After a disastrous 1-5 start, the Cleveland Browns decided they weren’t willing to sit through a full season with Joe Flacco after all. Initially, the idea was that the 40-year-old could serve as a valuable mentor to the team’s two rookie quarterbacks, Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel. But that plan never quite worked out, leading to Flacco’s trade to Cincinnati just over a week ago.
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Now, after Flacco led a game-winning drive on Thursday Night Football with the Bengals, it’s starting to look like Cleveland made an even bigger mistake than many first thought. Since the trade, the Browns have gone 0-2 with Gabriel as the starter, while backup Sanders continues to gather dust on the sidelines.
Needless to say, frustration is boiling over from the fan base to the front office. And according to Browns legend Joe Thomas, that frustration might not be going away anytime soon, as evaluating either of these young quarterbacks could prove to be a real challenge for head coach Kevin Stefanski.
“You want to give them the best, most fair opportunity… You want to wait at least until they know enough of the offense to where you felt like when you’re watching film, are they getting rid of the football when they are supposed to? Are they getting it to the right guy? …Are they making good decisions? Those things are not always apparent right away,” Thomas said via 92.3 The Fan.
Stefanski, for his part, has been patient so far, giving Gabriel every opportunity to prove himself before turning to Shedeur. However, throughout the first two starts of his career, Gabriel has been anything but stellar.
Despite throwing the ball 85 times in Weeks 5 and 6, his completion percentage of 56.4% is measurably below the league average, and that’s while Cleveland has been losing by an average of 10.5 points.
Of course, the Browns certainly have other deficiencies that are, at times, contributing to Gabriel’s struggles, but their collapse against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 6 was largely on the QB. Two games may not be enough to fully evaluate a prospect, and Gabriel will likely do better against other opponents, but he’s still slipped enough for there to be some interest in Sanders.
Ever since his unprecedented fall in the 2025 NFL Draft, the former Colorado Buffalo has been patiently waiting for his time to come. This may not have been the way in which he had hoped for it to develop, but he’s officially one more mishap away from having the opportunity to prove league executives wrong.
Until then, however, Stefanski will hope to prepare Gabriel for the Miami Dolphins. Their defense may not strike fear into the hearts of opposing coordinators, but their offense has been averaging more than 25 points per game, meaning that the Oregon product will likely have to score some points if he wants to come away with the first victory of his starting career.
