After news broke of Deshaun Watson’s season-ending surgery, it didn’t take long for fans and media to connect the dots to Josh Dobbs and the Cleveland Browns. The unheralded journeyman quarterback has stepped in for an injured franchise QB and is keeping playoff hopes alive for the Minnesota Vikings with his stellar play. He could be doing that for the Browns, though, if the team didn’t trade him to the Arizona Cardinals in the preseason.

“Who would’ve thought how important this would be,” Ari Merov of The 33rd Team tweeted on Wednesday.” Josh Dobbs was the #Browns backup to start training camp. Cleveland then traded him to Arizona, the Cardinals have since traded him to Minnesota, and Dobbs is now thriving as a starter with the Vikings.”

Dobbs is one of the biggest stories of the 2023 NFL season. He played well for the Cardinals and has now led the Vikings to two consecutive victories to get them to 6-4 and a Wild Card spot.

Cleveland is currently 6-3 and also in Wild Card position, but it the uber-competitive AFC and AFC North, just a few more losses could kill their postseason dreams. Cleveland will now start PJ Walker, who is 1-1 in two starts for the Browns this year with 618 passing yards, a 49.0% completion rate, one touchdown, five interceptions, and 31 rushing yards.

The Browns sent Josh Dobbs and a 2024 seventh-round pick to Arizona in August for a 2024 fourth-rounder but surely now wish they had the fourth-year veteran on the roster after the Deshaun Watson surgery announcement.