CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Last March, after Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett signed what was then a record-setting extension, he made an appearance on the team's in-house podcast. Host Andrew Siciliano asked him if he had an idea who the quarterback was going to be.
Garrett said he did and when Siciliano asked him if he liked the idea, he smirked and said, "I liked it enough to be here smiling in front of you because I think we have a good chance of that happening."
Could it be that the Browns pitched the idea of trading for Kenny Pickett, signing Joe Flacco a week before the draft, selecting Dillon Gabriel in the third round and then trading up for Shedeur Sanders in the fifth round and holding a four-man quarterback competition?
And that just took the plan through August.
In the time it took Garrett to pile up 15 sacks, Pickett and Flacco were on different teams, Gabriel was in the concussion protocol and Sanders was taking his first snaps against the Raiders in Las Vegas.
It's safe to say it probably didn't work out the way they explained it to their star edge rusher.
As it was playing out, Browns fans were familiarizing themselves with Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza and Oregon quarterback Dante Moore -- Gabriel's backup in 2024 -- dreams that went poof when the Browns finished their season with back-to-back wins over the Steelers and Bengals.
Moore made those late-season wins a little less painful for the draftniks in the fan base by deciding to return to Oregon for another season, the right decision for a signal-caller who lacks college starting experience, strangely one of the most consistent red flags when it comes to NFL success.
It's not fair to judge a quarterback plan before it plays out, but Moore staying in school erases one of the potential options for the Browns, assuming the Jets were willing to either pass on Moore at No. 2 or trade the pick.
Considering how the landscape is shaping up, the Browns haven't earned enough benefit of the doubt to believe this year's plan won't end up being similar to last year's disjointed approach.
It starts with this simple fact: the Browns do not have a sure long-term option at the position in their building right now.
Yes, they could look at the landscape and decide they want to see more of Sanders or Gabriel -- and Sanders is still the most intriguing of the two -- but neither represents anything more than a lottery ticket. If either quarterback is the Week 1 starter, it's just as likely that the long-term answer is waiting for the Browns in the 2027 draft as one of them will seize the job.
Even if the Browns decide they want a longer look at Sanders or Gabriel, they can't just hand either the job. Adding real competition needs to be a priority.
Is that competition Deshaun Watson? He currently counts $80 million against the cap in 2026, though that number will likely be reduced through another redo of his contract. Still, the number will remain high, he'll be healthy and the Browns should probably try to get some sort of bang for their buck even if it's just providing competition and depth.
Except Watson hasn't played in 15 months and his performance prior to rupturing his Achilles in 2024 didn't engender much confidence that he was still a starting quarterback who could win games.
Which begs the question: Who else could the Browns add as a veteran option?
Packers backup quarterback Malik Willis will garner plenty of interest on the free agent market. 49ers backup quarterback Mac Jones could become available via trade. There will be other veteran names available as teams make decisions ahead of the new league year in March.
Trying to rescue a veteran off the scrap heap is probably their best option to win sooner rather than later, especially with the amount of youth they will add on the offensive side of the ball this offseason. It's just about finding the right one.
If this column sounds like one big 'I don't know,' that's the best way to sum up the Browns' quarterback situation. It doesn't feel much different from a year ago when they had a high pick in a draft thin on answers and were hunting for veterans.
Are Browns fans looking at a repeat of the 2025 draft where trading down with an eye towards next year while taking a shot on another Day 2 quarterback is their best option? Was it just bad luck that this class didn't shake out the way they hoped when they traded down last year to acquire an extra first-round pick from Jacksonville?
The Browns might have never had a real shot at Moore in this year's draft. His decision, though, reinforces how thin this once-hopeful quarterback draft ended up being. It reinforces how there aren't any sure answers for them at the most important position this offseason.