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Which Browns Quarterback Will Get Traded?

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There might not be a quarterback room that carries more intrigue for the upcoming season than the Browns. There’s an unusual amount of interest but that’s because Cleveland has taken an unusual approach to building out a room that includes veteran Joe Flacco, former first-rounder Kenny Pickett, third-round rookie Dillon Gabriel and fifth-rounder Shedeur Sanders. 

That’s quite the cast of names and characters who will be competing for the starting job. Flacco is a fan favorite who came off the couch to help the Browns to a playoff appearance in 2023. Pickett started his career with the division-rival Steelers. And then of course there’s Sanders, one of the most polarizing prospects to enter the league in some time — who wasn’t even the first rookie passer selected by the organization. The group has the public fascinated, as evidenced by the detailed OTAs passing stats charted by the local ESPN radio station. 

The four are competing for more than just the starting job, however. Generally teams will carry just three quarterbacks on the final 53-man roster in the regular season. Some don’t even like rostering more than two. Barring injuries that thin the herd, basic math and logic suggest one of the Browns’ quarterbacks is going to end up on a different team, which is why there’s been no shortage of trade speculation surrounding this quartet — some of it informed, some of it less so. Browns GM Andrew Berry has claimed he’s willing to keep four quarterbacks on the roster. That could easily be posturing for negotiations but Berry also has enough of an unconventional track record to not discount his word completely.

Ultimately, how each quarterback performs in training camp and the preseason is going to have far more of an impact on how this shakes out than their completion percentage in May drills. But what would it look like if we tried to take our best guess at what the Browns’ quarterback depth chart will look like in September? 

Making Sense Of Cleveland’s Plan At Quarterback

To understand the Browns’ unorthodox approach at the quarterback position, we have to go back to the infamous trade for QB Deshaun Watson. Their current circumstances are directly downstream from that disaster. Watson is still on the roster but is rehabbing an Achilles tendon he tore twice in the span of a few months. It does not appear as if he factors into the team’s on-field plans this year, and owner Jimmy Haslam openly admitted the trade was a flop earlier this offseason. The likely outcome is Watson spending the season on injured reserve and getting cut with a June 1 designation next offseason, though it will be interesting to see if he recovers well enough to try and throw a wrench into things. 

Even though 2026 is the final year of the five-year, $230 million guaranteed contract Watson signed, the Browns have kicked the can on the majority of that and still have to account for $131 million on their cap in 2026 and beyond. That’s affected how they’ve approached the position this offseason, as they didn’t have the financial flexibility to make a major swing, even for someone like Seahawks QB Sam Darnold. They also had the No. 2 pick in what was widely seen as a one-quarterback draft. 

With their hands tied by Watson’s contract and other circumstances while facing a multi-year rebuild, the Browns took a shotgun approach to the quarterback position. None of the four players they added were expensive, with Cleveland acquiring the lot for less than $12 million, a third-round pick, two fifths and a sixth. By taking multiple dart throws, the Browns increase their chances of landing a starting-caliber passer. If one hits, great. If not, they’ll have more flexibility to try again in 2026.

Adding four cheap quarterbacks also gives the Browns the potential to flip one of those players for a profit. Cleveland has one of the more analytically inclined front offices in the league and treats player acquisitions more like trading stock options at times than traditional NFL roster building. 

So Which QB Will The Browns Trade? 

Here’s a look at all four quarterbacks currently on the roster — Flacco, Pickett, Gabriel and Sanders — analyzing the pros and cons of trading each, as well as what the path to playing time is for each player. 

Joe Flacco

Pros

Flacco is easily the most experienced, productive and projectable quarterback on the roster right now. The 40-year-old is going on his 18th season in the NFL and has over 45,000 career passing yards, 273 total touchdowns and a 105-86 career record. He also has a Super Bowl ring, although it came all the way back in 2012 with the Ravens. 

More relevant to the Browns, they’ve seen Flacco be effective in their uniform already. When injuries decimated their quarterback room in 2023, the Browns turned to Flacco who was on the cusp of retirement. He was unsigned and available in late November when Cleveland added him to the practice squad, but then proceeded to compile a 4-1 record with 13 touchdown passes en route to the third playoff berth for Browns HC Kevin Stefanski. That run made Flacco a fan favorite, so much so that the Browns never really considered bringing him back in 2024 for fear of undercutting Watson. 

