Browsing: Browns

The Cleveland Browns have featured a rotating carousel of quarterbacks throughout their history and have the infamous fan jersey to prove it, so maybe it shouldn’t be surprising they are paying eight different signal-callers this year.

After Cleveland traded Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals, Michael Ginnitti of Spotrac provided an updated look at the overall cap hits for the eight different quarterbacks the Browns are paying:

It’s safe to say that’s not exactly how teams want their books to look, and the Deshaun Watson number in particular is an anchor on the salary cap and team’s overall outlook.

Cleveland surely envisioned him being the franchise cornerstone for years after acquiring him, but poor play, suspensions and injuries have prevented that from happening.

The team’s quarterback room was once again thrown under the spotlight this offseason when it decided to select Shedeur Sanders in the fifth round of the draft. That pick alone would have generated headlines given the amount of attention Sanders receives, but it came just two rounds after the Browns also took Dillon Gabriel.

Now even after the Flacco trade, there are plenty of fans paying attention to see if Sanders will eventually get an opportunity to play or if Gabriel will remain in the starting role.

At this point, the Browns are 1-4 and seem to already be playing out the string on what will be a lost season. Getting Gabriel and perhaps Sanders some experience will help them decide what to do with the position down the line, but there is no surefire answer in place providing reason for significant optimism moving forward.

Which is unfortunate for the front office because it is certainly paying enough quarterbacks to expect at least one long-term answer to emerge.

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Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski doesn’t appear to be all that enamored with rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders, and he isn’t the only one, according to The Athletic’s Jason Lloyd.

Lloyd cited the Browns’ persistent inability to develop young quarterbacks, which spans multiple head coach and front office regimes. In the case of Sanders, it’s bigger than that.

“It’s easy to find people around the league, and within the Browns, who will tell you Sanders isn’t a good NFL quarterback right now,” Lloyd wrote. “What you’ll struggle to find is a team that believes he is ready to help them win games right now. If one existed, Sanders wouldn’t have fallen to the fifth round.”

It wasn’t a shock when Sanders was third in the depth chart to open the year or when he stayed there after Stefanski benched Joe Flacco for Dillon Gabriel. Strip away all of the pre-draft hype, and Sanders’ situation isn’t that much different from any other quarterback picked in the fifth round.

When Stefanski is hinting that Bailey Zappe might leapfrog the former Colorado star, however, the saga may have already reached an untenable place.

There isn’t much difference between Zappe straight up being a better quarterback than Sanders right now and the Browns coaching staff believing that to be the case. The outcome is the same. Sanders is still buried on the depth chart with no chance of seeing the field.

Lloyd lobbied for cutting him altogether.

“Stop forcing Gabriel into this untenable position where every word out of his mouth is judged as to whether it’s a shot at Shedeur,” he said. “Stop forcing the head coach to field questions about the third-string quarterback every week. Just stop.”

Sanders would seemingly benefit from a change of scenery as well. The 23-year-old doesn’t have a straightforward path to playing time in Cleveland, and the Browns could plausibly take another quarterback early in the 2026 NFL draft.

There isn’t another team that would immediately insert Sanders into a starting role. A different coach might at least value him more highly than Stefanski does.

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Even though the Cleveland Browns couldn’t hang on for a win in Dillon Gabriel’s first career start, Myles Garrett praised the effort of the rookie quarterback in Sunday’s 21-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

Speaking to reporters after the game, Garrett said Gabriel was “composed” throughout and gave them a chance to win.

“[Gabriel] looked like he usually does. Composed, making the plays that we know he can make,” Garrett said. “He put us in position to win. We’ve got to help ourselves out.”

One of the reasons that the Browns made the change at quarterback to Gabriel from Joe Flacco was turnovers. Flacco was tied for the NFL lead with eight turnovers (six interceptions) through the first four weeks.

Gabriel solved that problem, for at least one game, with no turnovers. He finished 19-of-30 for 190 yards and two touchdowns. It was the first time a Browns quarterback had multiple touchdown passes without a turnover since Jameis Winston in Week 11 last season.

The Browns took a 17-14 lead in the third quarter on Gabriel’s nine-yard touchdown pass to David Njoku. They held that advantage for most of the fourth quarter before the Vikings engineered an 80-yard drive that was capped off by a Jordan Addison touchdown catch with 25 seconds remaining.

Even though the Browns failed to reach the 20-point threshold for the fifth consecutive game to start this season, this was the first time their offense really looked like a competent NFL operation.

The combination of Gabriel and Quinshon Judkins, who ran for 110 yards on 23 carries, has given fans in Cleveland something to hold their hat on going forward.

Gabriel will lead the Browns against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium in Week 6 looking for his first victory as a starter in the NFL.

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There are no moral victories in the NFL, but the Cleveland Browns can at least take solace knowing Dillon Gabriel looked solid in his first career start.

Still, it won’t take the sting out of Sunday’s 21-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. Cleveland is now 1-4 on the season, while Minnesota improved to 3-2 by bouncing back from last week’s loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Ireland.

