Shedeur Sanders lost the preseason competition to become the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback, and now he may be fighting to remain Deshaun Watson’s backup. With Dillon Gabriel eligible to come off injured reserve, the Browns might prefer having him in that role instead.
That would certainly rile up Sanders’ legion of loyal fans, who have been kept quiet by Watson’s play so far this season. Head coach Todd Monken has shown he isn’t influenced by what they think, so a change on the depth chart cannot be ruled out.
With that in mind, insider Tony Grossi is raising a big question about Gabriel’s future and how the Browns view him compared to Sanders.
“They like him, but do they like him enough to make him QB2 and demote Shedeur?” Grossi said.
"Do they like him enough to make him QB2 and demote Shedeur?," – @TonyGrossi on Dillon Gabriel 🧐 pic.twitter.com/RRVENz5gEk
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) October 5, 2026
Cleveland placed Gabriel on injured reserve with a back issue at cutdown day in late August. That allowed the Browns to keep just three quarterbacks on their 53-man roster and avoid exposing rookie Taylen Green to a potential departure.
Now, the organization has to decide if it wants Gabriel to return to practice or to remain on IR. The choice could prove crucial to his development, especially if they view him as having more value to the team than Sanders going forward.
Even limited practice time would help Gabriel’s development, but activating him would open a 21-day window for another decision. If he is not put on the active roster by then, he would revert to season-ending injured reserve and be unavailable for the rest of the year, even if Watson, Sanders, or Green wound up injured.
Of course, the Browns could look to trade Sanders or Gabriel before the post-Week 9 deadline to clear up this matter once and for all. But now that they are legitimate playoff contenders, these moves are much riskier than they would have been otherwise.
Despite his good start to the season so far, Watson is still more likely to leave than to stay after this season. Either way, the Browns are expected to be looking for a potential franchise QB in the 2027 NFL Draft.
A third straight quarterback competition involving Sanders seems like more trouble than it’s worth, which could leave Gabriel as the only one of the two on the team, maybe at some point soon.
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