Despite a recent signal that they would be comfortable keeping all four quarterbacks, that never felt realistic for the Cleveland Browns. With the NFL's 53-man roster limit, keeping three players who are not going to play week-to-week never made sense. Then again, the Browns have rarely made sense over the years.
On Monday, Cleveland wised up and moved the only quarterback they really could. The Browns traded veteran QB Kenny Pickett to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for a fifth-round pick:
Browns trading QB Kenny Pickett to Raiders for 2026 5th-round pick. (via @RapSheet, @MikeGarafolo, @TomPelissero) pic.twitter.com/f4gYIwM7zr
— NFL (@NFL) August 26, 2025
The Raiders found themselves in need of a veteran backup option behind starter Geno Smith following an injury to Aidan O'Connell. The Raiders' desperation allowed Cleveland to recoup a fifth-round pick, which is what they initially gave up to trade for Pickett this offseason.
The Browns will now move forward with Joe Flacco as the starter, and two rookies behind him in Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.
Shedeur Sanders' path to playing time just got clearer in Cleveland
While Flacco will begin the season as the Browns' starting QB, the veteran is obviously not the future for Cleveland. At some point when things inevitably derail this season - as they always do for this franchise - the Browns are going to turn the keys over to one of the rookies. They don't have a choice - they need to find out, and quickly, if one of them is the future at the position or if they need to go all-in for a QB in the 2026 draft class.
Following the preseason, it's clear that Gabriel is ahead of Sanders in the pecking order. The Browns prioritized Gabriel throughout Training Camp after drafting the former Oregon QB two full rounds before they drafted Sanders.
The battle between the two seemed neck-and-neck for the majority of camp, with Sanders consistently outperforming his fellow rookie in practice. The Browns got what they wanted out of the last preseason game, however, with Gabriel showing a ton of promise, and Sanders struggling behind a patchwork offensive line.
It has never been a fair fight, and it was never going to be one. But Sanders' spot on the roster is now secure with the Pickett trade. It's still likely that he'll spend the season on the bench, but the chances of him playing this season are a whole lot higher now that there are only three quarterbacks remaining in the room.
If he gets an opportunity, unfortunately for the Browns, he'll probably make the most of it.