked to several teams, including the New York Jets, who have the No. 2 and 16 overall picks, and the Arizona Cardinals, who have the No. 3 and 34 overall picks.
But Cleveland could throw a wrench into things if it takes Simpson — something that is within the realm of possibility because the 23-year-old QB actually has ties to the organization now through head coach Todd Monken.
Simpson’s dad Jason, the head coach at UT Martin, is close friends with Monken. That personal friendship could give Monken more insight into Simpson as a pro prospect than none of the other 31 NFL coaches have.
“My dad and coach Monken go way back,” Simpson told reporters at the NFL combine. “They talk often. He texted him when he got the job, and they’ve texted a little bit (since), so if I had the opportunity to play for the Browns, it would be a dream come true.”
Monken has made it known that he’s a fan of Simpson, revealing he tried hard to recruit him to Georgia when he was the team’s offensive coordinator.
“I like Ty,” Monken said at the combine. “I liked Ty when he was coming out. When I first got to Georgia, they hadn’t offered him and I went up there and talked to his dad. … So we got to know them really well. Really fond of Ty, obviously really good football player. Fired up for him because in today’s day and age, for him to stay as long as he did at Alabama and then get a chance to be the starting quarterback’s pretty cool.”
If the Browns decide they want another quarterback to battle with Sanders and Watson, Simpson is certainly a name to watch, especially if he slides into the second round (Cleveland has the seventh pick in Round 2 and a trade up for Simpson shouldn’t be ruled out).
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