With weeks to go until training camps begin around the NFL, teams are still filling out their rosters and trying to get a proper idea of which players are set in stone and which position groups are set up for some intense battles.
The Cleveland Browns have one of the most intriguing position battles around the league, as one insider recently named it among the “preseason battles to watch” in camp.
Mason Cameron of Pro Football Focus recently wrote an article highlighting ten intriguing position battles around the league, and he highlighted the Browns’ 4-man quarterback battle as an interesting watch.
“The quarterback battle set to dominate headlines this preseason will unfold in Cleveland, where head coach Kevin Stefanski must decide who will lead an offense that ranked last in EPA per dropback in 2024,” Cameron wrote. “Veteran Joe Flacco enters camp as the presumed front-runner, but younger challengers — particularly rookie Shedeur Sanders — have made early impressions, with Sanders drawing praise throughout minicamp. With a difficult early-season schedule, this competition could remain unsettled into the regular season, and the Week 1 starter may not be the one under center by year’s end.”
Nothing Cameron said here is new information, as the belief for weeks has been that Flacco is the likely Week 1 starter and will likely hand the keys to either Dillon Gabriel or Shedeur Sanders since the first half of the schedule is brutal.
Cleveland needs to figure out if it has its long-term solution at quarterback on this roster ahead of the loaded 2026 draft, since Cleveland has two picks in that class and can draft a new QB if necessary.
Flacco obviously isn’t the long-term solution, but his short-term imprint both on and off the field could help the organization figure out whether or not Gabriel, Sanders, or Kenny Pickett can be that long-term guy.
NEXT: Kenny Pickett Gets Worrisome Prediction From NFL Insider
