Daniel Oyefusi
BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns on Monday named veteran Joe Flacco their starting quarterback to open the 2025 season. The decision brings an end to what opened as a four-way quarterback competition but had an anticlimactic finish with Flacco emerging as the runaway favorite.
Flacco, 40, has taken the overwhelming majority of first-team reps in training camp as fourth-year quarterback Kenny Pickett has been limited since suffering a hamstring injury July 26. Rookie third-round pick Dillon Gabriel has also received first-team reps, but he missed the preseason opener with a hamstring injury. Rookie fifth-rounder Shedeur Sanders, who has not received any first-team reps, missed the team’s second preseason game because of an oblique injury suffered last week.
Deshaun Watson remains on the physically unable to perform list as he rehabs from an Achilles injury that the team expects to sideline him for most of the 2025 season.
Flacco signed with Cleveland late in the 2023 season and helped lead the Browns to an improbable run to the postseason, where they lost to the Houston Texans in the wild-card round. As the Day 1 starter in 2025, his second stint in Cleveland will begin with a home game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 7. But while the Browns’ present quarterback situation has gotten clarity with his being named the starter, its future remains in flux.
The Browns used two selections in the 2025 draft on quarterbacks but also possess a pair of first-round picks in 2026, which is expected to have a stronger quarterback class. Gabriel and Sanders have received opportunities to start in the preseason and both have had impressive moments. Still, they are set to begin their pro careers as backups to Flacco.
General manager Andrew Berry said that keeping all four quarterbacks on the 53-man roster was possible, but coach Kevin Stefanski acknowledged Sunday that it might not be feasible.
“We’ll let it play out as we get closer to the cut down,” Stefanski said. “Those are all conversations that we are always having, but those are tough decisions. You know, I’d like to keep everybody, but not realistic.”
The massive draft capital the Browns hold in 2026 only underscores the need for the franchise to further evaluate its young quarterbacks sooner rather than later — a reality owner Jimmy Haslam acknowledged in late July.
When asked if it’s important to see Gabriel and Sanders on the field in game situations before using their first-round picks in 2026, Haslam answered, “Absolutely, absolutely.”
“Kevin is aware of that, he knows how important quarterback is, and he and Andrew talk about those kinds of things all the time,” Haslam said. “It’s a daily, ongoing conversation.”
The sheer number of first-team reps Gabriel — a six-year college player at UCF, Oklahoma and Oregon — has received this summer signaled the Browns believe he could be ready to see the field soon. Sanders — a four-year player at FCS school Jackson State and Colorado — has been brought along slower as QB4 on the depth chart. However, he impressed with a two-touchdown performance in the Browns’ preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers, and a team source said he was primed to get more reps during joint practices with the Philadelphia Eagles before being sidelined by the injury. Stefanski said he is hopeful that Sanders and Pickett will be able to increase their participation in practice ahead of the preseason finale against the Los Angeles Rams at home Saturday.
With one of the most difficult schedules to open the season — featuring six straight games against teams with winning records in 2024 — Flacco could be a steady bridge quarterback as Cleveland continues to develop its young quarterbacks. So, while the questions surrounding the Browns’ Week 1 starter are no longer a mystery, the clock to begin finding their long-term answer continues to run.
