For longtime fans of the Kansas City Chiefs, maintaining appreciation for the quarterback position is not a problem. That's because, for what seemed like an eternity, the QB role felt like what the Cleveland Browns are dealing with now.
It's no secret that the Browns are dealing with the oddest quarterback situation in the National Football League this season. They just muddied the waters in a very unclear pool—if we're carrying out the whole water analogy here—by signing yet another option on Monday, with the announced addition of veteran Tyler Huntley.
It can get better (but we're not betting on it for the Browns).
Huntley is the newest name in a competition that feels like a Royal Rumble of uninspired options. Huntley joins fellow vets Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett as well as rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. Oh yeah, there's also the embarrassing albatross known as Deshaun Watson.
If that sounds like a zoo, it is. For some reason, the Browns are taking the "throw pasta at the wall" approach with the QB position to see what sticks. Two draft picks were taken, and now three experienced signal callers have been signed. Between the six of them, there's not a single quarterback that any other team would be excited to have.
There was a time, well before Patrick Mahomes was drafted, that the Chiefs were as unfortunate (or devoid of direction) as the Browns. Shortly before Andy Reid and John Dorsey arrived in 2013 (and brought Alex Smith with them), as the new head coach and general manager, respectively, the Chiefs quarterback position was the laughingstock of the NFL. They had Scott Pioli to thank for that.
From 2008 to 2012, the five seasons before the cavalry arrived, the Chiefs boasted some combination of the following: Matt Cassel, Tyler Palko, Kyle Orton, Tyler Thigpen, Brodie Croyle, Brady Quinn, Damon Huard, and Quinn Gray. We use the term "boast" rather loosely here.
The Chiefs won 15 games during the regular season in 2024 alone. That win total is the sum of four of the five years before Andy Reid arrived. Much of that blame can be placed on the complete lack of talent at quarterback in that same period.
It doesn't feel like a stretch to say the Browns are going to struggle to win games in 2025. It also feels like the franchise might be starting over at quarterback all over again in 2026, even after having six "options" on the roster at this stage.
If there's any consolation, the Chiefs are proof that things can get better. But yeah, something has to change at the top of the pyramid first.