Jared Verse was going to make headlines as soon as he stepped onto the field for his first day with the Cleveland Browns. The young edge rusher is seen as the key piece that the Browns received in trading away Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams.
However, Verse drew some notice for something few people likely expected. At his first practice on Wednesday, Verse was wearing No. 8, which makes sense, as that is the number he wore in his first two NFL seasons with the Rams. But on the Browns, that number already belongs to quarterback Dillon Gabriel, and he was also wearing it at practice after doing so for his entire rookie season last year.
Verse wearing No. 8 drew the attention of ESPN host Rich Eisen, who raised a big question about Verse’s jersey number and how he wound up with it.
“Did he just take it? A number is a number,” Eisen asked.
Jersey numbers are very important to NFL players, especially if there is significance behind them. Gabriel wore No. 8 throughout his college career, dating back to his days at Oklahoma before playing at Oregon. Verse wore No. 5 while playing for Florida State before donning No. 8 with the Rams.
Garrett, who wore No. 95 for the Browns, was able to keep that number with the Rams. However, according to ESPN, he said he had to pay to get it from teammate Poona Ford.
With up to 90 players on the roster during preseason workouts and training camp, NFL rules allow for two players to wear the same number. So, it’s possible that talks with Verse and Gabriel about the number could not reach a resolution in time, but the situation could be sorted out going forward.
It’s also possible that Gabriel will not be on the team after training camp, based on the Browns’ QB situation, but it would be better for everyone concerned if this is sorted out well before that decision is potentially made.
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