CLEVELAND, Ohio — The typical NFL quarterback room is sometimes portrayed as a hotbed of tension – a survival-of-the-fittest environment where veterans protect their turf and rookies fight for relevance. The Cleveland Browns’ current quarterback situation, with four passers vying for roles, should be the perfect recipe for dysfunction.
Instead, something remarkable is happening in Berea.
As rookies Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel enter their first NFL offseason, they’ve found themselves surrounded not by cold shoulders, but by a wealth of veteran knowledge and surprising camaraderie that defies conventional NFL wisdom.
“Not only are they learning from a former Super Bowl MVP in Joe Flacco and a former Super Bowl winner in Kenny Pickett, but they also have a three time Pro Bowl first-round quarterback in Deshaun Watson that they are picking things up from as well,” Mary Kay Cabot revealed on the Orange and Brown Talk podcast.
This level of mentorship available to rookies is a great resource in today’s NFL. While many veterans – including Joe Flacco in the past – have bristled at the notion of training their eventual replacements, the Browns’ quarterback room has cultivated a collaborative atmosphere.
“I don’t think Joe is like anti mentoring and I don’t think anybody should expect this quarterback room to be contentious. It’s just not usually how it is as long as everybody‘s doing their work,” explained Dan Labbe.
What makes this situation particularly noteworthy is Deshaun Watson’s active participation in the mentorship process. Despite his tenuous position with the organization after Jimmy Haslam’s “swing and a miss” comment, Watson has remained engaged with the younger quarterbacks.
“I just think it’s interesting from an outside perspective that right now I think most people would assume, oh, this is going to devolve into some toxicity or Deshaun’s just not going to be there and what’s the point? But that’s just not the reality,” Ashley Bastock pointed out.
The rookies themselves have been quick to acknowledge Watson’s influence. As Mary Kay Cabot noted, “Whenever we hear these rookies talk, they mention Deshaun Watson. He is right in that room with them in the meeting room. Every single day in the virtual reality room, he is there with them.”
This harmonious dynamic isn’t merely about good feelings – it represents a strategic advantage for the Browns. For Shedeur Sanders, son of NFL legend Deion Sanders, and Dillon Gabriel, the opportunity to absorb knowledge from three distinct NFL quarterback journeys provides an accelerated learning curve impossible to replicate otherwise.
The key ingredient making this collaboration work? Work ethic. Unlike previous quarterback situations in Cleveland (Johnny Manziel comes to mind), these rookies bring professional approaches that earn veteran respect.
“Shedeur is going to be there doing the work, doing the job the right way. Dillon Gabriel is going to be there doing the job the right way. And so that’s going to earn the respect of Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett,” Labbe explained.
History shows that quarterback rooms defined by mutual respect and shared knowledge often produce better results than those fractured by competition. While only one quarterback can start on Sundays, the collective growth happening behind the scenes in Berea may prove more valuable to the Browns’ long-term quarterback strategy than any individual performance.
Want to hear more about this surprising quarterback dynamic and other Browns insights? Don’t miss the full episode of Orange and Brown Talk where the hosts dive deeper into what’s making this quarterback room special and how it might shape Cleveland‘s future.
Here’s the podcast for this week:
Listen and subscribe to the Orange and Brown Talk podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Football Insider newsletter free trial: Take a minute and sign up for a free trial of our Football Insider newsletter, featuring exclusive content from cleveland.com's Browns reporters.
Note: Artificial intelligence was used to help generate this story from the Cleveland Orange and Brown Talk Podcast by cleveland.com. Visitors to cleveland.com have asked for more text stories based on website podcast discussions.