The Browns believe the quarterback who replaces him will be worse than Deshaun Watson.

The Cleveland Browns moved quickly to replace Deshaun Watson on the quarterback depth chart Tuesday morning. Watson ruptured his Achilles on Sunday afternoon against the Cincinnati Bengals and will miss the remainder of the regular season as a result. There’s a chance his Browns career will come to a quick end on Sunday as well.

In his place, the Browns will start Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who got the snaps in Watson’s loss to the Bengals. Jameis Winston will likely be behind DTR if he is healthy enough to take on that responsibility.

However, Cleveland knows better than most teams that they need an emergency option. That quarterback appears to be former New England Patriots QB Bailey Zappe.

As ESPN’s Tom Pelissero notes, Zappe played on the Kansas City Chiefs’ practice squad and learned from Patrick Mahomes and Carson Wentz. That’s… not a bad place to be, as Andy Reid is considered one of the best quarterback gurus in the NFL these days. However, the chance to play in Cleveland if DTR and Jamie struggle is a blessing in itself.

The Browns want to see what they have in Thompson-Robinson, who played well in his last start of 2023 against the Bears before he suffered what appears to be a concussion. DTR is likely a career backup, but he has played exceptionally well in practice and in the Browns’ preseason games, so before they start over at the position, they’d like to make sure the answer isn’t already on the roster.

Even though the Browns locker room defended Watson on Sunday — especially after fans booed him off the field despite his injury — the front office knows it’s time to move on. It would take a lot of work to get Watson out of his contract, but a quarterback with that kind of off-field history coupled with a serious Achilles injury will be tough to fix.

Zappe doesn’t offer much growth potential that hasn’t already been seen. Just a few seasons ago, he was the spark for New England that supplanted Mac Jones. It didn’t work out and at this point in his career he is a high-ranking backup with starting experience. Again, this isn’t a bad choice for a team that lacks depth at the position, but Cleveland shouldn’t expect Zappe to be their QB going forward.