Sanders secures spot as Browns reduce QB list

BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns have trimmed their crowded quarterback room.

After trading Kenny Pickett to the Las Vegas Raiders and releasing Tyler Huntley, the Browns will enter the regular season with three quarterbacks — Joe Flacco and rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.

Deshaun Watson was placed on the reserve/physically unable to perform list. He will miss the first four games of the season as he continues to rehab an Achilles injury that the team expects to sideline him for most of the season.

Cleveland looked poised to keep all four of the quarterbacks who were vying for the starting quarterback job until it traded Pickett on Monday for a 2026 fifth-round pick.

Sanders, a 2025 fifth-round pick who spent the entirety of training camp as the fourth quarterback on the depth chart, is set to back up Flacco alongside Gabriel, who was selected in the third round.

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski has not named a backup to Flacco.