The Cleveland Browns, while trying to taking a step forward and become Super Bowl contenders, set themselves back years when they traded for and signed Deshaun Watson to a massive, fully guaranteed contract. So surely the Browns would not spend tens of millions again annually for another quarterback, right? That’s not what ESPN’s Ben Solak thinks.
Despite Cleveland already having three quarterbacks on its roster — Watson, who carries an $80.7 million cap hit in 2026, and 2025 draftees Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders — Solak believes the Browns should “aggressively pursue and sign” Green Bay Packers backup Malik Willis this offseason.
“Already leveraged aggressively against future cap years, the Browns will start to make up financial ground only once they have a quarterback on a good deal. If they trade for Will Levis or Anthony Richardson, with one year remaining on their respective contracts, they’ll be negotiating from a weaker position should either player actually hit,” Solak wrote.
“They should give Willis $30 million per year now, backload it and let him ride as their developmental starter for the next few seasons. His tools are so remarkably beyond those of Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, and he has a style of play similar to Lamar Jackson, with whom Todd Monken just worked. This is a good marriage.”
Since going in the third round to the Tennessee Titans, Willis has played 22 NFL games and started just six, half of which came in his rookie season. His career stats include 1,322 passing yards, 405 rushing yards, 10 total touchdowns, 3 interceptions, 4 fumbles lost, and 25 sacks. However, in his sporadic appearances in Green Bay, he has performed exceptionally well; he threw for 612 yards, 3 touchdowns, zero interceptions, rushed for 174 yards and three touchdowns, and completed 79.6% of his passes in his three starts for the Packers.
His play while replacing Jordan Love, in addition to a particularly weak free-agent class at quarterback, may end up making Willis a very rich man very soon. Other QBs that could hit the market this offseason include Daniel Jones, who is recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers, 37-year-old Russell Wilson, and former first-round picks such as Kenny Pickett, Jimmy Garoppolo, Carson Wentz, and Trey Lance.
To date, Willis has made approximately $7 million in his four-year NFL career.
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