The Cleveland Browns certainly made headlines in the 2025 NFL Draft. Not only were they the team that finally stopped Shedeur Sanders' slide from a projected first-round pick to an eventual fifth-round pick but before they selected the Colorado quarterback, they took Oregon's Dillon Gabriel in the third round.
Considering the Browns already had Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett on the roster ready to compete for the starting job in 2025, one could say that the draft strategy was bizarre. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reported that the Browns were always planning on targeting Gabriel in the third round and that Jalen Milroe going to the Seahawks shortly before didn't scare them into the move.
"A few teams tipped me off before the draft that Cleveland really liked him, presumably as a Day 3 pick. That he went in the third round was a mild surprise, but Browns sources tell me the earlier selection of Jalen Milroe to Seattle did not scare Cleveland -- it was taking Gabriel at No. 94 regardless."
It's great that the Browns identified their guy and went and got him but if they liked Gabriel as much as they're claiming they did, why even add Sanders two rounds later? Was the value that good at that point that they felt like they couldn't keep passing Sanders up? It doesn't make a whole lot of sense if the Browns liked what they saw in Gabriel but then added another quarterback later, especially one with a massive media circus.
Browns just revealed why Shedeur Sanders was never really their guy
The Browns quarterback situation is quite the mess and it'll be interesting to see how all of this plays out. They traded for Pickett, a guy who never panned out as the starter in Pittsburgh but won a Super Bowl as a backup in Philadelphia. Flacco is back after helping lead them to a playoff berth in 2023 but he's 40 years old and certainly not the future of this team.
Then there are the two rookies, Gabriel and Sanders. Many felt the Browns reached on Gabriel but clearly, Cleveland liked him all along. That's all fine and dandy but why deal with the headache that is Sanders then if you're convinced that Gabriel can be something special? It doesn't make sense.
Fowler did note that maybe the Browns can end up getting a pick back in exchange for either Pickett or one of their two rookie draft picks so maybe that was the plan here all along. It'll be interesting to see how this whole thing unfolds, that's for sure.