Browns Could Reportedly Make Surprising Quarterback Decision

Originally posted on The Spun | By Andrew Gould | Last updated Jun 17, 2025 1:22 PM ET

The Cleveland Browns enter the summer with a quarterback surplus. Their roster decision could extend beyond who starts.

Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel, Kenny Pickett, and Shedeur Sanders are all fighting for positioning atop Cleveland's depth chart before the 2025 season. Teams typically carry two or three quarterbacks, so they're not all guaranteed Week 1 roster spots.

Observers may assume the Browns will eventually trade or cut at least one of those signal-callers. However, a team reporter recently suggested otherwise.

Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot called it "likely" that the Browns will keep all four quarterbacks to start the season. Cabot noted that they'd take up a combined $7.6 million in cap space, an important caveat as they continue to pay the injured Deshaun Watson.

"Thanks in part to low base salaries and cap numbers for all of them, they can afford to keep all four from a financial standpoint, and it also makes sense from a roster building-standpoint," Cabot wrote.

Cabot said the more experienced Flacco and Pickett have an advantage in the QB1 competition ahead of Gabriel and Sanders. However, Cabot believes the Browns will "likely ignore any trade interest" in either rookie quarterback.

If the Browns fall out of contention, Cabot said they'd "undoubtedly consider" moving a veteran and playing Gabriel or Sanders before the trade deadline.

"Of course, if someone makes them an offer they can’t refuse for one of the veterans on roster cutdown day Aug. 27, they'd probably at least listen providing they have a good starter and backup," Cabot wrote. "And if a team loses a QB before Nov. 4, the Browns might be willing to part with one of them, most likely a veteran, and probably most likely Flacco from a roster-building and QB development standpoint, if they're in good shape at QB1 and QB2."

The Browns could find they need the roster spot elsewhere or feel confident enough in the situation to move someone. And despite these numerous options, Cabot said the Browns still have eyes on next year's quarterback draft class.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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