Flacco took the new lease on his career and signed with the Colts as a backstop for streaky young QB Anthony Richardson, going on to start six games as both an injury and performance replacement for Richardson. He’s back in Cleveland to try and recapture a little bit of that 2023 magic, as even though the Browns are clearly rebuilding, the coaching staff can’t afford to just throw in the towel on the season. 

His contract strikes a balance between the goals of the front office and the coaching staff. Flacco’s deal is for one year and $4.25 million, with incentives that could approximately double that if he hits them all. That’s incredibly cheap for a starter and right around the upper crust for backups. 

Cons

Flacco’s a cool story but he’s not a magic bullet to the problems that ail the Browns. He would rank near the bottom of the league’s starters. Take out his run with the Browns in 2023, and he has a record of 5-18 since leaving Baltimore. Turnovers have been a consistent issue. Even in the playoff run two years ago, he threw eight interceptions. 

While Flacco brings a level of competence to the position that the Browns could certainly do worse than, the veteran is who he is at this point in his career. He’s on the roster because of his floor, not because of his upside. That’s reflected in his salary which would not be prohibitive at all for a backup if he ends up being demoted. It also wouldn’t be too much for another team to take on in a trade if things shake out a certain way. At the end of the day, the 2025 season for the Browns is really about 2026 and beyond, and Flacco doesn’t offer a whole lot for the team beyond this year. 

Conclusion

Given his experience and history with the Browns, Flacco is the current frontrunner to be the starting quarterback for the Browns in Week 1. The way the reps were divided this spring confirmed that, with the Browns spending extra time getting the young guys up to speed to be ready for camp. While the Browns have no choice but to take a long view with the roster, there are still a ton of people with a lot invested in the upcoming season, such as Stefanski and veteran players like DE Myles Garrett and G Joel Bitonio. Cleveland can’t look those players in the eye and justify starting any quarterback besides the one that gives the team the best chance to win. 

However, Flacco’s lead is certainly not insurmountable. One of the younger quarterbacks could pass him up during camp and the preseason. Even if Flacco wins the job Week 1, there are many paths to him losing his spot, whether it’s injuries, underperformance or the Browns simply losing too many games and wanting to evaluate other options. Still, I would put Flacco’s chances of being traded fairly low. He has more value to the Browns as a backup and insurance policy than he likely will for other teams. 

One thing to watch: because Flacco is a veteran, he’s not subject to waivers, unlike the other three quarterbacks on the roster. That means the team could release him with a handshake agreement to bring him back to the roster or practice squad and not risk losing him to a claim. Those sorts of roster gymnastics are something to keep in mind as we get closer to September. 

Dillon Gabriel

Pros

By virtue of using a third-round pick to select him this past April, the Browns have invested more in Gabriel than any other quarterback on the roster right now. That should not be overlooked as we try to project what this quarterback room will look like. Cleveland loved Gabriel as a prospect, spending extensive time with him during the pre-draft process, including an official 30 visit. They took him well above where he ranked on Arif Hasan’s Consensus Big Boad, selecting him at No. 94 overall when he was ranked No. 168 by consensus. 

“Decorated college career, very accurate, very poised, throws with anticipation, good mobility. We just thought he had a really well-rounded game,” Berry said after the draft. 

Our draft analyst, Ethan Woodie, was also high on Gabriel, ranking him as his No. 4 quarterback in this past class, ahead of more highly-touted players like Giants first-round QB Jaxson Dart or Saints second-round QB Tyler Shough. Woodie explains:

“While he projects as a priority backup more than someone you’re drafting to be the starter, he does all the little things really well. He’s smart and experienced, with elite ball placement and pocket movement. Even though he lacks ideal measurements, the NFL has overlooked similar prospects in the past and gotten burned for it. Gabriel could make a team very happy somewhere on Day 2 or early Day 3.”

Gabriel arrives in Cleveland as the NCAA record holder for college starts at 63 and was prolific with nearly 19,000 yards in six years at UCF, Oklahoma and Oregon. He threw 155 touchdowns to just 32 interceptions and rushed for another 33 touchdowns. His scouting report is a little reminiscent of another quarterback who played for Oklahoma and the Browns, and while now-Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield is more physically talented, Gabriel profiles as a similar strong fit in Stefanski’s offense. 

