The Cleveland Browns’ plans for the quarterback position may be coming into focus. There is still plenty of speculation and ambiguity about which direction they will take and who will be the team’s starting QB next season and beyond.
Reporting for Bleacher Report, James Palmer confirmed that the Browns are absolutely looking at all their options right now. According to him, their plan was to never be 100 percent settled on Shedeur Sanders at this point. Although he may end up earning the role of starting QB, Sanders might have competition.
Right now, the Browns are looking at both free agent Malik Willis and incoming rookie Ty Simpson out of Alabama.
“My understanding is yes, they’re looking at both [Malik Willis and Ty Simpson], but they’re also looking at many others. The plan was never, I’m told, to go into 2026 with Shedeur Sanders as the quarterback, and then you look at using Shedeur Sanders throughout all of 2026 as your starting quarterback with nobody else in the room or having no other looks at other quarterbacks. Doesn’t mean that Shedeur Sanders won’t be the starter Week 1. I’m not ruling that out. I’m not saying they’re moving on from Shedeur Sanders. I’m just saying they feel like they need a quarterback. They’d like to add a quarterback. We’ll see if they do it, and we’ll see what avenue they go,” Palmer said.
The NFL Combine will be crucial for this team because it’ll give them a chance to evaluate Simpson. Palmer predicts that Simpson will impress at the Combine and could improve his place in the draft standings. That may complicate matters for the Browns, who could be planning to use their No. 6 pick on someone like Carnell Tate and spend a later pick on Simpson.
If Simpson becomes more attractive due to the Combine, Cleveland may have to spend more than they’d like. As for Willis, he is a free agent who may be too expensive for the Browns.
If the Browns determine that Simpson checks all their boxes, they might believe they don’t even need Willis, who has spent the last two years with the Green Bay Packers. In 2025, he completed 85.7 percent of his passes for 422 yards and three touchdowns.
There are now numerous names floating around in Cleveland, from Sanders to Willis to Simpson to others like Deshaun Watson and even Dillon Gabriel.
The Browns are keeping all of their options open, which means fans need to prepare for more uncertainty.
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