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As the Cleveland Browns are going through a quarterback battle with four options on the table, two of them selected in the most recent NFL Draft, there’s an analyst who believes the team will select another signal-caller next season. While the Browns quarterback room is highlighted by Shedeur Sanders, among others, ESPN’s Matt Miller can see the team picking Cade Klubnik in 2026.
In Miller’s 2026 NFL Mock Draft, he had Cleveland obtaining the No. 1 overall pick, meaning he envisions them having a poor year in the upcoming season. He had Klubnik out of Clemson going in the spot, even saying that besides the team selecting Sanders and Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, the franchise should look for a “long-term passer” with the junior.
Miller even said that Klubnik reminds him of Baker Mayfield, who was taken by the Browns with the first overall pick back in the 2018 NFL Draft.
“Spending two picks on quarterbacks in 2025 — Dillon Gabriel (third round) and Shedeur Sanders (fifth round) — shouldn’t prevent the Browns from looking for a long-term passer here,” Miller wrote. “Klubnik enters the season as my No. 1 QB. In 2024, he threw for 3,639 yards, 36 touchdowns, and six interceptions, highlighted by a gutsy performance against Texas in the College Football Playoff (336 passing yards, three TDs, one INT). Klubnik reminds me of Baker Mayfield — whom Cleveland selected with the No. 1 pick in 2018 — in terms of arm strength, mobility, and playmaking awareness.”
While the prediction of the team having the No. 1 overall pick doesn’t bode well for them, the Browns quarterbacks look to prove the doubters wrong, though it’s a four-man race between Sanders, Gabriel, and veterans Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett. Despite many reports believing each player has a shot, former wide receiver TJ Houshmandzadeh would say on “Nightcap” that Pickett and Gabriel are standing out from the rest.
“I was told from somebody that is in the building that ain’t a player, it’s really coming down to Kenny Pickett or Dillon Gabriel,” Houshmandzadeh said. “That’s what I was told. But now, when you get the reports that Shedeur’s completing seven out of nine passes — is it against starters? Or is it against the threes and the fours, the guys that are going to get released? So it seems impressive when you see the graphic, but is it really if it’s not against the starters or guys that are going to be on the team?”
At any rate, Cleveland looks to improve after finishing with a 3-14 record, which put them last in the AFC North. They open the upcoming season against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, Sept. 7.
The post Browns rumors: The QB ESPN projects to go No. 1 to Cleveland in 2026 appeared first on ClutchPoints.
