Why Browns' Dillon Gabriel allegedly has a 'longer leash' than Shedeur Sanders

During the latest edition of the "Orange and Brown Talk Podcast," Browns reporters Dan Labbe and Ashley Bastock of the Cleveland Plain Dealer explained why fans should expect Gabriel to remain ahead of Sanders in the quarterback pecking order beyond the team's mandatory minicamp that's scheduled to run from June 10-12.

"Where they draft these guys matters, and there’s a reason they drafted them and they do care about that to an extent," Labbe explained. "Dillon Gabriel was a third-round pick. And so while we’re sitting here saying he hasn’t looked the best of these two quarterbacks and especially [Wednesday], he’s also just got a longer leash and he’s just got more room to not be, to maybe not be the guy they’ve envisioned yet. Because he was a third-round pick and that matters."

Numerous reports have detailed since late April how the Browns had Gabriel ranked ahead of Sanders on their overall draft board. One story claimed Gabriel was Cleveland's QB4 among available prospects, while a different piece hinted that at least one other club had Gabriel rated higher than Sanders.

Cleveland selected Gabriel with pick No. 94 before the club traded up to grab Sanders with the 144th overall choice. 

"It does matter," Bastock said about the Browns likely having Gabriel and not Sanders as their QB3 because of when the two were drafted.

Meanwhile, Labbe added that Cleveland is simply "going to favor the higher draft pick" at this point in the evaluation process. 

That said, Browns offensive coordinator Tommy Rees raised some eyebrows when he suggested on Wednesday that he could "see" any of Cleveland's four active quarterbacks winning a competition for the starting job that will likely run through at least the team's second preseason game. 

FanDuel Sportsbook has consistently listed veteran Joe Flacco as the betting favorite at +116 odds to be the Browns' Week 1 QB1, followed by 2022 first-round choice Kenny Pickett (+230).

As of Thursday afternoon, Sanders was third on the list at +310 odds. Gabriel was a distant fourth at +1060.

If nothing else, what occurred during the voluntary portion of Cleveland's organized team activities shows the Sanders hype train isn't slowing down anytime soon. Head coach Kevin Stefanski could soon face somewhat of a dilemma regarding the Browns' supposed plans for 2025 if Sanders proves to be better than advertised before Cleveland ends its final preseason contest on Aug. 23.