The Cleveland Browns have just hitched their wagon to Dillon Gabriel.
That was already mostly true when they made Gabriel the starter in place of Joe Flacco for Week 5.
It's fully true now. Flacco has been traded to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Gabriel's direct backup is now Shedeur Sanders, a polarizing QB prospect who until now Cleveland had kept far away from its first-team operations.
Could Sanders play eventually, and maybe even soon? Sure.
But the trade of Flacco, at least for this season, says more about Gabriel than anything.
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It says that the Browns believe in Gabriel.
His first start in London wasn't perfect. He had some bad overthrows.
But the lefty with lots of college experience was also on time and on target in some key spots, and he showed a mobility to move around in Kevin Stefanski's offense, which is heavy on play-action and bootleg action.
The Browns haven't seemed like they want anything to do with starting Sanders this season. Maybe later on, they'll give him a chance.
But Cleveland also chose Gabriel 50 picks before Sanders. That, as much as anything, shows which QB they prefer.
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And now it'll be the Gabriel show for the foreseeable future.
The expectation all along has been that the Browns will use a first-round pick in 2026 on a quarterback.
Gabriel now has two-thirds of the season remaining to prove that maybe Cleveland should reconsider that plan. And with Flacco's shadow not looming any longer, this is all about Gabriel and what he can show in his rookie season.
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