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Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) watches quarterback Dillon Gabriel (5) during day two of NFL rookie minicamp at the Cleveland Browns training facility on Saturday, May 10, 2025, in Berea, Ohio. Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It's Time for the Browns to Focus on the QBs They Have

Originally posted on Cleveland Browns on SI
By Andy Quach | Last updated Aug 31, 2025 11:29 AM ET

The Cleveland Browns have made some truly perplexing decisions leading into the 2025 NFL season. It all began in the offseason. After losing Deshaun Watson for likely the entire campaign, the team knew it would need a new starting quarterback for the year.

They went out and added four different candidates for the job, signing Joe Flacco in free agency, trading for Kenny Pickett, and drafting two different rookies: Oregon's Dillon Gabriel and Colorado's Shedeur Sanders. Throughout the training camp and preseason, Head Coach Kevin Stefanski and the rest of the staff maintained that all the QBs would have a chance to win the starting spot.

Ultimately, though, Joe Flacco was named the QB1 for Cleveland's season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals, before he ever suited up in the preseason. The team then flipped Kenny Pickett to the Las Vegas Raiders. Between Stefanski's ultimate decision and choices like not allowing Sanders to practice with the first-team offense throughout training camp, some fans and analysts surmised that this was never a real quarterback competition to begin with.

Browns and Owner Jimmy Haslam need to give up on Arch Manning

Supporters of Dillon Gabriel and especially Shedeur Sanders have felt that the Cleveland Browns' handling of the quarterback competition was a detriment to their rookie gunslingers. Between pitting them against each other and the team creating a logjam at the position, it was fair to wonder what the franchise's plans are with its two prospects.

It didn't help matters when rumors arose that Browns Owner Jimmy Haslam was enamored with the idea of adding Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning in the 2026 NFL Draft. Haslam and the team have shot down any implications that they're already planning on drafting another passer next year. Then, he and General Manager Andrew Berry were spotted on the sidelines for Manning's starting debut in Texas' season opener against the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Jimmy Haslam and Andrew Berry at the Ohio State vs Texas game pic.twitter.com/ttvo77gptZ
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) August 30, 2025

They got to witness the presumed number-one pick struggle against OSU's defense, finishing with just 170 yards, one touchdown, and one interception on 17 of 30 passing. With four minutes left in the game, the Longhorns had an egg on the board, and Manning only had 72 yards passing.

He wasn't the only blue-chip quarterback prospect who struggled on Saturday. Clemson's Cade Klubnik went just 19 of 38 passing for 230 yards and one interception, as his team fell to LSU, 10-17. On the other side, Garrett Nussmeier had a solid but unspectacular day with 230 yards and a touchdown on 74 percent completion.

Manning, Klubnik, Nussmeier, or another QB prospect, like Penn State's Drew Allar, could emerge as a slam-dunk NFL talent by the end of the season. That said, the Browns already have two promising young gunslingers on their roster. They need to focus on putting the best environment possible around Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, developing them properly, and judging if either has the goods to be Cleveland's new franchise quarterback in good faith, lest they give up on the two rookies for a potentially worse talent next year.

This article first appeared on Cleveland Browns on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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