Browns May Have To Make A Sneaky Move With Jared Verse On Roster

It’s going to be tough adjusting to not having Myles Garrett on the Cleveland Browns anymore, but it’s easy to see why GM Andrew Berry made the move. He was reportedly dead set on getting Jared Verse in return from the Los Angeles Rams, and having one of the most explosive young pass rushers in the NFL is going to make the pain of losing Garrett a lot easier.

Verse is only 25 and logged 7.5 sacks and three forced fumbles last season, appearing in 17 games for the second consecutive season to begin his career. He won’t be expected to log 23 sacks this season, but he can certainly be a double-digit sack guy and blossom into a defensive anchor for this franchise for years to come.

There are a couple of minor hoops to jump through before he gets to that point, specifically regarding the number he is going to wear. He is in a bit of a bizarre battle with Dillon Gabriel to wear No. 8, and during a recent episode on 92.3 The Fan, Daryl Ruiter noted that he might be listed as a linebacker instead of a defensive end just to skirt around the rules that would disallow him from wearing No. 8.

“Are you trying to say that the Browns might list him as a LB and play him as a DE…that’s become the trend now,” said Ruiter.

"Are you trying to say that the Browns might list him as a LB and play him as a DE…that's become the trend now."

➡️ @RuiterWrongFAN w/ @CLETalkingHeads on Jared Verse taking over No. 8 with the #Browns, Dillon Gabriel going through the process of changing his number https://t.co/bPEEUOrdjX pic.twitter.com/mMI8jLAODQ

— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) June 5, 2026

According to the rules, defensive ends have to wear numbers between 50-79 or 90-99. Players such as Micah Parsons or Brian Burns wear single-digit numbers and don’t have to deal with this rule for similar reasons, so unless the Browns plan on changing things and listing Verse as a defensive end, this is an early sign that he is taking Gabriel’s number.

It sounds like nothing, but it makes you wonder what’s next for Gabriel. Usually this gets sorted out before players suit up so teams don’t have two notable players wearing the same number, but that’s not the case in this instance. To dig even deeper, it brings about questions about whether or not Gabriel will even be on this roster when camp opens.

We just saw the New York Giants coincidentally kick Jalin Hyatt to the curb on the same day they signed Odell Beckham Jr., and while that likely wasn’t done specifically so Beckham could have his No. 13 back, it wouldn’t be too shocking if the Browns used that as a blueprint. With this QB battle between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders, it’s fair to wonder where Gabriel fits in at all.