They're definitely floundering.
-Watson's medicals are probably bad enough to miss most of the season/he sucks ass so he's going on IR to free up a roster spot before getting cut next year when the dead cap is less debilitating
-Flacco/Pickett were planned QB1 and QB2, with Gabriel as a QB3 being groomed as a professional backup so Stefanski can at least keep someone around good at mentals and building familiarity with his scheme
-The plan was not to draft Shedeur or a prospective starter at all this year, but then he either became too cheap for the GM to skip on him a 7th time or Slipping Jimmy finally intervened b/c Sanders is a good way to get attention/butts in seats in the middle of the Browns trying to bilk the city of Cleveland for stadium money.
Yeah, I can understand either scenario, but both have concerns that are endemic to the Cleveland fucking Browns.
I've got no issues with value picks, but it makes no sense when people are shrugging shoulders at a crowded position group with no clear guy at the top. Especially at a position where only one person is on the field at any given time and there are only so many practice reps to give. Taking two QBs in the middle of the draft would make A LOT more sense if they didn't just trade a 5th for Kenny Pickett.
Taking one QB is reasonable, since Pickett's a known commodity and they can invest into QB3's development instead of Pickett's, but taking two basically ensures they are immediately waiving off a 3rd round pick or either 5th round pick (the one used to trade for Pickett or Shedeur). I get that the vast majority of 5th round picks never have any impact, but the Browns are in no position to purposely throw picks away like this when they can take a stab at someone that'll provide depth or succeed at special teams.
Jimmy Haslam pushing this also makes sense, but that highlights why the Browns are the Browns even more. There's nothing anyone can really do about it unless he gets the Dan Snyder treatment, or if coaches and players refuse to join them, though that's not particularly realistic. It's just funny because he's purposefully hemorrhaging his own team by overruling his football operations (again) by pushing his chips in on a 5th round pick in the hopes of beating their own 3rd round pick.
Every scenario is a pyrrhic victory at best. Either Gabriel beats Sanders and the team accepts they threw a 5th round pick away after the first training camp (not overly rare, but a lot more common for 6th/7th rounders) when they have holes everywhere else. OR Sanders beats Gabriel and accepts they threw a 3rd round pick away, which is obviously more lol.
Really, it wouldn't shock me if they end up cutting Flacco or Pickett instead. Keeping 3 QBs on the 53-man roster is rare, but plausible in this situation. The Browns aren't a serious organization, so cutting Flacco isn't implausible even though he's the best QB on the roster. Cutting Pickett is silly since he's relatively young, has starting experience, and they just gave up a 5th round draft pick, but he's effectively clogging up the depth chart after today. The issue is if they cut Pickett and Flacco gets hurt, the Browns would be forced to put either Gabriel or Sanders on the field to get slaughtered, which defeats the point of drafting developmental QBs.
In retrospect, drafting Shedeur Sanders appears to be the most Cleveland Browns thing imaginable.
