For over a month this offseason, the Cleveland Browns were at odds with their generational star Myles Garrett.
Garrett publicly requested a trade shortly before the Super Bowl, asking the Browns to trade him to a contender for the 2025 season.
He recanted that request in March and signed a contract extension, a deal that made him one of the highest-paid non-quarterbacks in the league.
Analysts speculated that the superstar did so after Cleveland shared their plans about who the starting quarterback would be heading into the 2025 campaign.
Former NFL player Solomon Wilcots believes the Browns will make that vision a reality this season, suggesting that Cleveland will use a veteran behind center in the 2025 opener.
“I think it’s going to be the veteran,” Wilcots answered when asked who the Browns’ QB1 will be. “Cleveland has been through a lot. They promised Myles Garrett that they would start competing in the postseason. I don’t know that you could look Myles Garrett in the eye and say we’re going to put our best foot forward with a rookie quarterback. I believe it’s going to be the veteran quarterback, Joe Flacco.”
"I don't know that you could look Myles Garrett in the eye and say we're going to put our best foot forward with a rookie quarterback."@SolomonsWisdom predicts Joe Flacco will be QB1 for Cleveland in Week 1. pic.twitter.com/nlxb5zlUw9
— Jim Rome (@jimrome) May 21, 2025
Flacco joined the Browns for a second stint just before the 2025 NFL Draft, and he’s one of four healthy quarterbacks on the roster.
Cleveland did not re-sign him after the 2023 season as the team built an offensive scheme around Deshaun Watson.
The Browns will return to Stefanski’s run-oriented attack that Flacco ran during his brief time in Cleveland.
The veteran turned 40 in January, making him one of the oldest active quarterbacks in the league.
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