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Cleveland Browns backup quarterback Dillon Gabriel.
The Cleveland Browns have been relatively quiet as significant trades continue to happen across the NFL ahead of the new league year, but some trade talk at the QB position is already brewing and appears to be bad news for Dillon Gabriel.
Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com said on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland on Saturday, March 7 that the Browns, should they bring in a veteran quarterback of any kind, are likely to shop Gabriel for a draft asset.
“If they do add a veteran, I think it would be a younger guy that would have some upside potential and could do something for them down the road,” Cabot said. “If they bring in another guy, then I think they would be open to trading Dillon Gabriel. I think that’s something to watch for over the next week. If they can get something for Dillon, maybe they’ve seen enough of him.”
Cabot noted that the new coaching staff, and the offensive system that came with it, could facilitate Gabriel playing elsewhere after just one season in Cleveland. The regime change may also mean the Browns take another swing on a rookie signal-caller in the later stages of April’s draft.
“Maybe Todd Monken has seen enough of [Gabriel] in what his scheme would be for a guy like that … [and] they would consider moving him,” Cabot continued. “In that scenario, then you maybe go out and find another developmental guy. Maybe you draft a Drew Allar or a Cade Klubnik or a whatever, somebody from a later round in this draft.”
Falcons Profile as Team Potentially Interested in Trading With Browns for Dillon Gabriel
Former Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski responded to Baker Mayfield.
GettyFormer Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski.
Former Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski, who is now leading the Atlanta Falcons, was in charge last spring when the Browns made Gabriel a third-round pick and started him ahead of Shedeur Sanders once the team sent Joe Flacco to the bench.
League analysts have mentioned Flacco as a potential addition to the QB room in Atlanta after the franchise announced its plans to release Kirk Cousins as of March 11, when free agency officially begins.
However, Gabriel could also be in play there in a trade for a Day 3 pick, perhaps a fifth- or sixth-rounder. Stefanski liked him enough to take him on Day 2 just a year ago, and while Gabriel wasn’t overly impressive, he did live up to his common billing as a viable backup quarterback prospect.
Gabriel finished his rookie campaign with 937 yards, seven TDs and two INTs on 59.5 percent passing. He went 1-5 as Cleveland’s starter across 10 games played.
Browns Don’t Have Great Options to Add Veteran QBs in Free Agency
Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons
GettyAtlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins.
As far as veteran options in Cleveland, the list gets considerably shorter when looking through the lens of Cabot’s caveat of a “younger guy” with “upside potential” who can help the team “down the road.”
That eliminates Cousins and soon-to-be Las Vegas Raiders cut Geno Smith from the equation. Malik Willis has four years in the league, so he would fit the bill, but he’s played just 22 games and started only six of them.
Beyond that, Willis is potentially going to command the most money of any free agent quarterback and is a top candidate in both Miami and Arizona who makes less sense in Cleveland at his expected price point.
Zach Wilson or Trey Lance fit the bill of younger, but how much upside either has and how much either could for the Browns down the road are considerable questions without ideal answers.