“I have a plan that’s in pencil.” That’s how Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski described his approach to the four-way quarterback race brewing in Berea. With Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel, and Shedeur Sanders all vying for reps, Stefanski told reporters Wednesday, “All four of those guys did a great job in the spring… but ultimately, we’d love to make decisions sooner than later.” The Browns will continue rotating quarterbacks through this week’s practices, with tweaks expected next week. But behind Stefanski’s calm tone is a franchise teetering on urgency.
The season opener against the Bengals is weeks away, and the quarterback picture remains as blurry as it is high-stakes. Decades removed from Bernie Kosar and the heartbreaks of Municipal Stadium, Cleveland remains one of four NFL teams never to reach a Super Bowl. But expectations are no longer modest. On the first day of training camp, Myles Garrett shattered any illusion of patience: “I expect to get to the Super Bowl,” the reigning Defensive Player of the Year said. That proclamation didn’t just raise the bar. It turned up the heat on Kevin Stefanski.
Because now? Every throw, every depth chart shuffle carries the weight of a fanbase that’s done waiting. 92.3 The Fan dropped a reality check with Mary Kay Cabot breaking it down: “I don’t know if they’ll name a starter at this point,” she said. “But I think by the time they get home from Philadelphia—that game on August 16—they have to know who their starting quarterback is.” The significance? That Eagles preseason matchup is no longer just a tune-up—it’s a deadline. Cabot underscored that Stefanski’s staff will reassess after the first four days of camp. “He’s going to huddle up with offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave,” she said. What that means, essentially, is a reset could be coming by Monday. A new leader might emerge or get left behind.
That pressure isn’t hypothetical; it’s 100% real. Cabot didn’t sugarcoat it: “You can’t spend a whole bunch of camp in a four-way quarterback competition. It’s not sustainable.” And she’s right! It’s NFL camp with real jobs and real playoff pressure. The Browns don’t just need a starter; they need stability. But right now? It’s chaos. Aditi Kinkhabwala thinks Kenny Pickett might be the frontrunner. Kyle Long publicly backed Joe Flacco as QB1. And then there’s Dillon Gabriel—ripping deep balls and getting legit buzz from inside the building. He opened camp with clean timing and tempo, and even Spencer German called his fake-bootleg deep shot “the throw of the day.”
Meanwhile, Shedeur Sanders sits in the tension. Drafted in the fifth round—two rounds after Gabriel—he wasn’t expected to set the world on fire. But expectations shifted the moment fans saw his footwork and poise in early OTA drills. Gabriel was sharp, decisive, and unbothered. Shedeur? Not lost, but not leading either. And that’s a problem when the window is this small. Tony Grossi laid it bare on ESPN Cleveland: “They are intrigued by Dillon Gabriel. They think from the neck up he is a No. 1 pick.” That’s not just praise—that’s hierarchy.
Gabriel’s foot is already in the door, and Shedeur’s still knocking. And if this pace holds, Cleveland’s QB math could be about subtraction. Two rookies came in—but only one might be staying.
Same rotation, new pressure: Browns QB battle still wide open under Kevin Stefanski
Locked On Browns’ reporter Spencer German pulled back the curtain on how Kevin Stefanski opened Day 1 of training camp, and the script looked eerily familiar. “You want to hear about the quarterbacks. It was very similar, rotationally, to how they ran things during minicamp. During seven-on-sevens, it was Flacco to Pickett to Gabriel to Sanders.” Translation? The hierarchy hasn’t changed. Stefanski is still two-spotting reps, still prioritizing structure over chaos. But that doesn’t mean a decision isn’t looming. The camp rotation wasn’t built for evaluation. It was built to maintain order… for now.
NFL, American Football Herren, USA Cleveland Browns Rookie Minicamp May 10, 2025 Berea, OH, USA Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders 12 waits his turn for a drill during rookie minicamp at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus. Berea CrossCountry Mortgage Campus OH USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xKenxBlazex 20250510_kab_bk4_058
The 11-on-11s only cemented the feeling that Kevin Stefanski is holding back on a quarterback verdict, at least publicly. “It was Pickett running with the ones, it was Dylan Gabriel running with the twos, and it was Shedeur Sanders running with the threes, Joe Flacco standing by as a spectator,” German added. Despite standing on the sidelines, Flacco may still hold the inside track. Mary Kay Cabot added fuel to that idea, stating, “They might not come out and announce it, and they might let Kenny and Joe, which is what I think it’ll come down to, kind of finish it out a little bit. But I think by that point, they’ll have it narrowed down pretty well.” The Browns might be keeping things quiet, but signs point to a two-man finale.
Statistically, though, the waters are murkier. Flacco’s 196-game resume brings 45,697 yards and 257 touchdowns to the table, but his age (40) begs the question: How much longer can he sustain it? Pickett, though younger, has just 15 touchdowns to 14 interceptions over three seasons. Not exactly franchise-saving. Meanwhile, Dillon Gabriel enters as a college stat machine with nearly 19,000 passing yards and 155 touchdowns, while Shedeur Sanders offers high efficiency (74% completion) and big-game upside from his time under Coach Prime. For Cleveland, it’s not just a battle of resumes. It’s a battle of timelines. And everyone, rookies included, is fighting for their future.
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