$230M Update for Kevin Stefanski May Jeopardize Dillon Gabriel & Shedeur Sanders’ Future After Browns’ QB Move

You know how things were expected to settle down in the Browns QB room after Kenny Pickett got traded? Flacco running the show, Dillon behind him, and Shedeur as the emergency QB. You might not agree with the order, but at least you know that things were settling down in Kevin Stefanski‘s head. But we all might’ve collectively forgotten about the $230 million cloud hanging over the Browns’ QB room. And he might be back soon.

Yep, just when Kevin Stefanski finally sorted things out after months of contemplation, Mary Kay dropped another bombshell. Deshaun Watson isn’t just stashed away. She noted he’s “coming along,” with Jimmy Haslam, Andrew Berry, and Kevin Stefanski watching his work. He’s still on PUP, yes, but with a late-October reevaluation possible, the Browns’ franchise QB just moved from background worry to being back into the main plot.

Now, let’s talk logistics first. On paper, Watson’s stuck on reserve/PUP: Out for the first four games, no exceptions. That buys Gabriel and Sanders a sliver of breathing room, but only for now. The fuse is lit the moment Watson gets cleared to practice. As Mary Kay pointed out, the real decision looms “when you start to get into late October.” And if the $230 million quarterback is truly back on the table by then, you can’t just ignore that.

And it’s a nightmare for the two rookies. They finally had a lane carved out. Gabriel earned most of the first-team work in camp, while Sanders was being eased into the playbook at a slower burn. Flacco, then Gabriel, then Sanders, it was supposed to be a clean ladder for the rookies.

That structure only works if the reps keep coming. Drop Watson back into the mix in October, and suddenly the climb stalls. The evaluation snaps vanish, the developmental timeline freezes, and the rookies get shoved into observer mode. For young quarterbacks, that’s football purgatory.

As for Watson, it goes beyond just football. Two things shape the entire Watson debate: the contract and the cap gymnastics Cleveland has already done around it. The $230 million guarantee is the lever that keeps him in the picture.

Browns restructured his deal multiple times to free space, but those tricks came at a cost: they tied the roster’s short-term flexibility even tighter to Watson’s availability. Bottom line? You don’t park that kind of financial anchor on the sideline forever. If the doctors clear him, Cleveland will feel the pressure to use him. No matter how steady Flacco looks or how promising the rookies appear. Oh, that’s not as bad as it gets. The QB room just got even messier after the Browns‘ latest move.

More bad news for Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel

Yep, they’ve gone for yet another QB, stashing extra insurance at the center. The Browns are bringing in Bailey Zappe for the practice squad, who will be slotted behind Joe Flacco, rookie No. 2 Dillon Gabriel, and Shedeur Sanders. And that tells you just how much the Browns trust their rookies.

If Dillon Gabriel or Sanders stumble when called on, Zappe gives Cleveland a fallback option with real NFL starts on his resume. Beyond that, he bolsters the room: an extra set of eyes in meetings, a live arm in practice, and a veteran voice that can steady two rookies still learning the league.

A fourth-round pick by New England in 2022, he drew eight starts across his first two seasons but couldn’t hold a permanent roster spot. Last fall, he landed on Kansas City’s practice squad before Cleveland pulled him onto the active roster in October, once Deshaun Watson went down for the year.

Zappe circled back to the Chiefs on a one-year deal this spring, only to be cut loose days ago. So yeah, Zappe walks in with working knowledge of Kevin Stefanski’s system, giving the Browns a plug-and-play option who doesn’t need weeks of onboarding. Smart signing. But again, bad news for Shedeur and Gabriel.