Not long ago, it appeared that Cleveland Browns quarterback Dillon Gabriel would be traded away from the team that snapped him up in the third round of last year’s draft and sent off to Atlanta (or somewhere else) where he might have been reunited with former coach Kevin Stefanski. But that never happened and so Gabriel, despite an underwhelming performance in six starts with the Browns last year, is still on the roster as the team opens its voluntary minicamp this week in Barea.
Gabriel had the first crack at securing the Browns QB1 job last year after the in-season trade that sent Joe Flacco to the Bengals. The results were unimpressive, as the undersize Gabriel (5-foot-11) showed he was not much for taking deep shots down the field and was not nearly as accurate (59.5% on his passes as advertised). The Browns were 1-5 in his six starts, and he threw for just 153.0 yards per game in his time in that role.
Gabriel suffered a concussion in Week 11 against the Ravens, and lost the job to Shedeur Sanders while he was out. Now, the expectation is that Gabriel will be mostly an observer in the battle for the QB1 role, with Sanders and Deshaun Watson as the principals.
Dillon Gabriel Still Has a Chance
But veteran Browns beat writer Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com warns that we should not be too quick to write off Gabriel as the offseason program gets rolling in earnest. The Browns could throw a monkey wrench into the Sanders-Watson battle and instead decide to give Gabriel another QB1 look.
Appearing on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland on Tuesday, Cabot said, “We have all kind of written Dillon Gabriel off. I am guessing that Dillon will be asked, I don’t know how he will address it but I am guessing he will be asked about being overlooked in the quarterback competition. When I look at this quarterback competition now, I think he is going to raise his hand and say, ‘Hey, don’t forget about me.’”
Cleveland Browns Fans Would Be Wary
Of course, Browns fans can be forgiven for rolling their eyes at such a notion. Gabriel simply was not very good as the starter for the Browns, and while it could be argued that Sanders was statistically worse–Gabriel had a rating of 80.8 last year, and Sanders’ was at 68.1–there is no doubt that Sanders gave the Browns a better chance to win each week, even if that chance came with plenty of mistakes.
In fact, fans may recoil at Cabot’s explanation for why the Browns could give Gabriel QB1 reps this offseason: That supercomputer brain of Gabriel’s. It was hyped as the reason he could make it as the team’s starter, but again, Gabriel’s IQ provided no real benefit on the field in 2025.
Said Cabot: “And the reason why I say that is that he is so smart, and he is such a quick processor, that I think he is going to be able to play fast and look good in this new offense. Sometimes the great equalizer for quarterbacks is knowing the system and knowing the scheme, and whichever one of these guys can really assimilate this offense and put onto the grass what they have learned in the classroom, that guy is gonna have a chance to shine in this competition.
“I think he is going to make it a game. Don’t rule him out. He’s somebody I am going to keep my eye on.”
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