Debates about if and when teams should play rookie quarterbacks pop up just about every year, both before and during NFL seasons.
While chatting with Ken Carman and Anthony Lima of Cleveland sports radio station 92.3 The Fan on Thursday, veteran Joe Flacco seemed to offer some advice to the Cleveland Browns regarding how the club should handle a signal-caller it will add to its quarterback room via the 2025 NFL Draft.
"I do think it’s important for young quarterbacks to be able to learn," Flacco explained, as shared by Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. "You don’t want to put a young quarterback in a football game before he’s actually ready because there’s just so many things, and the cycle in this league these days is just so quick. You want these guys to be ready, and I do think there’s huge advantages to be able to sit back and … gain that confidence and really, really learn the game, and get the team surrounded in a good way so that you can go out there and have success."
Living legend Tom Brady raised eyebrows when he said last summer that he feels "the only reason why" teams play rookie quarterbacks selected with high draft picks is because "we’ve dumbed the game down, which has allowed them to play." That said, Hall of Famer Peyton Manning is among those who think young signal-callers need to learn about life in the NFL "the hard way" as active players.
As for Flacco, the one-time Super Bowl Most Valuable Player turned 40 years old earlier this year and has previously mentored quarterbacks such as Lamar Jackson and Anthony Richardson. During Thursday's conversation, Flacco noted how the current structure of rookie contracts has changed the NFL from what it was when he entered the league back in 2008.
"I think it’s become a little bit easier to draft these guys a little bit higher," Flacco continued. "So now you’re getting guys who haven’t played a ton of college games, maybe, and you’ve drafted them so high. So now, there’s a lot of pressure to get these guys on the field right away."
As of Friday, reports indicated that the Browns will select a project for the future, such as Alabama's Jalen Milroe or Ole Miss' Jaxson Dart, during the upcoming draft. Even if Cleveland drafts Louisville's Tyler Shough, seen by many as the most NFL-ready quarterback of his class, Shough would spend time sitting and learning as an unused backup if Flacco had a say in the matter.
"Now there’s just naturally going to be a couple guys here and there that maybe you drafted in the top five or top 10, that maybe 20 years ago, they would’ve been second-round picks, and they would’ve been willing to keep them on the bench for a little bit," Flacco added. "And now, because they were the third pick overall, you have to play them, and they’re not quite ready. And then mentally, it hurts their development."
