The Cleveland Browns made a rather awkward decision in the NFL Draft, opting to take quarterback Dillon Gabriel in the third round, well before he was expected to fly off the board. Then, two rounds later, the Browns stook fellow quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
So, what exactly is going on here?
Well, Cleveland talk show host Garrett Bush hinted at what he thinks may be behind all of this in a recent episode of The Barbershop, stating that he feels head coach Kevin Stefanski specifically wanted to develop Gabriel while general manager Andrew Berry may be hoping to punt to 2026 to find an answer under center.
“I think Kevin Stefanski picked Dillon Gabriel. There you go," Bush said. "So now, guess what? You’re at a standstill, so to speak, right? Because now, all of a sudden, Andrew Berry is banking on the fact that ‘We’re not going to be good next year. I’m trading these picks, and I’m gonna go get me Arch Manning. That’s my move.' Then, Kevin Stefanski’s like, ‘I’m going go get my own quarterback and show what I could do with a quarterback,'” Bush said.
While Bush did not specifically say that Stefanski and Berry are butting heads, that's pretty much what they are doing if they are employing two different lines of thought in terms of what they want the Browns' future to look like.
Stefanski arrived in Cleveland back in 2020 thanks much in part to his previous work with quarterbacks, but we haven't really seen it with the Browns just yet. Now entering his sixth season as Cleveland's head coach, Stefanski has to prove something if he wants to keep his job.
Is it possible that Gabriel really is Stefanski's guy and that Stefanski wants to roll with the Oregon product moving forward in an attempt to demonstrate what he can really do with quarterbacks?
It remains to be seen, but if all of this is true, it doesn't really bode well for the Browns. A house divided against itself cannot stand.