Nobody in the Browns quarterback room is content to simply blend into the background, and Dillon Gabriel just made that very clear. The second-year signal caller selected in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft made waves on social media recently when he posted a photo of Baker Mayfield wearing number six for the Cleveland Browns, the same number Gabriel will wear this season. It is a simple post on the surface, but the message underneath it is anything but simple.
“Dillon Gabriel embracing his new number with the Browns,” ESPN Cleveland posted.
Dillon Gabriel embracing his new number with the Browns 👀👀👀 pic.twitter.com/fOIpXpS1kQ
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) June 14, 2026
He originally came to Cleveland wearing number eight, but Jared Verse worked out a deal with him to acquire it.
The number six connection between Gabriel and Mayfield is where this gets genuinely interesting, and there are two very different ways to read what Gabriel was trying to say. The first interpretation is that Gabriel sees his own situation mirroring Mayfield’s early Cleveland chapter in terms of being underestimated and written off before he ever got a real chance to prove himself. Mayfield was drafted first overall in 2018, faced enormous scrutiny throughout his time in Cleveland, and was eventually traded to Carolina before finding his footing in Tampa Bay, where he has put together three strong seasons and earned two Pro Bowl selections.
The second interpretation is simpler. Gabriel may simply see himself in what Mayfield became as a quarterback, not the Cleveland version, but the Tampa Bay version. The player Mayfield is today is one of the more underrated stories in the NFL.
Either way, Gabriel is sending a message that he belongs in this conversation. The Browns selected him because they saw something worth developing, and by all accounts he has not walked into Berea acting like a player who is satisfied with a roster spot.
Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders are the names dominating the headlines in this competition, and rightfully so. But Gabriel posting that photo is a reminder that there is a third quarterback in that building who has not conceded anything to anyone.
Browns fans should keep an eye on Gabriel this summer. The quiet ones in training camp battles have a way of making noise when it counts most.
NEXT: Early Jared Verse Impressions Should Excite Browns Fans
