Case Keenum has gone into each of the last two seasons as a starting quarterback, but losing seasons in Denver and Washington left him to take a backup role with the Browns this year.
While Keenum feels “like I can play at a high level,” he isn’t fazed by the change in circumstances. He said he “highlighted” the Browns as an attractive spot to play heading into free agency and is looking forward to helping to “bring that room together, help bring an offense together and be the best team player I can be.”
If the situation should change, Keenum also said that he’ll be ready to take the reins of the offense.
“If Baker’s shoelace comes untied and he needs to maybe go get a drink of Gatorade at the water station, I’m going to be ready to go,” Keenum said on a conference call, via Cleveland.com. “If I need to take a few snaps, I’m going to handle myself well and I know that I can.”
That’s what happened for Keenum in Minnesota in 2017 and he handled it well enough that he wound up landing a big contract with the Broncos. Anything similar could change Keenum’s trajectory again, although the hope in Cleveland is that he’ll need to be little more than a mentor to their third-year starter.