One of the Pittsburgh Steelers division rivals, the Cleveland Browns, have a surplus of quarterbacks.
With four quarterbacks making their 53-man roster, the Browns are now fielding calls for their backup quarterbacks.
Other than Deshaun Watson, the browns currently have second year quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson as well as veterans Jameis Winston and Tyler Huntley.
According to Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot, the Browns are looking to secure picks in return for their backups.
“The Browns will field calls for the backup quarterbacks in hopes of securing a draft pick for one of them”, Cabot wrote. “They may have already gotten some calls about Winston, who was signed to be the backup to Watson and has been a tremendous leader for the whole team as well as a mentor to Watson”.
It seems unlikely that they will part with Thompson-Robinson, who has shown the most promise throughout preseason.
Additionally, Thompson-Robinson’s only NFL win to this point was against the Steelers, when the Browns defeated the Steelers in Cleveland 13-10. Thompson-Robinson threw for 165 yards and an interception en route to the win.
Both Winston and Huntley seem like viable targets for teams across the league.
With over 22,000 yards and a 62% completion percentage, its quite low risk for a team to send a draft pick to the Browns for Winston. Either you get a backup with a long NFL pedigree and tangible quarterback abilities, or you give up a draft pick that is not guaranteed to be a hit.
Huntley is a former Pro Bowl selection when he was a member of the Baltimore Ravens, throwing for 8 touchdowns and 1,957 yards across three seasons in Baltimore. Huntley is 26 and still proves to be an athletic option that a team can take a flyer on.
The Steelers are unlikely to attempt to land either quarterback for two reasons. First, it is unlikely they would like to make a move within the division, as they would have to play against the future draft pick twice a season. Additionally, they seem to feel comfortable with Justin Fields and Kyle Allen backing up Russell Wilson, so barring no change there a move is unlikely.