Browns' Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson get good news in Anthony Richardson Sr., Malik Willis updates

Before the "legal tampering" portion of free agency got underway on March 11, some stories linked the Cleveland Browns with Indianapolis Colts backup quarterback Anthony Richardson Sr. and with then-Green Bay Packers backup Malik Willis.

Willis instead joined the Miami Dolphins, while the Colts are keeping Daniel Jones atop their depth chart through at least the 2026 season. This past weekend, Browns reporter Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer addressed whether or not the AFC North club could emerge as a potential landing spot for Richardson.

Browns have already made this Anthony Richardson Sr. decision

"They’re not trading for Richardson, despite widespread rumors during the first week of free agency that they’d pursue him, sources say," Cabot wrote. "It’s never been a serious consideration for them, although they usually do their due diligence on available veterans to see if it’s a fit. But Richardson was never in their plans, and the rumors were unfounded. At this point, the Browns are prepared to move forward with Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders as their top two contenders for the 2026 starting job, unless their remaining work on the draft-eligible quarterbacks alters those plans."

A 2023 first-round draft pick, Richardson is largely seen as a project who thus far has missed 17 regular-season games due to injuries as a pro. Most recently, he suffered an orbital fracture during a pregame warmup in October 2025. 

Cleveland already has a young project in its quarterback room in Sanders, while Watson is attempting to resurrect his career after he spent the entire 2025 season recovering from a reinjury of the torn Achilles tendon he suffered in October 2024. 

Were Browns really ever in on the Malik Willis sweepstakes?

It was previously mentioned that agent David Mulugheta wouldn't want Willis and Watson, Mulugheta's clients, to compete against each other for a starting job this coming summer. Cabot suggested that money also impacted Cleveland's decision not to make more of an effort to win Willis' signature. 

"The Dolphins were always the anticipated destination for Willis, in part because they had a starting job to offer him and were willing to pay him," Cabot explained. "In addition to the three-year deal worth $22.5M a year, the Dolphins gave him $45M guaranteed. The Browns are still operating under cap constraints from Watson’s fully-guaranteed contract worth $46M a year, and probably didn’t want to go that high."

That could lead one to believe the Browns won't make a major splash regarding their quarterback situation over the next handful of months. While things often change quickly in the NFL, it certainly appears that either Sanders or Watson will enter this coming September as Cleveland's QB1.