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Kevin Stefanski announces Dillon Gabriel as Browns' backup quarterback, Shedeur Sanders as QB3

ns_headshot_2024-clearby: Nick Schultz08/26/25NickSchultz_7
Cleveland Browns QBs Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders
© Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Dillon Gabriel will be the Cleveland Browns’ backup quarterback behind Joe Flacco, head coach Kevin Stefanski announced Tuesday. Shedeur Sanders will be QB3 and still dress on game days as the emergency third quarterback.

The Browns entered training camp with four quarterbacks on the roster, but went down to three at the position after trading Kenny Pickett. He headed to the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday after they placed Aidan O’Connell on injured reserve, and Cleveland received a fifth-round pick in return.

That left Gabriel and Sanders as the backups behind Flacco, whom Stefanski already announced as the starter. It will be Gabriel – the third-round pick out of Oregon – who will serve as Flacco’s primary backup.

“It’s such an all-encompassing evaluation,” Stefanski told reporters of the decision to list Gabriel as QB2. “Everything the guys did in the games was important. We also saw a lot of them out here in practice and how they are at their craft. He’s certainly somebody that we think is getting better and better.”

Both Gabriel and Sanders appeared in two preseason games for the Browns this month. Gabriel completed 25 of 37 passes for 272 yards and a touchdown, along with an interception and a lost fumble, during that time. Sanders went 17 of 29 for 152 yards and two touchdowns.

Cleveland will now have two rookies in its quarterback room behind the veteran Flacco, who signed a one-year deal this offseason. As for what could lie ahead, ESPN’s Adam Schefter said Tuesday both Gabriel and Sanders could get some looks this season, depending on how things go. But development, he said, will be paramount.

“It’s the Browns job to bring him along, develop him, give him a chance and see what kind of quarterback he could be at the next level,” Schefter said on The Pat McAfee Show. “The same is true of Dillon Gabriel. Let’s remember, they drafted Dillon Gabriel two rounds ahead of Shedeur Sanders. So the organization had a higher opinion, higher regard, more belief in Dillon Gabriel when they drafted him than Shedeur Sanders.

“Dillon Gabriel’s look good during the summer, and my guess would be that he’s going to be the backup for Joe Flacco. And it wouldn’t surprise me if both rookie quarterbacks, at some point this season, get some type of opportunity to play.”