CLEVELAND, Ohio — Former Cleveland Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer has seen this movie before — and he’s not impressed with the sequel.
In a revealing interview with Browns beat reporter Mary Kay Cabot, Hoyer drew direct parallels between his experience dealing with the Johnny Manziel circus in 2014 and the current quarterback situation involving rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.
“I feel worse for Dillon Gabriel because he’s just a rookie trying to find his way,” Hoyer explained. “This ultimately goes back on whoever made the decision in that organization to say, ‘We like Dillon Gabriel, we’re going to draft him.’ But now all of a sudden, Shedeur falls, we’re going to draft him, too. Like, how did they think that that was going to play out?”
The criticism cuts deeper because Hoyer sees history repeating itself. He faced a similar situation when the Browns selected fan-favorite Johnny Manziel while Hoyer was trying to establish himself as the team’s starter. Now, Gabriel has dealt with fans chanting for Sanders during games and even booing the third-round pick during his starts.
“Immediately you put that pressure on Dillon Gabriel to eventually, if he took over as a starting quarterback, to have to fend off a guy who has a huge fan base,” Hoyer said. “And so that’s not Dillon Gabriel’s fault. That’s not Shedeur Sanders’ fault. That’s whoever decided to make that decision.”
What makes Hoyer’s criticism particularly damning is his suggestion that the Browns should have learned from their past mistakes. “And as I said, you would think some people would maybe learn from experience, but they just couldn’t help themselves,” Hoyer noted.
The former Browns quarterback described the immense pressure created by these scenarios. “I don’t wish that upon anyone. It’s too much. It’s a heavy weight to bear and I can’t imagine, as a rookie, having to deal with that.”
Importantly, Hoyer made it clear that his frustration isn’t with the players caught in these situations. “That was not Johnny’s fault that we were all in that situation. That was the decision by the Cleveland Browns organization whether it was Jimmy Haslam, Ray Farmer, Alec Scheiner, whoever it may be. Like, that’s the hard part.”
Hoyer suggested the root of the problem traces back to the failed Deshaun Watson experiment. “Had Deshaun Watson worked out, you’re not even in this situation, but now you’re strapped for cash because of how much you’re paying Deshaun, you got to accumulate as many different quarterbacks as you can at a small price.”
The veteran quarterback concluded with a sobering assessment of the organization’s failures: “Ultimately the organization has failed the fans and the quarterbacks that have come through there. And until they can write that ship, it’ll just be more of the same.”
With the Browns potentially targeting another quarterback in the 2026 draft with their accumulated first-round picks, Hoyer’s warning serves as a reminder that drafting talent alone isn’t enough — the organization needs to create an environment where quarterbacks can actually succeed.
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