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Evaluating Browns’ QB room: Pros, cons for Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel, others before 2025 roster decision

Evaluating Browns' QB room: Pros, cons for Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel, others before 2025 roster decision

The Cleveland Browns‘ four-man quarterback room is not sustainable for the long haul, at least from the perspective the franchise keeps a quarter of signal callers on its active roster in 2025. There’s a growing belief the Browns will only keep three players out of Kenny Pickett, Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, perhaps using an odd man out as trade bait to strengthen personnel elsewhere.

NFL insider Jeremy Fowler touched on Cleveland’s predicament this week during OTAs and the next potential steps.

“I still think they look at quarterback pieces like currency and value, so if somebody goes down to an injury in training camp they have somebody they can potentially trade,” Fowler said Wednesday on ESPN Cleveland radio. “Maybe it’s Pickett, maybe it’s one of the rookies. But I can see that sort of maneuvering. I have a hard time thinking they keep (four) on the roster. I think it might be three. And then you can try a practice squad player or seek a trade.”

In evaluating the pros and cons of each option for the Browns under center ahead of minicamp this summer, each offers varying levels of risk and reward:

Kenny Pickett

Pros: Pickett was the first quarterback acquisition this offseason for the Browns after Cleveland completed a trade with theΒ Philadelphia EaglesΒ in exchange forΒ Dorian Thompson-Robinson. In early March, Deshaun Watson and Pickett were on the depth chart at quarterback and that was it with Cleveland ready to move forward. It’s clear the Browns see Pickett as their potential starter in 2025 considering Watson’s injury situation and the likelihood he’ll miss the season after an Achilles repair.

In terms of trade value, Pickett may present the highest upside. Pickett, who turns 27 in June, served as Jalen Hurts‘ backup last season for the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles and has flashed at times during his NFL infancy as a former first-round pick in 2022.

Cons: This is show me time for Pickett in Cleveland. His time with the Steelers was lackluster after throwing just six touchdown passes over 12 starts in 2023, the lowest total in the NFL. A somewhat messy exit from Pittsburgh leading to a trade with the Eagles meant at least one side decided it was time to pull the plug.

Joe Flacco

Pros: After the Browns kicked the tires before failing to sign Russell Wilson this offseason, they landed Flacco on a one-year, incentives-enhanced deal. Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot believes Flacco, who took first-team reps Wednesday at OTAs, could set off “reliable veteran” alarms for teams who find themselves unexpectedly down a player at the position ahead of the season. There’s trade value, there.

“If Kenny Pickett turns out to be what they believe he can be, then I think that there’s a chance that perhaps someone comes calling for Joe Flacco, some team that loses their quarterback in the first week or the second week (of training camp),” Cabot said recently on theΒ Orange and Brown Talk podcast.

Cons: The Browns welcomed a a 40-year-old veteran not to be the future of the franchise, but rather an emergency option with a proven track record. His best days are behind him, but Flacco can execute an offense and do what needs to be done under recently-promoted OC Tommy Rees to move the football. That said, Flacco is not going to be a difference-making option at the position — not at this point his career.

Dillon Gabriel

Pros: Cleveland used a third-round pick on the former Oregon star and thought higher of Gabriel than Sanders last month given his selection in the top 100. The front office saw traits they liked in Gabriel to make him the fifth quarterback taken behind two first-rounders, Tyler Shough in the second and Jalen Milroe at No. 92 overall. This came after Gabriel was widely-considered to be a Day 3 selection and a player a franchise would taken a flyer on in the later rounds, but not Cleveland.Β 

Browns beat writer Clint Easterling of the Akron Beacon Journal said this week Gabriel is the team’s “rock solid” quarterback to make the team since he was identified early in the draft process as a signal caller Cleveland was always going to target.

Cons: Size is not Gabriel’s strength at 5-foot-11. Last season, only two quarterbacks who started games were shorter than Gabriel — Carolina’s Bryce Young and Arizona’s Kyler Murray at 5-foot-10. He’s also going to have to turn heads in the competition with another rookie — along with Pickett and Flacco — during camp to warrant a spot on the depth chart.

Shedeur Sanders

Pros: From all accounts, Sanders has been a consummate pro during OTAs and left his ego at the door during draft weekend. Sanders knows he’s fighting for a roster spot andΒ Stefanski has raved about his work ethic. From the outside looking in, the former All-Big 12 passer is doing everything his power to impress Cleveland’s staff.

Cons: It’s a number game for Sanders, who’s at the bottom of the quarterback pecking order within a crowded room going against an obvious frontrunner, a veteran and another rookie. With an unknown ceiling and light acquisition cost as a fifth-round pick, the Browns — frankly — aren’t sure yet what they have in Sanders and need to see more. However, they thought Sanders was valuable enough to take as a second quarterback selection last month, which never was the plan before the draft according to general manager Andrew Berry.

“We do believe in best player available, we do believe in positional value, and we didn’t necessarily expect him to be available in the fifth round,” Berry said.

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Author: Brad Crawford
May 28, 2025 | 1:55 pm

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