The Cleveland Browns have to chisel down their roster to just 53 players, and one young prospect they hope to salvage amid the carnage is sixth-round rookie quarterback Taylen Green.
Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reported the team’s plans/hopes for Green via X on Sunday, August 30, which is cutdown day across the NFL.
“#Browns would like to keep 6th-round QB Taylen Green on the 53 today if they can find a way to do it,” Cabot wrote.
Green isn’t going to start for the Browns anytime soon, as Deshaun Watson won the QB1 role during the preseason, while Shedeur Sanders appears clearly to be the backup heading into Week 1.
Dillon Gabriel, a third-round pick in 2025, started six contests and appeared in 10 games for Cleveland during his rookie campaign. He also had the best outing of any Browns QB during the preseason when he got the starting nod against the New England Patriots on Thursday and completed 12-of-15 passes for 186 yards and three TDs.
But of all four signal-callers on the Browns’ roster as of Sunday morning, Green has arguably the best chance to be the longterm starter — even if his first start doesn’t come until the end of this season or sometime in 2027 or beyond.
Browns Could Trade Dillon Gabriel or Decide to Roster 4 QBs Ahead of Week 1
Perhaps Gabriel’s performance bumps his stock and helps the Browns trade him to a QB-needy team somewhere else in the league, which would potentially clear an extra roster spot for Green to remain.
Another option for the Browns is to bite the bullet somewhere else on the roster and keep all four quarterbacks heading into the season, as Watson’s tenure as the starter may not last long.
“One way the Browns QB carousel could land: Deshaun fails out the first 2 weeks, Shedeur becomes the starter week 3, Dillon the backup and Green up from the PS to be QB3 with [Watson] going on the restricted list,” Nick Wilson of 92.3 The Fan posted to X. “I could see it happening after the Jags game if [Watson] looks unplayable.”
Deshaun Watson Will Start Season as Browns’ QB1
Head coach Todd Monken’s decision to name Watson the starter was at least something of a surprise.
Watson struggled meaningfully across all of his preseason work, displaying an aversion for any risk and a general unwillingness to push the football down the field to the host of impressive young skill talent Cleveland has built out over the past two NFL drafts.
Fans booed Watson relentlessly during the team’s second preseason outing against the Buffalo Bills in Cleveland, after which several reporters close to the team questioned how the Browns could possibly name a player so clearly reviled by the fanbase as the starting QB.
But Monken and company made that call anyway and set the stage to potentially lose Green if the team can’t find a roster spot for him, cuts him and makes him subject to a claim on the waiver wire.
Regardless of how this season plays out, Cleveland is a strong candidate to select a QB from a strong 2027 class, as the Browns own two first-round picks next April and could prove among the worst teams in the league yet again.
Watson is in the final year of his contract and could be a scapegoat for the team’s early-season struggles. Gabriel has not found favor with Monken at any point during the offseason/preseason and appears the most likely trade candidate in the QB room.
That leaves Sanders, a fan favorite who deserves a chance to prove he can be better in Year 2 than he was as a rookie, and the upside of Green as the two most logical options to remain with the Browns beyond 2026, perhaps joining a rookie as part of the QB competition in Cleveland next spring/summer.
Browns’ Plans for Rookie QB Taylen Green Revealed Amid Team Cuts