Most NFL teams carry a maximum of three quarterbacks on their 53-man rosters. The Cleveland Browns may buck that trend during the 2025 NFL season.
‘Honestly, it’s not much of a decision for us,’ Berry told announcers Chris Rose and Joe Thomas on the Browns broadcast, per the Akron Beacon Journal.
Berry’s comments came as Cleveland navigated a logjam in its quarterback room. The Browns named 40-year-old Joe Flacco their starter but had three young signal-callers behind him in which they invested 2025 NFL Draft capital.
That included third-round rookie Dillon Gabriel, fifth-round rookie Shedeur Sanders and Kenny Pickett, whom the Browns acquired from the Philadelphia Eagles for quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson and a 2025 fifth-round pick during the offseason.
Thus far, Berry has been pleased with the performance of Cleveland’s quarterbacks.
‘All four guys have done what we’ve asked,’ Berry said. ‘We have a room that we like all the guys in there.’
As such, the 38-year-old executive doesn’t view carrying four quarterbacks ‘as a problem.’
‘We more see it as an opportunity,’ he explained. ‘The reality of it is, you have a 53-man roster. You can build your [48-player] game day roster, unless you’re wiped out from injury, you can be pretty creative.’
What might that creativity look like? Berry outlined the Browns could choose to carry one less linebacker or safety, given the overlap those positions sometimes have in Cleveland’s defense.
Either way, it appears Cleveland’s lean is to keep four quarterbacks on its initial 53-man roster. That would make the second consecutive season the Browns have taken such an approach.
In 2024, the Browns kept Deshaun Watson, Jameis Winston, Thompson-Robinson and Tyler Huntley past the 53-man roster deadline. That arrangement only lasted a couple of days, however, as Huntley was released on Aug. 29, 2024 after Cleveland was unable to trade the veteran.
Sanders, the team’s current fourth-string quarterback, will be hoping to avoid a similar fate in 2025. The rookie was lauded by Berry, who spoke well of the Colorado product’s progress and in Kevin Stefanski’s pro-style offense.
‘He’s going from a college offensive system where… imagine you were fluent in English and now you have to learn Mandarin,’ Berry said on the Browns broadcast. ‘His growth, really since the spring on, you know, with the mental side of things, having command of the offense, has been real impressive.’