Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders Get Deflating Update as Browns Camp Opens

“While the Browns will probably want to get a look at Gabriel and/or Sanders as rookies … they can’t possibly view either as a sure-fire franchise signal-caller,” Knox wrote. “Cleveland most likely targeted Gabriel for his long-term backup potential, while Sanders became worth a low-risk bet on Day 3. If either was viewed as a ‘sure thing,’ he would have been drafted earlier.”

Kenny Pickett Facing Similar Pressure to Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders Entering Camp

None of that means that Gabriel or Sanders will never start in Cleveland or have a future there. It does mean fans should calibrate expectations.

Pickett is a former first-round pick and has the best shot of longterm starting potential with the Browns considering his age (27) and particular skill set. Flacco’s strengths alo make him a strong fit for Kevin Stefanski’s system, as the end of the 2023 campaign clearly showed, but he is 40 years old and could be entering his final season.

But Pickett struggled in spring ball, and Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com suggested that he has to “pop” in camp if he hopes to win the QB1 job, which Breer believes the team will award sooner than later.

“We did not see it in spring ball. … If we are saying that we did, we’re kidding ourselves,” Cabot said. “We didn’t see [Pickett] pop. He needs to pop in training camp.”

Browns Poised to Trade Either Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett at Some Point This Year

If Pickett doesn’t pop, the Browns may burst his bubble by sending him to the trade block.

Should Pickett succeed, it could be Flacco the franchise dangles to QB-needy teams either ahead of Week 1, prior to the November trade deadline, or both.

If Cleveland’s season works out the way the majority of prognosticators believe it will, with the team losing early and often through a brutally tough opening to its schedule, then the era of Gabriel and/or Sanders will arrive early. At that point, depending on what Pickett and Flacco have shown, it may not make sense for the Browns to keep either of them.

It certainly won’t be worth the roster spot or the Browns passing up a reasonable Day-3 draft asset that they could get in trade by moving at least one of Pickett or Flacco — both of whom are on one-year deals.