The Cleveland Browns will start training camp in July with four active quarterbacks on the roster, but the team could halve that total by early November.
Cleveland is probably going to trade one of their veteran signal-callers before the summer is out. The most likely candidate is Kenny Pickett, based on reports from Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Network and Peter Schrager of ESPN.
“Ultimately, I think Diontae Johnson is right that the Browns want Kenny Pickett to win the job,” Rosenthal said on Thursday, June 24. “But I think Joe Flacco will win the job.”
Should Flacco earn the gig, Pickett will likely be playing elsewhere come the end of August. However, there is a reasonable chance Cleveland could move on from Flacco by early November based on information provided by Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com Monday.
“The Browns won’t try to tank, but they have a rough early schedule and will be hard-pressed to have a winning record at the midpoint,” Cabot said. “If they’re clearly not in the hunt, they’ll want to give Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders a chance to play so they can determine if one of them has a legitimate chance to start for them next season.”
If both Gabriel and Sanders are healthy at that point, the Browns will have two QBs they want to test out and potentially a meaningful trade asset in Flacco riding the bench. Moving him to a team in need could add another draft asset to the 2026 war chest upon which Cleveland will rely to continue its rebuild.
Joe Flacco Retains Value as Replacement QB, Bridge Starter Around NFL
Flacco’s history in Cleveland should give him an edge over Pickett based on his experience in head coach Kevin Stefanski’s system, leading the Browns to the playoffs in 2023 and the connections he made inside the locker room and with the city during his brief stretch with the team a couple of years ago.
“Even if Joe Flacco doesn’t win the starting job, or doesn’t keep it past Halloween, the Browns made a smart move in April when they brought him back on a one-year deal,” Zac Jackson of The Athletic wrote Monday. “Flacco is the best pure thrower of the four-man quarterback group, even at 40, but it’s his steadiness and experience that make him such a valuable addition right now.”
Flacco’s arm talent, leadership qualities and one-year, $4.25 million contract could make him a desirable target for the right team at the deadline — specifically one with talent but hamstrung by injury and looking to make a late playoff push.
QB Battle Between Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel Likely to Play Out at Some Point This Season
The Browns have plenty of incentives to see what they got in the fifth round with Sanders and the third round with Gabriel in April’s draft, but perhaps the biggest involves a decision that will come a little less than one year from now.
Cleveland owns its own first-round pick in 2026 and traded for the Jacksonville Jaguars‘ first-rounder as well. The Browns may be able to use one, or both, of those selections to select a top quarterback in next year’s draft.
If the season is lost by the midway point, the Browns’ main initiative down the stretch will likely be to decide whether to keep Sanders, Gabriel or both, as well as figure out how a new rookie in 2026 might fit into the QB room.
