Lowering hammers on a SXS shotgun question

Ive never had an exposed hammer SXS.

My question is:

If you’ve cocked a hammer (s) abd decide not to fire can you break open the gun and then pull each trigger while easing down the hammers?

Or does one HAVE to ease down the hammers on the loaded chamber because the gun won’t open with then cocked?

Talking about newer production guns.