There were attempts to manufacture some drama over the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback decision, but it was the exact outcome we’ve all known for months. Joe Flacco is the Browns’ starter. No surprise at all.
Thankfully, there’s still plenty of actual drama to be sorted out in the Browns’ quarterback room.
Flacco will start in Week 1, but one look at an absolutely brutal six-game stretch to start the season indicates that it might not be a long-term solution. Cleveland is very likely to use more than one quarterback this season.
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But due to injuries and an odd four-man derby at quarterback, which was created when the team made the unconventional decision to draft two QBs in Rounds 3 and 5, it’s uncertain what the order will be behind Flacco. And there’s just one more preseason game to go.
Joe Flacco expected to play Saturday
The Browns have indicated they plan to play Flacco some in the preseason finale against the Los Angeles Rams. Stefanski wants to use this week to simulate a regular-season week, and to do that he wanted his quarterback in place. Not that anyone paying attention thought it would be anyone but Flacco.
So Flacco will play, but presumably not too much. That means there will be some evaluation time for Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.
Pickett hasn’t played yet in the preseason due to a hamstring injury, but he practiced last week and presumably will be ready to play by Saturday. Sanders’ status is unknown after he suffered an oblique injury in warmups before a joint practice last Wednesday. Gabriel, who missed the first preseason game, got the start with Sanders sitting in Week 2.
So Flacco hasn’t played yet because he was the veteran starter who didn’t need preseason reps in the first two games, Pickett hasn’t played at all due to injury, Gabriel missed one game and Sanders missed one game. That makes the final decisions on the depth chart more challenging.
Who will be Browns’ backup?
From all accounts, the depth chart at Browns camp has been fairly static.
Flacco has been treated as the starter. Pickett has missed a lot of camp but there’s no indication he’s not second in line. Gabriel has been third and, even after a very good showing in Cleveland’s first preseason game, Sanders has been fourth.
That doesn’t mean this is Stefanski’s final answer on the depth chart. Gabriel played well last weekend aside from one pick 6, showing a good understanding of the offense and delivering passes accurately. Sanders’ talent level was well above his status as a fifth-round pick, and he showed it in his one preseason game.
The Browns will first need to decide how many quarterbacks to keep. It’s very rare for a team to keep four, but it’s an unusual situation. It doesn’t seem likely a team would trade for Pickett, Flacco is already named the starter, and trading Gabriel or Sanders a few months after drafting them seems unlikely. Then, if the Browns do keep four, Stefanski has to rank them. If Flacco gets benched, that’s when the order will matter. And if Pickett is up next, the order between Gabriel and Sanders will matter if he gets benched later in the season.
Perhaps some of that gets settled in Saturday’s preseason finale. We know Flacco will be the Browns’ starter to begin the season. The rest still seems unsettled.
