Dillon

Gabriel

In an appearance for ESPN Cleveland radio, Fowler said he would “expect the Browns to add” to the quarterback room in the offseason. Fowler mentioned Alabama draft prospect Ty Simpson and impending free agent Malik Willis as options to “shake up” the quarterback situation under new head coach Todd Monken. Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel were underwhelming as rookies while Deshaun Watson is still in Cleveland coming off an Achilles injury and still holding a large cap hit. If Fowler’s words are any indication, we could see another name or two added to the mix this offseason.

“Early signs point to Sanders getting to compete for the job, [Deshaun] Watson being stuck on the roster and another quarterback addition in the middle rounds of the draft,” Jackson continues. Guess who is being left out of that quarterback room by omission? Gabriel was reportedly a Kevin Stefanski favorite in the draft process and — our speculation, not Jackson’s — might be traded to Stefanski’s new team this offseason. It’s also possible the team gives us another four-quarterback training camp show.

It’s never a good sign when a player is added to Friday’s injury report, but Fannin told reporters on Sunday that he plans to play. In addition to Fannin, backup QB Dillon Gabriel (shoulder) was also added to Friday’s injury report and is listed as questionable. CB Myles Harden (shoulder), DT Sam Kamara (elbow), and OG Wyatt Teller (calf) are also listed as questionable for this weekend.

Sanders left the field as the Browns were driving in the red zone, but this time it wasn’t by design. The rookie quarterback could be seen with a visible cut on the pinky finger of his throwing hand, and was being escorted from the field by trainers. Dillon Gabriel entered on the following play and immediately took a sack. Will report when we receive more information on Sanders’ status.

Speaking Monday, Stefanski said Sanders “has constantly and consistently gotten better” while adding that he feels “good about where his development is heading.” Sanders threw for a career-high 364 yards and three touchdowns in Week 14’s loss to the Titans, and nearly led the Browns to a comeback after trailing by 14 points with just over six minutes left in the game. Through four games, three of which are starts, Sanders has thrown for 769-5-3 while completing 52.4 percent of his passes. While he hasn’t looked like the first-round talent many expected to see, Sanders has shown plenty of flashes to warrant a longer look after Dillon Gabriel offered up nine games of ultra-conservative play.

Neither Shedeur Sanders nor Dillon Gabriel are having their practice reps taken by Watson. Jones believes it is “quite possible, if not likely,” Cleveland carries Watson on their 2026 roster as part of a quarterback competition — another huge four-quarterback battle is possible if one of Sanders or Gabriel is not traded. Jones goes on to call the Watson contract “unmovable” while noting that the Browns have two first-round picks and could trade up for another quarterback prospect in this year’s draft. The ol’ nothing is settled, but nothing is settled gambit. Watson has a realistic chance of actually playing next year, but whether he’ll be able to outperform Gabriel and Sanders after tearing his Achilles and playing horrible football for the Browns in 2023 is anyone’s guess.

Officially fired on his day off, Gabriel will spend Week 13 backing up Shedeur Sanders after missing Week 12’s game due to his brain injury. Gabriel’s lack of a vertical passing game, as evidenced by a 6.4 ADOT and eight deep throw attempts over eight games, may have proven to be his downfall. Gabriel topped 200 passing yards just once in the six starts he made this season while ranking near the bottom of the league in both dropback success rate and EPA per dropback. Barring injury or a complete implosion by Sanders, there’s a good chance this is the last we have seen of Gabriel in 2025.

Shedeur was under center for the Browns’ third win of the season over the Raiders and helped generate a more vertical passing attack while throwing for 209-1-1 on 11-of-20 passing. Sanders’ two biggest throws of the day came on a beautifully thrown 52-yard bomb to Isaiah Bond in the first quarter, with his other coming on a 66-yard touchdown on a pass behind the line of scrimmage to Dylan Sampson. It was only going to be a matter of time before Sanders, who famously slid to the fifth-round of this year’s draft, got a chance to start. Now, the Browns will look to see if he’s their quarterback of the future over these next six weeks or another name added to a laundry list of QB1 hopefuls. Sanders shouldn’t be viewed as anything more than a low-end QB2 for this week’s game against the Niners.

Fresh off a 24-10 road win against the Raiders, Stefanski is in no rush to name a starting quarterback for next week’s game. It took 12 weeks for us to get our first look at Shedeur Sanders in a pro uniform, and while the overall box score is solid and the Browns did come away with a win, the advanced analytics were not kind to the rookie. Sanders’ dropback success rate and EPA per play looked eerily similar to what we’ve seen from Dillon Gabriel in his eight appearances this season, and his lone passing touchdown, a 66-yarder, came on a pass that was caught behind the line of scrimmage. It was a reasonable first start for Sanders, who could get a chance to start again this season. But the Browns seemed reticent to give him a chance before Gabriel was concussed, and they did spend more draft capital on Gabriel. It would be a little surprising if Sanders started again in Week 13.

His return won’t impact any of the plans for Week 12, with Shedeur Sanders likely to start. Gabriel is still in the early stages of clearing concussion protocol, but his return on Friday is a good sign that he’ll be ready for Week 13 if the Browns choose to go back in that direction.