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Former NFL star Robert Griffin III said Monday the Cleveland Browns need to trade either Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel and anoint one of the quarterbacks as the future of the franchise.
Griffin, a former Browns quarterback himself, reacted to how the team used Sanders and Gabriel in the final preseason game of the season. Particularly, Griffin honed in on Sanders playing with teammates low on the depth chart and not getting a chance to run the two-minute drill in the fourth quarter. Cleveland used Tyler Huntley and released him a day later.
“I think the Cleveland Browns need to trade Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel,” Griffin said on “Outta Pocket.” “Right now, they have a toxic environment around their quarterback situation, and it’s not a growth environment for either guy. So right now, you need to allow Shedeur Sanders to be the guy that you’re tabbing as your quarterback of the future, or you need to allow Dillon Gabriel to be the quarterback that you’re tabbing as your quarterback of the future.
“Because having them together on the roster right now, after you traded up to get Dillon Gabriel in the third round, you drafted Shedeur Sanders in the fifth round after he slid from the first round, which many people like myself believe he should’ve been a first-round quarterback because of the tape – not just because of the name. You’ve created an environment where there’s so much fanfare around it that the most popular guy on your roster is the fourth-string quarterback on your team, because you made it that way. You didn’t allow him to go out and compete like you would a third-round pick in Dillon Gabriel, because you had a third-round pick in Dillon Gabriel.”
Griffin said he didn’t think Sanders nor Gabriel were being “set up for success” in the organization.
The Browns selected Gabriel in the third round of the draft. The former Oregon Ducks star tied the mark for most touchdown passes in college football at the FBS level with 155.
Cleveland took a flier on Sanders after he fell to the fifth round despite being projected to be one of the first players taken overall.
“I don’t think that either Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel are being set up for success right now based on the way things are going,” Griffin said. “This brings me to the point of the last preseason game, Dillon Gabriel played his butt off, absolutely, went out there, executed a two-minute drill to perfection. But Shedeur Sanders was not afforded the same opportunity. Not only was Shedeur Sanders put out there with threes, fours and fives on the depth chart, on the offensive line and at wide receiver, Shedeur Sanders was not allowed to run the two-minute drill at the end of the game because they gave that opportunity to (Tyler) ‘Snoop’ Huntley. …
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“No matter how well he ran that two-minute drill, or how well he didn’t, it wasn’t going to impact his availability and whether or not he was going to make the 53-man roster. So why wouldn’t you give Shedeur Sanders that opportunity to go out there and have it, juxtaposed against Dillon Gabriel running the two-minute drill at the end of the half, allowing Shedeur Sanders to go out there and fight through whatever struggles you thought he was having with lesser guys around him to go run the two-minute drill to win the game for your team. It wasn’t just the wrong decision, it was a catastrophically terrible decision on behalf of Kevin Stefanski and the Cleveland Browns organization.”
Griffin said that, sure, Sanders comes with a “ton of fanfare” but it was “earned.” He lamented being unable to see what Sanders could do with more teammates higher up on the depth chart.
“Shedeur Sanders comes with a ton of fanfare. But it’s earned. It’s not just because of his dad’s name and what his dad accomplished being a Hall of Famer, the greatest cornerback of all time. Shedeur has been in the limelight since he was a baby. He earned what he got at Jackson State. He went the hard way, going to the HBCU and building that program up. He went the hard way, going to Colorado and building that program up. And then his tape said, I’m a first-round pick on my own merit, not just because of my dad’s name. And he wasn’t afforded that.
“He can’t cry over that spilled milk anymore … But now, when he goes out and he performs in the first preseason game and throws two touchdown passes and earns the right to get more reps, why didn’t he get more reps? Why was he still relegated at the bottom of the depth chart? You can say we weren’t at the practices. We didn’t get to see everything that was going on behind the scenes. But what I do know is that the eye in the sky don’t lie … So, for the Browns to not allow this young man to actually compete is a detriment to him, but it’s also a detriment to all the quarterbacks on their roster.”
Cleveland did make a trade later Monday but it didn’t include Sanders or Gabriel.
The Browns traded Kenny Pickett to the Las Vegas Raiders for a 2026 fifth-round draft pick. It appeared Cleveland will keep both Sanders and Gabriel on the roster to be the backups for veteran Joe Flacco.
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