There were plenty of side-eyed glances to be had when the Cleveland Browns, back at the end of August, announced on 53-man roster cutdown day that quarterback Dillon Gabriel would be placed on the injured reserve list to start the season with a back injury. No back injury had previously been reported or even mentioned for Gabriel, and it appears that situation had been conjured up out of thin air in order to keep Gabriel on board without needing to cut or send to the practice squad either Shedeur Sanders or Taylen Green.
It was always going to be a temporary situation and now, it seems, time may be running up on Gabriel’s injured reserve back pain. Players placed on IR must stay on the list for four weeks, but are eligible to come off thereafter. Now they we’re just about entirely through Week 4 in the NFL, Gabriel can come off the list and return to the Browns’ active roster.
Browns Not Trading Dillon Gabriel?
The one issue with that is the fact that taking Gabriel off the IR will mean the Browns’ hand will be forced. Once Gabriel is active, the Browns will either have to trade him, which they don’t want to do, or keep him as part of a bloated four-man quarterback room. They don’t want to carry that many QBs, but as ESPN Cleveland radio Browns reporter Tony Grossi says, they’ll do it rather than shipping out Gabriel.
Writing in a mailbag for his The Land on Demand site, Grossi notes that the Browns could designate Gabriel for a return this week, but all that does is star Gabriel’s practice window. The Browns can keep that open for 21 more days without actually activating Gabriel, as Grossi points out. The full timeline could see the Browns get Gabriel back right before the trade deadline.
Writes Grossi: “Gabriel is eligible to return from IR this week. It isn’t automatic. Technically, a player coming off IR can return to practice after four weeks and the team can open a 21-day window to decide his status. The Browns could activate him, or string it out over one, two or three weeks while practicing him. If the Browns elect to activate Gabriel this week, I can see them keeping all four quarterbacks. The possibility of a trade exists, of course. But I don’t see Gabriel being traded at present.”
Browns’ Dillon Gabriel Return Timeline Could Affect Trade Plans