Cons

Even though Gabriel was drafted in the third round, it was late in the round in a poor quarterback class. Even his staunchest supporters note that Gabriel profiles more like a high-end backup than a difference-making starter, and the Browns would probably admit that if you caught them in a moment of honesty. The lack of standout traits like size, mobility and arm talent is a major drag on his potential ceiling. 

Conclusion

Gabriel’s draft capital makes him a virtual lock for the roster, and while it’s tough to 100 percent rule out a trade, the fact that the Browns took him so high and ahead of consensus suggests it would be tough for another team to meet any asking price. Even if the Browns drafted Gabriel to be a backup, he could still return value on that third-round pick over the next four years of his rookie contract. 

As far as where Gabriel stands in the pecking order, the Browns did draft him higher than Sanders and the quality of the reps he got in OTAs and minicamp was slightly better. However, if the Browns viewed Gabriel as a developmental backup quarterback, that means they could be applying slightly different criteria to judge him vs Sanders. That’s relevant when trying to hash out each rookie’s chances of playing or starting this season.  

Shedeur Sanders

Pros

The way the spring played out made it clear that Sanders didn’t belong in the conversation as a top-three pick in the draft. But he also was far, far better as a prospect than his fifth-round capital would suggest. A post-mortem on Sanders’ slide is a completely different article and the topic has been beaten to death a little, but I think it’s safe to sum it up with two things. Sanders miscalculated in how he handled the pre-draft process, leading to his slide out of the first round. Once a quarterback falls out of the first, teams are evaluating them as potential backups because history says that’s what you’re getting with the pick. And teams abhor backup quarterbacks who generate any kind of distraction. 

Add it all up, and that’s how the Browns got a potential starting-caliber quarterback in the fifth round. Sanders might have the most potential of any of the four passers we’re talking about today. He wasn’t just a media creation; he put up a lot of impressive moments in two years starting at Colorado. Let’s check back in with Ethan, who had Sanders ranked second in the class:

“The poise and feel Sanders has in his game is exceptional. He processes the game at an extremely high level, making complex reads and taking on a lot of pre-snap responsibility for a college quarterback. It’s no surprise that he’s a coach’s son, and you can tell Sanders grew up around the game. Sanders combines the mental side of the game with the physical — his release is stable and consistent, and he maintains his throwing platform even under immense pressure. This leads to his stellar accuracy, with a 74-percent completion rate as a senior. It’s really hard to rattle him, and he’ll keep making plays no matter the situation around him…He plays and carries himself like a franchise quarterback, and that swagger will endear him to some teams.”

It’s pretty easy to argue Sanders has more starting upside than Gabriel even though he was drafted lower — and we’ll dig more into why in a minute. He has more tools in his toolbelt than Gabriel and has similar strengths, ones that also line up well with how Stefanski wants to run his offense. The other major selling point with Sanders now is how astonishingly cheap he was, even going beyond the draft capital. His contract has a total value of $4.647 million over the next four years and his signing bonus was just $447,380. 

Cons

Sanders did slide for a reason, actually several. He doesn’t have overpowering physical traits, whether that’s arm strength, size or speed. He meets the NFL threshold in those categories but he’s got less margin for error and will have to lean on different traits to win. He took far too many sacks trying to run around and make things happen at Colorado, and that will have to improve in the NFL where the pursuit players are far more gifted. 

There are also some immaturity concerns triggered by the way the pre-draft process went, though by most accounts Sanders is a good kid without any real character concerns. The real worry from teams was the sideshow baggage that comes with Sanders, including his high-profile father and his loyal fan base. Sanders is a charismatic personality and has been a big-time star at the college level. Even if he puts his head down and gets to work in Cleveland — which by all indications is what he’s doing — there’s just innate distraction potential by his presence. Deion Sanders has already given an interview criticizing the criticism of his son and how he and his camp handled the pre-draft process. 

It’s also fair to wonder how committed the Browns are to Sanders. They did trade up to take him, but waited until the fifth round and took another quarterback ahead of him. The video of the Cleveland war room after they took Sanders was…glum? It certainly wasn’t jubilant, leading to speculation that the owner forced the pick.

