Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel Taking Very Different Offseason Approaches

Originally posted on The Spun | By Chris Rosvoglou | Last updated Mar 31, 2026 4:21 PM ET

Cleveland Browns quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders are taking different approaches to their sophomore seasons.

Gabriel, the 94th overall pick from the 2025 NFL Draft, had 937 passing yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions for the Browns last season. After suffering a concussion in Week 11, he was replaced by Sanders. The former fifth-round pick from Colorado completed 56.6% of his passes for 1,400 yards with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

It's too early to tell if the Browns will even start Gabriel or Sanders when Week 1 arrives. For now though, it seems like the early edge goes to Sanders.

While at the NFL's annual league meeting this Tuesday, Browns head coach Todd Monken revealed that Sanders has been at the Browns facility "a bunch" over the past few months. Gabriel, on the other hand, hasn't stopped by the team's headquarters this offseason.

“As far as I know, he has not,” Monken said, via Cleveland.com. “I have not seen Dillon yet.”

Gabriel hasn't responded to these remarks from Monken. Maybe there's a reason for him staying away from the team facility.

Monken shares his plan at quarterback.

As previously reported, the Browns will hold a quarterback competition this offseason. Monken said he doesn't plan on evenly splitting the number of reps each player gets.

"The number of reps a player gets doesn't eliminate competition. It's just in a given day, let's say for instance, you want to see a quarterback with the first group, the second group, the third group. Well, are you going to divide those reps up evenly? Are you going to divide up the reps everywhere evenly? I don't see it that way," Monken said, via the Browns. "That doesn't mean there's not competition. I just see it as in a given day, and it'll be daily in terms of who gets what reps and when, because we certainly want to allocate our reps to the players we feel like are going to give us the best chance to win

While fans will keep a close eye on Gabriel and Sanders, it sounds like Deshaun Watson is a legitimate option to win the starting job.

“Deshaun has a great chance, fresh start, offensive-minded coach who has, in his past, been able to work with all kinds of different quarterbacks and make them successful,” said Browns owner Jimmy Haslam. “So Deshaun has a great chance to do that now.”

We can't wait to see how this quarterback battle unfolds in Cleveland.

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

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