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Taylen Green may force a difficult Browns decision for all the right reasons

Dawg Pound Daily · Jul 21, 2026 09:00 · 7 min read

Taylen Green may force a difficult Browns decision for all the right reasons

Taylen Green's development could force the Browns into a difficult roster decision as Cleveland weighs whether it can afford to carry four quarterbacks into the season.

Cleveland Browns quarterback Taylen Green (15) during minicamp at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus. — Taylen Green | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

No NFL team wants to carry four quarterbacks on its 53-man roster. Getting to that point generally means one of two things: Either the QB situation is so dire that carrying an extra body is deemed necessary, or there’s nobody else on the 90-man training camp roster to justify taking that spot.

Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry never ruled out carrying Deshaun Watson, Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel, and Taylen Green on the active roster this season. But the Browns have a unique situation that has nothing to do with a lack of young talent.

The decision to keep an extra quarterback could come down squarely to Green, and what he’s able to do with whatever limited practice reps and preseason opportunities he’s granted this summer.

The Browns made Green the first quarterback drafted of the Todd Monken era, but they did so with the first pick of the sixth round. After handling every rep of Cleveland’s rookie minicamp, Green was mostly in the background, per Zac Jackson of The Athletic, as Watson and Sanders split first-team reps throughout the Browns’ spring program, with Gabriel fending for snaps as a distant No. 3.

“The Browns drafted Taylen Green in the sixth round as a developmental quarterback,” Jackson wrote. “It’s too early to know if Green will get many practice or preseason game opportunities; he got no competitive reps in spring practices that were open to reporters. Under normal circumstances, a rookie would certainly have preseason opportunities and practice days to get more than his usual work. But here, the focus is on first finding a winner (between Watson and Sanders) and then sorting out the rest of the depth chart.”

In our latest Dawg Fight, a series chronicling the 12 positional battles that will ultimately shape Monken’s initial 53-man roster, let’s attempt to solve the mystery that is the Browns’ QB3 battle. Could a monster summer by Green prompt Cleveland to cut ties with Gabriel, the quarterback they drafted in the third round just one year ago?

The Dawg Fight at QB3: The ultimate numbers game

Gabriel has been a popular name in hypothetical trade proposals this offseason. It’s hard to fathom the Browns carrying four quarterbacks into Week 1, and Monken’s comments throughout the spring revealed a sizable gap between Sanders and his 2025 draftmate.

Green’s presence adds an extra variable. Like most late-round quarterbacks, he’s viewed as a player who could need a year or two to develop and truly thrive at the NFL level. That fact wasn’t lost on the Browns when they made Green the 182nd overall pick in April’s draft. His lack of reps during the spring program is a reflection of the slow approach the team is taking with its new 23-year-old QB.

It’s also impossible to ignore that Monken has a type at the position. Showing command of the offense and delivering the ball on time are obvious musts, but Cleveland’s coach also prioritizes athleticism and the ability to make plays off-schedule. At Arkansas last season, Green completed over 60 percent of his throws for 2,714 yards, but also added 777 yards and eight touchdowns as a rusher in only 12 games.

The comparisons to Lamar Jackson, Monken’s quarterback as the offensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens the past three years, are premature. But stylistically, it’s beyond obvious why the Browns not only drafted Green, but would want to keep him on the roster.

In an ideal world, the Browns would carry Green on the practice squad, roll with a QB room of Watson, Sanders, and Gabriel, and use that extra roster spot on a young pass rusher, cornerback, or lineman. But in today’s NFL, Green would almost certainly get plucked off of waivers if the Browns attempted to go that route.

With Green, this is very much a keep-or-cut scenario entering training camp. And the numbers game being what it is, it could very well come down to beating out Gabriel, the man everyone’s been quick to dismiss but remains firmly in the mix for a roster spot regardless.

The contenders for Browns’ QB3 job

Taylen Green

Why he can win the job: Long-term upside. The Browns drafted Green knowing he would be the fourth quarterback on their roster. It feels highly unlikely that they would initially give him limited practice reps, only to waive him and potentially lose a prospect taken inside the top 190 picks. We didn’t see or hear much from Green during OTAs, but his athletic profile and fit for Monken’s system alone push him off the roster bubble entering camp.

