Browns reportedly took trade calls on Oregon standout Dillon Gabriel

Jon Conahan

Browns reportedly took trade calls on Oregon standout Dillon Gabriel image

It hasn't been an ideal past few weeks for Dillon Gabriel of the Cleveland Browns. The former Oregon standout was one of the better college quarterbacks in the nation last season, eventually getting drafted by the Browns in the third round. 

The Browns made a surprising decision to select Shedeur Sanders, a player many thought would be picked in the top five, two rounds later.

Some believe that Sanders is now in a much better position to win a job than Gabriel, but that remains to be seen. Gabriel hasn't played in a preseason game yet due to his injury, so until that happens, there's plenty that Cleveland has to figure out. 

MORE: Oregon receives negative injury update involving 5-star freshman

If the Browns want to move on from Gabriel and Sanders wins the job, it sounds like teams around the NFL would be interested. According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, teams around the NFL were attempting to draft Gabriel, hoping to trade up and be able to select him. 

“I’d confirm Mike Silver’s report that the Browns got trade offers for Dillon Gabriel on the Saturday morning of draft weekend, which essentially confirms the interested teams were prepared to take him in the fourth round (despite perception that he was overdrafted in the third round). How did the idea that he could go that high fly under the radar? I’ve heard Gabriel crushed his meetings with teams, and many saw his floor, as a result, as a long-term backup,” he wrote.

Now that he's on the Browns roster, there's a chance that a team wouldn't have to give up a third-round pick for him. If a team would only have to give up a fourth, and he'd have an opportunity to start, it'd be a better outcome for Gabriel, considering how many quarterbacks the Browns have.

Jon Conahan

Jon Conahan is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. A 2022 Penn State University graduate who majored in journalism, he was also a member of the school's D1 baseball team. His work has been featured on Sports Illustrated, Heavy and other outlets. Jon makes home in North Jersey, but also resides in Cape Coral, Florida, for parts of the year. He’s an avid fan of the New York Yankees, Miami Dolphins and Milwaukee Bucks.