The Cleveland Browns begin the 2025 NFL season at home against the Cincinnati Bengals on September 7. That is less than two weeks to prepare for their first opponent.
In training camp this year, the Browns employed six quarterbacks: Deshaun Watson, Joe
Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders, and Tyler Huntley. Flacco and Pickett own Super Bowl rings. Watson and Huntley have Pro Bowl hardware.
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Because of ongoing health and rehab situations, Watson was
placed on the PUP list. Flacco was then named the season starter while Pickett, Gabriel, and Sanders all had some sort of camp ailment, which limited either preseason game snaps or practice reps.
During the off-season, the plan seemed to be for Flacco to start, Pickett to become the experienced backup, which would afford both Gabriel and Sanders time to learn and develop. Pretty good strategy.
Gabriel, Sanders, and Huntley played quite a bit in the preseason, while Pickett didn’t take a snap since he was still nursing a hamstring issue. Flacco only played a couple of series in the final exhibition game against the Los Angeles Rams.
Since the Rams contest, Huntley has been released. On Monday, Pickett was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders for a future Day 3 draft pick. That leaves the veteran Flacco and the two rookies.
A better plan? Or a decision that could cripple this Cleveland offense?
If nothing else, Flacco is very durable. He is entering his 18th year after being selected in Round 1 of the 2008 NFL draft by the Baltimore Ravens. He has thrown for almost 46,000 yards and tossed 257 touchdowns.
His injury history: 2013 – sprained left MCL, played the following game; 2015 – tore his left ACL and MCL in Week 11, had surgery, placed on IR, missed five games, started Week 1 following season; 2017 – Back vertebral disc hernia Grade 1, missed all of August training camp, started Week 1; 2017 – minor concussion, did not miss any games; 2018 – Inguinal hip sprain, no surgery, missed seven games; 2019 – neck injury, did not miss games; 2019 – cervical spine disc hernia Grade 1, placed on IR, missed eight games.
That’s 20 total games in 17 seasons missed because of assorted ailments, which is a very short list. So, he is durable and rarely is hurt enough to not suit up and play.
However, he could become injured, right? Can’t every single player that steps onto the turf, at any minute, in any game? Even during a practice session like MJ Emerson this year?
That’s not calling jinx, that is just the facts of the game. It is violent, it is rough, it is played by guys in the prime of their athletic lives and in the best shape of their young existence. They run and work out all year long, whereas long ago, players had a second job in the off-season, ate what they wanted, and rarely did anything strenuous until training camp. That is why it is called a “training” camp – to train your body to get back into shape.
These guys in the NFL are fast and strong, and defensive players are headhunters. Athletes get injured every year – even non-contact injuries are an issue.
Let’s just say, for instance, Flacco becomes injured and won’t return for about 5-6 games. What is the plan? Start Gabriel? Start Sanders?
Remember two seasons ago when the Browns drafted Dorian Thompson-Robinson (DTR) in the fifth round, and then he tore up the preseason? Everyone applauded Browns GM Andrew Berry for finding this magnificent specimen in such a late round. Cheap talent that could one day become the face of the franchise.
Then starter Watson got hurt. The starting QB in the Week 4 divisional matchup versus the Ravens wasn’t tested veteran Jacoby Brissett; it was DTR – the darling of the preseason. The result? 19 completions on 36 throws. 121 passing yards. Three interceptions. Bad throw percentage at 22.9%. Sacked four times. A 25.3 QB rating. Zero touchdowns. Eight punts. Three offensive points. One ugly offensive display.
What did the franchise learn from this one contest?
This was one of life’s lessons at the expense of losing a game that counted. Unless a guy is taken in Round 1, you don’t start rookie quarterbacks – especially Day 2 and Day 3 signal-callers.
Those are developmental guys – not Week 4 starting prospects and certainly not this season. Yes, Joe Montana and Russell Wilson were third-round picks. Bart Starr was taken in Round 17, Brian Sipe was a 13th-rounder, while everyone knows the Tom Brady story. But none of these great QBs began with sunshine and lollipops. They struggled early and looked ugly until they got game time and could get acclimated to the professional level. And all of them had that certain something that can’t be coached.
After watching both of this year’s youngsters in the preseason games, each one has talent and can play in this league – at some point. How in the world is the Browns coaching staff going to guarantee that Flacco will remain vertical for 17 games at age 40? Maybe the version that the Pro Bowl now plays (meaning flag football), but live tackle football? Really?
Pickett may or may not have been a good quarterback, depending on who you talk to. But at least he has played in 30 NFL games with 25 starts. Both Gabriel and Sanders have played in what? Zero NFL games that counted? One thing is for certain: the Pickett trade helps Sanders tremendously. It may signify the coaches’ desire to develop him and show their belief in him as a future contributor.
Rookie quarterback development is never in a straight line. So, what is the plan now?
Last year, Cleveland started four quarterbacks. The year before they started five and tied an NFL record for the most starting signalcallers in a single season with the 1987 New England Patriots. Starting nine QBs in a two-year stretch broke an NFL record.
Could the plan be to get Huntley back? After all, he is the only QB to play in all three preseason games. He just joined the Baltimore Ravens practice squad but Clevleand could always sign him back to their main rsoter.
Maybe grab a free agent guy?
A quick glance at the available free agent quarterbacks that remain, who are not named Johnny Football (who, by the way, is available), is Jeff Driskel, C.J. Beathard, or Bryce Perkins, who was named to the UFL All-Star team and was just waived from Panthers’ camp.
Here is a prospect: Brett Rypien. He hasn’t played in an actual NFL game yet, but he has potential. But by signing him, Cleveland encounters the exact same problem: putting a green player into a live NFL game without any experience. Maybe a veteran who is on somebody’s cut list, such as Desmond Ridder (Cincinnati), Hendon Hooker (Detroit), or Mike White (Buffalo).
Watson is now running on his own. He has been working out all summer. He could possibly return in late October or November. Could Watson ultimately become the team’s seasoned veteran backup? Or supplant Flacco, who would then slide into those same exact duties?
Or, will the coaching staff just stand pat and assign Gabriel as the backup and Sanders QB3? If so, answer this: both played in limited capacity during the preseason, and neither played against anybody’s number-one defense (although the Panthers used five defensive starters for two series). They both were matched up against second and third-string guys (who are now mostly looking for a job). And yet, these two QBs can shine against any NFL club’s best defenders?
All of a sudden?
The point is, Cleveland needs a dependable veteran for their backup quarterback position.
Please tell us, as Browns fans and those who cover the franchise, that there is a second part to the Kenny Pickett trade. Please tell us that Berry has worked out another trade with another NFL team to bring in a seasoned veteran, like maybe the return of Casey Keenum, currently with the Chicago Bears. Because Huntley and Pickett were the only guys left who knew how to run an NFL club in real games.
That fifth-round draft pick for next year that Berry got for Pickett doesn’t do this 2025 team any good. It is zero help this year. Pickett was the help for this year’s roster. Besides, the majority of fifth, sixth and seventh-round draft picks Berry has used to select new guys are gone: Michael Woods, Jowon Briggs, Dawson Deaton, Demetric Felton, and Donovan Peoples-Jones.
If Cleveland goes into Week 1 with Flacco as the starter, Gabriel as the backup, and Sanders as QB3, it will be a very long season with more double-digit losses.
Then you will hear Rob Schneider’s character from “The Waterboy” movie up in the stands shout, “Oh no! We suck again!”
