Cleveland Browns Make Kenny Pickett Contract Move After Drafting Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel

A crowded starting quarterback competition in Cleveland has begun as the Browns have four quarterbacks expected to vie for the position. With Deshaun Watson sidelined by injury, 40-year-old veteran Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Gabriel and Sanders. Watson could miss all of next season with the Achilles injury.

With no clear front runner as of now, Cleveland's offseason activities and mini camps will be very interesting in regards to the pecking order.

"We talk oftentimes about quarterback being the most important position in the sport," Browns general manager Andrew Berry said. "We obviously spent a lot of time with Shedeur throughout the process. He's highly accurate, can play well from the pocket, very productive college career. It wasn't necessarily the plan going into the weekend to select two quarterbacks, but as we talk about, we do believe in best player available. We do believe in positional value, and we didn't necessarily expect him to be available in the fifth round."

Sanders had to wait until the third day of the draft to hear his name called but has a chance to compete for the starting role. The Browns' quarterback play has been a major weakness. The Browns finished the season with a 3-14 season and have not reached the playoffs since 2023. They have had just four winning seasons this century. 

"We love adding competition to every position room and adding him to compete with the guys that are already in there, we felt like that was the appropriate thing to do," Berry said.

Will Sanders' unexpected fall into the fifth round impact how he's viewed within the organization?

"I think every player when they come (out) of the draft knows what number they were picked or if they were unpicked, and you can use that as motivation," Stefanski said. "We don't care once they walk in the doors. Don't care first round pick, seventh round pick, undrafted. Once you're here and you're on our football team, you're a part of this culture, you're a part of this family, and we're just going to keep our head down and get to work."

The Browns added Gabriel in third round, before selecting Sanders. The 5-11, 205-pound quarterback led the Ducks to a 13-1 overall record and a Big Ten Conference title in 2024. Gabriel finished 30 touchdowns plus six interceptions on 3,857 yards with a 72.9 completion rate. He also collected 149 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on 75 carries.

"Very accurate, very poised, throws with anticipation, good mobility," Berry said about Gabriel. "Really well rounded game. Doesn't have ideal height but that's not something we thought showed up in his game."