The Cleveland Browns made the safe choice by naming Joe Flacco their starting quarterback. But Flacco topping the depth chart only puts a band aid on Cleveland’s quarterback carousel.
Flacco was always the leading candidate to start. He’s taken the lion share of first-team reps for the Browns this offseason. Furthermore, he has familiarity with head coach Kevin Stefanski’s system. Dating back to 2023 when Flacco started five straight games for the Browns, went 4-1 during the stretch and helped the team earn a playoff berth.
“He’s the same guy every single day. I think that’s one of the things you admire about Joe is how he approaches his business. He’s done a really nice job in camp,” Stefanski said on Aug. 13, via the team’s official website. “He’s also done a really nice job just providing leadership to the quarterback room, to the offense and to the football team.”
The Browns have a daunting schedule to begin the regular season. They host the Cincinnati Bengals to open the year and then have five consecutive games against 2024 playoff teams.
The first six games are bound to be difficult for Cleveland no matter who starts at QB, especially for Kenny Pickett and rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.
Flacco’s experience and leadership should help the Browns through a tough six-game slate even if it doesn’t amount to many — or zero — wins.
But the Browns are doing themselves a disservice if Flacco starts a majority of the season. The Browns already know what they have in the 40-year-old journeyman quarterback. Flacco is among the infamous group of 40 quarterbacks who’ve started for the Browns since 1999.
It’ll behoove the Browns to give Pickett, Gabriel and Sanders multiple opportunities to start this year – specifically Gabriel and Sanders whom Cleveland selected in the third and fifth rounds of the 2025 draft, respectively.
Sanders tossed two touchdowns during an impressive preseason debut. Gabriel, despite a few mishaps, led the Browns on three scoring drives.
It’s understandable to ease the two rookies into regular season action. The learning curb between college and pro quarterback is steep. However, it’s imperative for the Browns to find out if either quarterback possesses the skills to be their franchise quarterback before the 2026 NFL Draft.
The Browns currently have two first-round picks during the 2026 draft and nine selections overall. Next year’s QB draft class is considered strong with the likes of Arch Manning, Garrett Nussmeier, Nico Iamaleava, Cade Klubnik and LaNorris Sellers.
Flacco starting doesn’t get the Browns any closer to solving their decades long quarterback dilemma. It’s a short fix at best. The Browns must find out if their long-term solution at quarterback is currently on the roster prior to a deep QB 2026 draft class.
Flacco is the starter for now. But beware Cleveland, he shouldn’t be QB1 for long.
