Sports

Even in avoidance, choice of words says a lot in the NFL. And try as he might, Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski might have tipped his hand about the pecking order of his quarterback room against the Pittsburgh Steelers this weekend.

Yes, Stefanski did decline to name a No. 2 quarterback behind rookie Dillon Gabriel following the trade of Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals. But he also sounded like a head coach who didn’t have any plans to lose the most experienced veteran in his quarterback room, nor suddenly have a hole at the backup spot. On Wednesday, he was answering for both unexpected scenarios in a news conference where the first question was about Shedeur Sanders’ place on the depth chart — not about a Flacco trade that came out of nowhere.

“The Joe trade took us by surprise,” Stefanski said, speaking broadly about the organization. “That was not something we saw coming. They called us. It happened very fast and it happened not too long ago. So [I’m] still working through all roster type of things.”

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The most interesting revelation Stefanski had to offer was suggesting (more than once) that it was general manager Andrew Berry who ultimately made the decision to flip Flacco to the Bengals with a sixth-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, netting a 2026 fifth-round pick in return.

“AB makes those decisions,” Stefanski said of the trade. “I trust AB. We talk about every decision we make. [The Bengals] wanted Joe. … I trust in our decisions.”

Questioned about the wisdom of trading Flacco to a division rival, Stefanski said he preferred to not speak for Berry and then reiterated, “I trust in his decisions.”

Nick Cammett via Getty Images

So what does this mean for the Browns’ depth chart? Well, there are a few things we can infer as they wade through Week 6. First, with Stefanski making it clear that he had no plans to trade Flacco, it stands to reason that he is still going to want an experienced veteran at the backup quarterback spot. And at one point Wednesday, Stefanski called fifth-year veteran Bailey Zappe “the elder statesman right now” in the QB room, along with 30-year-old Deshaun Watson, who does not appear to be written into any plans this season.

The second inference? Stefanski is less concerned about developing Sanders this week than he is about playing at the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. That means getting Gabriel as prepared as possible for his start, which is a role a veteran like Zappe fills more appropriately than another rookie like Sanders, who has repeatedly made it clear he wants to be on the field playing.

Clearly, Stefanski is thinking about the support role at the No. 2 QB spot, just as he was when he kept Flacco in that role following his benching. Now with Flacco gone, it boils down to two questions about the depth chart. With four days to prepare for the Steelers, who is more equipped to play the support role for Gabriel? And who is also prepared enough to handle the backup quarterback spot if they’re ultimately called upon to play in Pittsburgh?

As Stefanski put it on Wednesday, “I always have to be mindful of our players and our players’ development. I want to make sure that I’m always doing what’s best for our players, and of course our team. But with young players I’m always thinking about — last week, making the change to Dillon, you have to think long and hard about that. Because these are young players that you’re so invested in their development, so I’ll let the week play out and make a decision later on that.”

Asked about balancing the short-term goals of his team with the long-term development of players, Stefanski was blunt.

“It’s really important to stay in the short term when you’re making these type of decisions or any decision for your team,” he said. “What’s most important is this week. Obviously we have long-term development plans for all of our players at every position. But really this week is what’s most important.”

All of this is suggestive of one thing: While the roster changed when Flacco was traded, the ultimate calculus of how Stefanski wants the quarterback depth chart to operate did not. If he prized having an experienced Flacco behind Gabriel last week, he’s likely to prize having the experience of Zappe behind his rookie starter this week. And by not revealing that on Wednesday, he removes what is likely to be a circus of criticism for not elevating Sanders to the No. 2 role. Now that is tamped down for the team and most especially for Gabriel — possibly all the way to Sunday, when the Browns could make Zappe a gameday call-up from the practice squad.

This could also come down to a simple question about Sanders, too. Is he ready to go play in Pittsburgh if he’s called upon? If there’s any hesitation in that answer, then it’s unlikely he’ll be elevated to a role behind Gabriel. And that might explain why Stefanski was asked two specific questions about Sanders — first about what the rookie needed to show his head coach, and then about what he had already shown Stefanski to date — and both times he directed his response into broader statements about “young players.”

That’s a course Stefanski has been navigating since training camp, repeatedly taking Shedeur Sanders questions and answering with broad stroke comments that don’t single out Sanders in a tangible way. All while Sanders remained at No. 3 on the depth chart and inactive through five games while serving as the emergency QB.

Unless something has changed and the Browns no longer require having an experienced veteran behind Gabriel, Sanders’ role as the No. 3 quarterback is going to be the status quo moving forward. Cleveland’s head coach might not say it, but how he’s handled Sanders thus far speaks loudly enough.