Getty
Quarterback Mac Jones of the San Francisco 49ers.
Head coach Todd Monken has refused to commit to any quarterback as the prohibitive favorite to win the Cleveland Browns‘ starting job this offseason, which means Week 1 is literally anyone’s football game — including players not currently on the roster.
Terry Pluto of Cleveland.com predicted on Saturday, February 14 that the Browns won’t reach for a quarterback with either the Nos. 6 or 24 picks in the NFL draft this April, estimating instead that the team will focus heavily on retooling an abysmal offensive line that was old and injured throughout the 2025 campaign.
Pluto also diverted from the notion that the Browns will pursue a pricy option in free agency, suggesting instead that the most likely candidate to join Cleveland and challenge rookie Shedeur Sanders for the QB1 position is Mac Jones of the San Francisco 49ers.
“My favorite is Mac Jones, the backup QB in San Francisco,” Pluto wrote. “Jones had a 5-3 record as a backup for Brock Purdy. The 49ers say they want to keep him. He makes $2.8 million on the cap in 2026. I’d offer a third-round pick for him. Much cheaper than breaking the salary cap for [Malik] Willis.”
Mac Jones’ One-Year Price Should Prove Attractive to Browns
GettyQuarterback Mac Jones of the San Francisco 49ers.
Jones, a former first-round pick of the New England Patriots, stacked up 2,151 yards on 69.6 percent passing for 13 TDs and six INTs in 11 games played (eight starts) last year while serving as Purdy’s replacement.
Jones is entering the second season of a two-year, $8.4 million contract in San Francisco in 2026. But as Pluto noted, he would cost the Browns just $2.8 million in base salary compensation next year, which is meaningful considering the $80.7 million salary cap hit Deshaun Watson currently represents in the final year of his contract.
All told, Jones has earned just over $19.3 million in his five-year NFL career.
The real cost for Jones would come in the form of the draft pick Cleveland would have to surrender to acquire him for just one season, before either parting ways if it does not work out or signing him to a significant extension in 2027.
The Browns own the No. 70 overall pick in April’s draft, which is their only third-rounder in 2026. However, Cleveland holds 10 total selections, including two firsts, one fourth and three picks in the fifth round.
Malik Willis More Expensive, Less Proven Than Mac Jones
GettyGreen Bay Packers quarterback Malik Willis.
If Cleveland looks to free agency, perhaps the best/most viable option is Willis who has spent the past two years as the backup quarterback for the Green Bay Packers.
Ben Solak of ESPN suggested on February 10 that the Browns pursue Willis.
“The Browns should aggressively pursue and sign Willis in free agency. Why not?” Solak wrote. “Already leveraged aggressively against future cap years, the Browns will start to make up financial ground only once they have a quarterback on a good deal. If they trade for Will Levis or Anthony Richardson, with one year remaining on their respective contracts, they’ll be negotiating from a weaker position should either player actually hit.”
Solak mentioned a contract paying Willis $30 million annually, which he could potentially get on the open market even despite starting just six games in his career (3-3).
“They should give Willis $30 million per year now, backload it and let him ride as their developmental starter for the next few seasons,” Solak continued. “His tools are so remarkably beyond those of Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, and he has a style of play similar to Lamar Jackson, with whom Monken just worked. This is a good marriage.”
Max Dible covers the NFL, NBA and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns. He covered local and statewide news as a reporter for West Hawaii Today and served as news director for BigIslandNow.com and Pacific Media Group’s family of Big Island radio stations before joining Heavy. More about Max Dible
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