All of the team’s comments and the reporting about the reason for the pick essentially cited different versions of “the value was too much to ignore.” If value is the chief motivator, then that suggests the Browns will be looking for the chance to turn a profit. 

Conclusion

Sanders is the biggest name in this room, but I would guess right now he has the second-best odds of being traded. The Browns citing the value of the pick is telling, and that would align with their overall front office approach. They’ve pursued moves that should be +EV this offseason, whether it’s four cheap dart throws at quarterback or passing on Travis Hunter, a player Berry compared to Shohei Ohtani, for a trade package including an extra first and second-round pick. 

Considering how many other teams also passed on Sanders, however, I’m not sure what exactly his trade market would be or what the Browns would let him go for. Perhaps that changes if he flashes during the preseason, but then that also makes the Browns more likely to keep him and give him some run later in the season. There could also be an injury to another team’s quarterback that creates a need. 

It might be more likely that the Browns look to trade Sanders down the road, not necessarily this preseason. We’ve seen young quarterbacks who have flashed potential but weren’t cemented surefire starters still return value in trades in recent years:

  • Pickett was dealt from the Steelers to the Eagles, with Pittsburgh swapping a fourth and getting a third and two sevenths. The Eagles then flipped him for a fifth-round pick to the Browns. 
  • Washington traded QB Sam Howell to the Seahawks for a similar swap, turning a fourth and a sixth into a third and a fifth. 
  • The Bears traded QB Justin Fields for a conditional fourth that ended up being a sixth after Fields failed to reach the playing time condition. 

Just about all of those deals would give the Browns a chance to turn the fifth-round pick they spent on Sanders into an asset or assets of greater value, making him a trade candidate to watch beyond this summer. 

Kenny Pickett

Pros

Pickett has the best pedigree of the group as a former first-round pick by the Steelers, even though things obviously didn’t work out. Teams do tend to pay attention to draft capital even for “busts” as it was a sign that the league as a whole thought a player was talented. That likely played into why the Browns targeted Pickett as their first acquisition at the position this summer. 

You can make a case that Pickett is the most physically talented player in this group, too. He doesn’t have the cannon that Flacco does, even at his age, but he’s bigger than both Gabriel and Sanders and checks the prototypical size boxes that teams look for. Pickett probably has a stronger arm than both rookies and he’s a more mobile player than Flacco. 

Like the other passers, Pickett was affordable to bring in. The Browns gave up a mid-round pick and acquired him for $2.6 million on the final year of his rookie contract. That’s peanuts for a starter and still cheap for a backup. Positive quotes this time of year should always be taken with a grain of salt, but for whatever it’s worth Pickett has drawn a lot of praise from Stefanski. The team believes they can get more out of him than what the Steelers were able to. 

Cons

Pickett’s first two years with the Steelers weren’t good. He threw just 13 touchdowns in 24 starts across two seasons and equaled that number of interceptions, although Pittsburgh did have a 14-10 record with him under center. Injuries were also a problem as Pickett got banged up both years. He was traded after not embracing a potential competition with Russell Wilson last year, and he wasn’t much better with the Eagles even in a much stronger offensive environment.

Quarterback reclamation projects are all the rage right now but in a lot of those cases, the players have at least shown some potential. There’s very little to point to in that regard with Pickett, whether it’s his production or his tape. It’s all lackluster. 

Pickett’s also on an expiring contract which changes the dynamic for the Browns, making him more of a short-term value candidate rather than a long-term one. His $2.6 million salary is guaranteed, which does work in his favor for a roster spot. The Browns won’t save anything by cutting him. It does give Cleveland extra incentive to work out a trade if Pickett proves to be the odd man out, though. 

Conclusion

The rookies have more investment and potential long-term value to the Browns than Pickett, while he’s currently behind Flacco in the pecking order to start. Even if things go south this season, the Browns will have more incentive to evaluate the rookies than Pickett, who is more of a known commodity and is in a contract year. All of this makes Pickett the most likely odd one out in the Browns quarterback competition, whether it’s via cut or trade. 

The post Which Browns Quarterback Will Get Traded? appeared first on NFLTradeRumors.co.