The Cleveland Browns won’t transition away from Dillon Gabriel in favor of Shedeur Sanders during their bye week or before the team heads to New York on Nov. 9 to play the Jets. Head coach Kevin Stefanski has already made that clear.
A more interesting question to ponder is whether Sanders, currently the QB2 who was inactive for the team’s last contest against the New England Patriots due to back tightness, faces any other obstacles to his first NFL start beyond Gabriel’s tenure at the helm — currently at four starts and counting.
“I think there is another wrinkle that could happen. There are two other guys in that room,” Bastock said during an appearance 92.3 The Fan on Wednesday. “I know no one wants to have the Deshaun Watson conversation, but what if we come back from this bye week and they’re talking about opening his practice window? The reality is they didn’t shut Deshaun Watson down for the entire year.”
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Cleveland’s preference is likely that Watson remain on the physically unable to perform list (PUP) for the remainder of the year. Not only would that outcome keep an extra roster spot open, but it would stop the waters in the quarterback room from muddying more than they already have.
Then there is the issue of the Browns’ health insurance policy on Watson, as well as the salary cap relief they get from the NFL due to the quarterback’s absence. Watson is still in just the fourth season of the disastrous five-year, $230 million contract, to which Cleveland signed him after trading three first-round picks to the Houston Texans to acquire the QB ahead of the 2022 campaign.
If Watson says he’s healthy and wants to return, the Browns could protest for the sake of their own financial concerns, arguing that he isn’t healthy to claim a spot on the active roster. Should the league declare Watson the winner of that hypothetical — but entirely possible — battle, Cleveland would be looking at either rostering Watson or cutting him. Both of those are bad outcomes for the Browns for various reasons, including a massive cap hit in 2026 if they release the quarterback this season.
The other potential impediment to Sanders’ elevation to the starting lineup should the team bench Gabriel or see him suffer injury is fourth-year quarterback Bailey Zappe, whom Bastock also mentioned Wednesday.
“Bailey Zappe is there. He’s started a football game for them,” she said. “Shedeur is the backup quarterback when healthy, but you can never say never with this team and their quarterbacks, especially with two other veteran guys. That’s something to keep in mind, for sure.”
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