The Cleveland Browns quarterback room has kept people talking all offseason, and that continued Thursday evening with the team’s final preseason game. With Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders both sitting out the action, it was Dillon Gabriel and Taylen Green sparking the conversation.
Gabriel started the game, played the entire first half and delivered an impressive performance. He completed 12-of-15 passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns.
Green took over in the second half, and he showcased why he’s such an intriguing player. The rookie quarterback completed 5-of-7 passes for 27 yards, and carried the ball eight times for 66 yards.
Now, with Watson and Sanders locks to make the roster, the Browns must choose Gabriel or Green as their third QB, or make the rare decision to carry four quarterbacks on their 53-man roster. While it may seem like Cleveland should be able to easily get to three quarterbacks, there are several factors that make this a hard decision.
Dillon Gabriel and Taylen Green will complicate Browns’ roster cuts
Most teams like to keep only two quarterbacks on the active roster, and one on the practice squad. Since, ideally, only one quarterback will play during the season, it doesn’t make much sense to use roster spots on players who will likely never get their number called.
However, Cleveland is in a tough spot because Gabriel and Green probably won’t clear waivers, which means they can’t be signed to the practice squad. Green is a dynamic athlete that a lot of teams would love to get their hands on, and Gabriel is an enticing QB2 option.
While one could argue the Browns should be alright without them since they are the team’s QB3 and QB4, it’s not that simple. In the case of Green, Cleveland drafted him knowing he was a project at quarterback, and it wouldn’t make sense to abandon such a talented player so quickly. His potential to be an impact player in some capacity is hard to walk away from.
For Gabriel, who the Browns surprisingly drafted in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft, the belief is that Cleveland sees him as a long-term, high-end backup. His performance Thursday certainly supports that idea. The Browns could probably trade him, but that would remove him from the franchise’s future, when he could be really valuable.
While Deshaun Watson is currently the team’s starter, Watson returning to start in 2027 is the most unlikely of outcomes. That means Cleveland could have a new QB1 and QB2. If Shedeur Sanders secures the future QB1 spot, Gabriel makes sense as the perfect backup. If the Browns select a first-round quarterback in 2027, they would probably see Gabriel as the ideal backup.
That’s why moving off of him now would be tough. That’s also why Cleveland could be flirting with the idea of keeping four quarterbacks. There’s no easy path for the Browns as they work to get their roster down to 53 players.
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