The Browns are likely to enter Week 1 with four quarterbacks on their 53-man roster: Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. General manager Andrew Berry said keeping four quarterbacks is not much of a decision and framed the arrangement as an opportunity. Berry cited roster flexibility and practice-squad elevations that make carrying extra passers more feasible and useful for development. The Browns named Flacco the Week 1 starter; coach Kevin Stefanski declined to name a backup. Cleveland's unofficial depth chart lists Pickett as backup, Gabriel third, Sanders fourth. Deshaun Watson is expected to begin the season on the PUP list.
"Honestly, it's not much of a decision for us. ... We have a room that we like all the guys in there," Berry said. "We don't really see that as a problem. We more see it as an opportunity."
"We've largely looked at the last five spots of a roster as more developmental spots and that can come from any position," Berry said. "I also think with the roster flexibility nowadays, especially with the elevations that you're able to have on the practice squad, there's just more flexibility in terms of how to build your 48-man game day roster where it's maybe not as quite as restrictive in the past. Now, that being said, when roster rules were more, let's say, draconian, there have been teams that have carried four. So, if there are four that are 53-man worthy, we think it makes the most sense for us to keep them."
Collection
[
|
...
]