Cleveland Browns: DeShone Kizer the future at quarterback?

Will the Cleveland Browns stick it out and develop DeShone Kizer at quarterback, or will they move on and pick a new franchise player?

The Cleveland Browns are going to be one of the most fascinating teams to watch this offseason, especially with the new dynamic of general manager John Dorsey and head coach Hue Jackson.

The Browns maintain that they will not be firing Jackson, contrary to what many thought following a potentially winless season, so what does that mean about the future of quarterback DeShone Kizer?

To put it as simply as possible, Kizer has looked like a rookie for most of the season. He’s struggled with accuracy and turnovers, but has made some big plays that cause you to pause when wondering if his future in the league is really in doubt.

I’m sure many teams picking behind the Browns in the 2018 NFL Draft right now would love for them to move forward with Kizer as their quarterback of the future, and a legitimate case could be made for that being the case.

Despite the change from Sashi Brown to John Dorsey as general manager, the retention of Hue Jackson as the team’s head coach could be the clearest indicator that we have that the Browns are not going to try to start over again this offseason at the most critical position on the field.

Kizer is young, and he was not considered a polished product at all coming out of Notre Dame.

He has taken his lumps in year one with the Browns, and played perhaps his best game as a professional (despite a collapse late) against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday afternoon.

The Browns still lost the game, but Kizer completed a season-high 71.4 percent of his passes with three touchdowns, two interceptions, and a 99.4 QB rating.

Kizer’s progression this season has not been anything gradual. It’s been more in moments than anything else, but this game against the Packers was the clearest indicator yet that there is a pretty good quarterback in there somewhere, he just needs time.

The Browns are in an interesting spot this offseason.

There will be a number of veterans they can pursue, but they may have to go and get one in a trade (Alex Smith) because luring a quarterback to Cleveland via free agency would take a big time sales pitch that I’m not sure anyone in Cleveland is capable of making.

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Kirk Cousins is the top free agent quarterback available, and the Browns could afford him, but is that the direction Dorsey and Jackson want to go? Who knows?

More likely, the Browns will have to weigh going out and getting a stop-gap veteran who can take over Kizer’s position easily and draft a guy to take over, similar to the strategy we saw from the Chicago Bears last season.

In that case, a guy like Smith makes a lot of sense because his contract only runs through the end of 2018. The Browns would have to give up a third round pick for Smith, probably, but that would be a good price to pay if you want to get a new rookie quarterback a year of learning behind a very good veteran player.

If the Browns feel Kizer has played well enough to move forward with him next season again, then they can do a lot of things with that number one pick. They could take a top offensive lineman or Saquon Barkley, or they could trade the pick for another bounty of picks like they have in recent years.

There will be teams wanting to move up and get a quarterback, for sure.

End of season evaluations will be critical, but it at least makes some sense for the Browns to continue developing Kizer, as he has shown traits of being a top flight quarterback, despite them being scattered about this season.

These next three games could be critical for the finality of that decision. Browns ownership obviously wants a solution at quarterback. It’s up to Jackson to convince Dorsey whether or not Kizer is ‘his’ guy moving forward.

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