Even without taking a quarterback in round one, the Browns became one of the storylines of the draft after taking Dillon Gabriel in round three and then trading up to end Shedeur Sanders' slide in round five. General manager Andrew Berry has repeatedly said they will consider carrying four quarterbacks on the initial 53-man roster, but that could just be him trying to up the offers from other teams.
Most would assume Kenny Pickett would be the quarterback traded if the Browns move on from any, as Gabriel was a third-round pick, and Cleveland moved up for Sanders. With Pickett missing time during camp with a hamstring injury, he has an uphill battle to unseat veteran and familiar face Joe Flacco as the Week 1 starter.
Michael Silver of The Athletic wrote an article about Flacco heading into his age-40 season. He briefly touched on the rookies, where he mentioned the Browns rejected trade offers for Gabriel shortly after the draft.
Browns rejected trade offers for Dillon Gabriel following draft
Silver explained that Cleveland's decision to trade up for Sanders made other teams inquire about Gabriel's availability. Instead of trading the third-rounder whom they fell in love with during the process, the Browns opted to move forward with two rookie quarterbacks even before they re-signed Flacco.
"After trading up to take Sanders in the fifth round, the Browns rejected multiple trade offers for Gabriel, preferring to move forward with both rookies. "Michael Silver of The Athletic
The most likely scenario is that the Browns take their hopeful quarterback of the future in the first round in 2026, where they have both Jacksonville's pick and their own. However, it wouldn't make sense to move forward with a veteran like Flacco for the entire season if things start to unravel. Instead, they can get a look at two different quarterbacks to audition as their long-term backup or maybe even show enough to be considered as the answer at the position.
Unless Flacco and the defense rediscover their 2023 success to lead this team to a postseason appearance, it's almost a guarantee that at least one rookie will get a prolonged serving of game reps this year. Moving forward with both rookies instead of trading one seemed like the right decision for where this franchise is going in 2025.