NFL insider: Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel 'trying to get whatever scraps they can' during Browns OTAs

The Browns have a quarterback problem, but not in the typical sense. As it stands, Cleveland has four quarterbacks who could potentially end up being their Week 1 starter. It’s made for the most intriguing battle of this offseason.

However, the two rookies, Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel, reportedly weren’t able to see the field all that often during the first stretch of Browns OTAs last week. Instead, the reps were given to veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

“This is a engaging, intriguing situation for the next couple months because of the four quarterback room with two rookies, Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel,” Fowler explained during an appearance on SportsCenter Sunday morning. “From what I was told, Sanders has done well with the reps that he’s gotten. He’s shown to be accurate. The problem is he hasn’t gotten a lot of reps because they’ve got Kenny Pickett, they got Joe Flacco. Both those quarterbacks were splitting reps this week, first team reps.

“So you’ve got Gabriel and Sanders just trying to get whatever scraps they can. But Kevin Stefanski is going to try to spread out those reps in the coming week, give them some options to get more of a real look.”

For the rookies, it appears that they’re going to have to earn their keep in the quarterback room. Being third and fifth round draft choices, respectively, no one should expect them to win games for the franchise on day one — in a typical situation. However, given Gabriel’s status as a Heisman finalist last season, and Sanders’ historic draft slide, it likely wouldn’t be a surprise for fans to see them under center during their rookie season.

They have stiff competition in that regard. Flacco is entering his 18th season in the NFL, and is in his second stint with the Browns. He played five games for Cleveland during the 2023 season and has by far the most experience on the roster. Flacco is a former Super Bowl MVP in 2013 as well, making him arguably the safest option for Cleveland to start the season.

Pickett is coming off a Super Bowl win himself with the Philadelphia Eagles as the backup to Jalen Hurts. He was even given the opportunity to throw a pass in the big game, too, although it fell incomplete.

Stefanski and company likely won’t reveal anything telling about the quarterback battle until training camp is well underway. Until then, the debate over who should be starting under center in Cleveland will rage on.