Insider explains why Browns won't use 2025 season to evaluate Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders

Some Cleveland Browns fans feel the club should spend a significant portion of the 2025 season evaluating rookie quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. 

For a mailbag published late Sunday night, Browns reporter Tony Grossi of ESPN Cleveland/The Land on Demand addressed why Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski will likely name either veteran Joe Flacco or 2022 first-round draft pick Kenny Pickett the club's Week 1 starter at some point before August comes to an end. 

"The objective of the 2025 season is not to 'assess our assets for the future,'" Grossi wrote. "How do you explain that to (guard) Joel Bitonio and (pass-rusher) Myles Garrett and other veterans? The best quarterback should play. Gabriel and Sanders are signed to four-year contracts. That will give the Browns plenty of time to assess them."

Bitonio was the subject of retirement rumors this past winter and could call time on his playing career following the 2025 campaign. Meanwhile, Garrett made it known after last season ended that he wanted to be traded to an advertised championship contender. He ultimately signed a four-year, $160M contract extension that included $123.5M guaranteed to stay with the Browns. 

FanDuel Sportsbook has consistently listed Flacco as a +116 betting favorite to win the starting job over Pickett (+200). The combination of Flacco and Stefanski guided the 2023 Browns to a playoff berth, while none of the other three active quarterbacks on Cleveland's roster has taken a meaningful snap as part of the team's offense. 

That said, Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer noted in a piece posted on Monday that a fear about turnovers could cause Flacco to lose the QB1 gig to Pickett. Specifically, Flacco most recently tossed four interceptions, lost two fumbles and took seven sacks in back-to-back November starts while with the Indianapolis Colts before he was benched. Additionally, he turned 40 years old this past January. 

Cleveland grabbed Gabriel in the third round of the 2025 draft before the club took a flier on Sanders in the fifth round. However, the Browns also picked up an extra 2026 first-round pick that could be used to land a top-tier quarterback prospect in next year's player-selection process. 

As much as Stefanski seems open to the possibility of either Gabriel or Sanders becoming a revelation over the next handful of months, neither may make multiple starts for the Browns before the franchise goes all-in on drafting an elite signal-caller in the spring of 2026.