There’s no hostility or uneasiness between Cleveland Browns quarterbacks Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel during rookie minicamp, even after the former Colorado star slid to the fifth round of the NFL Draft.
Both players are battling with a common goal in sight — to make the depth chart for the AFC North franchise alongside the likes of Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco.
“Everything’s been cool,” Sanders told Sports Casting this week. “He’s a cool person. I like how he handles situations, especially just the negative media that’s coming his way. I’m just happy he’s positive, he’s able to handle everything. We’re truly cool.”
Browns general manager Andrew Berry has long been an advocate of Sanders and even defended the signal caller during an interview following Day 2 of the draft last month. He even hinted that Cleveland could make a move on another quarterback after taking Gabriel in the third round. And that’s exactly what happened when Cleveland made Sanders the 144th pick.
Sanders became the fourth draftee to sign with the franchise this week as he agreed to a deal worth approximately $4.6 million over four years, according to CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones.
“We felt like it got to a point where his price relative to the draft where the acquisition cost was pretty light,” Berry said previously on the Browns’ selection of Sanders. “It’s a guy we think can outproduce his draft stock. I wouldn’t say it’s any more than that.”
According to Browns beat writer Mary Cay Cabot of Cleveland.com, don’t expect Gabriel or Sanders to see much playing time, at least early in their careers.
“It’s a tough call before we’ve even seen the first practice of organized team activities, but I know Kenny Pickett heads in as the frontrunner to win the starting job at the outset,” Cabot wrote Sunday. “He’ll take the initial first-team reps in OTAs and probably the mandatory minicamp, and it seems like it’s his job to try to keep for now.”
The Browns, who have the worst odds to win the AFC North at +3000 at FanDuel Sportsbook, signed Flacco as a free agent earlier before trading for Pickett, a former first-round pick who playing sparingly with the Eagles after two seasons with the Steelers.
Flacco led the Browns to the 2023 playoffs he spent last season with the Colts.
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Author: Brad Crawford
May 20, 2025 | 6:20 pm
