Browns’ Kevin Stefanski says Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel are ‘doing great’ amid heated QB competition

The Cleveland Browns and coach Kevin Stefanski aren’t showing their hand this summer ahead of training camp with a four-quarterback competition ahead of the 2025 season. Stefanski said Monday the staff is pleased with the progress shown by rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders before going into complimentary remarks on the veterans in the room.

There’s a league-wide belief the Browns will only keep three quarterbacks, potentially using one as trade bait before the season opener.

“Those guys are doing great,” Stefanski said of his rookie signal callers. “They are both wired to get in early, stay late, put in whatever work is required. They’re sponges in the meeting room, which I think is really fun for me. In my vantage point, I get to sit there and watch the two young guys look over and there’s Joe (Flacco), 40 years old, won a Super Bowl. There’s Kenny Pickett, just going into Year 4, but first-round draft pick that’s been on a couple teams, won a Super Bowl last year. 

“There’s Deshaun (Watson), had a ton of success in his career. They can kind of feed off of all those guys. So that’s the thing, it’s fun for me to watch them get better sometimes just by listening.”

It’s not time for Stefanski to make hard decisions or reveal his true opinions just yet. From his perspective, there’s still time to see all performers in action. The Browns recently confirmed all four quarterbacks were getting reps during OTAs, but that’s expected to break off a bit during the team’s mandatory minicamp later this month.

The perceived favorite to start, Flacco, ranted last week on why he doesn’t consider himself a mentor to others at the position. It’s hard to disagree with Flacco’s assertion considering he’s on a show-me deal with the franchise that is incentives-laced based on how much he plays and his performance this season.

With Watson expected to miss most — if not all — of the campaign coming off an injury, it’s Flacco vs. Pickett for first-team honors and the two first-year players behind them.

“I’m just kind of going out there and doing what I do and everything else is kind of out of my control,” Flacco said. “It’s fun to get back out there and actually play a little football again. It’s funny. It’s like every time I go out here in the offseason, I’ve done it a million times, but it’s like there’s a little piece of you is like, ‘All right, let’s see if I still know how to read it and let it go and do all those things.’ So, it’s good to get back out there and start doing it again.”

Stefanski said last month he “likes everything about Shedeur” and was impressed by his work ethic. He’s had similar things to say about Gabriel, a third-round pick out of Oregon. These are coachspeak responses, for now, until roster decisions are finalized later this summer and the Browns move forward at the position with their plan in place.