Joe Flacco Issues Blunt Response to Lack of Attention From Browns

The Cleveland Browns enter training camp in July with four quarterbacks purportedly vying for the starting job, though the team has not doled out preseason reps equally to this point.

Veteran Joe Flacco, whom the franchise inked to a one-year deal in free agency after trading with the Philadelphia Eagles for Kenny Pickett, has been the odd man out during practice sessions to this point.

The coaching staff has reserved the majority of work with the first-team offense for Pickett and third-round rookie Dillon Gabriel. Head coach Kevin Stefanski has also afforded fifth-round rookie Shedeur Sanders some run, though less than Gabriel and Pickett thus far.

Meanwhile, the 40-year-old Flacco, who could be entering his final NFL season, has mostly been a background player in arguably the league’s highest-profile QB battle. He spoke to that reality during mandatory minicamp, which concluded in mid-June.

“I’d love to go out there and take 120 reps a day and get in a groove and do all those things, but Kevin [Stefanski] has a plan,” Flacco said, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. “My job is to just trust that, and go out there and do the best I can.”

Joe Flacco’s Most Likely Outcomes Are Starting Season as Browns’ QB1 or Landing With Different Team

Flacco arguably needs the least work because he has the most experience both in the league and with the Browns’ offense.

Mere days into training camp, the depth chart hierarchy is going to take form, at which point the picture of who will start, who will sit and who might hit the trade block ahead of Week 1 will become clearer.

It makes sense that either Flacco or Pickett will begin the season as QB1, as Cleveland is going to try to field a competitive team until doing so no longer makes sense. But if those two are the frontrunners, then the one who finishes second is the most likely to depart the franchise in the coming weeks.

The Browns probably aren’t parting ways with either rookie signal-caller until each gets a crack at the field during games that matter, and there is no reason to carry four active QBs — along with an injured Deshaun Watson — if either Flacco or Pickett can bring back a draft asset in trade.

Rumors Circulating That Kenny Picket, Dillon Gabriel Have Inside Track on Browns’ Starting Job

Insiders have circulated rumors that Flacco will enter training camp on the outside looking in, as will Sanders. The most recent report to that effect came from former pro wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh on the Wednesday, June 25 edition of “Nightcap.”

https://x.com/ESPNCleveland/status/1938056263683965381

“I don’t know how this is a fair competition,” Houshmandzadeh said. “I was told by somebody in the building, who is not a player, that it is really coming down to Kenny Pickett or Dillon Gabriel.”

That’s not the best news for Sanders, but he was a big enough star in college that he’s going to get his shot. If Gabriel gets in before him and stays healthy and plays awesomely, maybe that shot won’t come in Cleveland — but it’s going to come somewhere, and likely sooner than later.

It’s worse news for Flacco, who could find himself buried on an unfamiliar roster with an unfamiliar coach in what may be his NFL swan song.