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The Cleveland Browns might be staging the most crowded quarterback competition in NFL history coming into the 2025 season, and Joe Flacco has come out on the other side of it.
Flacco has been named the Browns' Week 1 starter despite competing with Kenny Pickett and rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. Injuries played a large part in that, as the 40-year old was the only signal caller in Cleveland to stay healthy through training camp and the first two preseason games.
Pickett has been out for a while now with a hamstring injury and has missed both contests so far. Gabriel missed the first preseason game against the Carolina Panthers with a hamstring injury of his own, while Sanders missed the second game against the Philadelphia Eagles due to a nagging oblique injury. The Browns brought in Tyler Huntley, but he was never serious threat to challenge for the starting job.
Deshaun Watson, who is still on his fully-guaranteed contract, is also making progress in his recovery from a torn Achilles and would certainly love to be on the field when he gets back.
Despite the fact that Kevin Stefanski and company are trusting Flacco and rolling with him to start the season, there is a high chance that he doesn't make it through the fill season as the starter. If the Browns fall out of playoff contention at any point — which, they are still the Browns — they would be wise to see what they have in Sanders and Gabriel before attacking next offseason in order to have better knowledge of the best path forward.
If Stefanski is going to make the switch, there is a clear logical spot for him to do so.
Joe Flacco could get replaced in Week 10
The Browns have a bye week in Week 9, which makes it the perfect point for Stefanski to make a change if things are going poorly on the field.
At this point, it appears that Dillon Gabriel is not ready to play in the NFL from a physical standpoint. His small frame makes it very difficult for him to consistently operate, even if he looked good at times in his preseason debut against the Philadelphia Eagles. On the other hand, Sanders is lagging behind Gabriel in a lot of the mental and operational aspects of the quarterback position and doesn't appear ready to play right away from that standpoint.
Pickett could end up getting the second shot after Flacco, but at the midway point in the season it feels more likely that the Browns will want to see what they have in the two players that they recently drafted before heading into the offseason.
The schedule coming out of the bye week is also favorable for a young quarterback to come in and play comfortably. Cleveland plays against the New York Jets in Week 10 coming out of the bye week, so there are much tougher teams that you could play in your first career start.
There is a chance that both rookies could see time during the back half of the season as the Browns try to find out if they have a franchise quarterback in the room already or if they need to continue to search for one in the draft. Having two weeks to prepare one of them for their first start coming out of the bye week could be the perfect time to see what they have.
What happens if things go south quickly for the Browns?
Nine games is a long time for Browns fans to wait for not one, but two rookie quarterbacks to step into the spotlight. If Cleveland is at the bottom of the standings, say at 3-6 or 2-7, fans in Cleveland will not want to wait that long to see Flacco back on the sidelines and one of the young guns on the field, and they may not have to.
Cleveland plays against an absolute gauntlet over the first six weeks of the season — hosting the Bengals, Packers and Vikings during that time while traveling to play the Ravens, Lions and Steelers on the road — but Week 7 could be the spot where a quarterback change could be made. There, Cleveland plays against the Miami Dolphins at home before a Week 8 trip to Foxborough to take on the New England Patriots.
With the Browns likely to be looking up at the other three teams in the AFC North after six weeks, maybe Stefanski will be convinced to make the switch earlier than the bye week. If he does, Week 7 could be the spot where you see someone other than Flacco under center for the Browns.
