Jacoby Brissett Officially Named Cleveland Browns Backup QB

After months of uncertainty surrounding the Cleveland Browns’ quarterback room, head coach Kevin Stefanski confirmed that Jacoby Brissett would be the starter if Deshaun Watson is suspended. Despite Watson’s well-documented legal issues, the Browns traded for and signed him to a 5-year $230 million deal in March.

Since then, the Browns have been busy.

Cleveland traded away their former first overall draft pick and starting quarterback Baker Mayfield to the Carolina Panthers. While acquiring QB capital in Josh Dobbs, Josh Rosen, and the aforementioned Jacoby Brissett.

“I think Cleveland is in a very unusual situation, said Mike Tannenbaum, former NFL executive and founder of The 33rd Team. "They have to get Brissett ready to go to be the starter. Additionally, they have to get Watson some reps in the preseason because he didn't play last year, either. Then, they also have to have competition for Brissett's backup. That is a very unusual training camp rotation.”

Brissett’s Backups

Since coming into the league, Dobbs and Rosen have spent most of their careers sitting behind some of the league's best QBs. Dobbs sat behind Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh and has seen minimal in-game action.

Rosen has been in the spotlight since high school and has had several stops around the league. Most recently, he was in Atlanta, where he was Matt Ryan’s understudy. Throughout his three-year career, Rosen has passed for under 3,000 yards and has a 12:21 touchdown to interception ratio.

Who is Jacoby Brissett?

“Jacoby is a QB with some limitations," said Joe Banner, former NFL executive and founder of The 33rd Team. "If surrounded by the right people and a coach who will run an offense geared to his strengths, he can have modest success,”

The former third-round pick is a six-year NFL veteran who has 36 touchdowns and 17 interceptions in his career thus far. Brissett has started 37 of the 60 games he has played in. Cleveland is Brissett’s fourth stop on his NFL journey.

The Browns are confident Brissett puts the team in the best position to compete in the loaded AFC North if Watson is unavailable. If Watson is not suspended, Cleveland certainly has one of the NFL's upper echelon backup quarterbacks.