Why he can lose the job: Precedence. The practice of targeting quarterback dart throws in the sixth and seventh rounds of the draft is not uncommon. Just last year, the Eagles waived sixth-round rookie QB Kyle McCord, signed him back to their practice squad, and ultimately decided to let him walk and sign a futures contract with the Green Bay Packers. The Raiders also waived seventh-round QB Tommy Mellott last summer. The Browns may love Green’s potential, but if he remains far behind Gabriel’s skill level throughout training camp, he could move to the roster bubble rather quickly.

Dillon Gabriel

Why he can win the job: Draft pedigree. The Browns invested a top-100 pick in Gabriel just a year ago, and while his six starts last season left much to be desired, he only threw two interceptions in 185 pass attempts. He didn’t play poorly enough for the Browns to waive him or try to seek a late-round pick swap in a trade. The return would have to be strong for Cleveland to justify letting a young quarterback prospect like Gabriel go.

Why he can lose the job: His future in Cleveland may already be capped. It’s certainly not a great look for Gabriel that he was quickly passed on the depth chart by Sanders, a player drafted two rounds later. The elephant in the room here is that Monken might not love Gabriel. He spoke highly of Green during rookie minicamp and has praised both Watson and Sanders as NFL starters. Gabriel has felt like the forgotten man at times.

The X-factors that could make or break the Browns’ QB3 battle

A quarterback trade

FanSided’s Justin Carter recently floated some trade ideas involving Sanders, essentially projecting his trade value as a high fifth-round draft pick. The Browns should pass on a move like that at all costs. Sanders may have some suitors, but Cleveland definitely shouldn’t just dump an improving young quarterback who’s barely making $1 million per season.

With that said, QB-needy teams seeking depth could check in on Sanders, Gabriel, or even Green this offseason. How serious those offers are may influence the Browns’ QB head count on roster cutdown day.

Preseason Game 3

The Browns host the Patriots for their preseason finale on Thursday, Aug. 27. By then, the majority of their position battles should be settled, including the Week 1 starting quarterback. It would make sense for Gabriel and Green to split the lion’s share of the reps. In Green’s case, it could be the most preseason snaps he sees all summer.

We know the Browns would love to keep Green on the roster this season so he can continue to develop behind the scenes. His athletic abilities aside, they’ll need to see an NFL-level passer in real game settings to justify making that call. If Green excels, the QB3 role would be firmly on the table. If he struggles, the Browns could attempt to sneak him through waivers and onto the practice squad, as risky as that may be.

Prediction: Dillon Gabriel beats out Taylen Green for Browns’ QB3 job, forcing the Browns to make a tough decision

From the outside looking in, Gabriel has felt like the obvious odd-man out. He even had to give up his jersey number when the Browns acquired Jared Verse in the Myles Garrett trade.

But the Browns are hardly in a position to start jettisoning quarterbacks. They’re in a unique position entering 2026, with Watson entering the final year of his contract surrounded by three young players that were drafted within the past three years.

Keeping all four players initially is certainly not ideal, but the Browns haven’t exactly had good injury luck in recent memory. Since the 2022 offseason, when Cleveland made its blockbuster move to acquire Watson from Houston, the Browns have trotted out 10 different starting quarterbacks. Watson, now attempting to come back from a twice-torn Achilles tendon, has only started eight more games for the Browns over that stretch than Jacoby Brissett.

The Browns haven’t had one quarterback start every game of a season since Baker Mayfield in 2020. Chances are, at least one of their current four will spend time on injured reserve at some point, which could eventually make any pretzel-twisting over a wasted roster spot in August a moot point.

“Gabriel’s spring chances were few, though his best days of practice came late in the spring program,” Jackson wrote. So what if Gabriel continues that positive momentum into training camp and plays solid football in preseason games, like he did last summer?

In the end, the Browns could have a hard time booting Gabriel off the roster without a trade offer they can’t refuse. And the same goes for Green.

The guess here is that Cleveland keeps all four QBs on the 53-man roster, at least initially, and plays the long game with three young quarterbacks who still have untapped potential.