Browns Paying $41.6M to 8 QBs, but Only 2 Are on Their Active Roster

Last Sunday, rookie Dillon Gabriel became the 41st different quarterback to start a game for the Browns since the franchise reentered the NFL in 1999 (after then-owner Art Modell relocated the team in 1995 to Baltimore, where they became the Ravens).

This week, Cleveland traded veteran Joe Flacco to the Bengals (the first trade between the in-state rivals), making the impact quarterbacks—on and off the roster—are having on the team’s salary cap even more eye-popping.

Heading into their Week 6 game at the Steelers, the Browns have $41.65 million allocated to eight different quarterbacks on their salary cap, but just $2.37 million of that is for active players.

Here’s what the current quarterback situation looks like financially, according to salary-cap figures from Spotrac, for the Browns:

• Deshaun Watson: $35.9 million (on physically unable to perform list)
• Jameis Winston: $2.2 million (dead money)
• Dillon Gabriel: $1.1 million (on active roster)
• Joe Flacco: $999,000 (dead money)
• Shedeur Sanders: $955,000 (on active roster)
• Bailey Zappe: $315,000 (on practice squad)
• Dorian Thompson-Robinson: $171,000 (dead money)
• Kenny Pickett: $8,000 (dead money)

QB Carousel

After selecting Gabriel and Sanders in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Browns had five quarterbacks on their roster, including Flacco, Pickett, and Watson. In August, Pickett was traded to the Raiders for a fifth-round pick in the 2026 draft, and Zappe was signed to the practice squad.

Thompson-Robinson was drafted by the Browns in 2023, but sent to the Eagles in the Pickett trade in March. Winston signed with the Giants in free agency in March.

The earliest Watson could return to the active roster would be next week, although the status of his rehab from a torn Achilles remains unclear. The Browns would have incurred a $172.3 million dead-cap hit had they released Watson this offseason.

Rookie Rivalry

Gabriel will start again Sunday, but Browns coach Kevin Stefanski has not said whether Sanders will be the primary backup or whether Zappe will be elevated from the practice squad to assume that role.

Sanders started the Browns’ preseason opener against the Panthers, a game that drew 2.24 million viewers on NFL Network.