With only Dillon Gabriel costing a premium (ish) pick, the Browns have a lot of QB options with their roster
Two veterans. Two rookies. If you were to ask someone who is in the current Cleveland Browns quarterback room, that’s the answer you would be given, with little else known. With training camp happening in late July, many want to know what the Browns quarterback room is going to look like. The team is likely going to keep all four QBs throughout the duration of camp and then will get a further evaluation of the quarterbacks in joint practices and preseason games.
Is it possible that if the four quarterbacks all perform well throughout that period, the team could keep all four when we get to the initial 53-man roster?
“It does seem like there’s a little more momentum, lately, for them potentially keeping four QBs…it seems like they are, at least, open to those options”
@JFowlerESPN w/ @KenCarman and @SportsBoyTony on #Browns QB ⤵️
Watch the FULL interview: https://t.co/TdNuN8Agoz pic.twitter.com/Avm41M2ivK
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) June 16, 2025
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler was on 92.3 The Fan with Anthony Lima & Ken Carman early Monday morning and he discussed the possibility of the team doing just that. Granted, it’s early, but it’s a possible scenario if things go well for all four.
Bevy of options
In the NFL, we have seen starting quarterbacks go down and teams not having a capable backup to come in and step up. If you go back to the 2023 season in which the Browns made the playoffs, the team had a roulette of quarterbacks. Once Deshaun Watson went out for the year, the team rotated at the position. P.J. Walker, Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Joe Flacco all started at one point during that season (Flacco was signed late that season to the practice squad before being elevated to the main roster).
There is no definitive starter for the Browns right now. Everyone has their assumptions of who will start but no one knows right now. Could the Browns start Flacco/Pickett and go to either Gabriel/Sanders later in the season? It’s possible. Could the team keep four quarterbacks but have two or three active on gameday? Maybe.
Two veterans and either rookie being the 3rd string or a healthy scratch is a possible outcome.
Cleveland could keep 4 quarterbacks to start the year, and trade/cut later throughout the year
Let’s discuss this possible scenario. If the Browns were to keep all four quarterbacks to start the season, it’s not a guarantee that the room stays at four for the entire season. Rookie quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders are unlikely to be traded/cut, so that leaves Pickett and Flacco.
Flacco and Pickett aren’t necessarily hot commodities right now, but if a team were to lose their starting quarterback for an extended period of time, they would be watching Cleveland to see what they are going to do.
As of now, it is unlikely a team trades for Pickett or Flacco, but that could change. If the Browns are forced to cut one of the veterans. If neither is signed, including Pickett needing to pass through waivers, returning to Cleveland’s practice squad is unlikely but a possibility depending on how things go.
In the end, whether do to performance, injury or a trade, the Browns are unlikely to have four quarterbacks on their roster for long if they all make the initial 53-man roster. That doesn’t mean they won’t start the season with four, with a variety of outcomes after that.