Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski ended the most unsurprising quarterback competition on Monday with the announcement that veteran Joe Flacco will be the starter come Week 1 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Now with just a handful of practices and one preseason game remaining before teams have to cut their rosters down to the initial 53 by 4 p.m. on August 26, speculation has turned to just what Cleveland’s quarterback room will look like that afternoon.
It is possible, although it feels unlikely
and unnecessary, that the Browns will roll with four quarterbacks: Flacco, veteran Kenny Pickett, and rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.
That is at least the speculative opinion of ESPN’s Adam Schefter, who “expects” that the Browns will keep on four on the roster:
Anything is possible, of course, but the phones will be ringing at team headquarters in Berea between now and the season opener with team’s checking in with general manager Andrew Berry to see if he would be willing to deal from his stockpile of quarterbacks, which includes Tyler Huntley and Deshaun Watson (neither of whom would bring anything in a trade), as Aditi Kinkhabwala of CBS Sports pointed out today:
The reality is that the Browns have too many roster questions, including running back, wide receiver, linebacker, and cornerback, to have the luxury of keeping four quarterbacks on the roster for more than a few days after the initial cutdown.
If they do break camp with all four – Flacco, Pickett, Gabriel, and Sanders – it will likely only be until Berry can get a relatively reasonable offer for Pickett and let him continue his NFL career on another team.
Until then, speculation will continue, as what would the NFL be without talk of the Browns and their quarterback situation?
What do you think the quarterback situation will be when the Browns release the initial 53-man roster? Let us know in the comments!
