Recent history contrasts Andrew Berry's QB comment

Andrew Berry made some waves when he said he would "absolutely, absolutely, absolutely" keep all four quarterbacks if they played well enough. While not unique to Berry specifically, NFL general managers are known to stretch the truth. Football is a game of strategy, after all. The opposition will dissect any bit of information that is volunteered to gain an edge in any way imaginable.

Back in late February, Steelers general manager Omar Khan spoke of the hot-headed George Pickens and said, "We have a desire for him to be great and for him to be great here." Less than three months later, Pickens was shipped to the Cowboys.

49ers general manager John Lynch said "We're not in the business of letting good players go," in response to queries about Deebo Samuel's standing on the team. Of course, less than two months later, he was sent to the Commanders.

The point is, these men are in highly tactical positions that involve saying what needs to be said for competitive reasons. Whether it's leverage, competitive advantage, or strategic planning, they move in silence, shrouded in secrecy, intending to come out on top in the future.

Recent history contrasts Andrew Berry's QB comment

So, back to Andrew Berry. Naturally, eyebrows were raised when he made his comment about keeping all four quarterbacks on the initial 53-man roster. To assess how viable this would be, I went into the lab and compiled data from the last five years for each of the 32 teams to quantify how teams have gone about formulating their rosters.

Here's the configuration of how initial rosters looked for each team over the last five years (2020-2024):

This means in 160 iterations of opening day rosters across the NFL over the last five years, there has only been one occurrence where a team exited final cut-down day with four quarterbacks on their roster. Now, you might be wondering who that one pesky team was.

Members of the Dawg Pound would be most likely to remember, because it was the Browns just shy of 10 months ago when their initial roster featured Deshaun Watson, Jameis Winston, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, and Tyler Huntley. At the time, reports indicated that the Browns were engaging in trade discussions. Nonetheless, Kevin Stefanski played coy when asked about the possibility of all four remaining on the roster for Week 1.

It's a matter of semantics whether the league called the Browns' bluff or whether the troika of Winston, DTR, and Huntley was not inspiring enough to warrant a trade offer. The truth remains that even just last season Andrew Berry decided the roster spot spent on a fourth quarterback was simply too valuable elsewhere to squander. Huntley was released two days later.

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So, is it impossible for the Browns to carry all four of Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel, and Shedeur Sanders on their active roster in 2025? No, of course not. It is however, extremely unlikely and would be an extraordinarily rare case if it were to happen.

The view here is that Andrew Berry is simply being a good negotiator. If he says - in June - that there's no chance all four quarterbacks will make the roster, a team that may have interest in any of the four would stand pat and wait to see how the competition shakes out.

A team with a young quarterback who could benefit from a veteran backup could be hoping Flacco or Pickett shake loose. (Saints, Titans, Bears?) Teams with uncertain quarterback situations and little in terms of youth on their depth chart could be hoping to get a look at Gabriel or Sanders. (Steelers, Jets, Panthers?)

Now, the message is clear. The Browns will conduct their quarterback competition, and the results on the grass will dictate who is on the roster Week 1. As for the likely odd man out, Andrew Berry just told NFL teams who might be interested in any of them: pick up the phone and let's work out a deal.