Browns trade Joshua Dobbs

    As teams near the final weekend of the pre-season and the final roster cuts on Tuesday, the Cleveland Browns traded veteran backup quarterback Joshua Dobbs to the desperate Arizona Cardinals in a trade that the Browns nor Dobbs saw coming when the veteran returned to Cleveland as a free agent signing in the off-season.

Cleveland, a team that is always searching for draft capital after two drafts and one more to go as the Browns are still paying the Houston Texans for DeShaun Watson, acquired the Cardinal's fifth-rounder in the 2024 draft in return for Dobbs and the Browns' seventh-rounder in 2024.

Dobbs signed with the Browns last season as a backup to Jacoby Brissett and was released after the return of DeShaun Watson from his suspension before signing with Tennessee, where Dobbs started the final two games of the Titans season.

Dobbs was pursued by the Browns as a free agent after Brissett signed with Washington in the off-season as Cleveland was looking to backup DeShaun Watson with a veteran with a similar playing style and with Dobbs and Watson knowing each other last season, it seemed to be a good fit.

And I think it could have been but the Cardinals are in critical need of a quarterback with Kyler Murray expected to miss much and possibly all of the upcoming season and with only aging former Brown Colt McCoy and fifth-round draftee Clayton Tune available, Arizona felt that a fifth-rounder for Dobbs was a fair price to pay for a player that could be their starter for much of the 2023 season.

The Browns also didn't expect to see the strong performance of their own fifth-round quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson in pre-season, throwing for over three hundred yards, two touchdowns, completed over sixty-five percent of his passes, and didn't throw an interception, so Thompson- Robinson's play allowed the Browns to feel comfortable enough to trade Dobbs.

Cleveland had waived Kellen Mond earlier in the week and recalled him to the team after trading Dobbs, so the trade with Arizona must have come together very quickly or the Browns wouldn't have waived Mond.

Mond's status is far from secure, however, as the Browns will likely look closely at the quarterbacks that are released next week.

The Browns now have the following 2024 draft picks: second, third, two picks in both round five and round six, and a pick in round seven. 

Browns sign Joshua Dobbs

  The Cleveland Browns added a few players that shouldn't dent the starting lineup unless in case of catastrophe but in one of the cases is thought-provoking.

The team returned Joshua Dobbs to the team after the former Tennessee Volunteer spent time with both the Browns and Tennessee Titans in 2022.

Dobbs was the second-string QB behind Jacoby Brissett until the eleven-game suspension of DeShaun Watson concluded, and he was then released by the team.

Dobbs was signed by Tennessee and was forced into the Titan's starting lineup for the final two games of the season, losing both games to playoff teams Dallas and Jacksonville and throwing two touchdowns and two interceptions in the pair.

Dobbs was originally the fourth-round draft pick of Pittsburgh in 2017 and spent his first five seasons with the Steelers before moving to Cleveland last season.

Here's the thought-provoking portion of the show- Dobbs has been signed as the main backup for DeShaun Watson and I'm not sure how to think about that.

On one hand, I like that Dobbs has some similarities in style to Watson and I've always thought that it is smart when teams attempt to carry a backup passer with some of the characteristics of the starter.

I believe that it makes a smoother transition for the team in avoiding a drastic change in type and it helps the backup quarterback enter the lineup with an offense that has been tailored to the starter's strengths, which would be similar to the backup in this particular setup.

But I also wonder if Dobbs is of the caliber to take over a Browns team for an extended period of time and keep them in the hunt?

That doesn't mean that he can't, it means that he has yet to be asked and only time would tell how well he would do.

The Browns added two veterans that should help bulk up the special teams for new ST coach Bubba Ventrone in linebacker Matthew Adams and cornerback Mike Ford.

Adams arrives from Chicago, where he played last season after the first four seasons of his career with the Indianapolis Colts, while Ford spent last year in Atlanta after his first four years with Detroit and Denver.

Ford signed with the Lions in 2018 as an undrafted free agent from Southeast Missouri State and has started nine games in his five-year career.

Ford is brought in as a special teams standout and would be an additional depth piece in the secondary.

Adams was the Colts' seventh-rounder in 2018 from Houston and I remember him as a Cougar as a strong tackler on the college level as a middle linebacker.

Adams started three games last season for the Bears at linebacker but as in the case of Ford, appears to be counted on as a strong special teams performer in Cleveland.

Still, I wouldn't be surprised (depending on the other Browns additions at linebacker) to see Adams receive at least some snaps at linebacker.