The Cleveland Browns have a mess to sort out at quarterback this spring. The Browns have five quarterbackers on their roster: Deshaun Watson, Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel, and Shedeur Sanders.
Watson won’t participate in practice at OTAs as he recovers from an Achilles injury he suffered last season.
Gabriel and Sanders are getting their first taste of practice at the NFL level this weekend during the Browns’ rookie minicamp. Cleveland appears to be giving the top pick between the two first dibs with reps during the minicamp.
Gabriel, who was selected with the No. 94 pick, took the first snap in team drills while Sanders, the No. 144 pick, waited his turn.
Cleveland Browns had Dillon Gabriel taking reps first
Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski explained the situation to reporters after practice on Friday. Per video from ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi, Stefanski said not to read too much into Gabriel taking the first snap.
“Browns HC Kevin Stefanski said not to look too deep into Dillon Gabriel taking the first snap in team drills on Shedeur Sanders today,”Oyefusi posted. “He added that both QBs were “as advertised” throwing live today.”
“I wouldn’t look into anything,” Sefanski said. “You’ll see the whole weekend, going through the spring, I mean, we don’t pay too close attention to who is in there first.”
Browns HC Kevin Stefanski said not to look too deep into Dillon Gabriel taking the first snap in team drills on Shedeur Sanders today. He added that both QBs were “as advertised” throwing live today pic.twitter.com/JzyOjFHXvf
— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) May 9, 2025
Shedeur Sanders is bringing a media circus to Cleveland
Who takes the first reps and who takes the majority of reps will be something reporters pay close attention to this spring and in training camp.
It would make sense for Grabiel to take the first snap since he was taken two rounds before Sanders. However, the situation with Sanders is a bit different, given that he slipped to the fifth round.
Sanders had a better pre-draft grade than Gabriel. He fell because NFL teams didn’t like the idea of having a circus follow them during OTAs for a quarterback that was projected to be a backup with the ceiling of a starter.
Stefanski now has to deal with the circus, and Sanders’ development will be the talk of Cleveland in OTAs–no matter how many reps he gets.
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