Andrew Berry has carried four quarterbacks on the initial 53-man roster only once in his six seasons as general manager of the Cleveland Browns. That year was 2024, and it was a technicality. The Browns were hoping to trade backup Tyler Huntley that summer but wound up carrying him past cutdown day and releasing him shortly thereafter.
During the Berry era, three is the magic number when it comes to the Browns’ quarterback room. Cleveland currently has an intriguing group of four QBs on the roster, including three players taken over the past two NFL drafts. The other is Deshaun Watson, a player the Browns acquired in 2022 in one of the biggest trades in NFL history.
With Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby now expected to apply for entry into the NFL’s supplemental draft amid the fallout from a messy gambling scandal, plenty have pointed to the Browns as a potential landing spot. Cleveland has both the long-term need and draft capital to be a major player in the league’s blind-bidding process.
But in a hypothetical universe where the Browns bid, say, one of their three 2027 fourth-round picks for Sorsby purely based on value, and get awarded the player — would Cleveland even have a roster spot for the polarizing star this year?
The Cleveland Browns already have four quarterbacks competing for three roster spots
Head coach Todd Monken has rarely said a negative word about his quarterback group, unless, of course, a reporter asks him about interceptions thrown during 7-on-7 periods. With that in mind, a closer look at the current depth chart leaves little wiggle room for a late addition like Sorsby.
Deshaun Watson
Watson is entering the final year of his $230 million mega deal, and while he remains locked in a quarterback battle with Shedeur Sanders, he isn’t going anywhere until the spring of 2027.
The Browns are highly unlikely to release Watson even if Sanders beats him out for the starting job. That move would leave the team with a $45 million dead-cap hit for 2026 along with a brutal $86.2 million on their 2027 cap. They can’t trade him, either, and not just because of the salary cap ramifications. Watson holds a no-trade clause and is due $46 million in guaranteed cash this year. He’s coming off a twice-torn Achilles tendon and hasn’t played good football since arriving in Cleveland in 2022.
Whether Watson ends up being the starter, a backup, or conveniently gets stashed away on injured reserve, the Browns will carry him through the 2026 season before releasing him with a post-June 1 designation in March of 2027.
Shedeur Sanders
The Browns could certainly look to trade Sanders to make room for Sorsby, but that feels like a poor business strategy. He just made a record-breaking $17.7 million in NFLPA group licensing royalties as a rookie. Given his talent, he’s also a major value as a 2025 fifth-round draft pick. Sanders’ 2026 base salary will be barely over $1 million.
The goal with Day 3 quarterback draft picks is to develop the player and look to flip him for improved capital down the road. The Browns are well along that path with Sanders. With the team now embracing a full youth movement, he actually fits the team’s timeline better than any other quarterback on the current roster.
Dillon Gabriel
While Gabriel feels like the potential odd-man out in this year’s quarterback race, NFL teams rarely dump third-round draft picks entering their second pro season. Gabriel appears to be firmly behind Sanders and Watson in the current pecking order, but he definitely saw more reps during OTAs than rookie Taylen Green.
If the Browns end up shopping one of their three drafted quarterbacks this summer, Gabriel feels like the best bet. He started six games in 2025 and is still only a few years removed from productive collegiate seasons at Oregon and Oklahoma.
Taylen Green
The Browns used the first pick of the sixth round to select Green in the 2026 draft, and the connection to Monken’s offense is clear as day. Monken helped turn Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens into an efficient machine over his three years as offensive coordinator, and Green’s dual-threat ability feels Jackson-esque.
In practices open to the media, Green hasn’t seen many reps since the end of rookie minicamp. Still, he was the first quarterback drafted of the Monken era, and his talent may be too unique for him to slip through waivers and onto Cleveland’s practice squad.
Cleveland selected 10 players in the 2026 NFL Draft. It's hard to see Berry releasing any of them at the end of August.
The verdict: Browns have no room for Brendan Sorsby
For Cleveland to go all-in on Sorsby, it would most likely have to bid at least a Day 2 pick off its 2027 draft board. And unless he immediately gets banned by the NFL following the draft and can be stashed on the reserve/suspended list, the Browns would either have to trade Sanders and/or Gabriel, or waive Green.
Those options don’t seem feasible for a 22-year-old player who comes with serious off-the-field red flags. Cleveland has plenty of reasons to pass on participating in the supplemental draft, if it happens, and its lack of room on the depth chart is chief among them.
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