Dillon Gabriel was the preferred choice of former Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski and held the starting QB role for the team across a six-game stretch in 2025 until a concussion removed him from the equation and inserted Shedeur Sanders into the spotlight.
Gabriel spoke on Tuesday, April 21 in real detail for the first time since that fateful injury in mid-November about his experiences in the interim — including his continued benching behind Sanders, fans and media counting him out after just one year in the NFL, and the trade rumors surrounding him as the team heads into its offseason work.
“I don’t think it’s ever easy as a competitor, right?” Gabriel said of losing the starting job to Sanders. “But you just want to keep staying the course, trust in God’s plan, and then ultimately you got to run your own race and focus on your goals.”
As to the QB competition this offseason and the widespread speculation that it’s a two-man race between Sanders and Deshaun Watson, Gabriel was careful not to wade too far into those waters.
“You know, I think I’m just running my own race and focused on what I can control, and that’s mastering my reps and doing it a high level,” he said.
Gabriel, a late third-round pick last April, appeared in 10 games for the Browns in 2025 and earned a starting record of 1-5. He completed 59.5 percent of his passes for 937 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions.
Shedeur Sanders Behaving Like Browns’ Starting QB Heading into Offseason Work
GettyCleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
Ever since elevating into the No. 1 job, Sanders has spoken like a man who believes it is his to lose and will remain in his possession in perpetuity.
One reporter asked Sanders Tuesday how he felt about the QB competition this offseason, to which he responded: “What you mean by that?”
After some brief query clarification, Sanders elaborated.
“We competing against ourselves because life is a long time,” Sanders said. “Our time is, it’s on God’s time. You know, we just come in and every day put our deposits in and what we supposed to do and build towards our craft, but it’s not our time. If we thought we had control of anything, then [we’d] be fools. It’s up to us to approach every day and take advantage of each and every rep in each and every time.”
Sanders, a fifth-round pick last spring, went 3-4 as a starter across eight appearances in 2025. He connected on 56.6 percent of his pass attempts for 1,400 yards, seven TDs and 10 INTs, adding 169 rushing yards and one score.
Todd Monken Appears to Favor Shedeur Sanders Over Dillon Gabriel
GettyCleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken.
During a minicamp session on Tuesday, Gabriel reportedly threw two interceptions on just six pass attempts, which isn’t going to help his case as QB1 or QB2.
Furthermore, new Browns head coach Todd Monken said in late March that he was aware of Sanders’ presence at team facilities, where the second-year signal-caller has regularly put in work in the weight room and elsewhere in his bid for the starting job in 2026.
Monken said he did not believe Gabriel had been engaged in the same activities.
The offensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens over the past three seasons, Monken was part of a group that wanted to draft Sanders in Round 5 last April. How he felt about Gabriel coming into the 2025 draft is unclear, but the former Oregon QB apparently hasn’t done too much to build his stock in Monken’s eyes over the months since the Browns hired their new coach.
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