It may be a controversial take to say that having one of your quarterbacks get injured is a good thing, but that turned out to be the case for the Cleveland Browns heading toward the NFL roster deadline. Dillon Gabriel emerged from the preseason finale with a back issue, which was greeted with a great deal of skepticism after he played so well against the New England Patriots on Thursday.
According to ESPN insider Adam Schefter, Gabriel experienced some pain on Friday and had an MRI exam that revealed a “notable” injury. It allowed the Browns to put Gabriel on injured reserve and include rookie Taylen Green on the 53-man roster.
The Browns therefore did not have to decide whether to carry four quarterbacks or expose Green to waivers in an attempt to get him onto their practice squad. It was a nifty bit of roster manipulation that could work out for Cleveland in the long run.
Even if Gabriel weren’t injured, the Browns made the right decision to keep Green on the roster, as his intriguing potential outweighs the risk of using the spot on a much lesser backup player.
It can reasonably be argued that the Browns would not have lost Green to a waiver claim, as every NFL team passed on him multiple times until he wound up as the No. 182 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. There is a chance that another team could have convinced him to sign to their practice squad as a free agent with promises of a better opportunity to develop with a more highly regarded franchise.
So, instead of losing him for nothing, the Browns made the correct call to protect him and continue to find out what they’ve got. Even though he may not have the polish of a future starting QB, his rare athleticism could turn him into a much more explosive version than someone like Taysom Hill, who provided the New Orleans Saints offense with a special gadget player over a long career.
In addition, even though head coaches claim that every one of the 53 slots is so very important and that every single one of them is vital, the truth is that the back end of the roster can change daily, as the Browns have proven over the past two days. So Green had substantially more value than anyone else whose place he may have taken with one of the last remaining openings.
Quarterbacks who can run and throw like Green are rare, even in the NFL, and if the Browns can properly develop his skill set, he could turn out to be a very exciting player for them.
NEXT: 2 Browns Players Who Could Surprise Us All In 2026
