With the Titans moving on from quarterback Zach Mettenberger and Mettenberger’s next stop now being subject to the waiver wire, the Browns will have the first chance to claim Mettenberger if they want him.
The Browns already have five quarterbacks, so they may pass. But with a 24-year old quarterback with 10 games starting experience hitting the waiver wire at a time almost every team is already shuffling its roster, some team will probably claim Mettenberger, even if that team just views him as a potential backup.
Even though Mettenberger is 0-10 as a starter, interested teams know the Titans haven’t been very good the last two seasons. He’s 6-foot-5 and has completed 60 percent of his passes, and that should be good enough for some team to take a low-risk flier on a player who’s still on his rookie contract. The timing of his release was curious, but enough teams need quarterbacks to think that Mettenberger will get another shot soon.
Among the teams who could put in a waiver claim on Mettenberger...
**The Browns have five quarterbacks, but the new coaching staff and new regime are really tied only to Robert Griffin III and Cody Kessler. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Metteneberger claimed and Connor Shaw or Austin Davis released. The Browns probably see Josh McCown as a good tutor for Kessler, but we don’t know how much he’s really in the plans.
**Despite drafting Dak Prescott in the fourth round, the Cowboys could use an overall upgrade in quarterback depth. Same for the Chargers.
**The 49ers make sense given the uncertainty surrounding the Colin Kaepernick situation and that Blaine Gabbert is probably the team’s current starter. The 49ers drafted Jeff Driskel, but not until the sixth round.
**The Colts have had quite a backup quarterback carousel over the last several months, and like the Cowboys they found out last year that life without a viable backup is quite miserable.
**Cardinals Coach Bruce Arians likes big, strong-armed quarterbacks, and the Cardinals didn’t draft a quarterback in the 2016 draft.
**The Lions drafted Jake Rudock in the sixth round but have only Rudock and Dan Orlovsky behind Matthew Stafford.
**The Steelers have Bruce Gradkowski and Landry Jones under contract as backups, but Jones is entering the final year of his rookie deal and might not be in the team’s plans.
**The Broncos are at the bottom of the waiver order, but given their quarterback situation putting in a claim just in case every other team passes wouldn’t be a bad idea.