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The Cleveland Browns carried three quarterbacks on their initial 53-man roster after trading Kenny Pickett to the Las Vegas Raiders, and coach Kevin Stefanski now finalized his depth chart. Joe Flacco will be the starter, while third-round pick Dillon Gabriel will be the No. 2 quarterback. That leaves fifth-round pick Shedeur Sanders as the third-stringer.

"It's such an all-encompassing evaluation," Stefanski said. "Everything the guys did in the games was important. We also saw a lot of them out here in practice and how they are at their craft and (Gabriel) is certainly somebody that we think is getting better and better."

This development should not come as a surprise. Not only did Cleveland select Gabriel before Sanders in the 2025 NFL Draft, but he also ended the preseason on a stronger note. 

In the final preseason game against the Los Angeles Rams, Gabriel completed 12 of 19 passes for a team-high 129 yards and one touchdown. That included an impressive 11-play, 86-yard touchdown drive with two minutes remaining in the first half. In all, Gabriel completed 25 of 37 passes for 272 yards, one touchdown and one interception in his two preseason outings.

As for Sanders, he started off the preseason with a fantastic outing in which he completed 14 of 23 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns with zero interceptions in a 30-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers. It was truly the "Shedeur showcase" with Pickett and Gabriel sidelined due to hamstring injuries, but then Sanders missed the second exhibition game with an oblique injury. When he returned vs. the Rams, the former Colorado star struggled. Sanders took five sacks and completed just 3 of 6 passes for 14 yards before being pulled for Tyler Huntley at the end of the game.