Dillon Gabriel inactive as third QB vs. Steelers

Watson returned to practice on Friday for a limited session and cleared the league’s protocol over the weekend. Still, after preparing Shedeur Sanders to start throughout the week, head coach Todd Monken decided not to throw a curveball at his own team on game day. Sanders will start and Dillon Gabriel will back him up. Watson has rebounded this year, but the lows are still staggeringly low. He took eight sacks in a blowout loss to the Steelers last week. If Sanders plays well today, Monken will at least have something to think about ahead of Week 10.

In a corresponding move, the Browns waived TE Carsen Ryan to make room for Gabriel, now the fourth quarterback on the team’s 53-man roster. Gabriel is buried on the depth chart behind Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders, and would need a lot to break right for him to have a chance to play this season.

His 21-day practice window will open up. There’s obviously no rush to promote him to the active roster with the Browns already dressing three quarterbacks every week, so this is probably just starting a ticking clock on a trade or cut from the quarterback room.

Reporting had the Browns set to keep four quarterbacks on their initial 53-man roster, but this makes a little more sense. Gabriel was not spotted throwing at practice today, and now we know why. Supposedly he suffered the back injury in the midst of shredding in the final preseason game; he’ll miss at least the first four weeks of the season. The team also announced the final roster cuts to get down to the final, 53-man roster. Waived or released were DT Travis Bell, RB Davon Booth, DT Elijah Chatman, G Kinsley Eguakun, DE Logan Fano, WR Luke Floriea, WR Gage Larvadain, T K.T. Leveston, RB Ahmani Marshall, P Wes Pahl, DT Tyreak Sapp, DE Khordae Sydnor, LB Edefuan Ulofoshio, S Zion Washington, LB Nathaniel Watson, and WR Kole Wilson.

The Browns also reportedly want to keep rookie Taylen Green, and it’s hard to imagine them keeping four quarterbacks on the roster, so something has to give. Our money is on the Browns ultimately trading Gabriel for a late-round pick. Gabriel looked good in his final preseason outing, throwing for 186 yards and three scores. That alone might be enough for a team to give him a shot at a backup job this year.

In fairness to Monken, it’s not often we see teams keep four QBs on a roster. With Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders already locked into their roles, the question becomes whether or not both Dillon Gabriel and Taylen Green make the 53-man roster or if one could be cut/traded. Gabriel turned in a solid outing in the Browns’ final preseason game, throwing for 186 yards and three touchdowns in one half of play, while Green threw for 27 scoreless yards but also rushed for 88 yards on six carries and helped orchestrate a 98-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. With roster cutdown day set for Sunday, Monken and GM Andrew Berry still have a few days to decide the makeup of their QB room before Week 1’s game against the Jaguars.

Dillon Gabriel is the player left off their 53-man roster projection by Oyefusi entering camp, with Taylen Green getting the QB3 gig for the Browns. There’s been smoke around dealing Gabriel for most of the offseason, but it doesn’t seem like anyone is all that interested in the 2025 third-round pick just yet. It does seem likely he’ll be the one available here given the role that former head coach Kevin Stefanski had in the selection.

It might not mean much for the forgotten man in the Browns quarterback room this offseason. Deshaun Watson continues to operate as the team’s starter in offseason practices. Shedeur Sanders is expected to compete for the starting gig, though he’s expected to be an underdog to begin the regular season under center for a revamped Cleveland offense. Head coach Todd Monken appears enamored with Watson, who has played in 19 regular season games since 2021. Gabriel had the NFL’s lowest EPA per drop back in 2025, just ahead of Sanders. The Browns have insisted they would not trade Gabriel this offseason.

Monken also says he’s “not there yet” when it comes to naming his QB, but it doesn’t sound like he’s against the idea of naming his preferred starter before camp. Recent reports have suggested that Deshaun Watson “looks healthy” and has the inside edge to win the QB battle over Shedeur Sanders, who struggled mightily his rookie season. The Browns have been on the field for three days during their first mini camp, with Watson leading the QB room thus far. The last time we saw Watson, he threw for 1,148-5-3 in seven games for the Browns, but missed all of last season due to a torn Achilles. He’s in the final year of his record-setting five-year, $230 million contract, and could earn the early nod if he impresses enough before camp.

The reports comes in the wake of the team drafting Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green at pick No. 182, bringing the total number of quarterbacks on the roster to four alongside Deshaun Watson, Shedeur Sanders, and Gabriel. Watson enters 2026 as the presumed starter considering the hefty financials invested in his services, but to say the situation isn’t fluid is a vast understatement, particularly after the team drafted three quarterbacks in the previous two drafts. Stay tuned, sports fans.