You can call the just-completed NFL Draft for the Cleveland Browns the draft of twos.
The under-construction Browns now have two first-round picks for 2026. Throughout Friday and Saturday, they selected two running backs and two quarterbacks. The most intrigue comes from the two quarterbacks and the many routes the position might take in the weeks, months and even years to come.
After drafting Dillon Gabriel in the third round and Shedeur Sanders in the fifth, the Browns have four healthy quarterbacks entering what coach Kevin Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry have said since March will be an open competition for the starting job. Both draft picks were stunning in their own ways, and now the Browns have a crowd and further long-term uncertainty in their quarterback room.
In March, the Browns acquired Kenny Pickett in a trade. Two weeks before the draft, they signed 40-year-old Joe Flacco to a one-year deal. The fifth quarterback under contract, Deshaun Watson, is out indefinitely while recovering from a second Achilles tendon tear.
Gabriel was projected as a third-day selection, but the Browns trusted their charting of his college accuracy and their impressions from the interview process in reaching to take him at No. 94. Sanders had external first- and second-round projections, but he fell to the draft’s final day. Both quarterbacks were part of the team’s exhaustive pre-draft research circuit, and now they will be part of a competition for spots on a depth chart that likely will be fluid throughout the season unless there’s a clear winner in the summer.
Unless the Browns are real playoff contenders at, say, midseason, doesn’t one of the rookies have to play? Or maybe both?
The Browns have 20 years of previous NFL experience among the four available quarterbacks, but 17 belong to Flacco. Pickett has started 25 games over three seasons; the Pittsburgh Steelers gave up on him after two years and the Philadelphia Eagles moved him for a fifth-round pick. Pickett has twice said the Browns promised him a chance to compete for the job, and Flacco said he returned to Cleveland with excitement but no guarantees from anyone about how things might play out.
“We expect every player to compete,” Berry said after the selection of Sanders at No. 144. “Simple as that.”
But with an open competition that has no clear leader, is it really simple? If Sanders is a starting-caliber talent given time and the right situation, why did so many teams pass on him? Why did the Browns need to take Gabriel when they did? No other quarterback was selected in the 50 picks from Gabriel to Sanders, at which point Cleveland became the first team since Washington in 2012 to draft two quarterbacks in the first five rounds.
Nothing about the construction of this room has been predictable, and neither is anything going forward. The Browns will put either Flacco or Pickett first through their spring work, then eventually could weave in the rookies while choosing a starter and getting the offense ready for the season ahead.
“There are ways to do both of those things,” Stefanski said. “Obviously, you may not divide the (reps equally) with 25 (percent to each player), but we feel really confident that we’ll have a plan that is fair to each player and fair to the team as well.”
Contracts, numbers and commitments
Flacco and Pickett are under contract only through 2025. Watson’s current 2026 salary-cap number of $80 million lingers, but he in no way factors into the Browns’ current or future plans. That could change, but it’s unlikely.
Gabriel and Sanders will sign standard four-year rookie contracts in the coming weeks. The draft order would indicate the Browns viewed Gabriel as a better prospect than Sanders, and Cleveland using a top-100 pick on Gabriel indicates that the team has at least some real hopes for the former Oregon passer. That made the trade with Seattle for the chance to select Sanders almost as surprising as Sanders’ long wait for the call he received from the Browns’ draft room Saturday afternoon.
“We live by our board,” Berry said. “We felt like (Sanders) was a good, solid prospect at the most important position. We felt like it got to a point where he was probably mispriced relative to the draft. Really, the acquisition cost was pretty light, and he’s a guy that we think can outproduce his draft slot. So, I wouldn’t say it’s any more than that.
“I think, obviously, Shedeur has kind of grown up in the spotlight, but our expectation is for him to come in here and work and compete. Nothing’s been promised. Nothing will be given. So, I may hesitate to characterize it as a blockbuster (trade). That’s not necessarily how we thought of the transaction, but we are excited to work with him.”
The Browns have around $19 million of free cap space, per Spotrac, and will need a little over $12 million of that to sign their rookie class. Flacco’s contract was reported by multiple outlets as being worth around $4 million in guarantees, but details are not yet available on any public cap site. The Browns get more cap space in June for their designated post-June 1 releases of Dalvin Tomlinson and Juan Thornhill, so somewhere around $8 million to $10 million in free space is a fair estimate.
Last year, the Browns kept four quarterbacks on their initial 53-man roster. But after a real trade option never materialized, they cut Tyler Huntley and were down to three quarterbacks for the regular season. Keeping four on the active roster does not seem realistic, so who goes if the Browns stay healthy? By draft order and likely starting order, Sanders seems to be guaranteed nothing. If he plays well, perhaps the Browns could eventually trade or release Flacco or Pickett, who’s due to count for $2.62 million on the salary cap.
How things play out will depend on Gabriel or Sanders showing they’re game-ready and impressing in camp. Rookies can join the team’s formal offseason workout program after the May 9-11 rookie minicamp. The team’s organized team activity practices begin in late May ahead of a three-day June mandatory minicamp. The Browns will hold joint practice sessions in August with Carolina and Philadelphia ahead of road preseason games against both teams.
Sanders’ presence ensures that the quarterback competition will be in the spotlight, but the team’s investment in Gabriel indicates that he’s actually the most certain of the four to be on the roster. Stefanski said accuracy and decision-making were high on the team’s checklist during the process, “and I think that’s the strength of both of those young men.”
Six times, the Browns chose to draft other players instead of Sanders. Then, they pivoted and traded to add a second rookie quarterback to the room and give Sanders a chance. Starting soon, we’ll see how a quarterback almost certain to start as No. 4 on the depth chart goes about trying to play his way not only into a job, but also potentially into the team’s long-term thinking. After the draft of twos, the Browns absolutely could be back in the quarterback business next April.
“I would say I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity throughout everything,” Sanders said. “I don’t ever focus on the negative or even think about the negative because the positive happens so fast, and it’s a change of emotions. For me, (it’s) just playing quarterback. … It’s time to work. It’s time to go.
“What fuels me is my purpose in life and understanding the route that we’re gonna have to take. Understanding that I was able to get an opportunity when a lot of people didn’t want to give me an opportunity. So that’s what I’m truly thankful for. That’s what fuels me.”
(Photo: Mark J. Rebilas / Imagn Images)
