Browns Waive Former Vikings QB Kellen Mond Ahead of 2023 Regular Season
Josh Frey
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When the Minnesota Vikings drafted Kellen Mond in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft, many hoped that he could eventually become the successor to Kirk Cousins.
In reality, this never came to fruition as the Vikings waived Mond prior to the 2022 regular season. After the Vikings released him, the young QB landed with the Cleveland Browns. However, it appears that his stint in Cleveland has also come to an end as the Browns waived the former Vikings QB on Thursday.
The news was announced by the tean via Twitter on Thursday morning with the official Cleveland Browns account saying, “We have waived QB Kellen Mond and DE Charles Wiley.”
Mond entered the NFL after a four-year collegiate career at Texas A&M. With the Aggies, he passed for 9661 yards, 71 TDs, and 27 INTs over 46 games. Heading into the NFL Draft, many crowned him as an underrated prospect, with Lance Zierlein of NFL.com giving him a player comp of Colin Kaepernick.
However, things simply never worked out for Mond with the Vikings. During his rookie season, he went through frequent struggles during training camp and preseason. When the regular season rolled around in 2021, he would appear in just one game, attempting three passes against the Green Bay Packers in Week 17. He completed two of them for 5 yards.
Mond’s lackluster showing during his only drive of the game led to Mike Zimmer’s infamous comments during the postgame press conference. When asked if he wanted to see more of Mond in the regular season finale, the head coach had paltry responses of “not particularly” and “I see him every day.”
A day after being released by Minnesota in August, 2022, Mond was claimed by the Cleveland Browns where he has remained until now. The Browns had traded for Deshaun Watson earlier in the offseason and also employed Jacoby Brissett, so Mond did not see any action with the team last year.
This preseason, Mond appeared in each of Cleveland’s first three games, and while he has improved from his Minnesota days, it appears that rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson has won the backup job in Cleveland.
Mond completed 58.2% of his passes (32-of-55) for 297 yards, 3 TDs and an interception while Thompson-Robinson completed had a completion rate of 65.2% (30-of-46) for 348 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Now, Mond hits free agency again hoping to land with another team prior to the start of the 2023 season.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.