With the 2026 NFL regular season schedule officially being released on Thursday evening, the excitement around the Cleveland Browns continues to grow before training camp this offseason.
While there is plenty of hype surrounding the organization’s young playmakers from the past two draft cycles, there are still some lingering concerns regarding key positions for the Browns in the near future.
When discussing the release of the 2026 NFL schedule on ESPN, NFL insider Peter Schrager revealed a painful mindset for Browns’ fans heading into the upcoming season.
“If I’m a Browns fan, and this goes for the Jets as well, you want to be competitive, you want to win games — you don’t want to win too many games,” Schrager stated. “No, I’m not tanking. It’s none of that. You want to be in contention where you have the ability to move up to get a quarterback in the (2027) draft. Because all the indications that we got in that 2026 draft was: ‘We’re going to build everywhere else with Fano and with Concepcion and with Boston, but we’re not taking a quarterback. We’re not getting Ty Simpson.’ And they didn’t bring anyone in in free agency. So to me it’s — let’s be competitive, let’s give our fans reason for optimism, and let’s not be too good this year, because our future quarterback might be playing college football on Saturdays.”
Analyzing the Browns’ schedule, quarterback room in 2026
After finishing the 2025 NFL season with a 5-12 record, the Browns were fortunate enough to land one of the more easier schedules for next year, according to multiple strength of schedule rankings. Outside of the team’s AFC North matchups in 2026, Cleveland is set to face the entire AFC and NFC South, while also both the New York teams in the Jets and Giants.
However, the late-season success last year from the struggling organization put the team in a tough spot leading up to the 2026 NFL Draft, as the Browns were out of range to select Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza in round one. And while the organization could have taken Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson, general manager Andrew Berry’s lone addition to the quarterback room this offseason came in the sixth round with Arkansas’ Taylen Green.
Now, with the regular season around the corner, the quarterback battle in Cleveland will be the main storyline for the Browns during training camp. This includes veteran Deshaun Watson and 2025 fifth-round pick Shedeur Sanders, with many insiders believing that Watson has the edge over Sanders leading up to Week One. The 30-year-old playmaker missed all of last season after tearing his Achilles during the 2024 season, but multiple reports have indicated that Watson is once again healthy.
Depending on how well the Browns do throughout this season, the franchise could be in the perfect position to land a new starting quarterback in the 2027 NFL Draft. Some of the names fans should keep an eye on in 2026 are Texas’s Arch Manning, Oregon’s Dante Moore, and South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers.
This article originally appeared on Browns Wire: NFL insider reveals painful mindset for Browns’ fans in 2026
Reporting by Dylan Feltovich, Browns Wire / Browns Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
