![\"Cleveland](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2226996753-e1774945947159.jpg\")
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Cleveland Browns quarterback Dillon Gabriel.<\/p>\n
The Cleveland Browns<\/a> aren\u2019t overlooking Dillon Gabriel as their quarterback competition begins to take shape.<\/p>\n Cleveland is set to enter next season with Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson all under contract. New head coach Todd Monken has made it clear there will be no predetermined starter.<\/p>\n \u201cSure, I think it\u2019s an open competition,\u201d Monken said in February<\/a>. \u201cI don\u2019t know why it wouldn\u2019t be. I don\u2019t mean that harshly, but I don\u2019t think there\u2019s enough on film over the last couple years to say we have our starter yet \u2014 whether internally or externally.\u201d<\/p>\n While much of the conversation has centered on a two-man race between Sanders and Watson, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam pushed back on that narrative and made it clear Gabriel remains firmly in the mix.<\/p>\n \u201cCompetition\u2019s good for all of us,\u201d Haslam said<\/a>. \u201cAnd they\u2019re all competitors. Listen, would things have been different if Dillon (Gabriel) doesn\u2019t get a concussion in the Baltimore game? I don\u2019t know. So let\u2019s not rule him out that quickly, either. We\u2019ve got three guys who have been successful at various levels. Let\u2019s see how the competition goes. And we have a head coach who\u2019s been very good at developing all kinds of different quarterbacks.\u201d<\/p>\n Gabriel appeared in six games as a rookie and showed flashes of efficiency in a limited sample size. He threw for 937 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions.<\/p>\n Dillon Gabriel Not \u2018Forgotten\u2019 by Browns<\/p>\n Haslam\u2019s statement echoes what general manager Andrew Berry has said about Gabriel in recent weeks<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHe may be forgotten externally, but he\u2019s not forgotten to us,\u201d Berry said at the NFL<\/a> combine. \u201c(He\u2019s) gonna handle everything within his control \u2026 Dillon\u2019s a guy that has a bright future in this league.\u201d<\/p>\n The Browns have options \u2014 but no clear answers \u2014 at the most important position on the field<\/a>.\u00a0Haslam is taking a patient approach, opting to let the situation play out rather than force a decision.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll know a lot more over the next six months, right?\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll see what happens. If you think about Shedeur, he played what seven games? He (started) seven games. You go back and look at rookie quarterbacks that played a whole year and see what their statistics were. It\u2019s a tough position to play, a tough way to break in. So he played seven games. Deshaun has had really tough breaks with his career over the last four years. And Dillon played what? (Six). So it\u2019s premature to say they can \u2026 I\u2019m the last person to say in our organization they can or can\u2019t play.\u201d<\/p>\n Browns Open to Adding Young Quarterback<\/p>\n The Browns may not be done building out their quarterback room. Berry said the team is open about adding a fourth quarterback to the mix.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d say that you always want to be flexible because you don\u2019t know how circumstances change or what opportunities come your way,\u201d Berry said at the NFL owners meetings<\/a>. \u201cOur lean would be if we do add someone to the quarterback room, it would be someone who\u2019s a younger player most likely. But I can\u2019t state that definitively because I don\u2019t know what the next couple of weeks will hold. Anyone that we bring in at any spot on the roster, you know, our thought is that they are competing.\u201d<\/p>\n The Browns hold nine picks in the upcoming draft<\/a>, including two first-round selections at No. 6 and No. 24 overall. Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson has been frequently linked to Cleveland<\/a> and is widely viewed as one of the second-best option on the board behind Fernando Mendoza.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tJ.R. DeGroote<\/a> JR DeGroote is a staff writer for Heavy.com, where he has covered the NFL, NBA, and trending sports stories since 2019. His work focuses on some of the most passionate fanbases in sports, including reporting on the Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Lakers. More about J.R. DeGroote<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Browns\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Cleveland Browns quarterback Dillon Gabriel. The Cleveland Browns aren\u2019t overlooking Dillon Gabriel as their quarterback competition begins…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":844544,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2054],"tags":[86,85,54,2337,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-844543","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cleveland-browns","8":"tag-browns","9":"tag-cleveland","10":"tag-cleveland-browns","11":"tag-clevelandbrowns","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116322923600089355","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=844543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/844544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=844543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=844543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=844543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}