The 2025 NFL schedule doesn’t do the Cleveland Browns any favors.
Needing to get off to a strong start to avoid a rebuild or a developmental season, the first few weeks provide a stiff challenge.
NFL general manager Mike Tannenbaum believes the Browns need to put their young quarterbacks in a position to succeed, which means Joe Flacco should be the one to endure their harsh opening stretch.
“[The Browns’] schedule is remarkably [difficult],” Tannenbaum said, via “Get Up.” “They start off with Cincinnati, Baltimore, Green Bay, Detroit and Minnesota. Look, Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel — their two rookie quarterbacks — may be their future. But as the ultimate bridge quarterback with that sort of brutal start, let’s go with Joe Flacco and all those starts.”
That makes sense to a degree, given that Flacco is a veteran, he’s familiar with head coach Kevin Stefanski’s offense, and he arguably has the best arm on the roster.
Then again, if the Browns want to figure out whether any of their young quarterbacks, including Kenny Pickett, is the answer, they need to give them a chance to play, regardless of the team’s record.
Most signs point to the Browns’ quarterback of the future not even being in the league yet, and chances are that they will use one of their two first-round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft to find him.
But if there’s even the slightest chance that Gabriel, Sanders or Pickett might be the future, the Browns need to put them in a position to prove it.
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