Carson Wentz directed a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown drive in the final minutes, which he finished with a 12-yard strike to Jordan Addison for the game-winning touchdown.

Wentz overcame an injured offensive line and typically stingy Browns defense to throw for 236 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions.

As for Gabriel, he went 19-of-33 for 190 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions in a praiseworthy debut that drew plenty of reaction from social media:

This was a battle between two teams playing quarterbacks who started the season as backups with Wentz once again filling in for an injured J.J. McCarthy (ankle) and Gabriel taking over for a struggling Joe Flacco.

The Cleveland quarterback situation was the primary storyline coming in considering Shedeur Sanders draws far more attention than a typical third-string signal-caller. Still, the AFC North team decided to go with Gabriel before Sanders in the battle of rookies, and the Oregon product struck first against Minnesota with a touchdown pass to Harold Fannin Jr. in the opening quarter.

However, Minnesota answered right back with a trick play when running back Cam Akers threw a touchdown pass to Josh Oliver.

Those were the only touchdowns in the first half, although Cleveland didn’t provide a lot of early help for Gabriel. A long Quinshon Judkins touchdown run was overturned by a holding penalty, and Jerry Jeudy dropped a pass on what would have been an impressive third-down conversion.

Minnesota seemed to have bigger issues when Wentz took a hard hit and went to the blue injury tent right before halftime, although he remained in the game and directed a 71-yard touchdown drive to open the second half that Jordan Mason capped off in the end zone.

That forced Gabriel to operate from behind on the scoreboard for the first time, but he responded with a touchdown pass to David Njoku after a lengthy drive that featured Judkins. It was quite the composed answer for the rookie who wasn’t being asked to do too much while keeping the offense ahead of the sticks and away from game-turning mistakes.

Yet Cleveland was unable to take advantage of key Vikings mistakes from there with no points after a Zavier Scott lost fumble and Will Reichard missed field goal. That left the door wide open for the NFC North team, and Wentz kicked it right down on the team’s final drive.

Minnesota now has momentum heading into its bye week, while Gabriel will look to build on his performance with a road game against the rival Steelers.

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On this episode of The Dunker Spot, Nekias Duncan and Steve Jones preview this year’s WNBA Finals between the Las Vegas Aces and Phoenix Mercury, discussing key matchups, schemes, lineups, X-Factors and more.

On the NBA side, the guys give their opening preseason takeaways for the New York Knicks under Mike Brown, 76ers and Pelicans — with some Melbourne United love sprinkled in. Then, they discuss the supposed end of the Jonathan Kuminga saga, the Warriors filling out their roster, and the recent deals of Nikola Jovic with the Heat and Quentin Grimes with the Sixers.

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(:32) Introduction

(1:04) WNBA Finals Preview

(14:34) Most interesting matchups between Aces and Mercury

(27:35) WNBA Finals X-Factors

(44:05) NBA Preseason: Knicks vs. Sixers

(57:23) NBA Preseason: Pelicans vs. Melbourne United

(106:46) Restricted Free Agency signings

A’ka Wilson celebrates after the Las Vegas Aces advance to the WNBA Finals. (AP Photo/John Locher)

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The youth movement has officially begun for the Cleveland Browns, as they inserted rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel over veteran Joe Flacco as the starter for Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings in London.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Flacco will be the No. 2 quarterback behind Gabriel, while fellow rookie Shedeur Sanders will remain the third-string signal-caller for the Browns.

Still, NFL fans on social media feel that it’s just a matter of time before Sanders takes over as the starter at some point this season:

The Browns surprised the masses this past offseason when they used two of their 2025 draft picks to select a quarterback, drafting Gabriel in the third round and trading up to land Sanders after he fell to the fifth round.

Cleveland held a four-way quarterback competition during training camp that also included Kenny Pickett, who was later traded to the Las Vegas Raiders. Flacco won the competition, with Gabriel being named the primary backup and Sanders serving as the No. 3 quarterback.

Unfortunately, Flacco’s veteran experience hasn’t been enough to lead the Browns to success, as the team has a 1-3 record entering Week 5. Flacco has thrown for 815 yards, two touchdowns and six interceptions this year. He failed to surpass 200 passing yards in each of his last three starts.

Gabriel has seen action twice so far this season, relieving Flacco near the end of blowout losses. He completed all three of his passes for 19 yards and a touchdown against the Baltimore Ravens in a 41-17 loss in Week 2.

Still, it’s safe to assume that the Browns would want to evaluate both of their young quarterbacks during a rebuilding year, so Sanders will likely get the chance to showcase his skills at some point this season.

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After it was recently revealed that Shedeur Sanders’ camp steered him away from the Baltimore Ravens and Philadelphia Eagles during the NFL draft, the rookie is happy to be in his current situation.

Speaking to ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi, Sanders said he was “thankful” for where he’s at right now with the Cleveland Browns:

“It’s fun going out there and competing every day. I’m thankful for my situation. I’m thankful I’m able to see ball in a different light and to be able to get a different perspective than I have and I’m able to grow mentally, physically, emotionally, everything, to become my best self. So that’s [what] I’m so excited about, is that whenever I’m able to showcase it, you know what, even if it’s this year or not this year, I know at the end of the day I’m getting closer to where I want to be.”

