Cleveland Browns Linked to Trading for Former First-Round Quarterback This Offseason

With the Cleveland Browns mired in yet another season of uncertainty at the quarterback position, another name has been tossed in the ring.

This time, it’s a reclamation project.

Anthony Richardson, a former fourth overall draft pick for the Indianapolis Colts, has been suggested as a trade target for the Browns, with the idea of bringing him in to compete for the starting job with Shedeur Sanders.

While there’s no denying that Richardson’s raw tools are impressive, speculation has been rampant for some time that his days in Indianapolis are over. However, betting on him to finally click in Cleveland seems implausible.

As things stand now, the Browns’ depth chart at the most important position in the game would likely point to Sanders as the starter, Deshaun Watson as the backup, and last years’ third-rounder Dillon Gabriel as third-string.

Fifth-round choice Sanders went 3-4 during his starts in the second half of last season after taking over for Gabriel, who managed just a 1-5 mark as the main guy under center. Watson hasn’t played for the Browns since October of 2024, but his bloated cap number of over $80.7 million points to him being part of the mix for next season.

Granted, the quarterback room that Todd Monken is inheriting looks awful on paper. But to be honest, it's hard to think that Richardson’s arrival could improve it.

Why Anthony Richardson doesn’t make sense for the Browns

Last year, Cleveland started most of its games with two rookie passers. Among their most noticeable shortcomings was the inability to put the ball in the receivers’ hands at a rate expected from a pro passer. Gabriel completed just 59.5 percent of his throws, while Sanders’ completion percentage stood at 56.6. As a team, Cleveland placed dead last in the league with a 57.9 percent of completed throws, a number also influenced by a terrible start to the season under veteran Joe Flacco.

To make things worse, Sanders -- who again, is the most likely Week 1 starter for 2026 -- threw seven touchdowns to 10 interceptions for the year.

Enter Richardson, a career 50.6 completion percentage passer with 11 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions over three years in the league, including 15 starts.

Now, consider ESPN’s Stephen Holder reporting a growing belief within the Colts organization that “Riley Leonard has shown enough coming off of his rookie year to be a No. 2 quarterback based on his performance in practice and in his lone start against the Houston Texans in the season finale.”

Taking someone else' s third-stringer to battle for your starting spot doesn’t really sound like an upgrade, let's be honest.

Multiple reports suggest immaturity and a suboptimal work ethic as the main reasons why Richardson -- still just 23 years old -- hasn’t panned out in the NFL, and while I understand that Indy could have interest in moving on from a disaster of a pick, not all quarterback-needy teams are an automatic fit, certainly not the Browns.

Even during a year with such scarcity in quarterbacks leading up to the draft, Cleveland might be better off taking another flier on a mid-round prospect -- and keeping its finger crossed -- than taking on Richardson.