Browns expected to sign QB Jacoby Brissett to back up Deshaun Watson

Minutes after agreeing to trade Case Keenum to the Bills, the Browns tabbed his replacement. Jacoby Brissett is expected to sign with Cleveland, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports. The former third-round pick agreed to a one-year deal.

Brissett backed up Tua Tagovailoa last season in Miami, but the Dolphins starter’s early-season injury opened the door for more Brissett starting opportunities. Given Deshaun Watson‘s off-field trouble, Brissett will be one of the league’s most important backups. He will almost certainly have an extended run as a starter in Cleveland, should Watson’s expected suspension hit in 2022.

Extended QB1 run on short notice will not be new to Brissett; such developments have essentially defined his career. The former Patriots draft pick became the Colts’ starter not long after a late-summer 2017 trade, with Andrew Luck‘s shoulder injury lingering throughout the 2017 season. Brissett started 15 games for Indianapolis that year. After Luck’s surprise late-summer 2019 retirement, Brissett again received the keys in Indy. While Brissett did not make any starts in 2020, Tagovailoa’s September injury led to a five-start season for his backup.

Leading a much better Colts team in 2019, Brissett upped his passer rating to a career-best 88.0 on 6.6 yards per attempt. While Brissett once again proved he is one of the NFL’s best backups, his Miami yards-per-attempt figure settled at just 5.7, as Jaylen Waddle racked up PPR points. Brissett, 29, completed a career-high 62.7% of his passes with the Dolphins.

Cleveland constructed Watson’s contract around the likelihood of a 2022 suspension. With six games appearing to be the floor for a Watson ban, that will place a spotlight on Brissett, whose only start for a playoff-bound team came with the 2016 Patriots in his rookie year. The Browns’ polarizing trade will force them to count on the veteran emergency replacement for an extended stretch, perhaps to start the 2022 campaign.