Sanders’ comments come in the wake of his father, Deion Sanders, appearing on the New Heightspodcast this week and saying that the Eagles called during the draft to express their interest in Shedeur and that there was nothing he could learn being a backup to Lamar Jackson in Baltimore.

There is some logic to Deion’s comments that fans and analysts tend to dramatically overrate the idea of a player, particularly a quarterback, sitting behind an established superstar and learning before they get into games.

If Shedeur had wound up with the Ravens, there was no chance of him getting on the field unless Jackson suffered an injury.

However, Sanders is currently lower on the quarterback depth chart in Cleveland than he likely would have been in Baltimore. Cooper Rush is currently listed as the No. 2 on the Ravens’ depth chart.

Sanders, the 144th overall pick in the 2025 draft, is behind Joe Flacco and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel on the Browns’ official depth chart.

The path to playing time with Flacco and Gabriel ahead of him is presumably shorter than it would be in Baltimore, but the fact that Gabriel beat him out for the backup job in the preseason could be an indication he still has a lot of work to do.

Ultimately, Sanders got what he wanted by avoiding a situation with a long-term established starter in place.

If Sanders gets on the field at some point this season and shows some of the talent that had some analysts regarding him as a first-round prospect, he could potentially enter 2026 competing to be the Cleveland’s starting quarterback.

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The Cleveland Browns are sticking with Joe Flacco under center.

Per Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said that, despite some early struggles, Flacco will remain the starter after a big win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.

Flacco has been shaky through the first three games of the season. The veteran threw for 290 yards and a touchdown in Week 1 against the Cincinnati Bengals, but also threw a pair of interceptions in the 17-16 loss. He had 199 yards, a touchdown and an interception against the Baltimore Ravens last week.

On Sunday, the Browns managed to take down a team that looks primed for a Super Bowl run, but Flacco wasn’t exactly the start of the show. He had just 142 yards on 21-of-26 passing and threw an interception.

The win can mostly be attributed to the defense, which limited Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love to just 183 passing yards and forced an interception.

While Flacco hasn’t done much to impress so far, Stefanski isn’t ready to turn the keys to the offense over to either of his rookies, Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel, or Kenny Pickett.

Flacco joined the Browns two seasons ago and willed them to the playoffs, and Cleveland is hoping Flacco can keep the team in the mix this time around as well.

If things continue to go poorly in Cleveland and the Browns find themselves out of the playoff race, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Stefanski turn things over to a younger quarterback, but for now, he wants the veteran under center.

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NFL legend Eric Dickerson feels going to the “horrible” Cleveland Browns was one of the worst things that could have happened for Shedeur Sanders at the start of his career.

“He goes to a team like the Browns, that’s not a good football team,” Dickerson said during an interview with TMZ Sports (2:10 mark). “I hate to see him there, I wish they would have cut him. Let him have another opportunity with a better football team.”

Cleveland selected Sanders with a fifth-round pick and ended a shocking draft slide for the Colorado quarterback who was once seen as a surefire first-rounder. He is now third on the depth chart behind Joe Flacco and Dillon Gabriel, who was a third-round pick in this year’s draft.

And that spot as the third-stringer may change as well if Deshaun Watson eventually returns from an Achilles injury.

“I don’t think he’ll get a fair shot there because I don’t think they really wanted him,” Dickerson said. “… I’m not a Browns fan at all, I could care less. But I’m a Shedeur fan. I’m a Deion Sanders fan.”

He also wasn’t happy that Sanders fell to the fifth round after he was the 2024 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.

“I know they don’t care for his dad, and I think Deion is a great guy,” the Hall of Famer said. “… I just feel like it was wrong what they did to him. I mean, look, Mel Kiper said in 30 years he’s never seen nothing like this. There was something to that.”

His comments come after ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the Baltimore Ravens planned to select Sanders with a fifth-round pick at No. 141 overall but decided not to because the quarterback made it clear he didn’t want to be stuck behind Lamar Jackson on the depth chart.

The mindset is understandable for someone who was looking for early playing time, as the only way Sanders would have played meaningful snaps on his rookie contract behind one of the league’s best players was if Jackson suffered an injury.

Still, it also would have meant learning from a two-time MVP inside a Baltimore franchise that has experienced plenty of success. The Ravens seem like exactly the type of franchise Dickerson wanted Sanders to go to, but the former running back told TMZ Sports he doesn’t believe the report.

Alas, Sanders is now with a Browns franchise that has won one playoff game since the 1994 campaign and is off to an 0-2 start in 2025.

If Cleveland loses a handful of more games early in the season and drops out of playoff contention, the possibility of Gabriel or Sanders receiving playing time will become one of the most intriguing storylines surrounding the AFC North team.

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Amid reports that Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders didn’t want to be drafted by the Baltimore Ravens, the rookie said…