Through the OTAs and the training camp, the Cleveland Browns HC Kevin Stefanski had only one QB ruling: there isn’t one. Repeatedly, the team answered that it is an open competition despite a QB room brimming with four prospects. In the first two preseason matchups, where Kenny Pickett was already out due to a hamstring injury, the two rookie QBs, Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel, got to test the waters and came out springing with wins. But on Monday, veteran Joe Flacco officially got the starting job.

The Browns begin their season against five of the six teams that were in the playoffs last season. The first two games are against divisional rivals, Cincinnati and Baltimore. No wonder Stefanski chose Flacco for his familiarity with the Browns from two years ago when he led the team to a playoff berth. However, Mike Florio has already pointed out, “Because the Browns is the Browns, can you completely rule out Jimmy Haslam putting his thumb on the scale and wanting Shedeur Sanders to be the starter? I can’t completely rule that out.” Chris Simms also agrees that Stefanski might have to rewrite his plans in one situation.

Discussing who will be Flacco’s backup in case of an injury with Florio for NFL on NBC, Simms pointed out, “We talked about Flacco. Yeah, he might hold down the fort for a little while. But if they don’t see success or the promised land somewhere in front of them, they’re still going to make a switch to one of these younger quarterbacks. I just don’t think you’re going to be able to avoid it.

“Between the clamoring of the fans, people like you and me, and the owner himself, at some point, they’re all going to sit there and go, ‘Hey, let’s see what one of these young guys got.’ If we get the type of Cleveland Browns year that we expect—where we expect them to be a below-average football team, that’s certainly what I’m expecting. I certainly don’t think they’re going to win the AFC North—then it’s really just about where it goes from there.

“Yeah, they’ve got two rookies. We know Shedeur Sanders gets a lot of attention. He did really good in a tough spot starting his first preseason game. He definitely did really good. Dillon Gabriel did damn good the other day, too, in Philadelphia. He had an interception and he fumbled the ball, I get it, but he impresses me. He pops. He does. His arm is explosive, the way he moves is explosive. 

“He’s had a ton of reps in college—between Oklahoma and Oregon—so he knows how to play the game. Shedeur might have more untapped potential as we go forward, Gabriel’s pretty polished and all of that, but man, I like Gabriel’s talent. So, I know people out there think there’s a setup to make Gabriel look better than Shedeur. No! I think they like both of them, and I think Gabriel has got more talent and ability than people realize… I’ll be interested to see who comes into the game when they do decide to go the rookie route at some point during the season.”

With the patience running thin, Haslam wants solid answers, and the fans want gameplay. Stefanski, caught in the middle, needs to balance it all with a good presentation to start the season in a rather tough initial schedule. Pickett is getting into the flow, but still holds the possibility of going back on the injury list. Then, it’s just Sanders and Gabriel. While Gabriel was always the third QB in the depth chart, he is also still nursing his hamstring despite playing in the second preseason game for a 22-13 Browns win over the Eagles. On the other hand is Sanders.

“We felt like it got to a point where he was probably mispriced relative to the draft,” GM Andrew Berry had already explained, defending Sanders as a bargain Day 3 steal. His potential was visible when he took the position under center for a 30-10 preseason win over the Carolina Panthers before being sidelined due to an oblique strain. He still feels like a long-term investment, raw but magnetic in his debut.

For now, the Browns’ front office may preach patience. Stefanski calls this an “installation phase,” emphasizing development and reps. But how long can you hide behind buzzwords when ownership is staring at the table for a possible change?

Kevin Stefanski might soon face a quarterback trade storm

Kevin Stefanski doesn’t just have a quarterback room. He has a vault. Four arms, each carrying a different price tag, stacked like poker chips waiting to be cashed. Mike Florio framed it perfectly, wondering how the QB room would look going into the season: “Are you keeping four in the next week? Are you gonna have four of your 53 roster spots devoted to quarterbacks? Is it going to be four at first, or you’re gonna try and trade somebody afterwards? It’s not a crazy thought, I’m not saying the Browns should or would do this.

“All I’m saying is, when you’ve got that many quarterbacks and you’re trying to figure out what to do with all of them and you view your quarterbacks as assets, what if there’s a team out there that was that close to picking Shedeur Sanders in round two or three and decided, ‘Well, you know, we don’t know how seriously he’s going to take football.’

“And then they see him play in the preseason and they say, ‘Whoa, wait a minute, wait a minute. Okay. We were wrong. We were willing to, we’re that close to giving up a second or a third round pick this year for him. Let’s call the Browns. Let’s give them a second round pick next year or a third round pick next year. Let’s see if they’ll do it.’ If they view these quarterbacks as assets, it’s a, it’s a buy-low sell-high. We get him for 144 this year. We flip him for a top 60 pick next year. Like, I don’t know that that they would do it. All I’m saying is it’s not crazy. All factors are at play here.”

Shedeur’s debut wasn’t just a stat line. It was a stock spike. Making the preseason matchup second most-viewed preseason clash since 2015, 2.25 million people tuned in. There, Deion’s son carved Carolina for 14 of 23 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns and a passer rating north of 113. Those numbers matter. They don’t just sit on a box score. They spill into trade calls.

But here’s where the heart collides with the ledger. Sanders is grinding like a future starter. Early mornings, late nights, and completing nearly 77% of his OTA throws. And he has even earned praise from LeSean McCoy, who called him the “best player at rookie minicamp.” He’s a fifth-round pick fighting like a first, a rookie playing like he belongs in prime time. And yet, Kevin Stefanski already admitted, “We have four guys. That won’t be the case come Week 1.” Which means someone’s getting moved. The Browns will soon have to decide. The clock’s ticking.