What Browns' drafting of Shedeur Sanders could mean for Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett

Some understandably assumed after the Cleveland Browns grabbed Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel with the 94th pick of the 2025 NFL Draft that the Browns would eventually name either veteran Joe Flacco or 2022 first-round selection Kenny Pickett their 2025 Week 1 starter. 

However, the situation changed after the Browns traded up to select Colorado signal-caller Shedeur Sanders with pick No. 144 after Sanders slid into the draft's fifth round. 

On the latest edition of the "Orange and Brown Talk Podcast," Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer indicated that Flacco could be the odd man out regarding the Browns' unique quarterback room by the end of August. 

"At the cut-down date last year, they were willing to trade Jameis Winston even though they paid him $4M for the one-year contract," Cabot said about the Browns. "They were willing to trade him when they felt that Dorian Thompson-Robinson won the backup job or at least tied for the backup job. ...I just have to wonder if they aren’t going to be willing to do the same thing with Joe Flacco this year." 

Flacco signed a team-friendly contract to return to the Browns in April after the club acquired Pickett from the Philadelphia Eagles in March. Per Zac Jackson of The Athletic, Cleveland "could eventually trade or release Flacco or Pickett, who’s due to count for $2.62M on the salary cap" at some point this summer. 

The Pittsburgh Steelers gave up on Pickett after just two seasons, and he spent the majority of the 2024 campaign as a backup. Meanwhile, Flacco played poorly in back-to-back starts with the Indianapolis Colts this past November before he lost the starting job to benched Week 1 starter Anthony Richardson.

It's now clear that Sanders turned teams off with how he handled the predraft process. That said, ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. had Sanders ranked as the top quarterback in this year's class and as the draft's fifth-best prospect. To compare, Kiper had Gabriel eighth among the signal-callers available in the draft. 

Pickett, Gabriel and Sanders all have higher ceilings than Flacco, who has made it known he wants to be more than a mentor for a rookie while serving as a backup at the age of 40. It now seems Flacco could spend the preseason auditioning for other teams unless the Browns decide either Gabriel or Sanders isn't ready to play in a meaningful game as even a fill-in option by September.