Colorado Buffaloes football legend Shedeur Sanders, 40-year-old Joe Flacco, potential starter Kenny Pickett, and third-round draft pick Dillon Gabriel would all suffer the same fate with the Cleveland Browns in Week 1 of the 2025 season:
They’d be benched by some point in the following weeks or months.
As Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio noted, the Browns’ quarterback competition will be open during the season, and thus, should have more reps available than not for Sanders and Gabriel.
“Whoever starts, and we know how this is going to go, whoever starts is probably gonna get benched. That’s why I think it’s so important to get Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders real reps. Let’s find out if they can be the answer because the broader question here is what’s the quarterback position going to look like in 2026,” Florio said.
This was to be expected.
Pro Football Talk’s Myles Simmons pegged Sanders, Flacco, Pickett, and Gabriel as potential QB1 competition winners in a “unique” position battle back in May.
“The Browns are reportedly planning to have a unique quarterback competition, with Sanders, third-round pick Dillon Gabriel, Kenny Pickett, and Joe Flacco all having a chance to earn the club’s starting role,” Simmons wrote.
From the sounds of it, there’s no true winner in this race. Fans of multiple looks under center are the biggest winners, if anything.