Browns QB Joe Flacco Receives Brutal 2025 Prediction

Four quarterbacks will take center stage during Cleveland Browns OTAs as they engage in what the team has called an "open competition" for the starting role.

The group features veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett, as well as a pair of rookies in Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders and while they'll each have an opportunity to earn the starting job, many believe it will be the 40-year-old Flacco who is the odd man out by summer's end.

One analyst gave even more credence to that idea in a recent ranking of all 32 team's quarterbacks. According to PFF's John Kosko, Flacco would be one of the worst five starting quarterbacks in the league by his estimation.

"As much as some Browns fans are excited about Joe Flacco’s return, the reality is he’s a 40-year-old stopgap," wrote Kosko. "He can still deliver competent play and keep the offense on schedule, but he’s clearly a short-term solution until Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel is ready to take over."

Flacco finds himself ranked among the likes of Jets QB Justin Fields, Colts QB Anthony Richardson, Steelers QB Mason Rudolph and Saints rookie QB Tyler Shough as the bottom five signal callers on the list. The top of Kosko's list features the usual suspects of Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen and reigning Super Bowl champion Jalen Hurts.

Given Flacco's history in Cleveland, having spent time with the franchise in 2023, there's certainly reason to believe he has a legitimate chance of earning the starting job. That said, team brass has spoken glowingly about Pickett since trading for him back in March.

Who has a leg up will start to reveal itself more in the coming weeks and months ahead. Something has to give, though, with the Browns unlikely to carry four quarterbacks into the 2025 campaign.