There’s been a lot of change at the quarterback position for the Cleveland Browns in the past year. After they went just 3-14 and finished dead-last in scoring, Browns general manager Andrew Berry wiped the slate clean, getting rid of every QB on the roster not named Deshaun Watson.
The Browns added four new quarterbacks into the mix, but two of them, Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett, have since been traded. That leaves just their starter, Dillon Gabriel, and Shedeur Sanders on the roster.
While the Browns also have Bailey Zappe on the practice squad, Watson is still lurking on the NFL’s physically unable to perform list.
However, as Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer states, Watson is expected to be cleared from his Achilles tear in late October or early November. In which case, he feels the Browns would be “pretty tempted” to put the three-time Pro Bowl QB back in the starting lineup.
“The bottom line being that it is increasingly rare to find a franchise player at that position outside the first round. So what sort of chance do Gabriel and Sanders really have to be the quarterback two or three years from now? Is the chance of that happening better than the chance of a Watson revival?
Albert Breer on Deshaun Watson
Maybe it is. But if I were the Browns, based on the $46 million they have tied up in Watson for 2026, I think I’d be pretty tempted to take another look at Watson before the year is out.”
Perhaps Watson’s possible pending recovery is also part of why the Browns were so quick to turn to Gabriel, to have an extended look at evaluating their third-round rookie. If Gabriel can’t provide more of a spark than Flacco did, we just might see Sanders get a chance too.
Before the year is done, the Browns may end up having four different starting quarterbacks between Flacco, Gabriel, Sanders, and Watson. While that’s a lot of QB musical chairs, all that matters is for coach Kevin Stefanski to start producing some wins.
Related: 1 Bold Prediction for Every Game in NFL Week 6
