Regardless of how a season ends, every team enters the NFL draft with a range of roster needs. Between retirements, free-agent departures, and unexpected injuries, it's rare for a team to have enough picks to address every weakness. That’s why eyebrows were raised when the Cleveland Browns used not one, but two of their limited draft selections on quarterbacks, bringing their roster size at the position to five.
Cleveland entered rare territory with the selections of Dillon Gabriel at pick No. 94 and Shedeur Sanders exactly 50 picks later, becoming just the 11th team to draft two quarterbacks in the same year. They also set a record within that group: Gabriel and Sanders were the closest same-team QB picks by draft position in NFL history.
Although the New England Patriots pulled this same move just last year (and have since traded Joe Milton III to the Dallas Cowboys), the last time this happened before that was in the 2012 draft, when Washington selected Robert Griffin III second overall, then took Kirk Cousins in the fourth round. When asked about the decision, then-head coach Mike Shanahan told reporters the team had Cousins graded much higher than the fourth round and simply couldn’t pass up the value.
Browns general manager Andrew Berry gave a nearly identical answer this year, stating that while drafting two quarterbacks wasn’t the plan, Sanders was too much of a bargain to pass up in the fifth round. However, Griffin III recently claimed the real reason for Washington’s 2012 selections had more to do with internal power struggles in the front office, raising questions about whether the current Browns are aligned in their decision-making.
Even if Berry is indeed telling the truth about Sanders, there are still more questions to answer, starting with “what’s the plan at quarterback this year?” Deshaun Watson is recovering from an Achilles injury and will likely miss the entire season, but cutting him would involve significant dead money penalties. Joe Flacco, the only healthy quarterback on the roster with proven NFL success, will likely be the starter. Meanwhile, even if Gabriel has an atrocious pre-season, it is hard to see the Browns giving up on a third-round pick so quickly.
That means either Sanders or Kenny Pickett likely won’t make the Week 1 roster. Clearly, the Browns saw enough in Pickett to trade for him this offseason, so Sanders will be the underdog coming into camp. However, if Gabriel proves he can be a viable backup right away and Sanders shows the potential and willingness to improve his leadership and on-field skills, it would be difficult to justify keeping Pickett as QB3.
While drafting two quarterbacks has created a lot of confusion in the quarterback room and potential speculation among the fans, the Browns have made one thing clear: Nobody’s job is safe, a message I’m sure they would love to reach Watson before he tries to earn his starting spot back in 2026.
