Who would've thought that, after the Cleveland Browns took Quinshon Judkins at 36th overall, they'd take Dylan Sampson in the same draft in the 4th round? Basically no one.
So, why not shock the world once more by taking not one, but two quarterbacks in this year's draft with their selections of Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.
Cleveland has ended Sanders' absurdly long slide down the board on Day 3 of the NFL Draft, many rounds after the team had already filled out many of their needs. It's an amazingly great value pick, but makes you immediately wonder why in the world Cleveland decided to take Gabriel, as well.
Now, a true quarterback competition begins for Cleveland come training camp. Sanders, who was seen as the consensus second-best quarterback in a weak class, could very well be the best quarterback in the room for the Browns. Of course, we have to wait and see what happens in training camp.
Sanders heads to Cleveland and adds confusion to QB room
Sanders will be an additional signal caller added to the Browns' quarterback competition ahead of 2025. That competition currently includes:
Joe Flacco (FA signing)
Kenny Pickett (traded for)
Dillon Gabriel (3rd round pick)
Shedeur Sanders (5th round pick)
Deshaun Watson has to be left out of this equation. He is not suiting up for this team in 2025, and we still don't know how the team really feels about him trying to be the starter in 2026 once he recovers from his torn Achilles tendon. That's for the best, since it's time for the Browns to wash their hands clean of that awful trade.
Read more: New details surrounding Deshaun Watson's contract provide hope for Browns
Sanders may be the best option at quarterback for Cleveland come Week 1. Gabriel is probably his closest competition because of his youth and likely hunger to earn a starting spot with this team after they took a shot on him with their 94th overall pick. Flacco takes the third spot right now, but that's strictly because of his age.
Flacco had signaled recently that he wasn't expecting to walk into the quarterback room and be the starter automatically. That should've been a huge clue to the Browns' draft plans this year. If Flacco, a proven winning quarterback who's one knock is probably the fact that his age makes him a huge risk to throw out under center, isn't coming in with the mindset that he's the starter, then it was obvious that Cleveland always planned to have this mega-competition in camp.
The odd man out, now, is Pickett. But, having one of Flacco, Gabriel, or Sanders as the QB3 is far from a bad deal.