John Kuntz, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cleveland Browns will be in the market for a quarterback this offseason, that's a no-brainer. How they get that quarterback? That's anyone's guess at this point.

There is, of course, the No. 1 pick in the draft. That's the most surefire way to identify your quarterback of the future. That said, it doesn't preclude them from finding a veteran quarterback either via free agency or trade. Part of picking a franchise quarterback is creating a path for him to be that guy, and that could include sitting him down for half a season or more.

Some free agent options allow that. Others, if you sign them, might indicate you're going to look for a quarterback later in the draft who might sit for multiple seasons. Either way, here is a look at some of the free agent options that are out there.

This is not a list of every free agent quarterback. The names on this list are either the most prominent names -- Drew Brees is on here, but he's not coming to Cleveland -- or names that could be possibilities, even if they aren't entirely realistic.

by Dan Labbe, cleveland.com

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Kirk Cousins

The Browns have the money to lure Cousins, but the Washington quarterback will have to weigh offers from more established rosters more prepared to win now and Jay Gruden remaining as the head coach in Washington makes a return feel possible. He also likely wouldn't sign here as a bridge. If he comes to Cleveland, he's the guy.

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Darron Cummings, Associated Press

Sam Bradford

The idea of Bradford works in theory. All three of Minnesota's quarterbacks are destined for free agency and the 30-year-old Bradford is running out of time to start in the NFL. Bradford played 29 of 32 games in 2014 and 2015 before getting hurt this season, but it's still worrisome from a health standpoint to bring him in as the quarterback to keep a rookie on the bench for as long as possible.

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Mike Roemer, Associated Press

Case Keenum

One of the strangest and most unexpected runs by a quarterback in recent memory, the Vikings never seemed to fully commit to Keenum but now here they are, in the playoffs with a quarterback who has thrown for more than 3,500 yards and 22 touchdowns.

His free agency will be interesting, too, if he actually gets there. How much does one outlier of a year get a guy paid? The Browns could do much worse than Keenum, who turns 30 in February, but he's been in the bridge quarterback situation before and, if he has options, would likely not be interested in doing it again.

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Bruce Kluckhohn, Associated Press

Teddy Bridgewater

The Vikings' entire quarterback situation is just bizarre. Bridgewater returned from his horrific injury this season and threw two passes. Unless Minnesota believes the injury completely ravaged Bridgewater's abilities, it's hard to believe they'd let him go.

If I'm in charge in Minnesota, I'm keeping Keenum and Bridgewater. If I'm in charge of the Browns and he's available, I'm taking a flyer.

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Steven Senne, Associated Press

Matt Moore

Here's an interesting name. Moore was passed over in Miami after Ryan Tannehill went down in favor of Jay Cutler. He has started just five games since 2011, when he started 12 for the Dolphins, completing 60.5 percent of his passes with 16 touchdowns, 9 interceptions and a 6-6 record. Moore turns 34 in August.

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Butch Dill, Associated Press

Chase Daniel

New GM John Dorsey weirdly brought up Daniel in an interview with MMQB's Peter King when King asked him about shorter quarterbacks and Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield.

"Some would say he’s too short, but I would ask you: How tall is Russell Wilson? How tall is Chase Daniel?" Dorsey said in the interview.

At the combine in 2016, Dorsey said of Daniel and his coming free agency at the time, "And he's going to want to be able to see if he can start. I do believe he's capable of doing that."

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Ed Zurga, Associated Press

Tyler Bray

I'm not going to rule out any quarterback tied to Dorsey, though it may not necessarily be as a starter.

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Rick Scuteri, Associated Press

Geno Smith

Smith has started just two games in the last three seasons after starting 29 games his first two years. In his lone start in 2017, he threw for 212 yards and a score.

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Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com

Josh McCown

McCown had a career year with the Jets, throwing for more touchdowns and more yards than he ever has. A return to Cleveland would seem awfully unlikely and, like Bradford, it would be dangerous to bank on the sometimes-reckless veteran to stay healthy long enough to serve as a bridge and keep a rookie on the bench.

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Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com

Ryan Fitzpatrick

Let's be honest, the Browns' starting quarterback carousel needs Fitzpatrick to make it perfect. The reality is that Fitz has been pretty good some years and pretty awful others. An opportunity for one last run as a starter could be intriguing for the 35 year old.

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Mark J. Terrill, Associated Press

Jimmy Garoppolo

The Browns missed their shot at Garoppolo, if they ever really had one to begin with. Now that he went 5-0 with the 49ers, it's hard to see John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan screw this one up and let him end up elsewhere in 2018. At the very least, he'll get the franchise tag. What could have been?

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Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com

Drew Brees

It's not happening.

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Brandon Weeden

I just look for any excuse possible to post this video.

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Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com

Derek Anderson

Hey, 2007 was a fun season. It was also a very long time ago.

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John Kuntz, cleveland.com

Bonus: Alex Smith

Smith is not a free agent, so it would take either him getting released or traded to send him elsewhere. The Chiefs have Patrick Mahomes waiting in the wings, but would Kansas City really move on from Smith if this is the season in which they finally make a playoff run?

One of Dorsey's first moves as Chiefs GM was to trade for Smith. Could there be a repeat this offseason? It's worth monitoring.