As Cleveland signed off on a very interesting NFL draft, their quarterback room is now almost double the size that they expected, but with five QBs in the locker room, how exactly will Cleveland tackle their QB problem, and which route will they take to try and find their next number one.
As Kevin Stefanski and the Cleveland Browns find themselves in a much better position than last year after this years draft, one obstacle they are yet to tackle is the quarterback situation, and after selecting Dillon Gabriel, and Shedeur Sanders in a very confusing turn of events, they now have five quarterbacks on their hands, and have some very big decisions to make.
Earlier in the year when the Browns acquired now Super Bowl champion, and former first round pick Kenny pIckett, he was expected to be the starter and have the support from the coaching staff. But with $200 million Deshaun Watson on their books still, and the addition of veteran Joe Flacco, rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders will definitely have some confusion after both being selected by the Browns.
Gabriel was not expected to be a day two pick, but was subsequently picked in round three, Sanders on the other hand, tipped to be a first round talent dropped to pick 144 where he discovered his fate was in the hands of the Cleveland Browns. But with two rookie QBs on the roster, Pickett, Flacco, and Watson still being in contention, their situation is one we have never really seen before.
But here is what the Browns could do. Despite falling to the fifth round, Shedeur Sanders is arguably the second best quarterback in the draft, and is easily the biggest steal of the draft in round five. But attitude and character issues seem to be the main reason for his massive slip. With the QBs currently signed with the Browns, Shedeur is probably almost at the level where he could be a starter, and could quite easily earn himself the starters job with some good performances. Sanders showed in Colorado that he has some amazing ability, but one concern is his arm strength, a big worry for a starting quarterback. And this is where the argument for 40 year old veteran Joe Flacco comes in.
The once Super Bowl champion Joe Flacco returned to the Browns earlier this offseason, and was likely to be named the backup behind Watson had he return in time for the season. But after the Pickett acquisition, the Browns QB situation got a whole lot weirder as Flacco then saw himself become number three. But with Deshaun Watson on thin ice, and Pickett not 100% solidified as an NFL starter, the Browns could look to Joe Flacco over Sanders or Pickett for this year, and use his more than credible NFL experience to use him as their starter in this rebuild.
But with Flacco as starter, and Sanders as backup for the year, Dillon Gabriel, Deshaun Watson, and Kenny Pickett still find themselves in a tough situation. Watson will most likely be cut and earn himself a massive payday as fans don't particularly have a soft spot for the once elite QB, but had the Browns cut their losses and get rid of Watson they would still have some tough decisions. One decision that will be a really tricky and confusing one to say the least is the Dillon Gabriel situation.
Gabriel went substantially higher than Sanders in the draft, despite being a worse player, but the Heisman trophy finalist will be eager to show his skills off to the Browns coaching staff, but whether it is enough to be out the rest of the competition is a concern. The most likely situation Gabriel could end up in is being traded before the start of the season. Depending on how the season goes, and how well he performs against the others, Gabriel despite being their first QB off the board could be easily used as trade bait to cut down their QB room, but although he was selected in round three, Gabriel will have some serious work to do to earn a roster spot. The other thing that could potentially happen with Gabriel is playing third backup to Sanders, but with Pickett with the experience under his belt, Gabriel will have to put on a performance of a lifetime to stay a Brown come next season.
And last but not least, Kenny Pickett. When Pickett found himself on the end of a trade to Cleveland, he probably was expecting to be the starter, or even backup, but with the recent turn of events, you can't help but feel anger for him. With two new QBs and Joe Flacco on the books, one of the five will be cut (along with Watson), and Pickett will be trying his hardest not to be the one. But even had Pickett earned his spot, if he isn't the starter he will be fighting for the backup spot, and fighting against a promising QB like Shedeur Sanders probably wasn't the idea. With Pickett probably in the worst situation of them all, the Browns have some serious thinking to do, and some reworking amongst the QB room.
With Flacco, Watson, Pickett, or Sanders having an equal chance at taking the QB1 spot this year, the fight for the backup spot is going to be even stronger. With some tough decisions to make, and a very odd situation created by the Browns front office, the Browns QB room doesn't look great, and with cuts and potentially even trades imminent, the room doesn't look like there is a clear QB1, backup, or even third string.
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