Taylen Green is fighting for a place on the Cleveland Browns' roster as the team's quarterback room fills with Deshaun Watson, Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel.
Green, listed at 6-foot-6 and 227 pounds, brings size, mobility and upside after starting more than 46 games in college and putting on a show at the NFL Combine in February. He began his career at Boise State, spent two years with the Broncos and then transferred to Arkansas. Those facts make him an intriguing project: evaluators note he needs to improve his footwork, progressions, lower body mechanics and short passing accuracy, but he also offers what the Browns plan to use—RPO situations—and has immense upside as a runner.
The numerical reality sharpens the stakes. The Browns currently have four quarterbacks under evaluation: Deshaun Watson, Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel and Taylen Green. Gabriel was a third-round pick in 2025 and finished his rookie season with 937 passing yards, seven passing touchdowns and two interceptions; he completed 59.5% of his passes and went 1-5 as a starter before being benched for Sanders. With limited roster spots and limited reps in training camp, that stat line matters when coaches and executives weigh ceilings and floors.
Kristopher Knox framed the competition this way: "The Cleveland Browns are holding a quarterback competition that is essentially a two-man race between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders—and Watson is the early leader," he wrote, while adding a roster prescription: "However, Cleveland needs to develop its entire quarterback room, especially given the team's recent injury history at the position. With rookie sixth-round pick Taylen Green in the equation, and only so many reps to go around in training camp, the Browns should look to trade Dillon Gabriel before camp." Knox also assessed Gabriel directly: "Gabriel was a third-round pick in 2025 and has the intangibles to be a decent long-term backup. However, he doesn't have the physical tools to be a starter and isn't a great fit for Todd Monken's offense."
That critique collides with the coach's public praise. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken said of Gabriel: "What I have liked with Dillon is the way he goes about his business," and added, "Very professional, highly intelligent, understands football, has a certain charisma about him and a confidence that’s hard to create." Monken pushed back on simplistic takes, noting, "You saw it throughout his career. You don’t go to three different programs and have the success he had if he doesn’t have a belief in himself." That tension—front-office skepticism about long-term ceiling versus a coach's comfort with a young pro—is a central friction as the Browns decide whether to carry multiple quarterbacks or to convert talent into immediate roster flexibility.
Practical roster math and scheme fit tilt the argument toward Green. The Browns offense will utilize RPO situations, and Green's running upside and size offer a roster role that Gabriel's profile does not clearly match. Evaluators see Green as a project with a path to making the roster and potentially developing into more; importantly, if Cleveland has to choose between Dillon Gabriel and Taylen Green, Green is likely to make the roster. If the Browns choose to cut Green, it is unlikely he clears waivers—another reason the team may prefer to keep him and move Gabriel while he still has trade value.
The decisive fact is narrow: with Watson and Sanders effectively occupying the top of the depth chart, the Browns must decide whether to carry a traditional backup profile in Gabriel or a developmental, high-upside athlete in Green who fits the planned RPO work. Given the offensive scheme, Green’s physical traits and the assessment that there is little point in Cleveland carrying four quarterbacks, the most likely outcome is Cleveland keeps Green and either trades Gabriel before camp or retains him as a short-term backup only if no adequate offers arrive.
