Dawgs By Nature
The Cleveland Browns have had what could be considered an addiction to quarterbacks since 1999.
Starting with Ty Detmer, who threw for 52 yards in the season opener in 1999 before being replaced early in the fourth quarter by Tim Couch, and continuing through Dillon Gabriel, who will make his fifth start of the season on Sunday against the New York Jets, the Browns have rolled out 41 different starting quarterbacks.
The list includes names both familiar, like Jeff Garcia, Jake Delhomme, and Robert Griffin III, and ones that even the most diehard of fans have trouble remembering, like Spergon Wynn, Bruce Gradkowski, and Luke McCown.
Those 41 quarterbacks are by far the most in the NFL as of early October, as the Browns have outpaced the Chicago Bears (No. 2 with 30), Washington Commanders (No. 3 with 29), and the Minnesota Vikings (No. 4 with 28).
Because the Browns have cycled through numerous quarterbacks over the years, several of their former quarterbacks are now spread out across the NFL, experiencing varying levels of success.
The latest example is Jacoby Brissett, who started 11 games with the Browns in 2022 while newly acquired quarterback Deshaun Watson served his NFL-mandated 11-game suspension.
On Tuesday, the Arizona Cardinals announced that Brissett will remain the starter while they figure out what to do with Kyle Murray and his injured ankle. Much like he did with the Browns, Brissett has grasped the opportunity, and the offense has improved under his guidance.
Brissett isn’t the only former Cleveland quarterback in a starting role, of course, as Baker Mayfield, who started for the Browns from 2018 through 2021, is in his third season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Mayfield has the Bucs on track for a third consecutive NFC South Division title, and is among the favorites in the running for league MVP honors as he works his way toward a third-consecutive 4,000-yard passing season (the Browns, by comparison, have only had one 4,000-yard passer in franchise history) and a career low four interceptions.
And let’s not forget Joe Flacco, who had not one but two stints with the Browns (2023 and the first four games of this season). Flacco is currently slinging it with the Cincinnati Bengals on a pace that over a 17-game season would see him throw for 5,329 yards and 47 touchdowns. (Just be sure to ignore that teams with Flacco as the starter are just a combined 4-10 since the start of the 2024 season. That is a pesky detail that ruins the narrative.)
Not every alumnus is a starter, however, as Jameis Winston (2024) is currently riding the bench with the New York Giants; and Tyrod Taylor (2018) is doing the same with the New York Jets, although he did start a game earlier in the season and was in line to start last week’s game against the Bengals before being sidelined by a knee injury. Nick Mullens (2021) is the backup with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Case Keenum (200...
