HC Kevin Stefanski: Browns 'in a holding pattern' at starting QB

The song largely remains the same at the quarterback position for the Cleveland Browns following their controversial trade for star signal-caller Deshaun Watson in March. 

Cleveland can find no buyer for former starter Baker Mayfield, who is owed a fully guaranteed salary of $18.858 million for the 2022 season, and still doesn't know if Watson will be prevented from playing for any portion of the campaign as he continues to face 22 civil lawsuits regarding allegations of sexual misconduct. Journeyman Jacoby Brissett, signed shortly after the Watson trade, told reporters before last week's NFL draft he's preparing to be a temporary QB1 for the Browns, and career backup Josh Dobbs is also on the depth chart. 

As Myles Simmons noted for Pro Football Talk, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski told Cleveland radio station 92.3 The Fan on Tuesday the club is somewhat flying blind as it pertains to its offense. 

"I just think it’s kind of the nature of it. We don’t know and that’s OK," Stefanski explained about the situation. "So we’re going to work through that as more information becomes available. But ultimately, we’re getting three new quarterbacks ready with Deshaun in there, Jacoby in there, and Josh Dobbs. We’ve got three new guys calling plays in the huddle. They’re different cadences, so we’ve got guys hearing those voices. So that room, there’s a lot of learning going on, there’s a ton of teaching going on.

"And then as more information becomes available, we can determine how we rotate guys in training camp and those types of things. But until we have that information, we’re really just in a holding pattern." 

Stefanski offered no real answer when asked if there's any possibility Mayfield could take a snap for the Browns during a preseason or regular-season game. 

If it's true that the Browns are still looking to trade Mayfield without paying any of his salary, they could continue to have more questions than answers at quarterback until further notice.