The Cleveland Browns doubled down when it came to fixing their quarterback room for the 2025 season, figuring the more shots you take, the more chances you have to hopefully hit the target.
First up was veteran Kenny Pickett, acquired early in the year in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles that included quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
Then came fellow veteran Joe Flacco, signed in free agency, so that the Browns would have a veteran starter on hand with one to spare in a trade to a team in need
of a quarterback.
General manager Andrew Berry used the same strategy in the 2025 NFL Draft, first selecting Dillon Gabriel, he of the record 63 starts across three college teams, and then Shedeur Sanders, the man who helped launch countless social media posts over his play at Colorado, his fall in the draft, and his standing with the Browns throughout the summer.
Once it became clear that Flacco was not going to break down heading into his 18th season in the league, Berry executed the rest of the plan by trading Pickett to the Las Vegas Raiders, and head coach Kevin Stefanski installed Gabriel as the backup and Sanders as the emergency third quarterback.
Now, with the Browns preparing to kick off the season on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, the focus has turned to Flacco and the first-team offense getting in sync so the team can pick up its third Week 1 victory under Stefanski.
But no matter what happens in the opening weeks of the season, everyone will have an eye on Gabriel and Sanders, wondering how they are progressing with limited practice reps, when/if they will see the field, and how they are navigating life in the NFL as backups after being “the guy” in college.
Assistant GM Catherine Hickman took a shot at answering that final question during her media session on Monday, starting with Gabriel:
“Dillon has been super impressive on and off the field. He is extremely, extremely mature, professional. He has a process and how he goes about his craft, and it shows. There’s a lot to work on as you enter this league as a young quarterback, but Dillon has really put the time and worked with the coaches. So I think I really look forward to see his trajectory and how he collaborates with both our coaches and PD (player development) staff.”
That aligns with what you would expect from a player with Gabriel’s experience, not only in terms of games played in college, but also that he had to learn a new offensive system with each new team, which came in handy over the summer.
As for Sanders, Hickman presented a different perspective when asked about the outlook for the fifth-round pick:
“Yeah, that’s a tough question with any player after one preseason period, to really talk about outlook. That’s what we try to predict as accurately as we can. But as we all know, that’s a difficult thing. When it comes to what he’s shown so far, he worked at his craft, he’s passionate, he’s dedicated to it. He puts the time in, and those are really the things that you can really hang your hat on when it comes to these young players. And then he’s shown growth. He’s shown growth on the field, and again, it’s a super small sample size, so we got to continue to be intentional with his plan and work with him just like we will do with every rookie.”
Again, that checks with what you would expect, as Sanders has struggled at times to shake the issues that plagued him in college. But, as Hickman points out, he has been putting in the work, which is a positive, especially since this summer had to have been hard for him to navigate after being the center of attention at Colorado.
The Browns doubled down on the quarterback position in the offseason in an attempt to reinvigorate the position. And while they made the right decision on the veteran side by choosing Flacco over Pickett, whether or not they hit the mark with their rookies remains to be seen.
