4 players Cleveland Browns must re-sign to practice squad
By Cory Kinnan
QB Garrett Gilbert
The Browns made the decision to roster only two quarterbacks on their final 53-man roster, leaving former Alliance of American Football leading passer Garrett Gilbert as the odd man out. With the money the Browns gave Case Keenum this offseason to backup Baker Mayfield this season, this was the fiscally responsible move to make.
However, given that Gilbert is an unvested player, he is practice squad eligible and could be brought back to the active roster with an injury to either Keenum or Mayfield. He had a good training camp this summer, often looking better than Keenum, with a bigger arm than Keenum, but again it came down to a numbers game on their financial record book and Keenum’s familiarity with new head coach Kevin Stefanski.
There are some teams Gilbert could be better than their current backup quarterbacks who could claim him, or there could be some teams who opt to roster three quarterbacks. However, if he can get through waivers, look for Gilbert to find his way back to Cleveland and land on their practice squad after a strong camp.
The journey continues after he has ventured from the college level to the AAF to the backup role a year ago, and now to the waiver wire for Gilbert.