The Browns intended to carry four quarterbacks on their regular-season roster, but a preseason back injury landed Dillon Gabriel on injured reserve during final cuts.
Gabriel was designated to return on Tuesday, opening his 21-day practice window and creating a potential roster crunch in Cleveland. The Browns have 53 players on their active roster, including three quarterbacks: starter Deshaun Watson, backup Shedeur Sanders, and emergency No. 3 Taylen Green.
Watson has beaten preseason projections that he would quickly lose the starting job and has instead led the team to a 3-1 start, giving head coach Todd Monken little reason to change his approach. As a result, the Browns are leaning toward keeping all four of their quarterbacks once Gabriel is activated from IR, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.
The team could waive Green, but that would expose the sixth-round pick to waivers. Monken has expressed a desire to evaluate his young quarterbacks (including Green) throughout the season and has even floated using the rookie in short-yardage and red-zone packages. Cleveland does not have any plans to move Sanders or Gabriel, either, Cabot adds.
Gabriel’s return window gives the Browns plenty of time to clear a roster spot for him. Realistically, there is a decent likelihood that another player could go down with an injury that would allow them to swap places on IR with Gabriel. Since all three other quarterbacks are healthy, Cleveland could play out Gabriel’s three weeks of practice before making any roster decisions.
