The Cleveland Browns had a confusing quarterback situation heading into the 2025 NFL Draft, and now that the draft has come and gone, that QB situation might be even more confusing.
With Joe Flacco back on a one-year deal to join a QB room with the newly acquired Kenny Pickett, as well as the two rookies in Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, it would appear Flacco would be the Week 1 starter if all goes according to plan.
During a recent episode of The Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show, former NFL safety Tyvis Powell sent the team a warning about starting Flacco.
“Everybody would think it’s Joe Flacco, but Joe Flacco, as we know, as good as he played, at some point he’s going to fall off a cliff,” Powell said. “He’s going to give you five, six games, and then it’s going to fall off a cliff. If he does start, I’m not going into the season saying, ‘This guy is going to start 17 games for us,’ that’s not going to happen. You have to make sure those guys behind him are ready to go.”
.@1Tyvis discusses the #Browns crowded QB room and the competition among the four players to come. https://t.co/XobnLFRK4T pic.twitter.com/gtZiKudkS9
— Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show (@ultCLEsports) May 1, 2025
This is a fair point since Flacco is 40 years old and he hasn’t played more than nine games in a season since 2018.
The Browns are likely planning for this scenario since they have made it clear that Pickett will have every chance to compete for the starting job, and even if he doesn’t win it out of the gate, he’ll likely see the field at some point to at least justify trading a fifth-round pick for him.
The fans will want to see one of the rookies immediately if Flacco or Pickett starts faltering, and it won’t be hard to blame them since this team’s path to contention feels farfetched as long as Flacco or Pickett is the starter.
There is a lot to be sorted out, and while it’s quite helpful to have Flacco back in the mix, there is no way anybody is expecting 17 starts out of him.
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