It’s not often you see a four-man quarterback competition in the NFL, but that’s where the Cleveland Browns are at the moment after completely overhauling the depth chart this offseason.
Deshaun Watson may be out for the season after tearing his Achilles a second time, and gone are Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Jameis Winston, who have been replaced by Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.
There has been plenty of speculation about how this situation will play out, but former Tennessee Titans general manager Jon Robinson recently gave his take on how things could unfold as the Browns get closer to Week 1.
“I think the battle really lies between [Joe Flacco] and Kenny for the starter. Then, however Dillon and Shedeur fall, QB2 or QB3, that’ll be determined later, depending upon how they play in the preseason and how they finish out the OTAs. … I think they want to find the next guy in Dillon and Shedeur. But in the meantime, unless one of those guys just has a meteoric rise through the rest of June and then when training camp starts, it’ll be between Joe and Kenny of who’s gonna run out there first,” Robinson said on “Good Morning Football.”
Jon Robinson on how he expects the the @Browns QB situation to play out👇 pic.twitter.com/lcvThhmzKF
— Good Morning Football (@gmfb) June 2, 2025
Robinson’s thoughts echo the sentiment shared by most people close to the situation, as the roster is such a mess that it would be irresponsible to subject a rookie to this situation.
Cleveland’s first eight games are likely to be very difficult, so the Browns could choose to go with a veteran early on and make a switch to one of the rookies if things aren’t going well.
The Browns have two first-round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft, which is projected to have a loaded quarterback class, in case things don’t work out this year.
Ideally, Pickett, Gabriel or Sanders will emerge at some point during the season to convince the organization that one of them can be the potential franchise quarterback, but it’s nice to have a safety net just in case the Browns falter again.
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